"I can't believe it's been a month." Porter lay down against the beach, feeling the sand scratch against his skin as it found ways into his clothing. The moon stared down at him from the sky, its surface a combination of brilliant white and dark splotches. At first, he had been amazed to look up at the night sky from Earth, but it had quickly worn away as he had thought of how close he had been to the stars before, at how he could glance out a window in the academy and gaze upon the beauty of Earth, rather than the void of space. Being on the surface after so much time away was bittersweet.
Riya twisted her body on the sand, propping up her head with her arm so she could converse with Porter. "It's gone by faster than I imagined and yet..."
"So slowly?"
"Yes." Riya tried to nod in agreement while still keeping her head on her palm. "I mean it has already been a month since Chase-"
"Yes, it has." Porter's words sliced through Riya's sentence, immediately ending it. The girl had only been testing the waters though, gauging a reaction by casting out a line. Once more, as he always did, Porter shot down any discussion on his deceased friend. His policy had been to move forwards as quickly as possible, and that meant no more dwindling on past events, but the rest of the group certainly knew the truth in Porter's policy; they only agreed to it in order to maintain cohesion amongst themselves.
"So then what is in the next month?"
"We're not staying here any longer. We've been away from everything else far too long." Porter pulled his torso up so he was sitting using nothing but his abdomen, secretly delighted at his personal improvements in strength. "Before, when we were in the academy, we sat and waited for each mission to come while the rest of the world fought. But the Jahari are a different kind of beast, and we can't just let them ravage the world so easily while we play on an island. Besides, we can make our own missions now."
"And the Enian Federation?"
Porter didn't acknowledge the words, opting instead to stare at the black waves of the ocean. A small fish leaped out of the water, followed by a much larger one trying to catch it. The two plunged back into the ocean, disappearing and leaving nothing behind to indicate they even existed. The world under the sea was completely unknown, and it appeared so different on the surface compared to what it was like in reality. Just like the Jahari, Porter thought. There had been an entire society, a complete civilization, festering under the feet of every human being, and they had never known. On an even grander scale, when Porter had watched the Earth from space, he had seen nothing but beauty and spectacle, with the occasional ripple. It was impossible to tell from above that there was such chaos going on, and that there was eternal war.
"The Federation has some crimes to atone for, many really. But the whole world does, and we alone cannot make it all pay."
Riya's eyes studied Porter carefully, observing his every movement and reaction. He had become quite distant while they were on the island, and each day a part of him seemed to retreat inside himself. It reminded her of the times he had been in combat, the brief flashes where he had lost himself to battle. But this was permanent. Porter of before would always snap back to his goofy, innocent self. This was a different kind of Porter, one who was trying to compact all of his feelings inside himself to make them invisible, and instead he was revealing more than ever before.
"Who else would ever join us?" Riya whispered, her voice saddened by Porter's serious nature.
"Something's wrong." Porter turned his head, gazing at Riya with curiosity. Her face could not completely contain her emotions, and her anxieties were written onto her soft features. "You're distressed over something. Is it the future fighting?"
"It's you," she the young woman blurted out in response, then she quickly seal up her mouth, no longer holding herself up with her arm. She quickly rolled over, trying to hide what had just happened, but she knew none of these gestures could take back time.
Porter's fingers wrapped around the girl's arm, tugging at her gently to coax her into looking at him once more. "What are you talking about? What about me? I'm fine." Porter smiled, his lips moving but the rest of his face staying the same. It was as fake a smile as possible, completely forced, and they both knew it.
"Just let yourself go Porter, let it all go." Riya spoke away from the youth, refusing to face him. She had to, because she knew she would burst into tears if she saw him, and she wanted to remain strong at this moment. She cared deeply for Porter and she didn't want to give him up to the pain he was feeling inside.
"What are you talking about?"
"You, Chase, the Federation, your father, Sigma, all of it. You've just been taking it all in and trying to store it away, to bury it. But instead, you've only gone and locked yourself away."
"I'm not locked away Riya, I'm just...look I think about things ok, I have to, I always have to."
"Porter I-"
"No Riya," Porter snapped, suddenly lifting himself up off the ground, sand cascading off his body. "No, I have to deal with these things, with all these things. I take them on, I come up with the solutions, and I need to figure out how to make things work again. I need to do this, I need to be strong here. And I am strong, and I am me, this is me. I'm sorry that I have to take all that on at once, but that's just what I have to do. That's what we need right now."
