…

Chapter 10

A promised future

…

In a blue, baggy work overalls with black inlets, Ikuno comes out from the smashed locker room, kicking splinters left and right with her black work boots, trying to clear the middle of the entrance from what remains of the torn out synthetic wood door. Satisfied of the apparent order, she proceeds down the corridor from where she came from, now Futoshi nowhere to be seen. But she was confident in where she could find him shortly, as this was a recurring job of theirs and they have a precise set of habits about tackling it.

She chooses always the same type of job to avoid taxing ones like cleaning endless corridors, frenetically transporting everything everywhere and being tainted by all those digital, boring technical manuals required to operate the automated machines, that don't tell about how they intimately work, but only endlessly elaborate on how to push their buttons to provide an equally boring effect.

For her, a good old book was everything she needed in life, since nothing was about as close as discovering those unseen, exciting worlds told in images and words on rough paperback, to escape in those long stories made of adventure and wonder. Too bad that wasn't anything close to a job description in Bird's Nest, so she had to settle with the closest to a light job she could come up with. With everyone's approval, her work was just right, especially paired with Futoshi, who's unstoppable in front of physical work and, most importantly, values her as a person unlike her previous partner… who has become a different person in the meantime. She at least gives him that to be proud about.

Her work boots hollowly resound on the tiled pavement while she enters the wide, circular lobby, and she stops admiring the fake trees under glass, weighting their symmetry and regularity, a still life very honest about nature compared to the artsy and messy paintings up in the officer's quarters lobby, clearly made to please the eye.

That magic moment disappears when she spots an abandoned food tray close to the wall, crumpled and its contents littered close by, dispersed like someone threw it into the wall.

"Who does that sort of thing-!" She blurts on, vexed. She enters the fake garden by the side entrance and, stepping on the tiled path through the decorative gravel laid around the metal trees towards the far metal white wall.

Closing in to the spilled foods, she notices that are still intact since the soft container seems to have absorbed the shock of the throw. Ikuno, without ado, picks all of them up and shoves them back inside. Decided to not waste any, she proceeds out of the garden and sits down on the ground against the inner wall close to the garden's entrance, taking out a chocolate bar and inspecting it with gusto… but a spark of guilt ignites, and she stops midway in opening it.

"I shouldn't do this… didn't I eat almost a cake last night?" Yes, she did. Recently her stomach has behaved like a neverending chasm. She swallows her saliva and, against her desires, places the bar back in the half-crumpled tray.

"This is getting out of hand. I need to control myself." She says to herself, noticing her own distress was getting bigger and bigger, day after day. Not only she binged on reading, she did it on eating too. Gathering that… she felt something was amiss in herself, but she couldn't tell what.

She shoves the pack to her side and waits on leaning her head against the wall, her tired but aware eyes still open wide from that horrible dream that violently pumped adrenaline in every crevice of her body…

"That wasn't me…" She guiltily whispers.

After a minute, Ikuno picks up a deaf sound echoing from one of the corridors opposite of where she was sitting… the sound of rubber screeching on metal and a high-pitched, looming buzz getting closer. Taking that as a signal, she detaches groggily from the wall and gets herself up with the pack under her arm, waiting for the buzzing to decelerate.

In anticipation, a dashing Futoshi makes his appearance, driving bulky electric utility cart clockwise in the atrium's circle around the elevator. The vehicle's front consists of a metal frame encased in a rollbar without doors, holding a three-seat at the steering wheel and a big trash container the shape of an inverted bell with some hydraulic braces installed at the back, painted orange and black stripes. He decelerates further and stops in front of Ikuno, wheels sliding onto the tiled floor.

"Hello, there! Want a ride?" He asks jolly.

"Sure!" She smiles lightly.

"Oh? Where did you found that? Why is it broken?" He asks her about the tray she's holding onto.

"I found it in there." She points behind with her thumb towards the iron statues. "Someone threw it against the wall." She frowns slightly.

