They weaved through corner after corner, door after door, up and over broken window sills, from inside to outside and back again. As he went, Vash started to notice drawings on the walls. They appeared simple and innocent at first, the lines etched from chalk on the gray brick. Drawn vines snaked along the path they were following like an arrow directing them where to go. They sped through one final alley where the child looked back at the twins briefly before scurrying into a crawl space.

"Wait!" Vash tried in vain to call out once more. No signs of the child returning. He got down on the ground to see where they'd gone. Yeah, there was no way he or Nai could fit through there.

Speaking of, his brother caught up to him, a disapproving scowl on his face. Vash didn't seem to notice as he looked around to find a way in.

"Are you seriously thinking of following that child further?" Nai asked.

"Of course." Vash didn't even look at him as he walked back the way he came.

Nai clicked his tongue before going in the same direction. "And what if it gets us in trouble?"

"Then we deal with it," Vash replied as he rounded the corner, spotting the front door to the building. It was boarded up haphazardly with planks covered in deep claw marks that suggested they'd served their purpose. "They might need our help. We won't know if they're setting us up or not until we look."

Vash's blind optimism wasn't a surprise to his brother, but it was reckless in this situation. They were on an unfamiliar planet, had already been attacked once, and had no way of knowing what else was in store for them. Nai wondered if Vash's sense of self-preservation was seriously warped in the hundred years they'd spent on the SEEDS ship. Regardless, they were both equally stubborn, and one of them would have to give if they were going to move forward.

"If we're going in, then I'm leading," Nai conceded. That was the only bargain he was willing to make.

Vash gave him a look of slight surprise, but smiled slightly with a nod. "Alright." He took a step back as he anticipated the next move.

A line of knives extended from Nai and shot towards the door. It came straight off its hinges with a hearty WHACK! and swung inwards to the empty room ahead of them. The planks of wood that kept it covered splintered across the floor in pieces. The twins stepped inside, peering into what appeared to be a lobby to some kind of… entertainment center. The only light at first seemed to come from the doors they'd just entered. Why would a child go into a place like this? Surely there was a shelter with more people and a better atmosphere somewhere.

Thinking on it for a moment, Vash decided not to call out to see if anyone was there, his brother's reserved approach resonating with him. He looked along the walls and the floors for any clues instead. There were chairs and tables that gathered several layers of dust and dirt. The counter had prices posted associated with different group sizes and signs pointing to a "waiting room" for adults. The word "adults" had been crossed out crudely with a red marker accompanied by a simple drawing of a face with its tongue sticking out and a message: "Boo! No grown ups!"

Along the floor, Vash noticed some more drawings, the green lines reminding him of the drawn vines he'd noticed when chasing the child earlier. Several other small sketches of flowers, animals, and stick figures pointed the same way. It was impossible to see where the line went as it disappeared into another room. Vash gestured to Nai, showing him the trail. Nai acknowledged it and walked slightly ahead to investigate.

Before they could enter, there was a faint… singing. A sweet yet pained melody that sounded out only for a moment. While his brother kept moving, Vash stopped and turned his head, looking behind him for the source of the sound. But there was nothing there; there was only the fluttering dust illuminated against the faint sunlight that could filter through the entryway. No longer able to hear it, Vash chalked it up to his imagination and went back to the task at hand.

Another source of light appeared at the end of the corridor they were traversing. At least they wouldn't have to fumble around in the dark to get everywhere. Finally, they got to the source; one more turn around the hallway and they were greeted with… a giant playground. It seemed like a maze to them with one way in and one or two ways out. It was built like a giant box that had four or five tiers with only some meshing on the outside revealing what was inside. Not that they could get a clear view from where they were. The sole illumination came from the several big, wide windows that were splayed across the back wall. But what they could catch was the shape of a child gawking at them from inside the second level of the structure. Once they saw the strangers staring back, they scampered into the tunnel next to them.

"Stupid Shawna! You led them right to us!" Some harsh, not very discreet whispers echoed off the walls of the plastic tube the child vanished into.

"It's not my fault!"

"Of course it's your fault! How else did they find out we were here?"

The bickering continued back and forth. There were… three voices, all about the same age.

At this point, Vash didn't see any harm in the situation, so he dropped his bag by his brother's feet and walked closer. Nai didn't stop him, still scanning the area for threats.

"Hello?"

The whispering abruptly stopped.

