[04:05, 04/21/2040, Days Later]
Brooklyn heads downstairs. Only wearing a tank top and comfortable short shorts. She's very tired, her eyes are squinted, and she clearly can't see in the dark, holds onto the stairwell's ramp for much of her support going down the stairs. Upon arriving on the first floor, the kitchen light is already on, and the sound of something frying is heard. In the kitchen, a woman is slowly flipping the fried egg on a pan. Both of them are just about the same height, have the same frame, and style of free-flowing back-reaching hair. Yet the woman's brown hair is more blonde tinted rather than Brooklyn's red tint, the woman's skin is a bit paler, her eyes are blue however are a shining blue just like Brooklyn's shining green, and the woman's jaw is a bit more definite and boney. Most people in the Hostel consider the woman as Brooklyn's Rosiyan double.
Brooklyn walks up next to the woman, seeing the burnt eggs, she then notices tears from the woman's eyes fall and evaporate into the frying pan. Brooklyn then slowly takes the pan from the woman who freely abdicates her position of cooking. She puts the pan on a different burner, then attends to the woman, walking her to the bar table. The two are in verbal silence, but words don't need to be said for them to understand each other. The woman sits at the bar table in mourning, sitting still with tears slowly coming down her face. Neither sniffling nor heavy breathing can be heard; only tears can be seen.
Brooklyn, then in the kitchen, made the woman a seasoned omelet and ham slices, the woman's favorite dish. In less than thirty minutes, Brooklyn finishes the dish. The woman consumed the dish with gratitude. Words were still left out between them. Brooklyn then walks with the woman up the building's main stairs to her apartment. She speaks, asking the woman if she is going to work today. The woman nods no. Brooklyn then sees the woman's young daughter, who's tired herself and tugs on her mother's sleeve. The woman then hugs Brooklyn and then closes her door. Brooklyn heads back downstairs and calls the nursing home telling them one of their nurses won't be able to make it on shift.
She hangs up on the call once reaching the first floor. She enters the main living area and then sees a black and white wolf-dog bigger than her in size sitting on his back legs, watching television like a little kid. It has a giant backpack attached to its back while it sits. Brooklyn looks at him in disbelief, she's never seen an animal actually bigger than her. Most pets in Midcity are four times smaller than the backpack it wears. She continues to look at the dog, surprisingly, with not many questions in mind. She slowly moves around, observing the dog in its entirety. Brooklyn begins to question whether it's a statue or not since it stands so still and perfectly. The dog's eyes then move momentarily looking at her. Its head doesn't move, only its eyes. They then turn back towards the television.
At this point, most people turn scared and retreat. Yet Brooklyn's curiosity is only aroused, and thus she continues to look at it. Not really knowing whether the beast would truly eat her or not. Only knowing that it hasn't attempted to do so in the moment, is enough for her to approach him without fear. She starts patting the dog's black and white fur.
Brooklyn- 'Soft.'
She then rubs her up against the dog's fur. It then sniffs, smelling the scent of Ace on her. Then it smells her natural odor and becomes obedient to her aromatic smell. He relaxes his front legs and lies completely on the floor. Brooklyn continues to pet and play into his soft fur, which is becoming a type of therapy for her. Ace opens the door and he first thought Brooklyn was cuddling with a black and white sleeping bag on the floor. Confused, he stands there trying to open his crusty morning eyes. The dog notices Ace and gets up on all four legs, somewhat leaving Brooklyn confused.
Denarrow- "James?"
James approaches him and shakes the backpack, signaling for Ace to take it off. Ace takes the backpack off and James goes back to Brooklyn for more of her smell and belly rubs.
Brooklyn- "You know the dog?"
Ace answers her question while walking and carrying the backpack. Brooklyn gets up and follows him, curious about the backpack. James sits right back up and goes back to watching television.
Denarrow- "He's my sister's, name is Jameson Georgian."
Brooklyn- "Never heard of a dog with a first and last name."
Denarrow- "Probably never seen a dog that big either."
Brooklyn- "Yup."
The two go to the bar table, where Mr. Miyagu no longer watches the small television and rather gazes at the dog in disbelief. Ace begins pulling stuff out of the backpack, which consists of dog-related treats, shampoo, conditioner, and a chewing toy. There is one long receipt from a hotel wrapped around a black and gold credit chip. He hands it off to Brooklyn, knowing she's going to read off out loud.
Brooklyn- "Grandeurino Hotel, top floor suite with single bed, bath, and pool. With golden access service."
Ace struggles to pull something out stuck in the backpack.
Brooklyn- "Five days and the total cost is a hundred k."
Denarrow- "Sounds like Avi got some money."
He continues to try and pull out the object still stuck in the bag.
Brooklyn- "A-V-I?"
Denarrow- "Yeah, you pronounce every letter of her name. A bit weird but I didn't name her."
