2.4

Before The Call of the Wild

From the dark, a voice lit up like a damp fired, unnerved and afraid.

“Are we really going to do it?”

“Do you want to return then, to the way thing was before”

Another voice flared up, filled with a calculating malice. The other voice muttered pathetically “No, not again”. Yes, he wasn’t going to return to that world, they didn’t appreciate his boxing. Those above, they were feared of his talent, they tried to keep him down. And that bitch who was his wife, she didn’t understand, she never did.

“Say it out loud, I want to hear it”

“NO, NOT AGAIN! I will do it, I will kill them all”

Being sent to this new world was a new beginning, he was granted the power he deserved. “I am invincible, I am unbreakable” The damp fire had become a raging flame, hungry for glory.

“Yes yes you are. Imagine if we manage to kill them all! You will have it all, the fame, the wealth, all the women you want”

No replied, the fire was out of control, volatile. The second voice thought to himself, maybe this was a bad choice. But it was also his only road to respect, that woman. There was no need to fear, the two powers would be enough, they were unbeatable.

Their only problem was number, but that made the train car their best terrain. As long as their opponents were separate, the two would prevail.

Besides, they still have it, the horror that was The Call of the Wild.

“I am invincible, I am unbreakable” The flame continued to chant.

___

Mara retreated to her room, the thousand cranes finished. The place was rather small but cosy, with the two beds on opposite ends. She did go on a tour on a historical steam train before and she highly doubted they had bedrooms. Nevertheless, she wasn’t going to complain. Mara sat on her bed and laid down, putting the cane away, her back aching in pain.

Her roommates entered soon after, it was Doraemon. The girl looked at her companion groaning painful.

“Do you need a massage for that?”

“I will be alright, dear”

The old lady could see Doraemon frown, the girl seemed to dislike it when she used the word ‘dear’. That wasn’t the case not too long ago though, Mara wondered what happened. The red string was still connecting them, but the future girl had closed herself off.

Something wasn’t right though, right here, right now, the string was more muted than ever.

“What’s wrong?” Mara asked, her voice filled with concern. Had she somehow messed this up again. The old lady couldn’t help but remember how she had driven her family away.

“There’s something I want to say” The door was slowly closed, followed by a click of the lock. The light was turned off. Doraemon sat on the old lady’s bed, looking away. The girl raised her hand, showing the red string still tied to her finger.

“This is all so strange” She said “All of my life, laid bare to a stranger”

“Am I still a stranger to you” Mara asked.

Doraemon remained silence gazing at the string. The girl then turned to her roommates who couldn’t decipher what her expression meant. She put a finger on her bright red lips, having just applied the make-up again not that long ago. She said close to the old lady.

“No, not any more you aren’t” Doraemon said lovingly for the first time in her life.

“What…” Mara, needless to say, was confused by her tone.

“A confession what else” The future girl cleared her voice “Mara Singer, I love you”

The old lady had completely forgotten about her pained back. In the twilight of her years, Mara never expected to connect again with anyone, much less romantically. The girl next to her also looked to be around her deceased daughter’s age. Meanwhile, she was now…

“Don’t think like that, we are only a year apart” Doraemon raised the red string.

Having regained her composure, Mara pushed the girl back gently and sat up.

“I know, but look at me, my body is breaking down, I am expiring” The old lady looked at herself “Why me?”

“Well you have seen it all, my life. How I spent most of it just running” From the Killer Queen, even now, thinking about him still made her shuddered “I had forgotten what it was like, to be free, I couldn’t remember the day before that thing. But with this red string, through you, I was able to relive those memories again. You were there for me”

A little girl in an orphanage in Belarus, life was peaceful then, but that was so long ago. Doraemon could no longer be that innocent again.

“I want to live again” The girl said, putting her face close of the old lady “With you”

Mara held her back, however “But why like this, it doesn’t have to be romantically”

“No” Doraemon answered “But I wanted it to be. I don’t want to be swayed by anyone who could give me false hope again. I would rather choose who I love, and I want it to be you”

The girl was swayed alright, when that man came along. Bald, long and obnoxious, and yet he was frighteningly capable. Her heart skipped around him. But it was all for naught, he never had any care for her, everything he had done was simply out of habit. That man despite his warm exterior, was cold and calculating.

It was a failure, so Doraemon would now choose for herself.

“Besides, I hate being treated like a kid”

Doraemon muttered those words and soon as it exited her, the string lit up. These past few days, the girl had kept her side from spilling over. She tried and fostered her feeling, for this very moment, when the dam was finally broken.

The flood of emotions struck Mara hard, threatening to drag the old lady along with its flow.

“It’s the same with you right… I know. Your duty, your mission, we are the same, those without a life” Doraemon said, having seen all the sacrifices Mara made, her husband, her children, her youth, her life “Let’s have our fill of living, together” The girl said sincerely.

