Chapter Text
In the beginning, they create the heaven and the earth; rather, the Peninsula. They shape what it is and what it will be.
Graphs and glowing lines of code blur together before their tired eyes, weary fingers moving the mouse to navigate the interface. It’ll all be worth it, they know. Give everyone a new perspective on something they once considered to be wrong.
Everyone wants to change the world, don’t they?
In giving the others the power to do so, they will change the world, too. Change the opinions, the prejudice, the whispers in dark alleyways and every dirty stare burned into their memory.
“Let’s make a change,” whispers a different voice, distantly, holding gently in their hands what will become the Peninsula’s greatest hope, should everything go well.
Back in their office, they save their file and slip a flash drive into their pocket, and their footsteps echo in the corridor as they step in unison, a dark hallway that will soon be filled with light.
And they say, “Let there be a change,” and there is a change, and they see that it is good.
“Touya, if we get caught, we could die. You know that, right?”
The midday sun beat down on Touya's back as he crouched in the shadow of a rusted-out truck, his backpack heavy with scavenged parts. The air was thick with the smell of oil and decay, a symphony of overwhelming scents he still hadn’t quite gotten used to, and he squinted through the dust, wiping the sweat from his brow as he scanned the desolate landscape of the junkyard. The power core he was trying to find would likely be inside of another old machine instead of just sitting out in the open, so any of those broken robots he could see several yards away could give him a decent chance at locating what he needed.
“I just need one more part, and then I promise we can leave.” Under other circumstances, he would’ve called it a day and gone home, but the item he was looking for was the most important one for his project. Before heading over to those robots, he searched through the heaps of discarded metal in the giant pile he was currently sitting next to, careful not to injure his hands on the sharp edges.
His friend Nene pulled a knee up to her chest, leaving her other leg dangling off the side of the truck she was sitting atop. “What’s gotten into you lately? Two months ago, you’d never have tried to do anything like this.”
“None of my old things work, and I’d like to be allowed to go to more places on my own, so I’m trying to fix them.” He stepped out from the shade he’d been hiding under, regretting it when the heat hit him even harder. Sweat dripped down his face again as he walked over to the next area, and he wiped it away with his sleeve, really wishing he hadn’t decided to wear a jacket to protect his arms from getting snagged on anything sharp. He was starting to think he’d prefer getting tetanus over this weather.
“Do you really need that many parts?” She threw a judging glance towards his full backpack, which he’d shoved basically everything interesting he found into.
“Just in case,” he said, looking up with a sheepish grin. He opened the back hatch of a broken machine and peered inside only to be greeted by snapped wires and an empty battery compartment.
“I think the lockdown is getting to you.” Nene squinted down at him. “You’ve got oil on your face.”
He did his best to rub it off with the back of his hand.
“You just smeared it.”
“That’s alright. I’ll clean it off later.” Touya tapped his ear to activate the blue visor screen in front of his eyes, forgetting that the sensors were too out-of-date to scan his surroundings. When nothing happened, he sighed and turned to Nene. “Will you scan the area for me, please? I’m just wondering if the AI can pick up the signal of anything useful.”
She obliged, and the green light skimmed over the broken-down cars, rusted hunks of metal, and hundreds of useless gadget parts thrown all around the dusty ground that stretched out for what seemed like miles. “It’s not giving me any danger alerts, at least, but if the old robot models are here, their tech might not be advanced enough for my visor to read.”
Only Nene’s gun still worked, and if it came down to running for their lives, well . . . neither of them were exactly exceptional in the art of athleticism. It was a risky operation, which Touya was unfamiliar with. He wasn’t usually a reckless person, unless shutting off tech during daily check-in once and pulling occasional all-nighters counted, so all of his tech-fixing ventures over the last few weeks had made him rather anxious.
“Touya,” Nene said, hopping off of the truck and holding up a metal rectangle. “Is this what you need for your lightgun?”
He set down the broken battery compartment he was examining and went over to see. She handed the part to him, and he looked at it closely; one screw was missing, but he was sure he had one at Nene’s house somewhere. It was an older model, too, so it would be compatible with his gun. He tucked it into his backpack. “I think this will work. Thank you.”
“No problem,” Nene said, her brows pinched as she looked around. “Now find that other thing quick. Not only is it dangerous out here, but also hot. Really hot.”
It was, in fact, probably the hottest day of the summer. Touya had definitely picked the wrong time to go on this little expedition. If only the place had active air circulation like the heart of the city did; its multitude of fans placed everywhere kept the entire area almost as cool as an air-conditioned house.
