1. REMEMBRANCE/RESISTANCE

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        THERE WERE many different archetypes that filled Nee's mental storybook of the Astral Express within the month she had stayed here so far, of which reminded her of people from her far home (merely caricatures at this point, but they would appear in her dreams, her talking consciousness, her habits. For that, she held them in great regard despite not even knowing their names). They all constructed their own tiny kingdom within a crew as they followed Akivili's way.

        There was the guardian, the one who guided and gave. She could be found as a fairy, a spirit of the old wood, a woman who spoke with the wind and had tea with the sea at least daily. Maybe she wasn't old or withered, young and blooming, but no matter what, she knew what to say and always had something to grant. Himeko wasn't exactly a tea person━━more of a coffee one━━but her austerity and quiet confidence were enough to catch the stars' gaze, and the girl liked that.

        The knight followed in suit, a simple, mysterious, wandering savior. He often would rather not be elaborated on, maybe for his safety or for others, and he knew many things. He knew to guard, to fight, to observe his world. His eyes were as sharp as his blade and his words were as cold as the night. Dan Heng reminded her of these yore knights, the particular ones who would separate from their clans and roam the world with a secret desire. He was well-versed in many things from his previous journeys, so of course he would take the role of the itinerant knight in her small reverie.

        To match like cards, there had to be a princess involved. The most unorthodox of characters, to be honest, as she could be anything within the castle walls despite the pretty dress, savvy attitude when it came to diplomacy, and the premise that the knight would save her. She knew the best clothing brands to the best weapons, educated on other means rather than the physics of the cosmos. Desideria was always someone to rely on when you wanted to get to know certain places at a more local, even personal and intimate level. To a princess, it was always the small things that helped when the bigger world overwhelmed your senses.

        The king oversaw this regimen of individuals. Though his presence was rare, he did his best to bequeath from afar. And whenever he could visit below his stoop, he made the most of his stay to spend time with those he cared for. In the books, there were two ways he could go━━a tyrant or a savior. He seemed to be on the path of the latter since he always had performed repairs and given provisions to the rest of the crew. Levent always had what everyone needed, here with answers and what others would ask for in prayer. Although he was absent, he returned to this Express from time to time and did what he could before he left to perform his other duties once again.

        And then, the wizard, another role with strangely broad terminology. Not often was magic required to become such a person, and like the guardian, a wizard's abilities lay within his wisdom. He had wisdom, an overcoat, and a materialistic catalyst for either his comfort or his enchantment. He seemed to know everything about the universe's doctrines, celestial bodies, and the science behind each heavenly principle and process. His powers were often immeasurable, whether they were concrete or abstract, and behind his kindness he could likely topple kingdoms if fallen too deep. Mr. Yang encapsulated the role of what a wizard was and could be, not only with knowledge and a drawn warmth but also a cabalistic gift he wielded in the name of justice.

        It was funny; Nee found herself time and time again inserting the people of current significance in her life into these roles, just to simplify them as a means of remembrance. Frozen in mind within these roles' walls, she was able to infer at least parts of their basic personas throughout the course of their relationships. Because of this habit, it was easier to know how each relationship and person worked. There were roles, then their variations, and then variations within variations. Her neighbors were so different, but with a little allusion-based help, she was able to reiterate her past knowledge and use it to make some new friends.

        A bit. . . complex, yes, but her world was a storybook without its end. At least, that's how she envisioned it. With every new fable, there is a repetitive catalogue of roles. And what role did she take in each of these stories?

        She wasn't sure. That's what she was here to find out. If Himeko took on the role of a guardian, Mr. Yang a wizard, and the conductor. . . an omnipresent deus ex machina (?). . . what could she become during this adventure?

        "So what do you think? Did record players exist on your homeworld?"

        Himeko's voice interrupted Nee's elongated train of thought. They sat in the parlor car with cups of coffee as Himeko gestured to the machine by their lounge area. To be honest, it didn't look the most familiar, but she at least knew what a record player was. She nodded as she stared down at her still-full latte.

        Nee loved Himeko. She was a wonderful guardian figure and was amazing for reconstructing the Astral Express. She was renowned as an elegant intellectual throughout the cosmos and everyone pretty much adored her and her work. But this coffee of hers was a wretched thing, akin to magical elixirs and crone's poisons that turned you inside out.

