The fields were surprisingly calm this time of year, usually the winds and rain would work away at the crops, providing the magical harvest that Fukuoka Island was known for.
It hadn't rained for a number of days, which was also rather peculiar.
Shinto hadn't considered this at all, infact, he hardly noticed the weather at all. He wasn't a farmer, his father was a business man here on Planet Kyushu, Shinto had moved here with his father last summer, something about business opportunities.
He finished off his cigarette and flicked the butt casually into a nearby hedgerow, checking his teeth in the wing mirror of his car before making his way up the garden path.
The house was only small, humble, well built. It was meant to shelter a family, and it served it's purpose. It wasn't like the luxury apartments that Shinto was used to, this abode was friendly and inviting. The Kusari-styled building was home to the family of his girlfriend.
He knocked on the door, admiring the well-kept garden around him. There was movement from within, a silhouette through the glass. Shinto stepped back and waited as the door opened.
Infront of him was a rather pleasant Bretonian lady, which was most unusual for this area. She smiled and bowed a little, removing some floral oven gloves and tucking them under her arm.
He could smell the food she was preparing from the doorstep, he always enjoyed her cooking, however Bretonian it was.
"Konnichiwa Shinto, a pleasure to see you" She smiled, "Come to see Zoey I presume?"
"Good guess Mrs Sakura, where is she?" he nodded slightly, matching her smile,
"She's round the back, in the workshop, tinkering with scrap or something" Mrs Sakura beamed, "Are you staying for dinner?"
"I'm not sure yet Mrs Sakura, I'll see what Zoey has to say" Shinto stepped back, "But it does smell lovely"
"Well you let me know, you're welcome any time" she said, tightening her small apron a little,
Shinto bowed and turned, making his way around the house and along the footpath.
He never like Zoey's mother, she was a filthy Bretonian, Gaijin. He felt conflicted though, Zoey was half Bretonian, and he loved her, to think that half her blood was Bretonian... he was ashamed.
Shinto deviated from the path to avoid a large, sleeping wildcat, Zoey's pet. It was large for a household cat, Gaian he had heard, and vicious to anyone it didn't recognise. It didn't recognise him, and he flinched slightly as it panned it's ears to follow his footsteps, growling softly.
He pushed open the garden gate, stepping through into a large, open space. The garden was rather large, with a building to the south side. He could see across the whole field from here, past a collection of various farming tools and vehicles.
Shinto made his way over to the building, a form of barn, at least, half of it was. Part of it was build to store the equipment needed for Zoey's father to work, along with some storage sheds and cupboards. On the far end of the building was a workshop, so the equipment could be maintained and repaired if need be, aswell as an area for Zoey to tinker with whatever she pleased.
He peeked round the open door, checking the room for Zoey. She was sat up, welding a small round peice of metal over a gap in a bigger peice of metal. It looked like part of the hull of a ship, which made alot of sense, considering in the middle of the work space was a shape resembling a ship.
Some parts of it were plated, others were just bare frame, there was a large panel of glass-like material meant for the cockpit leaning up against what looked like a portion of the starboard wing.
There was even some wiring hanging out from under the plated parts of the ship, large bunches of cables littered the floor.
He stepped in and closed the door, waving about to get Zoey's attention. She looked up for a second, and turned off her welding torch, lifting her safety mask to see him better.
"Hey gorgeous, thought I'd come see you" Shinto smiled weakly, feeling uncomfortable in the workshop environment,
Zoey smiled and dropped the welding torch, standing up and throwing aside her mask,
"That's sweet" she threw her arms around him, kissing him,
Shinto wiggled alittle, in the embrace, trying to avoid her getting his suit dirty or scruffy, he smiled awkwardly,
"So did you come to a conclusion on what you wanted to do for my birthday?" Zoey asked innocently,
"I've had a few thoughts, umm, nothing... solid" he replied,
"Well it's next week, the sixteenth, you should know that, I want something special this year too"
"I- errm, I wanted to... talk to you actually, about that.." Shinto shuffled his feet, avoiding her eyes,
"What is it? What is wrong?"
