-Seafront-
It was another peaceful day in Seafront, ships departed with their crews, ready to trade in distant lands, and fishing boats sailed close to the coast, catching dozens of fish to sell in the markets.
Men, women, and children went about their routines on this sunny day, whether caring for their families or working on their businesses. There were those, of course, who preferred to have fun and a good drink.
If you looked for something of quality, you should go to a pub known as Sea Breeze, located in a two-story wood and stone building.
It was a respectable establishment despite being your typical pub, as was its owner, Heinrich, a young well-regarded man approaching his thirties. He had tanned skin, short black hair, brown eyes, and wore simple fabric clothes with a white apron over it, not standing out of the crowd.
Heinrich cleaned a mug while watching people drinking and talking around the pub, either near the counter or at spread tables.
He smiled at this sight, for it didn't matter how many centuries had passed; this old android would always be happy to see how similar the Replicants were to humans; after all, his job is to watch them, he couldn't help but get attached as time passed.
Unfortunately, an explosion interrupted his happy moment.
BOOM!
A deafening noise followed by a shock wave shook the pub, shattering every glass within reach.
Several customers screamed as they fell, grabbing their ears due to the noise, shortly afterward, a large wave invaded the place through the windows and doors. Fortunately, it wasn't strong enough to collapse the building, so it soon receded into the sea, leaving everyone scared and soaked.
Heinrich froze due to shock and surprise, his programming kicked in and he rushed to help the injured, pulling them to their feet while secretly scanning them for injuries. To his relief, there was no serious or permanent damage, just racing hearts and pained ears.
"What the hell was that?!" One of the customers shouted.
"What did you say?!" Another spoke, picking his ear, trying to remove the annoying ringing.
"Attention everyone; I know you're scared, but you can't stay here! This is not a safe place, you better return to your homes and stay away from the coast for a while!" Heinrich shouted, trying to control the situation.
As if a switch had turned, everyone left hastily with thanks and goodbyes, either to avoid another explosion or to verify if their loved ones were fine.
With the pub empty Heinrich went outside and looked around, worrying at what he saw, scared people running and screaming, some on the ground holding their ears, while violent waves hit the harbor repeatedly as smoke came from a point far in the ocean.
He swallowed hard as his eyes widened, knowing well what stood in that location, the flaming metal pieces that fell on the city also served as confirmation.
Quickly returning inside, he placed a closed sign on the establishment's door and ran behind the counter, pressing a hidden button. With a several clicks, the shelves behind the counter slid aside, revealing a gray metallic door that slid upwards.
Heinrich walked through the door that closed behind him, the shelves returning to their original state, and entered a small white and gray room. There wasn't much inside, a tool set and spare parts, files cabinets, and an extremely advanced computer attached to the wall.
He approached the computer while sweating nervously, looking around constantly while fixing his hair and muttering to himself.
"Congratulations, Heinrich! You had one job, one job, and you failed at it! The supervisors will turn you into scrap!"
Pressing a button, a holographic screen appeared, revealing a blue rectangle with a line through its center.
"Yes?" A female voice spoke, making the line ripple.
"This is monitoring android 45TZ97A42R1, responsible for the Seafront region." Heinrich spoke nervously. A few seconds passed until the voice answered.
"Oh, Henry! What is the reason for this call? There is still time for your monthly report."
"HEHEHE... Well... Something unexpected happened... I have an extremely important report to give."
"Say it"
"Well..." Heinrich looked away from the holographic screen as if whoever stood on the other side stared at him seriously.
-Hyde's House-
You know; after seeing Zon behavior in the Neptune's fight, I imagined that all that anger was due to his time trapped underwater.
"You stupid book, you can't go outside!" Hyde shouted.
"Leave my sight, you dumb brat! I wasn't stuck with that tin can for ages for a kid like you to order me around!" Zon shouted back.
But I was wrong, as the scene was peculiar, to say the least. Zon wanted to enjoy his freedom, but Hyde prevented him from leaving the house.
