Introduction
In the 21st Century, the world has taken a new shape as the Cold War came to an end with the NATO victorious over the USSR. The United States controls military bases all over the World, stretching from the Eastern Pacific to Northern Europe and from East Africa all the way up to the Middle East supported by Turkey, UAE and Israel. This sphere of influence continued to grow relentlessly. In the years after the collapse, U.S and its NATO allies have attempted to coerce or manipulate several east European countries, formerly part of the Eastern bloc into joining the European Union and potentially NATO as they plan to expand, in order to "keep the enduring peace and freedom of people around the world from Tyranny and Aggression". Due to this, Russia has had growing concerns since the beginning of the collapse as the West kept their hands out of the country's failing economy and aiding only a few high ranking bureaucrats who agrees to become vassals in return for financial gains. This new tension escalated with the Invasion of Iraq and The War on Terror, until finally it reached its peak with the Invasion of Georgia, when Russia finally came to realize that they couldn't trust the West and thus, began the efforts to modernize and re-equip military equipment in all branches of the Russian Military. The West knowing this, made their own efforts to counter the new advances of the Russians by reactivating their cold war's weapon programs, one of the most prominent is Bioweapons.
In this timeline, Bioweapons have taken the forefront beyond nuclear weapons research and on par with the effort in military drones research. Across many nations, the only way to ensure legitimacy of governments and absolute security is through possession of biological weapons which are essentially the new Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) strategy. The invading country maybe victorious initially but after releasing the bio weapon, the contagion will lay dormant in the host bodies of the enemy soldiers and eventually spreading to the invaders' homeland when they return. This would lead to countless deaths in both countries and most likely the rest of the world as Bio weapons don't discriminate between friend and foes. The new advancements in gene editing makes this a possibility. The dark scourge looms over the atmosphere as nations around the world braces for the beginning of a new war never witnessed before in history of mankind.
Ch.1: Before the Dead's Harvest
- Valery's Tools and Repair Shop, Red Light District, Tokonosu City-
The Sun comes up in the distance of the horizon gradually painting the sky from hues of light purple-blue to a mellow orange. The street lights switches off once again just as the songs of the morning birds resounds through the calm skies. In the neighborhood, the neon flush lights from the nightclubs after a night of wild partying blinks shut one after another, eventually all of them as the rays sunlight reaches the streets. Once again, the city streets are bustling with people, doing mundane tasks such as, travelling to work, preparing to open shops, and having exercises in the parks as does some senior citizens and fitness enthusiasts. All while everything in the Red Light Districts remains quiet as there is barely anyone who works there, save for those just passing thorough and some shops like Valery's that couldn't afford to be in the shopping district. On the tool shop's 1st floor, there's the main emporium room with shelves of tools encased behind tempered fiber glass locked by a steel cage door. There's a small kitchen at the back of the shop which had seen better days as it seems seldom used. Luka knows how to cook but he uncle insists that he eats outside as their expenditure comes quite peachy for gas bills. Then, there's the workshop and bathroom. The workshop is a room used for custom jobs, fixing things and even occasionally as Luka's makeshift study room. In the far back of the workshop are shelves and crates full of supplies for the merchandise and materials for the jobs, some are draped in cloth to protect them. On the 2nd floor, there are two bedrooms, Valery's and Luka's Bedrooms. Valery's is just plain, it includes a small desk next to a bookcase where a laptop sits, a wooden wardrobe in the far corner of the room, a ceiling fan which is essential during summer and a radiator to keep warm during winter. His mattress lays next to the window looking out at the back alleyway that stretches across from one side of the block to the other. Luka's room, is just as similar except there's a few additions, most notably is the punching bag which cantilevers from the ceiling, in the opposite side of the room is the study table which happens to be next to the window. Luka doesn't' hate the table, but he prefers using the workbench in the workshop as it allows him to sit on a chair rather than having his legs cramped on the bedroom floor. Luka sleeps deeply on the mattress next to the study table after an exhausting chain of events yesterday. Not even the sunlight shining through the window, cast over his eyes could wake him up. His phone alarm rings.
