When the world’s every mountain has cracked,
and all oceans are dry of drops,
we can only keep living,
and living is better with you.
C1 → DAYTIME IN HAKU CITY – 3:00 PM
ARIN
The streets were empty. Nobody goes outside during these hours, not since
the eruption of Mount. Haku. At least, no one besides Arin. He’s not worried
about the ash clouds. He did his research. He can be out for at least two hours
before it starts affecting him. No one else seems to have understood this
besides a few other felines. They are among the smartest species in Haku City,
after all. The very few ones who were out during this time were quickly
jogging with masks pressed up against their face, fearful of what might happen
if they inhaled the dust.
Arin, a quiet nineteen year old gray cat, moved to Haku City when he was
fifteen, as a troubled past forced him into the real world earlier than he would
have liked. A year after he moved in, Mount. Haku, the 2000-year-inactive
volcano the city was named after, suddenly erupted. Nobody knew why or how, and
scientists are still trying to figure out what went wrong.
It wasn’t just any normal eruption. The volcano spewed out thousands upon
thousands of tons of volcanic ash that would later make its way into the clouds.
These clouds carried that ash over many countries, causing a devastating
volcanic ash rain in every city around the world. When the sun came out during
the days, the ash that had rained onto the ground would evaporate and settle in
the atmosphere, causing a dangerous drop of the Earth’s temperature and an
eternal gray fog. This coverage would block most of the sunlight from getting
through, thus, only a few plants still grow. Food became a real issue and many
were forced to emigrate to cities and other countries that had a better food
supply. Those who remained in tired cities like Haku City, lived off of the very
few plants that still grow.
As Arin took another step in the wet road beneath him, the giant Mount. Haku
lingered in the background. Upon a closer look, you could still see small trails
of fine black dust rising from the opening at the top of the volcano. Even
though the eruption was three years ago, it still threatens the city. As Arin
stopped in an open area between the many tall enormous buildings and the giant
river between the city and Mount. Haku, he inhaled the cold, damp, dusty fog and
pulled out a cellphone from his pocket. He fiddled his way into the camera app
and zoomed in on the distant volcano barely visible through the fog. Small
buildings resembling observatories and watchtowers were dotted around the
mountain, with these being research complexes controlled by the Science Division
of Haku City (SDHC). Everyone else seems to think that the military controls
these, but Arin knows that’s not the case. He zoomed in on the tower labeled
“Z2” and snapped a photo. He moved the phone to chest height and opened the
photo. Before he had any time to process what he had seen, he suddenly heard a
voice behind him.
“No mask for you too?”
Arin slowly turned around. A bright yellow cat with darker hues towards the
back and slightly darker yellow freckles stood upon him. Arin paused before
replying.
“Uhh… No, not really…”
The cat was wearing an unzipped red hoodie and gray shorts. His tail had a
dark tip.
“Fair is fair. People are way too paranoid about this fog… Glad we’re both
not,” The cat said. He seemed energetic.
“I did my research. You’re fine for more than two hours, but more than that
and… You don’t wanna know…” Arin said in a slightly anxious tone.
“I might just call you a conspiracy theorist. Seriously though, Risk Hour is
just a bunch of bogus,” the cat said. “So… What are you doing out here?”
“Uhh… Research,” Arin replied, not knowing what to say.
“Oh yeah?” The cat crossed his legs and his arms behind his back. He tilted
his head slightly to the side. “What kind of research?”
“Well, I wanna know what happened to Haku. I feel like there’s more that
they’re not telling us,” Arin said whilst looking at the volcano.
“A little bird told me that the SDHC suspects foul play,” the cat said,
intriguing Arin.
“Foul play? Like somebody erupted it themselves?” Arin asked in interest.
“Exactly! Man, I think it might just be one of those wolf gangs. They are
notorious for doing something stupid like this,” the cat suggested.
“You think they’re smart enough to erupt a volcano like that?” Arin
playfully asked.
“Well, when it comes to spreading chaos, they have no limits.”
