To Brook, the best part of the flight was the take off and the landing, the excitement of when the plane finally lifted into the air always gave her a bit of childish amusement. The landing was always fun because it meant the wait was finally over and you could get off to your destination. Everything between those two parts, well, they were soul crushingly boring. In other words, the flight was on its way, now headed for Xiva. They’d be here for the next few hours, so it was time to find something to do while she waited; she had already played what felt like a million games of sudoku. It was actually 2 games of sudoku but that was enough for her to be bored as hell. Leaning back in her seat, Brook sighed. “Never thought I’d be flying first class.”
There was so much room here. The walls were a relaxing but boring beige color, everything was so clean and polished; more like gentrified, actually. She could actually get up and walk around in the surprisingly spacious first class seating; maybe she would talk to one of the other passengers and make them wonder why a trashy lower middle class girl like her was doing in first class. But, thankfully, she did have a friend coming with her, there was one seat directly in front of her for her little guest… One she reluctantly brought along. There she was now.
“Once you fly first class, you will be shocked at just how much you’re missing out on.” Kaya said, walking into the cubicle that they sat in, sitting down on the comfy sofa in front of Brook, shutting the door to give the two of them a little privacy. She held a basket containing some bourbon plus sodas. Nothing like a bit of alcohol to ease the nerves. “Thanks for letting me come along. I haven’t been to Xiva in so long. Not since I met Pilotte last month.” She gasped, realizing that bringing him up might be a sore spot for Brook right about now. “Er… Sorry, shouldn’t have said that.”
“It’s fine.” Brook said, taking a bottle of soda, the phantom pain of being joked just a terrible memory. No alcohol right now, she wasn’t in the mood to drink. For once, she desired none of it. She made no eye contact with the pink clad Handler, instead just watching the clouds outside pass by. They were over the ocean by now.
“You’re, uh, not mad at me, are you?” Kaya said, the serval trembling with anxiety. For someone as upbeat and ditsy as her, she sometime had her own ‘Ethan’ moments.
“If I was mad at you, I wouldn’t have wanted you to come.” Brook shrugged, only now looking over to Kaya. Her expression didn’t look mad. Didn’t even look annoyed. Actually, there wasn’t much emotion to her face other than the emotion you get from a girl running on about 3 hours of sleep at most. “I just want anyone to talk to on this trip. Speaking of which, how long til we reach Xiva? Was told it’s like 10 hours.”
“About 10 hours, yes,” Kaya nodded, confirming Brook’s guess.
“So yeah, we’re going to be here a bit.” Maybe she would sleep a bit, these seats were comfy enough that she could fall asleep right now; unlike the ones in the normal class seating, they weren’t uncomfortably rubbery and smell like puke. First class smelled like something artificially sweet was being pumped into the room at all time. “But, no, I’m not mad at you. I’m not mad at Ethan. Not even mad at Primal for being the group that set up the whole fight that almost got me killed.” She drank a bit, putting her paws up on the table. “Don’t even know if I’m mad at Pilotte either. Of course I hate him for being a guy who kills for fun, but not because he tried to kill me.”
“You’re kind of lackadaisical aren’t you?” Kaya said, raising a brow, pouring herself a shot of bourbon.
“Lacka-what?” Brook said, eyes wide.
“You’re very easy going.” Kaya explained, using an easier to understand word. “I mean, especially compared to Ethan, you’re pretty chill. Only that Eli guy has gotten you beat.”
“What can I say,” Brook shrugged again. “I’ve been through too much. I’ve been through a lot of shit in my life that I feel it’s best to just live and let live. My emotional baggage isn’t yours. Unlike Ethan, I don’t think I should let it weigh me down either.”
Kaya scratched her head, looking at the hyena with a mixture of concern and curiosity. “If you don’t mind me asking-”
“No, I won’t share it.” Brook said, answering her question before she even asked it.
“Then I won’t ask.” Kaya nodded. “But it seems like you’re actually mad at Ethan. You said you had an argument, right?”
