Disclaimer: If only I did… but a girl can still dream, can't she? sigh
"…" – speech
'…' – thoughts
--- - change in scenery, time, or perspective
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Previously, on Lock Down:
{A little frightened, Kagome slowly made her way to the hanyou's side, since he was really the only one out of the four whom she trusted the most. Inuyasha glanced at her, but made no comment, golden-eyes raising back to the doorway.
And silently, all five of the people, humans, demon, and hanyou, entered the conference room.}
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Underground City
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Feb.28.299 NA
Underground, Sector 118The dimly lit room was a huge contrast from the brightly reflecting walls of the hallway, and it took a short moment for the five's eyes to adjust to the lighting, though it took a bit longer for the humans compared to the demons. Not soon, Kagome was able to look around, and saw that the group had entered a rather spacious circular room.
At her sides were hundreds- perhaps even thousands of seats all positioned to face the 'front' of the room, where there was clearly an uplifted platform. Several dark objects were situated on it, but what they were, not even Inuyasha's eyes could tell. This appeared to be not only a conference room, but some showing area as well. All around the walls of the room were metal doors, presumably leading to other parts of the 'base'.
Inuyasha could barely detect the faint scents of many people, human and youkai alike, but there was plainly nobody here. It was assumed that there had just been a meeting a few hours before, but the place was decidedly empty for the time being. However, nearing the back of the room, where the group was headed, a couple of scents grew steadily stronger, signalling that they were not alone.
Sango and Miroku continued to lead, and Kouga had moved so that he walked behind the two newcomers. From what he could see out of the corners of his eyes, Inuyasha could tell that there was little expression on any of their faces- something that could be a good sign or a bad one. Instead of talking and looking around, the rebels' silent gazes were fixed onto the upcoming rise.
Kagome lifted her head, and glanced at the ceiling. She was surprised to see not a flat top as she had expected, but a domed one instead. She jabbed the boy beside her in the side with an elbow and pointed upwards. The hanyou, giving a near silent yelp, irritably glared at the girl before looking up to see what she was so interested in.
He chose to ignore the barely concealed sniggers behind him.
His forehead furrowed at the architectural design that the builders of this place had chosen. Not only was the ceiling evenly curved, but there were designs on it as well. Small yet intricate carvings lined the top, yet Inuyasha couldn't determine what it was made of. It couldn't be metal, since it was almost a pure white colour, and it certainly didn't seem to be metal. In fact, this type of building roofing was unlike anything that either of the students had ever seen.
"I see you are interested in the design of our Conference Room?"
A voice pierced into the silence of the area, jolting both Inuyasha and Kagome out of their thoughts. Both dropped their heads simultaneously to look directly ahead. It appeared that during their preoccupation, the group had finally reached the front of the platform, where they could only just make out the objects on it.
There was a moderately long, ovular table with several chairs positioned around it. It seemed that the table would have been able to seat up to twenty or even more people, but at the moment, only two were present.
From the dim lighting of the room, even Inuyasha's eyes could only make out the outline of the two people- there was a taller, lanky figure, and next to it, was a shorter, plumper one. What he could see of their faces showed that neither was smiling. But then again, he really couldn't make out their facial features since the platform was extremely poorly lit. Sniffing the air discretely, he could tell that these two were indeed older than any humans he had ever seen.
Apparently, when people became too sick or old so that they couldn't serve the Government's purposes, they were shipped off to some distant land where there was supposedly a care unit for the elderly. Of course, that information had been conveyed to them by the Government, and Inuyasha was less than keen to trust it. Who knew what really happened to the elderly?
'Probably killed off.'
A silence stretched around the room and tension began to build. Inuyasha found himself going rigid- it was as if he was being put on the spot; as if he were being judged. He could feel, even if he couldn't see, the eyes of at least one of the so-called 'Elders' studying him.
Kagome tentatively glanced around to see that Sango and Miroku had separated to stand on either side of herself and Inuyasha. Kouga remained behind them. The form of the hanyou at her right side seemed extremely tense. Golden eyes reflected what little light there was, giving him a strangely eerie appearance- almost a cat-like one.
