(09:30AM, Sunday, Stellar Academy Staff-Rooms (located at the Arbitration Chambers))
*knock* *knock*
Ryo let herself into the office of the 'Chief Instructor', intent on hearing the outcome of Beryl's morning discussion with the Vice Principal. Sundays were 'mandatory' rest days, but in a city run by pure capitalism, that meant that it was an 'optional' work day. Who was going to police hard work? The corporate focus on the bottom line emphasised grit and perseverance - that is, the daily grind - and the weakly enforced rule could not be an effective impediment. Workers who felt they were exploited could always take a lift down to level 2 and file a complaint at the Employment Claims Tribunal. They could hardly hope to win anyway. Legal representation was expensive, and in Iceberg City, there were no subsidies for those not able to foot the cost (subsidies to the benefit of the individual were a foreign concept in Iceberg City).
Beryl's dejected look told her what she needed to know, but she asked anyway.
"Did he accept the application?"
Beryl nursed the faint headache introduced by her morning hangover and said "The Student Handbook clearly states that he *has* to accept. Only... the chances of it actually succeeding is low. Negligible, even."
"Why so?" Ryo poked. Beryl seemed hesitant to reply, but Ryo puffed out her dimpled cheeks and pouted, whining cutely, "Come on... you *know* that I won't say a word. And don't be ungrateful! I lost sleep to help you with the application!"
"..."
"I'll even treat you to dinner for the next week!" Ryo insisted. From what Beryl knew of her, she was not prone to being a busybody; but on occasion she tended to display an uncommon curiosity. Beryl thought she would indulge her just this once, as thanks for being a pillar of support in a trying time.
Leaning back in her chair, Beryl sighed in defeat, "Ok, ok. Well, he told me some confidential information..."
Beryl fidgeted with her fingers, as if consciously attempting to stop herself from running her hand through her hair. Ryo stared expectantly at her, having already taken a seat on the plastic swivel chair set before Beryl's grand oak desk. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to share it with you. But - not a word to anyone. He's supposed to announce it on Tuesday at the Second Admissions Meeting and only shared this with me as part of the challenge process. It turns out that the R&R project has successfully completed multiple test runs."
"I see," Ryo replied, frowning slightly; curious exuberance suddenly gave way to a staid seriousness which could rival Beryl's usual severity.
"That's not all. They've *actually brought someone back*. They really did it. It's a human experiment on a thousand-year old corpse. And he's walking around ten levels below us."
"That's.... pretty amazing," Ryo managed. Beryl supposed Ryo was grappling with the enormity of the situation. The fact was that very few people actually knew about the R&R project (knowledge was confined to the members of the various Combines), and even fewer were privy to the technical details. Beryl herself only knew as much as she did by virtue of her position as Primarch and through her personal friendship with the Technical Head of the R&R project, Christopher Kariuki. While no one doubted the importance and enormity of the R&R project no one really expected it to become public knowledge. But, it seemed that under Peng's leadership, real progress had been made.
This was all the more amazing given that the idea behind the R&R project was more than a hundred years old. At its inception around the turn of the twenty-first century, it was thought that animal and human stem cells could be utilised to grow key organs and tissue to aid in the recovery of human subjects. Some of the fundamental discoveries regarding human embryonic stem cells were originally covered by patents owned by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (dating as far back as 1995), but on their expiration, many corporations joined the gold rush in medical technology.
Or rather, it would have been a gold rush if not for the sheer complexity and technical expertise required. For decades, commercialisation seemed a faraway dream, and corporate interest slowly waned from the 2070s onward.
By the late 2080s, most stem cell research laboratories had been acquired by the World Trade Association, which was able to monopolise the field partly because commercial interest was nearly nonexistent. As the company (which was originally started as a algorithmic trading hedge fund) evolved into a massive conglomerate, it expanded its business to many unrelated industries; its chosen investment in the medical industry was stem cell research - this investment project would come to be known as the R&R project.
