I just depressed myself into an early bedtime. Hold me.
------
The cloth was flying in Koishi's face. She reached up-- or rather, down-- and pulled it away.
The wind feels nice against my face.
The Palace of the Earth Spirits was zooming past her at a dizzying pace. She plunged down faster and faster, the flag wrapped around her small frame and adding some wind resistance. But she was still falling at a terrifically fast pace.
It's kind of a weird idea, since I'm about to splatter against the ground here. But it does feel nice.
Koishi fixed her eyes firmly downward, to the already bloodstained ground outside of the Palace. Before her, the blonde woman in the white dress and the black-white witch with the flames rushed into her vision, but she zoomed past them as she clamped her arms tightly to her body to cut down on wind resistance.
I wonder what Satori will do? I bet Orin has already made the jump. She's definitely alive. They can get away through one of the back entrances to Hell. As long as they just keep running and don't look back, they can make it to the surface. And then they can be free--
The ground. There it was. Getting closer with each passing moment.
I'm about to die. That makes this the end.
She winced slightly. She felt her heart thudding against her chest. Her fingers began to twitch, hoping for some kind of a grip, and she knew that she would not find one. Her breathing was also becoming loud, too loud, like cymbals crashing, like waves smashing into rocks at the edge of the ocean. Her blood pumped quickly through her veins. Her hands heated up. She couldn't breathe, couldn't do anything but keep her eyes open, as the ground got close, too close--
I don't want to die.
Satori would grow up. She would get tall, she would get longer hair, she would have long legs and a big chest. She would become a grown up. She would perfect her studies, learn the fine art of statecraft that Miyani had insisted on her learning, she would become mature. She would visit the Aboveground and be able to see the wide blue sky above her--
That could have been mine--
She would meet some nice satori guy and make him happy, so happy. She would have little satori kids, little pink-haired kids running around the rebuilt Palace, in the Aboveground. She would teach them how to use their Third Eyes, watch them grow up, watch them become grown-ups themselves. She would sit on a porch somewhere with Orin on her lap, tickling the hellcat's ears and looking up at the night sky.
That could have all been my life--
She would be looking up at the night sky, and then remember once, long ago... she had had a younger sister, way back when they still lived as royals in the underground, that had sacrificed herself for her sake. She would breathe deeply, whisper a quick prayer, and then go back inside, and forget all about her--
WHY COULDN'T IT HAVE BEEN MY LIFE?!
Koishi was openly crying now. Her tears were sliding quickly off of her face, flying behind her, even as the ground got closer.
I wanted to live. I wanted to escape from this tomb underground. I wanted to be a grown-up, to be tall and pretty. I wanted to be smart, I wanted to be a good ruler, I wanted to visit the aboveground and see the wide blue sky. I wanted to meet some nice satori to marry and have kids, I wanted to teach them how to use their Third Eyes, I wanted to watch them grow up and be adults too, I wanted to be relaxing in a chair in a quiet home and look up at the white stars against the dark sky. But--
10 meters. 9 meters. 8 meters 7 meters 6 meters 5meters 4meters 3meters2meters1--
...Wasn't there a way I could have lived, too?
-----
Arrivederci, Koishi. It was nice knowing you.
;________________________________;
But what about Satori and Orin? How are they doing? Did they make it? Have they survived? And who the hell is leading that army? Find out next update, after I drag myself out of bed and reflect on my sins in hell.
Triangle Shirtwaist Fire reference? I haven't seen that mentioned in years. My family went to a memorial service for it one Labor Day.
I've just barely been getting into the history of the American Labour Movement. Specifically, my interest was sparked when I first heard of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory. It has had a bigger impact on this story than most people would realize at first glance, namely that: This is the reason why Orin speaks Yiddish and Koishi and Satori speak in Italian. Those were the languages that were mostly spoken by the women who worked there, since most of them came from Italy and Eastern Europe (though there were some German women working there too.)
Good night for me. Ow, my heart.
"Yumemi, what are you doing?"
"Disproving quantum physics."
"It's 2:53 in the morning. Why on earth are you disproving quantum physics?"
"Because I've lost control of my life."
Seriously, though, besides the tenses jumping around a bit in the initial sequence, a good update. Also dammit I may be running out of material for the Story Swap better start writing NOW
Non tutte le leggende sono belle.
---
“Right then. There, that's perfect.”
“Hmmm... are you sure about this, Yumemi?”
I flashed her a grin that I hoped was reassuring. “Even if I weren't, I wouldn't tell you, now would I?”
“Ha ha.” Chiyuri laughed. It had a nervous undertone.