“I told you, I’m not!” Brook said, “I’m just sick of it. I’ve been best friends with him for over 20 years. I’m sick of how he always needs to be most anxious person in the room, even after all of this. I’m sick of how he always seems to act like he’s a burden or how everything around him is a burden to him. Even after I almost got killed, he acted like this was his fault. Gods! I know you can’t just feel better or will away depression and shit. When you have problems like that it’s something that sticks with you, I of all people should know, but he always seems to fall back into his rut no matter what treatment he gets!”
“Sounds to me like you’re more stressed than anything and letting it get to you.” Kaya nodded, scratching her chin. “Sorry if I’m stating the obvious there.”
Brook rubbed the side of her head, nodding. “It probably is pent up stress. 20 years of pent up stress that is only now exploding. Took a komodo dragon trying to kill me to finally uncork it. But no, I’m not mad at Ethan at all, I know I’ll return to this feeling happier about him and I’m sure he’ll feel happier to meet me when I come back; this is just a problem that the two of us need to fix by ourselves. Now let’s stop talking about it. Don’t think I need a serval reminding me about why I’m stressed in the first place.”
“Oh, sorry,” Kaya laughed, “By the way, speaking of that komodo dragon, he isn’t under me anymore. Finally found a different Handler for him to serve under. There is no way that he’s gonna be independent, he needs someone to wrangle him.”
“Really, who’s the unlucky guy or gal?”
“I don’t think you know any of the Handlers, besides the ones you’ve already met.”
Stolen novel; please report.
“Yeah but tell me anyways. Might as well do some info gathering. Hell, I just want something to pass the time that isn’t sudoku.”
“Well, fairy fluff.” Kaya nodded. “The guy Pilotte now works under is Audwin Marshall. The CEO of Ceiling Unlimited, a weapon’s manufacturer.”
“That name sounds familiar.”
“He was at the fight with Pilotte actually, but you didn’t run into him, Ethan certainly did though. That being said, I’m kind of glad you didn’t meet him. He’s not a pleasant person.” She held a glass in hand, “The story with Ceiling is that it started as a company manufacturing small parts, like bolts and wingnuts for larger manufacturers, and had a huge boom in a war that occurred before the last one. Often painted as a rags to riches story. In reality, Ceiling Unlimited’s success happened because Audwin’s father inherited a cobalt mine from his own father, causing the company to explode in wealth… Thanks to skirting around child labor laws.”
“Typical fucking rich folk. Bunch of inheritance babies acting like they earned their wealth.” Brook giggled, pouring a bit of bourbon into her soda. “No offense, I forget that you’re rich too. But you’re at least not a CEO.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not. I’m a full time Handler and I love all of my Fighters.” Kaya said, putting her hand up defensively. “But, Audwin owned the company when the Last War started. That’s when they went from manufacturing parts and components for machines, and began shifting focus to developing weapons. They’re actually the inventors of Modular Weapons.”
“Modulars?” Brook leaned in, now invested. “That also sounds familiar.”
“Let’s not talk about them too much. Talking about them on an airplane is like shouting fire in a movie theater.” Kaya said, leaning in close, whispering. “Basically, weapons that can be disassembled and put together super easily; even someone with no knowledge in guns could take one apart and put it together in a few seconds. Not only that, thanks to being energy based weapons, any stock goes with any receiver, any trigger with any chamber. Surprised you haven’t heard about them, there were controversies surrounding them for years during the war. They were banned shortly into the war, due to how easily they were to conceal and disguise.”
“I mean, I was born when the war started. You can’t blame me for now knowing.”
“Fairy fluff,” Kaya laughed, spouting her strange catchphrase yet again. “But yes, that’s Audwin for you. Making money and profit, no matter the deaths that he causes, sees everything as a sort of game or competition. Any other Handler you want to know about. I’m your number one stop shop for Handlers and Fighters.”
“Hm…” Brook nodded, “Are there any female Handlers? Other than you, that is?”
“Quite a few, actually. I could call one up right now if you want to talk with them.”
“We’re on a plane. So, uh, no you can’t.” Brook corrected her. “But what about female fighters I should have my eye on? I’ve seen a few on the Primal app.”
