บท 33: Global collapse

There was a girl there, I would say about four years younger than me. She had cat ears and tail, two slender horns on her forehead, and long hair. Her eyes were arctic blue and were glowing, her hair was grey, her ears and tail were shadow grey, and her horns were black and from the middle and up the same colour as her eyes and they glowed too. She was wearing a white lab robe.

I tried to approach her, but she immediately rushed to the other side of the rock, away from me.

"Do not be afraid, I am not going to hurt you."

{I am sorry, kid, but I do not trust other people anymore.}

"What happened to you?"

{Why am I talking anyway? In any case, she does not understand me.}

"What are you talking about? I can understand you very well."

{What? You're talking to me?}

"Yes, there is no one here but us."

{How can you understand me?}

"Huh? What do you mean?" I turned to Araya.

"Araya, what do you think she means?"

"What do you mean by that? She did not speak?"

"Huh?"

{I guess you are the only one who can understand me. Interesting.}

"What are you talking about? Why can not Araya hear you?"

Then I heard Eyva's voice in my head. She said that she did a diagnostic test on me and that my mind has improved so much that I can receive the signals this girl sends. Because she talks with telepathy most people's minds aren't evolved enough the perceive those signals. But it's a different story for me.

"What's your name?"

{Name? Um, some people have called me subject eight. I am assuming that's it?}

"I am pretty sure that's not your name. And why did you say they called you subject eight? Does it have something to do with you not trusting other people?"

{Yes, I lived here for a very long time, I do not even remember how long, but one day some people came here and found me. These people were interested in my powers because I could disable every electronic device with my horns. So they took me to a research centre. I thought they were just going to study my powers, so I agreed. But it was not like that. They used me like an object, they never acted toward me the way they acted toward each other. To them, I was just an object with power. Whenever I did not do something they asked of me, they tortured me until I broke down...}

"WHAT? Who would do such a thing?"

{...Just a few hours ago they asked me to deactivate a field near a town. I did not want to do it because I knew they would do something bad, but with all the torture I could not resist... after I did what they asked me to do, they dropped me from a bridge, hoping that I would die from the fall. But as you can see, they did not succeed.}

"God... I did not expect that. I do not know what to say."

{You do not have to say anything, I am fine. But how did you get down here?}

"We fell off the same bridge."

{Why did not you die in the fall?}

"You know, I am sort of immortal."

{How is that possible?}

I picked up a shovel that was lying near me and ripped my hand off in one swift motion.

"Yaaaah, Shinji, what are you doing? Have you lost your mind?"

"Do not worry, I am fine. I am not going to die."

"B-but your hand is."

"Do not worry about it."

I took my hand off the floor, put it on the wound, and it immediately reconnected with the rest of my body.

{Ho? Interesting. I did not think a human being was capable of such a thing.}.

"Yeah, by the way, you said you lived down here for a long time, how old are you?"

{Um, I do not know exactly, but I think I am older than a thousand years.}

"Okay, I did not expect that. You look much younger than me."

{That's because I can not age. I remain the same no matter how many years pass. Besides, I am an ancient beast.}

"I see, I see. Do you know how we can get out of here?"

{There's an elevator a few metres from here that will take you to the surface.}

"Okay, let us go then. Are you coming with us?"

{Like I said, I have had enough of people from this world, I am fine the way I am now.}

"Won't you be alone? You can come with me, to my world."

{Mmmm? That would not be bad. I'll think about it. But in order for me to find you if I decide to follow you, you have to give me a name first, so I know where you are}.}

"Oh, okay. Hmm, I'll call you... Ayuri. How does that sound to you?"

{I'll accept it.}

"All right, let us go now. I'll see you on the surface."

I took Araya's hand and hurried to the elevator. If the war is still going on, that means her parents are in danger. So we are. We have to get out of here as soon as possible.

We went into the elevator and to our great luck it was still working. I pressed the button and went up.

"Shinji, what have you been talking to her about all this time?"

Oh yes, I had forgotten that she could not hear Ayuri.

I began to tell her everything we had said without missing even the smallest detail.

After some time, we finally reached the first part of the city.

