Chapter 13:

Motive

Seeking Utopia


Shortly after the training sessions, Cinder goes to the cafeteria with two of her colleagues, Enzo and Lemon. While they were having a conversation, she suddenly spots Astrid who was sitting alone. Cinder asks her two friends to excuse her for a moment and slowly goes to approach Astrid; who seems to be pondering while poking the food with a fork. As Cinder got closer, Astrid notices and looks up. Cinder waves and smiles at her, “May I join you- if you don’t mind of course.” Astrid nods.

“Is that lamb stew? Looks delicious- how is it?” Cinder asks as she looked at the food on Astrid’s plate. Astrid looks down on her plate and says, “It’s the closest thing I could find that reminds me of my hometown’s food. It’s not exactly the same though…” Cinder takes a bite of her food then asks, “Missing home?” Astrid froze for a bit then responds, “Not really…just the food.”

“Interesting…where are you from by the way?”

“I’m from a small town located in Volkan. Not sure if you’ve heard of it but it’s called F’nair.”

Cinder pauses, taking a few seconds to recall the name. “It sounds familiar…though I’m not too familiar with Volkan to be honest.”

“What about you?” Astrid asks. Cinder explains that her hometown used to be located above where Nox Town is now. It used to go by a different name, but after Nox Town was build, people migrated there since it was safer. Astrid nods slowly, then asks, “By safer, do you mean from outsiders?” Cinder takes a bite from her food then pauses for a bit and says, “Not really, Outsiders can still appear there unfortunately; which is also why we have a Ranger unit that is in charge of patrolling over there-“ she points at herself and Astrid, then continues, “By safer I mean from the climate. The main towns and cities that were located there were mostly industrial. I remember growing up in my town, we had to wear special masks whenever we went out because of the pollution. There was a lot of smoke that the sky was nearly always grey. The Ozone layer weakened with time. Until it reached a point where it was no longer safe to live there-for all living creatures. Hence, we had to migrate underground.” Astrid found the topic very intriguing; they did briefly learn about the history of Nox town during her school days but she didn’t pay attention since it seemed so far from them at the time. Well, she never thought she would leave F’nair either.

The two continued having their launch then Cinder asks Astrid “What made you want to become a ranger?” Why indeed… Astrid thought to herself. Was it just an excuse to run away from home? Was she worried that she was going to be left there alone, without her friends…As a child she was taller and had a slightly bigger frame than most girls her age. She was also gifted with physical strength-or rather cursed as she viewed it. Some people, including her own family, even went as far as to imply that she was perhaps always meant to be a boy. Hence, she spent most of her time as a child with boys her age. At some point she went with the flow, giving in to people’s ideas about her appearance and strength; without realizing it. Perhaps she also felt inspired by what her friend Emir used to say; like some warrior would-“The strong have a responsibility to defend those around them. Especially those who are weaker than them.” It’s true what they say about spending too much time with someone…you end up becoming like them.

“It’s not that deep, I was always told I had amazing physical strength for girl my age. So I thought being in a job like this, I could put my strength to use to benefit the world.” She took a pause then forced a chuckle and said, “Too generic I suppose? Something a hero or warrior would say.” Cinder shook her head and said, “No not at all. In my case I joined because of my father. He was a Ranger as well, from the first ever batch. I admired him a lot and wanted to be like him; hence why I ended up here.” Astrid nods slowly, I see. After a brief pause Cinder then says, “Anyways, knowing Haneul I’m sure she was a little too harsh on you both yesterday. But trust me, she is just worried about you all. If you are here because you want to, then I’m sure you will do well. But if you are here because you were told to be, then…I’d encourage you to reconsider.” Astrid nods and thanks Cinder.

A couple of tables away, sat Rain and Sami having lunch. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes then Sami asks, “So, what’s the deal with you and Kai? You always seem to be together.”

“We’re sort of like siblings I guess…”

“Sort of?”

“I’ve been living with them for a long time now. So they are like family to me.” She explains. Although he was curious, but he refrained from asking about her real parents. Instead he asks, “So what made you want to become a ranger?”

After a short pause she says firmly, “To search for my mother.”

He nods slowly and then remains quiet. Then, out of the blue she asks, “What about you?” Sami was not expecting her to carry on the conversation, she seemed to give off a cold vibe; not showing any interest in communicating with other people. “Hm…to rebel perhaps.” Though it is a straightforward question, he realizes that answering it is not as easy as he thought. Sometimes people just do things because of a feeling or urge that they themselves might not fully understand yet.

Cinder comes over to where Rain and Sami were sitting. “How are you two? Fully recharged now?” The two nod. Are we going for another training session? Sami thought to himself, hoping that that was not the case. Cinder then explains, “Perfect. Just received a call from Haneul and Aaron, we need to head out soon to Nox town.”

“By soon you mean, today?” Sami asks.

“Yes. It’s a bit sudden but an emergency has come up it seems. Anyways, let’s gather at the garage in a few minutes.” She left in a rush afterwards.

The two exchange looks, both nervous yet curious about what they are going to face.