Beyond the horizon, dazzling rain escorted the moonlight that hid behind the wall of skyscrapers, illuminating the shimmering haze of pollution. Back in the labyrinth of noisy streets, Nion was on her way to the overground hub that would take her to the Southern gate. Millions of lights made the dense mass of skyscrapers glitter. Despite the late after-hours, the city never came to a halt.
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With barely any space to move or breathe, Nion slowly proceeded towards the gates, trying to avoid being crushed by the slowly advancing mass. Passing through the gates, she made it just in time to sneak into the busy elevator that would take her to the top of the platform, located a hundred meters above the ground. The wide transparent glass offered an incredible view of the city.
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Slowly rising above the ground, Nion could hear police sirens far away in the distance; because of the strong wind, caramel leaves coming from the green space nearby tumbled to life through briskly cold autumnal notes that roused them from slumber. Leaves took to the air in an elegant dance, pirouetting around the tree trunks to their own orchestral rustling. Clouds drifted with icy, unnatural slowness, making it hard to distinguish the pollution fog from the grey clouds. It felt as if both were merged together for this very moment, edges glowing and white as marble against the slowly darkening sky, blocking the dawn view.
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After a couple of minutes of waiting in the queue at the top of the platform, she could, at last, get into the train. Packed to the very last corner, yet lifeless; the mechanical vehicle carried hundreds of passengers, yet not a single voice or sound could be heard except for the station announcement and commercials about the new augmentations and other cosmetics; the mass of people was tied shoulder to shoulder, glued to their mobile devices.
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The train had a direct route to its destination; despite the fact that the train moved at more than 300 km per hour, everything inside the car moved slowly and quietly. Due to the many cases of sexual harassment that had occurred in the past, all men with a social score equal or beyond minimal were not allowed to lower their arms below their shoulders. Sometimes, when they were too far from something to grab onto, they had no other choice other than to spend dozens of minutes, perhaps hours, with their hands above their head; sometimes, the whole scene looked like a detention center.
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Nion leaned against the transparent window, reviewing articles about parenting, searching for clues of how to begin the conversation, and explain everything that happened to the child who had lost everything. Lost in the rhythmic percussion of the train vibration, her eyes occasionally glanced towards the horizon, face aglow with the bright yellow rays coming from the billboard displays that occasionally blinded her sight. The bright beams reminded Nion of her first encounter with Seànn, which made her lips bear the semblance of a smile.
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Arriving at the final stop, as soon as the doors opened, the passengers emptied out like water from a broken jar. Within an instant, both the train and the station were completely soulless. An old man, dressed in a blue uniform with bright yellow stripes over his chest and shoulders slowly advanced from one end of the train to another, occasionally waking up those who stayed asleep and calling the other passengers to leave the train.
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[Southern Gate train station - 9:15 PM]
En route for the next transit for Némless, Nion's next stop was located fifteen minutes walking outside the Southern Gate station. Positioned around a green field of wet grass that reflected the lights coming from the barely illuminated lamps which were attached on the grey trainshed, it looked like this area was abandoned or simply untouched for dozens of years.
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Night had fallen fast upon the isolated area of the Southern gate station. No more than a couple of hours ago the sky was painted with hues of red and marble orange, but all color had faded, leaving only a matt black canvas with no stars to be looked upon. A fresh lavender fragrance drifted out to meet the fresh air.
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Quiet chills ran over Nion's body every time the cold wind blew towards the station. With nowhere to take cover, her recently burned hair fell loose around her face, tousled and tangled. She stood at the edge of the platform, her hand outstretched to feel the movement of air being pushed along by the oncoming train, waiting for its red lights to take her away.
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"Mitera?" Nion called.
"Yes, how can I help you?" Mitera replied.
"Call Aleksithimia for me please," Nion ordered.
"Connecting the call..."
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Dozen seconds later he picked up the call. "Yes?"
"Can I talk to you?" Nion asked.
"I am in the middle of a conference right now, can you call me back later? " he asked.
"No, it has to be now," she insisted.
"Okay... Hold on a second." He moved away from the noise.
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Once in a quiet space, he resumed the call. "You are still mad about last time?" he asked.
"Its not about that..." she replied.
"What can I do for you then?" He asked.
"It's just..." Nion paused.
"It's just, what?" He repeated.
"It'sactually harder to say than I thought..." she stammered.
"Okay..." He waited.
"Argh!" She shook her head. "I decided to leave the city," she spat.
"Huh?! Why?!" he demanded.
