[IC] The Rising Tide

[jennifer lost the war]

“Should we get moving, sir?” a soldier asked Gilgamesh as they stood at a now vacated midtown Manhattan. All that remained were several dead bodies across the streets, most of them with their heads severed. News organizations were playing it safe and getting footage from within the nearby buildings. The masked soldier, Gilgamesh, pulled out a piece of cloth from his pocket and wiped his broadsword clean before returning it to its sheath. Although they didn’t kill a whole lot in the grand scheme of things, the main thing they wanted to do was send a message and with news of the public killings going global, they certainly succeeded. Now it was time to go on their world tour.

“I suppose we should,” Gilgamesh replied, thinking of where to go next. Someplace in Europe, he thought, maybe France. Either way, once they’re there, it won’t just be about sending a message. They’ll be doing serious hunting and making sure that anyone who stands in their way is killed.

“Sir, we have a problem,” another soldier said as he came from behind him. “There are two creatures fighting nearby and we know one of them must be an alien, considering her weaponry.”

“And the other?” Gilgamesh asked.

“Hard to say. They look human, but they’re children and their magical abilities far exceed what any child should be capable of.”

Gilgamesh merely grunted at the road block and remained silent. Although his mission was specifically to kill poets and strike fear in the common people’s hearts and minds, the mission was meant to draw the people away from the fact that aliens have come to earth. Of course, he didn’t truly care about Connor and what he wanted him to do, but he has allowed him to kill poets all this time and now he finally gets to kill as many as he wants, however he wants. If he indirectly failed in his mission because he knowingly allowed aliens to fight in the streets, it may upset the mutual agreement they’ve had all this time.

“I know the CIA said they’ll handle the aliens, but…”

“I don’t need you to explain that to me,” Gilgamesh quickly retorted. He turned his head in the direction of the battle, without being told where it was taking place. He could hear them. They were a mile away and he could hear them as though they were right in front of him. It wasn’t that they were particularly loud; the only thing that could be heard by the other soldiers was faint gunshots, but his hearing was very good. Exceptionally good. He could hear the children addressing each other as Apollo and Artemis. They wanted to play tag. Aliens and magic-using children, Gilgamesh thought, what a strange day indeed. “Let’s check it out,” he said.

Him and his four soldiers hopped into a military jeep and traveled to the scene, arriving in just a few minutes. He first set his sights on the short young woman, who he at first thought was a citizen, but saw her gun and realized that she was the alien his soldiers were talking about. She certainly knows how to use that gun too, he thought. Still, if it wasn’t for the weapon, she didn’t look out of the ordinary. Perhaps the public won’t be too suspicious yet. The children, on the other hand, not even Gilgamesh knew what to make of them.

The jeep came to a halt and the soldiers stepped out, immediately pointing their weapons at the creatures. “Fools!” Gilgamesh hissed as he stepped out. “Do not target the woman. Only the children.” The soldiers obeyed. Although the CIA didn’t want the aliens to be known by the public, if they wanted them dead Connor would have told him to do so along with the poets. He didn’t know the reasoning behind this, but since this is the first alien they have encountered, it may prove to be beneficial to him if he were able to find out what she knows, why she’s here and how she came here.

“Apollo!” Gilgamesh’s voice boomed, seemingly echoing through the streets at an obviously unnatural volume, especially considering that his mask had no openings for mouth, nose or eyes. “God of poetry, are you not?” He had not seen evidence that the children were poets, but he knew people were watching and he needed to justify his presence to them in a believable way. “Leave now if you want to keep your head on your shoulders!” he exclaimed, gripping the hilt of his broadsword for emphasis. “You!” he exclaimed once more, pointing at the young woman. “I want a word with you, soldier.”

[Izkripp]

Talk about magic?

Great someone actually stopped to read the resident listing on the building. Every now and then someone would stopped and read them all, whether it be a mail man or someone visiting someone that lived in the complex. It was rare though for someone that lived in the complex to stop and read them. He sighed, clearly aggravated that she had connected the two. He shouldn't have ever answered the buzz. She would have given up eventually and left him alone, but since he answer she new he was here and would probably bug him until she received her audience with him.

"What if she knows?" He asked himself.

"Robert, you cannot be serious. Only a handful of people know of her." He looked over to see Dr. Lee staring at him with his arms crossed.

"But what if information was leaked? What if one of them said something?" Robert ran all the possibilities through his head.

Dr. Lee propped himself against the wall listening to his old friend ramble on. "It is impossible. The information is top secret. If any one had said anything I doubt that it would have been a random girl. She is just a fan."

"Just a fan?" He mumbled to himself. "I'll send her away."

"No!" Dr. Lee stated louder than his usual calm. "No. Let her in. It will be good for you to socialize with another human."

It took Robert a moment to reply. "Are you calling me crazy again?"

"No, no." Dr. Lee said waving one of his hands in front of him. "Not yet."

"Fine!" Robert resorted. He had already locked the door to Gaia's room so the girl wouldn't be able to enter it without his permission. He looked around his apartment quickly. Everything was in place. He could receive company.

Robert pressed the button again so that Elise could hear him. "Very well. I am short on time so your stay will also be short." As he said that he pressed another button that was beside it allowing access to his room from the elevator. "Top floor." He stated.

"Very good Robert. I'm proud of you." Dr. Lee said smiling at his former subordinate.

"How about you shut up and disappear again." Robert resorted.

Dr. Lee couldn't help but chuckle at him. "Very well." With that he faded away just like the ghost that he was.

---

Gel'linnea took in a breath. Finally she was able to breathe again. Her breaths were deep, desperately trying to fill up her lungs with air after so long. Even when she opened her eyes she couldn't see anything. Her nerves weren't fully functional yet. The world was just dark regardless of the lightening. The vines loosened making her body slip closer to the floor. Moss and flakes of old skin fell off of her and onto the floor below that had now been covered. Thoughts went through her head as she tried to figure out where she was. Was she in her ship? Or outside? how long had she been in hibernation? She desperately tried to get her eyes to work by blinking, but it was no use. Time was the only thing that could give her eye sight back. For now she was awake, but that didn't matter. She was still as helpless as she was when she was asleep.

[Platanus]

Definitely one of the cases of parents being more excited than their kids where everyone on the plane was able to tell at first glance whose »trip« it really was. It was Jahho-Pekka's, no doubt. He had been waiting a lifetime for this, had dreamt and daydreamt the details so many times that should he one day in old age want to tell someone about his first time in Japan, he would most certainly not remember which version was the one having taken place not in his mind but in the material world. Has it not been for his wife almost constantly pinching his arm and the furious looks he got after the first half of an hour, he would have wanted to keep photographing every little detail until they arrived in the land of the rising sun. His 8 year old giggled mischievously, throwing looks towards mum to make sure daddy's behaviour – or rather his not behaving – was going to be used as a very good excuse later. A couple of times Minkka – first born child of the family – could not hold back her laughter. Antti though, with his 3 years of life experience, naturally showed much less attention for daddy's hyper excited state. Considering the Japanese security being at its highest after all the reconstructions and repopulating of their country, it was almost a miracle the Sepännens were not turned in and investigated because of the father's more than suspicious behaviour.

The plan was to stay in Tokyo for a week before Jahho-Pekka started with his work. Of course he was going to take photos at every possible opportunity, but the official reason he had signed the contract for was making an artistic, journalistic album of the national Kendo championship, supposed to also portray the old and proud tradition of the samurai, swordsmanship and the bamboo blade. Arashida Sensei(s) had gotten him signed up for the job. It was one of the side projects of reviving the Japanese history and its various traditions before it was too late and Japan, as it had been, was lost from memories and eventually from history. As to our Finnish photographer, he could not have been more grateful for the opportunity. For the past three months he had taken the kids out for Japanese food at least twice a week and they had visited the Arashidas for at least one long evening a week, hoping for the kids to get introduced to a – maybe poor – simulation of where they would live for the next six months, because no way Jahho-Pekka was simply returning to Finland after the Championships. Thanks to his thorough project proposal he had gotten an extension in his contract, so that he could make a road trip across Japan, photographing the remains of older dojos, whether they had been put to use or not, and whatever relics of the Kendo-tradition before the incident was to be found.

But the first week in Tokyo was still meant as a family vacation. He had promised to put work off for one week and be more of a dad than a photographer – or a Japan-freak.

[jennifer lost the war]

“Well, I’m hoping I won’t need to run from your teachings,” Ken remembered saying to Iraltiphos when he was first teaching him to suppress his spirit energy to avoid others from detecting him. Although he understood the value in knowing how to do it, he never imagined a situation where he would actually need to. Yet here he was, traveling the streets and trying to assimilate into crowds of people, trying to look like he belonged and had a destination like the rest of them. “You’re a fugitive,” he remembered the detective saying before he knocked him out. Ken had no idea if the police force had any capacity or method of detecting his spiritual presence, but he wasn’t willing to take the chance.

