[SIDE B] DAY 1 – AOI HAMASAKI (THE ESCAPE)
We were travelling along the main road for about half an hour. And I was able to see the building structure of the train station from here, then I noticed there were lots of abandoned vehicles around here. This indicated we were on the right direction. Most of the people were evaluated at the train station.
Meanwhile, Number Four was fully stopped. She was looking at the sky.
“Aoi, the nightfall is coming very soon, maybe within an hour or so.”
“We have to get on a train as soon as possible. The archaeology excavation site is just four stops away from the Kensington Train Station.”
Number Three looked at Number Four and said.
“Number Four, they are here. I can feel their presence.”
Were those vampires chasing after us? I was not sure about that. I took a look behind us, and I did not see anything. So, I gently patted both of their heads and said.
“Let’s go… We are almost there.”
Later, we arrived at the Kensington Train Station, which was several blocks away from the parking lot. We went into the train station’s lobby. Immediately, we saw several hundred people. Most of them were resting. But some of them were trying to get to the platform. There was a train in this station.
Some soldiers were guarding the train station’s entrance, while several police officers were patrolling within the building. For this moment, the atmosphere inside the train station was generally calm. Nevertheless, the governing law and jurisdiction were still intact within here.
However, this peaceful environment only lasted for just an hour. It was because at 16:00, that Killer Incorporation had broadcasted their second announcement of the day. Their message was – Kill on sight!
After the broadcasting had finished, most people were showing a certain degree of discomfort within the train station. But the extremists had started a panic with some irrational behavior. They were preaching some kind of apocalypse revelation and even established a cult.
A while later, we decided to go to the train platform and had a look. Once we were at the train platform, I noticed every train was out of service. I asked one of the train conductors for more detail, and the train conductor claimed that it was caused by a temporary power outage.
While we were waiting on the train platform, I brought up a question for Number Four.
“Actually, what is Killer Incorporation?”
Number Four did not say anything, instead Number Three had replied.
“Aoi, it is a long story, but let’s make it short. They are bad people.”
Suddenly, Number Four’s face turned red, and she looked quite upset with what Number Three just said.
“Number Three, you are stupid. Not all of them are bad guys. Look at us! We are the good guys here.”
“Sheesh… Number Four, you talked too much. You might scare Aoi.”
“At this moment, I’m confused. Killer Incorporation is a terrorist organization as other people were talking about that in the train station’s lobby. But if they are only a terrorist group, then that cannot explain all the phenomenon which is happening around here. As Number Three had mentioned earlier, there were vampires in the basement of Kensington’s Mall. Although, I did not engage any one of them yet. However, if Number Three was telling the truth. Then, what will happen next? Are there more monsters lurking around the town now? Plus, Number Four did mention they're also from Killer Incorporation? But they are the good guys?!”
Later on, I noticed that Number Four was looking at me. She was reading my mind earlier.
“Aoi, for all of your questions. I would say…”
As usual, Number Three had interrupted the conversation.
“Aoi, let’s say humans like to make simple things become more complicated…”
Number Four stared angrily at Number Three, then she elbowed him.
“Ouch!”
“Sheesh… Number Three, it’s my turn. Where was I? Oh… Basically, it is a…”
All of a sudden, a deep voice was coming from the stairway to the train platform.
“Excuse me, boys and girls.”
I turned around and looked at the stairway. I saw two people walking up to the train platform. When those two people reached the platform floor. One of them was a tall slim man and the other one who was walking beside him was a short little man. Both of them were staring at us for a while. Then, they started talking to each other.
“Wow… Mr. Strength. I cannot believe those little kids are here.”
“Yes, Mr. Hanged Man. The legendary Origin Six from Killer Incorporation. Hehe…”
Hence, I looked at Number Four and Number Three. Surprisingly, Number Three did not hide behind Number Four anymore. He stood out and said.
“Hey, hey, hey. You two. What is your business here?”
The tall slim man who dressed in a hoodie and a sweater replied.
“Oh, you must be Number Three! Or should I address you as Mr. Death?”
