Mei woke up, yawning a few times, and then looked at the ceiling. As she lied there staring aimlessly up to heaven, the previous day started flooding back, reminding her why she had the weird feeling that she had woken up with. Yesterday had been a rather heavy day, and she felt worn out from it both physically and mentally. Although she was no stranger to negative feelings, she wasn't used to so many emotional highs and lows in quick succession. She felt a little embarrassed that Isaac had seen her like that, but if there was anyone who should, it was him. It wasn't something she wanted to have to explain to anyone else.
She thought about the mysterious figure she had had a run in with. Viewing the day through the lens of retrospect, she realized that her reaction to this wasn't just about the figure. It was the culmination of all her feelings from everything that was on her mind. She figured she should probably go talk to a therapist about it again at some point. She didn't want to end up in a dark room hunched over in a folding chair.
But... maybe all of this was a good thing after all. Certain bad experiences can come with a sense of catharsis that it makes certain things more readily identifiable that were previously more hazy. And this can make them easier to deal with. In truth, she did feel a little better today. There was a kind of indefinable sense of coziness that comes with letting these feelings out. And this is what she felt like now.
She looked around. She needed to eat, but she didn't really want to get out of bed just yet. It was a cloudy day outside, and as she had curtains that blocked out most of the light, leaving her bedroom in a very chill shadowed atmosphere that she wanted to just soak in for awhile. Nobody called her yet, so she wasn't in a hurry. So she reached over for her reader to spend some time reading more Bunker Man and Harry. Something felt very familiar about it, but it was hard to place.
But she couldn't read all day. Eventually she got up and stumbled her way into the bathroom to brush her teeth. As she did, she glanced at the mirror, pausing while doing this with her toothbrush still in her mouth. Even though she looked unkempt at the moment, there was something comforting to her about looking in mirrors. Seeing that you have a body gives you a feeling of existence. A sense of being. It can remind you that you aren't just a centerless observer of the world around you.
Looking over at her bathtub, she thought she should probably take a bath. She had been running around a lot yesterday, and she didn't know when the techno-gnostics would want her back. Normally she was more likely to take a shower, but on days she did more activity, she would usually take a bath instead. This being one of the latter, she filled up the bath, and then once it was full, she took off her shirt and panties, climbing in.
She let herself slide down to blow bubbles in the water. She was glad that the tub was inordinately long on account of her height. She had used short tubs before, and they were unpleasant if they didn't leave enough room for your legs. She especially hated showers that didn't even have a tub. Sometimes, even when taking a shower, she would lay on the floor of the tub, aiming the showerhead so that it wouldn't hit her face, and just relax like that. She wasn't sure if this was a normal thing that people did, but no matter. No one had to know.
She took down her two blue rubber ducks, who she referred to as Matty and Sandy, and placed them on the side of the tub, facing her. Sometimes she would speak to them if she wanted someone to talk to in the bath. But today she felt like they would understand her feelings without her needing to say anything. And she just wanted the company. She stared at them and felt comforted by their non-judgmental stares. Like her two blue guardian angels who exist for comfort.
After getting out of the tub, she was still uncertain whether to put on street clothes or house clothes for the moment because she was uncertain how soon they would contact her. She stood naked in front of her closet, thinking and stroking her face. But she ultimately chose to keep with underclothes for the moment because she didn't want to have to change again.
She opened her fridge to make herself a sandwich. She was skipping right to lunch because it was a little late to want to eat breakfast now. She wasn't sure whether this was a good idea, but who was counting? Isaac didn't need to know.
She made her sandwich and started eating it at the counter, considering where she should sit to eat. She could go back and eat it in bed, but that might not be an ideal choice if she was trying to convey to the universe that she was doing okay. She didn't want to go out on the balcony since she felt like staying inside for now. But she did like the dark shadows cast by an overcast day. So she wandered over to the door to look out it, only to be shocked when she got there.
She stood there with her mouth open, as the sandwich slipped out of her hand to the floor rather than making its way there. Outside the window in the sky was a large structure that looked like it cut through space, sticking its way out into reality. She held her arm up, gesturing at it.
“What the hell is that?”