I softened my grin into a smile. “Yes, I'm sure.”
Chiyuri returned the smile. “Well, okay, then.”
She probably didn't believe me, which was fine. I had no idea if I was telling the truth or not. Sure hoped I was.
“Right then, what exactly do you want me to do?” she asked as I picked up the cape and began to walk to the testing chamber. She followed, of course.
“It should be easy,” I told her. “All you have to do is hold that thing up until the monster starts spewing magic at you.”
“You mean, the youkai?”
“Youkai, monster, same difference.” I shrugged. “Anyway, it should work like a charm. And if not, I trust that you can get out of its reach pretty easily.”
“I know I can.” Chiyuri gave me a smile.
“Good. That's what I like to hear.” I held the door open for her, and she walked in. I closed it behind her and I went to the controls.
The testing chamber had been designed by me, and built by me with Chiyuri's help. It was where most of my work got done these days, apart from the laboratory. I pressed a few buttons, and the shooting range went back behind sliding metal panels, while the obstacle course rose up from the ground. Chiyuri knew it like the back of her hand, and if anything went wrong with the test it would be very easy for her to duck into one of the trapdoors and escape.
The subject, on the other hand, would get lost. I cared about Chiyuri getting out of there alive, but the subject didn't need to. He was here just for the test.
I fidgeted with my skirts.
“Bringing up subject number...” I looked at the readout. “Number 72.” I actually remembered which one this one was; it was a hare youkai, one of the earliest I had caught but one of the longest to be broken. He was in a large cage, lying on his side, a slight bit of foam dripping out of the side of his mouth. He came up into the room via the platform that carried the subjects up from the subject storage area.
Ah, looked like he was in hare form. Well, that wouldn't do. I raised the plastic cover over a button, turned it up to the right, then hit it. An electric shock to wake him up. “Rise and shine,” I laughed a little as his head jerked up.
This was always my favourite part of the testing. The initial chase.
I flipped open a plastic cover and hit a red button. This was the start button. It was also Chiyuri’s signal to act. Soon, all the platforms would start moving, but for now it was just the one directly in front of her. It came along with Number 72.
It was a carrot. I knew that hares ate all manner of plants, but carrots were the easiest to hold onto for these tests. Just grabbing it had the intended effect; Number 72’s nose twitched, and he turned his head towards the carrot.
Bingo~
Hunger was the best motivation. For hunger, humans would ignore all senses of morality in the pursuit of food, and youkai would return back to the beasts they really were. Hunger was also great in that it was quite straightforward of a motivation; there wasn't much thinking involved beyond “I have to eat or I will die”, if that. Returning to the primal state-- what a useful tool hunger was for inspiring just that!
Chiyuri grabbed the carrot and ran.
The hare youkai Number 72's eyes widened-- enraging attempt, successful. It got onto its feet with strength I figured was surprising to the creature, and bounded after Chiyuri, whose red cape fluttered behind her.
It leaped into the center of the room, and that's when the obstacle course began in earnest.
The platforms began to rise from the ground, moving up and down at seemingly random (but calculated) times and patterns. All of them were rectangles, and the entire floor was patterned this way. Chiyuri knew the pattern, as well as all the hiding spots that would appear and disappear with these platforms. The youkai did not, and he raced right into a rising rectangle, bruising his nose.
The speed was good for now. I let my eyes leave the machine and looked up through the window to watch. I picked up the headset and flipped the switch on it upwards. “Chiyuri.”
“Loud and clear, bosswoman,” Chiyuri replied. Various camera angles revealed where Chiyuri was-- crouched on a sideways-moving platform, cape draped on her back and the carrot in her right hand. “How aggressive do you want this to get?”
“As much as you can, please. This is the cape I'll be taking to see Yuka in a few days.”
“Oh, damn. Are you sure this is a strong enough youkai to measure that?”
“If my calculations have all turned out correct and if I applied that damned texturing correctly, any youkai should be fine. Their magic is all the same at the core. The only thing to watch out for here are lasers.”
“But I like lasers!” Chiyuri replied, climbing a moving rectangle up to the ceiling. “In fact, I like them so much that I want them as my personal danmaku.”
“I hate lasers and I will never use them. But if you get this done right, you can have any laser you want. I will program that shit personally for you.”
“Excellent,” the blonde assistant grinned. “I've rubbed off on you, sensei!”
“What do you mean?” I frowned, feeling my cheeks start burning.
Chiyuri pointed right at the spot in the wall beyond which I stood, with the benefit of one-sided glass. “I finally taught you how to use swear words!”
“H-hey! Get back to work! And stop chattering so much!”