They had guns, he thought to himself. And despite all his strength, he couldn’t stand up against that, especially if he wasn’t willing to fight to kill. He had never killed in his life. Fighting was a sport and an art to him. The idea of killing never crossed his mind. However, after what he had done to the detective, it was possible that they were out looking for him to execute him. He had always fought people on even ground—looking to knock them out as they would to him, or simply to train, but now people may be out to kill him, and he would have to fight back without the intent to kill. Not to mention the fact that all he had were his fists. It would be an uphill battle. They’re just going to arrest me, Ken thought, trying to reassure himself, but then he thought of Iraltiphos’ death and the fact that poets were beginning to be rounded up and killed in America, with the rest of the world quickly following. What’s one more death?

He kept his head up high as he walked in the crowd, not wanting to look suspicious. Despite being in plain sight, the idea that he was suppressing his spirit energy made him feel invisible. He could detect everybody around him, including those behind him and behind walls. Considering his not being able to locate his master the day before even though he was right in front of him, he understood what it was like trying to detect a suppressed energy signature. It was possible that nobody in the country knew how to detect him in the first place and his suppression made no difference, but he still felt invisible. It was stupid, but it gave him the confidence he needed not to panic.

It was rare to see large crowds Tokyo, or anywhere in Japan for that matter, so Ken began to question how he was able to have this cover to conveniently here for him. The answer came to him in a banner that came into view as they approached it: The National Kendo Championship. Crowds of people were flocking to the area. Even though the tournament itself wouldn’t begin for another week, with the epic disaster in the country twenty years ago, the people clung harder to their traditions and in their efforts to educate people about them. The area would be open a week in advance for spectators to witness demonstrations and training, along with tours that included an extensive history of the Way of the Sword and the samurai.

Ken smiled, glad to take part of this convenient distraction for the time being so he could figure out his situation. Would this be the first place they’d look for me, he asked himself, as he approached the entrance. He shrugged it off and figured that there were enough people here to give the police a hard time finding him. He walked through the entrance still with his confidence in being invisible.

“Your ticket?” a man at the entrance asked, stopping him from advancing.

Ken was taken aback, as though he had just snapped out of a day dream. “Ugh…,”

---

“Very well,” Elise heard the voice say from the receiver and she grinned as though she had been victorious in a great battle.

“See you soon,” she replied as she walked into the main lobby and entered the elevator. She began to think of ways to engage in conversation with Dr. Plant. Afterall, she didn’t actually want to talk about magic. In fact, she half-expected that her excuse to come see him would fall flat and not work at all. Now she was committed. Although she wasn’t exactly a master at her own form of magic, she studied magic for a good portion of her life, and pretending to be dumb wasn’t her strong suit. What is she going to say to him?

The question didn’t linger for more than a moment before she took out Abal from her back pocket and kept track of where the unknown creature was. As expected, as the elevator rose to the top floor, the creature’s location got closer and closer. However, what wasn’t expected was that even after leaving reaching the top-floor, the creature’s location was still getting closer. She practically picked Dr. Plant’s name out of a hat. What were the odds that she had picked the exact suit that she was looking for? She stood directly in front of his door and stared at her device. The creature was only a few feet away. Dr. Plant is an alien, Elise thought, almost laughing to herself. Impossible. She pushed a button on Abal, setting it to detect all living creatures and not just the unknown. Two were detected to be in Dr. Plant’s suit; one human and the other the unknown.

Well that makes a little more sense, she thought, about to put Abal away, but something on its screen caught her eye. An unidentified series of numbers appeared. Another unknown creature—this time just outside the apartment complex. She furrowed her brow and blinked a couple of times in confusion before another series of numbers appeared, and another, and another—each representing a new and unknown species. Alien invasion, she thought to herself, not quite believing it. But if it were an alien invasion they would all be the same species, she corrected herself. The numbers kept appearing. Abal was detecting all unknowns within a one mile radius and by now twenty had come up. The number kept increasing. Her jaw dropped slightly. “Damnit,” she hissed to herself before turning it off and putting it back in her back pocket.

It’s broken, she thought.

She grimaced and shut her eyes tight in frustration. She took a breath and tried to calm herself. It was just a prototype, she assured herself. At least now I know that it needs more work.

Still, now she had an obligation to at least talk to Dr. Plant for five minutes. She fixed her hair a bit and knocked on his door.

[Rina]

Concentrating on keeping a stern, calm face as the boy appeared as she often did so during mission, Elysia watched with astonishment as the boy released the bullets she fired. Although the boy was young, she could tell that he was a strong poet seeing that he was able to catch her bullets. However her astonishment grew as she watched the boy and saw a deformation start to grow on his shoulder. Keeping her enhanced eye targeted on the boy, Elysia raised her gun in preparation for the unexpected. However the unexpected turned out to much more than she anticipated as a face started to appear from the deformation and went further along to produce another child that appeared to be the same age as the boy.

Who was this girl? Was she just another apparition-like being that was similar to what appeared on the glass or was she something more? The idea of having another person appear just as the girl did seemed very absurd to her, something seemingly impossible. However here was this living breathing girl that was talking to her wanting to play a game. The notion of playing a game out of the blue especially since they were in the middle of a confrontation took Elysia aback for a second as she raised her eyebrow at the two of them. The two were an odd pair, even in comparison to poets. Their childlike behavior meshed with their abilities as poets created an odd mix that seemed to contradict mixture than made her a little uneasy since logic and trying to reason to them seemed like something that wouldn’t work. Their very manner and their abilities as poets seemed to also contradict what was counted as ordinary. She had never seen a poet, or maybe even a pair of poets if the apparition of the girl was actually real, that strong and that fanciful with their abilities to the point that things appeared to be as bizarre as if she was in a dream as she watched the girl consume the boy.

“How in the hell…” Elysia muttered as the girl disappeared. However it didn’t take her long before she was notified of her target being right beside her as she watched her something was suddenly targeted from the corner of her eye. Following the direction of eye enhancement, she was surprised to see the sudden change in appearance of the girl.

However before she could respond to yet another absurd thing that the twins were capable of doing, the sounds of vehicles quickly approaching the scene. Piling out of their vehicles and aiming their weapons towards their target, a small smirk crawled onto Elysia’s face even after the girl tagged her and claimed of her being it. Now that there were more people to back her up, catching the two rebellious poets would come more at an ease. The game, as the twins called it, was over.

Elysia’s smirk quickly dropped as she listened to whom appeared to be the man in charge talk. What was this imbecile talking about? Letting the poets run free after the chaos they caused seemed to be counterproductive especially since they were the one that was supposed to hold up the law.

“Seriously?” Elysia said breaking the face of professionalism that she held as she looked at the man with disbelief as she watched the girl escape as she sung a tune unfamiliar to her about poises. “Of all the candidates I’ve taught throughout my years I’ve never met an idiot as stupid as you that would allow the enemy to get away like that. We had the upper hand you nimrod.” Elysia said shaking her head in disbelief. She was looking her cool and she could feel her temper rise. Was this something that the program as trying to work on, teaching her to control her hothead? However looking at the situation at hand, she wondered what she should do. The responsible and the ‘by the book’ answer was for her to report to the man that requested to talk to her. However doing so would waste precious minutes which would allow the poets to make their escape. What was more important, the safety of the city or being obedient to the system. This was a constant argument she often faced with her coworkers which they disagreed with her and said that the system is more important. However during her time working on the field there were many times that going against the system brought a better outcome than following the system as if it was an infallible, unbreakable way of life.

“Listen, we have time to salvage this situation. We can’t let those poets go. You saw what they could do, think of what would happen when they grow older and even stronger than they already are. We can’t let them roam free. Send your men out and barricade any potential ways of escape and I’ll lure them towards you guys. That is if I don’t catch them beforehand.” Elysia said, turning around before the man could respond, knowing that if she did there would be a chance of him trying to object to her plan. “Join me now if you like.” Elysia said nodding towards the road with the suggestion of him coming along. “However we can have this little discussion of yours once we catch these poets and not a minute sooner.” Elysia said before running towards the direction the child ran off to in hopes that the man would follow her suggestion and would act accordingly.

[Ryver et Rhine]

Deleted

[Platanus]

Tomorrow was going to be Disney-Land, no escape from it after having travelled all the way from the icy lands of the north with two kids. Minkka and Antti had already been convinced to wait one day in order to get over the jet lag and be able to fully enjoy themselves. And kids on jet lag were cute but also pretty arduous, Jahho-Pekka found out. So the first day of the Seppänens was planned with a little random walking around Tokyo and visiting the »traditional festival« held before the main event – the championships. They made sure though that the kids had a normal meal before they were overcome by the urge to try every junk and real food or were overwhelmed by too many unfamiliar scents mixed in the air. It was plain pizza, the parents had decided, something very familiar as well as providing kids with funny little trinkets to help compensate for the »conventional« choice. Jahho-Pekka was also prohibited from wearing Gi and Hakama to demonstrate his Kendoka-spirit out in the open, since the kids were to learn about restraint. So he went with his light and comfortable Tibetian shirt – of course in Kendo-blue colour – and a pair of trekking pants with a sufficient supply of pockets.