Touya located some sort of rubber band on the ground and handed it to Nene. “Tie your hair up. It’ll help.”
“Thanks.” She swiftly tied her long pale-green hair into a high ponytail, keeping the damp locks away from her face. “And why are you still wearing a jacket? Aren’t you scorching?”
“I don’t want my arms to get cut.”
Nene's judgmental expression didn't change, but that was fine. They were almost done here anyway. Touya sifted through some more broken scraps, hoping beyond hope that he would find what he was looking for. Trying to get something specific from a mess of trash like this was harder than creating a gadget out of toothpicks.
And– there. Another defunct robot was laying on a heap of scraps a few yards away, the exact model that would be sure to have the right part. Upon further inspection, the power core he was looking for nested in the robot’s tangled wires.
He reached into the robot's chest cavity and carefully extracted the core, its smooth, metallic surface cool against his palm. Now he could finally fix his hoverboard.
“Ready to go?” Nene asked once he stood up.
“Yeah.” He tucked the core into his pocket where he wouldn’t have to struggle to find it later. “Let’s get out of here.”
“We– Touya!”
Touya whirled around to see what she was pointing at, only to get shoved to the ground so hard the wind got knocked out of him.
Gasping for air, he looked up. One of the old government robots was staring down at him menacingly, its cold red eyes glowing brightly in sharp contrast to its boxy black body.
“Don’t move,” Nene said quietly, slowly raising her lightgun. After a shaky exhale, she put her finger on the trigger and aimed, but she wasn’t holding on tight enough to resist the robot easily knocking it out of her hands, making her stumble backwards. "Shit . . . !"
They were completely surrounded now, standing in the center of three robots, like circling hawks hunting for their prey. There was nothing they could do; Nene's gun was too far for either of them to reach. No escape. Thoughts spun through Touya’s mind. They could try to run and risk getting shot. They could do something to cause a distraction– call for help, but no one would come–
A deep voice cut through the silence. “Stay there, ’kay?”
Before Touya could react, a blinding orange light flashed behind him, accompanied by a wave of withering heat. The robot in front of him jerked, smoke pouring from its deactivated shell as it collapsed with a metallic thud. Touya spun around, his eyes wide with disbelief, just in time to see three more robots fall to the same fate. Nene had to jump out of the way to avoid getting hit, too.
Touya turned, trying to see who had shot the robots. A person in dark clothes was standing on top of one of the heaps of discarded parts, letting the crackling electricity of his lightgun die before he shoved it back into its holster. The setting sun behind his head obscured his features and casted him in a halo of saffron light, and it would’ve been a movie-worthy moment if the sharp scent of ozone wasn’t searing Touya’s nostrils.
As more robots emerged from the shadows, the figure jumped down, landing with a soft thud on the dusty ground. “C’mon, you two. We need to get outta here.”
All the questions Touya had could wait; he made sure Nene was coming and dashed after the stranger as fast as he could with his heavy backpack weighing him down. He watched in amazement as the guy expertly leapt over an old crate that was in the way and climbed onto a pile of parts, jumping down onto the other side of the fence and dropping into a roll before popping back up and opening the gate for them.
“Was all of that really necessary?” Nene mumbled as they reached the gate and walked through. Touya wasn’t sure either, but, well, he had gotten there quicker than them. He turned to the stranger and bowed. “Thank you for saving us. Who are you?”
The stranger, who was clad in a gray hoodie and gear in an even worse condition than Touya’s, looked around quickly and then back at them. He wore a mask over his nose and mouth, leaving only his eyes in view– strikingly peridot-green under thick eyebrows, the left of which was pierced. “You don’t gotta worry about that. You guys okay?”
“I think we’re alright,” Touya said, and Nene nodded in agreement.
“I don’t know why they left those stupid robots on. Maybe some bored security guard watching the surveillance cameras got a kick out of you two nearly dyin’.” He pulled his hood further over his face so it nearly covered his eyes. “I gotta go. Can you both get home safely?”
Touya nodded. “Thank you again.”
The guy tapped the ground with a well-worn shoe, activating his hoverboard, and bent his knees to speed off when Nene said, “Wait.”
He stood up straight and looked at her expectantly. There was an undertone of annoyance in his voice when he said, “I told you I gotta go.”
Nene fidgeted with her fingers anxiously. “I dropped my gun in there. Is there, like, maybe any chance you could get it back? It’s– it’s not a big deal if you don’t want to, but . . .”