The reason for that? Magical, flying, talking books weren't common. He wandering around would attract attention, especially from people who don't age, and consequently, the supervisors, and we don't want that.
Hyde stood with his back against the door and with open arms, looking at the book with a mixture of anger and fear, but he remained determined. Zon, on the other hand, released a series of furious insults that would cause serious repercussions if said out loud in the past society.
I guess he was always like that, at least his personality matches his mask on his cover, but I'm surprised he didn't blow up Hyde with a magic shot.
I think that despite all his anger, Zon isn't a murderer, he must have a little bit of kindness deep down. Honestly, I understand his desire to be free, but I can't allow him to run around. We have work to do, and need him for that.
Hyde and Zon were about to unleash another string of insults, but I slammed the frying pan on the stove before they could do so, making a loud crack echo through the house, catching their attention.
"Dinner is ready!"
Hyde sighed relieved, his stomach growling probably due to our recent adventure.
"Finally, I was tired of arguing with this stupid book." He sat at the kitchen table.
"I have no idea what you said, but see you next time, sucker!" Zon quickly flew toward the front door, but I stretched my arm, crossing the kitchen and the living room, grabbing him and pulling him back.
"Not until we talk about what's happening."
"Take your hands off me!" Zon struggled, trying to escape my grip.
"So, what will we have for dinner?" Hyde asked.
"Fish and chips."
"I've never had this dish before."
"It's a British recipe."
"And what a British?"
"I don't remember, I just know that they almost conquered the world and had a museum full of stolen things." I placed a food plate in front of him and loosened my grip, letting Zon escape.
"You can understand what this thing is saying?"
"Yes, and he's not a thing, he's a Sha... GESTALT! His name is Jekyll." Hyde took a forkful of food.
"If what you say is true, then why won't he let me go? More importantly, how did you know the facility's location and that I was trapped there? Why did you release me?" Zon asked question after question.
"If you calm down, we can explain what's happening." I sat at the table while watching the outside through the window.
Strange, according to my calculations, it should have been nine o'clock pm, but the sun still shone in the sky. It seems Earth stopped rotating on its axis, dividing the world into permanent days and nights, one side should be freezing and the other on fire, but it didn't.
When did that happened?
"So, will you stare at me or will you tell me what the boogeyman here said?" Zon asked Hyde, floating beside the table.
Boogeyman? Well, I guess I look like a fairy tale monster that parents tell their naughty children. That aside, Hyde quickly explained to Zon what I just said.
"Hump! Since you released me from that accursed place, you have my gratitude and I'm willing to hear what you have to say. Better not get used to it, because I, the great Grimoire Zon, don't like wasting time on nonsense!" The book spoke arrogantly.
"You better sit down, this is going to be a long story."
Zon turned to Hyde, who sighed irritably, stopping eating and translating what I said.
He! I think we'll be here for a while.
-Pub-
"Is this serious?" The female voice demanded, making the android flinch at the stern tone.
"Y-yes." Heinrich responded nervously, looking at the ground.
"You only had one job, Heinrich! Monitor Replicants in the region and the Installation! How did you allow this to happen?"
"P-please understand! There was no way of knowing if someone had breached the facility! I would have received an alert on my computer, but that didn't happen!"
"If the facility wasn't breached, then how it was destroyed?"
"W-well, there are several possibilities. As you know, we don't have enough manpower and resources to properly maintain the facilities, and even if we did, the sudden flow of unknown people and materials into inhabited regions would raise suspicion…"
"Get to the point, Heinrich."
"...What I'm trying to say is that the facility may have collapsed due to lack of maintenance, after all, the AIs have their limits, a natural disaster like an earthquake shaking the structure, but that was not the case, the specimen escaping and N.E.P.T.U.N.E. triggering self-destruction in a last-ditch attempt to prevent it from surfacing."
"Wouldn't you receive a warning from N.E.P.T.U.N.E. if something like that occurred?"