*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP-BEEP*
Luka slowly opens his eyes as he wakes up to the weird noise which happens to be his phone alarm. He taps the alarm off as it stops and looks at the phone. He didn't react for a moment until he realizes what time it is. Why of course! It's 7 am! The kids at are probably heading to school by now and that's only because most of them live closer to school than he does. It will take him 1 hour to arrive at a bus stop and another 5 minutes to rush to school. Realizing this, Luka jumps up and runs straight across the room to his wardrobe as he hurriedly removes a hangar with a shirt and a fold of trousers. The wardrobe contains Luka's personal items he brought with him when he immigrated to Japan. In the wardrobe, a few of these can be seen as they include his past memorabilia: An Old Novel Book with a title written in Russian, "Under the Moscow nights", his personal stash of poker cards, a few Polaroid photos of him when he was younger, a music CD featuring Russian popstar Oleg Gazmanov and a military uniform with a "K" labelled on the rank hangs on the rail. In the furthest corner, there's a picture frame, showing a group of young boys dressed in military camo fatigues posing in front of what seems to be a military barracks with a tall mustached man at the rear middle wearing the same fatigues but with a maroon beret. A boy who looks similar to Luka can be seen in the photo with a similar scar, but with a much shorter haircut. There's a typed annotation in the lower right corner of the photo which upon closer inspection reads, "Colonel Pronin and the boys, Site-UZ585 'Tur'."
Luka tosses his pajamas aside as he quickly shoved his body into the school uniform, this time it's the summer uniform. He slam shuts the wardrobe, grabs his school bag and rushes downstairs. Within moments, he's outside his uncle's shop and he continues running towards the main road. Reaching the main road of CBD area, Luka turns around the corner and brushes past people as he hurries to the bus stop. He sees the bus number on a bus as it comes to stop at the designated place, it's the number that'll take his close enough to the school! Luka sprints faster as the last passenger is boarding the bus. Just as the bus door was about to close, Luka jumps in at the right moment. The bus driver looks astonished at the boy, as he had never seen a student crazy enough to try squeezing in on a closing bus door. Then he just points his finger at the card reader gesturing him to tap in and take a seat, pretending to ignore what just happened. The bus shuts the door completely this time as the bus takes off to the other side of town.
- Tokonosu Daiichi High Main Road, 1 Hour later –
The bus reaches the road leading to the school and stops at a station just before the last stop where Luka needs to get off. The bus moves again, as it drives towards the last stop before returning to the CBD. Suddenly, the car at the front of the bus stopped and the bus stopped too on the middle of the road nowhere near a checkpoint. Soon all the cars honked, even though it is very rude to honk at other people's cars in Japan, right now no one cares about any bit decency, especially when they are all late for work. The bus driver honks his horn too, feeling upset about the sudden stoppage in the traffic. If the cars in front don't move now, Luka is most certainly going to get a long detention by being forced to stay outside of class, and a long detention means no lessons, and that means he just threw his own money at the school and received nothing in return. Luka walks up next to the driver and so did the other passengers.
"Dear Passengers, please be seated. There's nothing to be worried about. This bus will reach its destination in time, I will make sure that it does."
The driver breaking the traffic rules, pushes the bus out of the line and drives along an adjacent lane. Luka looks through the window and sees a small line of cars behind a parcel delivery truck which had stopped. As the bus passes the window of the delivery truck, Luka sees two men with grey blackened skin inside slumped in their seats, with blood oozing out from their mouth. Luka could sense that there's something seriously wrong here but he couldn't do anything about it as he's not a traffic police officer. He simply snaps a photo of them and takes note of it as the bus steers back onto the original lane.
Soon he arrives at the bus stop and as the bus opens its doors, he runs out of the bus without a even breather to stretch his legs as he seems used to it. After a few minutes, he finally arrives in front of the school, but sees a nasty surprise. He realizes that the school's gates are now closed as he stands before the large metal bars that is barring him from taking his lessons. Luka clicks his tongue against his lips as he realizes this. If only he hadn't stayed behind yesterday, if only he had cut the conversation short and ran home sooner. Oh bother.
- Central District, Near Red Light District, Tokonosu city, Yesterday -
The city's night life is vibrant with lights emitting hues of red, blue, green and yellows as pedestrians commute the CBD towards home after a long day's work. Some went to the diners and bars, looking for something to eat and drink to their heart's content, while others refused their merry colleagues as they didn't want to take any chances with their spouses complaining to them about not coming home early, but to some, their work is just starting. Luka rushes onwards as he dodges past pedestrians in one of the most crowded times of the day in Tokonosu city. He knew there's no enough time as the customer is probably waiting for at least 15 minutes by now as he tries to run as fast as he could, turning around corners of streets and buildings as he finally reaches one of the most infamous places in Tokonosu, a place full of vice and amour. At every turn of the street, weird old men, shady advertisers and of course, the girls dressed in skimpy revealing clothes, some not even wearing anything more than a swimsuit advertising their services and can be seen emerging as if they've come out of their dwellings to look for prey. Luka ignores them as he turns straight around a corner of a road and stops next to a certain building, which looks abit worn down and has a neon sign in bright red that read's "Valery Tools and Repair Shop".
