June 4, 3028
Meeki woke up the next morning to a barren white room she didn't recognize. She sat up and took her time in remembering what strange things happened the day before. The headache made it seem more like a dream but that was just wishful thinking, as this certainly wasn't her apartment. She was dressed in nothing but a thick gray gown, which made her feel somewhat naked.
Meeki pulled herself out of the stiff little bed and looked about. The only thing other than her bed was a small table in the corner, stacked with various sharp medical tools. Then she noticed an old white door across the room, sporting a shining silver knob. After a long yawn she dropped to her feet and stumbled forward to listen through the door. Meeki heard a television news report and several people talking. They sounded young, she figured they were the Innocent Girls.
Meeki opened the door and stepped out into a dark hall. She followed through to a carpeted living room down a small set of stairs. The Innocent Girls and Meeki's family were there. They were sitting around on several brown couches spread through the room while the news continued from a television hanging on the wall. Samara was not there.
“Good morning,” Kiluana greeted. “We'll give you a moment to talk with your family if you want.”
Meeki nodded.
“Okay, Everyone out.”
They took to their feet and left through a door to the right, which led to a farmland. Various androids and men were actively cultivating the land under the late morning sun.
Meeki looked to her husband and daughter. Little Miao was still wearing her frilly blue school dress from yesterday. Kiluana's team probably picked her up right after school. Meeki's husband on the other hand seemed to have acquired a set of clothing since then, as she didn't recognize his casual shirt and dark pants. Before stepping to down to them.
“You okay? You look kind of spaced out,” her husband said.
Meeki smiled. “Yesterday was a little overwhelming.”
“From what I heard, I don't blame you.” He hopped up and moved over to take her hand. “Come on, sit down and take it easy.”
She walked over and dropped onto the couch with his guidance. “I've been shot, given secret medicine, and a lunatic threatened my life, but that hardly matters now that you two are alright.”
He sat nearby and rubbed her shoulder with a tender care that she already missed.
“They told us what's been going on,” he said.
Meeki avoided his gaze.
“I'm sorry,” she muttered. “It's my fault. I understand if you're angry about all this.”
“Angry?” He seemed incredulous about it and used a finger to draw her chin up. “Nah, I'll just say this is a vacation. A vacation in a house run by some weird little teenagers.”
She smiled just a tiny bit.
“They are a strange bunch, aren't they?”
“They're so cool!” Miao suddenly shouted. “They're all tough and don't take anything from anyone! I want to be like them.”
“Hey, I'm sure we don't need any more Innocent Girls. Just stick to real innocence, okay? I think that suits a seven year old better.”
“Oh, that's no fun!”
Meeki smiled and ruffled the girl's black hair. Being together again like this felt like home. But still, she wasn't quite comfortable with the place just yet.
“So how've they treated you here? No trouble?” she asked him.
“I was kind of worried when I realized who these people were, but they've been honorable. They may be terrorists or something, but they sure know how to treat people,” her husband explained with confident optimism.
“Just making sure.” Meeki sighed.
“Look, don't worry so much about it,” he said. “Earlier this morning they did some training and I watched them. These girls are freakishly good with their guns, that guy doesn't stand a chance against them.”
On that vote of confidence, Kiluana and the others suddenly came back in.
“Okay, that's enough,” Kiluana announced. She approached Meeki and pointed over to an open door. “Meeki, I do believe you should make us some breakfast now that you're settled.
“Breakfast?” Meeki muttered.
“We're hungry and waited for you, dear. Get on with it, Mister Collins is already at work in the kitchen.”
Meeki found Mister Collins in one of the rooms opposite the backyard door. He was already hard at work cooking up scrambled eggs. Meeki wasn't actually very good at cooking anything, but following his example was a decent enough strategy to get the work done. About ten minutes into the preparation, something from the television news caught her attention.
“We have somewhat of an unusual story for you. Last night our city suffered an unusual attack. We faced the near destruction of a small motel just near the La Gabieno police station. An intense fire was caused by the destruction of vehicles in the parking lot, where an unknown group of people were shooting each other with class one and two energy weapons. Witnesses reported that it only took several minutes of fighting before the cars exploded, which caught onto nearby trees and spread quickly. The fire department was quick to put these flames out, but we have yet to identify who the shooters were. Some witnesses pointed out startling similarities to the recently 'Innocent Girls' group which has been terrorizing our governments as of late. Police are actively looking for the suspects.”
“I think that's the first time I've seen something on the news firsthand,” Meeki said to Mister Collins, who was rapidly chopping carrots with deadly precision.
He stopped the chopping and nodded. “I'm used to it thanks to Kiluana, not that it's anything to be proud of.”
Meeki looked to him curiously.
“No offense or anything, but you seem pretty normal compared to Kiluana and those girls. Why are you here?”
“It is not a bad question. We servants are really doing it for the sake of her father. Maybe you've heard of Payne Lausta?”
It took a while for Meeki to remember that name. Payne was someone she read about in a magazine, one of those police officers who attained a sort of legendary status. He once had a huge following, but it was strange that they would take care of his daughter like this.
