The Underground City

38:21

Now that He arrived in His city, He seems to be waiting at one of the windows of the apartments. He knocks once, twice, five times for some minutes now. When the window finally opened, a man was looking a bit confused at the Great Leader for seeing Him here.

[K3IT4RO]-...Master?

[CHE5TER]-Hello, Mr. K3IT4RO.

"In the end... I went to your old master, MY4... Mr. K3IT4RO. The reason why is... because I trusted him to take care of this little slave. I knew from the past how he loved to help kids with all types of problems around the city until he retired and decided to have a normal life till his age will take over. I thought giving her to him won't be such a bad idea, at least for some time."

[K3IT4RO]-Why are you here all of a sudden? You came to pay me a visit?

[CHE5TER]-I'm more... because of my work. Can I ask you something?

[K3IT4RO]-Of course! Ask me anything!

CHE5TER puts aside a piece of His crevaator clothes which were covering the little girl, who was terrified the moment she saw an unknown person.

[CHE5TER]-Can you possibly... take care of her? I found her in the City of Above when I was investigating something, and I thought that you are the person I should ask for help.

[K3IT4RO]-Master, I-I... Come in first! Don't stay like that.

He enters the apartment and lets the girl to walk on her own feet. They both look at the scared girl who watches them from far away, as she fears this stranger.

"She was scared of everyone and everything, it was almost impossible for me to take her to the shelters, as there are way too many people for her to handle, and I can't say everyone could've understand her actions. So I just felt pity for her."

[K3IT4RO]-...I feel honoured that you thought of me first, Master, but are you sure that I'm the best person you know to handle this problem?

[CHE5TER]-You helped many people in the past, don't be so ridiculous. Plus that, I don't really want to leave her at the shelter now. Her mental condition seems a bit more of a special case from what I've observed, so I think it's best for her this idea of mine.

The man looks a bit more, even concerned and tries to get closer to her. He takes a deep breath and starts talking to her.

[K3IT4RO]-Hi, little girl! My name is K3IT4RO! I will be the one who takes care of you from now on! Is that alright?

But the girl starts crying as he gets closer and runs over to CHE5TER, squeezing His foot by fear.

[18A]-...Oumf heave me! Oumf heave me!! I'm veaef!!

He doesn't really understand what she is saying, as her tongue was cut and it's impossible for her to speak properly anymore. She can still use her vocal cords, but without the tongue, she can't pronounce the words right. She was screaming at Him over and over again, saying "Oumf heave me!", only for K3IT4RO to finally understand what she's saying.

[K3IT4RO]-...She says that she doesn't want you to leave her.

[CHE5TER]-It's... hard for me to understand a word of hers... How did you managed to do that yourself?

[K3IT4RO]-I guess I'm used to it since I met a lot of kids that weren't speaking our language that well because of all kinds of problems. But why does she talk like this anyway?

[CHE5TER]-The owner of this slave cut off her tongue when I was trying to get to her. I got too late, I couldn't save her at that moment.

[K3IT4RO]-*sigh* Poor little thing...

[18A]-Oumf heave me...

She was crying loudly, squeezing even harder His foot. CHE5TER sighs as He can't do anything now but calm her down a little.

[CHE5TER]-He won't do anything to you, little one. He is a friend of mine. You trust me, right? I won't lie to you.

He gives her two taps on her shoulder so she can move. She doesn't. He gives three more taps, she still doesn't move. K3IT4RO decides to get closer and sit down, putting his hand on her left arm and moving it slowly trying to calm her down.

[K3IT4RO]-Hey... It's okay... I won't hurt you as that man did. I want to help you!

She takes a look at the man again and starts to calm down from crying. CHE5TER takes gently her hand and puts it on his, and slowly moving away. She looks one more time at the Great Leader, unsure, while He gives her a simple nod, only for her to finally calm down and trust a bit this stranger.

[K3IT4RO]-That's more like it! Everything is fine now, see?

While they get to know each other from the looks, CHE5TER looks a bit at His right arm, all covered by the clothes He has in order to hide it, lost in His thoughts again, before finally speaking to the man.

[CHE5TER]-...Mr. K3IT4RO, can I get your help on one more thing?

[K3IT4RO]-Hm?

[CHE5TER]-I need a place where I can stay for a while as I think I need to take a bit of a rest in an area that doesn't stress me. Do you think that I can stay here? In the second room? Only for some days. I need to fix my device as well, so I really hope you don't mind.

[K3IT4RO]-Of course! You can stay as much as you like! I have some tools if you need them. Just tell me if you want something!

[CHE5TER]-Thank you. I will make sure I will repay your generosity.

[K3IT4RO]-Don't worry about that. Really!