"I believe so, but as I said before, that didn't happen, which removes several possibilities, leaving just one, I think."
"And what it would be?"
"Someone with authorization, other than me, entered the facility and caused this whole disaster."
The voice went silent, worrying Heinrich even more about his superiors' response.
"Are you sure about that?"
"Almost, although it is likely. However, we cannot ignore the other possibilities."
"We will send a team to help with debris collection and city repairs, we also need a cover story on what happened. You will assist in Seafront's efforts, meanwhile, we will investigate the facility's remains, perhaps we will recover some clarifying data."
"Y-yes ma'am!"
The holographic screen disappeared, leaving Heinrich alone, who sighed loudly and heavily in relief.
"Well, Heinrich, you got away with it. It could have been worse. Now let's focus on minimizing the damage from the mess you let happen." He left his secret room and returned to his pub.
-Hyde's House-
"And that's our story so far." I finished translating what the Gestalt told me. The book went silent, its gaze alternated between Jekyll and me.
"Is this serious? Boy, if what you told me is true, then that friend of yours is a real monster. The giant snot that inhabits your body doesn't seem to remember its past, so I'll refresh its memory a little, Jekyll is likely a Hamelin Organization's scientist, a group of powerful and cruel individuals, monsters in human skin. You can't even imagine the experiments they did on me and other people." Zon said angrily.
I recoiled surprised at this information, and stared at Jekyll from the corner of my eyes. He seemed to notice, as he looked away toward the wall.
"Oh, looks like its memory isn't that bad! Tell me, do you remember all the children taken from their families? Do you remember all the war orphans taken by the organization? Of all the experiments you did? From our hellish training only to fight the war our fathers died in?" Zon asked question after question, closing toward Jekyll, who shrank in his chair, almost leaving his physical form.
"Jekyll, is that true?"
"I don't remember everything, but from what little memory remains, I feel that it is true." Jekyll responded in a low sad tone.
"I didn't understand anything you said, but who knew? It seems that time changes a person! You seem to regret what you did, unfortunately, for you, my prison time also changed me! Let's just say I'm less merciful than I was before!" Zon threatened, opening his pages and accumulating magic.
My eyes widened, I quickly grabbed Beastbain and pointed it at Zon.
"What are you doing?! Stop right now!"
"And why should I? I found one of the people who turned my life into a living hell! Why should I stop now that I can kill one of them off?"
"That's not how you solve things!"
"PPSSHH! Seriously? Will you give me this superhero talk? Wake up, boy! Life isn't fair! It wasn't fair to me and neither to you, since you're stuck with this thing! You should thank me since you will be free once I finish this monster!"
"No! I will die too if you do that!"
"Explain!"
"Jekyll saved my life the day we met! I would have died alone in an alley if it was not for him, but we will both die if we get separated, although, my death will be quicker than his."
"GGGRRR! It seems that time hasn't changed you that much! You worms from the Hamelin Organization are a bunch of parasites! Congratulations; the boy saved your life, because unlike you, I prefer not to be responsible for a child's death." Zon dispelled his magic and closed his pages.
I realized that Jekyll wasn't well. Despite being faceless, he carried himself with sadness and regret, remaining silent with both hands clasped on the table, staring into nothing.
"Listen, I know that Jekyll is probably one of the people who wronged you, and that you have no reason to help us, but still, we need your help, the lives of hundreds, if not thousands are at stake. Jekyll may have been a bad person, but despite everything you've said, he's trying to save people. It's like you said; time changes a person."
"No, I refuse! If I can't kill this bastard without killing you, then be it! But I refuse work with him on his plans! You should do the same! Who knows what he will experiment on you?"
I didn't know how to answer, since I had no arguments to convince him. The book stared at us, waiting for a response, but slowly floated toward the front door when we did not react.
"Hyde?" Jekyll spoke lowly.
"Yes?"
"Translate what I will say, please."
"Zon, wait!" I stopped the book midway through its exit.
"What was it?"
"Jekyll would like to tell you something. Listen, please."
