Blue Eternity
Chapter One: Hatching
There are two sides to life that intertwine and dance with ease. I never noticed the motion, and how it captivated and caught all who did notice it. Life was a
whirl, until I actually stopped to look at the intricacies of it all. But most of all, I found love even though I thought I couldn't ever feel it. I couldn't even
understand why humans acted the way they did around each other. Holding hands was about as utilitarian as a pile of rocks to me. Life was a mass process
of information and I contemplated it all before making a likely decision. A safe decision. But I'm going too far in advance, I think.
Blue sparks flew and danced around, blurred together. I opened my eyes warily. A faint whirring buzzed in my ears as I looked around the room. Information
came at me like a lightning bolt. I was in a cave, surrounded by medical and testing equipment. Cages lined the walls, and one was torn open, bars cruelly
bent and jagged, an open maw of metal teeth. A loud growling came from behind, and a beastman jumped in front of me. I just stared at the beastman's
face, looking curiously into mine. How long have I lain on this metal bench? I wonder, picking myself up. The beastman growls savagely and tries to pinion me
back down. I struggle and push him to the ground in a great clatter. He whimpers, wrinkling his ape face. I am strong.
I walk past the old medical equipment, past a set of skeleton bones with a lab coat, and past all the failed experiments and down a staircase that I notice
hidden behind a few broken cages. My eyes instantly adjust and zoom to the darkness. A faint outline appears in the shadows, and I run to it. Is it intelligent
life? As I approach, I realize it's only a gun. Long and slender, and powerful. My brain rapid fires at me all sorts of likely decisions, and the whirring occurs in
my ears again. I pick it up, and smile to myself. But I don't feel happy. I don't feel anything. But I feel like I've held this gun before, and helped many people.
I don't see a moving shadow approach me until it's too late. "What are you doing in this passage? You'll be attacked and raped by the beastmen if you walk
around here with that, er, outfit." A male voice says softly. I whirl around and come face to face with a young man. In the shadow, his green eyes shine with
a curiosity and I see a faint rose-coloring on his cheeks. Why is he acting like that?
"Who are you?" I say automatically, tilting my head in automated response.
"Drake, and yourself?" the man says kindly, taking my hand and leading me towards the light. I see he has shaggy light blue hair, and wears a long blue
coat. He walks with a kind confidence. I follow him.
"I'm Yoko." I say, without my brain whirring like it usually does. "A pleasure meeting a man like you, Drake." I see Drake flush, and a glimmer of a young,
inexperienced man flashes before me for only a moment. I feel pulled in different directions. My brain is giving all sorts of safe decisions and automated
responses, but I force my way against them somehow. I don't feel right. We walk into the light and I flinch, but my eyes adjust automatically.
"How do you not squint?" Drake looks at me curiously. "You know, I haven't seen an outfit like that except for in pictures from 30 years ago." I look down at
myself and see a flame bikini top, and short shorts, complete with white studded belt and white boots to match. "Because of the sandstorms and beastmen
mysteriously going out of control over women, women usually wear long dresses." Drake smiles and puts his hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, you look
fine." His eyes smile knowingly and I feel strange. What is this feeling?
Looking up at the sky, I feel wide open. "So much blue." I say, my eyes wide and taking in all the information on the sciences and colors of the sky. I brush it
off, and just enjoy the image of the listless, white clouds against the bright blue. Losing myself, I close my eyes and hug my shoulders. I let the waves of
pain and memory go over me. I can imagine a time when I flew in that sky, and marveled at the beauty then too. Imagining those dear to me, with dark blue
hair and a desire to fight, I look at Drake and smile softly. His light blue hair ruffles in the wind and he glances at me shyly. Blue. I want to drown in it forever.
But that is not automatic or the safe decision, my brain tells me. You are a shell.
I don't know if I should believe.
"Look, Yoko." Drake points up at the sky. A huge metal ship stands before me, in the shape of a human. Its eyes smile softly, just like Drake. "Want a ride?" I
nod, and a flash of a memory burns into my skull, before my brain shoves it aside cruelly. He picks me up like a rag doll, hanging me over his shoulder and
ascends to the maw of the metal beast. Sitting me down on his lap, the machine responds to his will and ignites. Green overflows around me and I look at
Drake. He's looking away, the rose-color on his face again.
"Drake, why is your face pink a lot?" I ask, shaking my red hair out from the pony tail. It hangs down and spills out on the ground. I squirm to get
comfortable and his cheeks get pinker.
"Yoko, do you know what blushing is?" Drake looks at me, and I tilt my head.
"A human response to embarrassment, love, affection, and even visual appeal." I say automatically before I can even think. I glance at his green eyes. They
look curious and perhaps hungry. I look away out the window, at the speeding landscape. I feel motionless. I feel as still as the dead under the earth. Yet,
maybe, maybe not, I know there is a stirring within. A stirring of a person that once lived before me, once ruled this body. Is she what I once was? Or a
figment placed into my mind? My eyes close as my brain shuts me down, before I can contemplate further. The last thing I see is Drake's amused expression
and his blue, shaggy hair.