Prodigy Eternal (book 2)

Chapter Two

“What’s that?” Aris asked.

“It’s a lighter,” she responded. “I bought it tonight at the market.”

“Why did you buy a lighter?”

“I don’t know, I guess with all the buzz surrounding the one year anniversary of… you know… I just wanted to have a small token to remember the event by.”

“How does a lighter have anything to do with the event?”

“When I was on the island, I would have done just about anything to have one of these. It’s a pretty simple device, but it can be the difference between life and death. So from now on, I’ll keep it in my pocket just in case I’m ever in a situation that calls for it. You never know when you might need it.”

The train glided smoothly on a cushion of air as it hurled through the underground tunnels. When their stop came up, a soft, synthesized voice came on, announcing the name of the station.

“This is us,” Aris said.

The two exited the train and followed the flow of traffic to street level. When they breached the surface, the sound of music flooded their ears. It was around 10:00 pm and the streets were filled with people. Night markets were common around major transit hubs, selling everything from food to fake handbags. They remained close as they walked toward their destination.

“Flowers for the lady, sir?” one merchant called out to Aris.

“Not tonight, man.”

“You want to buy a drink? I have ice-cold Titus Boosts for a unit.”

“That’s a good price, but no thanks.”

Alex and Aris kept walking down the busy street. In preparation for the weekend festivities, decorations littered the entire neighbourhood. Overhead, Alex took notice of the banners that hung from the streetlights. They were the same signs that were posted in every shop window — silhouettes of Alex proudly displaying the universally adopted symbol for hope.

“You’re like a god to these people,” Aris said. “That’s gotta feel weird.”

“You have no idea.”

The further they walked, the crowded streets began to thin out. They followed the road and eventually turned down a quiet residential street. The neighbourhood was unlike the modern part of town from which they had come. It was considerably more rundown and somewhat resembled a shanty town. Clothes hung from lines stretched out across the narrow side street, which was barely wide enough for a vehicle. The damp aroma of fresh rainfall still lingered in the air, but was soon overpowered by a medley of fried fish smells.

“Smells good,” Aris commented. “You hungry?”

“I had a quick bite at the market so I should be fine for a while.”

Aris led the way up the quiet street as Alex followed closely behind. Alex had reservations about the whole thing — coming to this region of Japan and meeting Aris’s friend. Her nerves were beginning to show by the numerous questions she was asking.

“Are you sure you know where you’re going?” Alex asked.

Aris raised his arm above his head for Alex to see. Attached to his wrist was his access pod, which displayed the blinking GPS coordinates. “Don’t worry, it won’t be much further.”

“Are you sure he’s going to be home?”

“Alex… I mean, Aoki, I sense your worry, believe me, I get it. But you have my word, everything is going to be okay. And if it’s not okay, I’m sure you can handle yourself just fine,” Aris said as he looked back at her and smiled.

“I’m glad you came all this way for me, Toshi. It really means a lot.”

“No problem, that’s what friends are for, right? Besides, I’m still trying to pay back my debt to you.”

“What debt?”

“You know, for saving all our lives… or have you forgotten about that?”

“How could I forget? I’m reminded everywhere I go.”

“Well, for what it’s worth, I’ve told my friend all about you, and he’s really excited to meet you. In fact, he’s the one who gave me the patch.”

“Oh, you mean the patch you used to get us arrested — that patch? Or have you forgotten?”

“You’re not going to let me live that down are you?”

“I’m just messing with you; I totally don’t hold it against you.”

“That’s good… and it was a big file by the way.”

“I just need to know if I can trust this guy.”

“If you trust me, you can trust him — we’re like brothers. He was my closest friend growing up. We went to school together.”

“What happened after school?”

“He moved out here and I stayed in Megalopolis, but we’ve stayed in contact ever since.”

“Why does he live out here?”

“You’ll have to ask him.”

Aris and Alex reached the end of a long and lonesome street buried deep in the Matsugaya district. There was barely enough light for them to see where they were going, but Aris was confident he knew the way.

“Should be this building here,” he said, leading Alex through to a rusted cast-iron gate and down a small flight of stairs.

Aris positioned himself in front of the camera and pressed the buzzer. A moment later, a voice crackled out of an old speaker.

“Password?”

“Passwords are not secure,” Aris responded.

There was a pause, and then a buzzer went off — ‘BZZZ’. Without saying a word, Aris pushed open a large metal door and held it for Alex to walk through. They walked down a dimly lit walkway until they reached another door.

“High security,” Alex commented.

“Yeah, he’s a bit of a nut that way.”

Aris promptly delivered three solid thuds with the meaty part of his fist and then waited in the shadows for an uncomfortable moment before the door finally swung open.