"Humph! I hope this is good." He grumbled, returning to us. So I translated what Jekyll said.
"I don't have the right to ask for your help, not after everything done to you, but please, listen to what I will say! Humanity faced extinction, we were desperate, and didn't do the experiments out of cruelty, but out of necessity. I can't imagine the pain we caused, but despite all our efforts, the fight is not over yet. Humanity still faces extinction, even after all the suffering, even after all the war. The legion fell to the efforts of people like you, Zon. But the disease still spread, so the project... project... Project Gestalt! That's it! This is the name! We created the Project as a solution to escape the disease, but something happened and the project wasn't finished. The humanity you see is incomplete and we need your help to stop more deaths from occurring. If we do nothing, humanity will end forever. I'm not asking you to do this for me, but for humanity. I know it's too much to ask, but please fight for humanity once again, just like you did in the past. Help us save lives, Zon."
"Even after so long, it's still not over?" Zon asked and Jekyll nodded. The book hovered for a few seconds, before thrashing in all directions, releasing several angry grumbles and insults.
"Bastard! Son of a... After all this time, after so many wars, this shit isn't over yet! I will rip his head off if I ever find the fucker responsible for bringing that giant and dragon to our world! Until then, it looks like I'll have to do what I do best! Rejoice, boy, for the great Grimoire Zon choose to assist you in your endeavor, for now!"
A smile crossed my face after hearing that. Simultaneously, Jekyll sighed relieved.
"Thank you very much! My words may seem empty, but if they are of some use, I'm sorry! I'm sorry for all the pain we caused!" Jekyll bowed to Zon while I translated his words.
"Hm... Prove what you say is true with actions, then I will decide whether your words are empty or not. But that doesn't matter now, my time trapped left me ignorant to the current world, so I need an explanation."
"Well, I hope you're ready for a long history lesson." Jekyll spoke and I translated.
-XXXXXX-
Well, I guess that's it, we convinced Zon to help us after the long talk we had last night, despite all his complaints about working with Jekyll.
"Just so you know, I don't like it at all." The book muttered inside my bag.
"How many times do I have to say it? Flying talking books aren't normal!" I slung the bag over my shoulder.
"Humph! You only say that because people don't know how great I am! They will pray for my presence once they know my power!"
"Of course… Of course… Just keep it quiet, okay?" I replied, tired of hearing his boasts, luckily, the bag muffled his voice.
Closing the door behind me, I walked through the streets, surveying the damage done to the city, broken glass and metal pieces scattered across the ground and roofs. Fortunately, nobody died, but people discussed what happened.
"But what was that?"
"I'm telling you, the SHADES were to blame!"
"A piece of metal fell through my roof and crushed my table!"
"Don't you think it's weird how many strangers showed up?"
The last comment caught my attention. Strangers?
I had my answer when I reached the harbor's main street, where several weird and unknown people walked, all young-looking and overdressed for a normal Seafront's denizen.
They helped with house repairs and debris removal while one of them stood on a crate, making some sort of announcement with a crown around him.
"Hello everybody! Can I have your attention please? Yes? Excellent! I know that you all must be scared and worried about what happened, that's why we are here! You don't need to panic, as yesterday's explosion was nothing more than an accident with a new type of vessel called steamship! One of the its boilers exploded, and the metal pieces scattered around the city are its remains! As representatives of the Neworld Shipyard, we are here to cover the damage caused and..."
"It's just a load of bullshit, isn't it Jekyll?" I asked the Gestalt.
"You can bet! We know what happened and these people must know too. Steam technology is still a few centuries away, yet he speaks of something that hasn't been invented yet. And more, don't you think their response was too quick? It hasn't even been twenty-four hours since we escaped the facility."
"I agree. Are these the people who don't age? Those who are hidden but always watching?"
"For sure. Their vigilance will increase after what we did. Seafront is no longer safe."
"Well, I'm not attached to this city and had plans to leave anyway. But where will we go?"