By the early 2090s, the breathtakingly ambitious (and notorious risk-taker) Peng Do Cheon, who at the time was working as Deputy Advisor to the World Trade Association Board of Directors had put together a proposal for the medium-to-long term development of the stem cell technology: the goal was to be able to restore a human being to the prime of life, as long as at least 75% of the Hippocampus (the part of the brain which stores memories) and 80% of the prefrontal cortex remain in a well-preserved condition, among a long list of other detailed criteria regarding other parts of the anatomy.
However, over the past decade, no big update on the R&R project had been forthcoming. Rather, the amount of funding provided to the R&R project contrasted greatly with its noticeable absence on the yearly announcement on notable breakthroughs and innovations made by Principal Piccadilly.
Ryo rubbed her fingers together, seemingly deep in thought. "Ah... it's slightly chilly in here, isn't it?"
"It must be twenty degrees* in here, Ryo! You aren't very good with the cold, aren't you." Beryl commented as Ryo took out a pair of thin silk gloves.
"Yeah, it can't be helped." Ryo said, a solemn expression adorning her face. "Hey, I'm really sorry about the project... Look, if you need any help at all, I'm always free to talk. You needn't go at this alone. Really - anything at all. I mean, what are friends for?"
"I really appreciate that, Ryo." Indeed, Beryl had no one to share her troubles with. She had no other friends among her colleagues, she could not seek comfort with her husband or risk losing the edge in her relationship, and her old Stellar Academy friends were busy working continents or even planets away. All her old tutors had likewise been rotated out to take up positions at the various Stellar Academy research branches located all around the world, or had sought out more lucrative jobs at the extraterrestrial Mars Footprint**. She was isolated.
Although she trusted Ryo, however, she just could not bring herself to share about the crushing debt she was under pressure to service. It was easy to lose respect for someone irresponsible enough to accumulate almost 200 million ICD in debt*** to fund a project which had not yet been able to post a successful test case.
Ryo got up from her seat and made for the exit. As she reached out with her gloved hand , however, she glanced back, sheepishly "Hey... um... do you have eye-shadow and lipstick? I'm... uh... meeting my boyfriend later and I must've left it at home since I was rushing out..."
"Taking advantage of my goodwill are you...!" Beryl returned playfully, reaching for her handbag, "what do you need?"
Ryo came up beside Beryl and peeked into her handbag. "Hah! I'm just so forgetful these days. You aren't a forgetful person right?"
"Well, once in a while- What's that?"
*clink* *clink*
In Ryo's gloved hand dangled two steel keys. She was already laughing, "I'm not the only forgetful one here. I was going to prank you, but then I found out that I forgot my makeup; its an exchange, then!"
She must have left her keys in Ryo's car! Ah, if it were any other person, it could've been dicey. It seems that too much alcohol and depression surely does dull the senses. Ryo plopped the keys onto Beryl's desk and, in one deft motion, reached into Beryl's handbag to pick out her makeup pouch.
'Huh. Extra.'
****************************************************************************
(11:00AM, Sunday, Stellar Academy Dorms, Yarhaci's room)
A monotone voice filtered into the air from an unknown location.
Yarhaci was familiar with this, at least. It seemed to be a message relay system which both signaled specific timings (like breakfast at 0830hrs, lunch at 1200hrs, exercise at 1300hrs and dinner at 1730hrs) and special events. Today's announcement seemed to fall into the latter category. Having learnt English continuously for over a week, Yarhaci could just make-out the words, albeit not the entire meaning.
"*Beep* *Beep* ATTENTION all personnel: the New Hamburg's North Pole Town Authority is commencing the city relocation, in accordance with the published Move Schedule. Please take the appropriate precautions and find yourself an appropriate support. The move is scheduled to take 50 minutes; repeat: the move is scheduled to take 50 minutes.