Raising her gaze, the schoolgirl's noticed something odd. There were two shining balls just above her… She focused onto two shining orbs in front of her. Suddenly, something incredibly unnatural happened. Kagome had a most curious feeling. She felt as though her mind were open; that her emotions were plainly on display for all to see. It was almost like her soul itself was being read, much like a book. Desperately, she tried to hold on to her deepest secrets, terrified at what was going on. Her vision was filled with white- then black.
She felt as though she no longer had a physical body, and that she was just an… entity floating in an unknown space. An out of body experience?
'Who are you?' A voice echoed throughout her mind. The feeling was hard to describe- Kagome hadn't heard the voice rather than she… sensed it. No. Sensed was not the right word for it. It was like… a thought had been thrown into her mind- almost like mind reading, only on the completely opposite scale. Perhaps it was called telepathy?
But no- telepathy didn't exist, did it?
It had to be impossible, but then what was this?
Slightly apprehensive at the odd feeling, Kagome had no other choice than to answer truthfully- she had a feeling that any lie would have been detected instantly anyway. 'My name is… Kagome.' She didn't open her mouth, but only thought it. She didn't state her Personal Number, nor did she 'think' her Student Settlement location. For some reason, the girl felt as though her name would be enough- and it was.
'Do you come from the enemy?'
She didn't need to be told who 'the enemy' was and answered without hesitation. 'No.'
The voice in her mind fell silent, and for a moment, Kagome thought she was in the clear. But then…
'Let me see…'
Visions she thought she'd forgotten flashed in her mind's eye.
Scenes of what she recognised as her childhood followed one after another as the teenager's life literally flashed before her very eyes. She was momentarily shocked when the Fire was shown, but then, in an instant, her life story had been told- the last scene showing Kagome as she stood at that very moment.
However, once her life had been displayed, another series of displays started. There were bright colours, many people, tall buildings, rejoicing; everything that she saw, Kagome remembered from her elusive dreams. For a second, the schoolgirl felt joy at realising she had really dreamt them, but then everything reverted upside down.
Not literally.
Suddenly, she could see only black, and hear the silent screams of thousands of people. She could hear the cries of mothers for their children; of children for their parents. She heard evidence of blasts and sickening smacks of what could only be heavy objects falling to the ground. Kagome could only hear the noises of a massacre of thousands of people.
'Interesting…'
And then, as suddenly as it had begun, it was over.
Breathing heavily, the girl opened her ocean blue eyes. She wetted dry lips and passed a hand over her rapidly beating heart. Turning to the sides, she found that Sango was still looking directly forwards and that nobody was paying the slightest bit of attention to the teenager. Apparently, while Kagome had been trapped in her mind, no or very little time had passed in the physical world. The steady tick of her wristwatch, though a quiet sound, was like an alarm in her pounding ears.
'Wha-what happened?' coursed through her mind, but if she'd expected a response, the teenager was disappointed.
Turning her gaze forwards, she found that the eyes were no longer focused on her, but on the boy beside her. However, once she had switched her stare to him, his ordeal had already finished.
Unlike herself, Kagome found that Inuyasha wasn't showing many physical signs of having been affected in the least by what had happened. However, while he wasn't acting as she did, his expression was certainly enough to tell her that at least something had occurred, and that she wasn't the only one who felt…
Invaded.
His fists were clenched and his body was tense. His lips were drawn down in a most displeased frown and his eyebrows were drawn together. It was an almost bitter expression.
But what he was bitter about, Kagome didn't speculate.
She drew her attention back to the figures- the Elders ahead, and chose to break the overwhelming stillness.
Her right hand unconsciously rose to rest gently on the arm of her companion, giving him silent support and at the same time, drawing strength from him. "The place is very unique. I feel almost as if we're in another world." Her soft voice immediately calmed the atmosphere, and everybody relaxed, if only a little. The unanswered question was answered and thus the circle was joined.