"It wasn't much what I did in this past month, as I stood at his house to calm myself down a little and repair my communication device. I didn't want to take all the contacts once more. It was a pain that I really didn't want live all over again. Especially with the contacts from the Council...

I told Mr. K3IT4RO in the end to not say anything about me being around and keep everything a secret, as I really didn't want anybody from all of you around me because of the fear that I might do the same thing I did to you just now, RY4N. And I was afraid to let these two near me as well until I knew I got better. The first ten days I even isolated myself completely from them and the outside world, staying in bed and resting, to get rid of this strange thing that I have as soon as possible. Only after those ten days I've started working on my device and go more often in the City of Above to investigate further."

"...Did you find out what exactly is this thing that made you take this decision?"

"Unfortunately... no. I didn't find anything yet. And believe me that I wish I knew the answer."

Yet that voice appears again.

...Liar.

"...In the meantime though, K3IT4RO took care of her, treated her, brought her clothes and everything she wanted, while I was staying in my room alone. After the first ten days, they even started coming to check on me and bring me things that I could use for my device eventually. And she did come a lot of times and showed me everything she wanted, knowing that then she was able to see me again, but I couldn't understand a word. And to be honest... I do not even understand why is she so attached to me, even if she spent more time with Mr. K3IT4RO."

[18A]-Ouhv! Ouhv! I hov a mew hiovf!

[CHE5TER]-I don't... understand.

[18A]-Hiovf! Hiovf!!

She shows Him a shirt that she was wearing. He seems as He was working just now, and He stopped just to see what the little girl wants.

[CHE5TER]-Oh, you got a new shirt?

[18A]-Yeah!! Yeah!!!

He looks and thinks about this situation, which makes Him a bit unhappy.

"...But I guess that feeling of pity still didn't leave every time I was looking at her."

He lets His tools on the table and looks at her, making some weird moves with His hands, grabbing his shirt with his left hand in the upper chest area. Then, He says a word.

[CHE5TER]-..."Shirt". This means "shirt".

She looks a bit confused, then tries to do what He did. Doesn't seem as she does it right though, so CHE5TER takes her hands and makes the signs with them.

[CHE5TER]-I... got... a shirt.

[18A]-I hov... Amf mew?

[CHE5TER]-I'm... afraid I don't remember what was for "new".

[K3IT4RO]-...It was like this.

Mr. K3IT4RO enters the room in the meantime and shows the sign for the word "new", with the back of his right hand skimming along the palm of his left hand. Then, the girl starts copying him.

[18A]-I... hov... a mew... hiovf... I hov a mew hiovf!!

[K3IT4RO]-I didn't know you speak in Sign Language too, Master.

[CHE5TER]-MY4 tried to teach me a while ago, but I only managed to learn a few words... I don't speak it that well.

[K3IT4RO]-Oh, I see now. I thought you wanted to become a Healer all of a sudden.

[CHE5TER]-No, it's not for me. But I needed Sign Language at some point and, well... I got myself troubling with it.

"And, after a while, he even taught her Sign Language after I did an attempt so that I could understand what she was saying. I can say that she speaks it better than me now."

"Other times I've tried myself to take her out so she can enter society and not fear every single person she meets when Mr. K3IT4RO wasn't able to do so, and maybe to get some fresh air myself. I met one day with K4T1E and AD3LYN by accident, who started to annoy me, again, but I told them to stay with her and be her friends from now on. At first, she was scared like hell, of course, but I managed in the end to calm her down and make her aware that they are no danger either."

[K4T1E]-Hey, girl! I still don't know your name!

[AD3LYN]-Yeah! I'm AD3LYN and she is K4T1E! What's your name?

[18A]-Oam Eivf A.

[K4T1E]-I... didn't understand. What's your name again?

[18A]-Oam Eivf A! Oam Eivf A!! OAM EIVF A!!!

[CHE5TER]-I think she means "One Eight A".

[18A]-Yeah!! Yeah!!! Oam Eivf A!

[K4T1E]-Oh, you use from your blood code like Seven Two here?

[CHE5TER]-Seven Two is just my code name, little one. I have a normal name as well, but I don't want to say it.

[AD3LYN]-Oh, you bastard!

[K4T1E]-So... should we name her? Oh, oh! What about... um... AM1RAH?

[AD3LYN]-Nahh, doesn't fit her... Oh! What about MAR1A?

[K4T1E]-That's all you can think of, Ade?

[AD3LYN]-Oh, shut up!

[K4T1E]-How about... maybe...

[CHE5TER]-...IZUK1.

They all look at the Great Leader, the little one even being joyful about this idea.

