Episode 4: Inconsequential Morality

The warm air of Joji’s breath hovered and swirled around his face. Its heat came as a welcome comfort as it fought and danced beautifully against the sharp and brash cold of the night.

He sat with his back to the large white mech; the hard metal met him with surprising support and solace. The heart of the ancient forest sat as a reminder of an emerald world of life and beauty, where nature was still flourishing and where the bloody hands of humankind had not yet grabbed hold with destructive intent, ripping roots and trees from the ground, grinding and burning all its path with ego, desire, and greed; systemic destruction of life, to paper over with grey decay.

The mech stood above Joji like an overbearing and impending shadow; and despite it all, Joji was glad for what felt like a companion.

Joji looked to the sky but saw naught but the darkness of the canopy and the dark shape of the mech above him. He imagined the tiny shining specks of stars and planets in the night sky, and the great abyss of space between them. He wondered of the loneliness of a star hidden in the darkness, isolated in space in time - the gap between everything else in existence gradually moving further and further apart.

He felt lost in the heart of all that the forest was, sitting in the heavy air and scratching and movements of life.

He suddenly felt extremely small.

And yet, the metal on his back provided a strange warmth - he was lost, but alone? Perhaps not.

Joji’s eyes felt heavy, and just as the whispers of the forest faded, he drifted to sleep.

Joji was walking with his friend.

He turned to see Eldred; he had messy light hair and soft eyes. Joji could not help but smile to himself as the pair of them shuffled along the muddy path. He looked around to see the ember sun sitting low on the horizon. The sky was painted with the warm, cosy haze of sunset - orange bled into pink, as though the fire of the sun was leaking and encompassing the horizon, only to fade to the increasingly darkness of the purples and blues above.

The horizon was flat - no buildings or hills interrupted the eyeline as far as one could see.

The pair walked, and giggled, and vague chatter littered the air between them.

Darkness slowly descended from the heavens and shadows on the ground grew deeper and larger.

Suddenly, the thunder of an eruption in the distance caused both Joji and Eldred to turn quickly. A towering plume of smoke was climbing into the sky. Just as abruptly, a second crashing, and then another, and another.

The serenity of the sunset had turned to a catastrophic and cataclysmic hellscape, the orange hues that now filled the air were those from the flame and burning of explosions in the distance.

The pair of them ran in panic - police cars came flying by, and Joji was filled with a sense of dread and guilt; a sense of inevitability that the police were there for them. Sirens blasted by, and both Joji and Eldred hid their faces as best they could.

The darkness of night had collapsed around them and engulfed everything - the clouds and smoke of explosions covered even the faintest flicker of moon and stars.

They stumbled upon a house in the darkness, and they ran through the door without hesitation.

Inside, the walls were dreary and plain; dirty and mouldy in places. Suddenly, high pitched screams burst through the hall way, and Eldred was attacked by 5 young children - despite being young, they were all tiny, the tallest barely reaching his knee.

They swarmed Eldred, biting and scratching at him - in the mayhem, Joji jumped in to help.

Eldred felt a burning sensation in his thigh, and a sharp, rusted knife had been thrust into his skin. He roared in agony, and Joji instinctively kicked out with all his might. The contact was true and violent. A child flew through the air, and in an instant smashed into the wall - his head jerked backwards and crashed into the wall, the noise of which sent a shiver through Joji’s spine.

The child’s body dropped to the floor with a thud.

The clamour abruptly came to a close and heavy silence filled the house. Even the remaining children stopped in shock, staring at the lifeless body across the room.

Eldred collapsed to the ground - the knife still implanted into his thigh.

Joji hesitantly walked over the body on the floor. Each small step felt like the inching to an impending doom. Joji knew the truth already, and he desperately wanted to stay in the moment where the truth felt uncertain.

He turned around, and now Ake was looking at Eldred’s wound. The remaining children had been forced into a dog cage. The children now seemed smaller, and more doll-like than before.

The colour had faded from their faces, solemn dread and despair was now etched on their small faces. They looked out of the cage in the direction of the lifeless body.

“Joji,” said Alex, “you know what we need to do right?”

Joji looked up from the arm chair where he was sitting.

“What? What do you mean?”

“Joji, if they come and find these kids, they’ll know what you did.”

He looked over at the child lying on the floor. The child’s eyes were wide open and staring out into nothingness.

“We have to get rid of all of them.”

Joji now stood over the cage. The doll-like children felt even smaller still. He looked down at them like a giant; them looking up at terror at an unworldly evil to which there was no escape.

They begged and pleaded - the desperation was chilling, and the cage rattled with hopeless attempts to break free. But the pleas were lost in the abyss; Joji’s foot crashed down like a meteor and the bloodcurdling screams were lost in the distance and scale - like the screams of insects from the perspective of an unknowing person - the sad irony that despite the lack of intention, the deaths were even more senseless; simply inconsequential, leaving no mark on any measure of morality.

Alex and Joji patted down the soil. They had worked in silence. They knew what needed to be done.

“When they come looking for us, they’ll think the house was abandoned - just like everywhere else.” Alex said. “And hey, they were no parents anyway. It was going to happen anyway.”

Joji slumped back into the rotting armchair. The room was musky. The wallpaper was peeling and the mould had infected the entire room. Joji could smell the damp and the decay.

Despite that, his body craved the relief of sleep.

The room was now dark, only lit by the soft glow from the doorway to Joji’s right.

Joji flinched at the shape of the shadow before him - it had, for a split second, taken the form of a body. He felt his body shiver - the hairs on his arms stood up, and his heart tightened as though clamped by someone reaching deep inside of him and squeezing.

He squeezed his eyes tightly and he saw the shadows for what they were - merely shadows.

And yet, Joji remained on high alert, and he looked to the door and the hallway beyond it.

He felt something.

He felt the hairs on his head stand to attention again.

He was in danger, and his body knew it.

He heard the slow and terrifying scratching along the wooden floor.

The presence grew stronger.

The room darkened, and Joji could not keep his eyes away from the door.

Something was coming.

Joji felt his heart beating violently through his chest.

He opened his mouth to shout for help, but nothing happened. His mouth felt like it was nailed shut, and for all his might and effort, it would not move.

Long dark fingers grabbed hold of the door frame from the hallway, one by one, they peered as silhouettes from the glow.

Joji tried once more to shout. This time his mouth was wrenched open, but no sound came out.

Suddenly, the glow from the hallway shut off and darkness swallowed the entire room.

Joji felt it coming.

It was there with him.

It was coming.

It was close.

Joji tried with all his might. He felt glued to the chair. No words came from his mouth.

He forced it wider and wider.

It was too late.

-aaa–aaaaaarAARRGGHH!

Joji screamed and shot forward away from the mech. He felt the sharp cold air of the heart of the forest, and the faint silver shimmer of starlight and moonlight piercing the canopy. He could still feel the hammering from his chest, but the brisk air was a warm relief.

Joji took a deep breath, trying to calm his body and to acclimatise to the real world.

He relaxed backwards, and gently rested his head on the mech behind him. Joji softly closed his eyes, and noticed the sore and heavy sensation from doing so.

In front of him, the loud shriek of birds rang out through the undergrowth, followed by the fluttering of wings as they flew up into the air.

Joji’s eyes shot open again.

A dozen silhouettes stood before him, rifles leveled at his chest.

Episode 3 - The Static of Disconnect

Episode 5 - Coming Soon

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