Brooklyn- "Hmm, I like her name. And she definitely has money, this credit chip is extremely hard to come by. She also must like living lavishly if she spends this much on a hotel."
Denarrow- "No, that's not her. She's quite cheap and likes to keep things to a minimum, at least in this world. But the hotel visit thing was definitely James. He might be a dog, but he's smarter than the rest of the dogs."
Brooklyn looks at James and realizes he's watching the animal network, a network that's never displayed in the Hostel or pretty much anywhere nowadays. Ace is finally able to pull the object out of the bag. It's a long thin black case.
Brooklyn- "What's that?"
Ace opens up the case revealing a sword and a piece of paper that immediately falls.
Denarrow- "It's my blade she was holding onto for me."
It's an all-black sword with a length of no more than thirty inches from the bottom of the handle to the tip of the blade. Ace takes it out of the case and wields it around, getting the feel of his sword once again.
Denarrow- "Do you want to hold it?"
Brooklyn- "Sure."
He hands the sword off to her with two hands and carefully gives it as if it were a newborn.
Denarrow- "It's extremely sharp, don't even touch the sharp edge of the blade."
With that said, it prompts Brooklyn to not wield or move it and instead keep it in her hands as if it were a newborn. She observes it with precision.
Brooklyn- "It's light, really light. It doesn't look like metal but… wood?"
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Denarrow- "Yeah it's made out of a resource called Tovarium."
Brooklyn- "Tovarium?"
Denarrow- "Most people call it Indranium."
Her eyes widen and a worried look appears on her face.
Brooklyn- "Indranium? That's the most illegal resource according to international law and a highly valued and desired resource worth a trill an ounce."
A sudden panic set into Ace's mind.
Denarrow- "That's right… But between you and me, don't let anyone else know, in fact I never even told you it's real name."
The two then look at each other in momentary silence.
Denarrow- 'I hope she…'
Brooklyn- "Okay, I got ya."
She winks after an enthusiastic response. Ace then takes a brief sigh dodging a huge bullet there. Jameson Georgian walks up to the two of them. Mr. Miyagu, who was looking at the dog with intense observation, had fallen asleep. With both Ace and Brooklyn giving James their attention, he then pats the floor with his paws. Brooklyn is confused about what's happening, but Ace looks at his tapping seriously. Once James is done tapping, he looks at Ace who responds.
Denarrow- "Umm… He's gone right now. I don't know exactly where he is, but he's safe, I think."
James looks at him with a dog face of disappointment.
Brooklyn- "Did he just talk?"
Denarrow- "Yep, unfortunately."
Brooklyn- "That's like some groundbreaking canine intelligence right there. What he say?"
Denarrow- "He's curious where Chris is."
Brooklyn- "Who's that?"
Denarrow- "Well James is Avi's dog and Chris is umm… my pet. When I got to Midcity, he kind of ditched me, or something, but he'll be okay, I think. You'll see him sooner or later."
James goes back to tapping on the floor with his paws.
JG- ^Who is she?^
Ace looks back at James, tucking in his lips, and looks elsewhere, which in return ticks off James because his question would be left unanswered. Brooklyn then bends down to pick up a piece of folded paper that just moments earlier she glimpsed at in the corner of her eye. Not knowing who it is, she opens it up and reads it."
Brooklyn- "Dog… food…??"
Denarrow- "That must be her note. Let me see."
Though Brooklyn didn't think this cruelly, the handwriting looks the level of a kindergartener's. The letters range between big and small, and they're also barely drawn correctly. One may put it bluntly as 'chicken scratch' writing.
Denarrow- "This is definitely her handwriting."
He reads it quickly and then summarizes it out loud.
Denarrow- "It's just a shopping list of items for James."
Brooklyn- "Ahh… We're going today anyways, we'll just add it to the list."
Denarrow- "Today?"
Brooklyn- "It's Saturday."
Denarrow- "Right, when are we leaving then?"
Brooklyn- "Now, or whenever you're ready if you don't mind."
[05:41]
The two get out of the car and step out onto the parking lot. They are on the top floor of the near fifty-floor street parking garage, which uses elevators to bring vehicles up. Both of them wear their usual outfits that ironically mismatch each other. Ace wears a black long-sleeve shirt, clunky white sweatpants, and a black beanie. Brooklyn wears a white dress shirt and black jeans. She also wears a white headscarf that only covers the top of her hair, leaving out her bangs and her long hair in the back, and wears eyeglasses that she just put on.
Denarrow- "You wear glasses?"
Brooklyn- "No, and they're a bit annoying to wear."
Jameson Georgian jumps out from the pickup truck's box tail. Brooklyn starts walking, and both Ace and James follow her lead.
Denarrow- "Then why are you wearing them? You kind of look like you're in disguise."
Brooklyn- "I am in disguise."