The floating spectacle certainly had an intimidating presence, but she hadn't yet been called for anything. They must have seen it already, so if they hadn't called her, it was likely deliberate. She thought over this, thinking that it was possibly because they wanted her in top shape just in case anything happens again. Or maybe it wasn't yet a threat.
But either way, it also wasn't yet her problem. She needed to eat, or else she would be too hungry for whatever else was about to happen for the day. So she sat down and finished her sandwich, all while suspiciously glancing at the floating geometric monstrosity.
----------------------------------------
Isaac woke up and looked at his ceiling. He wondered how Mei felt about the previous day and about the fact that he had been there to witness it. In general, she showed him feelings that she never showed to anyone else. But she was more upset than usual of late. She wasn't wrong that she had usually been the one to comfort him in the past. But he was happy that he could now do the same in return, despite everything. And that the years of studying ether that he had done in his parents' house could finally be put to use despite everything.
But he couldn't sit around thinking all day. He had to get up and get ready for whatever would happen next. He jumped out of bed to head to the bathroom and took off his underwear to climb into the shower. As he was sensitive to touch, he hid behind the shower curtain until the water was warm enough, slowly reaching his hand out from time to time. After it was warmer and steam began to fill the room, he cautiously came out, and checking to make sure it was okay, stood under the warm water, thinking about the previous day.
There was a lot to think about, of course. Especially if they were now shouldered with a new mysterious enemy. Mei claimed this person knew them. Which means there was no obvious upper limit to what else they might know about their mission. Was it someone who came from inside? This was the obvious thing to assume. But they would also know it was an obvious thing to assume. And so if it were true, they likely wouldn't make themselves known so early. But it was something that couldn't be ruled out.
When he got out, he stood in front of the mirror for a time combing his hair and running his hands through it, doing various things generally taking care of his appearance. Unlike Mei, who by appearance alone came off like she wanted to come off standoffish and spent little time on it, Isaac wanted to come off sufficiently inviting, even if he was still rather small and shy. And if he got some degree of looks from it, that was no issue either. Though he considered that if he was weaker, he might be more intimidated by this. There was a certain privilege that came from being someone who wasn't afraid of certain situations arising.
He came out of the bathroom and stretched. He was alone and not sure how long it would be until they called him to come back, so he figured he didn't need to bother putting on new clothes just yet. Especially since he would rather his clothes still be clean when he went out. He watered his potted palms and then went to the kitchenette to make himself some cereal, sitting down to eat it.
As he was sitting naked on his couch eating cereal, he got a cyber message notification. He left the spoon in his mouth while picking up his phone. He hesitated for a second, considering that if he spilled on himself he might need to wash again, but he read it regardless. On his phone was the message, “Look outside. There are triangles floating in the air.”
Isaac blinked a few times. He thought it would be from headquarters, but it was from Mei instead. He started speaking out loud to himself in confusion.
“Mei, what are you talking about? What do you mean cubes?”
He got up to look out the window but hesitated, remembering that he was still naked before deciding that he was high enough up that it didn't matter. He looked out the window, only to be shocked that there was indeed some type of floating structure in the sky.
“Huh. I guess there are cubes. What... what exactly are these?”
“I mean, its really kind of... I think it is more triangular, I think.”
Isaac stood there naked, rubbing his face in confusion. This had to be related to the temple somehow, but he wasn't quite sure what he was looking at. But he would probably figure it out at the meeting once he was called for it. But he looked down at his phone again because he was receiving another message. This time it was finally a call to meeting. Though strangely, it had no sense of urgency in the wording. He was concerned about the fact that the message was worded this way, wondering if it was some kind of issue or sent under duress. But he needed to get to it regardless. He hurriedly finished the rest of his cereal and then went to get dressed.
----------------------------------------
Mei strolled down her stairs with a determined look on her face. This was the ebb and flow of reality. She wasn't ashamed over what had happened yesterday. Because what really matters is if you can carry through. And she was prepared to carry through, regardless of how she felt.