        (          Maybe Himeko would be rewritten as a witch in her mental storybook just because of this. Although it felt rude, the taste of her coffee made this revision excruciatingly tempting.          )

        "The records I remember having weren't as polished as yours, though. But that's what I remember," Nee said. "They were expensive and the records were so fragile. They were scavenged, that's why. We only played ours whenever we were back on land and had special occasions, like parties."

        "The fragility of records has me curious," Himeko replied. "I'm surprised we found preserved ones in the first place."

        "Not broken either."

        "With crystal clear audio." Himeko took a sip of her drink (somehow). "Levent will be arriving on the Express today. You know, the repairman I mentioned before?"

        Mr. Levent Chaichana's mysterious profile loomed over the Express quite significantly. Not only was he a transient long-life-species repairman, but he was a freelancing engineer, merchant, and mercenary (a mouthful, surely) that Himeko was well-acquainted with. Who knows where he came from, Himeko once said, but I can assure you that he's trustworthy.

        The only things Nee really knew about him was he could pretty much do anything and that Mr. Yang was very close with him. What remained was an enigma that Nee wanted to uncover, but that investigation would take a while. Setting aside the roles Nee placed upon the Express passengers, these were all people. That meant they were all complex. And, most certainly, they likely had extremely different backgrounds. After all, the Express attracted strange characters.

        She first took note of this when meeting the small and plushy━━albeit capable━━conductor.

        "When? And where?" Nee asked.

        "Right before Pom Pom's scheduled dinnertime," Himeko smiled. 'Dinnertime' would be in about three hours. "We'll be stopping by a jetty near a Genius Society event. He'll be in a meeting with the Genius Society all day, but he'll find us afterward."

        The girl raised an eyebrow. She had heard of that society before, but when? "What is the Genius Society, exactly?"

        Himeko hummed. "Well. . . they are essentially a chosen group of individuals who have a certain understanding of the world, I'd say. People assume they're just really smart, but it's more than that."

        "A certain understanding of the world?"

        "They were chosen by an Aeon. Self-explanatory."

        "Ah." Aeons' intentions were always unclear, Nee recalled, as they were akin to deities. The distance between mortals and deities created chanciness. She tried searching her memories for any instance of this society, but it was no use. "That makes sense. I guess, since Levent is so special and skilled, he was recognized."

        "That is possible. But people like Mr. Yang and you are quite practiced like him as well," Himeko added, "so the reasons behind Levent's membership may be related to other things."

        "I see." Nee watched Himeko look beyond her direction, and she turned around to find Desideria━━who she dubbed the Express princess━━walking towards their little corner.

        Himeko smiled at her, and Nee couldn't help but feel drawn to Desideria's presence despite the older girl's usual languid attitude. In contrast to her apathy, Desideria's clean cut silhouette and fashionably chosen gear fit the tastes of any girl with the times. Everything about her was alluring in a way, from the layers of maroon hair that fell beyond her shoulders to the liquid Ametrine in her eyes. Princess-esque.

        Considering the missions she would go on with the other crew members, she often garnered attention━━that's what Nee was able to witness, anyway━━which was often unwanted, but inevitable. Most people fell to her whims and she showed no remorse for that. Nee respected her wholeheartedly for her attitude.

        But on the Express, although still aggressively nonchalant, she was a bit more mindful of her lack of obvious kindness. She was actually quite talkative and relaxed on this train. "Hey, you two," she greeted them. Her attention eventually diverted to Himeko. "We'll be landing soon. Pom Pom would like your presence near the helm to mind the navigation. Just in case, of course."

        "Of course. We've never been to this jetty before, so being careful is our best bet." Himeko began to stand up from her seat with her cup and saucer. "Did you let the others know about our landing?"

        "Mr. Yang's fully aware. Dan Heng, however. . ." Desideria sighed at the mention of him. The knight enjoyed seclusion. "Look, he's real busy right now. Too busy for me, even, which is surprising. The least I could do was tell him through the door, but I'm not sure if he overheard."

