Perhaps you have seen this sight already, a lonely girl walking the streets in the middle of the night. Is there something peculiar about this scene? There is nothing special about a person who just finished work and is returning home, but everyone has their own story to tell. Shall we observe closer to draw an image? Her uncanny clothes, the peculiar way she strolls, almost trotting. But it seems that the girl's thoughts were certainly in places where no one sleeps soundly.

Renko: "I'm worried. Ridiculously pressured to shape results. It's been years since I have became a lab-rat, for nothing more than promises that were lies from the start. Worthless my time, just being chained to a sink of wormhole development. We are greatly understaffed and this research is not going anywhere. I should just quit, even though I have no other place to go. Yet this is still something I can't blame myself, at least I don't believe it was my fault. I would like an advice but I don't know whom to ask. But... In any case I should be home soon."

With the gaze upon the sky, she neurotically confirms her remaining time. Even so her foot does not rest, they are pushed even harder towards the train station. It's really late and perhaps she is simply tired. That would be the reason why would a person only think about the time when they would finally arrive at home.

Renko: "Honestly I never carried this much junk out of the work, it's usually the other way around. It would be really convenient if someone could help me but, I guess I can fully understand why. I am also a recent victim of that, and it's scale is really unnerving. Even the number of trains circulating have decreased recently. The entire world must have gone into a whirl, but how should I know? I stopped paying attention to the news that only further deepens the blow. And now the pain has finally reached even my own life. Just in a wake, I found myself going down the rabbit hole and into a hellish nightmare of reality."

It's always pretty worrying when you hear something has happened to another person. Is it empathy or rather the fear of something like that occurring to you? While you are thinking about it, there is a powerful sigh. The girl on the stage continued to dramatize her actuality.

Renko: "Reality has such a mysterious ways to meld existence, the times you are happy and moments that takes it away. Just yesterday I was glad that at least something would change for good. But the moment I woke up I realised how awfully I was lied to, and by a someone close as well."

Her fist are clenching? Looks like she is about to punch somebody. Unfortunately there is no one here and a wall would hurt more than it would help.

Renko: "Dammit! That kid timing couldn't have been worse, as if the odds were not already stacked against me. It's frightfully pathetic of her, because I can't understand why. But now I guess the only reliable one, which is me, would need to clean up after her. But why? I feel only punished for nothing I did, like I was the one to suffer the consequences for decisions I didn't make. I was always convinced that the architect of my life was me alone. But I was mistaken. The bequest of the broken world to live alone in. Is there really no hope left for me...?"

But then something blurred into the scene of the night. A figure more terrifying the closer you get to a lamp post. It was behind her, almost like a personal shadow. Though she didn't stop, her voice became quiet the moment she could sense it. Yes, there was clearly someone following her.

Renko: "Uhg!"

Her saliva went down and her pulse went up. She almost jumped but her feet were still on the ground, step by step, trying to gain distance. At the same time the train was arriving at the station. With that whisper in her mind, she knew what to do in the moment's exchange. After all, she was rather in a hurry to her destination.

Seriously running away from your shadow like that, something in her mind must be twisted. Are there even people who are still afraid of the dark or their own reflection in the mirror? The baby fears that humanity should have grew from, are they still present in this world? She isn't much of a trouper, running off like that. There is no real audience to watch her show, maybe just a person or two. But there is another thing that's attention grabbing, she never looked behind her.

Renko: "Ah.. I think I made it."

That calming thought came to her, just after doors were closed. She certainly made in time but what was she running from in the first place?

Renko: "Ah... ah... I think I can finally breathe again. I don't usually travel at this hour, but my... there is no one here either. I seriously hope this is not a ghost train."

Renko: "Well... that's a joke of course, there's no way I would be dragged into something now. I don't want to believe my luck would be simply this bad. Ehehe..."

Honestly, letting out a snicker like this? You should be always careful with sanity checks like those, you might be caught off guard. But in any case, there is certainly only one person in the train now. That counts for every passenger's car. We don't include the conductor, whenever it is a robot or a human being.

