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The Neu Düsseldorf Gedenkpark Rheinwiesen was quite different from most parks you’d see in the western world. I say the western world specifically, because I could remember the Rikugien Gardens from my childhood. And it was clear that those were very much unlike anything you’d see on this side of the globe.
Not that I had a lot of memories from that time left. Most of it had long since been lost to the haze of time, but there was one that had always stuck with me for some reason. And compared to that memory, this park was quite different.
Perhaps it was the overcast weather, the sun working overtime to get even a glimpse beneath the cloud cover. Or perhaps it was simply the difference time and personal growth made. Whatever the case, I wasn’t quite sure what to think of it, watching the large green areas, the big trees waving gently in the breeze.
In principle, this park was quite a lot better than what you’d typically find around the former European Union. These plants were actually real, not the fake or gene-edited stuff you’d find basically anywhere else. The scent made that more than clear. No park would ever smell this clean of chemical bullshit if that wasn’t the case.
Sure, in most cases those were a requirement in this day and age, considering the alien plant monsters invading us every so often. If you didn’t make sure your plants were antithesis proof, all you did was put out an all you can eat buffet for the fucks. And those overgrown weeds were masters at turning a lot of biomass into even more man eating monsters in record time.
Still, I was glad for the difference. It made sitting under this tree in the afternoon heat even more pleasant. Few rays of sunlight made it through the cloud cover, but the occasional one that did play across my skin was a pleasant addition to the light breeze. The slow rhythm of the music coming softly through my headphones just added to the atmosphere, and I was halfway tempted to just close my eyes and nap a bit.
But only tempted. I’d never get some shuteye this exposed.
Instead, I watched the sky, following the few birds that raced across the horizon. That was probably the best thing about this park. Ever since the Rhein had dried up, taking basically every bit of life around this area with it some twenty-odd years back, any kind of animal was a rarity. And while these birds were mostly what remained of doves, plus the occasional rare bird, such as magpies, it was quite pleasant to see. It gave me some hope that this planet might not be entirely fucked yet. But only some.
A bit of movement caught my attention, and my eyes snapped to where I’d seen it, my entire body tensing up. A group of strangers came around a bend and into my field of view. Checking them over quickly, I didn’t see any obvious weapons, nor did they seem to pose a threat. I wasn’t actually expecting to find them carrying anything, but it was always best to check.
I relaxed, letting the sudden tension flow out of me once more. My right hand remained close to my side, despite the lack of a weapon there. It made me feel safer.
Their clothing was in the more modern style, with tight fitting jeans and loose shirts, making it unlikely for them to carry something hidden away either. It made me confident that I’d be able to react in time, even if they might try something. Taking a moment, I made sure that I had a plan in place, before I finally dismissed them from my immediate attention, using the corner of my eyes to keep an eye on them.
Letting my gaze wander once more, I returned my attention back to the green area in front of me. A few of my classmates were playing football. Yes, football, the proper name for the damn sport. Bloody Lunatics. The US had long since ceased to be, yet the majority of its former residents still insisted on their stupid naming schemes.
Whatever.
As always, watching them play made me feel… conflicted. I had been invited to join them, of course. I always was. But I had declined, as I always did. Intellectually, I knew that I probably should do more to belong. Always sitting on my lonesome wasn’t really all that good for me, and I had promised my therapists to at least try and make some more friends. It’s been nearly three years since I joined the college, and so far I made nearly no progress in that regard. But people were not something I liked dealing with.
There were a good number of reasons for that, but the most important one was the constant social manipulation. Of course, most didn’t really engage with that consciously. Many weren’t even aware that it was a big part of social interaction at all. But some did, and I had made my fair share of bad experiences. It annoyed me. People had this habit of making you do things you didn’t want to, for various reasons.
I sighed in exasperation. I really shouldn’t throw stones from my glass house. Even if I tried my best to be more mindful of it these days, I wasn’t immune to it either. It was a core part of what it meant to be part of society after all. And back in the day, I’d abused it as much as anyone else in my line of work.
The thought made me grimace. Again with those depressing thoughts, get yourself together, Yurei. That ain’t your life anymore. Can’t you just enjoy a nice afternoon for once? It’s been four years already! Fuck’s sake…
With an effort of will, I dragged myself away from those memories, focusing back on the pleasant surroundings and the music that was still gently playing through my headphones. Classic wasn’t something I’d ever thought I’d enjoy, but I had learned to try new things in recent times. And there really wasn’t anything like a soft piano track on a relaxed day.
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Trying to distract myself, I thought back on the day so far. Our college had organised this trip, some kind of excursion to get us out into nature. As much as we still had nature, anyway. Between the antithesis and global warming, that had become a rarity in the past thirty odd years. And, of course, a large part of this trip was also team building.
I liked the college, really. It was far better of an educational institution than most others these days. Yet, even then it wasn’t immune to the corporate influence that steered society ever deeper into a capitalist dystopia. And megacorps loved their team cohesion exercises. Oh well, at least they tried to hide it by making it actually interesting. So many others would just blatantly shill for any corp coming to them with a few credits.
Many of my classmates hadn’t really cared that much about it, which I could understand. As interesting as this trip was, it really didn’t teach you anything useful for slaving away at some underpaid job in a far too small office cubicle somewhere. But I, for once, decided to ignore that little factoid, and had thrown myself at the opportunity to learn more about all the flora and fauna that had once called this part of the globe their home.
Sure, I wasn’t a nature nut. Really, I only cared so much about it, and if I’d been able to choose, I probably would’ve gone for more interesting topics. But the guy who had led us through the park previously was quite good at explaining things, and it was by far not the worst way to spend a day. Mainly I was just glad that it was something that had allowed me to keep to myself.