        "I'll just message him. Hopefully, he reads our thread." Himeko looked at Nee. "And hopefully, you like Levent. He may seem intimidating, but he's quite sweet. He may come back complaining about the Genius Society though."

        "Oh, Herta's been getting on his nerves about her latest project," Desideria chimed in. "Mr. Yang's messages were filled with his rants a few days ago. He might not be in the best mood tonight."

        Himeko chuckled to herself. "Let's see how it goes. I'll see you later, girls."

        The woman made her way up the stairs of the helm entrance and disappeared behind the gold-framed door. After making sure she was completely out of sight, Desideria turned to Nee.

        A small grin graced her face and she nodded to the cup Nee still had. "Thoughts?"

        Nee looked at the coffee, and then at her. "I can't."

        "That's the most tame response so far," Desideria snickered. She took Himeko's chair and sat across from the girl. "I audibly gagged when I first tried her coffee, but covered my mouth right before she could acknowledge me. One time, Mr. Yang actually spat it in the sink."

        Nee couldn't help but cover her mouth and giggle. "What about Dan Heng?"

        "You'd assume he would abstain. He's seen our reactions and wouldn't want to experience the horrors of a Himeko-made cappuccino. But he's actually capable of downing it without any trouble." Desideria's manicured nails tapped on the table from left to right, a repetitive rhythm she often played. She looked out into the abyss beyond the gigantic windows of the parlor car. There wasn't much but a small amalgamation of stations in the distance. She pointed. "That's the rendezvous in the middle. That square-looking-thing on the left is the landing jetty that's connected to it."

        Nee's eyes followed her direction and she spotted a spherical station hosting spaceship traffic. It was surrounded by a ring of dust and ice that appeared like a film roll, with the ends found on opposite poles of the sphere, like a planet. A gaping hole on the side was this planet's entryway, hosting multiple spaceship entrances into the bleak darkness. It was likely a party there, regardless of how eerie it looked.

        The Express had landed in a few places before, following parts of the Aeon Akivili's trailblazing journey prior to their fall, and so Nee was often expectant of discovering new places━━whether they were as small as this or as large as the Iron Sun.

        She watched Desideria type something into her cell phone with one hand, slumping into her seat and resting her head with her other arm on the table. "Okay, so. . . this jetty has a shopping center and mockup street food venues. The station neighbors an entire planet a few knots away that sends it a lot of products and resources, so that makes sense. A Hananyo-style jetty, that's what it's called."

        "So do you plan on checking everything out?" Nee asked, yet the knowing expression on her face said otherwise. Desideria could not resist.

        "I mean. . ."

        "We have time, don't we? Levent won't be done for another few hours. We'll be landing soon. I'm sure Himeko will let us."

        Desideria nodded as she scrolled through her phone. "I am craving Hananyo street food. I mean, look at this chirashi bowl━━you could never get seafood with this quality imported." She showed Nee a picture of skewered treats.

        "I've. . . never tried that before, actually. I've never had that kind of food, not just that."

        "You've never had Hananyo cuisine?" Desideria raised an eyebrow. Nee nodded. "Literally so many people love Hananyo stuff. Hananyo animation, Hananyo technology, Hananyo food. . . honestly, a lot of its pop culture became the image of the culture recently for outworlders, which sucks, but authentic food is at least something worthwhile."

        Nee tried to search her memories for 'Hananyo' as a whole, but couldn't recall anything. The universe was vast and forever-changing, so she wasn't too surprised that she didn't know about entire galaxies and what was within them. "Maybe today can be my first step."

        "Thank goodness. The food is heavenly, but it's so hard to find some that's made fresh and right," the older girl complained. "There's so many restaurants around the cosmos that use the basis of Hananyo cuisine to attract customers, but the chefs inside aren't even connected to that background of food at all."

        "It's like that in many places," Nee shrugged. "They try, but they ultimately fail."

        Desideria smiled into her sleeve. "True. I've found places representing my home planet's cuisine, but all I see are the basic dishes. And people act like it's the most amazing thing, seeing anticucho skewers or empanadas."

        Nee raised an eyebrow. Desideria never talked about her home planet before. She was usually vague as if 'anticucho skewers' and 'empanadas' never existed. "What's it like there?"