"We're not here to hurt you. We just wanted to talk."

Silence. Then one of the child's heads popped out of the tunnel to look down at Vash. He gave a bright smile and wave. The child retreated back to report to the others.

"I don't know, guys… He seems nice."

"So what? They're grown ups! We shouldn't talk to them!"

"But he offered me food…"

"...Huh?"

"Yeah. He offered me a sandwich."

"Shawna! Why didn't you say that?!"

"I don't know! You guys were the ones telling me it was bad that he's here!"

"...Okay, I changed my mind. We should see what he wants. But don't talk to that other guy. He looks scary."

One by one, the kids filed out of their hiding spot, the three of them going in a line down to the slide that curved around to the exit of the box. They timidly approached Vash, allowing him to get a good look at all of them for the first time. There were two girls and one boy. Their clothes were dark and dirty, but otherwise not too worse for wear. There were some scrapes on their elbows and knees that were healing over. Their hair was like a crow's nest, the strands so tangled that there was little hope even a brush could fix it. Yet the most troubling aspect of them was how skinny they appeared. Clearly they had enough energy to be climbing around the playground and running around the city, but how long would that last?

Vash crouched down. "Are you guys hungry? I have more food in my bag."

They all looked at each other before slowly nodding. He rose to walk back to where he'd put his belongings. Nai was just glowering at the children the whole time, his arms crossed. He half thought to warn Vash to think about himself first, to not waste his own resources on kids he'd likely never see again, but thought better of it. He knew there was no stopping Vash's bleeding heart. After digging through his things, Vash pulled out three more sandwiches and brought them back as an offering.

"Here. Eat up."

Their eyes sparkled as they looked down at the simple combination of bread, cheese, lettuce, and meat. They each carefully took one and started biting down ravenously. Vash switched his posture to sit on the ground, letting them enjoy their meal.

"Thank you, mister." One of them said gratefully with a grin between bites.

"Where'd you get these?" Another one asked.

"Well…" Vash rubbed the back of his head, trying to come up with the best way to explain. "We're… travelers. We came from a far away city and made some food for ourselves before leaving."

"Really? So other places still have stuff like this?"

He nodded. "And there's more where that came from if you want. We know a spot where–"

"Vash."

Vash turned at his brother's interjection. A warning stare was piercing straight into him. It seemed Nai had hit his limit of how far his younger brother's charity could go. Vash gave a pleading look back. But his older brother wasn't going to yield again.

Defeated, Vash faced the kids again with a small smile, his eyes holding a hint of melancholy. He would have to play it off and shift gears quickly. "We've heard of a spot like that around here. They've got all kinds of stuff."

"Where, where?!" One of the children asked excitedly.

Vash scratched his head. Maybe they could give him some much needed intel… "I think it was called… Genesis?"

"Oh…" The kids all seemed to deflate at once, their once wondrous expressions turning sour.

Vash tilted his head slightly. "What's wrong? Is it a bad place?"

The kids glanced at each other, some unknowing thought crossing all their minds at once.

"Well… it's what they said it was, that's for sure," one of them replied.

"How so?"

Another of them opened their mouths to speak, but the boy raised his hand in front of her face. "Stop! Don't tell him!"

"Why not?" She asked.

The boy shook his head. "If he goes, he won't come back! You know that!"

That seemed to glue the girl's mouth shut for good, her head turning down to take another bite.

"Aw, come on." Vash clasped his hands in a prayer gesture. "Please? My brother and I really wanna know more about it. I'll even give you something else, if you want."

This seemed to sweeten the deal. The kids' eyes lit up again, looking at each other with a joyful gaze. They turned back to him expectantly.

"Alright! We'll tell you if… you play with us!" One of the girls said.

"Yeah!" The other one nodded enthusiastically.

"If you win, we'll tell you about Gen… Gen… that thing you said! And if we win, you have to give us more food!" The boy declared.

That sounded like a fair exchange to Vash. "Alright then. Deal." He reached his right hand out towards them. The kids each grabbed on and shook vigorously, looking even livelier than before.

Nai disagreed as he let out a heavy sigh and looked off to the side in irritation. To him, this was all just a waste of time. What could children possibly know that they couldn't figure out on their own? They were probably better off wandering around. But no, Vash just had to stoop so low as to mess around instead.

The kids seemed to pick up on the resentment towards them and lowered their voices while glancing at Nai.

