Now this is where the true story begins. :D
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A few hours into the next early morning, the rain had stopped. It was almost sudden, as if someone turned off the facet of a running shower.
Mono startled himself awake when a lone raindrop fell down from above. Its timing perfect, calculations of where to land on par. It plopped itself on Mono's neck, right between the gap of his paper bag and the collar of his trenchcoat. The water was freezing as it rolled down his back quickly, causing him to jump awake.
He sat there for a moment, groggy. He hadn't know he drifted asleep. Mono didn't know the last time he slept so soundly.
The previous night's warmth of Six laying against his side was something he came into realization was gone. Presumably she had awakened some time before he. It was as expected in his perception of things.
Outside, the first lights of the new day's dawn bled across the horizon. If only for the sopping destroyed buildings and the steady waters below, one would not be able to tell a storm had passed the day prior. The only clouds that appeared in the sky were small, scattered about and the color of fresh snow.
Before him, the small patch of what was glowing coals had now been reduced to something more reminiscent of a pile of black dust. The faint light that once reoccupied the dead fireplace wasn't needed now. Daytime was already upon the land, and it made the events that happened yesterday become nothing but forgettable little nightmares. If only that feeling were true though.
Silently, Mono crept outside of the tent and stepped back out into the world. He removed his paper bag and held it by its opening at his side. Dawn's colors of soft pinks and oranges spoke to him a wonderful good morning. Mono couldn't help but peacefully smile.
For a while, Six was not to be found. Very briefly did Mono fear that he had not destroyed the Transmission and she was trapped within the former Signal Tower's walls. But the tower laid broken on its side decorated with shimmering glass in the lazy currents. It no longer looked intimidating, but like a child begging for forgiveness. Mono accepted its apology, as well as the city's unspoken one for all of its horrible sins. He felt a wave of sadness at how his former home ended. The ocean has consumed it gladly, almost like it was eager to make sure the Pale City vanished forever.
He couldn't about how Six felt. She was probably glas to leave this dreaded place behind. Somewhere deep within him, Mono had that same feeling as well.
Although the Thin Man was gone, he was never truly gone. He would always exist as Mono was him before the transformation. Mono did not have to look exactly similar to him; he just had to have his powers. People would know who he was thanks to them, and his bag muted that if only slightly.
Mono's fingers twitched. He pulled his mask over his head and decided to find Six.
During last night's pour, the water level that surrounded the former office building seemed to have been elevated by a few inches. It was hard to tell. He was too upwards to the surface to touch the floor he was at, even barely. Nothing drifted in the vast blue that gave away to a drifting platform. That would make it a challenge to get down when their expedition would commence to the Maw.
Mono shuffled near one of the huge long-broken windows. He gripped on tightly to the edge of the frame with one hand and peered down. Dark forms of the sunken looked almost too similar to the wreckage of a past war zone. Oversized clothes that were denser than water speckled the surface of the ocean as if painted on delicately by a skilled painter.
He was lucky he did not have a fear of heights.
Reeling back, Mono moved over back towards the tent. Small puddles splashed between his toes. Sunlight shone brightly through the broken chunks of the ceiling. He could get a better perspective of the room, comparing it to the wreckage caused by a wrecking ball. Not that he knew what the real damage done by one looked like anyways.
The tent looked more sloppy and poor in broad daylight than amongst the small flickering flame of a lighter. Made by the hands of two fearful monstrous kids though, it turned out pretty okay.
Above, Mono caught the faint flicker of a bright yellow skim across the sky. It looked out of the place with its gradually bluer background.
All at once, a small distant head poked downwards from a gap between the upper wooden planklings. Mono took a step back, shocked and alerted, but not even a split second later did he relax. Dark short hair curled around the head's frame and a smile beamed down at him.
"Mono!"
At the sound of his name, Mono waved up at her. Six's smile grew wider. She vanished away from the hole. He could hear her tiny footsteps overhead.
"Coming down?" Mono kept his head elevated towards the ceiling. He tried to keep track of the padding of toes. "Just- I... Um, be careful!"
No reply came back from her. He knew better to worry about Six- she was fully capable of taking care of herself.
The sound of a body carefully slumping down from towering planks echoed through the room. Mono followed the sound, hoping for that coat again. He was almost tempted to peel his mask off just to get a better field of vision, but there was no need. Six had climbed down the tower of wood some more and skimmed down the wet side of the tent on her bum. Dirty water rolled down with her, creating bigger puddles on the floor. Six's feet colliding with the murky water thinned but widened the puddle. Her hood was flopped down on the back of her neck, reminding Mono of how he first met her on top of that moonlit tree.
Eager, Mono walked over to her. He was smiling like a giggy maniac underneath his bag- he knew it! He couldn't stop smiling even when Six checked her feet for any splinters.
