.
THE TOMORROW
CHILDREN
'Reasons'
There was only darkness inside the cavern. Every path out of the chamber actually led to another cave, every possible way out was sealed. Nothing was visible, nothing but the hollowness of the complete lack of light.
Nothing, but the two, white, bright eyes of a stalking Retashi.
The mosquito-esque monster quietly hovered around, flapping its tiny wings. It didn't look like it was sad to be alone, or disturbed by the shadows all around it. It simply navigated throughout the cavern, looking around in search of possible prey.
The Retashi suddenly turned around and began flying towards another section of the cave. From far away, something that could be interpreted as a dull, angered roar echoed in the cavern, but the Retashi didn't seem to be interested by the disturbance. It stopped right in front of a wall, and there it waited.
It waited… until noises came from the other side. The white eyes of the creature twitched as it continued to patiently await for the upcoming visitors. The noises started out almost hearable, but after a few minutes they gained strength. Clear noises of a pickaxe and a shovel working their way towards the cavern the Retashi was trapped in.
By now, the noises were very near, and footsteps could be heard along with the sound of workshop tools. Finally, another series of pickaxe noises was heard, and, oh so slowly, the wall in front of the Retashi began to crack. The creature remained immobile, at least as much immobile as his hovering let him be, as the cracks became deeper and the wall section continued to creak.
And finally, it happened. The wall disappeared in a dust cloud as the tunnel finally connected with the cavern. Right away, light reached out for the immediate surroundings of the new entrance. The Retashi didn't even flinch. It was too much interested in the new arrival to care.
Someone made a step forward, into the cavern, and the Retashi found itself in front of the figure of a girl. Or, at least, that's what she looked like. The girl was wearing a peculiar attire, made out of a red working dress and a reddish miner headgear a little too much big for her head. In her hands, she held the same pickaxe she had been using to dig her way into the cave.
The Retashi wasn't surprised or astonished by the sight, not at all. In fact, it immediately flied forward with its pointy stinger ready to strike. The little girl yelped and abandoned the pickaxe before dropping herself to the ground, barely evading the dangerous thorn.
"IZVERG!" she immediately shouted, before standing up and moving away just in time before the Retashi could stab her to the ground. The mosquito shook itself in clear annoyance and moved to reach its prey, but the girl was fast and agile, far more than the creature, and every attempt of the monster to hit her proved fruitless.
That is, until the miner girl made the error of getting too far from the entrance of the cave, far from the light of the little flashlight she had brought with her and left before opening the entrance to the cavern. Her body suddenly began to blink with various red-coloured, computer-like digits running on her dress, arms and face. She looked at her hands in alarm, realizing the danger she was in, and immediately ran for the light, but the Izverg was too fast and she was stabbed right into the shoulder by the stinger of the monster.
The girl cried out in pain and moved away from the creature, holding on her shoulder. The Retashi looked at her with its white eyes, devoid of emotion, and simply moved to finish her off.
But the creature was so focused it failed to hear the numerous footsteps approaching until it was too late.
The Retashi felt a new presence nearby and looked at its side to see a group of five girls looking at it. To him, it didn't matter how many of them there were… it would have tried to kill them all regardless.
Yet, the monster had no longer the advantage: one of the girls moved in front of the group to face him. This girl wore a different type of cloth, dark green in colour and with a beret that would have been perfectly suited for a military sergeant. And, instead of a simple pickaxe, she wielded a shotgun.
Before the Retashi could move a centimetre towards her, she shot a round and the mosquito received various lead pellets in its face. It growled in pain, then it resumed to move forward like it was nothing, but the girl fired again. And again. And again.
Finally, the Izverg cried a final time and plummeted down, losing the energy needed to keep flying. Its eyes lost light, and a moment after, its corpse dissolved into dust, revealing what seemed to be a green piece of mineral.
"Maas?" one of the other girls immediately asked, holding on her shovel like it was the most important object in the world. The miner girl shook her head, and the military-dressed girl nodded.
"Da. Maas pricy kopnik giuk. Palas fiu," she said before folding her shotgun back in her backpack and moving away, leaving the other five girls alone.
Three of them materialized as much lanterns from their backpacks and moved inside the cave, looking for good places where to place the lights. The fourth girl instead went to the miner one who had been hurt.
