Humans, Spirits, and Neo Androids
No one wished to see the sun set, yet no one could stop the Earth rotating, or ask nature to kindly keep the only source of light left in the sky permanently. While the Earth had drastically changed, nature and Earth were still oblivious to the terror which had happened on Earth's very surface only two months ago. The Spectrum had affected all the survivors; that is, whilst some were as far away from a mental breakdown as possible, others were crying from their hearts in a bedraggled state. For those near the drastic end, the last two months had been a never-ending pain, and there was nothing they could do to end it, not even by ripping apart the murderers, the so-called "Neo Androids".
No matter on which end of the Spectrum the survivors sat at, seeing the Neo Androids was always a surreal yet vastly common sight. The robots had invaded out of the blue two months ago, and their brute power and technology had been so advanced no human could ever have designed them, accidentally or intentionally. They had emerged as an impressive army of white metal and laser guns, their metallic feet had left only one set of footprints as they had marched in a crocodile fashion, their distinctive beat more powerful, more commanding than any human army. Even before they had fired their guns, it had been made perfectly clear they were the humans' superiors.
Very few had managed to flee the Neo Androids before the shooting began (the Neo Androids did not bother with the countryside or small villages); for those who had survived the shooting, they knew a new regime was in place. All major towns and cities now had a metallic border, disallowing any human to enter or leave the city or town (unless they happened to have good reason, such as delivering food). Amongst the cities affected by the Neo Androids was Domino City. Once a thriving place, there were mixed views as to what it was nowadays; to the more optimistic mind, it was still a place for life and dreams; to the more pessimistic mind, Domino City was just a pointless structure on the verge of collapse, held together only by the web of crumbled aspirations, and the limited relief it gave to the survivors.
To Ayme Mudgeon, her mind was neither optimistic nor pessimistic; she was one of the few who had a balanced mind as to what Domino City was. She still saw it as her home, despite the broken buildings, and the permanent darkness the city had been plunged into. Since the Neo Androids had invaded, anything technological had failed; electricity was no longer available, computers, internet and phones went haywire, batteries ran flat faster than you could say "batteries", and even guns – weapons with no need for electricity whatsoever – were mysteriously jammed. Daytime in Domino City wasn't so bad, at least they had the sun to enlighten the wrecked city; night was when it became terrifying. Candles could only give your field of vision so much.
Ayme had learnt to live with all of this; it was something everyone learnt over time. She currently lay in her back garden, staring up at the orange sky as the red sun slowly sunk out of view, ready to enlighten the other side of the Earth. She just lay on the grass, on her "imprint"; every blade of grass in her garden had reached such a fragile and inflexible state, a small amount of pressure was enough to leave a permanent mark. That was the case with the imprints of Ayme's footsteps and body; watching the sunset had become a fixture in Ayme's daily routine, partially because it would be the last glimmer of light for the next twelve hours, and partially because beyond the heart wrenching sight rested a scenic picture. There was something about the way that the yellow, orange, red, and occasional pink tinge to the transparent clouds blended and soothed the troubled mind and heart of Ayme.
"Ayme?" she heard a voice ask. She sat up, her palms pressed on her imprint as Mike Knox came into view. A lanky boy whose height narrowly skimmed six feet, he was perhaps the only surviving teenager Ayme could actually talk to and be friends with. There was a vibe amongst the other teenagers that excluded Ayme, and Mike from what it seemed; she knew he too had been having difficulties with the other teenagers. They had known each other for the past three years through Duel Academy, and had been home for the summer holiday, ready to return for their final year as Obelisk Blues when the Neo Androids had invaded. Now, they were stranded, unable to do anything except pace the lifeless city.
"Hi Mike," she said to him as he began to make his way over, his Commander Covington following him. The Neo Androids' presence had had a funny effect on the monsters; it seemed as if all monsters had suddenly died, except for one sole survivor in each deck, though they were not always the favoured monster. The surviving monster was forever attached to their master as a solid, materialised partner, and although they were not real people, they seemed to be able to understand humans; in such difficult times, it seemed as if the surviving monster was the only outsider who could be trusted. "You normally don't come here."
"I wondered where you were, that's all," Mike explained as he carefully trod in Ayme's footprints. He looked at her, and indicated the spot next to her. "Is it alright if I can –"
"Yeah, sure," she interrupted, knowing what his question was. The two teenagers said nothing as Mike lay beside Ayme, creating a new imprint. He turned his head to look at her as Commander Covington stood beside them. Being a monster, he left no kind of imprint.
"Are you OK?"
"Course I am, what makes you say that?" Ayme looked confused at Mike's question; in return, he just shrugged.
"Nothing, I just wondered. You're always on time for the sunset and sunrise." A small smile flickered on Ayme's face, a rare sight nowadays; no one had been happy since the Neo Android's regime, and to see a smile was something of a considerable moment.
"I like things people don't like," Ayme told him as she rested on the grass again, her big eyes focusing on the sky rather than Mike. "What do you see when the sun sets?" A pause.
"Misery, darkness … early bedtime." He too looked up at the sky. "What about you?"