“Mr. Hanged Man, I’m asking you first. Don’t try to digress.”
“Mr. Strength and I were just following our master’s order. Simply, just slaughter every human being and then take over this town.”
Suddenly, Number Four spoke out loudly.
“That doesn’t make sense! Number Zero won’t do that kind of thing.”
Meanwhile, the short little man who wore a Dojo robe with a pair of gray gauntlets in his fists stared at Number Four and said.
“Well, well, well… Finally, our lovely Number Four talks. Or should I say – Ms. Traitor.”
“Mr. Strength, whatever… I believe our master won’t issue such an order. It must be you guys who over exaggerate it.”
“Oh well, Ms. Traitor. Who cares now… He is old and obsolete. The modern world won’t allow such a person to exist anymore.”
Meanwhile, Number Four started to look very serious.
“What did you say, Mr. Strength?”
“Ms. Traitor, I said it is the time to replace him with someone who is ambitious.”
“Who is so ambitious? I want to greet this intelligent person at once.”
“Of course, Mr.… Ops… You almost got me, Ms. Traitor. Haha… However, it is time…”
Number Three was slowly walking towards Mr. Hanged Man. Meanwhile, Mr. Hanged Man was pretty excited after he saw Number Three take out a black metallic double scythe from the mid-air.
“Double Sins! Mr. Death, you really want a fight.”
“Mr. Hanged Man, don’t you also?”
Meanwhile, Mr. Hanged Man took out a silverish Kusarigama and replied.
“Of course, it will be my honor to be your opponent. This will determine who is better.”
The sense of bloodlust was so strong which made this melee to become the century of the fight. Mr. Strength also got his eyes fixed on the fight. But Number Four was not, she was pondering for a moment. Afterwards, she whispered to me.
“Aoi, get ready to run once I create a distraction for Mr. Strength.”
“Huh? Like what?”
Suddenly, a large object had fallen from the sky. It had landed just behind us. This large object was approximately two-storey high. Although, it was huge compared to Mr. Strength’s height. However, it actually was a stuffed animal bear which had a crown on its head.
Mr. Strength was distracted immediately and said.
“Ms. Traitor, you want to play rough.”
“Mr. Strength, show me what you got.”
Mr. Strength was dashing towards that huge stuffed animal bear, and shouted out loud.
“Haha… Let’s have some fun… King Kuma!”
King Kuma was fighting with Mr. Strength. It released several jabs which pushed back Mr. Strength a little bit while he was blocking those attacks. Nevertheless, Mr. Strength still received an uppercut from King Kuma which had him flew through the train platform and landed into a newspaper stand.
Suddenly, Number Four grabbed my hand and then jumped onto the railway track. Both of us started running away from the train platform. Later, Number Three was also following us. But Mr. Hanged Man did not give up. He was chasing after Number Three.
Hence, Number Four gave a command to King Kuma.
“Pick us up!”
King Kuma picked three of us up with its hands, and then by using its dashing technique to leave the scene.
Mr. Hanged Man stopped his pursuit, while Mr. Strength had arrived at the railway track and stood beside him.
“They escaped. Mr. Hanged Man, I will go after them.”
“Mr. Strength, don’t go after them. We still have unfinished business to deal with.”
“Tch… They got lucky this time. I guarantee I will destroy both of you – King Kuma and Ms. Traitor!”
“Let’s get back to the town center and regroup our minions first and wait for the others.”
“What about those human beings inside the train station’s lobby?”
“Slaughter them without mercy!”
“Agree!”
<<< === === >>>
With the help of King Kuma, we finally arrived at the archaeology excavation site around midnight. The excavation site for City of Light was humongous. When I was a little kid, I had visited here a couple of times due to my parents’ work. But I was still amazed by its view, especially at nighttime.
Since, there were insufficient light sources in this area. Such that it was impossible to start our exploration at this hour. Hence, we picked a spot near a small hill and then settled down there.
Number Three gathered some woods and made us a campfire. While Number Four was checking out King Kuma’s condition.
“There seems to be no serious damage after the fight.”