        ". . .Like, where?"

        "Home."

        Desideria sat back up, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't know. . . I mean, the planet's huge. It has everything. Jungles and deserts. But I lived in the big city, I only saw the world sparingly."

        "You grew up in the city. City folk are often quite worldly, so that explains how you are so well-acquainted with everything!"

        "Haha, thank you." She dismissed her answers and diverted their attention. "What was your home like?"

        Nee twiddled her thumbs on her lap. "I have many."

        "Pick." Sharing became a game.

        "Well. . ." Nee decided to choose the most recent one. "The home where Himeko found me, I grew up an only child. My mother worked at an engineer's factory and I worked at the port with fish. She made ships. But she's too old for that now, so she's retired. I left with her consent to go on my own little adventure."

        Desideria smirked. "I wouldn't consider going on the Astral Express to be a 'little adventure.'"

        Nee chuckled. "It's only been a month and we've been to four stops."

        "It'll keep going." Her tone changed as she looked at Nee intently, almost sincerely with some sort of longing or envy from what Nee could observe. "But that life sounds nice, fishing and simple work."

        Nee thought back on that. . . life. It was more pleasant than the bitterness and coldness of the first. "I guess it does," she affirmed.


















        THE SCENT OF FRESH AIR and grilled food even brought Daube out of Nee's dormitory. Open car doors meant the influx of sights and smells and so many things even for just one day.

        Nee was only grabbing her phone and wallet when the bedlington terrier rose from its cushions and followed her down the hallway. The Express had made its stop on the jetty by the Genius Society gathering and Daube couldn't help but find interest in what was around. There were two things that mainly motivated it: a good meal and good sleep.

        The platform by the landing site was filled with passengers, staff, and shops lined up like paper dolls and their signs spanning across the building beyond the entrance checkpoint. Within minutes, Daube had already caught up to Nee and her friend who had already purchased something from a food stall, and they had begun to walk out of the pavilion to admire the scenery.

        It wasn't much, but open air was its own reward. According to Nee's friend, this infrastructure stretched across the entire jetty, the skybox being black with faux stars. The bedlington terrier trotted alongside Nee, ignoring all the shops and instead staring up at her octopus-ball snack on skewers. She and her friend were laughing among themselves, taking pictures and talking about anything. But something was wrong.

        Daube's nose rose into the air, discerning its surroundings. What filled its senses were the smells of grill smog, sounds of footsteps, and the presence of something inhuman. Something unkind that wasn't properly adjusted to this jetty's artificial atmosphere.

        Daube looked at the girls who finished their food as they sat on a bench. Then, it looked towards where its suspicions remained.

        Spies. People donning black armor, holding blades to the length of their elbows awaited a victim in this empty walking space. Frozen in place, they awaited either a target or command as they eyed the two girls and one dog. Daube began to growl at what appeared to be thin air, confusing Nee and interrupting her conversation.

        Rumbling began to grow louder and louder in the distance. Looked like there was more where one ravaging spy came from. People were storming out of the Society gathering, the other stations and shops, with only the three Express passengers resorting to standing their ground. A string of curses escaped Desideria, and then the word 'voidrangers.'

        "Why are they even here? Doesn't Nous value their Society, or something?" Nee then asked. "Wouldn't the Society have more updated reinforcements?"

        "Not like the Legion cares," Desideria replied. "Come on, let's make this quick."

        "I'm not even good at fighting yet!"

        "Then follow my lead. Support me, both of you."

        Desideria extended an electrical whip from a small baton device, charging towards the danger as Nee and Daube followed. Nee only had a small pendulum hanging from her neck and a wand of cosmic applewood, yet Desideria had so many hidden pieces of machinery in her inventory. Daube wasn't sure how its liege was able to hold her own, but at least her friend was here.

        Rather than running away, they ran into the crowd of voidrangers. Desideria fought them off, catching each swiping blade and tooth, while Nee made egress in ushering guests away from the main catwalk. A long stretch of ivory connected the jetty to the meeting place, with people doing their best to escape.

        As she turned back to where Desideria was, Nee found her being overwhelmed by more voidrangers after her flesh. Before she could react, a burst of galvanized energy knocked every one of these voidrangers down.