The stranger glanced over at the junkyard. “Not now. I’ll get it later, promise. No one ever comes here, so I’ll leave it right outside the gate. Come back for it tomorrow at about the same time.” He gave a two-finger salute and took off at a speed that was definitely against the law.
Touya just stared at the person, who quickly became a gray dot in the distance, then turned back to Nene. “I can’t believe that just happened.”
She exhaled heavily. “Uh-huh. I don’t know how we’re alive right now.”
“And you’re going to get your gun back.”
“Please. I don’t trust that guy for a second. There’s no way.”
“He seemed genuine to me.”
They both stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do or say. So much had happened within the last five minutes, and Touya was still trying to process all of it.
“We need to get back home before we’re reported,” Nene finally said, and they left the strange experience behind them as they walked back from the junkyard.
A half hour later, the two of them were in Nene’s garage/makeshift-workshop while Touya tried to fix his hoverboard and Nene researched affordable lightguns. Touya loved being in here– it was dusty and dim and always faintly smelled of gasoline, but the infinite possibilities of so many gadget parts to create with made it feel like a hidden sanctuary.
“I wonder how that guy’s gear still worked,” Nene said. “It looked more beat-up than yours, but that gun was really powerful. And his hoverboard didn’t seem to have any problems, either.”
Touya unscrewed the panel underneath his board so he could access the circuitry. “Maybe he’s just made a lot of modifications with newer parts.”
“Now I kind of want to find him again just so we can find out where that guy shops. I really need some better keyboard gloves.” She tapped the air in front of her. “They lag when they type now. It sucks not getting free stuff from the Leaders.”
Due to his family’s status, Touya was supposed to receive free equipment from the Leaders of the island’s government– anonymous individuals who each strictly controlled a certain area of North to keep things running smoothly; one for technology, one for law enforcement, one for healthcare, and so on– but he wasn’t allowed to. His father required him to stay inside or in specific places that couldn’t cause him any harm, so there was no need for extra protection. The junkyard trip was . . . not exactly something he’d had permission to do.
“I wonder why he seemed so eager to leave,” Touya said, pushing the wires aside to fit in the part he’d scored earlier. “He kept checking to see if someone was watching or something.”
Nene froze mid-internet search. “Hold on. You don’t think he’s one of . . . them . . . do you?”
“. . . Them?”
“You know what I mean.”
He did a mental double take when he realized what she was talking about.
“He wouldn’t tell us his name, he was almost completely hidden with his hoodie and mask and stuff, and he was acting like someone was looking for him. What else could he be?”
“Why would he save us if he was one of them?”
Nene shrugged. “Who knows? I hardly know anything about the aliens.”
No one really did, save for how they were the cause of the island’s seemingly permanent lockdown. They reportedly had strange, dangerous powers and an insatiable bloodlust, and they’d somehow been blocking the daily check-in signal, effectively hiding them from the Leaders and the rest of North’s population. Honestly, Touya wasn't sure if they existed at all, or if they were simply propaganda, a myth designed to instill fear in the people of leaving the island or defying the Schedule.
“Aren’t there supposedly a few on the run?” Touya asked. “And we’re supposed to keep an eye out for them?”
“I think so, yeah.” She idly spun her chair in circles. “Although, that announcement was made a really long time ago, so I’d assume most of them have been caught by now.”
“So he’s probably not an alien, then.”
“It’s totally possible he is. I said most of them. Our island wouldn’t be on lockdown if they were all gone.”
“Wouldn’t he have tried to brainwash us?” Touya snapped the new part into place and started screwing the panel back on.
“We don’t know exactly what they do. Maybe they’re not as bad as we think.”
Everything Touya knew about the person who’d rescued him– and, more importantly, everything he didn’t know– made him want to find out more. “Honestly, I think it’s better to carry around lightguns for the purpose of shooting those malfunctioning robots than defending ourselves from the aliens like the Leaders advised us.”
“If he was an alien, though, how’d he get his hands on a lightgun? We have those to protect ourselves from them, so he would’ve had to steal it from someone. The Leaders only give high-status citizens and people in dangerous areas protection.”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Touya finally said, setting the screwdriver down and examining his work.
Nene turned to face him, her chair squeaking with the quick movement. “Touya, don’t tell me you’re going to try to find him again?”
“Maybe it’s worth a shot,” he said thoughtfully. “Someone has to pick up your gun, anyway.”