I tapped Number Four’s left shoulder and she noticed my presence.
“Aoi, you ate?”
“Kind of, I had some chocolate bars a moment ago.”
“Then you should catch some sleep. Tomorrow will be a tough day for us. Since, Killer Incorporation is searching for us.”
“Number Four, I have a question about you guys and King Kuma.”
“Oh, you mean… What are we? Where are we from? Why are we rescuing you? Et cetera, et cetera, right?”
“Yep. Please.”
Number Three heard the conversation and came over to us. When he started talking, I tried to stop him by using my hand to cover his mouth.
“Sheesh… Number Three. I want to listen to the whole story right from the beginning.”
Number Three looked at me and smiled. Meanwhile, Number Four continued.
“Aoi, Okay no problem. We understood. Umm... Let me start with a myth about the Ancients first, then you will slowly understand what is going on right now.”
Three of us sat by the campfire. Number Three asked me a question.
“Aoi, you are not tired?”
“No!”
Number Four stared at Number Three once again. He realized and turned around.
“Fine, I’m going to sleep now!”
“Good boy.”
Number Four looked into the stars and started telling me a story about the Ancients.
“Aoi, this myth was dated back a very, very, very long time. People said that Ancients taught everything to the first human civilization in this world. Of course, that included science, technology, medical, math, etc.”
Number Four paused for a moment then continued.
“The end.”
Number Three was rolling on the floor laughing so hard and saying.
“Haha… I want to pee! Haha…”
I was a little bit angry since that was the shortest storytelling I had ever heard before.
Number Four blushed and looked at Number Three. He got up and sat in front of me.
“Okay! Let me do it. Basically, Number Four is on the right track. However, she skipped a lot of detail. Haha… Where was it? Ah… Ancients were the first species who walked on earth. Of course, in between them and the first human civilization. There were a lot of dinosaurs, but eventually all of those dinosaurs died out. Anyways, let’s go back to the first human civilization… Aoi, why do human beings need to reproduce?”
“Huh? What does that mean?”
“Descendant, offspring, baby, child, etc.”
“Oh, I think it is human nature.”
“Actually, if a species cannot overcome its death. Then, the only way to survive in the world would be to reproduce with its own descendants. Such that it could pass on its knowledge of survival from one generation to the next generation. Human beings are a good example, since their lifespan has been limited due to the ageing process, which included physical, psychological and social changes. Scientifically, it is the accumulation of damage such as DNA oxidation and methylation.”
“Ah… Umm… Oh…”
Number Three looked at me again and continued.
“Then how about if a species could overcome its death?”
“Does that mean it doesn’t need to reproduce?”
“Oh well, actually it still needs its own descendant. However, its descendant is more like an empty vessel. If that species encountered some kind of danger due to the environment or some other constraints. Then, its descendant would be its backup plan. Something like a mind transfer.”
“Quick question, if something happened during the transfer? Then what will happen?”
“Umm… might suffer temporary memory loss or permanent brain damage. But for some special cases, it would be selectively memory loss… Let’s go back to my story… Such that the descendants of Ancients with its knowledge could go to another planet to live on.”
“So, what you are saying is… Ancients are aliens!”
“Not alien. That’s rude... You should call us extraterrestrial intelligence.”
I took a closer look at Number Three and then Number Four.
“You two are Ancients too?”
Number Four interrupted the conversation.
“Kind of, we are the hybrid version – half Ancients and half Humans.”
Number Three stared at Number Four. But Number Four just grimaced in return.
“Sigh… Aoi, never mind her. Okay, where was I?”
“You are a hybrid version of ET.”
Number Three had a bitter smile on his face.
“Aoi, this is serious stuff.”
“Hehe… I know.”
Number Three was shaking his head.
“Oh well… Let’s continue… Since, Ancients do have a very, very, very long lifespan. Therefore, most Ancients possess lots of advanced knowledge with special abilities. Human beings call those supernatural powers. But actually, it is just original abilities and technologies for us. For example, about Number Four and King Kuma. She is…”
Number Three stared at Number Four, while she interrupted the conversation again.