"Hey, you okay?" the other girl asked. She was wearing yet another outfit, far different from the one of the miner or the soldier girls. She had a simple dark-coloured dress covering her, with patched-in pockets on her front and no hat protecting her head.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm good… wait!" the miner girl suddenly yelped in worry, bringing a hand to her mouth and shutting herself up.
"Relax, that girl there is the only resident on the island right now, we can talk however we want… and you know, exercising with the language of the black market once in a while can be helpful!"
The red-dressed girl opened her mouth to protest, but nothing came out of her mouth and she simply sighed. "Humph. You're right…"
"Here," the other girl drew out an object from her backpack: an apple. "Take it. I might be a Proletarian and you might be a Bourgeoise member but I'm sure you would like a bite of this one, do you?"
The miner girl observed the fruit held by her comrade… then she snatched it and bit hard into the pulp.
"Wow… I didn't realize you were that hurt," the proletarian girl chuckled. The miner finished the fruit in the fraction of a second and a little light bulb appeared out of thin air, circling around her before vanishing.
"Huh-uh. That was not the first Retashi I saw today… even though I wasn't alone last time," she said. She looked at the other girl for a second, before saying, "Uuuh… thank you."
"No problem, comrade!" the proletarian girl smiled, "Everything for a fellow clone!"
"Girls! I think I found a Matrioska doll! Maybe there are two, but it's too high in the cave!" they heard someone yell, coming from deep into the cave. Far away, one of the other girls was making gestures with her hands, pointing at a hidden platform near the ceiling.
"Don't start digging! We'll need those shovels later – I have a leftover jetpack and a pair of ladders with me. I'll deal with it!" the proletarian girl said, before turning back to the miner.
"Hey, listen. If you really want to go alone when exploring the bigger islands, you better get a weapon. The Izverg are a bit more nervous than usual today and we don't want to end up stumbling on your dead remains, if you get what I mean. There's a discount on the shotguns right now back in town, you should be able to get a companion-tier one for a few coupons. Don't worry about this big guy," she pointed at the cave, "me and my gals will dig out every bunch of resources hidden here in no time!"
"I think… I think you're right. I better get something to defend myself," the miner girl replied. "Thank you, again."
"Ohh, now you're making me blush!" the proletarian girl laughed. "Now move it, that bus won't wait for you!"
The miner girl couldn't help but smile. She walked back towards the entrance while the other girl went to join her comrades. Before entering the tunnel, though, she looked for a moment at the projection clones already on the job in the vast cavern, with a puzzled look on her face.
It didn't happen that often to see a fellow comrade talk that informally with you. Most of the other clones, while friendly and always willing to lend you a hand, were always of few words, if not downright mute. It was not ruled out to talk with each other, of course – communication between projection clones was encouraged as long as it proved effective for improving your toil – but even so it was rare to find a good interlocutor.
Hence the surprise on the miner girl's face. Her thoughts, though, quickly came to a halt. She couldn't daydream right now… she had something to do.
And she didn't want to wait ten minutes for the next bus to arrive, either.
The miner girl walked into the tunnel, making sure to keep herself in range of the lights and away from the areas left in the dark. Moving past lanterns and lightplants, she eventually managed to reach the end of the tunnel she had made herself, which led out to another cavern.
Or at least, it used to be a cavern.
Before her there was a huge chamber, much bigger than the cave she had discovered minutes before. Pathways ran around the various levels of the new cavern, and lights dotted them, leaving no space for darkness. At least twelve girls with various uniforms were working: mining, digging, cutting, or simply placing gadgets around. Right over her, the miner girl could see the ceiling… or what remained of it. There was no protection from the sky since there was a giant hole where the roof should have been.
Bondi, the girl thought. She waited for any type of sound to come from outside, but she heard none of the atone cries usually emitted by the flying creatures. She only heard the far, very far roar of a different monster, too far and feeble to be of any interest.
Resolving to move, she resumed her travel to get to the other side of the cave. She saluted the few comrades she encountered, which politely answered but without further words, and in no time she was again in another tunnel.
It didn't take her too much though to reach the end of this one, and when she finally left it she was no more trapped in the maze.