“I mean, sure. But what if he tries to kill you or something?”
Touya set his board down and tested it, hovering a few centimeters over the ground. It seemed to be steadier than it was before, although he’d have to test it outside to make sure the speed and stability was back up to par. “But if he doesn’t . . .”
Nene sighed and shifted her attention back to her computer. “Touya, you know how bad it would be if your dad found out about any of this, right? It was hard enough trying to hide what we were doing today from him, wasn’t it?”
“I’ll be careful.”
“And he’s not the only one watching you. If you fuck up any part of the Schedule, you could go to jail like that guy last week.”
That was a bit frightening to think about. During the previous weekend, a man in the city was outed for breaking curfew three nights in a row and was publicly arrested. Sometimes Touya had to wonder if the Leaders assigned someone to watch each person living in North, spying on their personal business, waiting for the perfect time to catch a mistake for their own enjoyment.
They had their reasons, though. They claimed it was better this way, so even though something about it all cast a deep-rooted seed of doubt and uncertainty into Touya’s heart, he trusted that their city was in good hands.
“If I can’t find him, I won’t try looking for him again. If it does get put on my record, I’ll say I was just trying to hunt him down to report him. Helping them is illegal, but hunting them isn’t.”
“If you think it’ll go fine, then, well, who am I to stop you? Just promise you won’t die on me. Alright?”
“I’ll try my best,” he said earnestly. Nene offered a half-smile, and Touya joined her in looking for parts online as if the whole conversation had never happened.
The next day, with a new-and-improved hoverboard and a half-decent lightgun, Touya set out into the blazing summer heat to find the mysterious maybe-alien again– but when he’d left his house and made sure he had everything he needed, he realized he had no idea where on earth to look for him.
Would he be in the junkyard again? Or somewhere else? Based on his behavior before, he probably wouldn’t be in any place that thrived with people, which was mostly everywhere in the city. Honestly, his best bet was still the junkyard.
He really didn’t want to have to face the old government robots again, but he was left with no choice if he wanted answers. Once he got there, he held his gun at the ready and slowly, carefully stepped through the gates.
“Hello?” he called. “Is anyone here?”
He realized too late that calling for him like that would most likely just alert the robots, and sure enough, after a few minutes of walking around, a few of them– all the ones left from the robot massacre the mysterious guy had committed the day before– seemed to notice him.
Somehow, this felt like deja vu.
Touya powered up his lightgun as the robots came closer. He shot at one of them, and although his weapon wasn’t nearly as strong as the other guy’s, it still left the robot stunned for a few seconds. He stunned the other two and then ran for the exit, stopping to pick up Nene’s gun on the way. Apparently, their savior hadn’t remembered to retrieve it.
He stopped short when he saw the hooded stranger frozen in place, staring down at two robots. He must have dropped his lightgun, because it was lying on the ground a few feet away, and he was slowly trying to grab it, inching his foot slightly closer so his hand could reach further out.
Touya made sure none of the other robots were on his tail yet and held up his lightgun, aiming it at one of the ones who had the guy cornered. At the sudden blast of blue light, its eyes fell dull, and the guy whirled to face Touya, eyes wide. Without hesitating, Touya shot the other robot, and the guy snatched his lightgun and raced over to him.
“You really just wanna get yourself killed, don’tcha?” the guy asked, shoving the gun into the holster strapped to his leg.
“I was looking for you.”
“Why?” He adjusted his gloves and threw him a look of impatience.
“Because . . .” No matter how he said it, it would come off as suspicious, wouldn’t it? “I have some questions to ask you,” he said vaguely.
The young man narrowed his eyes. “What sort of– you’re really sunburned, whoa. Are you okay?”
“Oh.” Touya blinked. He hadn’t protected himself from the sun yesterday; since he rarely went outside, the thought hadn’t occurred to him at all. A few hours after the day prior’s junkyard adventure, his skin had turned rather red. “Yes, I’m alright. I’ve got my visor’s sun protection feature active now, so it hopefully won’t get worse.”
He snorted. “Okay. Well, if you’re sure.”
“Anyway.” Touya tried to remember what they had been talking about before the subject changed. “I was wondering if you’re an alien?”
After a low whistle, he said, “Well, you sure don’t beat around the bush, do you.”
“My apologies if that’s–”
“Nah. Since you helped me out– although I woulda been fine on my own– I’ll answer your questions. But we can’t do it here, ’cause you never know who’s watchin’.” He glanced around conspiratorially, then grabbed Touya’s wrist.