“Let me do my own explanation. Aoi, mine is mind reading. But it is actually telepathy. I just think inside my brain, then King Kuma will respond to my request.”
Suddenly, King Kuma ran over and gave a bear hug to Number Three.
“For King Kuma, it is an oversized robot bear. Of course, it was built with cutting-edge technology, which could only receive my unique telepathy signals.”
King Kuma was sitting on top of Number Three, and he was shouting.
“Number Four, I surrender. Let me go. Let's go.”
Number Four stared at Number Three with her evil smile.
“So, what is Number Three’s ability?”
“Oh, about him, that’s easy. He’s a MERE VAMPIRE!”
I was shocked once Number Four had mentioned that term. Meanwhile, Number Three was trying to explain a little bit more.
“I’m the mere vampire, not the vampire from that fiction novel. I’m totally different from that one… Ah… Umm…”
“DRACULA!”
“Yeah, is him. Anyways, I don't drink blood and I don’t have any beautiful vampire bride at all. I’m just a virgin who possesses super strength, instant regeneration, and I can fly. That’s it. Nothing amazing at all.”
“I spaced out for a while. Number Three said that he is nothing special at all. That means…”
Number Four looked at me and she answered my mind.
“Aoi, you are right. Some Ancients got super… insane… overwhelming… overpower… kind of abilities. By the way, most of the members from Killer Incorporation are hybrid ET too. Hehe… Ouch!”
Number Three had hit Number Four’s head with a hand chop gesture.
“Number Four, why is it funny? Instead, we should be worried, since they also have supernatural powers too.”
Number Four was crying, so King Kuma came over and hugged her. Meanwhile, Number Three kept on the storytelling.
“Aoi, now you know we are from Ancients. Then, Killer Incorporation is a secret society within Ancients. Originally, it was named the Order of Assassins. It was a good name in the fourteenth century up until the nineteenth century. During the nineteenth century, our master renamed it into a more modern and trendy name – New World Order. However, when we tried to trademark it. We found out it was taken by a human secret society. Later on, we tried out several other names such as Brotherhood of Zion, Illuminati, Freemasonry, etc.”
“I know, all of them were taken too. Am I right?”
“Wow… Aoi, you know all of them too?”
“Actually, none at all. I just took a wild guess.”
“Oh, I see… Therefore, at the end. Our master finally picked the name – Miller Incorporation.”
“Huh? Miller Incorporation? Not Killer Incorporation?”
“Oh yeah… It was because our master’s handwriting is so ugly. The name Miller Incorporation got mixed up with Killer Incorporation… By the way, just don’t tell anyone else. Okay?”
Number Four was laughing and replied.
“Number Three, I heard what you said. I will tell our master next time when I meet him. Haha… I will… for sure… Haha…”
Number Three tried to avoid Number Four’s remarks and continued.
“Aoi, so both of you parents were working on a project for the university. And that specific project is located here – City of Light.”
“Yes, I know that part from my parents.”
“However, the City of Light was one of the hidden cities in this world, which was built by the Ancients around the seventh century.”
“What is a hidden city?”
“In general speaking, it means the Ancient city.”
“Wow… It is from the seventh century.”
“Actually, the one your parents discovered was the sixty-six version of it. Throughout the centuries, the City of Light got destroyed and then rebuilt again in total sixty-six times. The last time that was in the nineteenth century.”
“Umm… It got destroyed and rebuilt so many times. Its citizens must have suffered a lot.”
“During its peak time, the population was close to one million of humans and hybrid races. Unfortunately, all because of that ‘Device’.”
“That ‘Device’?”
“That ‘Device’ could generate massive energy on itself without any side effects, which is something that shouldn’t exist in the first place…”
“Why? It sounds very environmental to me.”
“The problem is – every country in this world wants it.”
Meanwhile, Number Four walked over to us and said.
“Aoi, it’s time to go to sleep now.”
“Oh… Now?”
“Yes, please go to sleep. Tomorrow will be a long day for us, since we need to explore the excavation site.”
“What are you looking for?”
“Its entrance.”