The scene outside was much, much different than the one inside the tunnels. The girl left the coloured terrain and began to walk on a thick, grey-ish type of substance, which she didn't seem to mind. Around her the remains of work lay: abandoned boxes, a few scattered pieces of terrain, and dead stumps. She even saw a pair of clones wandering around, picking up whatever could be useful and moving everything else in one place, trying to put a little order to everything.
At the end of her travel, the miner girl finally reached the bus stop. A big number of various objects had been placed in front of it, waiting to be carried away. Ore, crystals, coal, wood, a few boxes and two matrioska dolls. Three girls were already waiting at the side of the pile of resources.
Without a word, the miner girl joined the three and waited in silence. Another clone arrived, dropped three pieces of golden metal, then returned back from where she came, and a second one arrived to take the bus. After two minutes of silence, the finally heard the 'whirrrr' noise of the approaching hovering vehicle.
The bus was pretty simple in its design: it was very similar to a tram without neither seats to sit on nor the sidewalls. As soon as the vehicle stopped, the girls started to transfer the resources to the back car of the bus, and in a few moments everything had been correctly transferred. Thus, they got in on the front car and grabbed the handrail.
The bus didn't wait too much before taking its leave. As the bell that advised nearby clones of the approaching departure rang, the miner girl looked at the island, that from the distance was now correctly visible in its entirety.
Clearly, it was no normal island. The terrain was modelled after what appeared to be a giant human face with an unidentified expression. Around it there were mini-islands, certain ones even floating without touching the white-ish ground, that had the forms of falling bombs… if not warheads. Yet, despite the creepy display, both the bombs and the face had seen better days: they were now full of holes, with a few stairs placed around or dug in. The girl could even see a pair of projection clones working on the surface in the distance.
Without notice, the bus driver ignited the engine and the vehicle took off. Losing interest, the girl threw a look to her comrades, and seeing they weren't willing to start a conversation, she throw a glance to the telescreen that right in front of them was airing pure propaganda, with heavy classic music playing in the background. After excluding the possibility of rewatching something she had long since memorized, she took a peek from the bus's side. At first, she looked back to see the island they had just left getting farther and farther, to the point that the omnipresent fog made it look a little blurry.
She then turned around to see where they were heading to. In the distance there was a town, their current destination. While not the most agile vehicle, the bus was swift and it took them less than a minute to reach the town. The bus driver zig-zagged between the various buildings until it reached another bus stop, placed right in the centre of the town.
As soon as the bell rang, every girl immediately got off and started the painful stacking process. Various other girls that were, supposedly, already present in the town joined them and they worked without a hitch, transporting every crystal, ore, coal or wood piece to their respective locations in the main stockpile.
The miner girl only limited herself to empty her backpack of the coal she had been carrying – since before taking the bus. She fired a look at the other hard-working clones and, deeming them without need of help, she decided to concentrate on her own task.
The town was a picturesque-looking urban agglomerate. There was no asphalt or floor hatsoever, and the same, hardened white substance that encircled the island constituted the foundations of the various buildings. The form and role of the houses and facilities the girl passed in front of as she walked were of all kinds, but she was looking for one in particular.
The banging music of orchestra opera returned to her ears as the girl approached the Ministry of Labour. There were three clones already waiting for their turn in front of the main door, and the miner girl simply took her position behind the last without a word. The Ministry, despite its pompous name, wasn't that big, but that was of no surprise. Resources were limited and most of the biggest contraptions in town were actually combinations of smaller buildings.
The miner girl didn't spent much time standing in line. Only a minute was needed for each girl to enter the ministry and then exit, letting the next one have her turn: in no time, she was in.
"Basilee," the girl announced as stepped into the inside of the Ministry. The internal lobby was quite dark, and there was a lone light right in the centre of it, and the girl stopped moving only when she was right under it. There were some tall figures around her that seemed like they were observing her, but the clone wasn't fazed at all… or, if she was, she didn't show it. Right in front of her, there was a little, metal table.
"Mmm. Ka ma prici shkona," a voice answered. One of the figures approached her, even though the darkness hid his upper body, and raised one of its hands. The girl's eyes followed the contents of whatever was hidden in it as the figure let the objects fall on the table.