Renko: "Ok, I'm glad I made in time for this train. Was this the last one today? It doesn't matter now, that's not longer a concern. I guess I didn't leave anything behind by the looks of it, so maybe it's a good moment to take some rest. I can even lay down on the seats, not that anyone is watching anyway. I should, just for the sake of it."

Renko: "Although, that might be a little dangerous. I could fall asleep, which would be worse. Anyway, those chairs don't look too comfortable to lay on, so I will pass on the idea."

It's okay to take rest, at the very least take a seat if you are not feeling well. Face to the window, let's wonder what did she observe in the slight reflection of her. Actually was she thinking about something specific? Those bags she glanced from time to time looked important to her. Did they carry any special meaning?

Renko: "I think I calmed down, at least a little. I hope this is everything I really need, internet says so even. So I'm actually doing this, like a responsible older sister? I should just straight out tell parents everything from the start, but now I don't think it will be this bad. I can do it, I believe in myself, right? Right..."

And so with a flick of confidence-giving phone, this girl is set for a new part of her life. One that will be much different from the previous acts. But the question is really how long is she going to be fine with things, the way they will be now? We should totally root for her!

Renko: "On the other hand, I kinda wonder about one more mishap, the one from just a moment ago. Certainly the places I went to, they were not a public attractions. A very low chance to meeting a single soul, especially at nights. What bothers me still is if there was a person behind me..."

She made a brief pause, like the tension was getting back to her.

Renko: "Actually I wish it was nothing but I never confirmed anything. I never looked back, and now I wonder why... Was I scared of who I would see, or simply didn't care to learn? Hmm..."

Deliberating about something you have done, even though you will never learn what could have happened if you did something else? It's pointless, wouldn't you agree?

Renko: "I'm happy that I escaped from that guy, who knows really what he was up to? Maybe it was some pervert trying to take advantage of the situation. Not that I can't take care of myself but who is this stupid to take chances? There is no way I would like to know. I have heard some really creepy stories from my colleagues, more fear inducing that any of the club activities. I guess the people are still more scarier than the unknown."

You might be right there, but learning the truth would still be more mind-numbing. A person who were both ravaged by monsters and humans, certainty not something you can recommend experiencing to anyone.

Renko: "About time I should be arriving at home, what was the station just now? Actually, it's rather strange no one else entered the train, even at this hour."

If someone could answer that question, it would be the person next to her. It seems that suddenly the situation has turned to worse. Somehow the air was filled with the night's atmosphere of aberrant draft. The windows were all closed and so were the car's doors, but you could see only the lone girl shivering in the seat. There was no one besides her there.

Renko: "Brrr... I should really think about putting something extra on next time. It's damn cold in here."

But it wasn't that her wardrobe was not accommodating the indoor or outdoor weather. It was a matter that something has caused her warmth to leave her side. This occult way of thinking would soon make it's way towards the very core of her mind, forcibly.

Renko: "I should... change cars, this is ridiculous how freezing it became. Did they turn on the air conditioner by mistake? The aftermath of the climate change sure go mysterious ways, even the machines start to suffer from it."

So the girl stood up, without looking at anything particular, and took her baggage with her to the next car. Of course you were allowed to do that as a lady, but since there was no one else in the train, it wouldn't matter even if you were a man. She was also looking a little indisposed, her fretting face was showing so. The steps she took carried a note of stiffness. Perhaps she was trying to warm up her body with this exercise?

Renko: "And this one too? I should be stopping just in a minute but..."

And just a moment longer she realised that she doesn't want to pause, at least stop moving her legs. It was the next car, and then several others, she has had passed before the train finally came to halt.

Renko: "Augh... This is were I... get off..."

But as soon everything was going back to normal, her skin twitched unconsciously. Panting and puffing the only way she turned was to the exit. The door opened and the girl calmly stepped outside, as if nothing has happened.

Renko: "Next time I'm definitely not going this late. I almost froze in this weather."

It's a good idea to bring extra clothes, so let's remember that. The case of a chill it is always something unpleasant which can be avoided. However, other things are far more worrying of course, and they tend to be unpreventable.

The scene changes as our star arrives at the location. The lights are turned on, as she steps inside her very small flat. It's a definitely cosy interior, but the space is rather limited. Something you have to get used to if you are planning on living alone.