        Desideria spun and threw her whip in the air when fending off the surrounding voidrangers. The baton soon transformed into a barebow when landing back into her arms, and she aimed at the entrance of the meeting place to make a shot.

        Electricity was drawn from the bowstring at her fingertips. She released the projectile. Nee watched more voidrangers dissipate into dark matter upon impact, with a burst of feathery, voltaic brilliance obliterating their presences.

        Desideria turned back to Nee and Daube. Confused, she pointed towards her chin, making a motion of closing her mouth. "It's not very pleasant to be breathing out of your mouth like that, you know."

        Mistaking a dropped jaw for incorrect decorum was something Nee had to get used to at some point. "You've a tendency for such wonderful performances," Nee could only say in awe.

        "Oh... I appreciate your comments. But we still have to check if anyone's still inside."

        "Of course."

        With this sector cleared, Nee beckoned Daube from gnawing the wreckage of other voidrangers and followed Desideria across the whitened bridge. The broken doors allowed them inside the meeting place with ease, the interior of this place starting out as a dark tunnel lined with red and blue light fixtures. Remnants of voidrangers and their blades were scattered across the ground, lined to a final door at the end of the hall.

        Reaching the door, Desideria attempted to unlock it using the electronic keypad to its right. She had no success despite her effort and frowned.

        A small, purple projection from her left glove was pointed to the keypad, and Nee watched it fluctuated and flicker multiple times. Failed again.

        "Lockdown already initiated under Program 9-1," an automated voice escaped the keypad, yet it sounded so familiar. "Continuance of these attempts to infiltrate and hack the system without the code will be overridden."

        "By Idrila's grace, is that you, Herta?" Desideria groaned. "Let us in! How could you possibly lock this up when Legion members crashed in the first place?"

        "Request incomprehensible. Request denied."

        "Be serious."

        Nee raised an eyebrow at this. She knew Herta was another member of the Genius Society as she owned the space station the Astral Express collected resources from. Herta was never truly present anywhere. "Wait. That's not her. It's just an automated response."

        Desideria was so close to clawing the keypad out of its stand. "Of course it is."

        "Allow me, if you don't mind," Nee asked. Desideria consented, letting the girl and her dog walk in front of her towards the door itself.

        With her wand, she traced a perfect, blue circle onto the metal, engulfing her lines with suppressed heat. Stepping back, she allowed Daube to walk forward. Daube released a sonic howl, and the waves allowed the circle of metal to topple easily.

        She looked at Desideria with a small smile and gestured for her to enter first. Desideria looked at her perplexed, yet began to chuckle to herself. She ruffled the girl's hair before stepping in. Daube followed, then Nee.

        Beyond this door was a gigantic set of runways, bridges, and balconies connected to a singular platform with a table and multiple seats. Near this table was the silhouette of a centaur. A trampler, if Nee recalled correctly, was preparing its own bow and arrow made of black matter and comet stone. It was one-eyed and emitted large quantities of quantum energy from its body, of which elicited a sense of danger in Daube's olfactory field.

        Daube began to growl as Desideria and Nee crouched by elaborately-carved side tables and wisteria formations. They took note of the empty table, the vacant and fallen chairs, as well as the broken columns and cracks in the walls. This place had already been shot down regardless of it now being empty.

        "Stay here," Desideria told the other two. Her baton transformed from a barebow, to her usual ribbon, to an elongated glaive made of light. Both ends stretched from the baton handle, and she held it behind herself as she began to step forward.

        Her advances were interrupted by the sound of a rifle being loaded.

        "Could you step to the left, dear?"

        A voice from behind addressed the older girl. After looking back, Desideria complied━━to Nee's surprise. Whoever the voice came from, she couldn't see them as she hid around the corner. Daube didn't seem to know if the voice giver was an ally or not, considering the head tilt it displayed.

        A shot rang through the area and pierced part of the trampler's head, who snarled in pain. The mysterious figure sped by Desideria within a blink of an eye and shot the trampler again.

        And again. And again. With the bayonet of their rifle, they seemed to fly into the air and hit the trampler hard before it could retaliate with its bow. Nee wasn't sure what happened other than the trampler disappearing into a self-made black hole out of weakness.