Inuyasha turned his gaze to the girl at his side. Had she felt the same as he had- like somebody was intruding the sanctuary that was their minds? Had she too been plagued by what had happened in the past? Briefly, the hanyou wondered what could have happened, but he was soon brought out of his reverie.
Suddenly, slow yet kind laughter broke through the previously quiet room. Blue-grey and amber eyes stared forwards in disbelief; or else they would have caught the relieved faces of the two rebels at their sides.
The same voice that had spoken before came up again, "Very good. You have passed our test." There was a pause. "Now, if we could just get some light in here?"
There was a loud click, and abruptly, the room was flooded in a sudden burst of light. For the second time that day, Inuyasha found himself covering his sensitive eyes and trying to recover from the amount of light. Beside him, the schoolgirl was blinking rather owlishly as she rubbed her eyes.
"So bright…"
The humans beside them and demon behind didn't seem to be terribly affected, as they had anticipated the change in lighting. Now, all three bent in respectable bows.
"Good day, Kaede-san."
Kagome lifted her head to take a better look at what was before her. For a while, all she could see were a bunch of flashing spots, but it soon cleared. Her sight was greeted with the last thing that she would have expected. For someone who she thought had broken into her mind, this old woman didn't look like anybody dangerous, nor did the withered man at her side.
She was certainly old, wearing an eye-patch over one eye while the other shone with a wisdom that came only from many years of living. That was one of the eyes, Kagome realised with a jolt, that had caused the entire experience. Her grey hair was pulled back away from her face to end in a tied ribbon down her back. However, unlike the other humans that Kagome had ever seen, this person was wearing red clothes.
Not grey, but a vibrant shade of crimson- the same as the man beside her.
But wait.
That man- he looked odd.
He had large, almost bulging eyes that seemed to give him a perpetually surprised expression. His hair was tied up in a small tail, and that only accented his increasing baldness. However, the feature that most set him apart from most of the people Kagome knew, were the pointed ears.
'This guy's a demon.'
But the schoolgirl wasn't afraid. For one, Kagome didn't believe that this old youkai would really hurt her while in the presence of that kind looking woman (nor would Inuyasha allow for it). In fact, she seemed like the grandmotherly type with a kind visage- but wait. If one of 'Kaede's' eyes was covered by an eye-patch, then how could Kagome have seen both of her eyes? How could she have made eye contact with both of the old woman's eyes, when only one was exposed?
'Weird.'Her mind was swirling with many different thoughts and questions. So many in fact, that she had no idea where to begin to question these people- or how to ask them.
"Where the hell are we, and what are we doing here?" It seemed as if Inuyasha wasn't as averse to being brash with the respected Elders here.
"Inuyasha!"
He turned his surprised gaze to the disapproving one beside him. "What?" His expression darkened when he heard the barely repressed snort behind him.
Kagome shook her head and turned to look forwards, a polite smile dancing upon her lips. "What my friend means to say is that we would really like to know why we're here, and- well, where we are." Her voice was definitely mannerly- the one that she only used with strangers and those who demanded respect. 'And explaining what just happened would be nice.' She added mentally.
The old lady leaned back into her chair as she studied the two. "To answer your question and indeed, explain what you wish to know, would take an extremely long time." She turned to the hanyou. "Inuyasha."
"What?"
"You will no longer be able to return to the upper world."
She had spoken with such an assured tone that the boy bristled at what he thought sounded like a command. "And why the hell not?" He ignored the sigh emitted by the girl next to him.
Kaede arched an eyebrow. "Surely, you cannot think you could return to where the Government reigns when it is after your head?"
Flushing a little, the half-demon looked away. "Keh."
"What about me?" Both Elders drew their gazes away from Inuyasha and onto Kagome. Flustered by the sudden attention, the teenager sought to elaborate. "I mean, if he's not allowed up, then where am I supposed to go?"
"Don't worry." This time, it wasn't the old woman who answered, but the demon. "The Government knows nothing about your role in assisting Inuyasha, isn't that right, Kouga?" The wolf demon nodded. "You're able to go back, but the half-demon will have to stay here."
Inuyasha broke in, "And where exactly is 'here'?"
