"W-Where's K-Kaoru?" The bot asked.
Goosebumps raced across my arms and neck.
"BB?" I hummed, low.
"Hi-mi-ko," the bot bounced with every syllable.
His eyes were no longer those of dots of light that scanned; they had depth and complexity to them—they were now looking at me rather than ones and zeros that made up an image of me.
"BB… Are you alive?"
"A-live?"
Like a child trying to understand its parents, the bot's head tilted to one side.
Footsteps echoed into the room—Aiko.
"Himiko, what are you talking about?"
I said nothing, letting BB answer her question for me.
"Ai-ko?"
"OH MY GOD!" She jumped back, peeking out from behind me.
"W-why is he talking?" Her breath tickled my ear.
"It just… woke up like that," I said, "after it switched off, earlier."
"Maybe the entity did something to it," Gabriel stepped forward, "It did… something to it."
I placed my hand to my chin.
Yeah, that current.
"BB, do you remember what happened?" I crouched down, eyes meeting his.
"what… happened. What… happened. What—"
"Do you remember what the entity did to you?"
I pointed my finger outside, the entity weaved ribbons in the sky. BB followed my finger, locking onto the entity, head swirling.
After a moment of silent observation, he looked back at me.
Blinking once.
Then again.
Nothing.
"Himiko," Lefèvre called, "the van is approaching, you might wanna get ready to go."
I rushed to the cavern to grab the others. BB followed me closely—every move I made.
"The van's on its way; we need to go," I stopped suddenly at the entrance to the cavern.
They nodded.
Tires screamed—back door flew open.
"Get in, get in!" Kaoru bellowed.
Harden was in the back too, curled up into a ball, hands scraping through his locks.
The cavern emptied. Within seconds, the vehicle was full.
Hanging on the side of the Gurkha, my fringe whipped across my face against the wind as we zoomed through the warzone. There were now significantly fewer living beings in the crater than there were earlier. Thanks to the Entity.
Fingers splayed, the farmer's hand lifted forward. A blue ramp manifested once more, from the surface to the crater's lip.
Tyres buckled. Bodies of mutants and aliens bounced off the bonnet of the van. Blue light flashed overhead, majestic in the sky. Fighters rained down shortly after. The entity spun back one more time, squatting on the top of the van quicker than our eyes could comprehend its journey here.
"Heading off so soon, Himiko," the voice scraped like wet gravel against my spine.
"Whose side are you on?" My voice came out smaller than I wanted.
"Side?" he chuckled, "you see sides here?" he waved his arms around in crescent moons. Mauled corpses, bombshell crater, four-armed giants lifting broken corpses above their four-eyed heads.
"There are. No. Sides—just you…"
A finger touched my chest.
Warm.
Weightless.
I forgot how to breathe for half a second.
"and everyone else."
It had a half-smile on its face.
"You remember that well… Himiko."
Gone—within an instant, returning to the battlefield to finish off the rest of them.
We shifted surfaces, ramp rippling in waves as the Gurkha hauled itself upward. BB shadowed.
The wheels lifted, still spinning. Heart rising to my throat, my fingers locked white-knuckled around the side railing. Cheek pressed to cold steel, eyes screwed painfully shut, as gravity tried its best to rip me off.
We were in the air for a moment; the chaos slowly disappeared behind us like the sun setting at dusk.
The body of the van slammed back down onto the soil, swerving slightly before straightening out. A massive weight left my soul.
"Oh my god!" My voice escaped with shallow breath. I filled my lungs for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, "We did it, Lefèvre… we're home free!"
The farmer let out a cathartic chuckle as he panted. His head dropped low—back up again.
"Oh, Himiko… that was definitely something." A wide smile carved on his face, revealing all his teeth.
Dirt lifted behind us, leaving a trail of tyre tracks between the towering trunks that stretched above. Time lost all meaning in these woods, every second an hour. Every muscle in my body burned, and my eyelids weighed tons.
Leaves rustled in the wind. Heavy trunks swooshed as we passed. The engine rumbled. The pounding of artillery was now a distant mumble.
Creatures big and small sprinted around us. Their eyes were dead—soulless—running in one direction in silence like they were coded to do one thing: Heed the Heart's call.
My lips were sealed, and it felt as though there was a boulder in my throat. There was a force pounding against my ribs. But all faded in the blink of an eye.
Fresh air.
For the first time in aeons, I could see the stars above.
Tyres floated on flat grass. There was a smoothness to the breeze now, telling us we were in the clear.
"Lefèvre, would you be interested in joining MEI? Your power would be a massive help to our cause."
Eyes glistening under the moonlight, he swallowed.
"I don't know if this… is for me. Besides, I made a promise to my family that I'd protect my home to the very end…"
"It's a good thing you've got the power to make shields, isn't it?"
"It helps…"
"How long have you and your family been on this farm?" I gently released the words from my lungs.
"Two years. We lived in Grossaint before, working in an office, as an IT consultant. That's where I met my wife, Emma."
"Love at first sight?"
He snorted.
"Nope. Used to fight all the time. But those arguments eventually shifted to playful flirting, and before we knew it, we started dating."
His eyes betrayed the smile on his face—glassy.