And that it had nothing to do with killing people. I had far too much of that in my life.
I was just about to try and remember some of the more interesting aspects of what I’d learned today, when I was interrupted by a notification, ringing out through my augs. The ring tone made it very clear who was trying to get my attention, and I didn’t even bother opening the message window.
Instinctively I pulled down my headphones, already halfway to my feet, my gaze searching for the one responsible. I found her not far away from me, her blonde hair playing on the soft winds, a small smile on her lips. It was infectious, and I found myself smiling in return, giving her a wave.
“Hey! The others wanted to grab something to eat, wanna come along?”
I nodded, not even needing to think about it. Zuri was the one asking.
“Of course.”
My sister smiled even wider at that, waiting for me to walk over. Taking my hand into hers when I arrived, she turned around, leading me towards her clique. Okay, I say her clique, but really, she was just someone who hung out with them occasionally.
Even from a distance I could see Leah gesturing wildly, obviously deep into yet another one of her grand retellings of whatever she had found online. She was the leader of the group, energetic and very opinionated. Sydney and Nia were standing next to her, paying more or less attention, while Cori was, as always, entirely numb to the world outside. Her eyes were flickering with the tell tale sign of someone deeply immersed into their augs. Typical Cori.
Coming closer, I started to pick up on what they were talking about. Well, what Leah was talking about, Sydney and Nia only rarely got a word in, if at all. To nobody’s surprise, it was about yet another Samurai Fanfiction she found online again. What I did find surprising, though, was that there was a second conversation hidden beneath the first. This one was about what they wanted to eat.
I had to admit, it was quite fascinating to see how they could have two discussions this different at once, without any deliberate break, and quite often combining the topics into one sentence that still managed to somehow make grammatical sense.
The power of college girls, I guessed. I idly wondered when I would unlock this skill. Probably required me to talk to others more, so most likely never. Oh well, I had always been the odd one out, so it wasn’t a new notion.
Tuning out the comments about the Samurai, not all that interested in that, I tried to decipher what our options for food were. It took some doing, but eventually I was able to identify that there were two places we could go to. Both were apparently equally good, so it came down to preference.
The girls nodded to us once we joined them, and as one we slowly started to meander towards whatever they were deciding on. I was fine with either option, so I didn’t interject, just glad that they walked while they talked. So many others just stopped dead to discuss anything, and I just couldn’t stand that. It made me feel restless. Well, more restless.
Neither of the girls tried to involve me in the discussion, which was appreciated. It quickly returned to focus entirely on the Samurai fic, and I didn’t care all that much about that. Out of politeness, and because it was a pleasant distraction from the more unwelcome thoughts of my past, I did keep one ear open to it. It was at least better than what the boys would normally go on about, so it could’ve been worse.
Out of habit, I kept my attention mostly on our surroundings, making sure that there wasn’t anything that might turn out to be a threat. The bushes around us were low, but they would be able to hide someone if they’d be so inclined. And while I couldn’t hear anything dangerous, or smell anything suspicious on the breeze, it was better to be prepared than to be surprised. Just in case someone would try to shoot me. Or worse, Zuri.
Having her by my side did make me feel a lot better, and I gave her hand a gentle squeeze of gratitude.
Our pace was rather slow, but at least it wasn’t glacial. Typically I’d set a more strict pace, but really, we weren’t in a hurry. And, for all their faults, Leah was energetic enough that she’d never stand still either. Especially when it came to Samurai, and this fic had apparently struck more of a cord with her than most. From what I could gather from her disjointed retelling, it was about two Samurai called Thrasher and Pink-Blade. I’ve heard those names before, mainly through the process of osmosis. They were both somewhat well known names across the great pond.
Generally I didn’t care much for Samurai, as I said, but from what Leah explained, or at least the little that I understood, this one did pique my interest a little bit. Not as much as Leah, obviously. Nobody could be as excited about Samurai as she was. But the way she talked about those two being all oiled up and such… I could get behind the idea of watching two muscular men go at it every once in a while. Not that I was all too interested in the more detailed descriptions about their sexual escapades that Leah was going on about.
The romance, that was apparently a core part of the fic, was of far less interest to me, and I tuned it mostly out. Romance was a weird topic, I thought, and I really didn’t want to think about it all too much. If she wanted to gush over it, let her, but I could go without.
“Really, like, you gotta read it to get it all,” Leah said, finishing her, admittedly kind of chaotic, retelling of the major points of that Fanfiction. “There is no way I could actually put across how awesome it all is.”
“We get it, L.” Sydney sighed at the fifth rendition of Leah telling them all to go read it. “Really don’t have the time, though. I have to finish coursework first, if I fail through Econ, I might not be able to get my degree.”
“Oh, don’t remind me. I still have to do the maths project,” Nia groaned with a faux whine. “Fuck… I wanted to ask Sam about helping me with that stupid program we need for it, I still haven’t gotten it running. Hopefully I won’t forget it again.”
“Sam? Why ask him? He’s, like, so creepy.” Leah gave Nia a strange look. “There are so many others you could ask. Like Theo. Or Alex. Or hell, even Sally. She’s good with that stuff, right?”
“Sam isn’t that creepy,” Nia retorted with a bit of annoyance. “And he’s better at computer stuff than any of them. Not to mention that his sister is a very good friend of mine.”
Leah just rolled her eyes. “You do you, love…”
Sighing inwardly, I tuned out the rest of the discussion. I knew from experience what that tone of voice meant, and I had absolutely zero interest in listening to them bicker about their different opinions on various classmates of ours again.
Hopefully, we could get lunch soon.