"Please don't get mad and just listen to me," she begged.
"I am not mad, I am simply asking for explanations! There must be a reason for that, I want to know what it is!" He demanded more persuasively.
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"For as long as I can remember you were like a big brother to me. You always took care of me as if I was part of your family. You were there for me when I needed you, and I am really, really grateful for that," she said.
He laughed. "That's not like you, being cute like that! Did you get yourself in trouble?" He paused. "You know I can sort it out, right?"
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Nion took a deep breath and continued. "I know, but this time it is different."
"How, different? Just tell me what is going on already, I don't have the whole night for this," he insisted.
"I've been living behind these walls for as long as I can remember. To be honest, sometimes it just feels wrong that I can casually talk with one of four the most powerful people in the world, but put this privilege aside; lately, I came to realize that, I represent absolutely nothing on my own. At the end of the day I am still a nobody," she explained.
"I am sorry, but I cannot accept that as a valid reason for you to leave. You know what, you should come to the HQ, let's talk about it, okay?" Aleksithimia suggested.
"You are missing the point... I am not asking for your permission, I want you to understand my feelings, just for once..." She sighed. "Up until now, all I did was to follow your or Mitera's orders, word by word, without any second thoughts; I did that because I thought that was the right way... This year I turned 20 years old and never before have I felt so ignorant about the rest of the world, about myself...." She was interrupted.
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Aleksithimia changed his tone. "Nion, tell me what happened!"
"Lots of things happened. Tons of new and strange things happened to me in the past three weeks, most parts of which I still don't understand," she exhaled. "I've done some horrible things that I will surely regret my whole life. These things still haunt me every time I close my eyes. Sometimes I ask myself if I am not losing my mind because it is too real, unbelievably too real to ignore as I continually did up until now... " she paused.
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"I understand that something... bad happened to you, if you don't want to talk about that, it's okay. I just want you to know that, whatever you do, I will be there to help because I want you to rely on me. It has nothing to do with me being one of four emperors, but about the trust between you and me, you understand? We had disagreements in the past, and there will be more to come, but it does not mean that I love you any less," he reassured.
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"Perfect!" Nion exclaimed. Then, if you love me that much, why is my whole existence surrounded by secrets and lies?"
"What are you talking about? What lies?!" he asked.
"You know exactly what I am talking about!" she rebuked.
"You really need to make an effort and develop your sentences, I am an emperor, not a magician, I cannot read your mind Nion," he argued.
"Oh yes, I can do that! Let's start with this: why have you never told me the truth about my parents? You said it yourself that you knew them before their death. Also, I want to know what really happened to them because I am fed up with your meaningless excuses. The same excuses you always made whenever I asked you about my past!"
"Again?!" he hissed. "How many times have I explained to you - three of you had a car accident, both of them died, the only survivor was you, Nion. Because of the heavy impact, you lost most of your memory, that's why you only remember small or insignificant parts of it. With my technology, I could recollect some parts, but not all; I wish I could do better..." he tried to sound persuasive.
"Why? Why won't you tell me the truth?! You keep repeating the same story over and over, stop treating me like a child, I know it is not true! If they really died in an accident, then please, explain to me why there were no traces of that accident whatsoever, no proof, no images, no address, they aren't even recorded in the morgue records... In other words, there is absolutely no information about them and their existence, there is not even a picture of their faces... Whoever did it, made sure to erase their whole existence, and you know what?! Its funny... Because I got another name whose identity is also impossible to find... Noah Von Sixth, does that ring any bells to you? Because apparently, he has something to do with the disappearance of my parents!"
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"How do you know that name?!" he whispered nervously.
"So I was right about you... You are not telling me everything, are you? Yet, you want me to trust you... Family huh?!" she complained.
"Enough of this futile, chit chat! Who gave you that name?" he asked, irritated.
"I don't think it matters at this point; the situation is pretty clear to me now. You want me to trust you, but at the same time you refuse to be honest with me..." she replied calmly.
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A dozen seconds of silence passed. He calmed down and changed his voice to a milder tone. "After the death of your parents, I swore to myself that I would protect you. That I would become the most powerful and rich man in the world, so I would be able to provide you with everything you want."
"And then assign me to kill innocent people?" she asked.
"There was an important reason behind that and I planned to reveal it when the right time would come. The truth you are seeking is not what you think it is; so please, for your own sake - renounce your decision!" Akeksithimia insisted.
"No Aleksithimia..." she mumbled. "No... It's not for my sake, someone else's, but not me..." she replied distantly as if the distance between them was growing larger each second.