Not to be forgotten were definitely the anti-poetry buttons which seemed more suitable to pin on the chest here in Japan than anywhere else. Jahho-Pekka was known to be a rather easy-going and cheerful guy, sometimes even too relaxed about his surroundings and major events. He tried to avoid straining himself or getting worked up as much as possible – and yet he had more or less gotten his way so far. Regardless of how much he enjoyed kendo, it was still a hobby he was passionate about and he would never dream of going against another person with the intention to harm them. Poetry was the exception. His conviction about the atrocity of this trade – although it was no longer one – and the determination to wipe it off of the face of his planet were backed up by a destructive rage. So even though he was wearing his jolly face and prancing around happily with his family, having the time of his life, the two buttons on his chest – a larger one in both English and Japanese and a smaller one in Finnish – were more than enough evidence to his anger for those who bothered to look and read.

Conveniently decorated with press id-s, Jahho-Pekka and his family needed not worry about standing in lines or looking for the ticket booth and the Finn felt even more so privileged being here. They had merely passed through the entrance and were all trying to decide which direction to go first when lady fortune smiled upon the passionate photographer yet once again on this day. Fireworks started cracking and brightening the site he was to behold, all colours of joy dancing and even the rational father of the family in him knew this was the chance of his carrier sky rocketing after the Japan project. With the goofy wide grin on his face and the fireworks in his eyes, Jahho-Pekka had right at this moment spotted non less than a world wide well known champion of MMA for several years in a row, said to have »disappeared from international tournaments after having sought residence in his forsaken fatherland«, Jahho-Pekka's mind was already bringing all dramatic elements to this encounter.

“Venaa!” he asked his family to wait for him and rushed back to the entrance, his hand already slipping into one of his many pockets, while the other had grabbed his press-id. “Hi!” he addressed the security before it was too late and he had lost sight of the champion. “Press”, he briefly said in Japanese and the one word was enough to know he had tried hard to learn the language before being here. What he meant to say next was that the guy was his guest and he was sorry they had to enter the grounds before meeting up because the kids were getting impatient, what he said in Japanese though, went more along the lines of “I want my guest. Kids will chew my head if too late.” The way he apologizingly giggled, pointing at his family and the ticket he took out of his pocket and showed the security guys was supposed to be enough one way or the other in order to convince them and win Jahho-Pekka Ikeda's favour, maybe even enough for him to hang out with Jahho-Pekka even after the event. Now he just kept his goofy smile and hoped for things to turn out the way he expected them to.

[Izkripp]

The knock came at the door. Robert took in a deep breath as he approached the door. It would be the first time he had let someone into his home that wasn't a maid or a business college. He ran his hands through his hair again pushing back the tray strands. He fixed the buttons on his shirts and dusted off his pants. He was in no means in the mood to take in company, but since Dr. Lee had persisted he agreed. His hands touched the door knob and his eyes went to the doors leading to Gaia's room. They were locked. Robert opened the door letting the unknown girl see into his house for the first time.

He looked down at the girl coldly at first, but his expression warmed as he entered his stage mode. "Welcome Elise." He opened the door all the way so that she could enter his home. "Please come in. We can start our chat in the sitting room." He turned his back to her and started down the wall way leading her to the sitting room. When his back was to her he dropped his smile clearly annoyed having her in his home.

---

The vines loosened even more letting her body quietly slip onto the floor. She laid there unable to move her body. The floor was cold. She wasn't in her ship. She wanted desperately to see where she was. Or at least move her arms her legs. Nothing. She wasn't able to do anything. She couldn't hear anything, maybe her hearing wasn't back yet either. But she could feel the cold of the floor and the vine that still wrapped itself around her foot. She stopped thinking and focused on what she would hear. Nothing at first. The she heard a piece of the vines break off and land on the floor with a soft thud. So she had her sense of hearing. how long would it be now before she could assess her surroundings.

[jennifer lost the war]

Ken stood still with his mouth slightly open as though he was dumbfounded, but then somebody came up from behind him the very next moment. “Press,” the man said in Japanese, with an accent that indicated he wasn’t from here. Must be a travelling journalist, Ken thought once he had got a good look at him and noted the dreadlocks. There was a good chance he was the only person in the entire country with dreads. Ken grinned when he said that his kids would chew his head if he was late. He quickly caught on to what was happening: the journalist recognized him from his MMA fighting years.

“I’m his translator,” Ken said in Japanese to security, to which they seemed satisfied and let him continue. He remembered witnessing the power of a journalist back in the US. All they said to do was say the magic word and they’d get VIP access, free stuff and extra special treatment. Even when he used to fight regularly, he had never experience quite the same kind of treatment. “Thanks for that,” he said in English once they were far enough from security. “As you probably know, I haven’t had a fight in years, so I’m actually kind of broke,” he added, grinning at his own misfortune.

He was glad to have somebody to talk to and be around for the time-being, but he had no idea how long he could be there for. He figured the longer he stayed the more risk he invited to being caught and arrested. It’s possible he could be dragging his new friend into his personal mess. For the first time, he noticed the anti-poetry buttons the journalist wore and couldn’t help but feel disappointed. By now he associated such beliefs as being in favor of having a police-state, but he was certainly ignoring the fact that poets had a way of making people hate them on a personal level.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Ken said with a warm smile. “What’s your name and where are you travelling from?”

---

Elise’s grimace instantly turned into a polite smile once Dr. Plant had opened the door, which just as easily disappeared when he turned around to lead her into the living room. Her mind was so preoccupied with her presumably broken device that she had almost forgotten what she had told him to get into his suite in the first place. Her eyes darted from one place to the other, looking for any indication that something else was there with them. Magic, she reminded herself, we’re here to talk about magic. Once they had reached the living room, she put on her smile again and stopped looking around.

“I really appreciate you taking the time to speak with me,” she said as she sat down on a couch, crossing her legs. “And it’s nice to actually meet you personally. As I mentioned, I have been to a few of your shows. My father took me when I was younger and this was when science and magic working together was becoming the norm, so I think he wanted you to be this example that I was supposed to take to heart.” She made various hand gestures as she spoke—a staple for those who enjoy hearing themselves talk or just talking about themselves.

“I ended up focusing more on magic than science. What I can do is manipulate electricity. I usually need a source but…,” she explained, lifting her right hand up to face level and generating electricity. Her hand looked like an out of control electrical outlet for a moment before the electricity disappeared. “I can generate my own in very short bursts, but it’s quite physically taxing. Do you have any advice? How do you avoid getting tired too quickly? From watching your shows, it’s hard to tell if you…”

She was cut off by a sound coming from a closed-off room behind Dr. Plant. It sounded like something had fallen. It wasn’t loud, but it was quiet enough in the apartment to be able to hear little things. “And um…, what was I saying?” she asked, not thinking much on the sound from the other room.

[jennifer lost the war]

“Allow the enemy to get away?” Gilgamesh repeated the woman’s words to himself by muttering. “We had the upper hand?” He was playing a role in an attempt to make anyone watching not realize that the woman was an alien, but her responses made it seem like she truly was a soldier of Earth. She must think I don’t know she’s not from here, Gilgamesh thought with amusement, letting the insults she threw at him bounce off like twigs. His five men were still aiming at the two children, awaiting orders to fire or a moment where it would be warranted without his command. “Nimrod?” he said loud enough for his soldiers to hear and turning his head slightly so that his men knew they were being addressed. They chuckled briefly at the rare moment that their commander demonstrated some humor.

“We can’t let those poets go,” the woman said. And on and on she went, talking about how dangerous they are and a possible plan to trap them, even agreeing to talk after the two children were taken care of. Gilgamesh’s incredible hearing allowed him to listen to her voice at a capacity that none of his soldiers could, which allowed him to determine that she wasn’t acting. Despite this, even his soldiers began to display confusion, knowing that if she were trying to pretend to be a human, she wouldn’t be going out of her way to take control of the situation. So she knew about poets, Gilgamesh thought with awe. Poets exist on other planets.

He wondered what the implications of this were and didn’t know whether to be happy or angry. Happy that there would be more to kill, but angry that he may die one day having not killed nearly enough. Evidently, even on other planets poets couldn’t keep themselves out of trouble. It seemed that this woman shared a common enemy with Gilgamesh. Nevertheless, her portraying the danger of poets and the urgency in her voice to have the children killed sickened and angered him. He didn’t kill poets because he thought they were dangerous. For him, the concern of their danger belonged with the cowardly politicians and the CIA. His killing of poets was nothing short of personal and he considered such public confessions of their danger as a weakness that brought strength to poets. He would know. He himself fed upon the fear of others. It was his life now.

“You fear these children?!” Gilgamesh bellowed as he began to walk toward her at a leisurely pace. He saw his men attempt to go with him, but he signaled for them to hold their position. He never carried or used firearms. He didn’t need them. And his sword was more for show than it was for practical use. He presumed the woman wouldn’t see his approach as a threat, but it didn’t entirely matter to him in the end. Fear was something he instilled in others, not the other way around. “They’re garbage! If they’re not a threat now they never will be!” he bellowed as he paused from walking and quickly drew his sword.

He unsheathed it as though he wanted to cut the air and, although it couldn’t be seen with the naked eye, something erupted from the sword when he did. This fact was made abundantly clear because everything that stood in the invisible force’s wake were cast aside like toys and every particle of dust kicked up, demonstrating the location of the force as it quickly made its way toward the children’s current location. It was like a concentrated shockwave.