“Ah! Uh– sorry. The– the sunburns.”
The guy let go, blushing. “My bad. C’mon, follow me.”
The stranger started speed-walking through the streets and taking shortcuts through alleys when he saw people on the other side of the road in a way that definitely did not ease Touya’s suspicions as he struggled to keep up. The area around them got more and more run-down as they kept going, and finally, the the guy stopped. Touya looked up at the abandoned warehouse, looming tall and dark and rusted, with shattered windows like hollow eyes and graffiti covering every inch of free space on the walls. Every warning Nene had given him started tumbling through his head in rapid succession.
“Are you sure this is safe?” Touya asked cautiously, hoping Nene wasn't right about the guy leading him to a high-tech torture chamber.
“I know it looks sketchy, but it’s fine. I promise. I just don’t want anyone to hear us.” The guy opened the door, which creaked threateningly.
Touya stayed back as the guy tried to usher him inside. “I can’t trust you yet. You didn’t keep your promise about returning my friend’s gun, after all.”
The guy sighed. “I was in the junkyard trying to find it. One of the robots rammed into the back of my legs and knocked me over, so I dropped my gun on accident. I was trying to get it so I could shoot ’em and keep lookin’.”
“Oh.” Touya nodded, pleased. He had been true to his word. “Thank you. I’m sorry you had to risk your life for that.”
He waved his hand dismissively. “I woulda figured it out. I did appreciate the help, though. C’mon, nothin’s gonna kill you in here. Promise.”
Well . . . he hadn’t lied about that, at least, so hesitantly, Touya followed him inside. It was as dark and creepy as it had been outside, carrying the stale scent of old oil and a dull humming sound. The stranger plopped down on a rusty metal crate, sending dust billowing into the air, and gestured towards the matching crate across from him. Touya tried to brush all the old grime away before sitting down, to no avail. Oh well.
“Alright. Ask away, but I can’t promise I’ll answer everything. There are things that need to be kept secret.”
Touya still wasn’t sure this was a good idea, but he shook his head to clear the bad thoughts and started to ask, “So, are you–”
“Hold on.” The guy held up a hand. “Sorry for interrupting, but on second thought, I need you to clear up a few things first. You really just tried to find me ’cause you’re curious? You weren’t sent by a Leader or anything.”
“Of course not. I don’t have personal connections with any of them,” Touya said quickly, then added, “Also, I wanted to know how your gear works so well when it looks so old.”
The guy laughed at that. “I’ll explain that later. So, do you follow the Schedule every day?”
“. . . Mostly.”
“Yeah, I guess the junkyard thing wasn’t exactly allowed, was it? And . . . how good are you at keeping secrets?”
“I hate lying, but there’s hardly anyone I need to keep secrets from, so I suppose I’d probably be good at it.” He was a bit anxious about where this was going.
The guy hesitated, then pulled his mask down and tossed his hood off to reveal a head of fluffy brown hair. The tips were bleached blonde, probably the remainder of his old color, and the whole style was kind of an overgrown mess, but in a good way. A carefree and cool-delinquent sort of way. The faint stream of light filtering in through the broken windows gently illuminated his quite handsome features– downturned eyes and a straight nose and a strong jawline– and Touya didn’t realize he was staring until the guy said, “Um, hello?”
“What? I’m sorry.” That was awkward.
“I said you can call me Cloud for now. And you are?”
Touya didn’t trust him yet, so in lieu of his real name, he responded, “Blue.”
Cloud looked amused. “Clever.”
“I don’t know if it’s a good idea to tell you my personal information yet, is all.”
“Fair enough.” Cloud shifted on the crate to sit cross-legged. “So? Questions?”
“If you don’t mind my asking, are you an alien?”
Cloud sighed heavily. “Okay, well, the first thing you should know is that the ‘alien’ thing is a common misunderstanding. I’ve got some info about those people, and they’re not aliens at all. They’re just regular people who can do weird stuff. I’m sure they don't care too much about the name everyone calls 'em, but I just wanted to fill you in on that.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize.” He wondered where he learned those things. He wanted to know about them, too.
“Also, those ‘aliens’ all have pointed ears. Some sorta genetic thing.” Cloud pulled back his hair to reveal two very normal human ears, lined with silver piercings. Touya had wanted to get his ears pierced for a while, but he knew he’d never be allowed to. “See?”
Touya couldn’t decide if he was relieved or disappointed. “I apologize for assuming.”