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A feminine voice announced the imminent arrival of the train which was headed to Némless. The raucous, metallic shriek heralded the arrival of the decrepit train.
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"I have to go," Nion said.
"Nion, please stay, let's talk okay?" he begged. " We will sort it out, as we usually do. I give up! I will explain everything you want to know, just stay, don't go, your place is here, with me. If you leave... I won't be able to protect you anymore..."
"No," She sighed for the last time. "I am tired, really, really tired of all this..." She took off her hood and removed her Kanjoga device from her neck. "Goodbye Aleksithimia... Please, don't look for me." She threw the device off the platform, effectively disconnecting the call. "Thank you for everything," she looked at the city of light that glowed far on the horizon. Once all passengers were on board, the train took a plunge, inching forward at an excruciating pace leaving the grey city behind, on its way to Némless...
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[Same evening - Somewhere in the Metro area of the Grey City]
"Should be here." Samuel stood up in front of the large double door that led inside a nightclub that looked as if it had been abandoned for centuries. After an obsolete knock, he forced the door wide open. The smell of moisture and dust poured right into his face. "Damn it!" He cleaned his face with an old napkin. "Could he not find a better place...?"
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Inside the club, everything looked untouched. Some jackets still hanged in the cloakroom, the bar counter was full of unwashed glasses and even the main stage had most of its DJ equipment standing in place as if there had been a party the previous night. "Man, its been a while since I've been to one of these places!" The scent of dry-ice smoke swirled in the middle of the dance floor. "DROP THE BASS! -Piu piu piu, pam, pam, BOOM!" He imitated different instruments. "HELL YEAH!" He screamed happily in the middle of the empty space. "Good memories!" He sighed. "Anyway... Where is that VIP room…"
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The stairs that led to the VIP area were twisted in a perfect spiral like a child's Slinky toy pulled from each side. Each stair bore a thick layer of almost undisturbed dust mixed with marks of spilled drinks and occasional broken glass. "Footprints here, footprints there," he sang, "I guess, I am on the right path." As he made his way to the top floor, he could hear someone speaking.
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"Yo!" He entered a big, handsome room, designed in an avant-garde style with beautiful, reddish, faded tapestry panels all over the walls. In the middle of the room, there was a large old-fashioned canapé with two leather armchairs on each side.
A young, approximatively 20-year-old dark-haired girl tapped her nails furiously against the armchair. Apart from the irritated expression, her face looked like the edge of a half-moon covered by dark clouds. Her green eyes were set on the late arrival. "Geezer, you are late!" she spat.
The other young man who had been lying on the canapé silently waved his hand in a gesture of greeting, then continued reading his book.
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Samuel removed his jacket and put it on the table in front of the canapé. "Sorry it took me so long," he apologized to the person who lay in front of him. "I had some... Business to deal with."
The girl complained, regardless of Samuel's apology. "How about you take other people's time into consideration, would you? It's been two hours!"
"As if you had something else to do with your life!" grinned the third person sitting on the other side of the room, as he played with his long, dark, silky hair.
"Fuck! What a pain in the ass... Stuck with a bunch of losers," she desperately exhaled. "Of course you are not one of them," she murmured to the man who lay on the canapé.
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"Romelo, that's enough." The silver-headed man ordered as he moved the book away from his face and switched to a sitting position, stretching his body. His beautiful silver hair lied long and loose, obscuring his face, yet allowing glimpses of his glowing bluish-red eyes.
Romelo had immediately stopped bragging. "Yes, boss." She calmly obeyed.
"Everything ready?" He asked Samuel as he slowly stood up from the canapé and walked towards him. "Shiraz, Romelo, you know what to do." He gently shook the third person's shoulder as he passed behind his armchair.
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"I grew tired of waiting," Shiraz exclaimed, then stood up from the armchair and headed towards the exit.
"Oi Shiraz, where the hell are you going? We got work to do!" Romelo called him but to no avail. "Tsk! That asshole, only does whatever he wants! For fuck's sake, why do I have to deal with senseless motherfuckers like him... Seriously!" Romelo bragged as she went after him. "I really hope you die and never come back! Fuck!" Outside the front door, she finally caught up to him. "Hey! What the hell man?! Where are you going?"
Shiraz stopped, then looked at his caller. The large yellow crest on his chest bloomed under the flickering lights of the underground city. In silence, he slowly raised a large hood over his head, making his face unrecognizable.
"I am going to bully someone..." he grinned maliciously.