“Let the civilians worry about how dangerous they are,” he said, sheathing his blade. “The civilians who break our laws against protecting and hiding poets from those looking for them—let them worry about the danger. Then they’ll stop. Then poets will be out in the open,” he explained, making his way to the woman, beginning to see how small she was for a woman who knew how to use a gun. “Then we’ll CRUSH THEM!” he said, pausing from his advance once more and turning to look at the children, the volume of his voice rising higher than it ever had so far. It was unnatural. Windows from nearby buildings instantly shattered from the its volume and the last two words he said echoed in the streets. He turned back to the woman casually, showing no strain from his efforts and finally made it just a few feet away from her before stopping.

“It must be clear that you’re far from home, soldier,” Gilgamesh said, speaking at a volume that she alone could hear for the first time. “But your not acting like it makes me wonder. I think we share a common goal, but I need to know more about you. You should know that this is just a demonstration. The real battle will be elsewhere,” he explained, hoping that he could get some information. “What’s your name, soldier?”

[Rina]

Impatiently looking around the small quaint diner, Devan observed the people eating there. Sitting in his usual booth in the corner, the man was able to watch the restaurant moving around in slow hum. He knew all the waitress and most of the regular customers by name, which by the size of the diner and how far off it was from the busy parts of New York, was nearly all of the people there besides a family with two small children and an elderly couple enjoying their meal together. It wasn’t that he liked diner food, especially since he disliked the taste of eggs, nor did he enjoy the flirtatious conversations he had with the obnoxious, gum-smacking waitress that tried to talk to him whenever she had the excuse to do so, but it was the fact that he knew he was safe behind the walls of the diner that kept him going to the restaurant on a frequent basis. The relationships he created within the diner was something he knew would come to his aid if someone ever came to the diner and asked about him, knowing quite confidently that one of the waitresses, if not the gum chewing Claire, would call him on his phone to keep him in the loop. Not only has he been planting seeds with the patrons and the workers of the diner, he had been carefully laying down poems on the diner for the past five or six months which would not only protect him but the others as well while behind the brick walls of the diner from anyone that would try to bring harm, whether government or criminal. Although he knew there would be flaws and cracks that would allow people to maneuver around his careful work, he had one more layer of protection that would not only help him here at the diner, but the rebellion movement as a whole. Devan Aldrich to most was a simple man, working as a business consultant or another medial job to fit his role would try to fit into. Very few, even within the resistance, knew his connection to the resistance. Even S.G.N.3.

“You doin’ alright Devan? You’ve barely touched your coffee and by now you’ve normally downed your second cup.” A woman with more grey hair tied into a loose bun than blonde said looking at him with concern. The sweet smell of mint could be spelt off of her as Devan wondered if she always smelled like mint even when she was without gum.

“I’m just a bit concerned, that’s all. I had a client joining me today for lunch but they are late.” Devan said glancing at his watch. Eighteen minutes late to be precise. If they are only running a few minutes behind or even called him to say they were running behind, Devan wouldn’t have been too worried but without hearing a word from them, especially for a meeting this important worried him. With the rally against poets rapidly growing, another setback was something he wasn’t interested in happening.

“You’re a business consultant, right?” The woman said before continuing after Devan responded with a nod. “Don’t you worry, maybe they’re stuck behind traffic or something. There’s always something happenin’ in New York.”

“Yes, that’s true.” Devan said before Claire was called back to the kitchen as the elderly couple’s food was finished. He only hoped that the “happenin’ “, as Claire called it, wasn’t something that would be a concern to him. However as a paled face man in his late thirties entered the diner, Devan knew all too well that his hopeful wishes was all for naught.

“When?” Devan asked as the man slid down to his seat in front of Devan. “Never mind that, were you followed.” Devan said with a tone that didn’t leave his tone for a casual conversation but his eyes told a different story as he carefully watched the man for he would reveal to him by his actions or mannerism.

“No, no one followed or suspected me. I was hidden in the crowd well but I tell you what, it was close. You know how I was supposed to meet up with the potential S.G.N.4 before taking him here, well I was too late.” The man said before cutting off as Claire came with a cup of coffee. “Thanks, coffee will do for me.” He said waiting until the woman was out of earshot before continuing, fear lacing his words as he spoke in a hushed tone as if just speak about the subject was dangerous. “You’ve heard of Gilgamesh right? What am I saying, of course you have.”

Hearing the man’s name, Devan looked at Chase intently. Although he had only seen the man two times by luring him out with poets and watching him work at a safe distance so that he could see his newfound enemy, he knew that when the time came for the two to confront each other would bring a difficult battle for Devan. A worthy opponent to cure the thrill in life that he desired. With the game of chess set in motion, he was glad to see that the man had made his next move on the chessboard of life. “Ah yes, Gilgamesh. What has the little swordsman done this time?” Devan said concealing his excitement with a mild look of interest.

“S.G.N.4 is gone sir. He was in Manhattan and not only took number four down, but a few other poets that were with him at that time. We don’t think he knows the importance of that man seeing that the only people that knew about the plans we had for him was the Core and I know that the two of us and the three others wouldn’t reveal anything, even if their life depended on it. The man himself didn’t even know the plans we had or even the existence of the Core. I-I don’t think we’re in jeopardy but if-if you—“

“Don’t worry Chase the man was only toying with a pawn, he didn’t know the intentions we had of promoting him into another chess piece. We having lost the game Chase and I tell you what I have no intentions of losing.”

“Always thinking of chess arent’ you?” Chase said with a soft sigh. “What are we going to do about finding our next scapegoat? It’s only going to be a matter of time before the supposedly third leader of the resistance is taken down, especially due to his boisterous ways. Since everyone in the resistance thinks that the scapegoats are the highest rank, we have to make sure number four is taken under Michael’s wing if we want everyone to follow through with our plans of which leader is going to be appointed next.”

“How long do you think this is going to last?” Devan said abruptly.

“How long what is going to last? Michael?”

“No not Michael, he is nothing of importance to me. I’m talking about the Core. Besides the five that makes the core, there are only three others that knows of us to act as mediators between us and the scapegoat who Michael thinks that the three runs the whole thing and even those three don’t know who makes up the whole Core. The system seems to be running smoothly right now but what are we going to do once things get sticky and we have to sacrifice a few more chess pieces. This time it might not even be pawns.”

“I don’t know sir. Are you worried?”

“Of course not.” Devan said with a slight chuckle. “The game will quite fun once things start to move in that direction. Who knows, I might be able reveal my position as the rightful leader of the resistance then. Poor Gilgamesh doesn’t even know who he is playing against yet.”

[Ryver et Rhine]

“Where’s Daddy going?” Minka asked curiously as she waved to her father’s retreating form.

“He has to work. It’s just the three of us for now.”

Neve watched as her giant of a husband wandered off. His new shirt slowly disappearing into the crowd. Always the journalist, she thought ruefully as she readjusted her the toddler in her arms and tightened her grip around her daughter’s wrist. The American ignored the occasional stares the locals gave her as she led her daughter towards one of the game stalls. She studied each of stalls carefully before ushering the little girl towards the Kingyo-sukui.

“What’s this game, Mama?”

“It’s a fishing game, sweetheart. You gotta catch those fish with a paper net.”

“I will catch all of them.”

“All of them?” Neve asked as she pretended to gasp.

“Yes! Then Antti can play with them in the bath tub.”

Neve chuckled. “I think the fish won’t like the soap… Konbanwa!”

The mom faltered as she struggled to find the appropriate phrases. She had conveniently left the tourist phrase book in the hotel room when she was packing the diaper bag. The stall keeper returned the greeting and rattled off in Japanese as he pointed to a sign. Neve stared blankly at the characters. She could make out a ten and a five, but nothing more. She pointed to the children trying to catch the goldfish with paper nets and attempted to communicate using a mix of Japanese words and simplified English. The old man merely shook his head.

Minka tugged at Neve’s sleeve till the mommy obligingly kneeled down. The little girl whispered rather obviously into her mom’s ear. The chubby toddler flailed even harder as he tried to reach for his sister. Neve set him down gently but held onto his collar.

“Sorry, Mommy didn’t hear you.”

Minka looked in the stall keepers direction before whispering again, this time even louder. “I think he wants us to pay first.”

“Why didn’t Mommy think of that? You’re a really smart girl. Wait for me by …. that basin, okay? I will bring the nets over.”

“Nee?” Antti called out hopefully as he saw his sister run off.

The little brunette paused and spun around. Her pink lacey skirt flared out and spun round. She ran back to her mother and little brother. She kissed her younger sibling on his head and then took his hand. Her warm brown eyes met her mom’s briefly. Neve nodded and Minka beamed. The girl then led Antti towards the blue plastic basin in the far corner. Both children stared at the goldfish swimming around lazily in the warm water. The fish gleamed as the light from the lanterns above bounced off their sleek scales. Antti babbled excitedly in a mix of Finnish and English as he tip toed to reach for the darting goldfish, but his fingers remained several inches away above the shimmering surface. Minka instinctively grabbed the back of his sailor romper. She didn’t want her veli (brother) to get wet or he might get sick.

Neve’s eyes remained fixed on her little brood, as she held out a hundred yen note. The stall owner exclaimed and tried to explain, but his protests were lost in translation. The American turned to him and smiled nervously as she pointed to the group of children closest to her. She hemmed and hawed till finally a sole phrase surfaced from the deep recesses of her mind.

