S-2879 • L8 Libeluna • D23 Sintoli
(Gregorian calendar equivalent: December 10, 2134)
"Libeluna brings surrender that sets free. Sintoli tunes wind and word. The thread of the world sings in low light. The story carries steadily on, in flow."
A snowy place.
Sky and earth merge.
In the distance, a forest of tundra firs rises.
Within it, the lone gray she-wolf appears.
I feel her amber eyes on me, calling me. I try to reach her. An invisible force was keeping me away.
I want to. I need to. My whole body lights up with need.
With every attempt, I return to the same place. With every return, a violent pain. It hurts to keep trying to reach her.
I cry.
I wake.
The clock read three in the morning. Was she calling me to the other world?
Through the window, the city gleamed. Lights blurred by the damp glass. Rain fell in a chaotic tangle, mirroring my own.
She, a breath of spring in autumn, yet capable of being winter itself.
One solar cycle without her. A cycle in which the skies grieve, the winds scream their agonies, the earth withers, and I grow numb.
Since her death, that numbness has remained part of my existence.
I looked away from the window. Would feeling unhappy be selfish, when I know so many would trade places with me?
I sighed.
Went back to sleep.
I lived on the uppermost levels of São Paulo, the First City.
I was born in Zenith, as they call the upper levels; an empire suspended above the city, where light grew distant from the streets below.
Always being so high made the fall imminent.
I put on a black coat and touched my belly. There was still warmth in my womb, but it was beginning to flow inward; a weaving slowly transmuting into my Enchantress phase. I took the elevator down to reception.
The receptionist android, Andi, wished me good morning.
I returned the greeting. Passed the old man walking through the atrium, Pavel. An android engineer at Kokusai. I always saw him there and wished him good morning. He watched me in silence. His face expressionless.
I headed for the Golden Line station. The aerotrain arrived within seconds. I sat by the window.
The city spread out below. Titanic structures disappeared into the polluted haze. Spiraling airways intertwined among the buildings. Vertical skyscrapers wrapped in hanging gardens. Holograms burst from every direction.
Adware sprouted in the air in alternating pixels: A new android. A revolutionary synthetic protein.
I opened the bioscreen to check the news. Everything sounded artificial, far removed from what mattered.
I turned my gaze toward the glass. The hospital appeared on the horizon. Its mirrored structure reflected the neutral colors of its surroundings.
At the entrance, the android connected to me, Takashi, was waiting. "Good morning, Doctor."
"Good morning."
I was working on a nanodevice, CogniSynth. Part of Project Jaburu. A nanotechnology for accessing memories in the human brain.
Memories… too many memories.
The day dragged on. Every minute, a battle. Every second, an agonizing effort to push her from my mind.
But she always returned. Always her. Always Maia.
She invaded ceaselessly. Broke through barriers. Stayed.
I wished the night would bring relief. Longed for a new dawn to carry away the weight.
Maybe tomorrow it'll be easier to breathe.
I finished my work. Gathered my things to leave.
Takashi approached, carrying a large envelope labeled in elegant, slanted handwriting.
Her handwriting.
"This arrived."
My chest froze. My hands trembled. My mouth went dry. My eyes widened. My heart raced. My thoughts erupted in frantic beats. I took the envelope. "Th…" My voice faltered, trembling. "…ank you."
"Do you need anything else?"
"N-no… I… y-you can go."
The door closed.
I tore open the seal. Something fell out.
A red cellphone. Foldable. Obsolete.
A pocket watch. Analog. From the eighties.
A golden compass.
And a piece of paper. Geographic coordinates.
What did it mean?
I picked up the letter. Only a few words, but enough to split the world apart. Heart tight. Eyes flooded with tears. I could barely hold the paper.
Akiko,How are you?Perhaps your anger and sadness have passed. I hope so.I kept silent about many things. I know.Your heart broke. Mine did too.I wanted things to be different. So I prepared this.Do you want to enter my world that badly? All your questions will be answered. Are you ready for that?If you are, go to the coordinates on the 25th at 11 p.m. If not, go your own way.Always remember me.With affection,Maia.
My strength left me for a moment. The letter slipped from my hands. My body collapsed. I stared at my distorted reflection on the gleaming surface. Everything spun. I forgot how to breathe.
In those words, I heard her voice. Heard my name on her lips. Even after a solar cycle, I felt my soul intertwined with hers.
It took a while to regain my senses. The present. My breath. The tears dried. My fingers stopped trembling. I picked up the objects. Studied the coordinates. Put them in my bag.
The letter remained. I sighed heavily. Picked it up.
That night, I had the same dream. This time, when I took a step, the she-wolf raised her head. But she was still very far away.
Beneath the waning moon
I wished I could sleep all day. I reread Maia's letter thousands of times. Tried to understand. Why? Why had she sent this after a solar cycle?
Maia was dead. I knew that. So what did she mean by that letter? How had she sent it? I sent Takashi a message:
📩 "Find out who sent the white envelope."
I prepared some food, despite having no appetite. Every bite reluctant, every swallow a scrape.
I stayed in bed, lethargic. Stared at the wall. My mind seethed with Maia. In truth, everything in me set her alight. Throbbed with the pain reborn. I wanted to forget. I took a deep breath. As the saying went:
"Wisdom can only come on a full stomach."
I ate. And in the next instant, the memory came. The day I met her.
The memory resonated with overwhelming force, taking hold of all of me, overriding my will to stop it.