"I know of a village near Seafront, it's a day's journey away. A small and peaceful area, surrounded by green plains and humble houses. No one would suspect that a SHADE and a magic book live there."
"Not bad considering what we will do. Very well Jekyll, lead the way."
"With pleasure, Hyde! Let's pack our bags!"
"You've gone crazy, boy! You're talking to yourself in the middle of the street!" Zon shouted.
"SSSHHH! I'm talking to Jekyll!"
"Oh, that thing talks in your head? I'm glad I'm not you! HAHAHA!"
"Listen here you..."
"Hyde, let's go! We're getting too much attention!"
Looking around, I noticed that the person on top of the crate and the crowd stared at me in confusion and amusement.
"Sir, are you all right?" The man on top of the crate asked, smiling politely, but his gaze bothered me, as if he analyzed me.
"Y-yes... Yes sir! I'm just a little nervous about what happened and everything." I readjusted my posture while stepping back.
"Are you sure? I can walk you home if you are not feeling well."
"Thanks, but that won't be necessary, I'm leaving now." I quickly turned around and walked away, but felt that guy's eyes on my back.
"You better walk faster, Hyde, he is staring at you."
"And how do you know that?"
"Three hundred and sixty-degree vision, remember?"
"Oh! Right!"
I took a different route to my house, entering several streets and alleys I'd never walked before. Luckily, we weren't followed, according to Jekyll.
So, I grabbed all my valuables without wasting time, which were not much, and Jekyll absorbed our treasure into his body.
Closing the door and looking one last time at my home, I said goodbye to the city where I spent most of my life, the place where I had all my memories, good and bad, mostly bad.
I felt a wave of relief and anxiety as soon as I stepped outside Seafront's gates. Relief that I left my old life behind and can live better now, and anxiety about the unexpected.
We have a lot to do, our mission is not over. We almost died at the bottom of the sea, who knows what will come next?
Leaving those negative thoughts behind, a big smile crossed my face. I stepped forward with the sun shining above me and the wind rushing through my hair, knowing my life would change.
-The next day-
And how right I was.
"I WANT BACON!" Zon used his magic to throw a frying pan toward Jekyll.
"Listen here your rude book, we don't have bacon! We just moved! We still have to buy groceries!" Jekyll pointed a wooden spoon at the book.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY TO ME?!?" Zon prepared to fire magic at Jekyll, but the Gestalt moved faster and hit him with a dough roller.
Unfortunately, the book recovered from the attack and threw a chair toward him, knocking the Gestalt to the ground.
"SO THIS IS HOW IT'S GOING TO BE, ISN'T IT?!"
"HAHAHA!" I couldn't help but laugh at the show, unfortunately, it ended when Jekyll stretched his arm, grabbed my chair and threw it at Zon.
"Jekyll, what the hell?!" I asked standing up.
"It's not my fault! He started it!" He pointed at Zon.
"SAY IT TO MY FACE!" The book readied another attack.
"FUCK YOU! YOU WILL STOP IT NOW!" I drew Beastbain.
"I WANT BACON!" He demanded food again.
"LISTEN HERE YOUR DISGRACEFUL BOOK, WE DON'T HAVE BACON! WHY DO YOU WANT BACON?! YOU ARE A BOOK!" Jekyll materialized his Vile Ax.
A fight that generated a several bad rumors around the village was what came next.
-Outside the house-
"Nier, are you sure we should greet the new neighbors? They don't sound nice." Yonah asked her older brother as the two stood in front of the newcomers' front door.
"Yonah, don't say that, we don't know them yet. They must be tired from the travel." Nier replied, smiling reassuringly.
That smile soon disappeared when a chair flew through the window and shattered on the ground. As if that wasn't enough, several insults and a shriek followed it.
"SON OF A BITCH!"
"BASTARD!"
"SSSCCCRRREEE!"
Nier quickly covered Yonah's ears and pulled her away from the house.
"We'd better return later." He said nervously.
END OF CHAPTER