“Haraitai no desuga?”

The elderly man ran his fingers through his snow salt and pepper hair, but Neve had turned her attention back to the two children. Realizing that there was no point trying to explain the rates to the tourist, the owner tucked the bill into pouch strapped to his waist and went to retrieve five pon. He handed it to Neve and smiled. As the woman left, he motioned for his grandson to follow her. The middle school student kept the pon he was making and moved towards the group as instructed.

Antti flailed his pudgy fists about in the air as he sat on Mommy’s knee. Neve smiled as she waved the paper net teasingly in front of her 3-year-old son. Minka yelped as the goldfish broke through her net once more. The little fighter remained undeterred, but when she checked, there were no more nets left. She had finished all four of them, and Antti was playing with the last one. The girl pouted. Ko held out a new net in front of Minka, and the little one exclaimed happily. Antti joined in. The teen laughed. He took out a pon and joined in. Within five minutes he caught one of the fishes and placed in the water filled bowl in his hand. Minka’s eyes sparkled with delight as she watched the fish swim round the small bowl.

“Domo arigato!” the eight-year-old cried out.

Ko beamed and replied in heavily accented English. “Wericome.”

Neve continued holding on to Antti as she observed the passing crowd. J-P should have called by now. She hoped he didn’t forget his phone again. Another half an hour, and the three of them should head back to the hotel. Antti would be impossible to handle once it was past his bedtime. Even Minka was starting to yawn. Neveah was so busy trying to spot her husband among the throng of people milling round the various stalls that she didn’t hear her phone chime. She had just received a new email.

[Izkripp]

Robert idly listened to Elise talk about how her father had brought her to his shows and her up bringing regarding the combination of science and magic. Of course she wanted to come and talk to him about the combination of the two things he would specialize in. He continued to dwell on the thought that maybe she did know more than she was letting on. If that was the case he needed to her to leave as soon as possible. Robert walked over to a small table that had a couple of bottles of liquor. Taking one of the glasses he places a couple of pieces of ice in it.

Robert’s eyes glanced over to her when she gave a display of her abilities with magic. What she was able to do was on a large scale for some, but a small scale for others. She was able to generate electricity with only her body. His mind went over all the possibilities on how she was able to do it. Control of certain body functions? Was she able to speed up atoms to the point that the static was more powerful? Or was it something else? It was a puzzle, he use to like those when he was younger. Twenty years ago he would have taken her to a lab and had her conduct experiments to determine were her magic resided from. When the display ended he returned to pouring his drink. He barely pour anything in it, some of the ice cubes did not even touch the ice. His drink would be a time limit to her stay. As soon as he was done with his drink he would show her to the door.

He picked up his drink and walked over to her while she was asking her questions. They were all reasonable questions that several people have asked him. Of course he didn’t get tired; he wasn’t using his magic to begin with. He was using an implant they had developed at the lab. Before she could finish speaking he heard something fall from the other room. Gaia’s room. He noticed the girl look at the room too. So it wasn’t him just being paranoid. His mind quickly started to race. He thought about everything that was in the room. Nothing was in the room except a chair, fake plants on the floor and Gaia. Had Gaia-

“Robert.” Dr. Lee was there beside him again. “Calm down or you’ll make the lady worry about you.”

Robert looked back at Elise who was yet again looking at him.

“Sorry about that.” Robert said taking his seat. “My cat must have knocked something down again.”

“Liar”

“Now back to your questions.” He took a sip of his drink leaning back casually in his seat. “Magic is a taxing thing to some. All over the world there are those that struggle their whole lives trying to perform the simplest tasks while others merely have to suggest the idea in their minds and it is done.” He thought about what to say next trying to keep the conversation more interesting so her mind wouldn’t wander. “When I first started with magic I had a hard time getting a weed to sprout. I would use all my energy on one single seed. Finally one day I was able to do it. Then I worked with two seeds. Then three, then four.”

“Or you could tell the girl that you implanted some of an alien’s DNA into yourself with a magic enhancer. That would make for a more interesting story than the poor boy that struggled to greatness.” Dr. Lee grumbled behind him.

Robert paused listening to the dead man behind him. He knew that the girl in his apartment couldn’t hear or see him, but it still worried him to hear those words out loud. What if she was actually someone that was in-tune with the dead and could pick up on them easily?

“As for being tired” He continued. “I have worked many years on my endurance. Thanks to my effort performing magic is like breathing.”

Robert took another sip of his drink. He glanced down at the liquid wishing that it was gone. Noticing he still had a little left he looked back up to Elise with a smile. “Do you have any other questions?”

---

Gel’linnea laid there looking around every now and then to see if her sight had returned. Nothing. She focused her attention on moving her body. Nothing. So far she only had her sense of feeling, hearing, and her recently returned sense of smell. After trying to see and move again she gave up for the time being and focused more on the senses that she had. She could hear mumbling, it sounded like an animal. The animal didn’t sound to close to her to be a threat. She could also smell the plants that held her. They were old and long removed from the outside. The rest of the room smelt stale, the air wasn’t fresh. How long had she been here? She began to wonder how she had been placed in this room; she must have been brought here. That would mean her ship could be anywhere on the planet.

The more she laid there and thought about it the more she worried. What kind of animals lived on this planet? Where they nice or mean? She felt her heart pick up speed as her fear of them being mean to her rose. She had to get away.

Light began to flood into her eyes suddenly. Everything was a blur though. The room was bright. She closed her eyes reflexively. After a moment she opened them slowly. Everything was still a blur, she couldn’t make out anything. Good. She would be able to see soon. She let out a deep breath and laid there waiting.

[Rina]

To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail]
Subject: FW: Concerning Richard Dalton

Did you make it to Japan safely? Long flights can be quite tiresome of a journey and undoubtedly more so with your little ones. Hopefully things will go smoothly for your family as well as your husband’s job throughout this trip.

Concerning your prior email as I’ve said before I was a close friend to Richard for as long as I can remember. We were practically brothers growing up. Things were a little rough between us the last few months we shared with each other due to a few conflicting viewpoints but overall Richard was pretty much the other half of me. It is unfortunate that he passed while the two of us were on bitter terms. Anyways keeping on subject, it was about a year after you left school. Ever since I’ve received your email I’ve been investigating what led to the events leading up to Richard passing away but it is going to take time. I will keep in touch with you and if at any time you have any leads or want to console in me, I am always open to do so. News like this so sudden can be quite painful and I would hate to leave you on such a somber tone after hearing so much about you from him.

As always a friendly ally,

D. Aldrich
Private Investigator

A somber sigh escaped Devan’s lips after sending the email. After the love-struck girl left her passions that came through college for a poet hater and moved to Finland, he never expected to hear from one of his favorite star pupils. Although he received a few emails or notices of his past life every once in a while, most ended after the death and the construction of the tombstone for Richard Dalton. However being overseas it was understandable that she wouldn’t have known about Richard, or at least the namesake of Richard, passing away. Even though the email he received from Neva was a surprise, he was even more astonished with himself when he replied to the woman’s email three days after receiving her first email. Originally he was going to delete the email she sent after receiving it but for some reason he couldn’t put himself to it. Here was the last shred of his former life that could link Devan to Richard but for some reason he couldn’t put himself up to it. Even though he changed his appearance completely from the time he was Richard to now and his ability to forgo his prior persona was not an issue to him so the idea of her having the ability to know who he used to be didn’t seem like an issue for him. However it was an unneeded risk. A loose thread in a web of lies that seemed not to have any ill effects but was something that had the potential to be something troublesome down the road, especially since Neva married the poet hater.

Sliding his phone back into his pocket as Chase returned from the diner’s restroom, Devan stepped out of the booth and the two headed towards the door. “Shall he head to Manhattan so we can see what all happened?” Chase asked as the two entered the other man’s car.

“No, it’s too early. Feel free to send Michael in if you’d like so that any surveillance that could possibly be in that area is focused on him. If things start to pick up in the news about it and if something catches my eye I’ll head over there in a bit as an investigator from D.P. Investigations but right now going there brings no interest to me.” Pulling out his phone after a short beep Devan paused to read a text he received. “Yes, now that is what I call interesting. I just received from a source that there are two highly skilled poets just spotted not too far away from here and the most spectacular thing is that the two of them are children. Children Chase!” Devan said with a little enthusiasm at the end of his statement. Although the teens that always seemed to be overeager to join the rebellion were always a handful and the idea of bringing children in as well would bring more complications, passing up the offer of recruiting the two children seemed to be far too good to pass by. Especially if they are as good as the two were described as.

“What is going on there? How were they spotted?” Chase asked apprehensively. He was always a cautious man, a man far too cautious in his opinion that sucked the excitement out of things far too often.

“From what I see it appears that there is some sort of crazed poet hater around waving a gun around and is causing quite a ruckus. It even brought the attention of Gilgamesh to the area.” Devan said with a spark of excitement in his eyes. An excitement he knew that he wouldn’t be able to pursue due to the potential dangers that could be involved. “Let’s send a few people over there so we can hear about the progression of whatever is happening there, especially about the children and Gilgamesh.”