"Where are you?" Riya gasped, turning to face Porter, hot tears flowing down her cheeks. "Where is Porter?"
"What are you talking about Riya, I'm right here?" Porter pointed at himself, gesturing up and down his body. "This is me Riya!"
"Where is the Porter I love?" Riya picked herself up off the ground, stumbling through the shifting sands before disappearing into the forest, leaving Porter with his mouth agape, his body frozen and his mind in shock.
* * * * *
Mr. Shotuku wandered around the circle the group had formed. They had all been called together by him, and they always returned to the meeting spot they had created around the fire pit. His slippers waded through the beach, pushing sand out of the way rather than lifting and falling.
Above the elder, a few clouds hung in the sky, dispersed seemingly at random. The sun was the only centre point in the sky, sitting straight in the middle above the island. Through its passage they tracked the time and the passing of each day, and while they could always ask the androids or the doctor for the time or day, none of them had ever spoken about it. There was a mutual agreement to not worry about time while they were on the island, to be liberated of such worries.
"Do you know why I have called you together?"
"Training," the former students mumbled cohesively. Even Sigma and Alpha gave the same answer, one out of habit and the other because it had taken the question as a command.
"No." Shotuku stopped his movements in front of Porter, staring down at the youth. The teen did not return his gaze though, opting to look at his feet instead. "This is not about training. You have all been training each and every day, pushing yourselves to your limits, surpassing them in some cases. I would like to declare that I don't feel you need training at this moment. Of course, that would be a lie as life is training, but it is not the reason we are all here."
"We are here," the teacher continued, resuming his circular march, "because we are no longer a group. We are not a team, we are not anything right now. All of you left together, you live together, but you are not together."
"What are you talking about?" Ardwen asked, trying to pull something concrete from the elder's vague statements.
"You, for example," Shotuku answered, spinning to face Ardwen, "have hardly spoken to Nami in a month. In fact, you two can barely make eye contact, let alone speak." The mentioned students tried to glance at each other, but they both averted their eyes to anything else. "Raul, you have been aloof, isolated, barely talking to anyone. And you never interact with Alpha or Sigma anymore. Porter, Riya, you two have not been speaking to anyone of late, and Porter has said less each day."
"Why have we even been here so long," Porter grumbled.
"Repairing Goliaths takes a long time!" Ardwen quickly threw out the retort, overly defensive of Gretta. "It's just one person trying to fix them, and Gretta is doing the best she can. They're almost all ready to go."
"Why are you so defensive?" Raul interrupted, staring at Ardwen with suspicion. "Nobody has said one word against Gretta until now, and yet you act like we are always attacking her. Guilty conscious maybe?"
"At least I'm not afraid of computers," Ardwen snorted.
"What I say to you in confidence is not meant for you to judge." Raul shot up out of his seat, but a black slipper across the face sent him toppling down to the ground.
"My point exactly." Shotuku's gaze swept over all of the pilots, and none of them could return it. "Look at you all, bickering like children. You never liked each other when this group was first formed, and it seems the same today as when I met you all. Why is that? What has happened to all of you? Can he death of one person really cripple you all like this?" Shotuku raised an eyebrow to the group, watching for a trigger. "Or is it that all of you can't cope with the burden of living anymore?" The accused group winced simultaneously at this, all of them flinching under Shotuku's verbal attack. "That is what I thought."
"So what, we're all hurt, we're all people." Porter's attempted counterattack was immediately silenced with footwear to the face.
"We will start small." Shotuku kept going as if Porter had never spoken, addressing the group with his lecture. "We will go through each of you, and you will admit to your faults, to what is haunting you. You all hate each other because you all hate yourself. Let each of you work to exorcise your own demons, rather than trying to kill one another. You first." Shotuku nodded towards Ardwen.
"Well I..." Ardwen glanced around the group, clearly nervous and unsettled by being picked first. But he swallowed down his fears. "I...I kissed Nami." The rest of the group slowly blinked as their only answer. "But it was an accident, and it she was really distressed over Chase, and I was just trying to comfort her, and then things kind of went all..." A wrench smashed into the back of Ardwen's head, leaving him face-down in the dirt, one foot twitching every so often.
"You're very lucky," Gretta said, stepping out of the forest. She had a bandana on her head to give her some shade while she worked, and she pulled it off to wipe the grease off a second wrench she was carrying. "If Nami hadn't told me about it a minute after it happened, I'd be pretty upset right now. But since she explained it was all her, you're somewhat off the hook. When were you planning on fessing up anyways?"