"Nothing, Nothing is wrong, I just..." Shinto began, "I tell you what, meet me at the derelict factory tomorrow noon, we can talk there"
"Why the old factory?" Zoey questioned, slipping off her gloves,
"Father wants it surveyed, he's thinking of purchasing the land"
"Alright, I guess I'll see you there then" Zoey sighed, kissing him again,
"And that is the last time you saw Shinto?" the Kataki questioned, interrupting her recollection,
"No, I... I went down to the factory to meet with him" Zoey replied,
She was in a small, comfortable office. Infront of her was Detective Kataki, he was incharge of investigating the disappearance of Shinto Teryaki.
The walls were lined mostly with book shelves, sharing the same elegant wooden look as the Detective's desk. She wondered why he needed so many books, as anything he needed to know would most likely be on the neural-net.
"What happened next?" Kataki asked, chewing his pencil lightly as he leaned back in his chair,
"Well I walked down to meet him, and he wasn't there" Zoey explained,
"Any idea where he went, if he left the island at all?"
"No idea at all, he really wanted to speak to me, it isn't like him to just disappear when he requested a meeting, or disappear at all thinking about it" Zoey spoke, "I don't understand what happened to him"
"Well records state his car was found at the factory, is it possible he missed you? Didn't think you were coming?"
"No.. I don't remember his car being there at all" Zoey raised an eyebrow, "None of this makes sense..."
"It's okay Miss Sakura, I'm as confused as you, but you have to help me as much as you can now, it's important I get to the bottom of this" Kataki comforted her, leaning forward, "Now can you tell me what time you went to the factory, and what time you left?"
The air was cold, the gentle breeze caused her to shiver lightly, pulling her coat around her. Her small hands gripped the material of her gloves, seeking to scare the cold away.
She glanced around at the landscape, ice and snow as far as she could see, an old, derelict factory to the south. It's stonework and shape weathered over the course of several years.
It was ignored, forgotten about, dead to the world.
The girl looked upon it with sadness, grief and guilt. She was afraid of how brutal humanity could be, birthing such a beautiful structure for such purpose, just to abandon it.
The field she was in was vast, and empty, with snow covering the grass that slept through the cold winter months. She pressed her feet down, feeling the cold, damp water, melting to her body's heat.
She could see the grass under her feet, each blade dormant in such conditions, awaiting the sun and heat.
She was not alone, she turned on the spot, to see who was there with her.
It was a teenage boy, Kusari it seemed, he wasn't dressed for the season. He simply wore a smart suit, clean and unaffected by the weather. His expression was blank, he didn't see the young girl, nor acknowledge her existance. He just stood perfectly still, staring towards the old abandoned factory. The wind refused to touch him, it instead took it's path through him, not touching his skin or attire.
The girl took steps, trudging through the thick snow, grunting as she approached him. He kept his gaze, a single tear in his eye. The girl reached out and touched his hand, feeling the warmth of his flesh.
He yelled, in pain, collapsing to the ground and clutching his head. The girl panicked and moved to his side, gripping his hand tightly. She tried to confort him, figure out what was wrong, squeezing his hand to provoke a response.
He lay back in the snow, his body getting loose, he stopped grunting, stopped his heavy breathing, stopped his twitching. A dark red liquid began to stain the snow under his head, it's puddle growing bigger and bigger as his breathing slowed.
She felt his warmth escape him in his last breath, his skin and grib growing cold, his body still. The girl began to sob gently, lowering her head into his chest, squeezing him to get movement from his lifeless body.
She felt cold, snow touched her ear, she pulled back and gasped, wiping the tears from her cheeks. The snow infront of her was untouched and clean, his body and blood were gone. She noticed her gloves, stained with blood, but the body nowhere to be found.
