The Underground City

20:46

And of course, LUK3 got them out of the place in which they think only about work when C0NNER got back. Well, not all of them, just a few. MY4 seems to not be present, as well as the Great Leader who already said that He's busy, nor the two Officers. Seems like only the boys went this time for a fresh air. But is it not a day in which LUK3 tricks someone to go out with him anyway? And in the meantime, C0NNER seems to be smoking again.

[N04H]-So... what are we gonna do?

[C0NNER]-If it's for LUK3 to decide, probably go to a bar again.

[LUK3]-WHY DO YOU GUYS LIKE TO BULLY ME SO MUCH!?? TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK CAN YOU DO IN THIS SMALL CITY, HMM??

[C0NNER]-You know the city better than me, LUK3. It's actually shameful that you stood so much in it and still didn't find a way to get yourself entertained.

[LUK3]-Oh, yeah!? Then tell me, genius, what were you doing up there??

[C0NNER]-You are aware of what I've been doing, asshole. Count yourself lucky rather than complaining.

[LUK3]-Yeah, yeah, bring these excuses again...

[N04H]-Then if we don't know what we are going to do, should we go visit a few people or something like that?

[LUK3]-Well, I can do that, but C0NNER here might as well just go back to the base if we decide to do this.

[C0NNER]-Yeah, make fun of me now, won't you?

[LUK3]-I'm just saying, buddy! And am I not right anyway?

[C0NNER]-And what if you are? Don't you know to shut your mouth for a damn minute?

[LUK3]-Ninini ninini... Don't you know how to stop complaining about everything!? For fuck sake, you are just like Him!!

[C0NNER]-So what? You got a problem with th--

But as they argue again, seem like someone noticed and remembered them from past years, starting to go towards their direction to greet the small group. So why not say "Hi" to that person back?

[K3IT4RO]-Oh? If it isn't Mr. LUK3 and Mr. C0NNER. I wasn't expecting to see you both together without anybody else.

[LUK3]-Hm? Oh, Mr. K3IT4RO! No, no! We are with a new guy as well! Otherwise, C0NNER wouldn't have come.

[K3IT4RO]-Oh? A new guy? But I thought that Master closed all the entrances of the base even before I left.

[LUK3]-Yeah, but I convinced Him in the end! You know me as a person that gives up easily??

[K3IT4RO]-I see, I see... Mind introducing him to me then?

[LUK3]-Right! Right! N04H, this is Mr. K3IT4RO, MY4's old master! He retired a few years ago from being a Healer of ours and decided to have a rest.

[N04H]-So he used to work for the base?

[LUK3]-Yep! But nobody works forever, right?

[N04H]-Right...

[K3IT4RO]-Nice to meet you, Mr. N04H. What do you think of the place you work in so far?

[N04H]-Oh, well... it's alright, I think... But it's a bit weird for me since I'm the youngest here. There are no people of my age and it just feels strange sometimes. The closest to my age would be Mr. C0NNER after all. Was it the same when you were working with them?

[K3IT4RO]-I got to live the moment when the censorship wasn't a thing, so I'm afraid it wasn't, but don't worry about it. I know the people there will understand this strange feeling of yours.

[N04H]-So you were Miss MY4's master?

[K3IT4RO]-Mhm! You got to know her in the end, right? *sigh* I didn't see her in a while, that's for sure... I think I will pay her a visit later as well if I find her.

[LUK3]-She said that she is a bit busy at the shelter now though, but I think you can try and find her at the base in around... three hours? Four hours? I don't know for sure...

[K3IT4RO]-So she still works at the shelters? Heh, then I guess she didn't change... Still the same little girl that I took from the first day to help her learn about her role and with the same desire of helping to see other people happy.

[LUK3]-So what are you doing around here? You came to buy something or...?

[K3IT4RO]-No, no. I came here with someone. I'm just waiting for that person to finish a small thing.

[LUK3]-Oh? Who? *gasp* You got someone too!? Man, I want MY4 and your luck at relations...

[K3IT4RO]-Hahahh... No, not like that. Let me see if I see h... Oh, there she is!

So, they all look towards the man's sight, noticing a little girl that leaves a building alone. She seems as she saw the man too and ran towards him joyful.

[K3IT4RO]-There you go. It wasn't so hard, was it? Did you manage to use the restroom on your own?

The girl nods affirmatively.

[K3IT4RO]-See? I told you there is nothing you should fear, nobody is bothering you there! You don't need me to go with you everywhere.

[LUK3]-Ooooh, I get it! You have a kid now! She seems familiar though...

Yet when the girl heard LUK3 speak, she got scared and started hiding behind Mr. K3IT4RO.

[K3IT4RO]-*sigh* Yeah, something like that. Come on out now! I told you that you don't need to fear everyone!

But the girl still seems a bit scared. She looks in fear at the boys that are watching her confused, while the man tries to calm her down.

[LUK3]-Wait... I remember you! You were with the other two girls that came to us and you were always afraid of everyone for no reason! Uhh... What was your name again?

