IRIA: Silent Sonata
An "IRIA: Zeiram the Animation" Fan Fiction
Based on the story and characters of Tetsurō Amino and Keita Amemiya
Prologue: Sotto
This was no place to carry out a contract…
The sky was dark as the night had rolled over the barren land beneath it. Wedged between them lay a thick, heavy sheet of gray clouds that groaned and swirled against the force of the violent winds that attacked both the sky and the earth. The churning gusts of raging air chipped and tore at the top layers of the dry soil that stretched endlessly across the planet's desolate surface. The few scattered patches of musty fog that accumulated over shallow bodies of mud that dotted the region were just as quickly swallowed up in the ferocious gale. The same engulfing blasts mauled the few sickly trees that sprouted from the surface but had long since rotten to slender, horrid figures that swayed and plagued upon the dark horizon. This was a desolate place, a musk of death had long since fallen on to this hopeless rock; an odd juxtaposition of something so disruptive and turbulent, yet so dead and static all the same.
From the distance grew a shallow light through the thick, whirling atmosphere. What began as a minuscule glimmer on the dark, massive expanse increased to a lucent glow. As the glare bloomed into a monstrous blaze, the glowing orb of light seemed to split itself in two; dual beams of focused light pierced dark fog that swung to and fro between the silhouette of finger-like trees. Soft footsteps accompanied the floating rods of light as they became more and more centered as they stamped and trudged over the dead twigs and moss the winds had not yet managed to claim. With each step, there was a brief metallic clatter; the soft billowing of inorganic fabric and materials against the current. One of the lights appeared to be a few steps ahead of the other, its beam slowly scanning the area thoroughly. It playfully bobbed up and down with each louder step before suddenly settling on one spot off in the distance. The farther glow seemed to follow the lead of the other, though was more focused on the ground ahead rather than in observation of the surroundings. As the first slowed, its peer also ended its pursuit. The further light slowly crept upwards from the earth and shined brilliantly onto the source of the other beam, partially silhouetting a stocky human figure that seemed to be draped in some sort of coat or cloak that violently and erratically slapped about among the blustery tempest.
" Well, anything...?" the voice of a raspy yet upbeat middle-aged man called out through the darkness towards the source of the other beam. The man briefly swung his own light over to the direction that his voice carried. If only for a brief moment, the cascade of light revealed a fit and armored second male figure, slimmer in build and with a crop of thick hair that danced wildly on the brutal winds.
With a soft clicking noise muffled by the loud cries of the wind, a small, green circular object suddenly glowed to life near the top of the second figure. With a soft mechanical hum, the luminous gadget slowly shifted downward a few centimeters and came to rest over the man's eye as if it were a lens. The eye hidden underneath the orbicular basked in the faint veridian glow; young, dark and somewhat cold as it peered through the lens. Small and minute digital readings reflected off the lens' surface as the eye slowly turned to scan the barren landscape the two inhabited.
"...there are no readings," the younger man answered, his tone of voice reflective of that of his eyes: frigid and glaring. "There's nothing here..." the young voice added softly, though his hollow tone, bereft of much emotion, managed to carry over the wind that whipped at their ears. With another clicking sound, the green lens moved to its original position and faded back into the darkness.
The older man signed to himself softly, his beam of light moved over a few more of the dead trees positioned ahead of the pair before it dejectedly fell to his side and pointed directly into the dusty soil at his feet.
"Well, that figures," the man's voice grew louder and more disappointed. "Let's set up camp somewhere 'round here," he shouted back to the younger figure as he brought up his light once again to reexamine their environment. "I got a feeling this storm can't keep this pace up for much longer!"
"We should go back to the Kreper," the younger figure responded with a slight sternness to his tone.… and perhaps a hint of defiance as he narrowly raised his voice.
"Nah, you should know better than that, kid," the older man scoffed as his silhouette brought an arm to the front of his chest. The figure appeared to struggle against the wind with the sleeve of the outermost garment he wore. "We follow out our contract. That's what we do!" the experienced voice added with a shout. A small, bright red haze suddenly erupted from the man's forearm, the flood of light illuminating a well worn armored plate that encased its source.
"Besides," the husky voice added in a hushed, matter-of-fact tone, "we've hiked nearly 10 klicks from the Kreper." He switched the glowing panel off and let his arm fall back to his side. The illuminated contour of his rigid frame slowly turned to face the other being. "If you want to walk back through that shit-hole again, then don't let me stop you! I'm gonna bed down and try to find something in the morning." The bright beam of light he held abnormally moved upward and downward in a rapid motion against the side of the older voice's head, the glow partially obscured as he used the edge of the source to scratch at a short crop of hair. "Leave it to Tedan Tippedai to book us shitty Transit times…"
"You were expecting anything else...?" the younger one's icy tone was purposefully unyielding in an attempt to be the least reassuring as possible.
The older man turned back to the slimmer figure beside him and chuckled somewhat nervously.
"...yeah, well..." He pointed his beam over to a spot not far from where they stood, if anything to quickly change the subject. The light cast a stark glow over two nearby tree-like forms in the darkness. "Set up camp over there by those, umm..." the voice paused as he searched for an appropriate description of what he thought they actually were "…'things'?" his outline shrugged slightly. "There's gotta' be something dry out here to make a fire with..."
Without another word, the farther beam from the younger man swung off to the side in the direction his peer had guided him, and slowly fought a path against the churning winds.