Luka quickly opens the wooden door and gets inside, where two men, a middle aged Caucasian man behind the counter and a much old man wearing a black suit jacket, fedora, black leather gloves and a pair of black Italian designer dress shoes. The old man carries two luggage, one is a business suitcase adorned with a gold flower on the side and a larger suitcase that can be rolled around, presumably his personal belongings. The old man gives a faint smile at Luka and waves at him, ushering him to come in as he is about to share with him the details of the job. His uncle looks frustrated as Luka usually comes home straight after school.
"Hey Luka! What took you so long boy! Do you know how long Mr. Kuzen has been waiting?!"
"15 minutes?"
"No! It's been 30 minutes! And—WHY is there blood all over your shirt?!"
Valery points at Luka's shirt which seems to be dripping with blood.
"It's just red paint. Some guy renovating a shop spilled some on me. It was my fault."
"No! I can smell iron from here! That's not paint! You had gotten into a fight boy?!"
"No, I swear it's just paint. It just smells like iron."
"You dare_UGH! Never mind, just get changed quickly lest people get wrong idea and come down quickly afterwards."
"Yes sir."
Luka rushes straight for his room upstairs to get changed as Valery and Mr. Kuzen chats downstairs while they wait.
"I'm apologies Mr. Kuzen. The boy is just unpredictable sometimes. I will ensure that this doesn't happen again."
"No worries, Valery. Boys have their own problems I can attest to that myself when I was growing up. All that matters is that the crafts man is here and will be ready soon to receive the job."
Though the man seems content at least with the fact that Luka is here, his face hides something more serious as he seems somewhat anxious. Then the old man adds,
"Besides, this is going to be the last order he takes from me. I'll be leaving for a long business trip soon."
Hearing that from Mr. Kuzen, Valery became curious as to why this would be the last job from his favorite customer.
"Mr. Kuzen, may I ask as to why this is so? Were we not good service to you?"
"It would be best you don't know Valery. I'm a man with many names and many lives before, someday a time comes for me to abandon them to receive a fresh slate that can be written once again, much like a cycle. At least that's how I see life at its very bare bones. A cycle that keeps on renewing."
"Well…, if you say so. Still, it's sad that you will gone and I will miss you as my best paying customer."
"I'm sure there will be more customers like me Valery. There's always a need for a tool shop that doesn't keep the details of their customers on the register. They might even pay bigger sums than I did."
"Thanks for the encouragement. I guess the shop will have to bear with it for a while."
Valery opened his shop in the early 2000's after years of working as a dock worker at Nagoya Harbor saving enough money to move to Tokonotsu where he planned to aim big. He initially became a sailor after the Soviet economy collapsed in the 1990s which was when he travelled to Japan, liking the location of the place and the safe atmosphere compared to Russia which was in turmoil, full of riots and gang violence during the time. Unfortunately, Valery didn't manage to get successful enough and was instead confined to a small shop in the little known side of town where not a lot of normal customers go to. There were occasional shady individuals who frequents his shop to use his services on condition that he doesn't keep record of the transactions in return for large sums of money. Having no choice, Valery complies with them and since then has been servicing such types of people with Mr. Kuzen being the best paying of them all. Valery acquainted Kuzen five years ago when his shop was struggling and since then he came to his shop for mundane repairs and modification/adjustment of things including leather wear, containers, tools and customizing padlocks. Valery was proficient with these tasks as he worked on various odds jobs in Russia and he was an Army mechanic during his conscription years. Since Luka immigrated to live with his uncle two years ago, Valery discovered that the boy too has a talent in the crafts and though they were improvised and crude, Valery trained him by correcting the usage of the tools and methods. In a short amount of time, Luka adapted well to his techniques and he was repairing and crafting things much more efficiently compared to the crude welds and cuts made before then.
As they were conversing, Luka changed his clothes and comes down the stair as fast as he could. Once he arrived, the two men looked at the boy and smiles at him.