The girl stood up and glanced around, she was alone.
She screamed, no sound emanating from her mouth, no sound at all. There were no animals, no people, no life, she stood alone in a painting, all silent, all still.
All dead.
January 7th 812A.S.
"And how often does this dream occur?" the Doctor questioned, jotting down some brief notes,
"Once every month or so, it's definately the clearest I've had" Zoey responded.
She was relaxed on the sofa, the psychiatrist across from her never looked up, never looked into her eyes when they talked, only between words.
Zoey moved her thumbs about nervously, waiting for him to stop writing.
"And the factory, the boy, a recurring element of these dreams?" He looked up, studying her,
"Yes, I always see him, always Shinto"
"The ex-boyfriend?" he asked, writing some more words on his pad,
"Yes"
"Well Zoey, it seems you need closure, he abandoned you, and you think he's still out there, is that right?"
"Yes, I like to believe he is, and that he's coming back" she replied, glancing down at her feet,
"Well, It seems you feel underlying guilt, a part of you is worried he is dead, and the lack of information is troubling you"
"What can I do to make it stop, to feel better?"
"I think you need to work with this Detective..." he paused to read a piece of paper in his hand, "Kataki. Anything you can work out regarding the disappearance of this Shinto boy, will help you greatly, even if it's bad news"
"And what if we never find anything?"
"Then you haven't lost anything, that's for sure" He reassured her, looking down at his watch.
"What else does the dream mean, why am I always a little girl? Why don't I ever see myself as an adult?" Zoey questioned, drawing the doctor's attention again,
"I'm not sure, your case is the first with odd detailing, I can't be too sure right now" the Kusari Doctor replied, writing one a small slip of paper, "I'm writing you out another prescription, I want you to hold off on your regular medication, start taking these as soon as you can pick them up, two a day"
"Will it still curb the anxiety?" Zoey queried, taking the paper and slipping it in her pocket,
"It will, it might take some time to adjust, these will help you sleep better" the Doctor threw aside his notes and stood up, gesturing for Zoey to do the same, "This Detective, when will you see him next?"
"He wanted to take me to Shinto's place, to see if I could recall anything, find anything leading to his whereabouts" Zoey began, "But I'm scared, he's almost been missing a year now... I don't want to-" her words trailed off,
"I'm sure you'll be fine Zoey, come back and see me anytime during the week, until then, I will see you at our next session, Sayonara" the Doctor bowed and showed her out.
Zoey sighed and leaned her head back, letting it rest gently on the cupboard. She watched as the steam from the kettle fogged up the window, condensating on the cold glass.
She could see ice on the corners of the window pane, the snow-covered fields beyond the glass, so quiet, so cold, so dead. She glanced up at the clock, it was getting dark out and she felt tired.
The kettle whistled away gently, letting her know the water was boiling nicely. She killed the gas and moved it off the hob, pouring the steaming water into a small cup. Zoey prodded the tea with a small spoon, then raised it to smell the fruity aroma.
Zoey left the kitchen, working her way up the stairs, turning off lights and closing doors behind her. She set the cup down on her bedside table and slipped off her clothes, grabbing a towel and heading into the bathroom.
She stopped to look at herself in the mirror, rubbing her eyes and grabbing a small orange pill bottle marked 'Sertraline hydrochloride'. She flicked the top open and took a single 20mg pill, slipping it in her mouth and swallowing it down with a glass of water.
Zoey set the towel aside, turning on the shower and awaiting the welcome feel of hot water. Shinto entered her mind, memories of him, his embrace, his smile... she fumbled around for the shower scrub.
She turned off the water, stepping out and drying herself off, cursing gently as she returned to her bedroom. Hoshi, her pet wildcat had curled himself up on the end of her bed, purring gently as he slept. Zoey poked him, encouraging him to move, surrendering as soon as she figured out such an act was a waste of energy.