"Smiuk," the figure concluded before returning to its hiding place. The girl nodded and, without question, grabbed the red-coloured papers that were waiting on the table, and left without a word.
Thirty-worth of coupons… figures, the girl thought to herself after she left the Ministry and let the next clone get her own ration. She decided to ignore the debatable correspondence between the toil she had fulfilled and the payment she received and moved straight towards a series of shop stands. There were various clones already talking with the storekeepers, but there was one free shop left, and the girl checked it without further question.
The storekeeper greeted her with a simple wave and waited for further instructions. Keeping her mouth shut, the miner girl pointed at one of the flashlights hanging from the sidewall and a red-coloured shotgun, and presented a few coupons. The storekeeper nodded, took the red paper and proceeded to get the objects to his client.
After receiving the gadgets, the miner girl would have simply turned away to return to work, but the short man cleared his throat before she could do so. "Excuse me…" he said lowly, hastily looking around them for potential eavesdroppers, "…I see you lack a proper vehicle license. I appear to have a few unused copies just right here, so… maybe we can make a little freeman deal privately, you know?"
The girl frowned and vehemently shook her head. "No, thank you. I'm going to get that licence when the State decides I'm worthy."
"Which could take way, way more time than you could imagine…" the storekeeper argued.
"I don't care." Visibly irritated, the little girl turned around and walked away, but not before the man could fire a last jab at her.
"Your wish is my wish… Bourgeoise."
The day was already coming to an end over the lone town. Yet, the bus didn't stop its monotone travels to and from the strange island, and there were always at least one or two girls making use of the vehicle. The number of projection clones that were working inside the red face, though, had clearly diminished.
No one liked the night. Not surprisingly, given the fact that the night could kill you.
A thought that was far from the minds of the group of four Proletarian clones that were currently waiting inside the bus to return to town. The five girls were happily singing together, following the lead of the telescreen in front of them and the epic anthem it continued to emit. There was no sign of fatigue or nervousness among them: their bright smiles left no doubt about it.
Eventually, the bus reached its destination. The girls left the vehicle and immediately began to carry the resources to the town's stockpile, while continuing to chat with each other. Thanks to help of a few bystanders, they were able to distribute all the objects in no time, and soon they were left without much to do.
One of the girls suddenly announced, "I'll get a couple of apples out of the orchard! See ya' later!" before zooming away from her four friends. Slaloming between residences, turrets, crafting laboratories and coal-powered power plants, she spent no more than a minute to arrive to the cultivations, by now way more frequented than normal.
There were various clones walking under the trees, stopping occasionally to shake the branches and collect the prized fruits. No one of them wanted to eat them, though: the girl could see a few comrades going away in the direction of the stockpile with their backpacks full. Indeed, someone had to fill the town's food reserves.
Other than the clones, the girl couldn't help but smile at the sight of a little human-like fellow slowly moving along with the clones, holding a watering can. He had a different complexion from the girls, and he was way shorter, so it was easy to tell him apart from the clones, as well as from the ugly faces of the State's officers who stalked around the town. And they were way more willing to have a friendly conversation than them, too.
Maybe that was how most of humanity used to be, before the Void took over.
The girl banished the idea before it could take a form she wouldn't have liked, and walked to the nearest full tree. She only had to move the tree's log a little to make the apples fall, which she wasted no time in snatching and putting them in her mouth.
Mmm… I needed that, she thought to herself as light engulfed her and strength returned to her muscles. That Monito might have been an immobile Izverg type, but if it managed to hit you it still hurt.
She decided to take a minute for herself, resting her back on the same tree that had provided the goods, and she looked around. She noticed a projection clone entrapped in a tall cage not too far from her, completely covered by blue paint, and she failed to stifle a snicker. We really need a way to tell people that these trees are not here for wood…
Her eyes continued to scan the surroundings: she could see the central monument afar, above the shorter buildings, and if she added a little bit of imagination she could even see the vague shape of the peak of the town hall. The tesla coils were way easier to identify, since they emitted light themselves.
The night was approaching, and by now the various lanterns were already beginning to be of use. The girl mentally calculated that darkness would fully take place of the sunlight in no more than ten minutes… thank goodness, she was away from the islands. The first time she had been taken aback and found herself stranded on one when night arrived it had not been her best experience.