The city looked as if it had been hit by a typhoon. The buildings were destroyed and you could see the corpses of people all over the city. No one was alive here. Maybe it was for the best that we fell down there, otherwise we might meet the same fate. At least Araya would.

"No, no. T-this can't be happening. M-my parents, I have to find them." said Araya and stormed out of the elevator.

She ran with all her strength.

She ran to a hospital, I guess it was the one where her parents worked. But the whole building had collapsed. The bodies of the dead doctors and patients were lying around the building and in the building itself.

Then I heard Araya screaming, "MOM!!!"

I rushed to her and saw two people under a concrete block.

"Mom, Dad, wake up, please, do not leave me alone." she said with tears in her eyes.

Her father died trying to protect her mother from the concrete block and succeeded, but someone shot her mother in the head with a gun. What animal would do such a cruel thing.

Then a message sounded from the city sirens.

'Attention, attention, you are ordered to evacuate the city immediately. The Core Gateway Engine has been hit and is highly unstable. Evaluation of core meltdown in twenty minutes.'

Oh come on, now? Of all the times for this to happen now?

"Hey Araya, we need to get out of here fast," I said, trying to get her out of the hospital, but she shook me off.

Then an explosion sounded and the building behind us collapsed. I tried again to move Araya away, but she did not move.

I bent down to cover her as she would not budge. With a little luck, I'll manage to protect her.

Just before the building threatened to collapse on us, Ayuri came and pushed us both away from there.

{What the hell are you doing? If I had not come, you two would be dead right now.}

"I know, but Araya is too shocked to move, she lost her parents..."

{We do not have time for this. That machine down in the core is going to explode in fifteen minutes. Get on your way. I'll take Araya and you run for it.}

"Okay."

She took Araya in her arms with ease and ran to the elevator. She was faster than me, even though she was holding Araya.

We reached the elevator quickly and went up.

The sound of sirens could be heard from there, but the further up we went, the fainter the sound became.

Finally, we arrived at the surface and ran to the gate. Araya had regained consciousness and was running along with us.

The place here was deserted. There was no one here. But fortunately, the gate was still in operation.

Only about a hundred metres from the gate, the ground shook violently and I and Araya fell.

I looked back and saw the ground collapsing with great speed.

I quickly got up, helped Araya get up, and started running.

But then the ground collapsed under Araya's feet and she was ready to fall into the abyss. But I quickly caught her arm so that she was hanging over the precipice.

As the ground collapsed, a metal rod got stuck in my arm and I could not muster any more strength.

"Shinji, leave me. Save yourself."

"No, there's no way I am going to do that."

"If you do not let me, we will both die. Please... do not sacrifice yourself."

"I told you there's no way I am going to let you by any means."

I could see the ground collapsing even faster. I did not have enough time.

"Shinji, let me go. I'll be with my parents, do not worry, I'll be happy." she said with tears in her eyes.

"There's no way I'll let that happen. I will never let a friend of mine die."

"Ayuri, I do not know if you can understand me, but please take Shinji away from here before it's too late. And you Shinji, it was my honour to be your friend, you were the only one I had, and the only one I needed. But now our paths must part. Live your life to the fullest, do not forget me. And for that, I am sorry."

"No, no, don't you dare. We will get through this together." I said and tears began to flow from my eyes.

"You will, but I will not. This is a farewell. I am going to see my parents again."

She pulled a knife out of her pocket and thrust it into my hand. My tendons were severed, causing my grisp to open and Araya to plunge into the abyss.

"Goodbye, Shinji. I hope we will meet again in our next life."

"NOO..."

I watched her disappear into the abyss, but there was nothing I could do.

Ayuri grabbed me by the hips and hurled me into the portal.

When we got back to NeonDown, I tried to go back into the portal, but when I was ready to jump in, the portal closed.

That's it, there's no way back for me. I have lost Araya forever.

{Is this your hometown? I guess Harnej was not so bad after all.}

"What are you talking about?"

I turned my head back and saw a scene reminiscent of a war zone. Destroyed buildings, fire in the streets, and most of all, silence.

What the hell was going on here?