Slowly, she found her nightclothes and slipped into bed, sipping her tea as she picked up her book on Impulse Drives and Cruise Engines, finding her page and reading up on Rheinland afterburners.
The house was quiet, her parents were at a family friend's house, or some festival, she couldn't remember exactly, but they would be gone a few days. She was almost ready to sleep, her eyes getting heavier, she finished off her tea and set the book aside, turning off her bedside lamp.
The weather was getting worse, which was expected. The heavy clouds lingered overhead, threatening to burst. The sun was hiding behind them, losing most of the light trying to shine through.
Zoey shivered and shoved her hands deeper into her pockets, looking up and down the beaten country path. Shinto was late, he was supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago. She glanced down at her watch and tightened her shoulders, pulling the jacket around her.
She didn't see why they were at the factory, it was ugly and dead. It would need demolishing. The land here was bad anyway, the reason the factory was put out of use was the distance from the rest of the island, and the fact the place had some terrible foundations.
Zoey cursed loudly and put her hand out, feeling a cold splash on her face. Her had picked up a couple more and she cursed again, looking up the road. She couldn't see Shinto's car, and the dust on the road was unsettled.
She turned heel and hurried over the patches of grass and broken concrete, stepping around an old rusted cart to take shelter under the old, iron roof.
The rain pitter-pattered on the roof, she could hear it clearly now, visibly falling as she looked out towards the road. She was in a cargobay of some sorts, somewhere where the trucks would collect and drop off goods, and she could see the area for the ships to land for big collections further off into a large courtyard.
She heard something, a sound behind her, a voice or a movement of somekind. There was two, roof-high doors, darkness lay beyond them. She could feel the cold breeze sweeping in, and no car came down the road.
Zoey slowly made her way over, peering round the door. She could see faint light in the darkness, but no source of the sound. She might have thought she was crazy if it didn't happen again.
A clear sound, off in the darkness, something moved, or breathed, or talked.
She pushed one of the doors slightly, widening the gap to step through, squinting to see what was in there. The pitter-pattering had stopped, the sun began to break through now too.
The room lit up as the beams of light shone confidently through the windows, allowing Zoey to see clearly. There was nothing with her, though there were a few doors to her right, leading to some offices or storage rooms maybe.
She heard the sound again, a sort of shuffling, to her right. In one of the rooms.
Zoey reached out and pushed one of the doors open, adjusting her eyes to the light so she could see.
The walls were lined with old wooden bookshelves and cupboards, a rotten desk overturned in the corner. The middle of the room was occupied by a lump of clothing, and what looked to be a person in them.
Zoey tilted her head and gave a closer look, trying to figure out if it was a person or not, and whether they were alright.
The shape moved, rolling over to reveal Shinto's bloody face.
Zoey yelped lightly, rushing foward to help. She lost her footing, hitting her boot against a rock or a stack of old books, she found herself moving through the air towards Shinto, reaching out for landing.
She hit the floor hard, a smashing was heard, she reached out frantically for Shinto or something to hold onto, but the floor was gone. Zoey was falling, down into the darkness, the light above her getting smaller and weaker...
She screamed, jolting upright in bed. Hoshi thrashed out, jumping almost out of his fur, falling off the end of the bed. Zoey grabbed the bedsheets and steadied her breathing.
"Just a dream" she muttered, checking on Hoshi,
He may be big, but the Wildcat had resorted to cowering under the bed. Zoey chuckled a little bit and took a sip from a glass of water on her bedside table.
Zoey sat in Detective Kataki's office again, gazing out of the window at the light rain. He was running late or something, so she was left to sit in his office.
The elegant wooden desk filled most of the room, with the walls filled mostly with books. She had looked at a few of the spines, but alot of the titles were in Kusari old tongue, so she couldn't quite understand them well.
The coat rack by the door had quite a few coats on it, considering the Detective wore only one, and took it out with him when he left.
