Chapter 7
The silence hung in the air between them. Shioseki sat in a chair facing Akafude's empty desk. Tsurumatsu stood cross armed looking down on the courtyard from the 4th floor office window. They heard muffled voices in the next room over. Akafude was trying to work her magic with her influence to get them out of trouble and hopefully figure out what was going on.
"If only I'd been here sooner. If you would have told me-" He began.
"Okay, Tsuru. I know, I thought I was doing well by you and the island. Things weren't easy there, but I know you love the island. We all do."
"Well, big difference my being here was anyway. I couldn't keep Kinuito or the boy." He tightened his fist and chewed his lip.
"Don't blame yourself for that. I should have given you the choice of coming with us. I'm sorry I took that choice from you, even if things would have turned out the same." Shio paused searching for the words to say. "I'm happy you're here now." She noticed his posture relax at the words.
The side door to the office swung open and Akafude quickly closed it behind her breathing like she'd just run up the stairs. They both turned to her in anticipation. She held her finger up begging for a moment as she put her hands on her knees, still catching her breath.
"Oh come on already Akafude!" Shioseki threw her hands in the air. A few moments too many passed. "Where are my kids?"
"Shio, I'm sorry." She walked over to her desk and pulled a bottle from her drawer. "You're going to want to stay seated." Tsuru and Shio exchanged worried looks.
"First, I got as much info out of them as I could. Second, I got you two out of hot water. How much have you heard about The Fellowship?" Aka took a swig from her bottle.
"Just that it's a collective for overachieving academics? This isn't some conspiracy theory is it? If it is I'm not buying it." Shio stood up from her seat. "I want my kids back and if I have to get the local authorities involved I will. Throw my Scholarship to the flames."
"You should follow your intuition more often. I'll tell you what I know." Akafude put her bottle back in its drawer. "They get anything they want. Look at this whole university. Did you see how many students we have? This place would have been shut down long ago. Naaru is big, but every student wants to go to Yamato. The ones who can't come here and not all of them can even pay. The Fellowship pays for everything here. They need something; they get it, no questions. I'm the head of this facility, but they don't answer to me." She hesitated before she continued, gauging their reactions. "I hope you believe me, because I knew it was fishy when they asked me to personally go get you and the children from the island, but when they talk, you listen. I swear to you I didn't know."
"Didn't know what?" Tsurumatsu slammed his fist on her desk and almost touched noses with her. She closed her eyes in response. Shio sat silent. Afraid of the answers she may not want to hear.
"The twins have been selected for a program and they're using a war-time local law to do it. Legally, the twins have been drafted. They are Fellowship members now. They may as well be soldiers taking orders from a general. There's no getting them out once they're conscripted." Shioseki's face blanched. "I don't know any other details other than that they're still here. I am sorry Shio." Shio could see Aka's mouth trembling at her own words.
"And what about Kinuito?" Tsurumatsu demanded with both palms on her desk.
"Yes," Aka held back her tears and collected her thoughts. "They've also taken interest in Kinuito after seeing her and the boy reacting with the ruins. I'm as confused about that as you are. They assured me their safety and they promised to let us see them when they're ready."
"When they're ready?!" Tsurumatsu turned from her and bit back his tongue.
"I think we both know that isn't good enough, Akafude." Shio said after she found her spirit. Aka face turned to surprise at her confidence. "So I think the question that you have now is 'are you going to help us break into your own school to get my children back'?"
o o o
"Hello, I will be the proctor for your tests today. No need to worry about names." Kawaharu sat up and covered her shoulders with her hands. The cells her and Takaharu were kept in were hard and cold.
"You and your tests can go to denebokshiri." Takaharu spat.
"We'll start with the boy today then." They unlocked his cell and two guards grabbed him by the arms. He had no strength to fight back. "Yeah give me all you've got. I'm not scared of you." They began locking his arms and legs in place on the same table from before. The head pins locked into place. Taka made no sound.