"Ah- unruly! Why would someone do that!" He protests, taken aback.

"It's still intact… You can take some, if you want." She offers the pack.

"N-no thanks, I'm not hungry…" He refuses waving his hand, slightly embarrassed.

"Well, ok… I'll keep onto it." She goes around the vehicle and slides on the rough cloth-covered front seat, leaving the pack in the seat between her and Futoshi, then grabs onto a hand holder attached to the front seat's roll-bar as she leans back onto the seat and placing a foot onto the lower part of the cabin to support herself. Futoshi notices her partner's still dull movements and wonders about her state.

"Is everything fine now?" He asks with a note of worry.

"Yeah, no problem. Shall we go?" She cuts the topic off. Futoshi slightly smirks at her defiance.

"Sure that you're strong, but please, take it easy." He warns her in his now serious tone. "You can rely on me."

"Hmpf." She stubbornly responds, in a positive tone, looking the other way.

He tries to smile, but only manages to pull off a tense sigh, as he recomposes himself. Readjusting his stance on the seat, he grabs firmly onto the wheel, ready to drive on.

"Well, here we go!" He grins.

He floors the pedal!

Wheels wheezing onto the floor make Ikuno widen her eyes as the recoil of the acceleration makes her shoot upwards her left arm, grabbing onto the rollbar over her head.

"F-F-Futoshi!" She howls in surprise.

The electric motor wheezes in a high-pitched hum while taking the cart to speed, completing the lap in the lobby ring then steering towards the same white two-way corridor he came from, marked by horizontal signage and labelled "Light Vehicle Bay", "Vehicle Lift" and "Heavy Vehicle Bay".

"Uhhh! Speed!" Futoshi jollily exclaims.

As the cart stabilizes, Ikuno readjusts herself on the seat. She pouts at him, but her expression breaks at his big, illuminating smile.

"Ehhhh…" She slaps her forehead in disappoint. He's such a big child!

Light gusts of air start whipping wildly Ikuno's white hair strands as the illuminated corridor passes past her, windows zipping on the left wall giving the distinct image of the Spheres' curved wall dotted by skylights shifting as they proceed down the long hallway.

After a while, the way enlarges and divides in two: one normal corridor on the right and another branching to the left, transitioning into a downwards spiral ramp marked "Vehicle only access". Futoshi takes the left turn, lowering his speed before descending downwards.

Reached the bottom of the ramp, a wide multi-story garage welcomes them: grey metal pillars suspending the entire structure, each story composed of mini lifts, driveways marked by orange road lines marking and parking stalls tidily full of small abandoned electric vehicles: corridor sweepers, magma tankers, freezer transporters, open-top pick up trucks…

Not too far away, straight in front from the end of the ramp and embedded into the wall was the aforementioned lift: an open design, surrounded by steel netting retentions, large enough to house at least ten of those vehicles at closes slowly to the entrance, and a photocell activates and automatically opens up the grated door to let the cart inside.

Ikuno dismounts and goes to a button stand on the left side of the lift, where she presses the descent switch, that triggers the closing the entrance and starts the slow descent with a loud hydraulic jerk. On the left wall of the elevator shaft are embedded slanted glassed skylights from where could be seen the base of the spheres, where long, slanted columns embedded in the base's foundation were supporting their massive weight. All around those, roads were made circling the supports and linking to the service elevators directly linked to the Sphere's interior, since bulky vehicles were not

She returns to the cart's seat and wonders for a short while, then she jerks as her communicator starts ringing in her pants pocket: she takes it out and opens its screen to be met with a static image of Hachi, with a "Video Call" caption.

"That's Hachi!" She warns his companion.

"Oh, that's right! I almost forgot." Futoshi recoils in surprise.

"Here we go. We're gonna be live." Ikuno gets closer to Futoshi and places the device on the dashboard of the cart, facing the holoscreen towards both of them and accepting the call: the screen pops from black to a bright image of Hachi from slightly below his chin, sitting in a desk in front of a terminal in an illuminated command room, typing away, while his communicator was placed on the desk at his side. As he picks up with his eye's tail the change of image from his end, he stops typing and faces both.

