I was laying down on my bunk, while Kim Min-Su sat on the bunk above me.
"Hey Jae-wook, you've never really talk to anyone in our squad. Why's that?"
"Hmmm, im not so sure myself. Maybe its just because I've got nothing to say."
"Come on, a guy like you must have something interesting to say. Like whats your goal for example? You know like what are you trying to achieve in life?"
『A goal』
"If i had to say... promise not to laugh. But the level 4 kaiju that appeared in south korea, its my little sister"
Kim Min-Su closed his mouth and was trying really hard not to laugh "a-are you sure its actually her and that you are not hallucinating?" He asked me while gripping onto the mattress.
"Yes, 100% sure. I wanna see her again, even if its in a fight"
"Do you believe in god Jae-wook?" The exterminator sitting on the bunk bed next to me asked.
『Who the hell is he to intervene in my conversation?』
"No i don't, Not after everything thats happened. An all powerful god who does nothing but wait in heaven. What about all the suffering in the world? You can't tell me that humans deserve it, what about the countless innocent kids and people, do they deserve to face the punishment of others? I lost hope in something above us the moment my sister died- no i lost myself at that moment."
From that point on.
"I had become a walking machine without emotions. Doing things without thinking about them."
My fist clenched almost reflexively.
"Like a machine that lost its program"
「This guy is slightly edgy」
"Woah... thats deep" Kim Min-Su said and nodded his head along. While the guy who asked the question closed his eyes and seemed to be thinking about something.
"Anyway, im going to sleep" while others chatted about things i closed my eyes and tried to dose off. The image of Kyung-sook seemed to blur in my mind.
『Damnit, its happening again.』
When i opened my eyes i was trapped in a large void, the ground beneath me was made of cracked concrete. I glanced up and saw myself- a bunch of me with distorted faces pointing at different direction.
"This must be some kind of nightmare..."
I navigated through the countless me's, looking for something, i didn't know what that something was but i looked for it anyway. Eventually i stumbled upon a stone well and next to it was another me holding a bucket of blood, the other held a bloodied machete and they were both staring into the well.
『What are they doing?』
Slowly i stepped towards the stone well and took a glance, the well was filled up to the brim with black water, a arm was sticking out almost like someone drowning.
But this arm was still and unmoving. The two me's standing on either side began moving, they grabbed my shoulders and pushed me in
"Hey wa-"
The arm grabbed a hold of my head and dragged me deep into pitch black darkness, i struggled and wailed my arms to no avail.
"AHHHH!"
I reached out instinctively and clutched onto my throat, my eyes shot wide open.
"You alright?" Kim Min-Su asked while getting dressed
"Yeah... it was just a nightmare."
It was already morning and the light was filtering through the window. The towering white buildings were absolutely stunning, an engineers wet dream.
I got dressed and put on my Chimera skin really quickly. The suit tightening around my body in a way that was comfortable.
[GATHER AT THE AV LAUNCH PADS IN ONE HOUR]
it was currently 9 in the morning so i used my time to leave the sleeping quarters and walk to a vending machine, i pulled out my credit card and swiped it on the scanner before picking what i wanted to get. I chose a chocolate bar, real chocolate. What do i mean? Real chocolate has become kind of rare to find, all because of a massive heat wave that swooped over the entire continent of africa, burning almost everything... people included. I walked through the hallway after unwrapping the chocolate, Passing by different exterminator's and advertisements
FOR 2000 A MONTH YOU CAN SUPPORT REFORESTATION AND SAVE CHILDREN IN AFRICA
HEALING AFRICA ONE DOLLAR AT A TIME
THANKS TO GIVELIFE PATENTED GENECORP™
The advertisement right behind me had an image of an african child wearing merchandise and smiling while receiving water.
『I wonder where Ha-joon is. Surely he waited for me right... i should look for Sun-Young too.』
"Hey, you waited for us?" Ha-joon said
Sun-Young and Ha-joon stood over me like towering giants.
"Finally, found you two"
"Finally? You waited for like 5 minutes" Sun-Young grumbled with her hands on her hips.
「Someone is impatient aren't they.」
"Lets get going, they won't be waiting for us"
"Relax mister, we've got like 40 minutes"
『40 minutes... ill have to find something to do』
"They have a piano, i could play a piece for you guys"
Thats right, ha-joon plays the piano.
The three of us walked to a large open area and in the middle was a piano that no one even batted an eye at.
"The stage is yours mozzart" Sun-Young insisted for Ha-joon to start playing
Ha-joon took a seat and stared at the keys before taking a deep breath
PLINK
He began playing a piece i didn't recognize
"That must be the song hes been talking to me about. He called it Gnossienne No. 1 by this guy named satie. Ha-joon is a big fan of that guy. He saw this song being performed by some homeless dude in the street and he fell in love with the piano"
『Yet he never told me. Sure i knew he could play but he never told me much more than that』
Ha-joon continued playing for about three minutes before stopping. Me and Sun-Young clapped for him. He drew the eyes of a few exterminator's but no one really cared too much. The piano had lost its popularity.
"What should we do now?" I questioned the group and Sun-Young just shrugged
"We listen to him play until the gathering"
Fine... and for 30 minutes we did listen to him play the piano. Until it was time to gather. We separated ways and went back to our individual squads.
Gathered in the AV launching pads we were all staring at the outside. The AV launching pad stretched across the floor like a steel cavern. Each AV cradled in its own docking area. The top was armored with steel and guiding systems. There was a yawning, open maw that faced the city.
We all stared as the parade began. Blue, white and red confetti began falling from above like rain. Floating in the air were floats with machines designed after the founding father holding an american flag. Everywhere you looked you saw america. One floating robot handed military flyers while another displayed videos of America's victory against canada. People were cheering left and right while loud music played everywhere.
Another float passed by, this one had a soldier planting the american flag on a canadian soldier and smiling proudly
『This...』