Rumor Mill:
"Winds picking up," One of the workers observed finishing his sandwich. A group of festival workers were huddled together in the congregation of food trucks that lined the west exit of the grounds. "A storm?"
"As long as they don't make us fix Tower 6, it may storm forever for all I care," A comment rang out.
"Eventually that hunk of scrap needs to be removed from operation. This is ridiculous watching clouds all day!" Another replied. "Let alone the rumor surrounding it."
A few grumbles followed in agreement.
"Maybe we can get Stormchaser purified," Ino-hene theorized. "It could be a hex causing it."
A retort followed. "Seems to me it's just a big coincidence."
"Is it really though?" Ino asked. "We've all seen the statistics." Eddy's ears pricked up as he threw away his scraps. Obe shook his head as he followed suit. They left the group to their new task.
"The increased number of suicides could be attributed to anything. Using Stormchaser as an excuse seems too simple." The former pondered over his Ramen noodles. A slam is overheard causing the men to look to the cause. A disgruntled Keichi breathed heavily as he clenched his fists on a bench. "Kei-On? You have something to share with the class?"
The foreman rushed off. A scrap of paper was left behind. A few workers passed it around, but no one could read the writing under the marker.
"I have higher clearance. Don't wreck your brain," Ino barked grabbing the slip. All it had was 6:30 scribbled in red over what looked like 2 dimensional letter soup.
I'd better let Obe know of this. Ino thought with a concern as interest in what transpired echoed through the group.
Stormchaser Day 1: Evening
"Yeah sorry about that," Eddy spoke through a smartphone. He was laying in the grass near the parking garage after his shift's end. "Keep forgetting it's night there."
"You don't need to apologize, I know our schedules don't align very well," The voice on the other end crackled through. "How is Japan treating you?"
"I'm still trying to get my way around," Eddy sighed. "It's kind of hard to explain."
"Culture shock is a hard thing to manage at first, it's normal to feel out of place when you start living in a new country," The voice reassured him. "One remedy I read about is to take a simple walk around the town. It helps to find similarities between your previous schedule and the new-"
"Are you gonna be a samurai Eddy?" Another voice interrupts the line.
"No Ed I'm not going to be a samurai," Eddy winced at his lummox friend's bellowing. "And can you get any closer to the mic? I don't think they can hear you on Mars!"
"Of course I can!" Ed yelled happily in response. Eddy wished he didn't make that question.
"And I'm deaf now," Eddy grumbled moving his phone to the other ear. "Put Double D back on. I'll call you when I get done with the festival."
"You got it Eddy! Patching through!"
"Thank you Ed," Edd shifted back to his conversation with a giggle. " As I was saying it may help you find things that match what you used to do at home. Like maybe going to a candy store. "
"I'll keep that in mind, anything else going on?" Eddy asked. He needed to wrap it up. His eyes were already watering
"Not unless you have anything you want to add," Edd sounded like he was having trouble with composure as well.
"Just-" Eddy looked to the ground and wiped his face with his sleeve. "I wish you guys were with me."
"H-heaven knows we wish the same," Edd sniffed. "Don't be afraid to call if things get too hectic alright?"
"I gotta get going, talk to you soon," Eddy wiped a tear from his eye.
"Have a nice night Eddy," Edd concluded. Eddy pressed end on the phone and stared at it for a bit. He didn't notice he had someone watcing him.
"You good?" Obe asked startling the lad.
"Where'd you come from?" Eddy asked still a little shook.
"Grandmama always told me I was a miracle child," Obe remarked looking away with a twinkle in his eye. Eddy rolled over with an groan. "How are your friends?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Eddy muttered with a little sadness in his voice. "How are your friends?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Obe replied in a frustrated tone. With that the two sauntered over to Obe's truck and the journey home began. As the truck left the garage Eddy conjured up a question that was nagging him since lunch. "What's Stormchaser?"