"'Here' is underground, a few miles below the upper city," answered the woman who was addressed as Kaede, "'Here' is where we have built our basis of operations against the invaders. 'Here' is where we have preserved the history of the population of this planet for centuries."
Kagome shook her reeling head, "But how…?"
"Before the beginning of the Neo Age, a group of survivors were able to hide among the few monuments that hadn't been destroyed, and when the new city was built, those survivors stayed underground, building a resistance to the Government."
"Why weren't they discovered?"
The old man replied, "The Superiors, as they name themselves, haven't found a need to journey under the city they built. They believe that they have every creature on earth recorded in their database. They did try to send their androids to investigate, but thanks to our defences, they were unsuccessful." He paused. "Of course, now that's you've disappeared from up there, they'll be more alert, so we'll have to be careful."
Inuyasha was rapidly becoming bored, "So the Government's stupid. That's no surprise. The question is what is it you want with us? And how can there be a city underground?"
"Take a look around you, boy. Does this look like the architectural design of the Superiors?"
Automatically, both heads rose and took in the newly brightened room. Inuyasha opened his mouth.
"It's much more beautiful," butted in Kagome before the hanyou could respond with what was likely to be a rude retort, "and more detailed."
"Precisely," responded Kaede, "The ground you stand on, is the original foundation of Tokyo from almost centuries ago."
A silence followed her words.
"So you mean," Kagome began slowly, "the Superiors just built a new city… over the old one?"
"Keh. They were too damn lazy to clean up the mess so they just covered it up." Inuyasha scoffed, "That sounds just like what they would do."
"But don't you wonder how the mess came to be?" Kaede stood up, but when the other elder prepared to rise, she shook her head. "No, Toutousai. You have to wait here for Myouga. I trust he should have some more information about his situation," she gestured towards Inuyasha, "when he comes back." The old woman slowly walked around the table to approach the group. "Kagome. Inuyasha. Come with me." She began to walk towards a door that was located just behind the stage.
The two began to advance to where she was going, Kagome shooting a meaningful look at Sango and Miroku.
Sango hesitated, "Ano… Kaede-san?"
She turned around. "Hmm?"
"Should we follow as well?"
"You may do as you wish." Kaede continued on her way.
The girl shrugged and strolled over to stand behind the newcomers, closely followed by Miroku. Kouga, not willing to leave the beautiful girl in the presence of the half-breed alone, began to tail them, but then-
"Kouga." Toutousai's old voice rang out. "Stay. I may need your assistance when Myouga comes back."
The wolf demon froze and glared at the others, sulking.
He yelled after the retreating group. "You touch her, hanyou, and I'll maim you!"
A distant shout reached his sensitive ears, "Keh! Like you could!"
They had been walking for some time now. Kagome had long since stopped trying to figure out their route- the multitude of hallways and rooms had provided a difficult terrain to navigate. She felt so tired- not surprising since it was ages since her last good sleep. She suppressed a yawn.
'I am never listening to Yuka's advice again.'
Inuyasha, on her right side however, seemed alert, his ears standing on his head and his nose twitching every so slightly. His eyes were darting to and fro in curiosity. In fact, he looked much like an inquisitive puppy.
Kagome stifled a giggle, but he heard the muffled noise. "What's wrong with you?"
She straightened her face and put on an innocent expression. "Nothing."
"Right." He didn't quite believe her, but he had another question for the girl. "Where'dya think we're going?"
His questioned was answered by a voice ahead. "We are going to the centre of the underground. I have something to show you." But her information stopped there.
Kagome looked behind her. "Eh, Sango-san, Miroku-san, Do you have any ideas?"
However, the two rebels seemed just as confused as they were. "I've never really been around this place," admitted Miroku, "I have a job above ground, and most of my time is spent up there."
"I do live here… but my time is taken up with training," shrugged his companion.They continued walking, but Kagome began to notice that the floor wasn't as smooth as it had been. In fact, the neatly tiled floors had stopped a few feet back, and now they were walking on uneven ground. The walls around them were still smooth, however, and a few faint lights hung from the ceiling.