My assistant snickered. “You got it, bosswoman.”
She reached up to the ceiling, where there were a series of rungs, not unlike a playground's swinging bars-- which is what I had based that on. Through my headset I heard the small catch of breath that came from Chiyuri's catching one of the rungs and dangling from it, two meters above thehare youkai 72.
She released one rung, hanging from only one arm. The otherwise unnoticed muscles of her right arm stood out, the veins bold against her skin, and she used her loose left arm to dangle the carrot above the hare Number 72.
When I’d first begun to catch youkai for the experiments, I wondered if the animal-types were similar to their more mundane counterparts. It turned out that they were similar in many things, mostly diet and behaviour, though there were some enhancements brought on by having access to magic. Fundamentally, however, they were the same animals. Which meant that hares, like rabbits, had a very blatant blind spot in their vision-- right in front of them.
To make up for this lack of sight (and otherwise grainy vision), they had an amazing sense of smell. But Chiyuri was concealing most of her scent behind the cape which she'd let fall in front of her. So all he could smell was the carrot.
Chiyuri dropped it on cue, and the hare 72 leapt up, a small amount of drool coming out of his mouth as he opened it wide to catch the only food he'd seen in a full week.
“Go!” I whispered into from my headset to hers, and Chiyuri dropped herself from the ceiling rung. Blinded by hunger, the hare 72 didn't have time to react as she snatched the carrot out of its unaware paw-hands, and pushed it over with the simple application of hand to forehead. It was too stunned to react as fast as it would have otherwise, and she took full advantage.
I frowned. Chiyuri had disobeyed orders.
The hare Number 72 fell backwards, already recovering from its shock, just in time for Chiyuri to pull herself up and over a moving rectangular platform, into the moving maze. It called out in an oddly high-pitched voice, like a whine that would have been speech had it not been so thirsty.
I noted with some pleasure that I had managed a secondary goal-- to force it to not speak in human speech any longer.
Chiyuri was back to teasing her prey to mindless anger again. She leapt over its head, jumping from one side of the maze to the other to confuse her opponent, red cape fluttering behind. The youkai whined, showing its teeth in an unforgiving snarl as it clawed at the air. It was running on pure adrenaline, by this point. Chiyuri would finish it shortly.
But not, I told myself, if she didn't listen to me. I fiddled with the volume adjuster and spoke at the wire that connected my mouthpiece to Chiyuri's earphones.
“What was that all about just then?” I asked, hoping my voice sounded demanding enough.
“Aw, you know. Heat of the moment.” A gigantic lie. Chiyuri wasn't even sweating.
“Liar. Why didn't you kick it in the face like I told you to earlier? Like I explained earlier today?”
“I missed,” Chiyuri said, and the seventh camera revealed that the blonde was currently moving in a circle around the maze, letting the hare 72 catch a whiff of the carrot whenever she was close.
“We cannot do this test unless you are willing to do your damn job,” I insisted, rubbing my forehead, already expecting a headache. Why did Chiyuri always have to make things difficult?
“Look, you told me to aggravate it, and I have aggravated it. Like I do you, bosswoman.” She scanned her vicinity for one of the cameras, found the fourth camera, flashed it a grin. “See, right now, your lasers would hurt more than any--”
“You do not distract me.” I cut her off. “Kick it in the face. Get its nose bloody. Get it mad.”
Chiyuri paused for a moment, which was her version of a stammer. Then she laughed it off, a blatantly delayed reaction, while turning so that I couldn’t see her face from any angle. “C'mon, sensei, isn't your cape red enough for any bullfight?”
Arrrrrrgh. “I mean it, Chiyuri. Stop playing with me. Kick it in the face or get out of my laboratory.”
Another pause. Longer this time. “I can get it mad without having to do that.”
“You can annoy it like a fly annoys an animal, yes. But I thought we agreed that we’d never be able to test out how well it works if you don’t make the damn thing start seeing red!”
“I’m not going to hit that thing!” Chiyuri snapped.
Now it was my turn to pause.
“You...”
“I mean it!” She turned on her heel now, the red cape swishing around her arms. “You wanna hit that thing, come in here and do it. But I am not going to do that for you.”
“... really...”
I felt my right hand turn into a fist as she glared through the video camera straight at me.
“I don’t understand. What’s so bad about hitting an...”
Her blue eyes were so disconcerting.
“... an abomination like that?”
“You think that’s an abomination?!” Chiyuri would have yelled more, but the hare Number 72 had heard the racket, and was coming at her. She ducked and rolled into a gap that was fast closing, diving into the moving rectangle maze. When it followed, she did not return the swipe it threw at her, but only let it graze her and the cape, then used her left hand to pull herself onto a rising platform and over, disorienting the creature.
