“That jet was supposed to get us out of here!” I scolded. We narrowly escaped death by jumping from the plane with the lone parachute in the back. It wasn’t the easiest thing to maneuver the parachute with one hand while holding the briefcase in the other. Sora was hanging in there from behind me with the knapsack.

“We’re lucky he had one of those in the back.” I continued to berate. “Less than an hour on our mission and you’ve already almost got us killed”

“I almost got us killed? Are you kidding me?”She shouted.

“Yes! You and your stubbornness...” I retorted.

“Oh, you want to talk about stubborn? What was the big deal about me seeing the map anyways?”

“There wouldn’t be any big deal if you’d just listened,” I angrily yelled.

We landed in a forest. Thankfully, we didn’t hit any trees on the way down. Well, the parachute got stuck in one, and we unraveled ourselves and scaled down from a short distance.

It was my first time in a real forest instead of just a simulation. As I looked around, I felt an eerie breeze swoop by my feet. Something felt ominous.

“You know…. I think I’ve been asking this question long enough without an answer.” Sora after losing her temper, asked in a displeasing tone, who are you?”

I sighed. So much was happening all at once. We had better calm down and try to figure this thing out together.

What do I say?

The entire situation was both burdening and overwhelming. It must be for her too. Looking at Sora, I realized the only way we’re going to survive this is if we work together.

“Fine,” I started.

So here it goes...

“As I mentioned before, my name is Ryun. I am a top-secret Government project. I was born from a scientist named Mikhail and a Woman named Mona. Mona was a Foreigner from outside the City. For years the government lied to its people telling them that they were the only survivors on earth. When in fact, other humans do exist and have been living outside the walls for many years.”

Sora’s eyes drenched in confusion, as her legs staggered about in a circular motion. Her dishearten looked had me wavering on whether to continue.

“Go on” She murmured.

“The people of City Calypse are dying, as you should already know. They’ve killed themselves by underestimating the importance of natural resources. Because I was born from an outsider, I am only partly affected by the AG’s Disease as my genes are combined with that of an adaptor. While people on the inside die very young, it’s been observed that people on the outside can live up to perhaps 100 years or more. Doctor Zod and my father learned this from my mother who was actually 60 at the time of her capture.

For 16 years the Government experimented on me in hopes of finding a cure. They used my blood as a treatment for exposure when going on the outside to do what I recently found out was killing the foreigners while on their little treasure hunt.”

“Treasure hunt…?”

“Yea, you see… the Government is looking for this spring. The foreigner called it ‘Mossiah’ and is translated to mean, ‘Life Source’ in English. Our scientists have hypothesized it to be the reason for their survival this whole time. I am not quite sure of the details on why. But if it is, it would probably be the only key to their survival, the survival of City Calypse.”

Sora digested all that I gave her in a manner of minutes then lifted her head to ask.

“So, why exactly do they want you dead?”

“Well, after the Government had their way with me and got what they wanted, they decided to dispose of me like some garbage. Something about me being a threat to the system.”

“The New world order!” Sora interrupted

“Huh?”

“Ryun, in school, we learn of the new World order that we now live by. They taught us about how the world was destroyed in 2019 and how the most important thing about history is why it happened. Religion, Racism, prejudice… inequality! All of it! None of these things are allowed in our City. We’re not even allowed to speak of ‘God’.

“I didn’t learn about the new world order.”

Sora gazed at me with sorrow as she realized, “They didn’t expect you to need it…”

“No, I guess they didn’t.”

“We were taught never to go against these rules as they govern the New World order that saved the human race and will protect its existence. But never did they once tell us what would happen if we felt different towards them.”

“Well, now you know. You’d be killed…” I resolved.

Our sanity left us as we were subjected to a moment of internal tumult and anguish.

“Ah…”

“What’s the matter?”

Sora jittered in position as she rocked back and forth.

“I have to go…”

“Go?” I asked, “Go where?”

“To the bathroom.” She answered.

“Oh!”

I unintentionally started to blush. “Why don’t you just go behind some of those bushes back there?”

“It’s fine… I’ll walk ahead and try to find somewhere behind a rock or something.”

“Okay, I’ll catch up.” I agreed. “When you’re done, we need to start thinking about where to go next”.

She quickly responded and then was off.

Hmm… for some reason, I expected her to be a bit more embarrassed about that.

I guess she’s not very lady like?

In any case, I started to review the map while moving extremely slowly in the direction she headed. She needs her privacy after all. There were lots of close-fitting trees around us and the place was extremely bushy.

What was that?

My sensors went off! I thought I heard something!

Looking at the map again, I see that this area should be pretty much clear of all life forms. It’s marked as one of the areas destroyed by the Government.

“Sora?” I started calling out. “Where are you?”

I put my energy in my steps to move faster in order to find her.

I slowed my breathing, stood still for a few seconds and try to tune in to the sounds sound vibrations around me.

I heard her but I also heard something else! I immediately took off in that direction.

Where are you?

There she is!

But, why is she just standing around?

Oh shit, I was right!

There is someone else here. I can’t find them but I’m pretty sure they’re close.

–Oh no, something’s headed towards Sora! –

I dashed towards her knocking her over. We scuffled to the ground and landed in some bushes.

“What on earth are you doing?” Whatever was thrown narrowly missed us…

“Sora, I’m sorry but I heard something and realized that someone else was out there. Just now, I….”

Time stopped in my head as I experienced my first real heartbreak. My jaw dropped open and I my brain stopped working just before my mouth did. Sora’s whistle tinkled away as she took it in her hand and proceeded to put it back in her pants.

“You’re a guy…?”