When she was satisfied she had no wounds that would falter her gait, she leveled herself to him. "There's nothing but water."
"I noticed." Mono's fingers twitched again. "It goes on for miles. Looks close to a war cemetery out there."
"To get across, we'll have to build some kind of boat," Six said.
Building would take too much time, and they most likely didn't have the materials they needed. Wood was plentiful, clearly, but to hold the base body of the boat together, they would need something like ropes or vines. No wires, even if they weren't connected to anything. One wrong move could set off fatal electric currents and they'd be with the already perished residents below.
Six had a plan though, and Mono was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. They hadn't explored this place to the fullest yet.
Neither of the two were strong enough to move around the major obstacles in their way. Mono's powers didn't really do much currently considering they were still new and he was not yet that experienced. So, the children did what they could, pushing any plants they could combined to move them away from the office desks that were not diminished to nothings. What they could find wasn't really much either; several drawers full of old water logged file systems, a few scattered thumbtacks and paperclips here and there, and what could have been some personal belongings that were now unrecognizable. The only thing that showed enough worth were the paperclips, but there was no way they could attempt to substitute a rope with those.
In the end, there wasn't much that was accomplished. Six and Mono just ended up sitting on the ground for a while. The long adrenaline that happened the day prior had long ended. Aches and pains and cramps were starting to reveal themselves. Wasted time was the only thing that happened.
The sun drifted upwards into the sky. It would've been hotter if it wasn't for the cooling humidity all of the water vapor gave off. Mono could've suggested they'd swim to one of the still standing skyscrapers, but he remembered Six hated water. She said so several times over. He could've gone by himself, but he would never leave her. Plus, something dangerous could be still alive after last night, and it might be lurking below.
Afternoon was not far away. The children were tired and starting to get impatient and hungry. Even if they stayed for another night, they would probably be tearing at each other's throats ravenously. At least, Six would be at Mono's.
They couldn't build a boat and they couldn't swim. Mono took one more look to see if there was anything that could be used as a decent raft. Alas, there wasn't. The entire area was messy and horrible disorganized after the frantic search for supplies.
Completed with boredom and simmering urges of hunger, Six had weaven the paperclips together. He watched her over her shoulder. Soon, a chain of plastics was draped around her lap. It would never sustain their weights, but at least it served its purpose in looking pretty. Its silver paint glistening in the sunlight, the only cleanish force for thousands of miles.
That got Mono's brain running. He thought of force, as physical force. Then he looked at his hands. Black particles glitched between his skin. There was once a time where Mono just forced himself to think those strange particles that showed up upon him at random was due to the light. Everyone used to speak of him as weak minded.
He definitely was not weak minded.
He turned to Six, who was draping the chain of paperclips across the floor. "There's another way we can get out of here."
She opened her mouth, about to say something, but it closed. She seemed to have noticed something, quietly nodding to him.
Her silence told Mono all he needed to know. There was something nearby...
And it knew they were here.
Waving Six to come over to him, they huddled together. He whispered his idea to her that would guarantee their escape. A visible wave of doubt flickered over her delicate features, but a sudden tremor shook the building. Walls creaked with the unsettling sound of destabilization. Six caught one of Mono's dark eyes from one of those peep holes. There was no more room for count thanks to the sudden fear and determination.
The building shook harder this time. Mono almost lost his balance, stumbling. His mind threatened to flicker through images and scenarios that would go wrong.
He wouldn't let that be. His fingers twitched again, and this time he didn't deny the newprofound instinct. Mono pushed Six behind him, who only protested with a small gasp. Hands flickered with stacity black spots, space warping as fingers drew across the air. Mono didn't know what to expect. Then, the sound of thrashing in the water below drew him away from all the confidence that filled him previously.
A soft, painful moan echoed through his head, but it was not his own.
Six tightly grabbed Mono's wrist and pulled him along with her. His feet landed in all the right places. But the place smelt of fire and smoke.
There was none.
Time drew a wound straight down the complex, vertically. Debris piled down, down into the darkness. Scrambling came from the pit, as well as screeching that was mixed with pain and hatred.
It was the world. It had finally come for Mono.
Sharp fingernails dug into the tender skin of his wrist. He snapped out of his trance, head turning to look at Six.
She mouthed something. He could only hear the pulsing of flesh inside his ears. She pointed to something as she spoke. Mono saw, tracing her arm to a dangling television with a cracked, sputtering static screen. It should've been dead between the monster and the water below, like him.
Almost instinctively, he held out a hand to it. He was the static. He was the force.
He was the Transmission.
Six was screaming something in his right ear. The flesh growled at him through the other. His eyes saw a portal and his nose smelt flames.
Eventually, he tasted blood. Then, saw nothing at all.