“That’s LIFE, Yumemi! Get used to it!” she yelled, not looking at any particular camera, but staring right through the glass at me again, as if she could actually see.
“Youkai aren’t sentient,” I replied through gritted teeth.
“Oh, yeah? Then why are you making me test this shit out for you if Yuka would be so easy to beat?!”
I leaned forward on the desk, glaring back through the glass at Chiyuri, as if it had any effect. “Because I wouldn’t go into a fight with a lion bare-handed! Just because they’re animals doesn’t mean they’re not danger--”
“But if they’re animals, then even this is a violation of ethics, you MORON!”
My least favourite word in the world. I could hardly keep from punching the glass in anger.
“Ethics,” I began as slow as I could, packing all the venom I possibly could into that word. “... ethics. World’s greatest excuse for failures to claim that they succeeded.”
“Damn it, Yumemi!”
To my horror, she dropped the carrot. Right in the center platform. And she stood there, and pointed at me.
“Have you forgotten what you came here for?”
Okay, now she was really pushing my buttons.
“I came here for science!” I hissed back into the mouthpiece. “Not for you to cower like a teenager who’s whining about the latest chore she doesn’t want to do!”
The exhausted hare youkai 72 crawled over onto one of the rising platforms. Chiyuri saw it, and so did I.
“Call me names if you like, but that doesn’t stop this from you going overboard. How far do you think ethics committees will repudiate your work when we return, eh?”
“Ideas are judged by their successes. There are a whole lot of things in science that could have never been learned if a few people hadn’t gotten trampled on the way.”
“Rosalind Franklin, sensei! What happened to her could happen to you!”
The allusion wasn’t lost on me. Okazaki and DNA were related words. I racked my brain for something I could use as leverage on her. “And yourself, Chiyuri? Remember, all that footage of you and the electricity?”
“Don’t try to blackmail me,” she scowled. The hare 72’s vision was weak, but he could still see the gray and red blob behind the carrot. He didn’t dare approach.
“Our careers will both be ruined, Chiyuri, and you know it.” I was furious, at myself. I wasn't Archimedes, but I wanted to move the world-- but if I couldn't find the lever that moved Chiyuri, then I could say goodbye to that ambition.
She sneered. “When did you ever care about your career or your reputation or anything like that? You're already on the fringes of academia. If you cared that much, you wouldn't have let yourself go that far.”
The hare youkai Number 72 seemed to decide that if the blur wasn't moving, then it was safe. He came forward, still weak.
I needed something. Fast. Without a lever, I'd--
... oh, wait. How could I have forgotten?
“Maybe,” I began, twirling a strand of hair around a finger. “It's true. If this fails or if the university's ethics committee takes me to task, my methods probably won't hold up.”
I yawned. The hare 72 came closer, crawling around moving rectangles. Chiyuri had to suspect something. I was too calm too fast.
“Which means that I might even have to move overseas to get a job. Eh. Big deal.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“... you, on the other hand,” I began, and her eyes widened.
When Chiyuri got mad, really mad, she didn't yell. She glared with death in her eyes.
Red eyes stared into blue as the hare youkai Number 72 crawled closer, closer.
“... you don't need to blackmail me like that.” Chiyuri spoke in a flat voice. “You already know my situation.”
I chuckled. “Well, then, what are you waiting for?”
The youkai's ear brushed her feet as it came up to the carrot. The only betrayal was the look of pain that flashed over Chiyuri's face for a second, and then there was just a sharp intake of breath, and a slow exhalation.
She grunted a little, I heard through the headpiece. And she'd turned her face downwards where none of my camera angles could catch her eyes.
Instead of angering it further, she had laid it out in one blow. Part of me wanted to think that she had accidentally overdone it, but both of us knew our bodies’ capacity for force better than that. She had failed in her mission deliberately.
Almost as if she knew what I'd been thinking, Chiyuri turned and glared at me again.
“Yumemi, you're the only failure here.”
Then she picked up the limp youkai in her arms and left through the emergency exit. The cape snagged on the door, and she reached over her back with her left hand and pulled it off, leaving it behind.
She would be going to get the first-aid kit. I sighed. Maybe this time I really had pushed it too far? Nah. I just needed a stronger specimen. One with more of a reason to be angry without having to strongarm Chiyuri into cooperating.
I still had a few days to get a good subject. Chiyuri would be over it by then. I'd leave her alone until that time.
For now, I felt awfully hungry, and I went to treat myself to a strawberry.
-----