"Luka, are you ready to hear me out?"
"Yes, sir."
Soon Luka gets down to business by ushering the old man to the back of the shop. requests Valery to stay at the front counter of the shop while he and Luka head to the workshop room to discuss the details privately. Once the two were inside the room, Mr. Kuzen tells him about the job.
"Alright, here's the details boy."
Kuzen hands out a list of things to modify the suitcase decorated with the golden insignia, then he explains it in details as to what he means by each of the items. Luka listens intently to the details till the last item in the list. After comprehending the details of the modifications to be made, Luka confirms that he understood by reiterating everything from his own words and how he plans to do so.
First of all, the outside of the case needs to be replaced, by removing the insignia and plastering a new leather piece over the suitcase with a logo that represents an existing company that is associated with. This means removing the entire outer leatherwork and carefully masking the inner layer with a fitting that would ensure that the leather cover remains intact before replacing the metal brackets in the corner. Additionally, Kuzen wants there to be a layer of pure aluminum film over the interior lining, plus padded walls of industrial Styrofoam with a rectangular dimension cut out in the middle secured by soldering. Before Luka seals the interior with solder, Kuzen will transfer a folder and a small rectangular parcel to be placed in the padded wall from his big roller suitcase, Luka doesn't ask about what they are, knowing Kuzen is not the type to give free info despite being friendly. Finally, he wants the suitcase handle to be reinforced with additional metal clips in order to support it and additionally modify the suitcase combination lock with a heavier sliding button which won't move even with the right digits unless the pin lock next to it is turned clockwise. As Luka manages to remember all the steps, he quickly proceeds with the first step removing the L-shaped clamps with a screwdriver, knowing this job will take a while before he can sleep.
- A few Hours Later -
After adjusting the O-rings in the lock mechanism and making sure the weight of the suitcase is equal on both sides, Luka calls out to who waited patiently in the corner of the room.
"It's complete, sir. You may try it out now."
Kuzen walks up to the large table in the middle of the room with bit of aluminum, leather and wood shavings scattered around, along with the old insignia that once bored on the suitcase. Kuzen tries it out and seems to be satisfied with the expression on his face. Kuzen then opens the lid of the suitcase before opening the zip on his larger suitcase, taking out a bundle of Car Magazines, Instruction Manuals and Sales Room Catalogues of the latest car models in Japan. He then closes the suitcase, searing the sliding hinges shut, resetting the lock combination and changing it, before he turns the pinhole next to it counter-clockwise.
*Click* the suitcase is locked and ready to be carried as Kusen extends his palm to Luka in handshake gesture.
"Thank you, Luka. I appreciate all your hard work."
"No problem,…..but now about the payment."
chuckles, which is rare coming from him.
"Hehe, a serious one, huh? Well, that's a professional attitude and you're going to need it later down in life. Here's your payment."
Kuzen gives Luka a large wad of cash in 10,000 yen notes totaling 600,000 yen, which is enough to cover the shop bills, living expenses including rent and Luka's school fees. Additionally, a small set of keys with a small oval shaped keychain. Luka attempts to return the set of keys.
"Hey old man, I think you should check your eye therapist before you leave. You seem to be giving me something that belong to you."
"Haha, nope. My eyes are as sharp as a rabbit! I actually gave this to you as a parting gift. I'm not returning to this country for quite some time. So, take it."
Kuzen hands back the keys.
"Oh, I almost forgot."
Kuzen then hands out another piece of item, a hand written piece of paper indicating two addresses, one which is close by near a department store.
"I don't need either of them. Why are you giving me these?"
Kuzen, smiles with his eyes showing an expression that Luka hasn't seen before from him.
"I have expectations in you. I believe that you can do something I wasn't able to do. This key is personally my last payment to you. It has nothing to do with the job. The key holds all of my hope that is left in this country. I insist you take it, and you use it. Follow the addresses I gave you and you'll find out where the key goes."
Seeing Kuzen being so insistent on offering the set of keys to him. Luka cannot refuse as he takes them and drops them into his pocket.
"Okay, thanks."
"Good, I'll be heading off to the airport now. Thank you for everything, Luka. Farewell."
The old man without another word, takes off as he exits the room, out of the shop and finally out to the streets disappearing into the night, possibly never returning. In a way, Luka and the mysterious old man may have shared more than a few similarities as if he's the older version of Luka himself.