“Okay, we'll do that. What about the woman?”

“She means nothing to me. She’s not even on the chessboard but just a speck of dust that happened to land near an important chess piece

~.~.~

Stopping in her place as the man’s voice cut in, Elysia turned towards him with livid eyes. With gritted teeth and white knuckles, she listened to the man ask her if she feared the children. It look all her force to not act out on her anger and even then it was quite obvious in her facial expression and how she held herself. She couldn’t believe that the man was insulting her by asking if she was afraid of the children but for the sake of not being marked down further on the test than she already lost a few points on, kept her mouth shut knowing that opening her mouth would be troublesome.

However that didn’t last long as her mouth shot open as the man said that the poets were not a threat. The first thing she wondered was if there was someone personally controlling the program to try and instil the idea that poets were not the enemy. The idea of someone tampering with the program for to get this result angered her. Once she was out of the program, she was certain that she would try and find out who caused this to happen but until then the best option seemed to be to follow that the program was wanting her to do and go along with the man. Slamming her mouth shut before she could regret anything that would come out, Elysia listened as the man spoke about his plans for catching the poets. Elysia didn’t pay much attention as the man swung the sword and the aftereffects that followed, thinking nothing more than that the technology on Earth was starting to catch up a little more to what Ryton had achieved. However effects that the man was able to do to his voice startled Elysia, quite certain that Earth’s technology wasn’t advanced enough for people to have vocal enhancements as the man displayed. A bit uncertain if her facts were correct, twitched her thumb over so that her ocular displayed changed over so that she could reach her planet’s database and see if her facts were correct about how advanced their technology was supposed to be.

However there was nothing to be seen.

Her thoughts quickly went back to the program as she wondered if she was disconnected from the database while in the simulator this time. However that had never happened to her and as she thought back to the time since she received her enhancement she couldn’t think of a single day nor moment she didn’t have access to the database. What would have caused her to suddenly lose access to the database? Maybe there was a battle brewing outside the simulation while she was in here stuck in the program unaware of the situation at hand. However that didn’t make sense to her. If something was happening, those in charge of the program would have ejected her from the simulation at the first sign of danger. This had to be something else.

Maybe her enhancement was malfunctioning. Although rare, it wasn’t something that was impossible and that this moment it seemed like the only plausible option on why she couldn’t reach the database. Her connection to the database wasn’t like cellphones on Earth that could lose reception and was too far away to have signal. There was nowhere on Ryton that she could go and lose her link with the database.

Giving a slight snort in response as the man noted that she was far away from home. Of course in the simulation she wasn’t from home, the program was to represent a place that was supposed to be Earth. Elysia clenched her fist tightly as the man came within punching distance towards her as she resisted the urge to hit him after his prior insult, even more so as he mentioned that the two shared a common goal. Did he think he could just get away with what he said to her and act as if it was nothing? Acting the way he did for nothing more than what appeared to be for publicity was nowhere near a goal of hers.

“Elysia.” The woman said sharply before walking towards the vehicle. “I assume you are wanting to talk somewhere a little more private.” The woman said stating the obvious rather than asking the man.

[Platanus]

Could anyone fucking believe this? It was fucking Ken Ikeda in the flesh going along with »his« hint, without having ever seen Jahho-Pekka in his life! The fact that he could so easily pass as his translator, though, made Jahho-Pekka rethink his assessment of his own Japanese skills. He could not have sounded any convincing if the security was so quick to take Ikeda for his translator. For the moment, nevertheless, his happiness was big enough not to allow him to sulk over it. As soon as the champion was on the »inside« and talked in English, it was not difficult for him to guess that the photographer was not from an English speaking country either, due to the very obvious accent, with which the Finn spoke. “No Problem”, were his first words and the emphasized »l« stood out. “Unbelievable! How could they treat you people like that just after a couple of years of... rest?” He shook his head in disappointment while saying these words.

When the champion said it was nice – for him – meeting Jahho-Pekka, the seemingly grown man actually giggled. “I never imagined we ever would!” And then he was asked for his name. “Oh, shit, I totally forgot the whole introducing thing... you know, since you don't need any introduction and all.” Finally giving Ikeda »his ticket«, the Finn then approached for his press ID and held it in front of Ikedas eyes, or at least high enough for him to be able to read without difficulties. “Jahho-Pekka Seppänen.” The confidence and speed, with which he pronounced made all the difference between a mother tongue and a learned, foreign language; compared to how he spoke Japanese or even English. “I'm actually an artistic photographer and doing this for the first time... but one has to admit, the whole event does have a certain artistic air about it, a sentimental finesse of »the lost and found«; damn worth coming all the way from Finland.” It was not only in his words, but also the body language as well his facial expression revealed the deep personal bond he felt to the rebirth of the Japanese Kendo Tradition. There was also an uneasy trace of the past which has lead to him being here today, something about which only the buttons on his shirt talked.

Then he eased up again, pointing in a certain direction they had to go “Here with my family, we've got two kids and both are too young to know who you are. But MAN, you're a fucking legend and the rumours about why you left and what you've been doing are big and diverse as hell.” Once again he giggled, not being able to hide his amusement as well as happiness. “My wife's a true delight, also from the States like you”, he then added, wondering if Ikeda would rethink the »offer«, knowing that he had to deal with a family of four instead of a professional journalist. It did not take much longer after Jahho-Pekka spotted Neve and the kids by one of the stalls. With the kids wanting to try out this and that, he knew they could not have gotten too far – much to Neve's delight, who now had to deal with two hyped kids on her own. “That's them”, he pointed the three out to Ikeda, while speeding up and simultaneously waving to Neve, calling out the kids' names – since parents instinctively grew to be more sensitive to their little ones' names than to their own. “Minkka! Antti!” His grin grew wider, seeing Minkka's »catch« from afar.

[jennifer lost the war]

“Well, I don’t think he had any idea who I was,” Ken replied to Jahho-Pekka’s concern for how security treated him, despite his reputation in the MMA sport. “Not that I would have expected special treatment, as nice as it is, but most of the people living here are of an older generation. Not only is my fan-base mostly in America, but they’re also much younger. Japan still has a long way to go in convincing younger people to live here. The older folk here have probably already lived here when they were children. Their parents decided to move elsewhere and after the tragedy they made the decision to return,” he explained.

He couldn’t help but smile and occasionally laugh awkwardly toward the attention the journalist was giving him. It had been years since he had somebody act as excited as this man did to see him. The man introduced himself and explained that he was a photographer, with an obvious passion for Kendo and the country in general. Ken’s face demonstrated visible and genuine concern when he mentioned the rumors of his retirement.

“Well I hope they’re not too crazy,” he replied, with an awkward laugh, trying to remember what his official statement was when he retired. “I know it’s kind of vague, but I meant it when I said I was leaving the sport to spend more time training. That’s quite literally all I’ve been doing all this time. You see, I’ve met this man who has been a great sparring partner and I’ve just come to the conclusion that fighting in MMA tournaments will never compare to what I could learn from him,” he explained. And now he’s gone, he thought to himself, trying to hide his grief. “I guess what’s fueling the rumors is the question of: what am I training for? And… I don’t really know the answer to that myself. For me, fighting has always been more than something I did for money, winning or fame. It’s just a part of me now.”

Jahho-Pekka told him about his wife and children once they had come into view, beginning to quicken his pace to meet up with them. Ken remained at his own pace and caught a glimpse of something in the sky. It disappeared into the clouds as soon as his eyes lifted up for a moment. Hawks were certainly native to the area, but he could have sworn it to be bigger. He wasn’t too sure if hawks flew that high either. He smiled at the kids and to his wife once he got close, offering his hand to her for a handshake. “I’m Ken. Your husband has made me his translator,” he joked, with a grin.

---

“Oh, you have a cat!” Elise said, with a wide, almost childish smile. Dr. Plant quickly changed the subject and her smile only slightly faded, indicating that the cat was still primarily on her mind the entire time she spoke. She had heard the things he was talking about many times before, and it was a genuine concern for her, but no matter how much she tried to start small and slowly work her way up, she could never build up her endurance any higher than it already was. The idea that working with magic was similar to working on your body made some sense to her, but it frustrated her that nothing she did actually worked. Maybe she needed the equivalent of a fitness trainer for magic.

“I guess my problem is that no matter how much I practice, I’ll always get tired after reaching a certain threshold,” she replied. “So, I have no idea what I’m doing wrong. Maybe I’m just not cut out for this kind of stuff,” she continued. It was a thought that had occurred to her many times before, but she always believed that enough work will yield the results you want. She wasn’t susceptible to giving up. However, she was susceptible to fluffy animals.

“Do you have any other questions?” Dr. Plant asked.

“Yes! What kind of cat do you have? They’re wonderful outdoorsy creatures, contrary to popular belief. It must be knocking things over because of it being in such a small space,” she said, getting up from the couch. “You didn’t need to lock it in there for me; I’m not allergic to cats or anything. In fact, I’m great with cats,” she continued, beginning to make her way to the door that hid the creature. “What’s its name? I’d love to meet him… or her!” she said, not really wanting to open the door without his consent, but couldn’t think of any reason why he wouldn’t want the cat running around knowing that she didn’t have a problem with it. She put her hand on the knob and turned.