Kaede broke the silence, "We are quickly approaching the centre of the underground. Around it, all the old buildings and skyscrapers that remained of Tokyo had been connected in such a way by the survivors that the entire area of the old city was under a single roof. However, the centre was left alone."
A dark opening was visible at the end of the hallway. Kagome squinted in an effort to make out what was ahead, but she couldn't see anything. "What's over there?" But not even Inuyasha's enhanced sight could penetrate through the darkness. The schoolgirl's curiosity was growing and so was that of the people around her.
Kaede reached the end of the hallway first. She reached over to the wall and flipped a row of switches. "There are a few lights positioned around the centre, but it will take a while for them to activate."
Pair by pair, the young ones walked out of the hallway to be greeted with… darkness. Of course, they could sense that they had just left the small hallway and was now standing in an extremely cavernous area.
"What are we supposed to be seeing?" questioned Inuyasha. He squinted into the darkness but couldn't make out a thing. "What's in this place anyway?"
"Patience, boy. Wait for the lights to go on."
A few seconds passed and then suddenly, without any warning at all, there were several popping noises and the area was flooded in light. All four of the younger people flinched badly and shut their eyes. Only Kaede had been sensible enough to close her one uncovered eye.
"Gah… my eyes!" Inuyasha rubbed them irritably. "That's the third fucking time today!"
"Language," chided the Elder.
"Screw you."
"Inuyasha! Apologise."
"Keh."
Kagome slowly opened her eyes just so that she could see what Kaede had wanted to show them. She gasped. One by one, each of them cautiously squinted into the bright light to be stunned into silence.
"Holy crap."
There they were.
What remained of the old city.
Ruins.
Heaps of rubbish lay around the large, circular area. The low, crumbling walls that remained of what had probably once been tall skyscrapers lay around the edge of an open region. Piles of concrete and metal lay desolately on the ground. The ground itself had once been smooth but was now chipped and lay in horrible disrepair. Five larger piles of debris around the edge of the area, evenly spaced apart on the circle. Also, at various spots in the ground and garbage were small, neat holes.
Here and there were splotches of a reddish stain that seemed unpleasantly like blood.
And dead in the centre was one, huge tower.
It was a tall monument that rose all the way to the foundation of New Tokyo. As her gaze travelled upwards, Kagome saw that it gradually became more and more narrow until she caught sight of a large ball. It had once probably been a vibrant reddish colour, but was now covered in centuries of dust. The base of it was chipped and various chunks had been taken out of it.
The girl's eyes widened. 'I've seen this before…'
Kaede began talking, "The story that will answer all of your questions begins here, in this place, almost three centuries ago…"
However, Kagome wasn't listening. Indeed, she couldn't even hear the old woman properly as the scene before her eyes shifted and wavered. Her blue eyes were wide open and she felt almost paralysed. Unbeknownst to her, a circular object was beginning to glow green on her chest while she herself gleamed briefly pink.
"Kagome, you all right?" Inuyasha's voice sounded muffled, as if he were speaking from behind a glass. "Kagome?"
Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, and Kaede slowly disappeared from around her and the girl was oblivious to the hanyou's hold on her shoulder and his shouts.
The area around her slowly changed. Heaps of debris disappeared and the buildings slowly became intact. Tall skyscrapers and apartment complexes rose around the open area. The bright artificial light faded away while tall streetlights materialised around the open area. Where the five larger piles of rubbish had once stood where now tall stages with instruments Kagome had only seen in a few picture books.
The most prominent change, however, was the tower, which now looked as though new, and the large red ball shone brightly. In it, was a small strip showing what must be the time: 11:48:30
The area rebuilt itself, until it was perfectly intact, and Kagome was standing at the edge of it.
"This is… the old Tokyo… What's going on?" Her own voice sounded strange- it came to her ears as an echo.
But the last to be resurrected, and what provided the strongest shock of all, was the people.