“Dude, you say sorry too much. Relax. Clearly you don’t get out a lot.”
“I don’t,” Touya agreed. “So . . . if you’re not an ali– one of those people, why are you always sneaking around like that?”
Cloud propped his chin in his hand and narrowed his eyes, seeming to think about his answer for a moment. “Let’s just say I’ve done some things that are against the law, and it wouldn’t be good if I got caught.”
Touya’s initial fears slowly started creeping back. “Like . . . what?”
Cloud shook his head. “Nothing as bad as you’re thinkin’, I can assure you. But I don’t . . . . I don’t really feel like disclosing that information?”
“So you haven’t killed anyone?”
“No.”
“Or tried to?”
“Uh . . . debatable.” What? “Anyway, I just told you, it’s nothing that bad. You know how you broke the Schedule yesterday? Or how there are stories of people attempting to break the daily check-in signal?”
Touya had done that before. He fought back a smile and nodded.
“It’s stuff like that. Stuff that’s outlawed in the city, but it’s not actually bad. I just can’t be caught. You get it, right?”
Touya nodded again. “Yes. And do you know anything else about the– the other people?”
“Not a whole lot. Just that their powers are kinda subtle, not super dangerous. Most of it just makes ’em stronger, enhances ’em, rather than directly harming other people?” He grinned. “Had a run-in with one of those guys a while back while I was on a supply run. He’s probably dead or in prison now, but he was fun to interrogate.”
“Oh.” Maybe Cloud was a little bit more threatening than he let on. “Anything else?”
“Uh . . . nah, I think that’s it.”
“Well, then, thanks for your time. Stay safe doing . . . whatever it is you’re not supposed to be doing.” This was rather anticlimactic; he hadn't learned that much, all things considered. He didn’t want to leave. He wanted North’s motto to come true. Let there be a change.
“Why aren’t you– oh.” Cloud snapped his fingers. “You said you wanted to know how my gear works so good, yeah?”
Fantastic! A reason to stay! “I did say that.”
“Well, I don’t really have money, and I can’t exactly walk into a store and buy something, so I have to make do with what I can find. I’ve collected a ton of parts over the last month or two, and some of ’em are actually really good.”
“Could I maybe have a few?” Touya asked.
He shook his head slightly, looking sort of bewildered. “You really are blunt. Tell you what– you can leave some of your gear with me and I’ll have it updated by tomorrow.”
“Really?”
“Really. If you don’t trust me, though . . .”
“No, it’s . . .” He balanced the decision in his head. He probably wouldn't be able to find better equipment if Cloud took it, but he also wouldn't be able to upgrade what he had anyway if he didn't leave it here.
“You can take my gun and my visor,” Touya said, since he had Nene’s gun if he needed it and his phone as a backup, “but I’ll keep the rest for now.”
Cloud nodded. “Sounds good. You know how to find this place, right? We can meet up ’bout the same time tomorrow. One p.m.”
“Alright,” Touya said, handing Cloud his things after a moment’s hesitation. Cloud was wildly overestimating his navigation capabilities, but he was sure he’d be able to figure out the way back here tomorrow. “See you then.”
His fingers hovered over the keyboard, hating the thought of getting back to work. He already didn’t care which assignment the city needed accomplished, but his focus was especially absent tonight. All he could think about was Cloud. Nene had still been suspicious when he told her everything that happened (and said that he easily could’ve made up the fact that aliens supposedly have pointed ears to prove he wasn’t one), but since Cloud had returned Nene’s gun, Touya trusted him, and he was more excited than he’d ever been to pick up his gear tomorrow.
Maybe they could meet again after that. Maybe Cloud could show him around the back areas of the city that he’d never seen before, or teach him about the various resistances and rebellions he’d heard rumors about, and . . . well, he wasn’t sure what would happen. He just wanted something to change.
“Let there be a change,” Touya mumbled under his breath; the motto of North, which was plastered on billboards and announced at daily check-in and used by political figures in their campaigns. Let there . . . He’d never really thought about the phrase, and ‘let there’ obviously meant commanding something into existence. Let there be a change. Let there be a lockdown to ensure everyone’s safety, so the Leaders can have control over the situation. But perhaps he could interpret it in a different way– let, as in, allow something to occur.
Maybe he wasn’t the one who needed to command a change to take place. Maybe, after all this time, a change was going to happen naturally, and all he had to do was show up to the warehouse tomorrow.
He started to type.