“Oh plenty. As a matter of fact, three new fighters that joined this year are not just women, but complete monsters. There is Rosemary, a top class assassin who served during the war from a very young age. Opal, who is a celebrity in Yisk and a top class wrestler. Then there is Milly, a boxer and said to have the strongest punch in the whole world. Boxing gloves are said to explode in her hand when she punches at full force.” Kaya shivered, “Ooooh, I would love to see how someone as strong as Pilotte would stack up to that fist.”
“Opal and Milly!” Brook exclaimed, “I know both of them. I told you, I think, I watched recordings of their matches until the tapes burnt out! How did they take so long to get into Primal?!” So many famous people in the company. Just how many celebrities were involved in this? Even a serial killer like Pilotte could be considered a celebrity by some stretch of the imagination.
“We only send out so many invites.” Kaya said, “I’m sure that tiger explained to you that there are always only 108 Fighters in Primal at once.”
“…and once the year rolls over, you send out just enough invites to replace any fighters that were killed.”
“Exactly. You can also retire from Primal. Don’t worry, we aren’t a crime organization that totes being unable to escape once you’re in.”
“It’s all so complex.” Brook said, leaning back, completely slumped over in her chair now, almost sinking into it; those three hours of sleep she was running on were now catching up with her. Why did they have to make the sofas in first class so damn comfy. Didn’t help that the sweet artificial scent of the room was starting to grow on her; she had heard of acquired tastes, but she had never heard of acquired smells. “Alright, I think I’m done talking about Primal. Think that’s just enough Primal for this gal now.”
“Wait, one more thing,” Kaya said, taking out her phone. “I almost forgot to tell you but… You said you were upset about Ethan being the only one to decide everything, right?”
“Right.” Brook nodded, not even opening her eyes.
“Well, I took it upon myself and chatted with a few hire ups, this was before the fight with Pilotte, keep in mind. I got my ass chewed out by a few, including Alton Auger’s son. But I wanted to give you a gift… You’re being offered to act as co-handler along side Ethan.” She said, as Brook phone buzzed, snapping the hyena to attention.
Brook took the phone out of her pocket and there is was. A message from Kaya. A small and simple message simply reading “Welcome to Primal.” Followed by a download link. “By downloading that, you accept your role as a Handler. You’ll earn a share of the fight money, be given permission to set up fights, meet with other Handlers and Fighters, and even request for Fighters to work under you.” She clasped her hands together. “Please accept it, I went through so much shit to get people to consider bringing you on. It was thanks to an anonymous member of Primal’s elite that they even let me have the go ahead to send you this.”
“Do people not like me here?”
“Unfortunately not, Brook,” Kaya bowed her head. “I’ll be blunt, a lot of them don’t seem to like you or Ethan.”
Brook furrowed her brow, looking at the download link, not even caring who this anonymous elite was. Then, she grinned. “Well, in that case, I accept.” She clicked the download link, “But not because I want to be all elite and get a bunch of money and shit, that’s just a bonus. Nah, man, I think I’ll accept it just to spite the fuckers who doubt me. Fuck it, not just me, to spite the fuckers who doubt me and Ethan!”
“That’s the spirit.” Kaya said, raising a glass.
Brook, with her soda bottle, toasted Kaya.
“By the way, one more thing about Primal, then I’ll get that out of your fur.” Kaya said, “But while you’re there, why not test your skills as a Handler. You’re going to Ishinomori right? There is a fighter who is flying solo right now and could use a Handler; a fledgling Fighter for a fledgling Handler. Even if he doesn’t join you, it might be worth it to check out his fights when he has them, or at least have a chat with him.”
“Well, this is kind of meant to be a vacation, but I’ll see if I’m in the mood for it.” Brook shrugged, “But if I run into him, I’ll run into him. Thanks for the offer.”
“Come on, I recommend it, this guy is sick! I was an instant fan of him when I saw him in action. He rides a motorcycle and wears a mask scarf combo, plus he is said to have quelled a whole Northist uprising in his whole town all by himself.”
“What’s his name?” Brook asked, now curious. Anyone who beats up a bunch of Northists is super cool in her book.
“His real name is Gentaro. A rabbit. But when he dons his mask, he goes by a whole different name.” Kaya said, speaking with such excitement and fervor.
“What would that be?” Brook said, leaning in, feeling a bit of excitement by proxy.
“Rider.” Kaya said with an excited grin.