Chapter 3
Faint Wish
In order to combat the threat of deformation and infertility, the United Nations enforced the World Law. A transitional project that transferred all of the humans' brains into bionoids. 100 years have passed since then. Transitions were almost complete, until a rouge bionoid destroyed shelter 9G.
Now we look to the future.
June 24th, 2158
"Len?" I stood there next to my twin sister as we stood on a landing near the top of the abandoned Exodus tower. "Yeah?" The wind caressed our hair, whipping in about softly as if barely moving at all. "Do you think we can do this?" The suffocating darkness grew as the night went on around the quiet city. "Uh," I started, "um-, I think so." Unconvinced, Rin turned to look at my face. "You alright?" It was obvious that she knew that I was still scared. "Yes, I'm fine." "Hn. We better go inside; we have to leave early tomorrow." She gave a very tired look back at me as she walked toward the door.
The last few days have been hard on the both of us. Hiding in the rubble or in deserted buildings; we'd been traveling to get to this tower for the last week and a half. Nightmares filled with death plagued my sleep, while my dear sister's days were stalked with terrifying images. I can't worry her. I looked over my shoulder catching her about to open the door with the broken lock.
"I-I'll stay for just a few more minutes," I told her before she disappeared inside. Now all alone, my eyes went back to the blackened atmosphere. What do I do I thought. We may not live to see the day after tomorrow if we do this. I rubbed my face in frustration as the negative thoughts swarmed into my mind. This is it. I closed my eyes as if it would help me confirm my made decision. After this, there is no turning back.
April 9th, 2144
"Do you think this is wise?" "Wise or not, we have no choice except the one placed before us now." A woman stared down the elder man as he argued his point to her. "They're only children," she harshly whispered pointing to two infant fraternal twins. Her husband, who had been quiet throughout the debate, glanced at his wife who sat to his left. "Hana, because they're children, they will have the best chance," he said trying to convince his emotionally unstable partner. "Toji!" she gasped, "Your children, our children! Their lives are at stake, and you want to just give up any chances to save their future?"
The room grew quiet at her last statement. Toji looked down at the floor he was sitting on. His wife, he knew in a sense, was right. How could he give up his only offspring, newborns even, to such a cause? His brows furrowed in concentration. "Hana," he began. The blonde haired woman looked seething at her husband waiting for his supposed excuse of an explanation. He sighed at his wife's expression. "Hana, there are no more flesh humans left this world except for us," he said as he motioned around the room. The seven occupants in small hideout all looked solemn. Some nodded their heads in agreement while others frowned or tried to keep their tears from falling.
Toji's determined face glanced at his roommates before his eyes settled on the guilt visage of Hana. "I'm not saying that it's right to sacrifice others, but if they don't do this there won't be a future for them to live in. Hana's eyes began to water at the thought of her babies being murdered for not having the nonexistent transitions. Everyone knew that the transitions from 50 years ago failed to create peace but successfully made a utopia of evil. The tears fell down her pale cheeks as she failed to push the bloody image of the murderous bionoids. "Toji," she whimpered. Knowing that she understood what was at stake, Toji let a sad smile grace his lips. He wrapped her arms around him and then gave her waist a small squeeze of comfort.
The elder man who had originally been arguing with Hana looked toward the window. The darkened moon that rested against the black sky gave little to no light to the sorrowed world that they lived on. Rubbing the bridge of his nose, the elder sighed at the complexity of the situation. "To connect their DNA toward the future," he whispered.
The rest of the night was filled with sounds of a heartbroken mother and innocent breaths of two children.
June 7th, 2158
"Daddy!" Rin screamed as Len pushed her into the elevator. On the floor laid the lifeless body of her mother, brutally murdered by a transition. "Rin don't look back!" Len yelled as he grabbed his sister. "But-!" "Cough!" The sound of spattering blood caught the boy's attention when Rin got interrupted by it. As the elevator's doors began to close, Len could only gasp in horror at the sight of his father crawling toward them while the transition followed close behind.
The fresh bruises and cuts on his face clashed with his brunette hair. And the closer he came, the more prominent his wounds were to the eye. Len's skin began to get a sudden chill. Rin grabbed unto the sleeve of his shirt as he reached out his dying father. "D-dad," Len stuttered. The doors had but inches left before they shut the two from the gruesome scene before them. With the rest of his strength, Toji managed to speak a farewell to his teenage children before the doors shut them out.