She would have moved to return to her group of friends if it wasn't for one quick image that passed before her, right after looking at a couple of projection clones working on two electricity generators. She narrowed her eyes and noticed that there was a projection clone sitting on the very edge of the town by herself, far from her and everyone else. That was a peculiar scene by itself, but what really piqued the girl's curiosity was who the clone was.
Her red coloured mining attire wasn't that common, after all.
The Proletarian girl immediately walked to greet the girl who she had previously met during the day. She was curious to know what the heck she was doing, but she had no hypothesis about what… which made her even more curious, of course.
"Hello!" she saluted once she was sure the miner girl was in hearing range. Yet, the projection clone didn't seem to have heard her. Her face continued to stay immobile, watching the horizon. The sun was no more, but the sky persisted in retaining a little glow that had the effect to make the division line between it and the desert far away definite even in the twilight. That was, if the fog didn't decide to suddenly rise from the terrain and reduce visibility, of course.
Not fazed at all by the lack of reaction from her red-dressed comrade, the clone resorted to sit down beside her. She leaned a little forward and checked the miner's face, only to see nothing but a blank expression.
"Oh, come on! What's going on?" the girl exclaimed. "You lost a matrioska doll? Or is it that too-grown-up mosquito from earlier you're still fed up about?"
The miner's eyes finally moved to match the other girl's own. There was clear annoyance in them, which quickly gave away to surprise. "You?" the miner girl uttered in confusion. Clearly, she hadn't recognized her from the voice... to be fair, they were all clones, anyway.
"Been getting some good ol' fruit to fill my belly when I saw you here pondering over nothingness. What's up?"
"Ha…" the miner girl couldn't help but let out a little laugh, but it was bitter. "You wouldn't be too far from the truth…"
"Then enlighten me!" the proletarian girl wasn't definitely giving up anytime soon on knowing what was troubling her comrade.
Sighing, the miner girl returned to her apparent lookout job. "It just… I don't know… I've been thinking."
"…so?"
"I… I can't get the reason. The motif behind all of this."
The sentence apparently had an effect as the proletarian girl raised her eyebrows to their maximum possible height. "What?!"
She stood up and moved to talk with the miner girl from her front, blocking her field of view. "That's preposterous, and you know it. We all know why we're here! Or have you forgotten about what's right around us?"
To show what she was talking about, she made a step backwards, only to slowly begin to descend into the ground, not too much differently from how quicksand would have worked. Before she could get any deeper she returned to her previous position, escaping the unsolid terrain that encircled the town's confines.
"The Void, comrade. That's the reason why we're here. We're fighting it!"
"I know!" the miner girl suddenly retorted, sounding irritated.
"Then what's the problem?! The Void has almost destroyed humanity, and we're here for the sole purpose of reclaiming what's been stolen from us. That's why we explore the islands for materials and matrioskas! That's why we combat the Izverg!"
"I know!" the miner girl repeated. "That's not what I'm talking about!"
"Then tell me what it is!"
"It's us!"
Once again, the proletarian girl barely withstood the hit by staggering back, almost falling into the quicksand-like ground a second time. "…us?"
"I get that what we're doing is important, that's obvious, but I… I cannot shake the feeling that my part may not be that as much important for all our work."
The miner girl's eyes suddenly found the ground much more interesting than her baffled comrade as she continued to talk. "Look at me… I didn't even manage to hold off a stupid Retashi by myself. If it wasn't for you and the others I would have stopped existing never to be known of again."
"…Well, if what I thought was your problem was absurd, this is just stupid," the Proletarian girl bluntly commented, forgetting about manners apparently. She, however, sat down beside the miner girl once again, prepared to continue the discussion. "We are all part of the State, and we all do our part. That's the spirit of our job, to work together!"
"That's true, but what about the contribution of every one of us? You know very well not everyone has access to what could help us in surviving the islands and the attacks."
The proletarian girl looked like she had just been asked the obvious. "Not everyone knows how to handle a hovertank right after reaching her first town!"
"I'm not talking about those things! Look at you, you're Proletariat member. You're lucky you can plant down trees inside the town!"
"I'm pretty sure I'd make the city into a chaotic heck if they ever let me do most of the building, comrade."