"This one doesn't seem to be showing any signs of latency it seems. Nothing is manifesting, yet. It's a real shame too since twins hold the most potential. Begin phase one." Taka screamed as the burning pain arced down his spine. Kawa couldn't bear to hear it. She covered her ears and failed to hold back her tears. She began to see flashes of light in her vision. Stars of all different colors floated around in her mind. She focused on one and she began to see a hazy shape slowly come into focus. She could see her brother's outline and then his face and then the other three figures standing in the room. She startled herself and lost the image. Colored swirls of stars whirled in her head. She thought of Kinuito and Hisnaga and a twinkling star stopped in front of her. She reached out to it and felt herself free falling, her stomach catching in her throat. She came to a sudden stop and saw them together with another man that wasn't familiar. They were in some sort of flying room. No, they were falling, going down. Some sort of lift was taking them down into the ground.
"What is this?" She thought out loud. "Am I doing this? How is this possible?"
"Okay that's enough. He's not getting through phase one. Put him away and we'll try the girl again." Takaharu's breath was slow. He couldn't manage any more smart remarks. They dragged him to his cell and let him collapse to the floor.
"No," he breathed. "Don't touch my sister you creep." He lifted himself up by his arms but couldn't move his legs and he fell flat again to the floor. The two guards took Kawa by the hands and she obeyed. They restrained her to the table and began the test.
"Oh, we're getting something here." The man stood in front of a large screen with scrolling words and lines moving up and down. Kawa tried to use her new sight to see anything that might help her. "We're getting Clairvoyant waves with her. A shame she had such poor side effects. She may be useful still." She could see him stroking his chin. "Stop the test." He turned and approached her. "How many fingers am I holding up?" She could now easily see that he was holding up four fingers. She wasn't sure if she should answer truthfully or play dumb. "Come now, I know you can do it."
"Three?" She said. The man smiled and stood silent.
"That's okay. We'll try again tomorrow and the next day and the next day." He stepped so close to her she could feel his breath. "Until she finally decides answer truthfully we'll wait." He held back a laugh. "If not, we have ways of making use of your powers." He turned and the guards put her back into her cell. She waited until they left the room and she could hear Takaharu shuffling himself up in his cell.
"Taka, I don't know how to explain it." She struggled to find the words. "But I can see you. I can even think of Kinuito and then I can see her too. I don't know why though. What are all these tests for?"
"That must be what they're looking for." Taka winced as he got to his feet. "You've got to get out of here, I'm sure you'll get the chance if you play their game." She could see him smiling to himself. "Just go with them next time. I'll find my own way out. I can't just sit here while they torture you. Don't make me go through that, Kawa."
o o o
The windows sped paste them as they descended. Kinuito stood next to an elderly man on the circular platform. Kinu marvelled at the size of the buildings outside the windows. She couldn't wrap her head around there being a city underneath the university. She looked again to Hisanaga in his metallic ball form, silent and motionlessly floating.
"Kinuito," The man pulled her from her thoughts. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions." he chuckled to himself. "And I have answers." The platform came to a halt and the doors behind them slid open. "Come, you are no prisoner here." She followed behind him and pulled Hisanaga along with them. There were dozens of people seated in front of windows lit up with scrolling numers and letters. She couldn't make sense of any of them.
"I don't think I'd know how to begin my question." Kinu followed the man farther down into another room. "Who are you I guess?" He turned and smiled at her.
"Come this way and I will answer that and more." he took a small hand held device from a nearby desk. "Will you let me prick your finger? Here I'll do it to myself first." He pressed the device on his fingertip and drew a drop of blood. Kinu slowly extended her hand and he did the same to her finger. An assistant came to his side and he gave them the device.
"We are The Fellowship, a collective dedicated to the preservation and protection of all knowledge and people, forever striving for lasting peace. You can call me Gennai." Kinu put her bloody finger in her mouth.
"What about Hisanaga? What did you do to him and why do you need me?"
"This is the question of utmost importance and leads to a question that I have for you." They continued through the room and Gennai entered a code into the wall to open the next door. Inside was the last thing Kinuito would have expected.
"You see, you are special Kinuito, probably just like your parents tell you." In the back of the room the wall was lined with slots into the wall and inside each slot was a metallic orb with two ears sticking out, just like Hisanaga. There must have been one hundred of them.
"I'm an orphan, but I do remember them telling me I was special. Isn't everyone?" Kinu was fixated on the wall of Hisanaga's.
