Resonance - This article is part of a series.

Part 13: This Article

Episode 13: The Colonies
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Joji was shuffling his way forward through a haze of white noise, the flickering static from the bright tunnel lights, and the gossip and murmurings of every passerby.

“Ignore them, lad,” said Mikkel assertively as he led the way through the main tunnel, “They’re harmless.”

Joji exhaled through pursed lips and the air fluttered and rolled between his skin and his shirt.

Harmless.

He felt each person as they passed by. He felt the shadow of their spotlight gaze and hushed chatter. He felt the consciousness of each person, unique and complex and loud, their thoughts and their feelings; each spinning away and creating the static and noise that sought to overwhelm Joji. He felt his own internal barriers resist the bombardment; but with each parry he felt the toll to his spirit and energy.

Joji had been summoned to Director Ryu. Amongst the backdrop of the watchful eyes and offensive lighting amidst the otherwise grey and heavy tunnel, Joji had barely had the opportunity to even consider what Ryu may want, or even how Joji was currently feeling about Ryu.

As he tried to avoid accidentally catching someone’s eye, he searched his own feelings; but was abruptly met by a sharp and angry purple fire filling his mind. He saw Ryu as though through the eyes of the Seraph from his previous meeting. He could see the fear in Ryu then, and as the Seraph stood tall and mighty above the crowds, Ryu looked as though a bug, easily crushed, and insignificant in every way possible.

Probably for the best.

Joji himself was taken aback at the lack of emotion toward Ryu. He did not trust him, that’s for sure, but he could feel the surge of disdain coursing through him towards Ryu. It felt irrational; and yet he couldn’t place the feelings or explain it through logic, his contemplation started to loop as his mind sought to uncover just what was guiding his hatred-

A soft breeze stroked Joji’s cheek, and the damnation of distrust and the fog of anger dissipated. He saw, in front of him and standing at one of the hangar doors, Rin.

She stood holding a holographic screen in front of her; her legs were crossed with her weight planted on one foot. Joji saw how she had tucked her worn trousers into her boots and he followed them up past her waist and chest and the soft delicate lines and edges of her neck. Her hair hung by the side of her face and he paid attention to each tiny movement and change of her face as she looked through whatever was capturing his angelic gaze on the screen-

“Ms Kuroda,” said Mikkel as he walked past.

Joji snapped back to reality.

“Good morning, Mikkel,” she replied. She caught Joji’s eye and he felt a part of him leave his body; he relaxed, and yet felt light-headed all the same.

“Joji,” she nodded.

“Ms Kuroda.” Joji nodded in return.

✧

Joji and Mikkel walked for a further 15 or minutes or so, when Mikkel stopped and turned to Joji.

“Here we are, lad. Are you all set?” he asked.

Joji flinched; his mind had been quiet for the last part of their walk, the fact that he would now be speaking to Director Ryu had been forgotten. But even so, he was somewhat surprised at Mikkel’s question.

“Yeah, I think so.” he replied, “Should I not be?”

Mikkel frowned, before his weary yet kind eyes opened widely and happily once more.

“Just a saying, I suppose! Well, we’ll be going in then.”

Mikkel pressed a handful of buttons next to a wide metallic door built into the otherwise concrete walls. Each press created a high pitched beep as feedback.

“Sir, it’s me.” said Mikkel to the wall. A muffled noise came in reply, before a buzz, a click, and the sound of pressurised air. The door slid open unveiling a warm orange hue, and Director Ryu sitting at a large wooden desk.

✧

Joji stepped into the warmer hue of Ryu’s room, but was surprised by the cold air filling his lungs. It was a relief; the city was too often lathered with a thick and sticky blanket of hot air. Even back home it was unusual to feel anything other than a pressing heat. This, by contrast, was refreshing. It felt lively; sharp, but freeing.

“Joji Sekko,” spoke Director Ryu as he stood to his feet to greet Joji, “here, sit down.”

Ryu made his way from behind his desk and gestured in the direction of an arm chair and a sofa in the corner of the room.

Joji looked back for Mikkel, but the door had already slid back into place leaving Joji isolated and cut off from the hustle and murmurings and bright lights of the tunnel. He was overcome with a momentary sadness and longing that caused Joji to shrink where he stood. He felt as though a child being left alone somewhere strange.

He knew this feeling well.

Joji looked forward to the approaching Ryu and sat down on the sofa. He felt the chill air shoot through his body like ice itself had surged through him. He shivered involuntarily.

“Ah yes, the cold.” noted Ryu as he sat down opposite Joji, and leaned back into the wide and comfortable looking armchair.

“It’s a home comfort, if you will.”

Joji looked at Ryu with a renewed interest that had been severely lacking in all his meetings to date.

“What do you mean?” asked Joji.

“Oh you don’t know?” replied Ryu, leaning forward.

“Here,” started Ryu, as he reached out to the table beside him and picked up an intricate metallic diorama.

“This here is the colonies, the original five space stations.” Ryu smiled and he proudly presented the diorama to Joji.

“These five spheres here, well they aren’t spheres in reality obviously, are the main colonies. Huge, mesmerising structures built as glistening, miracles of science for humankind to spread to the vast and beautiful expanse of space… technological wonders.”

Joji leaned closer at the diorama, that, despite lacking any real detail beyond looking as though a handful of metallic balls held up by magnets, he assumed, seemed to revel in Ryu’s complimentary words that seemingly brought them to life.

