20:58

And now, they seem to have already left the bar, wandering the streets of the city. For the moment though, they don't look like they have a plan. They are just chatting around to lose the time.

[LUK3]-Soooo... Where now? Any ideas? Anybody?

[KYR4]-Weren't you the one suppose to think about this?

[LUK3]-Well, I mean, I got what I wanted. Maybe you guys want to arrive somewhere! So? N04H?

[N04H]-I don't think I have any place in mind right now... I don't know much about how to spend time around the city.

[LUK3]-You didn't do it with your roommates?

[N04H]-Not really... We were occupied with the school and preparation for the exams, which I told you about already. During the holidays, we were either spending them around our hostel with other people to play some games together, or go on some walks around the city. More than that, I don't think we did something...

[LUK3]-Huh... And I thought that my classmates were boring...

[KYR4]-Oh, so MY4 and I are boring to you now, hm?

[LUK3]-I meant the others. You know they didn't really like doing anything fun in general! That's why I spend most of my time with you two!

[N04H]-You seem like the type of "popular guy" to me though, Mr. LUK3. You really didn't spend that much time with your other classmates?

[LUK3]-Oh? Popular guy, you say? We didn't have that thing in our class though. Did you?

[N04H]-We had a few, actually. I mean, there was a group who was organising events around the school and all, and probably the whole building heard about them.

[LUK3]-Your group of class seems fun! Can I meet them one day?

[N04H]-I guess you can! Yes!

[LUK3]-Nice! Alright... back to the point though. RY4N?

[RY4N]-Hm? Me?

[LUK3]-Yeah! Do you have a place in mind where we should go?

[RY4N]-No, I guess... To be honest, I wasn't even paying attention to you guys just now. My mind was somewhere else...

[LUK3]-Like all the time?

[RY4N]-What do you mean?

[LUK3]-Well, you know, you lose yourself in thoughts sometimes and don't pay attention to what the others say. Something like Boss, but He does it only when nobody is around.

[RY4N]-I was just thinking about responsibilities and all. I mean, you know very well that I'm suppose to take the Leader role soon.

[N04H]-Oh, yeah! Mr. LUK3, you told me about this problem already, but I still don't understand it. How come the Great Leader is also the Leader of the base, instead of having only one role in the city?

[RY4N]-Well... he was already suppose to be titled Leader before anything. The previous Leader promised CHE5TER that he will take the role after his retirement. The problem that we got after was that we woke up all of a sudden in need of a new ruler over the city. Because only the Leader has the authority to give his title to the next descendant, CHE5TER told me that he will make me the next Leader of the base when he decides that I'm ready.

[N04H]-But if so, why didn't you take the role of the Great Leader?

[RY4N]-The thing is that... this was not my choice, nor my brother's. I believe that if it was for the previous ruler, I was indeed the current Great Leader, but because He died and didn't write a will, the decision was passed to someone else.

[N04H]-To someone else? Who made the decision then?

[RY4N]-Well... the previous Leader of the Southeast Base. Him and my father got along pretty well in the past, and the Great Leader was working a lot around this base as well. So... he took the authority of choosing the next descendant of the title because of that. Right now, I'm waiting to get my title as well, as it will soon be my turn on being named a Leader.

[N04H]-So... until then... He will lead everyone from the base, but also rule over the whole city? Isn't it a bit too much? Wasn't He also the last Investigator?

[RY4N]-This is why we argue, N04H... Don't you see that none of us can actually understand his actions? Almost every day, we have a dispute with him which ends in more anger. But not a single time he understands what we are trying to tell him.

[N04H]-*sigh* I see...

[LUK3]-So what? Now you don't want to be a Leader?

[RY4N]-It's not that... I know I might need a bit of time to make sure I'm ready and all, but I can accept the title even if he tells me tomorrow his decision. I was thinking more that even with these changes, we might still not be ready to face our fate.

[KYR4]-Why so? We were always ready for any sudden problem. We were even ready for the most annoying problems from the Council.

[RY4N]-Why are you so sure of that, KYR4? I don't think we were so ready for everything that happened around this base.

[KYR4]-...

[LUK3]-Anywaaay, I thought of something we could do!

[N04H]-And that is...?

[LUK3]-I heard a few days ago that a merchant spoke to some other dudes about their property so that he can buy it and make his business on a larger space. Not only that, but he also said that it will be a bit more lively, as he hired a barman and now, besides the things you can buy, you can also rest on the second floor of the purchased space which he named "Home Sweet Home". We can take a look!

[KYR4]-Wait a second, isn't all of this about Mr. K14NU's business? Isn't he the same guy that puts the prices too high for anybody to even afford his items?

[LUK3]-Yep! That's him! Hope you have your wallets with you!

[KYR4]-Oh, so you want to be in more debts at me now?

[LUK3]-Oh, shut up! We are just going to take a look! We don't need to purchase anything!

[KYR4]-I swear to the heavens, if only the entrance is around 20.000 Novha...

The Southeast Military Base

22:12

Yet now, even with the idea LUK3 had, they seem to get back at the base a bit pissed. Well, only KYR4 pissed off for good at least.

[KYR4]-For the gods' sake, LUK3, maybe next time you inform yourself better before we go to the other side of the city and come back empty-handed just because of your stupidity!

[LUK3]-WELL, HOW WAS I SUPPOSE TO KNOW THAT IT'S STILL UNDER DEVELOPMENT FOR THE NEXT MONTHS???