"Greetings, 196, 214." He plainly salutes both.

"Greetings, Hachi." Ikuno responds to him.

"I have an update on the situation. I've found that Stamen's information, and he's registered in Sphere 1, north side, chamber 34." Hachi says while checking the screen with a glance. "As said earlier, I want you to check the room and report back for anything out of the ordinary."

"What do we do if the little Pistil is in the room?" Ikuno asks.

"Talk a bit with them, observe the situation… and report back again."

Both keep staring at him, nodding, but Futoshi does so with discomfort, so intense that he takes word

"Excuse me sir…" He asks him unsure of his reaction.

"Yes?" Hachi replies.

"We're already checking on the young Children for some days… but… why are we doing this?"

Ikuno glares at him, taken aback at his nerve. Hachi instead, parts slightly his mouth in silence, pensive.

"Futoshi…!" Ikuno chastises him whispering. "That's not our conc-"

He blinks "I didn't explain it to you, and that's my fault, since I should have done that." Hachi states in a neutral tone, but his demeanour breaks down as he brushes his fist on his forehead, and sighs looking down at the desk.

"They were supposed to be trusted…" He whispers to himself.

Ikuno darts his gaze back to the screen, aghast towards the pinch Futoshi placed on her commander.

"S…Sir, just say a word and…" She tries to offer her fidelity, trying to correct the vague unease of being out of her place.

"I know, 196, but…" Hachi straightens his back and summons back his aplomb. "I need you to actually understand this situation. It's for everyone's interest."

Futoshi, encouraged by the positive reaction, lets out decidedly his doubts.

"So… sir… Why are young Parasites here at Bird's Nest?"

Hachi takes a long breath as he reclines his back on the chair, joining his hands.

"After the first battle of Gran Crevasse, many Pistils and Stamens were either declared dead or unable to fight."

He begins explaining as the two Parasites fix their immobile gaze on their commander's video feed.

"So, to fill in the required unit count to defend the site, the last generations of fit children were pushed into service earlier. Problem is, the generations immediately after yours were not enough since the conflict extended far beyond what was estimated: Parasite numbers were dwindling, so the call to arms extended to the earlier generations."

"As you know, becoming a Parasite comes with age, but they weren't physically ready yet, so High Command issued a certain mandatory protocol ordinance..."

He explains on, in difficulty.

"Children from the age of 8 through age of 14 were forcibly given the…"

He stops talking and looks at her in the eyes. Then he wanders his eyes to the side and continues.

"Elixyr injection."

Ikuno opens her eyes like she's hit by a cold shower.

"No… way…" Ikuno leans backwards to the seat while trying to force herself to stay calm, bringing her joined hands against her chest about to burst open from her heartbeat. Futoshi jerks upwards a little and his mouth comes open ever so slowly while a mist envelopes his off-focused eyes.

"The young Pistils and Stamens survivors from the procedure were shipped en-masse from the Garden, an estimate total of fourty-three."

"H-How many d-did…" Ikuno asks as she breaths air having the same density of water, her face contorted in pure disbelief.

"The 85%." Hachi says cryptically.

Ikuno's mouth dangles as her shoulders slowly slump forward and her head falls, as small breaths shudder back and forth her light frame. An instant passing in an eternity of contemplative silence, disturbed only by the humming of the elevator descending and the light of the morning sun extruding from vertical glassed apertures in the external wall.

Seconds make their leave and Hachi shifts in his seat and leans over the table, perching his head on the desk with his arm while affixing his gaze away from the screen. He brushes his palm on his face, to grip his own forehead, eyes closed.

"Hachi."

Ikuno gets his attention as he darts his head back up, to see her straightening her back and forcing air back into her lungs in looking upwards, her framed eyes enveloped in a tornado of disbelief and fear.

"Yes."