"Beauty," whispered Ayme, as if conveying a spiritual sense of mind, which she seemed to be. When she next spoke, her voice was at normal level again. "Sunset's not meant to be this gloomy, it's meant to be bright, joyful, romantic even … look at the way the colours blend with each other! It's so beautiful…"
"Yeah…" Mike absent-mindedly mumbled in agreement, his eyes blankly staring at the sky, his ears taking in every word Ayme said. He knew she was about to rant again, and as past experience went, it was best to leave her to rant.
"Everyone's so scared, it distorts everything. Fear does nothing but destroy what was meant to be observed as a piece of art, it changes good meanings to bad meanings. Why does no one dare to observe the sunset like you and I? It's not as if the sky is going to rain daggers on us, is it?"
"Of course not."
These rants were never that fun, but the impassioned tone in Ayme's voice, the flustering heat that coated her during these times, and her simplistic way of thinking gave the rants such a different dimension, Mike found them worth listening to. It was these rants that, in Mike's opinion, casted Ayme aside from the other teenagers, that gave her a sense of distinction and unusual appeal; even before the Neo Androids' attack, when he and Ayme had been at Duel Academy, they had been the oddities of the Obelisk Blues, the "blemishes" of what would have otherwise been a perfect dorm. No one ever willingly wanted to talk to them which, in its own right, had its pros and cons; this exclusion from the general year allowed Mike and Ayme to spend more time with each other than anybody, and considering how they very happily got along with each other, neither had any true cravings to try and join in with the other teenagers.
"Sorry, I'm getting carried away again, aren't I?" The apologies always came after the rants were over (Ayme was fully aware of how liable she was to rant, but this knowledge never stopped her from starting one), and it was these upon these apologies that the cue to change the subject came.
"You always apologise on your own accord," Mike carelessly commented. "Where's Sunny Pixie?" Like Commander Covington, Ayme's only surviving monster was her Sunny Pixie. Upon hearing the question, Ayme immediately pointed upwards to the roof of her house, where the faintest outline of a tiny fairy currently sat, overlooking the garden.
"Over there. She likes it there." There was a stiff, cold tone to Ayme's voice as she spoke. Mike knew the source of her problem; whilst he got on very well with Commander Covington, Ayme wasn't as kind to her Sunny Pixie. Her beloved monster and ex-duel spirit, Honest, had died, and while Mike was sure Ayme wouldn't have minded any monster to be her surviving monster, he had a feeling she would never have picked her Sunny Pixie to survive.
"Oh, right," he said as he too looked at Sunny Pixie. A pause followed, during which neither teenager really knew what to say. There was so much that went unspoken nowadays conversations rarely had any meaning left in them. What meaning was there when everyone cowered for their lives, too afraid to fight back, yet outraged to play the submissive role? "You should give Sunny Pixie a chance, she's –"
"Mike, can we not –" Ayme sharply interrupted, her eyes shut, spitting out every word with every intention to stop Mike from talking about her unwanted monster.
"OK, I get it." Now it was Mike's turn to talk over her. He knew he shouldn't be picking on the topic of Ayme's fragile relation with Sunny Pixie, but he wanted to talk to her about it, he just wanted her to come to terms with the truth, that she could never have her way all the time. Honest's death had affected her deeply, yes, but he felt it was better for her to consult in him rather than weigh all the distressing emotion down in her heart, like a little balloon full of trapped air, ready to explode at any time; outside of their little bubble, Mike had seen so many emotional breakdowns, all caused by unspoken distress and hatred. In such rough times, trapping emotions in the most fragile organ was always too much for people to cope, even those who seemed to be tough on the outside, a statement which reflected Ayme like her own reflection. She was a tough girl, especially proven by her inability to cry at moving times (except for if it was extremely moving, or if it was close to her heart), but Mike could see through her toughness, and into the troubled soul which lay underneath. Even with their close friendship, Ayme was not always open, and it was Mike's responsibility to prise the closed shell open, and to help the vulnerable core through troubled times, even if it meant dying.
"Thank you." The words came out quietly, and the topic was over.
"Since when did you start spelling your name Ayme?" he asked, now looking sideways at her. "You used to spell it Amy." He heard her laugh, and it puzzled him like so many things did nowadays. It was feasible to say Ayme was more withdrawn and unpredictable than before, especially after her father Cur went missing over three weeks ago. The two teenagers knew there was nothing they could do about this; Ayme was reduced to looking at Mike and his luckily complete family – consisting of his parents and older brother – in a longing and envious way, and these looks always caused discomfort in Mike.
"I changed it three weeks ago," Ayme explained to him. Now that she had stopped laughing, she placed her hands over her stomach, her fingers locked. She was carefully avoiding Mike's glance, her watering eyes forcefully fixed on the slowly darkening sky. Any bright colour was gone as the darkening shades of the night sky dulled the otherwise beautiful hue. "Ever since dad went missing, I felt it was right." A lump formed in her throat; it was only now, when her dead really was gone, she realised how much she had loved him. Her relationship with him had been uneasy, and it had been made even more restless when they had found her mum had been ruthlessly slaughtered by the Neo Androids. "I had to; as Amy Mudgeon, I am no one. As Ayme Mudgeon, I'm an independent girl, ready to make her own living like every adult does."