---

“Elysia,” Gilgamesh repeated, “I’m Gilgamesh.” He noticed a clenched fist before she began walking toward the military jeep, and the tone of her voice certainly didn’t sound particularly welcoming. “Indeed,” he replied to her assumption that they should speak privately. “No military on the planet would take kindly to the knowledge of a being from another planet coming here. Myself and my five men, on the other hand, answer only to one individual and no government. We only have one mission and that is to flush out and kill poets. Nobody needs to know you exist,” he explained, getting into the back of the jeep while one of his soldiers drove.

“You seem agitated. Was it my words? To be fair, yours weren’t much better, but my skin isn’t so easily penetrated. As a soldier, I would hope yours is the same?” he said, attempting to cool her down before addressing anything else. “I don’t know what those children were, but they weren’t poets. Far too young to do what they did. If poets are what you seek, pursuing them is a no go,” he explained. “Just so you know why I let them go.”

“But first thing’s first. It’s not every day you get to meet an alien, let alone one that shares a disdain for poets—how did you get here and why?” he asked as they drove further downtown, toward a location they were temporarily calling their base of operations. “I know that may be sensitive information and we’ve only just met, but I think we can help each other and I’ll need to know some basic things. You can ask me anything you’d like about me and how we do things here. Except the mask,” he said, lifting his index finger to point upward. “Maybe if we’re good friends one day, we’ll talk about the mask.” Even when he joked, he spoke atonally. “If you don’t trust me or have any interest in the possibility of helping each other, just say the word and we’ll drop you off and no one will know we met. As long as you don’t interfere with our killing of poets, we shouldn’t ever have a problem in the future.”

[Izkripp]

The conversation went from annoying to intolerable as the woman started to talk about his 'cat' again. He thought that she was here to talk about the way that science and magic work together. He glanced at his glass for a moment judging the contents of it, he decided it was time for her to take her leave. Setting the glass down he stood up right after she did. "I locked her up-" He stood his sentence before it had time to really form as he watched her approach Gaia's room. He felt his heart speed up then come to a sudden stop as her fingers touched the door knob only he was allowed to touch. 'The door is locked.' He thought to himself.

"OR is it?" He heard Dr. Lee's voice echo through his mind.

Time seemed to stand still for him as his anxiety started to build within himself. "Get away.." He said as nothing more than a whisper at first. Robert reached into his pocket and pulled out a case that could often be seen during shows or interviews when he performed. Inside the case housed his seeds so he could perform his 'magic'. He didn't even take the times to sort out what would be best. Without much thought he threw the seeds at the door and began his magic.

A small pain etched its way into the back of Roberts neck as he focused on making the plants grow, a familiar pain. One he felt every time he did a cast. The pain was nothing more than a tingle to him now that he had grown accustom to it. A soon as the seeds hit the ground they sprouted. Most were flowers that were good for a show, but luckly he had some vine type plants. He allowed the flowers to blossom on the floor around them, but focused on his attention on the vine types to ensure that they grew. The vines grew over the door, twisting in each other to form a barrier. From the ends of the vines blossomed purple bunches of flowers that were beautiful and gave off a pleasant smell. He had often used these in his shows since Wisteria's could be trained to make trees or grow freely along the ground.

"Now.." He started not even winded by the display of magic. "I am afraid that your visit has come to an end." He stood up straight and motioned his hand to the door. "I am sure you remember the way out."

---

Noises. She heard noises in front of her. Something was going on. She focused her gaze forward as best as she could to see what was there. Everything was a blur though, she could see that everything was white except for an area that was darker. She stared at the darker area wondering where it went. Was it a cave? Or was it a closed off area? She couldn't tell, it was just a dark area with no definition at first. The more she stared at the area he clearer the imagine got. It was a closed off area. She was in a room that was closed off from the rest. Everything was starting to come into focus now. The room and everything.

She turned her head to look at her surroundings without noticing the smallest detail. She had moved her head. She looked at the plants that were in the room with her. They were strange. There wasn't a scent coming from them and she couldn't sense any life. They were the oddest plants she had ever seen in her life. She turned her head to the other side to look at what else was in the room. She noticed then. She turned her head again. She could move. Concentrating on her fingers she found she could move them and her wrists, and elbows, and shoulders. Her attention now was on her body more than the room that she was in. She pushed herself off the floor so she could sit. Her joints were stiff and didn't seem to want to move as much as she wanted them too. It was understandable through, she didn't know how long it had been since she used them last.

As she was examining herself she heard the commotion from the other side of the door. Whatever was on the other side was close and it didn't sound friendly at the moment. Was it the same things she had heard before? Her mind raced on what to do next. Much like a small child learning how to walk she stood herself up quickly and found herself stumbling to the plants in the room. She was somewhat relieved once she made it to one and was able to touch it. The relieve didn't last long as she felt the leaves only to find out that they were not plants at all. "Yu pequi?" She said to herself confused. 'What is this?"

Her attention went again to the door as the room was filled with a floral scent. She inhaled deeply.. ease found its way into her mind. So not all plants were like the ones in front of her on this planet. With a new found hope of being able to survive she turned her attention to the windows. She could see the sky, it looked like the sky many planets shared. She needed to escape and find her pod. She looked around until she spotted the chair in the room.

She slid the chair up to one of the windows and lifted it unsteadily. Her knees wobbled under the weight, but before they could give out she threw the chair into the window shattering it. Instantly air from outside filled the room and crest of again her skin and through her hair. She would be free. Without thought she ran through the shattered window and jumped.

[Ryver et Rhine]

“Eivät! Antti, eivät.”

The brunette managed to distract her chubby toddler by offering him her iphone. The email will have to wait for now. The little boy pressed the colorful apps on the screen at random, and soon, a chirpy little tune began playing. Antti squealed happily as he tried popping the moving bubbles on the screen. Neve laughed. Even at the age of three her son was already more proficient at the iphone than his dad. She blew on the bit of takoyaki spiked on the toothpick before offering it to her son. Antti turned his head away. He was too engrossed with the game to bother about food.

Minkka reached over for another of the ball-shaped snack. She took small hesitant bites while waiting for the inside to cool. She puffed rapidly to prevent as the hot dough touched her tongue. When she couldn't bear it any longer, she spat the whole piece out. She reached for her water bottle and took a huge swig. The cool liquid helped to alleviate the stinging sensation, but her tongue was still rather sore. Mina turned her attention back to her younger brother. She giggled as fruits and vegetables began flying across the screen. Antti found the fruit ninja app! That had to be her favorite game in mommy's phone!

The eight year held her fingers out like an imaginary camera. She pretended to take several shots of veli. Mummo would love these photos if they were real! Her grandma always said she was as skilled as her Paavi. After she was satisfied that she had enough shots of her younger brother, Minkka focused her make believe camera to the five goldfish swimming round in the three plastic bags suspended from her mother’s arm. She took six photos before she began poking the nearest bag with her little finger. The tiny gold fish pressed back against the surface.

“Are you full, Minkka?”

Minkka quickly nodded her head although she was still very hungry. She didn't want to burn her tongue again. She looked around for something else to buy. Her small brown eyes picked out the cotton candy stall. She pointed to the stall excitedly while she pulled her mother's sleeve repeatedly. “Karkkia!”

Neve gently released her daughter's hand from her sleeve after looking at the stall in question. Too much sugar was a bad idea, especially when it was way past the children's bedtime. Instead of objecting, the mother decided to offer her daughter a more tempting alternative. She searched the other stalls for a brief moment, and then pointed to the man selling balloons. She noticed her daughter clapped her tiny hands in delight. Neve patted Mina's shoulder gently, and the little girl calmed down. Neve pointed to each of the stalls slowly. “Mina – do you really want Karkkia or a pretty balloon?”

The young girl turned to look at the colorful balloons sold at the stall opposite the cotton candy stall. She looked at the old man giving a young couple a huge, blue puff and then she looked at the balloon sculptures once more. Her head darted back and forth between both stalls several times. “Pally!”

The lady tilted her head towards her backpack. Mina nodded and opened the side pocket. The child fished out a twenty yen note. Happily she waved it in front of her mother. Neve nodded. “Buy one for Antti too.”

“Okay!”

Mina barely avoided several couples and an old lady using a walking stick in her haste to reach the balloon man quickly. Her brown little pigtails whipped wildly as she ran. A familiar voice made her falter a little. It sounded like Daddy! Mina looked up and beamed. She recognized the blue kendo shirt immediately. The girl spun to the right and sped towards the huge, shaggy haired giant. Minkka clutched J-P's leg happily. The top of her head barely reached her father’s upper thigh.

“Isi!”

The little rascal refused to let go even when her father tried coaxing her. She simply laughed as her daddy tried to tickle her. Mina only relented after J-P promised his daughter a piggyback ride. She squealed with delight as she found herself hoisted up above the crowd. Her eyes shone happily. Everyone was shorter than her Daddy!

"Let's go back to Mommy!"

Neve studied the man approaching them. She noted that he was really tall for someone of an Asian heritage, or so she assumed. Somehow he looked oddly familiar as well. She can’t quite put her finger on it at the moment. She juggled her son to stop him from squirming around so much. Slowly the mother got up with the tot in arms, the goldfish dangling precariously from her right arm while the empty takoyaki box was clasped by just three fingers.