"Now I understand…" She reassures him, maybe herself more than anyone else. "…It's OK."

Her still blinking fast, fazed gaze descends back to meet Hachi's neutral one. Her breath stabilizes as she slowly massages in a circular motion her checks to regain some vivacity, trying to relax her tensed facial muscles strained from the horrible news.

"Did you… know all along?"

He nods. "I dug a little at that time."

"I see." She lets out a liberating smile, relieved that Hachi was there for them.

She adjusts herself on the seat while turning her head to check on Futoshi, to find him covering his mouth with one hand and grabbing the wheel with the other, his short eyebrows crumpled inward barely showing teary and droopy eyes full of misery.

"That's terrible…" He lets out a choked voice as he leverages himself on the wheel to wander towards the wall with the slanted skylights, his big back towards Ikuno slightly slouched. Hands in his pockets, he stops in front of them to occupy his mind with the epically big panorama of the Spheres.

"Just a moment…" She tells Hachi, that nods and pauses the communication.

Ikuno notices his distress and is compelled to follow him, getting up herself and making her way hesitantly to him, to close hesitantly by his big back… only to grind to a halt a couple of meters behind him, like invisible arms grabbed and stopped her, trying to pull her away from him.

What was she supposed to do?

Was she correct in doing that?

How will he react? Will he refuse her?

Fear. She felt too much fear.

The girl's mind fluttered to not so long ago, that episode she had in the locker room… he didn't hesitate to bash the door down to come to help her, to suppress her cries on his shoulder and to try even to console her out of the sorry state she left herself in. He felt fear too, but instead he faced it head-on disregarding everything… something she wouldn't have the courage to do.

Ikuno wondered frustrated why she had to always like that… he's not a… bad guy. In fact, he's the most…

She shakes those thoughts out of her mind. Why is she still there? She needs to do something now!

Ikuno closes the most distant meters she ever covered and, in front of his slowly breathing back, she reaches with both of the palms of her hands. She finally touches him, her hands feeling his body warmth, still unsure of the contact she's making. His breath faltered for a moment but he didn't protest at all.

Is this as far as it goes? Hell no.

She slides her palms upwards, brushing his back muscles, towards his shoulders.

Futoshi, feeling her hands coming up, slowly straightens himself in reaction to her contact, but then relaxes and calms his breathing further. He brings his own hands to the shoulders to enclose those of Ikuno's.

"Thanks…" He sighs.

"…" In all response, she leans her forehead onto his back trying to make him feel her presence, eyes closed. The light coming from the murder holes illuminate like a lighthouse the large interior of the elevator's cabin, moving downwards ever so slowly in a low hum.

"Do… you remember… when we visited for the last time the Garden?" Futoshi asks her.

Yes, she does.

…

…

She remembers…

…that cold and white winter day, when she and her FranXX squad visited for the last time the Garden, the place where they spent their entire early life growing up.

She was there for a maintenance check-up as her service age required, but she quite didn't anticipate that turn of events after all. Of course, her body had to be checked regularly to give her the best chance of surviving the dire task she was assigned to, but she didn't know that Papa had decided to send them to the research labs in a separate part of the complex, the most advanced ones in all of the continent.

Hachi explained them that, since their track record was amazing compared to every other FranXX squad ever employed, they were given the opportunity to be serviced by the best of the field still present in research to give them the most qualified treatment possible. So, after some days and battles, they dismounted by air transport in front of the entrance and, after the exams, were given the opportunity to roam the Garden.

She clearly remembers…

…when, during her free time, she disobeyed the orders given from their superiors, Hachi and Nana, and wandered with her squad to the Children's nursery, declared off-limits for them from the Administration. She didn't care if she would get punisher for that, since her desire to visit that place again was too strong to ward off.

She just wanted to see for the last time the places where she used to play, and nothing could really stop her from doing what she wanted… except the Guards, that were assigned somewhere else anyway.