"That's not… ugh, forget about it. Just tell me how much time you've been working here."
"I dunno, a month? Actually, I've been helping out in two towns prior to this one. I even saw the restoration of one of them! That's one of the most beautiful things you could ever-"
"I've been here for four days! And I'm a Bourgeoise, while you're a Proletarian. See?"
For the first time, the vivacious girl didn't have any quick reply, and kept silent.
"I have way more options to help out the town than you... yet, I wasn't able to use them to do something decisive. Why should I continue to keep these documents? I didn't obtain neither them nor those stupid licenses because I deserved them! I brib-"
The sentence was cut off by the proletarian girl's hand. She looked left and right and returned her focus to the miner only when she was sure no one was listening to their speech.
"I don't care how you got those licences. They're just papers, anyway," the girl started, "and sooner or later everyone has the chance to get them. I know I'll get mine soon, from what I've heard… they are watching, comrade. Your efforts never go unseen, be they as nimble as you want!"
The miner clone was reluctant to let herself be reassured by those words. "But I know who would make better use of these papers than me. Why should I keep going, if I know there are far better workers than me?"
Suddenly, the proletarian girl made a realization. She stood up again and returned to her previous position, before her peer. "I know what's the real problem here. You think that this is not really a collective work, and that we're not getting nowhere with what we're doing, don't you?"
"That's not-"
"And because of that, you aren't able to see the big picture... You only see what's near you. How the other clones work, how you work… you are focused on toil."
"Hey! I'm not-"
"But don't worry. That's easily fixed."
Before the miner girl knew it, she was pulled up by the proletarian clone. She forced her to turn around and, keeping her by her shoulders, blocked her where she was.
"Watch, comrade."
The girl could only see a few clones still busy with the orchard as well as a pair of humans wandering with their flashlights turned on. She noticed a couple of workers abandoning the electricity generators and another clone running with a metal sign in her hands… nothing out of the ordinary.
"And I mean, watch closely."
The miner girl decided to give a shot to whatever the other clone had in mind and did as she was told. She saw the lights dotting the various pathways around the town, the numerous residences, the pointy peak of the taller buildings behind them. She saw the night sky above them, devoid of any star, another object to the disappearance list since the Void's take-over.
Without notice, the miner girl was whirled around by the other clone. "Watch."
The vastity of nothingness. The night could only enhance the element, as nothing could be seen now, not even as the bus made its way through the landscape and illuminated its immediate surroundings. If she focalized, she could make out the far eyes of what probably was a lone Retashi slowly navigating towards the town.
But it was an Izverg. It was a product of the grey-ish terrain, like the islands were. It was another feature to the long list of oddities that marked the Void.
"…see?" the Proletarian girl said, mimicking the same behaviour donned by the miner girl minutes before. "See the huge difference here?"
"I see… but…"
"You told me you know we're working to recover what the Void has taken… yet, you think that your part in this is too small to be of any importance. Don't you see?"
Finally, the miner girl was let away from the other clone's grasp. Massaging her shoulders, she timidly shot a glance to her fellow clone… who was of course staring at her. "There no 'big part' or 'small part'. There's only 'our part'. I'm not working, you're not working. We are working!"
She threw her hand around herself, pointing at everything. "Even if you're doing less than you could, and that's debatable, it doesn't really matter as long as you're doing whatever you can. Hear me…" her voice toned down to a low whisper, "…not even the State, not even him, have anything to say about this… about the fact that we're all helping each other for the better good and that our struggles will get results. And even the tiniest help from the most inexperienced coscript is as much important as the role of a Resident Bourgeoise who worked in the town since it was just a stockpile and laboratory in the middle of nothing."
The proletarian girl walked up to one step away from the miner girl, and tilted her head in order to get a good look at her face. "Do you understand?"
"I… I know you're right. But I can't shake the feeling away…"
"The Void is a hard foe, and I know very well how hard it can be," the girl continued. "Even if you're still not convinced, just make me a promise. I believe that we've reached an appropriate level in the town, and that it's not going to take long before we reach a high enough amount of citizen. I told you I saw a town being restored, did I?"
The miner girl nodded.