Ken Ikeda said “I’m Ken. Your husband has made me his translator.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Nevaeh, your average cowgirl from Texas. Anyone who helps to lighten my husband’s load is certainly a friend of mine,” the American woman responded cheerfully. She felt someone relief her of the box. Using the opportunity to adjust Antti, Neve then stretched out her right hand and grasped Ken’s. “Ken, is it? You look awfully familiar. I keep thinking you are a wrestler or something.”

[Rina]

The anger Elysia quickly dissipated as Gilgamesh mentioned her being form another planet. How could that be, the simulator never was programed with earthlings knowing who they were. Ever since space travel was perfected to the point of traveling to other habitable planets with signs of life, it was a strictly followed rule that the identity of who they were and where they were from was to be kept as a secret and the punishment was severe to the point that only twice the rule has been broken. Once, when an explorer lost a device while exploring earth and another at a far off planet governed by cannibalistic creatures that tried to capture an explorer. Sure, there were times that they revealed themselves to another planet, that is after a long and taxing meeting where the Council weighed the pros and cons of doing so and usually only if the such planet was advanced enough and were able accept her world and their culture. Earth was close to join the list of planets in consideration but still lacked in many ways that would make interacting with earth dangerous if they knew the power they held.

The man knowing that she wasn’t from Earth seemed impossible and seemed to be an error in the programing. Maybe they were testing her to see how she would respond if a speculation was made against her but that seemed illogical considering the fact that she was a warrior and not an explorer. She didn’t have to learn to interact with people that way since she would never face a circumstance such as that in real life.

Whatever was going on, she knew that either the new program still had many bugs in it or someone was intentionally screwing with her during the situation. The faulty test didn’t tell her what her objectives was at the beginning nor did it allow her to reach her database when she tried to bring up files of the current situation and finally a person was talking to her about being from another planet. There were other minor bits and pieces and things that needed to be improved to get the best a person could out of the simulation but before someone could worry about that, there were more severe issues that needed to be fixed either by a techie or someone being fired.

However that didn’t answer how she should respond to her current situation. Should she continue the simulation and ride it out until the end or abort the simulation and see if someone could fix the issue. She didn’t want to abort her simulation if the person in charge was causing the fault. Knowing that all the mistakes she faced couldn’t be due to pure mistakes or a rookie’s mistake but something intentional, giving up early seemed to as if she was giving up and Elysia wasn’t someone that would give up on what she was faced with. However if it was bug in the system, she would be wasting her time to prove her will against something futile. She knew that the man was speaking to her as the vehicle started to drive down the road and would soon notice she wasn’t paying much attention to his words if she decides to stay and appear to be thinking about something else.

Giving a stubborn snort to her choice to stay, Elysia noticed that the man was talking about the children as well as her temper, the former being much more of an interest to her. The man spoke truth about the children being too young for the abilities they possess. Maybe the duo were from a different world trained in combat and destruction and had the aim of destroying the city. Although it seemed farfetched for the simulation, she knew at this point she couldn’t let any little speculation pass her in this obscure test. She was curious in learning more about them, poet or not.

However her curiosity didn’t last long as the man returned to the topic of aliens. How was she supposed to answer the man? Even though she was in a simulation could she still be punished if she allowed Gilgamesh to believe she was an alien or worse, a denizen of Ryton? But what would she do if in this obscure test that the Earthlings somehow already knew who they were and she appeared as a fool trying to convince him that she wasn’t what she was. She knew she could take the easy route and tell the man to drop her off but she knew if she did so she would lose the opportunity to track down poets and she couldn’t let that chance pass by her, simulation or not.

“Aliens?” Elysia said with a tone of slight amusement in her voice. “I’m not sure if that would be the right term to use but we can roll with it if you like.” Deciding to keeping things a bit light and casual to feel out what the man already knew, the woman continued. “Well, most people get to here or there or anyplace they desire with their feet. That’s exactly what I did when I heard the ruckus the twins were making.” After a slight intentional pause as if she was thinking of something, the woman continued. “Wait, you weren’t talking about that were you? Do you mean how I made my way to America? It wasn’t a piece of cake as it is for most immigrants, not to mention the long ride in the air. Not by a flying saucer or things like that if you’re thinking of that type of alien.” She said with a slight chuckle, hoping that the idea of her being an immigrant from another country might be good enough from him and he would put the idea of her being an alien aside.

“All jokes aside though, how I came to America isn’t as important in why I am here. I’ve been sanctioned by my government to track down poets and he led me on a chase to the states. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to worry about jurisdictions and such and find this man with ease but being one with their life centered on poets, I couldn’t allow innocent passersby getting hurt so I had to stop the twins with what ability I had.” Elysia said spinning a story embedded with enough truth that it seemed solid enough to her. Although sanctioned by the Council in becoming a warrior for her planet as well as searching for one particular man of interest that drove her crusade against poets, how the story melded together was far from being exact. “There’s a chance that you might know him though. Have you heard of Skylar? He a dangerous and quite skilled in the art of poetry. But putting that troublesome man to the side, I do have a question about you. Over the years I’ve heard of people fighting for a cause, whether war or poets in your case, but I don’t care about the reasoning behind the cause. I want to know about you. Why are you going after the poets?”

[jennifer lost the war]

Elise blinked several times quickly when Dr. Plant made the vines sprout to block the door and took a half step back. “I am afraid your visit has come to an end,” she heard him say. The hostility caused her to freeze up and she never looked at him directly. She could still see him in the corner of her eye. So I was right, she thought, though without much conviction. She searched all her life for extra-terrestrial life or even a hint at it, and now that all that stood in her way were vines and a locked door, she increasingly began to question herself. But Abal indicated that there were dozens of different life-forms in the city, she recalled. How could that be possible?

There was the sound of movement behind the door. Elise listened carefully, trying to determine what was happening. “Have you been kept prisoner?” she asked, hoping for an answer, but one didn’t come, despite movement in the room continuing. “My name is Elise. I can help you,” she said, her heart now beginning to beat loudly, knowing that Dr. Plant’s anger would surely rise after hearing it. There was still no response and it suddenly hit her that if whatever was in there was an alien, it possibly didn’t understand her. However, before she could regret it, she heard the window shatter in the room.

She gasped and said frantically, “don’t jump, I can help you! Don’t jump!” But soon after her words were said, all sounds of movement from the room disappeared. “What have you done?” She said with distain as she looked at Dr. Plant directly for the first time, before racing out of the suite and into the elevator to the first floor.

---

“Immigrants?” Gilgamesh repeated the phrase that was said with genuine confusion and surprise. And on Elysia went about how she came to the country, explaining that she was sent by her government to hunt poets, much like his own life-story. However, he unintentionally began to stop paying attention and if asked what she had just said a moment ago, he wouldn’t have been able to recall. She can’t possibly still be trying to hide that she is an alien, he thought, perplexed by her defense and insulted. Afterall, she was carrying a weapon that clearly surpassed any technology that could exist on Earth. And he knew that there was no such government that was protecting or hiding the technology from the public. He had worked for other governments before working with America. He knew things that many others did not. He had seen many of the developing technologies that many governments had prototyped already. Her firearm wasn’t one of them.

“I have not heard of Skylar. Would he happen to be from your planet?” Gilgamesh asked, clearly unimpressed by her story of being an immigrant. I thought about the possibility of being mistaken and how nicely her story would have explained her behavior when the twins had made their appearance, but he took his warning of a massive influx of aliens appearing on earth seriously and he was taught from the beginning that second guessing often has dire consequences. She looked out of the ordinary from the beginning—her size, especially given her position in combat, her advanced weapon and, now that he was close enough to notice, her silver eyes. He couldn’t back down. He felt it in his gut that something wasn’t right and he wanted to know why.

“All jokes aside indeed. I don’t know what you take me for, but if you plan to stick to your story about being an immigrant and expecting me to believe you, then I’m just going to have to drop you off right here and now,” he said with conviction. “You possess technology that doesn’t exist on this planet. So, let’s be absolutely clear about the situation you’re in. The American government already knows you’re here. I haven’t the slightest clue how they know that nor do I care. As I’ve said, my only concern is that poets are dying, so if you can help me with that nobody will touch you. Before I do any of that, I need your trust first and I need to know how the hell you got here and why you’re here in the first place,” he said, hoping the message was received loud and clear.

And if you don’t cooperate and request to be dropped off, I’m confident that you’ll be dead in a week or less because not even your technology in your hands alone can stand up to the American military, Gilgamesh thought. Although revealing that the American government knew she was here implied that they were after her in some way, he didn’t want to directly threaten her. At the end of the day, he wanted her on her side. And beyond that, he wanted to know what aliens were doing on Earth. Although it wasn’t his primary concern, his superior made it sound more than urgent and if he obtained information that his superior wasn’t aware of, maybe that would give him an advantage when the conflict developed. If that meant suspending his usual tactic of making people afraid of him for a little while, then so be it. Those tactics were meant for poets anyway, he thought.

“My cards are laid out on the table, Elysia. I’m not playing games with you, so don’t play them with me.”