As she got to the bottom of the stairs and strolled outside, she was called out to again and looked over to see Anjana sitting on the edge of the raised cement barrier. Although Mei did need to be on her way, it was not presented as an urgent hurry, so she walked over to talk to her, considering that a few minutes would not be a major difference.
“Hello Ann, how are you doing?”
Anjana looked at her.
“Did you see that thing in the sky? They were talking about it on the vidscreen when my parents were watching. The temple says not to worry about it. That it is a white omen of good things to come.”
Mei looked up at the odd, indefinable geometric shape.
“I've seen it. Just a few minutes ago though.”
“I'm... I'm scared, Mei. It feels like something dangerous is coming.”
Mei looked down and closed her eyes.
“Have faith. I told you. It's possible that one day soon this may all be over.”
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Anjana thought about this quietly, looking off into the distance for some moments. But eventually she made a face, looking like she was thinking and had something to say. But she wasn't sure whether she wanted to come out and say it. Gradually, she turned to Mei slowly. And stared at her a long time before speaking.
“You... what you are doing has something to do with this, doesn't it? You are going to go stop the temple. This is what you have been working on all this time.”
Mei jumped suddenly. She hesitated, unsure of how to respond and nervous that this was something she was not supposed to let anyone else know.
“Don't worry, Mei. I won't tell anyone. Not even my friends. I'm not young anymore, I know that it's important for no one to know it is you. That it could put you in danger if anyone knew.”
Mei thought about this. It's true that not everyone could guarantee that they could keep secrets long-term. But at this point, it wouldn't need to be for very long. And at any rate, she already had to deal with the unfortunate fact that the black knight seemed to know where she lived. But Mei didn't think they were going to make a house call. It seemed like for the moment they just wanted to prove a point. And whatever they were planning seemed like it might still be a ways off. Of course, that still leaves the temple. But she had to make a judgment call.
She went to sit down next to Anjana on the concrete and looked over to her, smiling.
“Thank you. And yes. This is something I have to do.”
Anjana looked up at her.
“Who else knows?”
Mei thought for a moment.
“No one. Not other than the people I work with, that is. There was one couple that I told as a snap judgment, but they would be in hypersleep by now. And won't be awake again for a long time.”
Anjana looked down and smiled.
“Then that means I am special.”
Mei thought about it and then looked over at her.
“I suppose it does. You know, you are the only one who figured it out. Not even the temple knows. So make sure not to say it to anyone.”
“I said I wouldn't.”
“I know.”
Anjana thought about it, then put her hands up to her cheeks.
“I don't suppose you could use some help?”
Mei looked like she was thinking.
“I could probably use it. I haven't been having the best week. But you know I can't let you be around danger.”
“I'm just joking.”
“I know that too.”
Anjana kicked her legs forward and back. She looked down, thinking for awhile.
“You're going to stop them, right? The temple?”
Mei looked at her.
“I can try my best. But no promises. I won't lie to you; there are some things even I can't do. And this is something that will be difficult even for me. But...”
She closed her eyes.
“I'm going to give it everything. For you. For everyone.”
Mei hesitated for a long time.
“And... for me. This is something I have to do for myself, too. I owe it to my younger self.”
Anjana looked up at Mei.
“Your younger self?”
Mei looked down somberly.
“I suppose you could say it is something I need to prove to myself. That I don't have to live as a slave.”
She thought about it for awhile, and then turned to Anjana.
“I guess I never really talked about this much with you before. Not very openly, at least. But my parents were very similar to yours. I dealt with a lot of verbal and sometimes even physical abuse when I was young. As a result, I grew up with very low self-esteem. And when young, I allowed them to make all my choices for me. Including one that is... difficult to take back.”
She reflexively stroked her left arm.
“They gave me something binding. And at that point I felt like there was no escape for me. It got so bad that I...”
Mei trailed off suddenly, considering that this might not be something she should say to someone so young. But Anjana put her hand on Mei's back.
“Did you try to kill yourself, Mei?”
Mei jumped internally again and then looked at her sadly.
“I know what you are thinking, Mei. That I am too young for you to say this to. But these are things that even I know. There was... someone in my school who killed themselves. They were younger even than I am now. I knew her, but I wasn't very close to her. But one day you come in to school, and they are just gone. And then you never see them again.