They enter an elevator heading to the surface floor. It's the most buttons Ace has ever seen in an elevator. Almost fifty buttons for the surface level and then almost one hundred more from the surface to the underground levels. Most have the numbers on them rubbed off and faded away, requiring some type of counting and guessing. Nonetheless, Brooklyn hits one of the buttons with confidence and without double-checking.
Brooklyn- "It's a bit weird, but Olivia told me because I'm famous and I gain too much attraction."
Denarrow- "Is that a bad thing? I didn't know you would care about something like that."
Brooklyn- "I don't, but she drilled this into me so now whenever I do something public like go to the library or get groceries, I wear this thing."
Denarrow- "I guess, you must have a large following then to be doing it."
Brooklyn- "Over fifty million."
Denarrow- "Huh??"
Brooklyn- "My account on 3Dub has 51,858,095 followers and counting."
Denarrow- "3Dub, is that the WorldWideWeb app thingy?"
She nods. She gets her phone and quickly logins to her 3Dub account, and hands the phone to Ace. Ace sees the almost exact number of followers, as she said, with only the last three digits being higher. He sees that she only follows one other account, which belongs to Olivia. She only has less than a dozen posts, all pictures of her smiling while doing something normal like shopping, spread across three years, and each one has about sixty million 'hearts' each. He clicks into the comment section of each one, finding thousands of horny and perverted comments. Finding few that are genuinely nice and normal. Some are rude or against her bringing a mixture of politics and body shaming and falsely claiming that Brooklyn had too much makeup on or that she has an arrogant personality. Ace could only cringe whole at the comment section.
Denarrow- "Do you check your comments?"
The elevator stops and opens its doors. Ace gives her phone back to her with a face of concern. They then step out of the elevator onto the street, still not knowing which direction to go; Ace and James still follow Brooklyn.
Brooklyn- "No, should I?"
Denarrow- "No. You're fine, nothing worth paying attention in there."
Though there might be some concern, in a way, he wasn't entirely lying with his statement.
Denarrow- "So the disguise is for safety reasons?"
Brooklyn- "That's what Olivia said."
Denarrow- "Remember what I said, I'm a fighter."
Though Ace thought he would have to clarify further, Brooklyn instantly got what he meant. She stops in her steps, takes her glasses and headscarf off, and puts them into James' body backpack. She then readjusts her hair, Ace looks at her as she does. Most men would be entranced by her natural beauty, but Ace shows little sign of such enchantment. He does note how much prettier she looks without the ‘disguise’.
Denarrow- 'I've been living with her for almost two weeks now and it doesn't seem real. Now I know that she's famous, everything makes much less sense.'
Brooklyn starts walking again, Ace and James again follow her.
Denarrow- 'She's a smart girl, probably the smartest person I know. That's actually saying a lot, but she's definitely up there. I've never met a person who would fit the term of being a 'master of all crafts'. She does almost everything perfectly. Writing, cooking, coding, engineering, crafting, everything I've watched her do, she does it at a high level and can do multiple of them at the same time without any setbacks. The only weaknesses I know of is the other day, she told me her body is quite fragile, and she never had much chance in her youth to play sports or get in physical shape. She also said she has to study and practice a lot, but I think her ability to keep on studying for hours at a time is unique. I don't know how much of this studying works, but I think she equalizes out of practically any disadvantage in skill or talent. Her third weakness is and obvious one, her interaction with other people. I don't even know where to start. She's lucky I'm somewhat of a good person. I don't want to sound like a bad person but I'm not good either. Either way, she trusts me with all her heart and I feel bad. I don't know why she does, she's probably been sheltered all her life or something, but it feels like I'm manipulating and taking advantage of her at times. When I said I would promise to protect her, it's obvious she gave me her full trust. I have a past record of lying and not upkeeping my side of 'deals', so I hope I'm never forced to choose and uphold that promise at convenience. That sounds bad but… I don't try know at this point.'
They cross the crosswalk. As they do, the heads of many people look at Brooklyn. Even James and Ace notice everyone's gazes at her, yet Brooklyn walks without caring and giving not an ounce of attention back. She's not arrogant, she's not forcing herself to ignore everyone, she's in her own bubble acknowledging only those closest to her. Everyone else simply doesn't exist as she keeps on moving.
Denarrow- 'Not only her social interaction with me, but with everyone else, it is even more concerning. She doesn't even look at the men and women who give her dirty looks of horniness and jealousy. I've been told I'm not self-conscious enough, but I still notice the looks coming my way. She doesn't, she's by herself. When she told me about the culture of Midcity my second day here, I have realized most of it is true. People are busy, people move, people really don't care and keep it moving with their lives. But she takes it to another level. If it weren't for the explosion that night, I don't think she would ever take my existence into consideration even if I was stalking her in plain at her. But she's genuinely nice and friendly, a different person when close to her.'