There was some truth to the cat’s statement. Wolves were a notorious
troublemaker in Haku City as much as any other city. Arin had even seen it first
hand when he first moved in. A pack had set fire to a car just outside his
apartment. Since then he hadn’t seen the gang, but he knows to stay away from
wolves.
“My name’s Rei.”
“Arin.”
Rei’s face turned a faint shade of pink.
“Nice meeting you Arin. I’ll see you around!”
Arin watched as Rei jogged the opposite direction. Arin felt himself looking
a little longer than he would’ve liked to admit. He carefully observed each step
Rei took in the cold ground, his breath visible under the frigid air. Rei didn't
seem all too fazed by the temperature outside.
Arin shook off the weird feelings and returned to his phone. The image was
still open as Arin peered at the lettering on the building. “Z2” seemed so
familiar to him, yet he couldn’t figure out why. Either way, he knew it would be
important for his research. He closed the phone and shoved it into his pocket.
Before he started walking, a distinct sound made it to his ears. The sound of
rain. Ash rain. Arin slowly looked up at the dark clouds now covering the city
and the swiftly approaching darkness as a result. When he did that, a drop
landed on his forehead. A distinct, quick, razor-sharp burning pain made him
instinctively move away his head and pull up the hood on his white hoodie. He
hastily started to go back to his apartment. Arin knew the ash rain wasn’t
dangerous. It only stung a little when it hit you, but it was uncomfortable
enough to make you not want to be outside at the time. Ash rain was always most
prevalent during Risk Hour.
As Arin pulled open the heavy door to the apartment complex and stepped
inside, he put down the hood and shook off his wet fur. He traveled up the two
flights of stairs to the apartment and entered. Shutting the door behind him,
Nox, Arin’s twenty year-old snow leopard roommate, came into the hallway.
“Out during Risk Hour again?” Nox asked.
“It’s not so bad. People are just being dramatic,” Arin replied. “You should
stop being so paranoid about the dust.”
“But two people just died because of it!”
Arin went to his backpack on the couch in the living room and rummaged
around in it.
“Not because of the dust,” he said. “Two researchers fell into the opening
of the volcano trying to get a temperature reading. Do you even watch the news?”
“Well, maybe the dust impaired their mobility or something!” Nox replied as
a defense, to no avail.
“You’re thinking too much. It gets in your lungs. And it really doesn’t
impact your brain,” Arin said.
“Whatever, man. I’m not going outside during Risk Hour anyway.”
“Fair is fair. Better safe than sorry.”
Arin pulled out a laptop from his backpack. It had a silver back with the
text “AC”, standing for Aerial Corp., engraved. He set it on the coffee table
and opened it.
“What’s up with you always being out during Risk Hour?” Nox asked.
“No people,” Arin replied. He plugged his phone into the laptop. “It gives
me space.”
A picture appeared on the screen. The one Arin took when he was outside
earlier of one of the research buildings. “Z2” was easily visible, but
underneath it was a word that could not be read from such a screen as that of a
cellphone. Now that Arin had the image on the computer, he saw what it read.
"XENITH". He now had the full name of the building.
As Arin scrolled through the countless websites he had saved, he eventually
found the one he was looking for. A site dedicated to preserving historical
information. The only caveat with this site was the fact that there were no
bounds to the “historical” aspect of the historical information. All sorts of
people archive all sorts of stuff… even SDHC personnel. All Arin had to do was
input “Z2 XENITH” and scroll a little bit. The ninth or tenth link led to an
image of a piece of paper with a ten-digit code written on it. Once the image
was saved, Arin had it all to himself. Of course, nobody knew what this
combination could mean. Nox wouldn’t be suspicious of Arin at all. He’s always
done this ‘random’ sort of stuff before.
“Wow. A bunch of numbers. You’re really getting somewhere now, aren’t you?”
Nox asked sarcastically.
“Hush, Nox. This is important,” Arin replied.
“Yeah, right. What are you gonna do, break into the Mount. Haku research
area or something?”