“At the time, I didn't get it. Why someone would do that. But now... I think I do. I don't feel that way myself. But I know why someone would. And I understand their reasons.”
Mei was still hesitant and sad over what she was being told. But Anjana was right. And she wasn't a child anymore. Mei turned to her to speak.
“...Yes. At the lowest point of my life, I did try to kill myself. But when I came to see death face-to-face, I realized that this isn't what I wanted. And that it wasn't time for me to die. I came to understand that what I really wanted was to be free. To be free to live my life without being bound by the chains that I knew so well. So I came back. So that I could cut them. Not just for me. But for everyone who is bound by them.”
Anjana looked up at her.
“Mei... I'm sorry. I never realized you had so many problems too, just like me. I just thought you were there as... someone to comfort me. I guess that even as an adult, that problems won't necessarily all be solved, huh. That's a bit intimidating, to be honest.”
Mei put her finger on her head.
“It's true, not all problems can be aged out of. And sometimes new ones will come up too. But you can keep working on them. And if you try hard, tomorrow will be better than today. I can't do much about your family. But I hopefully can about the temple. And if we work at it together, things can be a lot better for a lot of people.”
Anjana looked listlessly off into the distance at some of the turning gears that adorned the facade.
“Tell me, Mei. What did you see? When you looked into the abyss and saw death itself.”
Mei looked back down, with the infinite expanse of her black eyes reflecting the light of the sun back at Anjana.
“I saw motivation. I understood what it was to be carried forth ceaselessly. Be born. Live. Die. And be born again. But it is within this cycle that your path lies. And if you lose it, you can never get that time back again. So I came back with a message. I am... the messenger of death. This is something I need to pass on. And to do this, I need to free those who weren't capable of walking their own path. In their own lives. We can only march forward. And do what we can against the temple. Things will eventually come to a head with them. And at the end of days, fate will see which of us will be the ones that will survive.”
Anjana nodded. And then stood up.
“I believe in you, Mei. I always will.”
Mei closed her eyes and smiled.
“Heh. Well, at least one of us does.”
“Mei, don't talk like that.”
“I know I shouldn't. Isaac would chew me out if he heard. I will try to believe in myself too. But I need to go now. We need to figure out what exactly is up with the structure in the sky.”
Mei herself stood up. And they both smiled and made thumbs-up signals at each other.
“Tam biet.”
“Tam biet.”
----------------------------------------
Mei strolled into the meeting place. She could see at a glance that this meeting was a little different than some others. Low-level operatives were not present, and only decently high-ranked people were there. This meant that whatever was about to be told to them would be high-level classified. Something important they needed to not get out.
She quickly spotted Isaac and strolled over to him. They still had a little bit of time before anything began on account of the fact that people were instructed to come at different times to keep it from being noticed.
Isaac waved and looked over at her. Mei smelled like a sandwich, but he didn't want to ask questions. Or rather, he did, but not about that. Or rather, he did want to ask about that but figured he probably shouldn't. He had something more important to ask anyway.
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I'm okay. I was just having a bad day yesterday. But... you already knew that. I think I am over it.”
“Are you sure?”
“No.”
Isaac shook his head and responded in a humorous tone.
“Well, try to keep it together. Mom said it is my turn for a breakdown next.”
As if to challenge him, Mei started counting on her fingers.
“Can you slot one in for next Tuesday?”
“No, I have ah... something for that day already.”
"Well, you don't get to be picky if you don't have the free time. Also, don't tell me about it.”
He laughed slightly, embarrassed, and looked down.
“But really. I'm glad you're doing better.”
“For now.”
“For now.”
They both looked up to a sound at the front of the room. The briefing was about to start. Many people began filing in to seats, but some others remained standing in the back. In the front, Tsubasa, a man from HQ, was wearing a fitted suit, putting an image of the spatial phenomenon on a screen behind him, after which he began speaking.
“We will cut to the chase so as not to waste any time. We are here to talk about the spatial phenomenon cutting through space into our world. It was made visible earlier today, in the early morning, and we have been observing it ever since. But aside from its appearance on our plane, it has not taken any notable actions.
