Hello one and all. Can you believe that was just the prolouge? pauses Okay, maybe not. Anyways, yes this is my take on both version of Meltdown. So it is AU.
The newscaster's face turned serious. An image lit up beside her, displaying a government logo.
'Local and national UU officials have confirmed the creation of the material Ivanodium. Ivanodium is said to produce off the scale energy readings when subjected to...'
A yellow haired figure pulled a vial from their white jacket, inspecting it in the glow of the television in the dark room. The liquid inside glowed a subtle, smoldering blue. The person turned it back and forth, watching a few bubbles slide up and down hypnotically.
"I-va-no-di-um," the person murmured, leaning back and letting their hair splay behind them on the couch, "What secrets do you hold?"
Not so long ago, a war ravaged the world called Earth.
One half of the population was destroyed, mainly in once-Europe, once-Africa and once-South America.
When these lands were barren, the opposing factions finally saw their errors and ceased fighting. They withdrew to their lands to heal and rebuild.
The world now stands under a single banner called the United Union, with its figure-head the Lady Grace.
But 50 years of unsupervised work has left the government riddled with corruption, filled with greedy politicians looking to usurp one another. The Lady and her guards are holed up in their stronghold near once-Europe's Great Britian.
And that is not yet the worst.
The power being used for government debate is slowly draining away, and scientists are under duress to find a solution.
Ivanodium.
The potential answer to all the world's problems in the form of an innocent blue liquid.
Fifteen years earlier:
A little girl in a white sundress ran down a cobbled path, her bare feet slapping the worn stones.
"Mom! Momma!" Sun-yellow hair tickled her shoulders. A soft tinkling noise seeped from the house, and the feet slowed to a stop. Wondering at the noise, the girl inched towards the open, white-washed doors. She peered into the room, and saw a magnificent (to her childish eyes) black piano sitting in the centre of the floor. Her mother, wearing a similar - but blue - dress.
Her fingers danced across the keys, playing a haunting melody that sent shivers up the little girl's spine.
The girl watched in rapt attention as her mother began to sing the lullaby from when she was a newborn.
"Hey-, take me to a sunny morn,
I wish to fly with you,
Wanna fly with you.
The beautiful blue sky surrounds us,
So wonderful.
Hey-, take me to a midnight moon,
If I could say goodnight,
I'll have to say goodnight.
All my love and hope,
You are my miracle,
You are my wings to fly."
Her mother's hands stopped, as did her singing, and she stared at her hands as if she had never seen them before. Cautiously, she lowered back to the piano, and began the melody again, but softer.
"And if I must go away,
Please let it be by,
A- yellow moon.
All this shattered love,
It is no longer mine,
It is most surely mine."
Her mother broke down sobbing, and the girl stepped tentatively into the room.
"Momma? Why are you crying? I didn't know you could play the piano." Her mother spun around, her face stricken with fear. She hurried over to the girl.
"Shh. You can't tell anyone I was playing."
"Why not?"
"Because... because it isn't allowed, dear. It isn't wanted these days." Her mother pulled a piece of white fabric from a pocket, and tied it around the little girl's head, leaving the two ends pointing upwards resolutely.
"I love you, my dear. Always remember that."
Rin sat on the cool floor, tucked just inside the very same open doors a few years later. Her head was buried into her arms, and she sniffled.
A strong gust of wind sent the pale, gosamer curtains a-flight in the room and blew in a few drops of the falling rain.
Atop her head sat the two points of the white fabric tied around her head, keeping her bangs out of her face.
"Why are you crying?" A voice spoke behind her.
Turning, she caught the sight of distinctive green hair cascading around a girl's shoulders; her watery blue eyes looked curiously at the other.
"W-who are you? Why are you here?" the yellow-haired girl stammered out.
"My mum is visiting yours, and I was told you were around," The green-haired girl asked, scuffing a foot on the tiles, "I asked you why you are crying."
"Oh." The yellow-haired girl turned back to the rain an twiddled one of the ends on the white fabric on her head. She sniffed and rubbed her nose furiously.
"Well, my mum told me I couldn't learn how to play that," She gestured to the black piano, it's lid down. The other girl's brow creased downwards.
"What is it? It seems old, like something that should be gotten rid of."
"Are you serious? Get rid of that?" The yellow girl scoffed, "You should hear my mum play it..."
"Play it? How so?"
"I'll show you!" She grabbed the hand of the strange new girl who thought the grand piano was something to destroy, and led her over to the bench.
The yellow girl raised her hands to the ivory and ebony keys, and carefully pushed one down, not knowing exactly what it would sound like herself. A wavering note rang out into the air, settling softly over the two.
The green girl drew in a breath, and closed her eyes as the yellow girl began to plunk out a tune, which tumbled up and down the piano like waves on the beach.
"Rin, what are you doing?" Came her mother's quaking voice from the inner doorway. The green girl squeaked in shock and fell off the bench onto the floor, while Rin's hands crashed onto the keys in a blitz of noise.
"Err, I was just showing her what the piano sounded like." Her mother's eyes were wide and fearful, and Rin shrunk down on the bench in shame.
"I don't want to hear you play it again. Ever."
Her mother stepped closer to Rin and placed a hand on her head. Her brown eyes had an odd light to them.
"We don't want others finding out about it, now do we?" Rin shook her head.
With that, her mother twirled away back into the depths of the airy house, her guest lingering a moment before turning away as well, blue hair spinning.
But not before her emerald eyes bore into Rin with a frightening intensity, daring her to just lay a finger on the keys again.
The green girl spoke up, bringing Rin out of her musing.
"I'm Miku, by the way. My mum is a member of the government who's lookin' for ways to stop the wastin' of energy." The green girl said nonchalantly.
"Rin." She inclined her head at Miku.
"Why did your mother not want you to play the... piano was it? It sounded beautiful. I'm sorry about what I said earlier," Miku said. Rin chewed her bottom lip nervously.
"Mum says the government doesn't like things that are too old. They say it makes them look dated... weak."
"Oh... shame that. I would love to hear more!" Miku gushed.
"I know!" Rin pulled her to a side of the room, and pulled a clear plastic case from a shelf. Inside was a circular piece of silver that danced with rainbows. Rin pulled it out and plopped it into a small player, along with a set of headphones. She placed on in one ear, an offered the other to Miku, who did the same.
When both were set, she pressed the sleek button with an arrow on it.
Miku gasped as delicate piano music seeped into her ear. She glanced at Rin as a cello filtered in with the piano, lending a mournful cast to the music.
Rin began to hum along, and Miku soon joined her.
This was how the two mothers found them, staring off into the distance, a small pile of CDs scattered around them.
Excerpt from The Domine Plant Incident: A History
No one knows why the body had a pair of headphones on it, or why they were of such an old style. Perhaps they wanted to have their last minutes in the company of music?
Regardless, another question would be as to how they came to be in the possession of such an item, when the existence of them is frowned upon in today's society that tries to forget its terrible past. Especially now...