Renko: "I'm tired, but at least in one piece. Let's just drop this first and get something to eat, then sleep."

And the weapon of choice was instant noodles. The one kind that can count as a meal.

Renko: "Well this will take a while, I guess I could check on her and set her stuff up. I seriously hope I'm doing this right, because I would regret her making a mess."

Controversially our hero wasn't all alone in the house. There was another person, namely her own younger sister. The story behind that was rather a mysterious one. Just few weeks ago, the sister contacted Renko with a proposition of moving in with her. Followed by some discussion they both agreed to that. However, just yesterday the younger sibling fell asleep and didn't wake up. The strange thing was that no matter what the girl tried the other wouldn't rise. She was completely paralysed inside of a dream, sleeping her life away. It's certainly a little tough for our lead character, so keep your fingers crossed for Renko!

Renko: "So this is how my life is now, huh? I have to take care of my sister, as in I have became a mother to her. This is really bothersome, at least I could ask parents for help. But then again I already promised that I would keep her existence here a secret. It's up to me whenever she will wake up eventually or not. It's not really something we both agreed upon but I could image a much worse situation. I'm glad at least she is still alive albeit having no sings of functioning."

So perhaps one day her sister awakes from the coma? There is only this much love you can give to a person, until she or he becomes a nerve. But you have to admit she is taking that fact quite firmly.

Renko: "This goes there and that goes there. I think I'm done here. Seriously it wasn't this hard as I first thought but she should be good now. I dunno how I should feel about this whole situation though. A part of me is still agitated about this actually happening to me. I wasn't planning on becoming a mother of a infant, especially baby sitting my own sister. We had our good and bad times but in the end she is still blood related. I can't just throw her out, that would be terrible. It's just that right now I can't possibly image what was going on in her head, my own sister that I shared so much with."

Renko: "If only she was a little more responsible for herself. I thought she wanted to become an adult coming here, to live away from our parents. All the time she spend here caused no problems for me, we did our stuff together in between my work and her school. But in the end, was this her plan all along? If that would be the case I seriously can't forgive her irresponsibility. I..."

Just like that, the girl rose with anger and took her hands towards her sister. And that slap looked really painful! If only the sleeper could feel anything that is. You could guess that the meaning behind the title Master of Your Own Life is that everything besides you is a burden. But sometimes you are forced to carry it for some reason. The wretched people who were wronged by the fate, blemished only to suffer the wrong decisions of previous generations. In other words, those without a sin in hell.

Renko: "If only I could take revenge on you, right now. Taking it out on your numb body like this, isn't really all that interesting. However, at least it would release this taint from me."

... There is no reason to comment on what was happening there. The least you should know it wasn't anything compromising.

Renko: "Uhg... That actually felt good. Just so you know when you wake up, we are going to have a prolonged conversation. Just between us two. Perhaps I will even have some kind of punishment waiting for you.."

With that said, our lady boxer left to consume her energy filling refurbishment in a form of unknown synthetic mixtures. At least there was no reason to examining their compound structure.

Renko: "..."

This little sobbing lady is surely just swinging her moods, with the tiny tears being soaked into the noodles. It's really hard to blame her for that.

Renko: "I glad this day has an ending. I'm thinking way too much, and there is nothing to worry about any longer. My sister is taken care of now, but that stranger in the night..."

Yea about that person... was there anything there actually? And if so, who was that person and why would he follow Renko? It shouldn't matter, that could have been just a shadow after all. A shade that sticks to you and mimics everything you do.

Renko: "I'm kinda scared it will happen again. Something like that surely reminds me times we had our activities. It's really nostalgic, the way it's there but then again it's not. I thought I was done with that kind of thrills but I guess you never really graduate from a occult school club. Well, it's not worth investigating anyway. I will just have to wake up tomorrow and feed my baby sister, then go to work like usual. My life has not changed, maybe just slightly. But right now is fine, no reason to change anything. Goodnight and sweet dreams, sister."

With that both of the sibling were sleeping. Let's hope they have a good night's rest.

- End of Act 1 -