She sipped her tea again, the receptionist had given her something to drink, and told her to wait in Kataki's office for him. Zoey glanced at her watch again.
The door handle rattled as the door swung open, revealing Kataki struggling to carry a stack of heavy books. He grunted and threw them down on the sofa next to Zoey, slipping off his large grey coat and hanging it up.
"Sorry Miss Sakura, I got sidetracked this morning with some evidence tapes" he sighed and brushed his left hand through his hair as he sat down,
Had he have been younger, Zoey would have been very much more interested in him, with his fancy dress sense and handsome face.
Today he was wearing a black shirt, unbuttoned slightly at the top, with matching slacks and shiny black shoes. His hair was very precisely controlled, to give the look of messiness, while still neat and manageable.
His Kusari face was chisled and soft, once upon a time, he may have been a real lady killer. He was in his early thirties now, still holding onto the last strands of his youth.
"Not a problem detective, and please call me Zoey" she smiled, trying to imagine him without a shirt on,
"Only if you call me Kataki" he smiled back, grabbing a pen and paper, "Right, I have alot of work to do, and I want to ask you some more questions"
"Fine by me"
"Alright, let's see..." he paused, reading some notes, "Right, you said you last saw him around April 10th last year?"
"No, April 11th, I met him the next day for a chat, or I wanted to..."
"But...?"
"He wasn't there, he never arrived"
"And you think he left the planet?" Kataki asked, jotting down some more notes,
"Well... yes, that would explain where he went, but he never passed customs, and he'd never leave without saying goodbye, or telling me anything" Zoey let her head drop slightly, avoiding eye contact,
"There are still ways to leave Planet Kyushu undetected, you think of any reasons he'd have for running away, leaving without a trace?"
"No, none at all"
"Anything he was running from? He have a drug problem, any debts?" Kataki questioned,
"No, he was a good man" Zoey looked up again, "I honestly don't know why he left..."
"Alright, perhaps you should tell me everything you do remember"
The weather was getting worse, which was expected. The heavy clouds lingered overhead, threatening to burst. The sun was hiding behind them, losing most of the light trying to shine through.
Zoey shivered and shoved her hands deeper into her pockets, looking up and down the beaten country path. Shinto was late, he was supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago. She glanced down at her watch and tightened her shoulders, pulling the jacket around her.
She found herself inside, sheltering from the rain. Shinto was late, not like him at all.
Another five minutes passed and she found herself bored, pacing the small reception area, studying the damaged structure of the room. The walls had fallen away in places, the wooden trim was rotted and weak. The building would need re-building, Shinto's father was mad, hoping to use the building as it is would be reckless.
She kicked the tiles next to an old watercooler, watching them shatter and crumble away.
This room was boring, though. She found herself wandering though the doorway, curious to see more of the old structure. There were a number of corridors and small rooms, all either empty, or stacks with abandoned furniture or goods.
She ran her finger along the cracked paintwork as she walked, kicking aside a few sheets of paper around her feet. The corridor was primarily lit by either holes in the walls, or windows.
Zoey arrived at a large steel door, seemingly locked, that would lead her deeper into the building. She tugged on the handle, then pushed. Nothing. She kicked the main body of the door, attemping to budge it. Soon enough, the cracks around the frame seemed strained, actively expanding as the entire door fell backwards away from Zoey, it's weight crashing down loudly as it hit the concrete on the other side.
She flinched, the loud crashing echoed through the building, attempting to wake the structure from it's seemingly eternal slumber. Zoey peek around the door, checking out the main factory floor that lay beyond.
She idlely walked amongst the machines, old and rusted, unmoved since before she was born. The old safety notices and warning signs were either faded or coated in grease, making it impossible to read them, no matter how hard she squinted.
Zoey ran her fingers over some of the handrails, a few of them crumbing and falling away as she touched their delicate shapes. She smiled, this is what it must feel like to be a god.