“I read about him. A really good cop, but he went bad after his wife died?” Meeki said.
“The press enjoys painting people as criminals. He simply changed his plans and went to Newhope.” Mister Collins sighed and resumed to work at the carrots. “We're not sure what he's doing or if he has any real plans at all. I heard he gambled most of his money away in the casinos. A real shame.”
A father abandoning his daughter and friends to go hit the slots was awful. But considering the loss of his wife and job, Meeki understood his pain. People liked running from their problems, and Meeki wasn't an exception. Only yesterday she pretended the leader wasn't that bad a guy, and look where it brought her.
“I suppose it doesn't matter if he's given up on living a good life,” Mister Collins sighed. “Even if Kiluana makes a big mess, we're honoring the memory of our old friend by making sure she comes out alive.”
* * *
After countless eggs and other things were made, Mister Collins excused Meeki and worked to finish up on his own. The living room was abandoned except for Miao, who stared at the television as it transfixed her with cartoons. Meeki remembered Samara, and noticed that the girl still hadn't been around.
“Miao, is someone named Samara here?” Meeki asked.
“Oh mom, yeah. She's so cool, she's like a cartoon character!” Miao cheered.
“Yeah, I guess so. Know where she is?”
“She's in the room near where you slept. I think she's still in there. She's a worse sleeper than you, mom.”
Meeki approached the door slowly and placed her ear against the wood. There was hardly a sound in there, which wasn't surprising. Even if Samara was awake, she wasn't much of a noisy person. Meeki knocked gently on the door.
“What?” Samara muttered from within.
Meeki wasn't sure if it was a good idea to bother her now, but it didn't seem like there was much point in delaying the inevitable.
“It's me. Can I come in?”
There was some hesitation. “Okay.”
Meeki opened the door just slightly and peeked in. Samara was sitting on a bed against the wall, with the pillow thrown aside to the ground. She somehow managed to find another cloak and was hiding herself once again, but she lacked the most crucial part of her previous disguise, the veil.
“You can take it off. I already know what's under there,” Meeki said as she walked cautiously toward Samara.
“I still have a reason to hide.”
“You said something like we might all die if we saw you. But we're not dead yet, are we? Lighten up.”
Samara trembled as she pulled the cloak back, revealing her gray fur and ears. Both the brown hair and the fur glistened in the light through a window on the opposite wall. Her nose was little and pink, which Meeki found cute. The eyes were somewhat larger than human eyes and shined a very luminous blue. It seemed like there was much more depth within them than most people's eyes cared to show.
Seeing Meeki take such interest, Samara turned her head and cowered slightly. Meeki blushed and tried to avoid staring.
“Uh, you don't have to be embarrassed or anything. I think you're alright,” Meeki said.
“Thanks, but I don't know about the others.”
Meeki nodded and stared to the floor. A fierce curiosity compelled her to ask more. “So, um, if you don't mind saying, how did this happen? Or were you born this way?”
“I was human once,” Samara mumbled, and then avoided Meeki's glanced. “Something like four thousand years ago. I lost count.”
“F—four thousand?” Meeki asked.
“Yeah. My real name is Braya. The same one from the story you guys have.”
Meeki quickly sat by the bed and scowled. If it was the truth, the girl beside her was far beyond human. According to the Story of Braya, she was the one who commanded an army of creatures against the creator of Earth, which eventually encouraged the erasure of that planet as well as everything else with it. This is what made way for Newhope and Aster.
“I don't know what to say,” Meeki confessed.
Braya nodded and gazed at Meeki with an unusual curiosity, as if looking for something deep within. “The story isn't all true.”
“So if you were around thousands of years ago, where've you been all this time?” Meeki asked.
“I've been asleep most of it. It's kind of hard to explain.”
Braya's ears darted up and she looked up to the door. Kiluana was there.
“Breakfast is ready,” she said.
“Alright, we'll be there in a second,” Meeki told her.
“You'd better eat up for a nice long day, because you'll start training after breakfast. We'll do my favorite little three day intensive gun course. Eight hours of speed and accuracy training each day, it'll be fun!”
Meeki stared at Kiluana, unsure of how fun it could possibly be to train in shooting a gun.
“After that, I have a little mission for you on Newhope to find my papa. It might require some espionage, so the training might help. Remember that I'm being very nice about keeping your family here, so don't weasel out of it.”
Kiluana gave them a sweet little smile and walked away to breakfast. Meeki wasn't comforted by the girl's strange affection, but the thought of breaking into Newhope on a mission seemed interesting. There was a time when she wanted to partake a career in that sort of thing, but the birth of Miao changed many aspects of her life. She wasn't sure if it was a good idea to put herself in danger with a daughter at home to worry about, but that old youthful vigor resurfaced. She couldn't help but be a little excited, even if this wasn't technically the job she always wanted.
Meeki smiled and walked to the door, she turned to Braya.
“Let's go eat,” she said.
Braya hadn't moved an inch from the bed.
“Come on, I don't think they'll give you any trouble.”
Braya shied from the invitation, but after a moment of introspection she gave up her resistance and left the bed to go out.