[K4T1E]-IZUK1! Yes!! It's the best for her!!

[18A]-Ihuvfi! Ihuvfi!!

[CHE5TER]-Seems like she likes it too.

"And to be honest, I had some moments when I couldn't sleep at all. I had troubles and I just stood in my bed looking above, trying to fall asleep. Most of the times, the rest that I had was when I was repairing my device. Nothing more."

It wasn't a lie, but nor a truth either. When CHE5TER was repairing it, He sure had some troubles since it was heavily damaged. He got sometimes pissed, other times He felt disappointed in Himself. It's hard to say He had a "rest" during this time, but compared to the work He does at the base, this is somehow like a rest.

He sits alone as He repairs that broken thing, burning Himself out sometimes and getting a bit mad. He takes all of His Energy Killers and puts them in a glass, as He starts drinking from them. But as He puts His glass down, He feels a bit strange. Everything goes dark before His eyes, then His mind gets twisted, only for Him to fall on the ground, fighting this "thing". He puts His arms on His head and screams in agony, even His eyes look a bit different, from the round and normal pupils we all have, changing somehow their form, or at least... trying to change themselves. He starts hitting Himself on the head with His left arm, but the right one seems to move on its own, trying to stop Him.

He then opens His eyes quickly and starts running towards the rest room, where He throws up all the Energy Killers He drank. He breaths heavily, even scared of whatever happened. This never happened when He drank in the past before. His eyes seem to get to normal again, and He starts calming Himself down too. He looks a bit in the mirror, at His reflection, yet doesn't seem as He sees Himself there, but we can't see His perspective either.

[IZUK1]-Yevem! Yevem!!

[K3IT4RO]-Master, are you alright!?

He looks back at the door, where He sees the two people looking at Him as they heard Him scream.

"...This is probably everything that I did in the past month, ever since I left you all to work on your own. It isn't an excuse for my disappearance, I know, but I needed some time to clear up my mind. I had times when I investigated around the City of Above and all, but most of the times I was sitting in that room, alone, fixing everything that was broken. And yet... I'm still not done with my device. I have to replace the screen as well and it will take me some more time, but I promise that once I'm done with it, I will come back."

13.05.1642

38:14

"...I know that our day is coming, RY4N, and you probably don't want me to be away in this time of the year, but I don't want to risk anything. You can come and pay me a visit, but more than that, I can't do anything about it. I won't come back at the base until I'm ready. And until that day comes... I hope you can forgive me, Brother."

RY4N sits on a chair in a bar full of the people they work with. All of this is happening about two days after their meeting. They seem to enjoy their time, all of them, from the oldest of the base to the youngest, to even the newcomer. It's the same as when the Council celebrates the previous Great Leader's day.

RY4N isn't that hyped, but he is celebrating it, as he ordered a glass of one drink which is rare for him to do so. After all, it's his day, isn't it? Even though he doesn't celebrate it with CHE5TER this year, it's no use crying about it all the time.

Now at least he knows He is alright and that everything will come back to normal soon. He looks at his glass and smiles a bit, as he thinks about this day. All he can say without anybody hearing is just one sentence.

[RY4N]-Happy day, CHE5TER...

In the meantime though, CHE5TER is standing alone in that room He was talking about, in K3IT4RO's apartment, where He tries to remove the old screen and replace it with a new one. He sure is sweating since He gets a bit pissed when He doesn't succeed or breaks it even more. But He takes a break and wipes His face as He takes some deep breaths. Then, He looks outside the window in the horizon, smirking a little, and saying the same sentence.

[CHE5TER]-...Happy day, RY4N. Hope you have fun over there.

04.06.1642

The City of Above

49:19

But even so, we are not done here. An M soldier walks on the hallway of a building, towards a destination only he knows. He opens a door of a room, in which he enters, then closes it. It's like a small office, where two people can talk, but doesn't look like he is alone.

[CHE5TER]-...You are late, don't you think?

So, CHE5TER turns around from the chair that He was sitting, looking at the soldier who seems to cover one of his eyes with an eyepatch. The soldier doesn't look back yet.

[CHE5TER]-Come. Take a seat, won't you?

[DU5TIN]-...I don't want you to be here.

[CHE5TER]-Oh, how cold...

He finally looks at Him in disgrace, with such a hate in his eye. CHE5TER only seems to smirk a little, playing around with a small weapon of His in His finger. But He then looks at him in the eye, deadly.

[CHE5TER]-Long time, no see... I'm sure you knew you cannot avoid me that easily. You act like I'm not suppose to be here, yet you look like you've expected me to come. Isn't it funny? But, I'm afraid you can't avoid me. After all...

"...the game is on, Brother."