"I am sorry for that. We have all paid a price for the Civil War, but as destiny would have it Kinuito, we actually need your help." The man grew serious and she turned to him. "We must ensure that a Civil War will never happen again. Or any war for that matter. Did you know that your friends, the twins Takaharu and Kawaharu, have already joined us in this quest?"
"Taka and Kawa know about all of this?" Kinu put her hand to her head. All of this was too much for her to take in at once. She dreamed of going on an adventure, but she didn't feel ready to dedicate her life to the cause. She turned to Hisanaga wishing she could talk to him.
"They didn't give it a second thought." He nodded to her. His assistant came to his side with a stack of papers that he leafed through. "In fact, just you by yourself could be the key to it all. What if we could do something speicla for you in return? Maybe offer you something you've lost?" He looked up at her with eyebrows raised. Kinu looked down and thought to herself what he could mean. "What if we could bring back your parents? I can see your mother Yayoi and your father Yasuzumi."
"How could you do that?" She couldn't believe her ears.
"We recently made an amazing discovery here. We have access to miraculous knowledge that even rivals the legends of the Mikado. We can do that for you, if you wish it." He smiled and held out his hand.
"Show me more, what is this place? What are all of those Hisanaga's on the wall?" And she took his hand.
"We have gathered them from across the continent. We can even track their locations, but all of that is nothing compared to what you may help us achieve." They stopped in front of a giant window that suddenly lit up in front of them.
"From that blood sample you gave us earlier we were able to find your parents and we can trace your heritage all the way back to ancient times. Your bloodline has been blessed with permissions to access the a power that could stop all war forever." He gestured to the scrolling information on the giant window. "Kasai, a tool that we stumbled upon that can monitor all inhabitants of Yamato. It would allow us to stop any war from happening before it ever started." Kinu thought for a moment.
"Kasai? You mean you could read everyone in the whole world's mind?"
"Even more so, we could stop them from even acting on evil thoughts. It would be the ultimate ruler. We would no longer need a Mikado, we could govern ourselves. Be free of all worry and live forever in safety!" He raised his hands in excitement. "But we haven't been able to access it. With your blood Kinuito, we could make the world a better place. No more orphan children. Think of all the people that were lost in the Civil War, all those wrongs could be undone! You would stand as a god before us with this great weapon." Kinu's head whirled. She didn't want all of this responsibility, but she could have her parents back? How could she say no? She balled her fists as she wracked her mind for an answer, but failed to find what she needed. She turned instinctively again to Hisanaga while still a levitating orb and it got her thinking.
"What did you do to Hisanaga? Can you bring him back to me as well?" She touched the floating ball, but it did not respond. Gennai lowered his head.
"I am afraid you ask the impossible of me, my child." He slowly turned to her.
"There is a reason we have gained access to these tools. We have found it to be called the Project Gaia Disaster Recovery Protocol. It is the reason you found your little friend. After the events of the Civil War, the Drones you see here activated to carry out the Protocol, to bring the weather back." Kinu tilted her head still confused. "We've determined that should these Drones complete their mission. The Disaster Recovery Protocol will be turned off and we will lose access to these powerful tools for world peace." It all dawned on her then.
"So you won't fix the weather? Hisanaga can never come back?" She held her breath and looked toward the floating mettalic ball. She could almost hear his voice in her head.
"My child, with your power, nothing will be impossible. We can fix all that once we determine how far your access goes. With Kasai maintaining peace throughout the world, nothing would be out of our reach." He slowly walked toward her hands outstretched. Kinu's soul seemed to well up inside her. It told her this was not right and that this was not justice.
"I don't believe you. I won't help you enslave the world!" She said clenching her teeth and her fists. "Hisanaga!" She yelled as loud as she could. "Hisanaga!" She yelled again. Gennai laughed at her attempt.
"If you cannot willingly help us save the world, we have ways of changing your decision." His smile turned to a smug one.
"Hisanaga!" The dry air scratched at her throat as she forced it out of her lungs. Gennai continued to laugh and before he could say another word a strange thing happened.
"Hisanaga." Kinu commanded one last time solemnly. She stood her ground in a last stand and put both her hands on Hisanaga. "Please, wake up." The metallic ball lit up. And ninety-nine other metallic balls did the same.