“This one here, the biggest, Chryse Gateway, sits in the orbit of Mars. Can you imagine the Metropolis confined to one space station that is also the largest logistic hub in the entire solar system? And these two, Archaea Central and Illium Deep… Jupiter’s twins… and these two, Prometheus and Niveus Cascade, sit in the orbit of Saturn. One orbits Titan, the moon, and the other orbits Saturn’s ring itself! Although for the life of me I can’t remember which is which…”

Ryu scratched his chin, before smiling.

“I guess it doesn’t matter.”

Joji sat in the silence of Ryu’s room, waiting.

He smiled politely in Ryu’s direction, who smiled back,

“You were saying…home comforts…?”

“Ah yes! Chryse Gateway… the Iron Collar, my home. I can’t remember too much now, although a small part of me dies every time I admit to that. But this cold air always brings me back. I forget that it’s not such a common place on Earth anymore.”

“You’re from the colonies?!”

Joji edged forward further still.

He knew of the colonies, but he’d never met anyone who was actually from the colonies. Everyone on Earth, he reckoned, would have been taught of the colonies; especially since it was no longer each colony and planetary system that governed themselves. The United Global Accord had political control, but there were always rumours of discontent and troubles in the skies. Travel to and from the colonies was now almost impossible. He had only really known of people being “relocated” to the colonies as part of work, which was akin to being shipped off world. He had heard of families being split up and sent to far away moons as rewards. Still, the colonies felt so far away, both in terms of physical space and as part of wider society.

Director Ryu was smiling, but his weathered eyes told a different story. They sparkled under the warm hue of the light of the room, but displayed sadness; a heavy sadness that only exists only from years of yearning and waiting on a disappearing ember of hope.

“I was born on Chryse Gateway, yes.” Ryu wavered, before looking intensely into Joji’s eyes. Joji tried to look away, but he felt compelled to remain.

“That’s why, Joji Sekko, I must drop the charade with you, and lay everything out on the table. I appreciate that my role here dictates a certain demeanour, politics, a facade, I suppose. I’m not against spinning lies, as I’m sure you’ve already noticed. I could tell, almost right away, that you weren’t going to want to play these games. I respect you for it, if I’m honest. We have many good men and women who are fighting for this cause, but such is human nature; there are plenty of people who seem more concerned with personal gain and posturing their own position, they will say whatever they think you want them to say, do whatever they think you want them to do…” Ryu sighed loudly, “It’s exhausting.”

“So, I’ll do a deal with you, if you’d like?” asked Ryu.

“That depends on what the deal is, I suppose.”

Ryu chuckled, “I guess you’re right… well, I will talk straight with you, Sekko, I’ll cut through the bullshit, and what I ask for in return is the same. Does that sound fair?”

Joji hesitated, and his brain spun through the permutations. The talk of the colonies had already worn a small chink in his armour, and he was aware of it. What if this was a further trap?

“Fine, no bullshit.” said Joji firmly. “When do I get my Seraph back?”

“Ah, yes.” This time it was Director Ryu shuffling forward in his armchair. “You won’t be piloting the Seraph any time soon. You can’t. It will put everything we’ve built, everything I’ve built, everything I’ve waited for.”

Joji paused. He had not expected such defiance and truth in Ryu’s voice.

“Joji, I was sent here by my family once the UGA started taking control in the colonies. My father was involved in the governance of Chryse… hell, I’m not even going to pretend that I know what it was about because I can’t remember. They sent me away to Earth, and ever since that day I’ve made it my life goal to get back to them.”

“You want to pilot the Seraph. I can see it has an-… I can see that you have a connection to it. But after years of staring out at the stars, running out of all hope that we’ll ever be able to do anything, that machine is the one glimmer of hope that might actually get me home.”

“So what?” spat Joji, “You expect me to do what, exactly? Be some sort of test subject? I don’t even know what the hell goes on down here? Wherever here even is.”

“I expect you to do your damn duty to us, to society, to the damn colonies.” shot Ryu in return.

A tense and lingering silence filled the room.

“Look,” started Ryu, “What you did the other day, when you showed everyone the Seraph… it was like it started a fire in everyone that perhaps we had all thought died out long ago. We are in the dark. We receive beacons from the colonies, every now and then. We don’t even know if they’re meant for us. They contain updates about the colonies, how the UGA is tightening its fist… war, Joji. They will never tell us down here, but entire planet systems have been fighting back. If you think it’s bad down here, even you would shudder at what they’re doing up there.”

“They have been getting fewer and fewer. And… we don’t have the means to send anything back; even if we did we can’t be sure where to send it or that it won’t be intercepted.”

“So what are you doing?” asked Joji, this time with sincerity.

“We do what we can. We share the updates with population centres, we help those who need help, we increase our numbers, we beg and steal weapons, technology… anything that might help us. We have been building up, waiting for the right time to unleash… something to the world. People need to know that we can’t live like this. We can’t be controlled and stamped down on like rats; worse than rats, dirt. Rest assured, they know we are here, and yet they don’t care. We’re that insignificant, that powerless, that they don’t even care about routing us out. They allow us to sit in the darkness, dreaming our dreams, because they know we can’t do anything.”

“And what do you think they would do, Joji, if they had any inkling that we had a Seraph here? A weapon straight out of myth, so powerful that most thought that such a thing was merely a bedtime story? What would they do if they thought we weren’t a hopeless inconvenience, but a real threat to their control on Earth?”

Episode 12 - A Great Man

Episode 14 - Coming Soon