        She walked up to Desideria, who was merely watching the whole one-sided battle. "What's going on?"

        The older girl let out an annoyed sigh. The glaive retracted into her baton. "We're having our work done for us."

        "And that's something that irritates you, because...?"

        "...Because these dramatic entrances are commonplace for Levent."

        Considering her reaction, these 'entrances' must've been 'commonplace' enough to not even be dramatic, but utterly repetitive. Wasn't that something that applied to kings? Nee thought to herself. She had only met him second-handedly through a video call Himeko initiated, so she wasn't familiar with his entrances. Kings in stories, though, were often quite dramatic as the sight of them was a rarity.

        With the trampler in pieces, Desideria, Nee, and Daube were able to get closer to the platform and find Levent standing over it all. He was in a finely pressed blazer and dress pants with his rifle in hand, which was painted a pearly white.

        He flipped his hair over his head quite gracefully and took one more look around before looking at the two girls and the dog. Desideria crossed her arms with annoyance, while Nee and Daube eyed him with dubiety. He gave them a curious expression.

        "I expected a few 'thank yous,'" He quipped.

        "Shut up," Desideria shot back.

        "Hello, Mr. Chaichana," Nee said.

        Daube let out a confused noise.

        Ignoring Desideria's grievances for action, Levent stepped down and faced the young girl. "You must be Nee," he smiled. He was tall and lean, yet held the likely-heavy rifle with ease. He looked at her bedlington terrier. "And who's this?"

        "This is Daube, sir," Nee replied. Daube began to sniff his polished shoes and pant leg ends, circling him for a moment.

        "As in Daubenton's plane?"

        "As in dove." Nee paused. Was that a Genius Society thing? "I have no idea what that... plane... is."

        "And I, you," Desideria scoffed. "Is everyone fully evacuated from the premises?"

        "The jetty is cleared. There were only three tramplers, dear," Levent replied. He adjusted the strap of his rifle and hoisted it over his back. "Don't be so serious. They're all safe by the departure site. A few IPC officers were called in to guard civilians and unarmed members as some of us went after the tramplers ourselves."

        "We could've handled this ourselves, you know," the older girl argued. Nee, from behind her, shook her head with humor towards Levent while she wasn't looking.

        "I know, I know." Levent ruffled Desideria's hair, an action so similar to what Desideria had done to Nee before. The action was sincere. "But I wouldn't want to drain you with all these matters on my monthly return date."

        The king, regardless of what other fairy tales could entail when it came to familial relationships, truly cared for the princess and wanted her to live an easier life than what she currently experienced. Behind his tact was hidden nature, the nature of giving without anything much in return other than the princess' satisfaction━━something of which the princess denied having. He kept on, anyway.

        While Nee was mentally writing out the rest of her real-life storybook, she was reminded of the role she lacked. Despite this, it was actually pretty nice seeing these people look out for each other.

        Levent escorted them out of the meeting place and down the ivory stretch, with the black skybox and fake stars floating ahead of them. Daube eventually led the way, sprinting towards the aforementioned departure site. They found a crowd of people━━vendors, visitors, members━━within the shade of the pavillion, passing first-aid and blankets among each other.

        Taking a glance at the ships, spacecrafts, and the singular golden train parked nearby, Levent looked back at the people. "Before we grab dinner," he suggested, "let's help sort this out."

        "We have time," Desideria added on. "The conductor is probably making an entire feast for you, so it's only fair we give a feast to these people before we set off."

        Nee watched Daube skip around, making contact with all sorts of people as it explored this new crowd of people. Feasts were meant to fill people with not only food, but good experiences (essentially physical and emotional revitalization!). Nee was reminded of warm ration-composed meals and gatherings in the refuge of the low deck, within the wood and metal ship frames floating above an endless blue. Those lasted for what felt like ages, essentially centuries of comfort regardless of the hardships she faced in the storm.

        That sounded like a wonderful and fitting theme for her story: to find refuge and to spread the sentiment of comfort to those in need.

        Nee hummed. "So how do we help these people?"




i have no idea what's going on but uhmmmmm
unedited / december 2nd 2023

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