[KYR4]-You can ask the people you heard talking about it? Is it really that hard??

[LUK3]-BUT I DIDN'T KNOW THOSE PEOPLE! I JUST HEARD IT RANDOMLY WHEN I WAS PASSING BY AND THOUGHT THAT IT IS INTERESTING!!

[KYR4]-*sigh* Gods, have mercy on me...

Meanwhile though, CHE5TER is leaving His office after some work done. As He notices them, He doesn't seem so happy, as a feeling similar to regret or guilt. But He doesn't say anything, He looks down and takes a deep breath, before He decides to leave from the area. Yet even so, RY4N seems to have noticed Him as well, so he stops Him in order to try and have a chat with Him again.

[RY4N]-CHE5TER!

...But this is probably the last thing He wanted to happen from the expression He gives back.

[RY4N]-So? Have you cleared up your mind? You were in a bad mood this morning.

[CHE5TER]-*sigh* RY4N... I'm already tired and have a lot to work on. You know very well at what time I went to sleep last night because of the celebration from yesterday. Can't I just go and do what I have to do? We have all the time in the world to chat, but I do not have the time to fulfil my responsibilities at all.

[RY4N]-So still in a bad mood... Did you dislike the celebration that much? I know the Council exaggerated a bit with the whole organising they did at the end, but that shouldn't really be a reason for you to act this way.

[CHE5TER]-Look, I really can't stay and talk right now, okay? We can argue when the sleep schedule of the day will arrive, but until that hour, I want to get the work done.

[RY4N]-It's not like you aren't doing such thing every time I'm trying to talk with you. You just bring an excuse in hope that I will forget and then leave as fast as you can, so that you don't have to deal with us at all.

[CHE5TER]-Yeah, yeah, be it like you. Just tell Officer KYR4 that the Council has programmed a meeting in about a hour and you two should be ready for it.

[RY4N]-That's all you have to say to me? CHE5TER, we already work more than anybody else in this city! Why do you believe that you should exhaust yourself until you can't take it anymore? No being can endure that much! Not even a god!

[CHE5TER]-Do you really think that I'm doing it because I like it? 'Cause I don't! I don't like it at all! But I have to do it! So, please, do excuse my leaving for now, and we will see each other in a few hours!

He leaves mad at this point, not even letting RY4N add a last word. But it does seem like something bothers Him for good. As for what it is? Who knows. We will find out sooner or later.

...You disappoint him, little boy. Look at what you've done. Look at what you've become!

Yet the only thing RY4N can do is to watch Him leave in a hurry, avoiding him, probably not for the first time either. It's true, these brothers argue almost every day, but it does look like RY4N still doesn't accept this "new" life he says he has because of his brother's behaviour. It can even break your heart the moment you look at him, and even when you get to know his feelings on this whole situation.

"...But friends cannot replace the one that I was raised with, no matter the case. I understand, that day was hard for both of us, as we barely slept because of the day we had before. And I know the title is tiring, but the more I live to see it, the more I realise that he is just torturing himself to the point that he will become one of the fallen ones.

The day before, we celebrated the previous Great Leader's day, as a habit made by the Council way long before we were even born. The explanation behind it though... it's simply because this title is suppose to represent a "god". We have this weird habit in our culture that when we are talking about a being that's above all, we must call it a god. The Great Leader represents this kind of being, a powerful one, one more powerful than anybody from this city of ours. But it's just a saying in the end. We see power in people that can do something that others couldn't, nothing special. After all, Goddess M1NERV4 is an example Herself.

As for the celebration, it's actually a pretty nice way of thanking the ruler for what He had offered us, freedom and protection. The problem is that... we celebrate the wrong person. It is suppose to be for the current ruler, not the previous one. But we must lie, we did it for some good years now, as CHE5TER had this wish and we had to help him with it. The reason behind... only he knows the actual truth. So, in the end, we celebrate our father's day instead of his.

As time passed, I developed more and more questions that I couldn't ask our father before He died, because of my age and naivety. It is not an easy task to let the memories with Him just fade away into the void, and I don't think even my brother let that happen. It is said that when a person dies, someone that the being used to know or someone who used to know the being will come from the eternal rest and pick up the fallen one to guide the it to the after-life, something like a reunion with the ones you've lost throughout your life. It could be even more people, not just one, staying side by side, waiting for you to follow them. I've always wondered who picked up our father. Maybe His father? Though I do not know anything about my grandfather as I never met Him.

And yet, here we are. The title has passed from generation to generation, from descendant to descendant, until the day it was the moment to choose between one of us to be the next one, and my brother was the one who had taken the responsibilities. The problem was that... our father wasn't the one who chose. Probably if it was for Him, I would've been the ruler, not CHE5TER. This is no envy, it's more like pity. I always see him suffer from this title of his and I'm not able to do anything about it. In the end, even if he could've change his fate, he still decided for it to remain this way.

I do not know his intentions, nor understand them, but I want to help him. I want to know that he is safe. I do not want to lose another person in my life again."

Yet it seems like hours have passed, more exactly even past the meeting with the Council. Right now, everyone is resting, being a part of their sleep schedule, but during the day. Yet RY4N doesn't seem as he can rest now, as he simply looks at his little brother sleeping on His bed, just for a bit, until he closes the door of the room, looking down, and decides to leave.

"After all... he is everything I have left from my family."