"I don't think your brother likes us…" One girl commented.

Vash let out a chuckle. "Don't worry; he's like that with everyone." He put a hand up to the side of his face before whispering with a wink, "He may look scary, but he secretly wants to play too."

That seemed to be enough to get them to relax as they giggled. They led Vash to the entrance of the playground before explaining what game they wanted to do and introducing themselves: the boy was Charlie, proud owner of a T-Rex action figure. One of the girls (who ran from Vash before) was Shawna, an aspiring superhero. The other girl was Grace, the self-proclaimed toughest member of their recently formed trio.

"Alright! We're playing tag! Three versus one!" Grace announced.

"We're it! And you have to avoid us." Shawna added, pointing to Vash.

"If any of us tag you, you're out, and we win! You have to get to the top and back down to that exit!" Charlie finished, pointing to the other end of the playground.

The game didn't sound hard on its own; even if it was three on one, Vash was agile enough that he was confident he could avoid them. The real issue was the structure they were playing in. Luckily, it seemed big enough to fit an adult comfortably, probably in the case that (back when the business was operational) a child got stuck or refused to leave and a parent had to crawl in to get them out. That didn't necessarily mean it was ideal for an adult to move around in. Still, there was no backing out now.

"We'll give you a headstart since grown ups are kinda slow," Grace said. "We'll give you… ten seconds!"

"Aw man… that's it?" Vash feigned disappointment, putting his hands on his hips.

"Yeah! We're not going easy on you just because you're old!"

That was the first time anyone ever called him that. He laughed. If what they perceived as a twenty-something year old was "old" to them, then he was sure his actual age would make them think he was ancient.

"Ready?" Charlie asked.

Vash positioned himself in front of the start point and nodded with a thumbs up.

"Annnnd… Go!"

Vash darted forward into the structure, stepping over the foamed steps leading up the ramp. He could hear Shawna counting behind him. "1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, 3 Mississippi…"

He didn't have to put in much effort; doing so felt wrong given who he was up against. But he knew he'd get an earful from Nai if he didn't at least get something out of this. So, up he went, walking over wobbly bridges and swinging under monkey bars. It did seem relatively easy to get lost if you weren't familiar. There were more intersections on each of the floors and dead ends than he was anticipating. This place must've been Heaven for these kids.

It wasn't much longer before he could hear three separate pairs of footsteps scuttling after him. Their paths seemed to split almost immediately. No doubt they'd taken a divide and conquer mentality. It felt like a pack of wolves stalking their prey… though obviously with more innocent intentions. The only thing to do was to keep going.

About halfway up, Vash was approaching one of the miniature rock climbing walls when Shawna popped her hand out of one of the tubes just before he got there.

"Gotcha!" She exclaimed excitedly, thinking her surprise attack was successful. But Vash had enough reaction time to hop over her unscathed before darting up.

"Hey!" Realizing she'd missed, she ran after him, trying to catch up. Vash flashed a smile back at her before continuing upwards.

"Stop right there, grown up!" Grace appeared, pointing her finger at him authoritatively on the other side of a bridge. "You have to answer my riddle before you can cross!"

Playing along, Vash stopped and rubbed the back of his head. "Aw, come on… Can't I have a free pass?"

"No! Only kids get a free pass! Answer, or you can't cross."

"Alright, alright." He put his hands up in defeat. "What's the riddle?"

Grace grinned, putting her hands on her hips and puffing out her chest confidently. "What has a head and a tail, but no body?"

"Hm…" Vash crossed his arms and closed his eyes, pretending to contemplate the answer. He waited a few seconds before opening his eyes and replying. "Is it… a coin?"

She huffed and pouted. "Yes…"

"Then… I can cross now?"

"Yes." She stepped aside and gave a salute like a soldier. "I, Grace of the Kids' Club, will let you pass."

Vash saluted back before steadily going across. He caught the mischievous look in her eyes as he got closer, but he just whistled to himself as if nothing was wrong. As soon as he was within range, she lashed her hand out! Vash swiftly pressed himself against the mesh wall just out of her reach before rolling to the side and pushing himself to the next ramp. It wasn't the most elegant exit as he slipped halfway up, face planting on the floor before scrambling to his feet.

Almost at the top… But the only way up from where he was was a set of three brightly colored slides. Not the most ideal way to progress, yet he had no choice. Just as he began crawling his way up, Charlie positioned himself at the top.