The Parasite school library, all by herself…

She barged inside still in her winter overcoat, the poor caretakers looking nervously at her while scooting around or immobile like salt statues unable to say anything, as weren't prepared to deal with a grown-out Parasite roaming… She thought it was so funny!

She dearly remembers…

…standing beside the entrance to the library, smiling full lips as the memories of her past came back to her… multiple open stories of teal high library shelves all lined against the walls on multiple levels, full of books of every kind and shapes, surrounding an open space filled with large reading desks and chairs.

Flocks of young, happily teeming kids were reading picture books while laughing in whispers, some others more mature in age were huddled in the corners sitting on beanbag chairs, trying to read more difficult ones in peace, unaware of her presence. Where she was used in sitting? Ah, yes, back then she preferred that corner! But the beanbags were a little too small for her and she didn't want to have unwanted attention, so she just approached the first shelf to her right scanning the rows of books for her favourites.

In fact, she found a big, thick, black book in the high shelf, on it's cover a watercolored depiction of a lion. She easily slides it from the others and holds it in her hands, feeling the consistency of the cloth cover and the paperback underneath. Her fingers passed on the old, rough pages while she read its first paragraph with her heart beating warmly.

She was brought out of the trance when, suddenly, she felt something pulling the side of her coat. Ikuno detached her eyes on the book to see the head of a small child meekly peeking just over her waistline. The child's cheeks fired up in embarrassment as Ikuno returned her gaze, but she steadied herself, still pulling the coat's pocket from below.

"E-Excuse me… are you… a Parasite?" She asks to the tall girl.

Ikuno looks down at her curiously, closing the book in her hands before addressing her gently.

"Yes." She replied calmly, thinking about what could have driven the little girl onto her, that from the response opened her eyes and mouth in amazement, then her little face slowly transitioned into a beaming smile.

"AH! AH!" She fibrillates. "FOR REAL?"

"Mh-Mh." Ikuno nodded, curious about the girl's attention.

"Wowowowow!" The small Child started to jump up and down from the excitement, drawing the attention of other nearby Children that suddenly wake up from their reading and noticing a different person from the caretakers standing close to the library shelves being groped by one of their companions.

The Child stops jumping and her expression paints with a dash of embarrassment, unsure about conveying her feelings.

"I-I-want…" The girl stutters and looks away, tensing her little body.

"…T-To be like you...!" She admired her literally dangling from her coat.

Ikuno, surprised, showed her an unsure expression on her own.

"I mean- You look so cool!" She utters, as Ikuno aggravated her surprise. "I want to drive a FranXX! I want to fight to protect the Adults!" The little girl says with visible joy.

"Ah…Cool, eh?" A beginning of a smile escaped her, as those simple admiration words from the Child warmed her chest. As that sensation enlarged and enveloped her body, she felt serenity in the little to-be-Pistil embraced her, nuzzling herself against her and blushing out of happiness.

"Don't worry, I'll be looking forward in fighting with you at my side." Ikuno praised the girl and, being compelled by some instinct, slowly approached her palm towards her little head, to start caressing slowly her brown hair, in circular motions. The little girl shot up her head taken by surprised by the gesture, but then gladly accepted being rubbed.

Then, she suddenly notices that the Children all around were drawn to her, as much as curious as the little girl, wanting to discover that unusual event. In a matter of seconds, she was surrounded by dense packed little heads in teal tunics huddling around her that wanted to be patted.

Ikuno felt inadequate with a hand still holding on to the heavy book, so she shoved it back into the library shelf and started happily patting away the Children's heads, almost detached from the reality of the situation. The little ones started to enjoy it too, desiring to make contact with the grown-up Pistil.

"Do you like books?"

"I want to be like you, too!"

"Please don't leave…"

In no time, the entire library was drawn towards her. The caretakers were observing the situation from a distance, in the verge of intervening, but they were blocked like in a trance, as they didn't understand what was happening in front of them, their o-shaped mouths the only indication of their expression as their visor hats hid their eyes.