"It doesn't matter to me what your name is, you're Ayme to me." There was a certain degree of dishonesty in Mike's comment; did he really know who she was, now that she wasn't the Amy he had come to know three years ago? He had only said it to comfort her, to take her mind off her possibly deceased father; it pained him to see his strong friend so upset.
"Thank you Mike. I'm glad I've still got you." Really? Mike questioned her mentally. He watched her sigh just as Sunny Pixie flew over and settled on Ayme's fingers, which immediately annoyed her; she roughly waved her hand, and the startled fairy immediately took flight, settling on a patch of grass beside Ayme. Suddenly, Ayme sighed, something which caught Mike's attention. "Mike?"
"Yeah?"
"I've been thinking, we've been trapped in Domino City for the past two months."
"That's true, yeah." Something about her following sentence was alarming him, though he didn't know what.
"I'm starting to tire of this place. There's only so much we can do with the Neo Androids in place. I'm tired of being told what we can and can't do, and I'm sick of all this cant about rioting against the Neo Androids, before the people who start all the hype turn their back to the rioting because they're too scared to do it. I want to make a move, a proper, actually plausible move." She turned on her side to look at Mike, as if asking for his opinion.
"Are you suggesting we start a riot?" He watched her shake her head.
"No, but you're close. I want to escape Domino City and go to the countryside. The Neo Androids never bothered there, the butcher told me when the meat came yesterday." Now it was Mike's turn to shake his head.
"That's insane Ayme, it'll never work." While Mike was doubtful, Ayme looked genuinely hopeful, a look which Mike hadn't seen for the past two months from anyone, and not just Ayme. He had seen more false hopes than actual, real hope, and while it did make a change, he didn't like this look of real hope.
"I think it can work, why else would I be talking to you about this? I'm quite friendly with the butcher, the baker and the dairyman, I can talk to them, see if they can take us out of the city –"
"Hold on, us?" Mike repeated, looking unmistakably confused. He hoped he had heard her wrong … if he hadn't, events were going to turn nasty …
"Yeah, did you think I was planning on going alone? I want you to come with me; I don't plan on spending my days in the countryside alone. You're not like those freaks who only know how to obey orders like some cowardly dog, you can actually do something useful, you could actually rebel against the Neo Androids if you wanted to!"
"Why do you want to leave Domino City?" The blunt delivery of this question, and the fact that Mike was now looking at the sky rather than Ayme, caught Ayme off-guard for a brief second; she had never known Mike to talk like that before.
"I told you, I'm tired of –"
"No, you're going for another reason aren't you? I know you –" Or I thought I did. "– you wouldn't just leave your home because you're sick of it. No … there has to be another reason."
"What if, for once, there isn't?" Ayme demanded. She knew Mike was starting to deconstruct her again, and every time he did it, she hated it; anyone who could deconstruct her had the potential to hurt her for life, as she learnt the hard way when her first and only boyfriend had cheated on her all those years ago. Mike was the only other person who could do it, and while he had never hurt her before, there was no guaranteeing he wasn't capable of it.
"There always is Ayme, I've learnt that so many times more than you can count in one sitting. You love Domino City, you would never give it up unless … it's about your parents, isn't it?"
"No –"
"Yes it is. You can't bear being here anymore, living as an orphan when the City has too many memories for you to cope with. You want to make a fresh start, escape from all your troubles you're facing here … and you want me to come with you … even though all my family are here …" He made brief eye contact with her, though she broke it as she turned away from him.
The low positioning of the nearly invisible sun threw long shadows across the garden, covering both teens and their surviving monsters in darkness. With only about five minutes of light remaining, it would not be long before the curfew came into place. Anyone who dared to wander the streets at night would be shot dead; it was that simple. No ifs, no buts, no exceptions.
"I won't go alone Mike. Only you understand me, only you can get along with me –"
"But I can't leave my family for you," he firmly interrupted, trying to make his point clear and quickly. "I'm sorry you're now an orphan –" He ignored the warning signs and pressed on. "– but you're nothing short of selfish, asking me to leave my family behind. They need me, and you know that; without me, mum would be in a mental hospital, bro would already be dead, and goodness knows what would have happened to dad." He stood up, and so did Commander Covington. Ayme looked genuinely upset, though uit was hard to tell with her face in shadow.
"Mike –"
"I've got to go, the curfew will be in place soon. See you Ayme." Without even looking at her, he walked out of the garden, treading in Ayme's footprints, and disappeared out of sight.
"Mike …"
"Cheer up Ayme, he'll be fine tomorrow," her Sunny Pixie piped up. She had a rather high, gentle voice, and it annoyed Ayme.
"Shut up, you don't know what you're talking about." Ayme rose from her imprint, and stayed still for a moment as she took a sideways glance at Mike's imprint. It was only when darkness had fully taken over did she head back into her home, her Sunny Pixie – now a tiny glowing figure – flying eagerly after her.
~*~