"You guys must live on…"
June 25th, 2158
"I don't see anything," Rin said softly to her right. Len, who was hiding with her behind a corner leading to a hallway, nodded before carefully glancing into the next corridor. "The coast is clear," he said getting up. Faint padding sounds echoed as they jogged slowly around the empty halls. They looked at the smeared and half burned signs trying to figure out where their designation lied. "There," Rin told her brother. He followed the path of her pointed finger to a partially tilted sign that read in almost intelligible bold font: Trans-dimensional Orbital Interface. Len gave his twin a smile before he lightly tugged her arm to the direction of the door that the sign was on. "Great job."
The old sliding door creaked as it opened to reveal a dark passageway to the lab when a crash resounded. "…We need to get down here," Rin told me. With her tightly gripping unto the sleeve of my shirt, I nodded before walking through the doorway.
We walked for a little while, making our steps as quiet as possible. "Len," Rin whispered. Huh? I looked to where she was staring at. "Ah! There it is…" The trans-dimensional orbital interface; a machine that loads people into history. Basically a time machine. "We found it!" Rin exclaimed softly. Even in this dire situation, I could still hear the raw excitement emanating from her sweet voice. We took the first step to our mission. Create a new history. "Ah? Len?" The sound of the doors behind us banging and screeching from trying to be forced opened. "Darn it," I breathed, "They found us." "We need to get in!"
Rushing to the main control pad, I began to type in a code that I had been memorizing since childhood. Rin, by my side, was checking over my shoulder for inexistent errors. I can't go back. I don't know what to do. The tears stain my cheeks in the floating empty space. Why am I crying? "Len?" Rin's worried voice brought out of my daydream. What was that? I thought to myself. Shaking my head, I looked up to the blank monitor screen. "Finished," I told her.
"Un, it's getting closer…" The clawed appendages, we both knew so well, were now making their way through a slit in the sliding door. "New humanity my butt," Rin muttered. If it reaches us we'll be torn to pieces. We gave each other an uneasy look before simultaneously smiling. Even if it gets in here, I'd risk my life to keep you safe. I pushed the 'activate' button on the control pad. Then everything in the room became still.
IMAGE LOADING…
A bird…An owner.
The miracle said to grant any wish, we search only to save the world. Your once closed eyes had opened again. At the ocean where surely we can overcome anything.
A pianist…lovers.
A prisoner…A sick person.
Speaking to you over the divide, we can overcome the bridge. No matter what, I will see you again. That is my wish, to know your name.
A scientist…A miracle.
A warrior…A waiting person.
The brother I never knew is on his way, on the journey to save you. I will save you from this terrible past. I will cure your lifelong loneliness.
A utopian…friends.
An orphan…siblings.
The snowy city filled with sadness, took us to the last step. We can no longer eat the bread we stole. Let's someday dance again.
Rin slowly looked at me then gripped my hand. "Just how much time has passed since we got to this place?" From the pictures seen on the monitor, anyone could understand what she meant. " No matter what time period, you were always there." So were you. Always there, by my side. "You are important to me; I don't want to lose you…" Startled, my eyes widened. What? The door finally was forced all the way open by the transition.
And Rin pushed me into the chamber.
One new command has been imputed. 60 seconds until system starts. Command has been received; activating program.
"Rin?" I asked. "Brother, at this rate we'll both get destroyed," she told me against the opposite side of the glass. "I'll buy us some time till the system activates." My fist on the glass hardened as my nails dug into the flesh of my palm. "If I use myself as bait I could probably distract it for a few minutes," she explained. "Stop it!" I yelled, "Just open the door!" Her face suddenly grew sad. "I won't…" she started. "You're the one who always…" Huh? I was confused. Didn't she realize that I couldn't live without her? "You're the one who always protected me…looked after me…" Don't. "So it's my turn to leave things up to you," she said with a determined look.
The glass. This infernal barrier. Something always kept us apart! The transition that had been analyzing the room now looked to us. Behind this evil barrier I could slightly make out that it looked to Rin. It hesitated. Rin stopped. Her confused face stared at the unemotional bionoid. "Wait…Len?" And in the fastest second of my life, the six appendages ripped through her clothes and stabbed vital areas with deadly precision.
"Rin!" The blood pouring out of her, and her saddened smile were piercing my heart in ways no one could ever understand. "Don't worry," she panted. "At the world where everything has changed," Rin managed to speak, "we'll meet again." The bionoid walked at a suspenseful pace that only managed to make me have even more hatred to the glass on the chamber door. Don't. "Next" the hands came behind her "time" the arms sticking out of her body grew tense "Le-" and the artificial limbs shot out of her torso, bring out flesh and gushing blood. The hands gripped her throat and tore it away, spraying out blood over my window to the outside world.
I screamed the name that I couldn't in a past life.
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