"Gretta?!" Ardwen sat up, shaking the sand out of his hair. He crawled over to the spunky mechanic, immediately begging for her forgiveness at her feet.
"It would seem that you were folly to nothing more than a lack of communication." While Shotuku's tone was not angry, his face certainly wasn't impressed with the incompetence of his pupils. "I suppose that excuses you as well then Nami." Shotuku moved past the small girl, stopping in front of Raul. "Your turn."
"I have an issue with the machines." Raul didn't hold back, clearly not embarrassed by his fear. In his mind, it was quite rational if anyone put the facts together. The problem was that nobody else had been there.
"I apologize." Alpha cut in, her monotone unwavering as she spoke. "It would seem my 'joke' was misinterpreted."
"Your what?" Raul nearly fell off his seat in response.
"Allyson used to be very partial to jokes and sarcasm," Sigma explained, interjecting with his answer. "I was working with her on researching jokes on the internet, coming up with a bit of personality for her. We're trying to rebuild-"
"Trying to rebuild nothing! She nearly gave me a heart-attack." Raul pointed an accusatory finger across the circle, switching it between Sigma and Alpha. However, the threat of a black slipper was too great, and Raul quickly dropped back down to his seat, grumbling to himself over his error.
"Porter, Riya." Shotuku turned to the final two. "That only leaves the pair of you."
"I have nothing to admit to," Riya stated firmly, with a conviction that was not normally seen from her.
"Oh yes, I know that." Shotuku immediately fawned over her, but when his head twisted towards Porter, it was nothing but darkness and anger. "So, what's wrong with you?"
"Nothing." Porter folded his arms and closed his eyes, unwilling to admit to anything.
Shotuku did not react violently though, simply sighing and sitting down on the ground in front of Porter. He looked up at the teen, watching to see any changes in his expression. "I'm sorry Porter." One of the youth's eyes shot open at hearing this, and quickly pointed down at the elder. "I'm sorry for the loss that happened to you, and I'm sorry that I was the one who put you in that position. I'm sorry to all of you really, for not being a strong enough teacher to have shown you all how to survive in that critical moment. I hid the black chi from you all, disguised my intentions, and never informed you of any greater plans at work. I did it all, not with the intention of manipulating you all to my own needs, but to improve all of your own lives and to open your eyes to what you all desperately wanted to see."
The older man rose up again, slowly, and stretched for a moment, his aging body needing more attention. "I do not envy you, Porter, because you have taken on the entire burden of everyone's life, and your own, and your life alone is heavier than any other person's ever should be."
"It's not about how much weight there is on you, it's about how you carry it." Porter rose up as he spoke, as though he was getting lighter with each word.
"Precisely." Shotuku smiled at his pupil, before reaching out and pulling him in for a hug. The rest of the group quickly followed suit, forming a mess of bodies and emotions. "Obviously we cannot heal scars in an instant," Shotuku continued, "but we can at least acknowledge they exist. And we can move forward wearing them proudly on our chests. Look at all of you, divided by your petty differences, and yet brought together by them at the same time. You are the people I look forward to carrying the weight of the entire world someday."
Before anyone could react, Shotuku lifted Porter above himself, drawing strength from seemingly nowhere. Soon, everyone had a hand in holding Porter above them, and the teen felt as though he were floating on their affections. They carried him down to the edge of the water before promptly throwing him in and giving each other high fives.
"Why?!" Porter shouted, pulling himself out of the ocean. He shook off the water with a smile. "Why is it always me in the ocean, every time?" Everyone suddenly bolted in every direction, scattering to avoid the wrath of Porter as he chased after them.
Gretta and Rick watched from the edge of the forest, sharing a pot of tea between them and shaking their heads at the antics of their comrades. "You know," Gretta yelled, grabbing the attention of the group, "the Goliaths are all good to go. You guys are online!"
A cheer rose up into the brilliant blue sky, wafting through the air and heading up towards the sun. The few lazy clouds hovering around slowly moved on, unaffected by the world beneath them, and the sun continued its passage through the sky, heading back down towards the horizon as the afternoon started to pass.
A/N: Dark times for the group finally begin to move towards the light at the end of the tunnel. With the Goliaths online, they can return to the world. But what has happened to it in the month they have been gone?