"It is said, in the before times this tape was made for the heaviest duties. It could hold a train!" Uncle Daisuke smile at the dumbfounded girl. Runa looks at the silver cylinder with doubt. "It still works, and I don't ask a coin for this."
"Because nobody wants to buy them." One of Daisuke's sons blurts, but in the next moment he is taught to behave by his father's slap.
"Thank you, uncle Daisuke." The girl manages to smile at him.
Runa and the boys are spending funny time together while they are taping the goods to the cart. Vertically, and horizontally, and all over. Until the package starts to resemble a big silver turtle without legs, tilted strongly to the left. Not a square millimeter of the wrapping paper has seen.
"It seems like the newest masterpiece of the competition!" Daisuke says when he has seen the outcome, and get off his spectacles to wipe his tears from the laughter. His sons follows his example, they are all laughing on their masterpiece.
"It would be easier, than getting them together in the traditional way." Runa also burst out in laughter.
Since the sun is setting down, she waves goodbye to Daisuke and his sons, and leaves with the cart. She doesn't look back, so she has missed the old man's anxious gaze, which has followed her, until she has disappeared on the corner.
She isn't in a good mood, despite the previous laughter. She hardly noticed the crowd while crossing the Wreck Quarter, and later she wouldn't remember, how to reach Shibuya Cross park. The mentioning of her family hurt more, than she has let the others see. Runa has always miss them, and her friends couldn't fill the gap they left in her heart. Their absence hurt more, when she has reached the park, and has noticed the happy families, as they are teaching their kids, the fourth generation, to cycling, or building castles in the sandpits. She just wants to be with them, but they are officially vanished two years ago, outside the walls.
Runa blames the before times' people for her loss. If they would have been more clever, or they could have manage their hatreds, the chimeras wouldn't have been born. She has never blamed the chimeras, she knew, that those unfortunate people are just victims of a strange chemical, the before times people used to kill their enemies. Nobody knows, who invented the dangerous chemical, and nobody remembers who was the first one poisoning the world with that. Not too many people survived the burning, and the survivors had better things to do, than searching for responsibility, or document the happenings. Their hand were full of work, and they had to deal with the consequences of the burnings and the chemical.
One of the consequences was the appearance of the chimeras. The biggest problem. The chemical attacked the human DNA, but not destroyed a single gene. Just made some sequences stronger, in various places, which made the chemical-sensitive people to gain animal characteristics. Some of them were lucky, and the transformation was limited to the appearance: they had fur, or feather, or squama here or there, or sometimes covered their full body. But most of them were not so lucky: they transformed into animals inside and outside, like the werewolves in the tales of the before times. Those ones were wild, violent, and harmed the remaining survivors, so the uninjured people built walls around the remaining towns, and cast off the chimeras.
It was a cruel thing to do, but it was necessary for the survival of the uninjured people. Although it seems, they left the chimeras to their fate, but in reality they started to find the antidote of the chemical as soon as they were able to stabilize the community. It was also hard. The agricultural works were hard, or sometimes hopeless on the poisoned fields, they had hardly enough to feed the survivors. The water was also polluted, and the survivors were in need of electricity, so the before times' computers were not worked. They had to use the remaining paper-based documents, but this time without help, which made the work slower. They worked a lot, beside the research everything had to be built from scratch, and the leftover materials of the before times' society became very important. Slowly, but surely the community started growing constantly, the life returned to somewhat normal among the walls. Only making the antidote was over their capacities. Those ones, who worked on the antidote had been received great recognition from the society, but that was all. They all had to participate in the restoring work too, it was also important. So, it is no wonder, that nobody was able to found a cure for the chimeras for a long time.
Runa's parents were one of these people, who dedicated their life for finding the cure for the chimera disease. They had second-hand memories of the people, turned to chimeras from their parents, but Runa and her friends belong to the third generation of the survival mankind, and they have only heard about the short history of the community in their early childhood from the few old people, who was present at that times. Even the rich Harper, and her cousin, Kitchener don't have a single grandparent alive. Hard times kill the survivors, the enormous amount of work has eaten their bodies faster, than in the before times. The medical treatments were still far from the needs, and the young inventions (or reinventions, who knows for sure, they haven't been invented in the before times) were not able help them to live longer. None of the first generation's members lived more than 70 years. Although none of them wanted to betray the chimeras: they were friends, family, and acquaintances in the before times. So the first generation ( before they left the world) asked the second one to continue the research for the antidote, and help on the chimeras.
Runa's parents always said, that family is important, so they learned to become chimera-researchers. They had children, and they loved them, but most of their time was spent in the laboratory. Runa was twelve years old, when her grandfather died, and this sad experience inspired her parents to travel to the world beyond the walls. It was not unusual. A lot of agents had already been out there, to inform the society among the walls about the chimeras. They tested the antidotes on the peaceful chimeras, which were invented, and followed the movements of the wild chimeras. Their appearance were altered by surgery, to look like one of them. Runa's parents and her sister undertook the mission with all the inconveniences, so the society provided a lot of wealth for the remaining family. Runa didn't have to pay for her tuition, her place in the dorm, and for the food. These things alone made her rich. But in some way, she became the poorest.
There are certain ways to communicate with the outer world. There are channels, which are used for delivering letters. Both official, and personal letters. Runa received letters from her parents regularly, and she loved them, despite their poor contents. Her parents didn't let her know where they were, what they were doing, just informed her, that they were all right, she was loved by them, and they hoped she was also all right. These letters were the evidence that her parents and her sister were alive. But the letters suddenly stopped two years ago and her family was declared missing. Nobody said, that they were died.
Runa knows that her family is only alive in her mind, and she will never give up the hope that someday her parents and her sister come back with in glory, that they have cured the chimeras. She is walking by the building, which works as a post office. The only one, that allows them to communicate with the world behind the walls. She hasn't got any letters for a while, but her heart is unable to give up hope. She docks her cart, and steps into the building. It doesn't last for a long time to find her locker, pulling out the small key on her necklace, and open the locker. It is turned out to be empty. Runa rests her head against the locker, and let out a teardrop. Of course. It has to be empty.
She pulls herself together, locks the door, and leaves the building. She hasn't noticed a man, whose gaze followed her every movement, and hasn't been aware, that her actions will be reported, and a certain someone will decide about her fate.
She just undocks her cart, and continue the way back to her friends. They are waiting for the missing parts for finishing their invention masterpiece for the National Invention Competition. Her friends. Her new family. Runa's heart is suddenly captured by longing to be with them. While they are still with her. While they still could be together.
Because the tomorrow is not promised to anyone.
So Runa raises her head, clears her teary eyes, forces a smile on her face, and get in speed to reach her home as soon as possible.