"Then, promise me that you'll continue working here and do your part, no matter what, until this very town is restored. I had doubts similar to yours when I first joined my first town… then I managed to see a restoration of one. When you'll experience what it feels like to win over the Void…then, you will understand what I mean."
She offered her hand to the miner, and for the first time since about ten minutes, the smile returned to her face. "Promise?"
The miner girl's fingers tickled as she examined the hand waiting for her own, considering her final words. She thought about the infinity that was the Void… then she thought about the town they had built, the humans they had saved, the Izverg attacks they had repelled.
There had to be a reason for all of it. It had to have a result in the end.
The proletarian girl's smile broadened as her comrade shook her hand. "It better be beautiful."
She was going to reply 'yes, it is!' but an alarm resounded around the town, followed by a haste message.
"PRICI IZVERG CAZA UM," the message recited with urgency.
The Izverg are approaching the town.
Movement immediately began to resound as the citizen fled from the borders of the town and the clones armed themselves and went to man the various turrets and cover the weakest flanks. Suddenly, the miner and the proletarian girl were no more alone as at least ten projection clones went to defend the side of the town they had been talking in.
The two of them looked at the various comrades before looking to each other again. The proletarian girl decided to whisper a final message before departing.
"Trust me. It will be worth it."
Thus, she immediately ran away, probably looking for her own group of friends, without letting the miner girl have the chance to respond. The clone could look at her running figure for only for some seconds before she disappeared behind the nearest residence, and she didn't even have the chance to contemplate her words as a soldier-dressed comrade dropped a box right in front of her.
"Yours," she simply said before marching away, firing orders around. Mechanically, the miner girl opened the box and lifted its contents: a crude rocket launcher.
Just in time, as the booming steps could be heard behind her. Not the metallic ones of the Zappta, not the far laments of the Bondi.
She didn't budge, though. She simply turned around, along with all her comrades behind her who either rotated or aimed her weapons at the approaching monster. The night and the fog weren't helping, but one of the clones decided to light up a flare light and throw it towards the source of the noise.
As the flare touched the ground, the light it emitted fully revealed the form of the Bankrotz. The titan stopped its walk and looked at the various projection clones looking at it with its white, emotionless eyes. It was way, way bigger than the little girls, and it towered over them with its impressive height. The fiery red of the lines that marked its chest furtherly helped in making its image more terrifying.
But not one of the clones seemed to be frightened by it. They all looked back at the giant Izverg with determined and calm faces, not a hint of nervousness among them.
That was even truer for the miner girl, who didn't have the time to fall back to the defence line. The Bankrotz had managed to get very near to the town's border, and its feet were just ten meters away from her. The Izverg seemed to be interested as its eyes moved to look at the futile obstacle to its march right under it, but the miner girl stood valiantly and didn't step back.
She wasn't giving up. Not now…
…after all, she had a promise to fulfil.
Suddenly, the Bankrotz jerked its head upwards and roared to the sky, its very personal declaration of war, and right after he made another step forward. One too much.
The miner girl fired a rocket, and a moment later the rest of the clones attacked as well.
The town was filled by the noise of gunfire and explosions as the other sides were assaulted by the Izverg. The battle had started, and it was only a matter of wait to see who would have stood victorious in the end.
Yet, it was evident that the clones were not letting the titan and its companions raze the town… not without a fight.
The Void had won once, but that time had long since passed. Now, it was the turn of the Tomorrow Children to win.
END
Original Author's Note: I never would have thought that I'd write something based on this videogame. But the announcement of its approaching end hit me and made me realize how much I liked it, its idea and its atmosphere, despite its flaws. So, you can consider this a tribute of sorts.
You might have noticed a few differences between what is depicted in this fanfic and the game. I took inspiration from various elements from the game but reinterpreted a few others, modified a few aspects and left untouched the rest, with the intention of making everything a little more realistic, more suitable for a written story. It's up to you to decide whether I succeeded in doing this or not: I personally think I managed to strike a good balance between the game and my version of its world.
Hope you've liked what you've read. Maybe the memory of this game will live on after the day of the servers' shut down and, one day, it will return in some form.
Additional Note: I first posted this one-shot on AO3 in August 2017, and I only recently decided to port it over to FFnet. The two versions are, otherwise, identical.