[K3IT4RO]-Oh? You met her before?

[LUK3]-Yeah! Some days ago we met up with Boss after a whole month since we thought of Him to have vanished and some small girls were with Him. One of them was her, but I don't really recall her name...

[K3IT4RO]-It's IZUK1. Yeah, she stays a lot with those two girls. They are her friends after all and I let her go whenever she pleases while she is with them.

[LUK3]-IZUK1! Right! Right... Wait, why is she so afraid of everyone anyway?

[K3IT4RO]-She was... kind of a slave from the above before, and I think you know the consequences of this fate already. You've saved some of these beings in the past, right?

[LUK3]-Really? She was a slave? This young?

[K3IT4RO]-*sigh* You know the people from the above after all... If there's a C born that breaths, it is either killed or used for their pleasure, whether it is objects or anything else.

[LUK3]-Aww... Poor Izu...

[N04H]-I feel bad for her now...

[K3IT4RO]-I know. I feel bad for what happened to her in the past as well, but this alone cannot take the horror she has lived. At least now she has some peace and quiet, even though she lives in constant fear because of her trauma.

They all look so merciful towards her, as if a feeling of pity for this young soul just crashes everyone's joy, yet C0NNER seems as if he has been moved the most from the group. After all, he is a survivor from the above as well, and this girl is just like him. But she suffered more than him. A... Hell... if you wish to put it that way. There is a difference between being one of the "Lost Children of Heaven" and being a slave after all. A huge difference.

While C0NNER's kind is one that tries to make a living, being hidden in the shadows and disguising themselves to survive, the slaves on the other hand are tortured from the moment they are given this "title" until the moment when they achieve their freedom, whether it is death or salvation. So you can say that they are alike, but at the same time, one has suffered a worse fate than the other.

[K3IT4RO]-Mind if you help me with something?

[LUK3]-Oh, sure! What is it?

[K3IT4RO]-I'm thinking of enrolling her into a school, but because of this fear of hers, I'm afraid that she won't survive there even an hour with all the new faces constantly around her. Maybe the more she meets people of the city and gets to know them better, the closer she is to getting her mental state stable. How about you take her for a small walk and show her the city? This way, she will learn not to fear you and maybe she will understand your words better.

[LUK3]-Oooh, alright! Yeah, I think we could do that! Hear that, C0NNER?? We found to do with our time! Are you happy now??

[C0NNER]-...

[K3IT4RO]-Thank you! Let me just talk to her for a second, alright?

And they do let him. He gets on a knee, with his back on the boys, and looking straight in the eyes of the terrified small girl, before starting whispering.

[K3IT4RO]-...IZUK1, listen to me. You have nothing to fear, alright? They are my friends, even Seven's friends as well. They just want to stay and get to know you better, okay? They won't do anything to you. You can be strong for Him, right?

The girl is afraid, of course, yet she tries not to cry. She nods affirmatively, yet so unsure of it.

[K3IT4RO]-That's my girl! Now, take your small backpack with you and go have fun with them, alright? I will come back to pick you up after, I promise!

He gives her the small backpack which he was carrying around all this time and does a small pat on her head. And so, he gets up and looks back at the boys to give them a goodbye, while the girl remains with them and watches him leave, before LUK3 begins to talk again.

[LUK3]-Hey, IZUK1! What do you want to do? It's your choice this time!

Yet the girl was still scared and unsure of what to do. Of course, it doesn't help her the fact that LUK3 is a loud type of person.

[LUK3]-Aw, come on! Talk to me! I promise I don't bite!

[C0NNER]-I won't trust that word myself...

[LUK3]-Oh, shut up!

Still no response. But she finally gets a bit of courage and tries to talk with them. Well, not actually talk... She starts doing some weird moves with her small hands which nobody really understands what do they mean.

[N04H]-I don't... understand. LUK3, do you know what she's doing?

[LUK3]-Oh, yeah, it's Sign Language, but I'm afraid I don't speak it at all. *sigh* Of course MY4 isn't present with us when I really need her...

She continues though, yet LUK3 finally interrupts her. After all, she was giving her soul in these movements for nothing in the end.

[LUK3]-Izu, none of us can understand you this way. Why don't you want to talk? You don't seem deaf to me.

She wants to speak at first...

[IZUK1]-...Aa...

...but she stops immediately. Then, she starts searching in her small backpack what seems to be a notebook and a pen. After that, she begins to write something down and then show it slowly to the boys.

"Ai seid tat ai vant tu go in an aria ver der arend zo mani pipal arount. Cen uei go?"

She doesn't seem as she knows how to write though. But she didn't go to school yet, so can you blame her? Even with this problem, LUK3 seems as he understood what she wrote.

[LUK3]-Uhh... sure, but why don't you speak to us?

She writes down something again and shows it to them.

"Ai cand."

[LUK3]-Okay then... Alright! Lead the way, little Iz!