"Chaaarge!" He slid down towards Vash, seeming certain of victory.

Vash flipped over onto the adjacent slide, his back pressed against the plastic as he gripped the railings so he wouldn't fall. His feet skidded against the incline as he tried to get back onto his stomach. Finally getting himself oriented correctly, he pulled himself up and to the top, hearing the protests of the boy behind him as he went.

Back and forth it went as he traversed, ducking and dodging as the children tried their best to get him. Their efforts were ultimately in vain as he reached his destination, sliding down the winding tube slide all the way down. It didn't look very comfortable as his upper body contorted to the side while his feet hit the ground. Nai rolled his eyes as he watched the display. Frankly, the whole display looked ridiculous from his perspective.

Vash scooted himself out of the way, followed shortly by the three kids who made their way down with ease.

"Alright… you win." Charlie conceded with a sour expression. "You're not a slow grown up."

"We'll tell you about the bad place," Shawna said.

Vash just smiled gently and crouched down again before asking the first question. "What's so bad about it?"

Grace shook her head as if trying to rid herself of a bad memory. "Everyone who went there didn't come back. They told everyone to come and said they knew how to make everyone better. They said we shouldn't be scared and that everyone could go home once they were done. But… Mommy's still gone…" Tears welled in her eyes.

"My big sister's gone too. She said she'd be right back. I hid just like she told me to. Why isn't she back yet?" Charlie's voice broke, his body trembling.

Shawna melted into the same state as she lamented, "I miss Daddy. I hate those people! They took everyone away!"

A place with some kind of "cure" that abducted all the citizens? That certainly aligned with the poster Nai found and explained why everything was so empty. But why hadn't they returned? And why the need for treatment in the first place? The information gave more questions than answers. Still, it was a lead.

Vash felt terrible as he watched the kids break down to sobs. Everything about it was awful. If he wanted to fix all this, then he needed to find out where to start. "Do you know where it is?" He asked softly.

"It's… It's far. Not in the city," Shawna answered, hiccuping between her tears. "They went… Left on the big street."

"Please… Please don't go! They'll take you too!" Grace pleaded.

Vash delicately patted each of their heads. "I'm sorry. But we have to go. We'll get everyone back. I promise. You won't be alone anymore."

"Then… when you come back with everyone… you'll play with us again?" Charlie asked.

Vash nodded sincerely. "Of course. And I'll bring as much food as I can carry. Speaking of…" Vash went back to his bag, pulling more sandwiches out for each of them. "Here. One last meal before we go."

"But… We lost." Shawna looked up at him earnestly.

"Doesn't matter to me. Besides: food tastes better with company."

The four of them sat together, enjoying the meal at their own pace. The kids each barraged Vash with questions. How come he and his brother looked so similar? Was his home nice? What was his favorite color? What was his favorite snack? On and on it went until their curiosity was satisfied.

Nai just watched all the while like a silent guardian. Despite his overall annoyance, watching them all gave him a twinge of… nostalgia. In their spirited conversation, he could see the younger versions of himself and Vash, hashing out whatever was on their mind that day. Things were so much simpler back then… So much quieter… What he wouldn't give to have those days back.

The time came for them all to bid farewell. The kids waved at the twins as they left, trying to be brave by holding back further tears. Vash waved until they'd exited the building, but Nai didn't look back, keeping his focus in front of them.

"Do you really think you should be making empty promises like that?" He asked.

"Huh?" Vash lowered his hand and turned to his brother, caught off guard by the question.

"Bringing those people back. It's none of our business. Even if they could come back, what makes you think we have the means to get them here?"

Vash looked down. Of course he hadn't considered the logistics of it; it hardly mattered. What mattered was setting things right as much as they could. "We have to try. They shouldn't have to grow up alone," he replied earnestly.

The sentimentality didn't seem to reach his brother's heart. He just glanced at Vash, watching the sincerity of his countenance. No doubt it would get them into more trouble than what was worth. Oh well… There was no use in worrying about it yet.

Silence enveloped them as they took a left onto the main road, resuming their previous route. The mist of the rain stuck to them as they walked. In the eerie calm, there was an unspoken divergence in each twin's mind. Their once aligned goal was starting to tear at the seam, their priorities shifting in accordance with what they learned. It wasn't enough to come to any final conclusions, but it was enough to give a hint of what awaited them further on.