From a side entrance, a caretaker clothed differently than others, the same hat and apron style but adorned with red linings on the insets, entered the library and scanned the scene. Having appraised the situation, she quickly strode towards the ever-growing group of children, amassing against the tall figure of Ikuno.

"Children. Stop." She swiftly ordered while approaching the crowd among the reading desks. The little ones started looking at the woman, downcast, knowing that the beautiful moment was coming to an end.

Ikuno abruptly returned to reality and slightly panicked as she looked at the head caretaker realizing the mess she did: she had drawn everyone's attention. All the worse, she had been a Child too, so she was unconsciously completing with her imagination the Caretaker's eyes hiding behind the visor, coordinate to her lips clasped together in annoyance, further fueling her uneasiness.

"Everyone, return to read immediately." She gravely orders around. The small cluster recoiled in fear and quickly dispersed, leaving Ikuno without protection. The caretaker approached to stop in front of her, in her ominously towering height.

"You. You're not supposed to be here." She states in a borderline aggressive tone.

"I-I'm sorry…" Ikuno casted down her gaze to the ground, her face contrived by guilt and fear. She shifted her body nervously, trying to escape the shame while silently being squared from head to shoes by the severe woman with her arms crossed.

"You always were a strange child. I see you're not changed." She contemptuously states.

Ikuno stayed silent, not wanting to anger her any more, while in her mind she tried to recall who belonged that voice in her past, but nothing came to mind. The caretaker clearly remembered her, but she didn't remember ever listening to that voice.

The woman turned around and proceeded towards the entrance, opening it and showing her the door while keeping it open.

"Get immediately out of the building, otherwise I'm going to report you for trespassing."

"Yes, ma'am." Ikuno responded meekly, bowing her head and proceeding out of the library. As she walked out, the caretaker unceremoniously slammed the door behind her. The loud noise startled her as she returned to reality in the gleaming white corridor.

After briefly closing her eyes to calm her still nervous self, she sighed and turned right towards the exit, wanting to link back to her squad again. She started walking along the corridor, when she faced the window showing the inside of the library.

Ikuno shot a brief glance through the glass to discover that all the kids that were previously huddling around her were now seated again, all looking at the same window she was crossing. She stopped and responded to the stares: everyone was smiling sweetly at her, waving their hands. Hit by surprise, she stood there, lips parted, with the same feeling of warmth that left her now returning even stronger than before.

She saluted back, showing the most beautiful smile she ever made in her whole life.

…

…

A wide circular door splits in two and opens the ceiling above, letting in a blinding light. Ikuno narrows her maladjusted eyes, used to the Sphere One main lift's darkness, while a wide elevating platform, inching towards the main Sphere dormitory hall, is lifting her and Futoshi that are standing close to the trash cart placed in the center of the shaft.

Ikuno looks at her communicator, it's screen still showing the figure of Hachi typing distractedly away on his terminal. She then closes the screen, presses on the side of the handheld and a cylindrical mesh comes off from the side of it. She takes it in her hand and examines it: a wireless earbud meant to be worn as a hands-free headset. She slides it in her ear cavity and as soon as she hears Hachi's typing from it, she pockets the bigger device.

"I'll be guiding you through this." He states.

"Yessir."

"The camera systems don't pick him up roaming. It's been a while that I'm scanning the area, and it's very probable he remained inside his room the whole time since breakfast." He continues while still tapping on the desk while staring at the screen in front of him.

"Couldn't you watch inside the rooms?" Futoshi asks, wearing an earpiece like Ikuno's and resounding both close to her and in the call.

"Cameras are placed all around the complex, but only in strategic positions, like at the top of the sphere and in the main corridors." Hachi explains.

"Are the rooms not watched over?" Ikuno infers.

"That's avoided, mostly for retaining the mental health of the Parasites."

"Well, I'm glad about that…" Ikuno understands that feeling constantly watched while changing, or worse, was a very big inconvenience. No one in their right mind would be ever tranquil of his own actions if aware of being constantly judged under magnifying lenses, she considers.