Uncle Valery comes into the workshop and asks Luka if he has the payment. Without looking at him, Luka calmly raises the wad of cash in the air with his right arm with Uncle Valery breathing a sigh of relief.
"At least he didn't forget to pay, I saw him ran off earlier and I was worried, though a little surprised."
Luka appears to not care what his uncle said, he could only remember the face of the old man who he has known since he arrived here. He couldn't forget that faint smile from his face. Just what did he see in Luka? He didn't do anything to deserve a smile as they were just doing business. He stops thinking of it as he turns towards the door and hands the wad of cash to his uncle before walking out of the room, heading upstairs to his bedroom to sleep as it's very late now.
"*Sigh*…what a crazy day, getting beaten up by thugs, a weird girl tell me her contacts for no reason and an old customer giving me his personal belongings. I think my head's going to ache a lot more tomorrow after this."
Currently, the time is 1:30 am. It took some time with a couple trials and errors getting 's suitcase modified to specifications. The part with changing the locks took the most time, filing down the o rings and adjusting the pressure of the sears and the slide to click together. Luka hopes to never work on locks again, as it was a real pain in the ass.
As he was just about to dive onto his futon mattress, he saw a piece of card that he must have dropped earlier while changing clothes. He picks it up and realizes it is Noel's contact details.
"Oh, it's her's."
He wants to store it away on his bookshelf yet at the same time, he feels uneasy about not searching up the contact on his phone. He has read on the culture forums before, that it is not polite to ignore name card when presented by a colleague or a business partner and shoving it in the pocket afterwards. This is considered rude in the country and Luka deeply feels that he has to follow the rules to fit in to society.
'You've gotta follow the flock', he remembers Kenichi words from earlier yesterday. He accepts and opens his phone contacts to enter the name, number and the Twitter username in the page. Then, he decides to check out the website on Twitter in his phone browser. He registers a random account for himself, 'Kamemaru', before redirecting to see Noel's Twitter page. The page is decorated with themes of light pink, sky blue and mint green, and a picture of an anime cat. The middle top of the page reads 'Welcome, have a nice latte and enjoy my page. Amusez-vous!'
"Again, writing words that I don't understand. I wonder how her friends put up with her."
He then scrolls down to see her posts. Some of them are her drawings and some are videos of her recording herself singing.
'No, I won't listen to them. Anything that doesn't sound like Oleg Gazmanov won't sit well with me.'
He keeps scrolling downwards as he sees a lot more things, gymnastics, ballet dancing, fencing, piano play, and even violin and painting. He keeps scrolling and the more he does, the wider the range becomes. She has various awards both in France and in Japan, and all of them are top champ awards for juniors. Best performances, best plays, best writings, best academics the list goes on and they all center on national competitions. She has even learnt Judo, Karate and even Skeet Shooting. To make things more astonishing, she did all that in a span of 3 years and kept changing every 5 months to do something else. Luka couldn't imagine what kind of person Noel really is, and yet compare her to what he saw earlier today. If only she had more tactfulness, she could've turned this into a profession. Even the martial arts skills she has when compared to Luka's fighting arts. Noel's is applicable in a professional sports setting while Luka would just end up tearing someone's head apart if he uses his techniques. Maybe she's just an innate genius who hasn't realized her potential.
It took a year of learning for Luka to get used to his subjects at school and even as he tried to learn all his Japanese subjects, using all his concentration power, he only manages to get to a C class.
'Enough. People are people. There's no changing it.'
He sets the alarm, closes his phone and heads to sleep trying to forget about everything that has happened yesterday. The half-moon sits directly up high in the night sky overlooking the city as the streets remains dead quiet with the occasional cold gusts of wind blowing through the streets and a dog or two howling and barking. But in the nightlife district, the sounds are live with music blaring from speakers, reverberating off the walls of buildings nearby as the night is still young for them. Luka had no problem sleeping previous nights but now after a long period of exhaustion he feels a little too sensitive to the noises. He covers his head with the blanket as he eventually manages to drift to sleep.
- Tokonosu Daiichi High, Present time –
Luka looks at the school gate in front of him, which stands between him and his classes, paid for with his hard earned cash. There no way this gate is going to prevent him from getting to his class. He's going to find a way to sneak in without anyone noticing.
"I'll show you, Damned School. You're not eating my money just like that."
- To be Continued -