Hundreds, perhaps thousands of people materialised before her very eyes. The stood close together in brightly coloured clothing, the most popular shade being a bright red. Many donned blue ribbons, but why, Kagome had no idea. There were humans and demons alike, all laughing and talking and staring at the various stages. On the platforms themselves were now individuals who had picked up each of the instruments and were now playing them. This was clearly a monumental occasion.
The schoolgirl felt very out of place with her plain grey clothing. All around Kagome, people crowded in on her as they stood, waiting for…
…something.
"Holy cow…" She attempted to move, but something was keeping her from picking up her feet. She glanced around her, but nobody had picked up on her comment or her tries to move. "Help?" Nobody answered. Curious, Kagome yelled into the hubbub, "Hello?!"
Nothing.
It seemed as though none of the people surrounding her were even aware that she was nearby. They all continued to smile and chatter contentedly.
Oddly enough, however crowded the place was, each time the girl felt she was going to bump into one person or another, they simply seemed to slide away so that she was no longer in their way. It was like there was an invisible barrier around her, preventing her from having any effect on the place.
Experimentally, she slowly brought up a hand and waved it in front of the nearest woman's face energetically. There was no response- the woman didn't so much as blink. Kagome slowly turned and shouted into the ear of a bear demon.
"HELLO!"
No response, whatsoever.
Kagome settled back down and turned towards the tower, a fear rapidly growing in her heart. It was all calm and happy now, but if her guess was right, it wouldn't stay that way for long.
And all she could do was watch.
Watch what she had seen dozens of times before, in her dreams. Of course, then, she had always been watching it from above as though she were a spectator in a set of invisible stands around the place.
But this time, she'd be right in the midst of the chaos.
"Up close and personal," murmured the girl.
Glancing around her, Kagome saw a strange metal device a man near by was holding. It was flat and seemed like it could fold in half. On one of the metal flaps were buttons with numbers and letters on them while on the upper flap was a glowing screen.
"What is that?" wondered Kagome aloud, but then the lettering caught her attention and her mouth dropped open.
On it, were the date, time, and an announcement in black:
'December 31, 203911:53pm
Happy New Years Eve!'
She took a step back in alarm.
"Oh. My. God."
Review responses:
-- KAWAII Little Wolf
I'm a genius? Ahh… … Nah. I'm just a regular ol' girl. And steal my ideas? O.o Now, why would you want to do that? ;-)
-- Shadow Stone
And I can't wait to write the next one…! =D
-- SniperGirl
::blush:: Eheh… but I've still got lots to improve! And all the gang is here… except for little Shippou… wonder where he ran off to…
-- Amped-Chaos
The kick-ass Kagome? How kick-ass? And don't worry- more of her 'powers' will be revealed… soon…
-- luckykittykagome
Heh. Mind link? Perhaps… Maybe a little like what happened in this chapter, no? ::shivers:: That's scary. Now log in's fine and I updated again! (yay?) Miroku and Kagome are assigned, and that was almost unintentional, but the actual relationship between the two isn't going to be blown up much…
-- Danny
Yay! I have a plot! -.-;; Heh. No, I haven't read '1984', and I've forgotten what it's about, but I have read 'Animal Farm' by the same author and that's one of the major influences of the story… as is 'The Giver'. Read 'em?
-- Kim
Yes, all in due time… XD
-- Inuyashadabest
I will, I will.
-- sarahlovesDBZ
Sci-fi stories are okay, but I generally don't read 'em (surprising?). There aren't a lot of them around, are there? But if you like them, have you read 'Transcending a Dynasty'? I forgot who the author is, but it's right here on !
--darkscorpio28
Heh. I'm glad you do!
--Katami
Original? Sort of. There are, of course, influences, but yes, I guess it is pretty original. (Shortest sentence with the most commas)
-- Ryngrl5
You love it? That's great! Keep on lovin' it!
[Sort of a short chapter, but not really, no? Some more will be revealed in chapter 13 (obviously), and I kind of left it off at a cliffie. Of course, you've probably realised what Kagome's seeing, so it won't be much of a surprise, no?
Heh (I like saying that)
I have a thing for out-of-body experiences. That must be the, what? Third time I've used that in a story. -.-;;
Till next time…
Ja!]