"…Do we know where his room is, or where is he now?" Ikuno grows more agitated as the conversation progresses.

"Yes. Using his full code number, I can retrieve his biometrics to then make the security cameras scan the environment for his presence. Further access to 121's tracking data can determine his usual paths in the area. The end points of those paths lead usually to the zones he uses."

Ikuno shudders at the probably wondrous technology applied to the security of that place.

"Stand-by for now." Hachi informs them.

The elevator slowly continues its course towards the top. Ikuno undoes her butterfly clip and recombs her hair to reapply it higher on her head, reaches for her work uniform's leg side pocket, opens the zip and gets out a folded blue full cap hat. She unfolds it, takes off her glasses and places it on her head holding it by the beak, pulling it over her eyes and trying to fit her hair in. She looks at the cart and finds its contours slightly blurry as she stores her glasses away… she's like that at every distance, but she can still make out Futoshi's face.

He looks at her and gives her a thumbs up, all the while the lift now approaches the top, enclosed by a high fence around the elevator's shaft. As the platform levels with the floor, all of the Sphere's interior comes into view full of people looking at the structure appeared into nothing. Futoshi then gets out from a pocket an iron whistle and leans it on his lips, while the iron bars composing the fence lower down into the ground, disappearing flush into the ground.

Ikuno looks around discretely, then nods to Futoshi. He reciprocates her nod, takes a deep breath to discharge it into the whistle and a loud, acute chiming sound starts the trash collection of the Sphere.

Everyone turns towards the high-pitched sound and, realizing the situation, takes off to disappear into their respective rooms, to come out after a brief moment carrying full black trash bags. In no time, the suspended terraces fill of Parasites descending the stairs like a gray river, the color of their uniforms, upon the building's white background, transporting their share of unwanted things.

"Anything?" Ikuno asks.

"Not yet." Hachi efficiently responds.

After a minute, the crowd assembles in front of the cart. Futoshi operates a control panel next to the wheel to unfold its metal walls, making the bell slowly enlarge double its starting size and tilting it to the side. At that point, Ikuno gestures the crowd to help themselves.

"Please, proceed." At her signal, one by one, they close in and start throwing the closed trash bags into the cart's inverted bell. Suddenly, she is taken away again by Hachi.

"Update…" He resounds from the headpiece.

"Yes." Futoshi replies.

"I found his room. The stamen didn't come out." Hachi warns her. "We'll go and check it out anyways."

"Yessir." He looks at Ikuno and takes her place to the front of the crowd to make sure people don't mess up the gathering.

"Take the stairs to the third floor of the dormitory block to your left."

She does just that, walking with the most natural fashion, with her hat pulled down and avoiding getting close to the queue descending from it. Walking slowly up the main steps to get into the building and after taking the u-shaped stairs to the third suspended floor, Hachi guides her further.

"Turn left."

She obeys and walks down the main balcony, keeping the curtained rooms to her left and the railed ledge on the right, passing a group of late joiner Pistils holding precariously onto their trash sacks.

"Take the third corridor."

She counts the passing lateral corridors, then takes the third left turn down the road, into a dead-end bright hallway with six room entrances on its sides, all their curtains closed.

"Second one on the right. Don't make noise and don't be seen." Hachi advises.

As she difficultly tries to light-step on her boots, she proceeds towards the middle of the corridor while making sure she's not being watched. Then, she approaches the designated room and tries to lean in towards the divisive tent, trying to hear any noise coming from the inside.

"Now nod or shake with your head. Can you hear anything?"

A tomb-like silence was coming from the room, so Ikuno shakes her head left and right, noticing a small bullet camera down the corridor on the ceiling's corner, pointing at her.

"Ok." He confirms. A few seconds pass, then Hachi gives another order.

"Peek inside."

Ikuno nods, then her fingertips carefully extend towards the curtain while she bobs to the side, shooting an eye inside and avoiding exposing herself.

