Recently in Chapter 19 Category

I flew through the hallways of headquarters, finally reaching the camp side. I burst through the entrance to the stairs, and climbed as fast as I could. What floor was he on? I couldn't remember. I checked every floor starting at 100. Finally, breathlessly, I burst through the door where the culture festival had occurred. The area had changed rapidly since then; most of the decorations and booths were now gone. But the one building that mattered most still sat there. I ran up to the entrance, when I noticed it was dark inside. There was a note pinned to the frame of the entrance. I looked at it, and saw it was addressed to us, everyone who had visited that day. It read as follows:

I regret that I must leave, but I have overstayed my welcome. I hope that our talk was fruitful, and that you all find what you are looking for. If you are reading this it means you must have realized that everything I said was the truth. My intent was not to deceive. Hopefully my motivations might become clear at a later time, but for now all I can do is wish you all luck. I wish that we might meet again, but I hope that we do not.

I will leave you with one last piece of advice: do not trust your past experiences. The basis by which we live our lives now is a farce. I hope the truth will become evident in your travels. I am sorry I cannot explain further, but I pray you will understand soon enough.

Fisher

P.S.: Please keep watch over Anna.

What the hell was that supposed to mean? I ripped the note from the frame and stuffed it in my pocket. Michael needed to see this.

I sat on a bench outside the restaurant, and gave my poor legs a chance to recover. After a few minutes, I fell asleep. I was rudely awakened hours later by a phone call. It was Michael.

"Yukari, we're almost finished down here, you need to start packing. We leave in four hours."

"I found a note at Mr. Fisher's place. You need to hear what he said."

"Bring the note with you when you come down. I'll read it then."

"Okay, I will. Can't believe we're leaving so soon."

"I know, seems like we were just finally settling back into routine around here. Welcome to the RDF," he chuckled.

"See you soon," I said.

"Make it quick," he replied, hanging up.

Four hours later, I was in the docking area, baggage in hand. I saw Anna and Sienna sitting against the wall at the back of the dock. I walked over to meet them.

"Hey Yuki!" Anna greeted me, jumping up and hugging.

"Ready for your trip?" I asked.

"Yep! Mikey and Jon are getting the boat."

"Gotcha. Where's Tobias? Is he not coming?"

"No, he's going to be our contact while we're traveling, keeping track of our route and keeping a close eye on us," Sienna answered.

I pulled Anna off of me, and we sat down next to Sienna. We talked about Anna's schoolwork, Sienna's job, and the task ahead. For once I felt excited, instead of scared. We were going to travel to someplace new, somewhere no one around has gone. It was hard not to be excited.

An alert played over the PA system, announcing the docking of a ship. We looked to the docking bay door, and saw a large ship approaching.

"That's it! That's our ship!" Anna called out.

"What? That big thing? No way," I said exasperated.

"Yes it is! I can feel Mikey and Jon!"

"A little overkill, isn't it?" I asked.

"Jon practically begged the general to allow us to use it. That's all I know," Sienna replied.

"Great," I rolled my eyes.

The ship sailed in, narrowly avoiding the top of the giant gateway. It was a mammoth in comparison to the other small boats in the docking area. It featured a single TURING cannon on the rear of the ship, but also had the distinctive extended railings of all the City Eternal military ships. No doubt they were mad about missing this one. Also near the back was the second navigation pod. Besides that, the only other thing that came off the deck was the large room in the center, which I assumed led under the deck. The whole ship was a dark metallic color, but this room actually had windows. Windows were a rare sight, most ships didn't have any at all, for added protection. I immediately recognized that this ship was indeed special, even among other ships of its size.

As the landing gear took the weight of the ship, the docking bay grew quiet. I hadn't realized, but the ship's lift system was actually audible. A testament to its size and weight, for sure. A steep stairway extended from the side to the ground, and Jon peaked his head out from inside.

"Well, you guys going to just sit there or are you going to check it out?" he called.

Anna took off like a bolt. Sienna and I followed her, actually interested in this new toy of theirs. It had a majestic feel to it, something truly epic. We climbed up the steep stairs into the cabin. Inside it was far more spacious than I imagined. Pipes and machinery ran along the ceiling and various walls, but much of the cabin itself was open. The stairs led up directly into a bathroom with a shower. Beyond that was a kitchen. The oven was small but functional, and there was a large sink and a microwave as well. Cabinets lined the walls wherever they could be placed, while soft lighting gave it a surprisingly homey feel.

Immediately next to that, with an open counter separating them, was the living area, with wrap-around couch circling a low table. It had enough room to seat all of us comfortably. Past it was the stairwell, which went both up on deck, as well as below deck. The ceiling above the living area and stairwell was raised, providing space for the only windows on the ship. It let in a lot of light, and really made it feel less cramped. It was amazing how large the ship felt from the inside.

Along the opposite side of the kitchen, there was a simple pantry closet. Next to it was the navigation room. That room had many monitors and controls, and also contained the various computer devices needed to run the ship. The engine and lift systems were further below deck, but this room was still loud. Luckily it had a thick door to keep the noise out of the living area.

Michael lead us down the stairwell, to the next floor. The ceiling was lower here, to the point that Michael had to duck his head down to avoid banging his head on various pipes and cables running along it. There were five rooms total down here. Michael explained that him and Jonathan would share a bedroom, as he didn't sleep. The other three bedrooms were for us girls, which I was happy about. The final room was originally two rooms by the look of it, but were merged into one large living area, much like the one above.

Before we headed back up, Michael pointed out that the stairs continued downwards. Below the bedrooms was the engine room, where the jet engine and lift system was held. He mentioned that Anna was the only one who could actually stand upright in there, as the bottom deck was short and cramped.

Just before we headed back up, Jonathan and a couple of dock workers came down from above, carrying our luggage. I thanked them for the help, and we settled into our respective bedrooms. Once we were unpacked, Michael called from above over the intercom, informing us that we were about to get underway. I hurried out of my room up the stairs to the surface deck, and joined the others in saying goodbye to the refugee camp.

Anna waved vigorously to the crew on the ground, and we began to float out of the hangar. Michael handled the navigation this time, instead of allowing the autopilot the honors. Tobias also arrived at the last second to see us off.

"I'll be in constant contact, and monitoring your progress! You guys be careful!" he called out to us over the hum of the lift system.

"If we get lost, it's your fault!" Jonathan yelled back, laughing.

The ship emerged from the hangar, and proceeded to unroll the sails. It unfurled a magnificent main sail, which looked far larger than I thought possible. Once it had opened and grasped the wind, a headsail also began to open near the front of the ship, displaying the RDF insignia. It wasn't the first time I'd seen it, but I hadn't really paid attention to it before. The insignia featured three men placing a flag on top of some rubble. Michael walked up next to me, as I continued to look at the sail.

"That insignia came from an old photograph, from before the apocalyptic event. We're not sure when it was taken, but it was very inspirational. The RDF protects what we've built from the ashes and dust of the old world. It's fitting, don't you think?"

I nodded.

Michael walked back to the ship controls, and received final clearance for departure from the camp. The sails caught a strong gust, and the ship lurched forward out of the camp. I looked back at the camp one last time. My gut wrenched; it felt like this was the last time I'd see the camp. I could only hope I was wrong.