"Knew that was coming," Obe muttered under his breath as he pushed his aviator shades up the bridge of his nose. "There's a power station to the west near the river basin. This station uses 6 overhead wire towers to send current downstream for South Market and the Industrial District. 10 years ago a typhoon hits, and nearly took all of them out. For one reason or another, the town council completely botched one of the towers and didn't bother to fix it. This tower became known as Stormchaser for its fun ability to attract lightning strikes. Every single time it storms it would get hit and whole area goes into a blackout. It gets repaired and the cycle continues again"
"What does a power line got to do with people offing themselves?" Eddy loved hearing about rumors and myths. Especially if it involved the more darker shades of suburban living.
"Not really sure myself, I promised myself that I wouldn't get involved in topics concerning that," Obe said turning off the main road.
"I know Keichi is involved," Eddy remarked. "The guy practically lost it during lunch."
"I actually know why that is now," Obe mused. "Ino finally got him to spill the beans."
"No foolin'?" Eddy gave the storyteller the floor.
"Keichi has had a hard life lets just be honest here. I only have a few glimpses into it myself. But let's just say he- the only family he has left is his little sister. She is pretty much what drives Keichi to do anything basically. She also has been dealing with chronic depression for almost her entire life," Obe shook his head. "Keichi is trying to help her and for a while it seemed to get better, but come to find out over the past few days her mental state started deteriorating at a very fast rate. Now he fears she is becoming suicidal and he can't figure out why this is happening."
"Does he have anyone to keep an eye on her when he's gone?" Eddy raised an eyebrow.
"She does have someone, but he's kind of-" Obe stammered for a right word.
"A dick?" Eddy finished the thought.
"He's- got some flaws, but she really trusts him," Obe concluded with a sigh. "And she also has her literature club she's vice president of. So at least she has support there if she needs it."
"Wait are you serious?" Eddy was flabbergasted. "First Boss, then the piano girl and now Keichi's sister? Is everyone a part of this Literature Club?"
"That my friend, sounds like the universe is telling you something," Obe pointed with a smile. The truck pulled up aside their house and Eddy jumped out. He noticed he was the only one doing so.
"You're not going in?" Eddy asked.
"If what they say about the weather tonight they need all the hands they can get," Obe pulled out a slip of paper from his jacket with a sigh. "I got a request for ya."
Eddy's shoulders sunk. "Let me guess, you want me to check on Keichi's sister tonight. Right?"
"Meeting new people may help her, you never know."
"Could of picked better circumstances," Eddy looked around. He felt uneasy about the whole exchange.
"You know that couple we passed by this morning? Keichi lives on that street. Here's the house number," Obe tossed the slip at Eddy hitting him on the nose. "Call me if you need me." And with that Obe's truck rumbled down the street to the next job. Eddy wanted to be pissed but he was more concerned. I'm not a therapist, how the hell am I supposed to help a suicidal girl? With a look of defeat Eddy scooped up the house address.
May as well deal with this now, Eddy looked at his watch. 6:30, if I hurry I might be able to find a candy store before it gets dark.
He found the house easily after a few minutes. That old sod took me home to twist the nail. He gave the door a few knocks and got no response. He tried the knob and the door came open. Not wanting to look the gift horse in the mouth he went into the foyer. It was dark and the air was still. "Hey! Hey!" Eddy spoke into the living room. What am I doing? I don't know her name. "Your brother told me to check on you!"
There was no response from that either. Eddy strained to hear something, literally anything he can use as a clue. If I back out now I'll never hear the end of it. Let's just look through the house. He figured upstairs would work and with a few steps a closed door came into Eddy's view. He went up the stairs as softly as he could and crept to the door. Lightly pressing his ear to the door, he heard a weak pained voice whispering out for help. Double d would be chewing me out about respecting people privacy by now. Well let's see what's behind door number 1.
With a crack of his knuckles, Eddy gently opened the door.