Taking the moment into her hand, Doraemon kissed her loved one passionately. The girl then paused, waiting to be pushed away but alas, that didn’t happen. Mara remained quiet, the old lady didn’t share the girl passion, but she didn’t reject it.

Doraemon was no stranger to physical interactions, but something was different here. Just their lips touching was enough to send a shiver down her spine. A wayward soul finally found its place. Doraemon wanted this moment to last forever.

She reached behind the old lady and closed the blind. This would be their moment and theirs only. The girl laid down next to her loved one, she wanted more, but not now, not before she could hear the reply. For now, she would treasure this sensation and she would rest in a warm embrace.

Mara held the small frame, stroking her hair gently. The old lady felt like she was having an ultimatum. The girl was the same as her, they were too jaded, love wasn’t going to struck them like lightning. She would have to make a choice herself.

A memory of her long lost family briefly resurfaced, Mara would have to think this through.

___

Hiro was sleeping soundly and yet, a sense of dread was creeping onto him. What was it, where did it come from he didn’t know. But that feeling, no matter how hard he tried, Hiro couldn’t shake it off.

“Suiren!” The young man grasped, sitting up from his slumber. He was out of breath, incapable of breathing properly. Hiro held onto his chest, panting pathetically.

He looked around to see Hotaru, sitting next to him looking surprised. The operative didn’t know what to do in this situation, but she felt like something should be done. Fortunately, Hiro regained his composure fast, no stranger to nightmare. Although this one was particularly intense despite being unable to remember its content.

“So how come I am graced with your presence here” Said Hiro.

“Well, I was told to give you this”

From behind the table, the operative brought out a bundle of paper cranes. Hiro couldn’t count them all but he knew there were a thousands of those.

“This” Needless to say, the young man was speechless.

He wasn’t the only one. Hotaru, no, Four, was against the use of their fallen enemies as mindless brainwashed drones. An opinion shared by many of her siblings. The decision couldn’t be reversed, however, and Four had to live with it. Over time, her resistant was eroded and then came the point where she couldn’t see them as human anymore.

The real people were long dead. In her ages where mechanical robots were starting to make their way to the battlefield, these masked being weren’t too far off.

And yet, here she was, seeing this salary man, so heartbroken over a sick masked. And these thousand cranes offering, efforts were made. Four, no, Hotaru wondered, what was that turning moment she stopped seeing those as people. There was a tinge of regret budding.

“So, did you make all of these?” Hiro asked.

“Wah… of course not” Hotaru replied immediately “It was the others. Then that Eikichi guy… barged into my room. He asked me… to make one and give it to you…”

“Which one of these did you make then?”

“How should I know! Anyway… don’t ask me why that guy sent only me… instead”

From his sit, Hiro was looking at Hotaru and she couldn’t decipher his gaze. This made the operative nervous, her extended mission here in Eden had crippled her already lacking ability in people even further. What was this man thinking about looking at her? Did he have any intention at all? Questions swirled around Hotaru’s head.

Her heart nearly stopped when Hiro suddenly smiled.

“What… what’s so funny!”

“Nothing” Hiro said “It’s just that when we first met, you didn’t stutter like this at all. I am wondering why that is”

“That… that…”

“I just have a though that maybe you are actually great at this, that perhaps this bumbling person is just a cover” The young man smiled weakly.

“Perhaps… you can think what…ever you want to think” Hotaru didn’t deny that.

In her mind, she wanted to say sorry to her old co-worker. She tried so hard to help Hotaru be able to talk to stranger normally. Now the operative had regressed significantly. She suddenly remembered home, her ‘cave’, where she would retreat to binge watch videos and anime while the television was taken by… her other half.

Hotaru was overwhelmed by an usual wave of sadness as the realisation that she would never meet her love again. The operative consciousness was copied here, not cut like Hiro. Back home, there was still a ‘Hotaru’, living a happy life.

The operative steeled herself, she made the choice to come here knowing that. This wasn’t the time to question her decision. At least her ring, after so many battles, still remained.

“Um… Can I have that?” Hiro said, pointing at the cranes.

Then, Hotaru realised she was still holding to them.

“Here… you go…”

Finally, the cranes were given to Hiro. The operative just wanted to dig a hole and burrowed herself in it, never to emerge.

Hiro Hanazawa, meanwhile, gazed at the cranes. Oh, how their differed, many were off, some perfectly made. A few were rather soft due to sweat, many more had small cuts and rips on them. His hand started to tremble slightly as the young man laid the offering next to the infirmary door.

He stood up and nearly plummeted to the ground. Despite his years slaving behind a desk, he still stayed seated for far too long. His experience allowed the young man to keep his footing, however.

“Where are… you going?” Asked Hotaru.

“To civilisation, I guess” Hito laughed “Do you want to come as well?”

“I guess…”

The two left the train car to re-join the rest, Hotaru decided to retreat to her room. Meanwhile, Willow was already on Hiro asking all sorts of questions. Her brother was nowhere to be found along with his fiancée.

Outside, The Call of the Wild continued to wait for its time to strike.