She discovers an empty, dark room. No one's there.

She pulls the tent further, and the room comes in her view: two beds, one opposite to one another on the sides of the room. On the bed on the left some books and a Parasite uniforms folded up, while on the right the bed was adorned with an additional pillow and a collection of teddy bears lined against the wall, rivalling that of Ichigo's, and a half-closed sack of trash lying on the far-right corner.

"Hachi, it's their room, and it's empty."

"What?" Hachi says surprised. "It can't be. Their last position suggested they never left the room…"

Ikuno blinked to his odd statement.

"Do a scan of the room and try to find his Pistil's code." He urges.

She complies and enters the room, switching on the light on the wall and wearing her glasses again. She looks under both the beds and finds their respective suitcases under each one. On the left she pulls out one marked with the code '121', and on the other one…

"723." She informs him.

"As anticipated. Now, search for anything suspicious."

"H-Hachi, w-why? This is not my stuff!" She whispers, incredulous. She was about to breach another Parasite's privacy! First, she entered a Stamen's room, something she would have never even thought about before, and now is about to search it… what the hell was she drawn into?

"As you told me, he's not behaving as instructed."

"What…?" She only said to him that…

"Please, do as I say. Trust me." Hachi firmly encourages her. She remains anxious, but she yields in a puff.

"Ok..."

So, she starts with opening the suitcases, revealing nothing out of the ordinary apart from male boxers, uniforms, socks, shower and dental care supplies.

"Gross…" She closes the Stamen's suitcase. Then she opens the Pistil one, and nothing out of the ordinary was found there too. Then, she looks over the side of the bed, and notices something strange… lying on the floor there were two crack opened breakfast trays, and an energy bar half-eaten lying on the floor beside it.

"What a waste…" She picks up the bar, deeming it unsalvageable, and without thinking, closes to the trash sack wanting to get rid of it.

"Oh, no-no!" She stops. Wouldn't she want to leave no traces of her passage?

"Found anything?" Hachi asks her, having heard her mumbling.

"Ah… They were having breakfast… then they… disappeared?" She whispers to him.

"Interesting."

She looms over it for a second, when… her nose picks up and irony scent. She inquiringly sniffs further in the vicinity to find that it was coming from the trash sack. In fact… its regular shape suggests that it doesn't contain those rigid food trays, the most commonly type of trash collected in the Spheres.

"What on earth…" She approaches it, and the scent transforms into a grave iron stench as soon as she gets closer.

"Oh-Wha-" That stench- it's familiar…

She opens the sack to see a big bundle of white cloths… drenched in…

"B-B..." She says, eyes open wide.

She lets go of the sack. That was…

"Blood." She mumbles, eyes fixated on a large red patch.

"What the…!" Hachi says while standing up, his roller chair zipping behind him loudly.

"B-Blood…" A feeble voice escapes her.

"Ikuno…?" Futoshi

"There's blood here…" She states with a trembling voice. "Too much blood…" She starts panicking.

Down the stairs, close to the cart, there's an aghast Futoshi holding his finger on his earpiece, processing that statement. A long second expires as his vision narrows and his heart starts pumping violently, as a rush of adrenaline kicks in once again and his brain locks shut. Without thinking, he grits his teeth and leaves the nearby Parasites like salt statues as he takes off, dashing like an athlete.

"Make way!" He shouts as he tackles the three ramps of stairs like it was nothing, three steps at a time, the crowd on them dividing like a sea. Once upstairs, he takes the third internal corridor on the left, to face the second room on the right.

He finds Ikuno lying against the wall covering her mouth and trying to suppress her gagging. Seeing Futoshi, she gets up and flees down the corridor holding both her hands on her mouth, losing her hat behind in the rush.

At the end of the room, the sack is now spilled over, revealing sheets painted of deep, brownish red. Futoshi clasps his fists as his thinking resumes to asks a single, grave question.

"What the hell happened here?"

…

A promised future - END

…