“This structure is fortunately not an unknown to us. We have already placed a name to the appearance. This structure is the Vimerkanah, the chariot of heaven. It is something that has been known to mankind since ancient times, manifesting at limited times within our plane. If this name is not familiar to you, this is likely no surprise. Because by our records it has not been seen by humans in over a thousand years.
“Its purpose is thus. Since there are limits to what can cross over to our plane from hyperspace, as well as the degree to which it can remain, it is used as a kind of vehicle to act in place of them. Or as a storage facility. In essence, it is like a manifestation of the higher plane itself into a portal that can be used to interact with our plane of Di.
"Ordinarily, what it can do would be more limited. But the temple has been working on something that they intend to use it for for some time. In some years past, a late operative of ours named Julius Kai and the defector Feng Weihong who was still with us at the time, discovered in Hyperborea a divine armor that they were attempting to get through onto our plane. Fortunately, they did not succeed. While it did partially make its way through, it was destroyed in the process. But from this, our operatives managed to retrieve something of sufficient importance to us. The Key of Epinoia.
“However, now the temple will be able to bring forth divine machines for real. These are massive battle armors that will be charged with ether weapons unlike anything the world has ever seen. They aren't technically indestructible, but they are something that would be very difficult to face head-on. The Vimerkanah will most likely be the way they are manifesting these. Being in orbit above the planet.”
Someone in the front row raised their hand and was called on.
“This seems like it should be an urgent matter for us. Why wasn't this meeting called with a sense of urgency?”
Tsubasa nodded, noting the point.
“On its face, it may seem like something we need to act on right away. But this is actually not the case. In fact, we actually predicted that this would become manifest ahead of time. From the initial discovery in the past, we came to know that they were constructing these divine armors in order to get them past the barrier. Because these will have an easier time staying on our plane, and have a further reach than the demons of Sakras. In truth, we actually weakened the barrier deliberately in order to provoke them into acting. We knew it was coming, so we took action so that we could predict when and where this happened.”
“We had operative Lan Xiumei...”
He pointed to the back of the room where Mei was standing, causing her to have sudden, intense hatred for the one speaking as everyone in the room turned to look at her.
“...Be sent to make contact with and manipulate the Ouroborous Compass so as to weaken the barrier in a way we could predict. This had a double-purpose since we have good reason to believe that they are going to adjust to the timescale we laid out and likely work on this as fast as possible, it gives us the ability to predict within some margin of error how long it will take for them to complete. Rather than rush to attack them right away, this was actually our intention. We designed a plan to draw out as many of their divine machines as possible.”
The same one who had spoken earlier spoke up again.
“To get them into one place, so we have a chance take all of them down at once.”
“Precisely. They likely won't risk sending them down one at a time, where they will be more vulnerable. They will most likely try to ensure they are all manifest together before taking any actions. This will take them actually quite a bit of time. By our estimations, it could be several months. This will give us a better opportunity to prepare for it. We will create a team devoted to round the clock activity of keeping tabs on this so that we can adjust our timescale based on new developments if needs be.
“That being said, I won't lie to you, though. Even with this, the odds, as always, are against us. But we had no choice but to move now. Now is when we obtained the key. And we have no knowledge of how long the key will remain an effective strategy. So it was now or never to draw them out. If we miss this opportunity, we may not have another chance for hundreds of years.”
“We have various information to give you personally. And we will give further instructions to each of you in turn to prepare for the coming weeks. But bear in mind that this information is to be kept with the utmost secrecy. The temple does not know that we planned for their timescale. And our only advantage comes from the fact that they do not know that we planned under this assumption. But for now, you are disbanded. And may the blessings of Tian protect you.”
As the presentation ended, the people who were sitting began to stand up and move about. Some who had no further directions at the moment left right away, but some stayed to compare notes with others or to receive further instructions. But Mei and Isaac stayed behind. Because they had something more concerning to share with HQ. And they weren't sure whether it was a good idea for more people than needed to know about it. They strolled to the front to speak with Tsubasa.
“There is one other thing we need to speak to you about. One that is perhaps more concerning. It is about last night...”