"We hated that job—thought we were wasting our lives. We started planning an escape, just the two of us. We'll save up money, buy some land, build a house and start a family, living off the land. Then we had Millie, so the plan had to go on hold."
"I saw a photo at your farm, she was beautiful."
"She was, looked just like her mother", he paused, "I assume you saw the graves then."
"Yeah… what happened to them? I-if you don't mind me asking."
"It's fine, they fell ill. The forest didn't seem to have the same effect on them that it did on me"
"Aethesium.' the words came out unintentionally. He looked at me, one brow raised, "Erm, it's… what gave you the power. Some kind of radiation."
"That's what created this?"
"Yep."
"The Sylvacapra?"
"I imagine so."
"Where did it come from?"
"That's what we're trying to figure out. There was another one of those entities—that blue ghost alien thing—this one was purple, however. We reckon that Aethesium came from them."
"Aliens?" He asked.
"I don't know about that. I met the purple one briefly; he seemed human. That one back there, definitely alien."
"Maybe they're extreme versions of me."
Extreme versions of him? Like they've been so mutated that they've become gods. But if the power came from them… Then where did their power come from?
THAT'S NOT SOMETHING YOU NEED TO WORRY ABOUT.
HIMIKO SUZUKI.
A voice carved its way into my skull, burrowing slowly into my brain like a drill. It was so overwhelming yet so calm at the same time. I ground my teeth together, trying to absorb the pain.
"Himiko?" The voice felt like it was miles away.
FORGET ABOUT THIS, ABOUT MEI. IS THIS TRULY WHAT YOUR FATHER WANTS?
My brain felt like it was melting. The burning. The blissful field faded, enveloped in a sea of pure black.
Who are you? Why do you know my father?
TELLING YOU WILL ONLY CREATE MORE QUESTIONS. QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS ABOVE YOUR LOT IN LIFE.
"Himiko?"
YOUR DAD KNOWS YOU'RE LYING.
What do you mean?
Photos bore their way into my mind, all at once. My father—at the precinct. He was asking questions to a confused receptionist.
"She left months ago."
"What? W-where?"
"MEI, they invited her personally."
"Why didn't she—" the words came out quietly—a whisper, "Oh, Himiko…"
What's going on? Is this real?
WHAT YOU ARE SEEING ARE REAL IMAGES OF YOUR FATHER.
I KNOW ALL ABOUT EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING.
QUIT… AND THERE'S STILL TIME TO MAKE YOUR FATHER PROUD.
"Himiko!"
I shot open. My lungs burned as air forced its way in and out violently.
"W-what ha—… where… am I?" My brain was fuzzy; it felt like the connection from my mind to my lips had been severed.
"Give her some water." The voice still sounded distant, but familiar.
I couldn't see people around me; just the faint outline of coloured shapes. There were brown rectangles everywhere. I could see two faint blue dots as I tried to gather my surroundings. A large shape covered it.
A cold substance scraped my throat. It tasted like nothing, but had the slight twang of metal. My lips were pursed around a solid object—just as cold as the liquid.
The shapes started to appear more vivid. An ivory circle in front of my face became clearer. Those round, rimless glasses that I knew well faded in.
"Kaoru?"
"She's back," a woman said. It sounded like Aiko.
"What happened?" My voice came out softer than when I imagined the words in my head.
"Could ask the same thing to you. Lefèvre said you suddenly stopped talking to him, whispering nonsense under your breath. Then you suddenly passed out—fell off the van. So what happened, Himiko?"
"I don't know. We were in the field then."
I looked around. We were surrounded by trees, much lower than the ones deeper in, however. I must've been out for a while.
"Who were you talking to, Himiko?" The farmer, crouched next to Kaoru, asked.
"Talking? What are you talking about?"
"Do you not remember?" Kaoru asked.
"You said something about… your father—oh yeah. You said… Who are you? Why do you know my father?"
I tried my best to dig through the memories in my mind. It ached. There was a faint burning sensation in my brain.
"That doesn't matter right now. We need to go. Let me help you up, Himiko."
"I'm fine."
I lifted myself up, swaying once but masking it just enough that no one asked questions.
Kaoru stepped back towards the Gurkha, keeping his eyes on me for just a moment before entering the van. My eyes shifted to what I saw earlier—the two blue dots.
They were gone.
Creak.
I wanted to brush it off as nothing. But I knew better. The creaking branches and the rustling of shrubbery always preceded him.
"We need to go."
Wasting no time, I climbed back on the side of the van.
"What's wrong?" Lefèvre followed, peeking over the side of the van.
"The Sylvacapra."
"If there's one thing that'll survive a god, it's him." His voice was tired; every word came out in the same monotone.
The rustling began.
"Shit. GO, GO, GO!"
The engine roared, and the tyres screamed. The rustling followed. A shadow leapt from branch to branch.
"We must've seriously pissed it off for it to still be following us," the farmer tried to jest, but his voice was too shaky.
Roots twisted from the ground in front in bundles.
The tyres screeched as the van swerved around each column. They were slowing us down. The rustling was catching up, getting louder and louder.
Until he appeared.
Hooves crashed onto the roof, denting it slightly. My eyes followed the back upwards. The being was caked in blue ichor, covered horn to hoof in slashes.
Glowing blue eyes stared down at me, blinking once sideways.