The factory floor was coated in a thick layer of dust, she winced at the movements in her peripheral vision, fearing rodents, or worse, whatever worse may be.
She felt her foot not quite make contact with solid ground, instead the horrible feeling of dread filled her mid-section as she lunged forward into a dark pit, she was falling. She tried to scream, someone was calling her name, she felt a stinging pain in the back of her neck.
Zoey groaned and fumbled about, pulling herself to her feet. She looked up at the light shining in above her, she'd fallen through some weak spot in the flooring, luckily there was some old foam underneath to break her fall.
Shinto wasn't coming, she'd been stood up in this nightmare of an old factory, of all places!
Slowly, she limped her way towards a small set of steps, leading out of what seemed to be an old service tunnel she had fallen into.
By the time she had made it home, it was dark. Shinto had alot to answer for, if she ever saw him again.
"And that was it? No emails? No phonecalls? No letters?" the Detective asked, his head down as he scribbled notes furiously,
"No, nothing at all, he just disappeared" Zoey answered,
"Alright... I'll give you a call if anything changes, for now I think we're all done here" Detective Kataki smiled.
Zoey stood up and bowed politely,
"Goodluck with the investigation, Detective"
"Thank you Miss Sakura"
January 9th 812A.S.
Zoey stopped by the edge of the street, looking up and down for a taxi. It was beginning to rain and her dress would be ruined if it got wet. She groaned and held her bag above her head as she continued her search.
As luck had it one passed by, responding to her wave by picking her up. This taxi had a small sticker on the center window, one that Zoey noticed immediately.
'Support the Artisan Farmers Alliance!' it read.
She smiled and indicated to the driver that she wanted to head into town, and instructed him to stop when they had arrived at a particular intersection.
This was Fukuoka, the city of the same name as the island, the largest settlement on the island, home to a large Samura Corporate building.
She hurried inside the small Libertonian Restaurant 'Taste of Patriots'. She doubted such a restaurant could operate anywhere else on Planet Kyushu, or in Kusari for that matter, the owners were Kusari, and the food wasn't exactly very Libertonian at all.
Inside she spotted the man she was here to meet with, almost immediately due to the fact he was the only non-Kusari in the whole building. He was sat awkwardly, slicked back hair and a neat suit as he twiddled a couple of chopsticks between his fingers.
"Konnichiwa, Mr James" she bowed her head as he stood up,
"Hello! I mean, Konichi-wa!" he mispronounced the greeting, "Glad you could make it... sit, sit, let me get you a drink" he offered her a chair, and then moving to the bar
"Thank you" she smiled, sitting down as he returned with two glasses and a bottle of wine,
"So you mentioned on the neural-net that you were looking for a job outside of Kusari?" he began, skipping straight to business,
"Yes, Kusari is a tough place for a woman, especially if they are half blooded like me" she explained, "Someone suggested I take up a job with Interspace, and passed me your name"
"Ah... good, good. And how old did you say you were?" he asked, writing something down on a small notepad,
"Nineteen" she responded,
"Should you be drinking?" he glanced at the drinks and looked uneasy for a moment,
"The drinking age here is eighteen Mr James, unlike Liberty's limit of twenty-one" she informed him, sipping her wine,
"Ah, of course..." he smiled awkwardly, "And your father... is Bretonian?"
"Kusari, it is my mother who came here from Bretonia" she corrected him,
"Of course" he crossed out some lines and jotted down a correction underneath them, "Do you see yourself working with Interspace in say... a years time? Do you have that vision?"
"I like to think-" Zoey began, a ringing from her phone cut her off,
She pulled it from her bag and glanced at the screen, it was Detective Kataki.
"I'm sorry, can I take this? It's the Kusari State Police and it's quite important" she apolagised,
"Sure, go ahead" Mr James smiled politely, watching her get up and step outside, leaving her bag on the table.
He sighed and drank most of his wine in one go, awaiting her return.