ATTENTION all personnel: the Authority bears no responsibility for personal injury or other harms that may arise as a result of the city relocation. For more information, please visit WTA.nhnpt.pub or contact your company advisor. *Beep* *Beep*"
All at once, the earth seemed to open up in a deep whirring cacophony. Could this be a terrible augur for some coming catastrophe? Yarhaci could not stem a rising sense of panic as he raced to the tightly shut window and cast his eyes out across the same landscape of eternal darkness, smoke and hellish forge-fires - only, the forge-fires had lost their heavy glow. As though in response to the announcement (although, Yarhaci thought, how could any person out there hear it?), the fires steadily lost their strength and receded into a sullen orange-red, and then even further, until the light was barely perceptible. The cacophonous earthquake grew louder now; suddenly, great beams of white light shot out from all directions, originating from tall, sturdy poles placed at various parts of the city.
Yarhaci could make out the finer details of the tiny ant-like inhabitants rushing along the streets now, where before these figures were but phantoms half-illuminated by glowing English characters emblazoned on massive banners and the ever present forge-fires. 'As I thought, a colony of future-people. The scale of this city never ceases to amaze.'
More and more of the inhabitants flitted across the tiny streets and into the massive blocky accommodations carefully tessellated across the flat surface of the city. With the pole-lights switched on, Yarhaci could more accurately gauge the difference in height between the building he was in, and the other buildings around. He reckoned that he was a good four to five times higher than the tallest building he could see.
Suddenly, the whirring turned into clanking. The streets were empty now, not a soul in sight, where only seconds before people had been furiously scuttling about. The ground lurched angrily; was the building *swaying*? Yarhaci could have sworn that he saw various buildings moving from side to side, copious amounts of ice and snow falling off the rooftops and into the empty streets. Surely, an earthquake! Perhaps this is what the future-people termed a 'move'. But it was a testament to their ingenuity that not one building collapsed from the continuous swaying.
Seeing this, Yarhaci calmed. No doubt there was nothing to fear. Although the earthquake would last for a relatively long time (by Yarhaci's estimation), soon the clanking gave way once more to whirring; the great white lights dimmed and the orange forge-fires blazed anew once more, signaling a return to normalcy.
****************************************************************************
(01:00PM, the next day (Monday), Stellar Academy Dorms, Yarhaci's room)
A ringing bell called Yarhaci from his post-lunch nap (yes, he had become rather sedentary). This was the 1300hrs signal for his daily exercise. Sitting up in bed, Yarhaci stretched and yawned widely, awaiting those who would escort him to the recreational facility.
Like clockwork, the door hissed and slid open; to his surprise, however, his attendant Yuxi was accompanied by two other unfamiliar men. One wore a grey full-body suit with a polarised visor (the same suit the others used to wear in his first week), while the other was a muscular man wearing a long black trenchcoat and whose defined jaw sported an unkempt stubble. He was almost a full head taller than Yarhaci.
Yuxi entered first and acknowledged Yarhaci. "Hello."
"Greetings!" returned Yarhaci, using the new salutation he had learnt from Yuxi the night before. Then, he noticed the her solemn expression.
"Yarhaci, if I may introduce my companions."
"My superior, Christopher Kariuki," said Yuxi, gesturing to the suited man.
"Investigator Yuuichi Kitamura, from GadoSentry," this was the unshaven man. The fact that his musculature could be distinguished beneath what must have been the thick fibers of his black coat was a testament to his physique. This was the first time since his awakening that Yarhaci felt physically intimidated.
"Investigator, you may start; but please don't take too long," the suited man said. Yarhaci thought that his tone was almost abrasive.
Without deigning to acknowledge 'Christopher Kariuki', the Investigator stepped forward. Yuxi had to scuttle away quickly or risk being shouldered aside brusquely.
"Investigator Yuuichi Kitamura. I have been authorised by the NHNPT Authority to question you on the circumstances surrounding the murder of Peng Do Cheon, an employee of Stellar Academy."