“Sonoka, Chidori, you must survive!”
“Mother, no!”
Sonoka—aged eight—tried to escape from the closet her mother had just shoved herself and her twin sister Chidori into.
Yet, her mother would not have it as she firmly closed the door and barred it shut with a wooden batten. Soon, her children could only hear her fading footsteps as she evacuated the building to check the damage outside and wait for an opportunity. The closet she had hidden her children in was a specially reinforced furnishing she had constructed in her house as an emergency hideout for her children as she did not once consider making it large enough to fit herself into it; she never thought that she would have to use it as a result of an alien invasion.
As she listened to her mother’s receding footfalls, Sonoka dug around her memories, recalling the “2012 phenomenon” where many people thought the world would reach its prophesied end as it was the final year in some ancient culture’s calendar—she couldn’t remember which one. All she knows is that today’s date—December 21, 2012—was the date of that supposed cataclysm. Many people thought it was bogus—Sonoka thought so as well—however, with the invasion of what cannot be described as anything but unintelligent aliens beginning to decimate humanity, Sonoka began to believe that maybe that ancient culture was right.
Maybe they were justified to believe in the advent of the endtimes.
Maybe they were justified to believe in an upheaval of the current world order.
Maybe they were justified to believe in the hubris of mankind going too far.
Perhaps maybe…
… this was humanity’s punishment.
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It was perhaps one full hour before Sonoka stopped hearing divine retribution. With her sleeping sister (who cried so much that she lost consciousness) in her arms, Sonoka waited with bated breath. Ten minutes later, she heard footsteps and squeezed so far back into the closet that she might as well have vanished into the walls. She was worried that she and her sister would be unable to fulfill the last promise to their mother. Contrary to her fears—
“Sonoka, Chidori, are you okay?”
“Mom!?” Careful not to disturb her unconscious sister, she crawled to the door and tapped gently.
“I’m here,” her mother replied, opening the closet and welcoming the child-shaped rocket crashing into her. There was less force than what she was used to, however. “Chidori?”
“She cried herself to sleep,” Sonoka said. “I kept her close.”
“You’re such a good girl, Sonoka,” her mother cooed, patting her atop her head. “That’s what all big sisters should do. Just like I protect you two, you have to protect your sister.”
“Mm…” she nodded as she happily accepted the warm headpats. “But, Mom, what’s going on?”
“I think… it would be best for you to see for yourself.”
Sonoka nodded, gently rousing her sister Chidori awake and reassuring her that they were okay. As an additional measure, their mother hugged them close before holding their hands and leading them outside and away from their hiding place. The house they lived in was mostly decimated with the only items remaining intact being the closet they hid in and the doorframe of the front door. Upon taking her first steps outside, Sonoka forgot to breathe. What she saw—
Sonoka’s first memory was being born in a particularly high-end hospital of Shibuya Ward. She was delivered normally alongside her fraternal twin sister and then raised by their single mother. While she had yet to understand, her mother made only a middle-class income yet was able to afford a high-end mansion in Minato Ward—this is due to the regular “donations” she received from a certain someone who she later learned was her father. Unfortunately, her mother would refuse to tell Sonoka or Chidori their father’s identity—they simply only know that to their mother, their father was an ‘angel that blessed her that one night.’ No matter how much she pleaded and begged, her mother would simply gently poke her on the forehead and insist that she’ll tell her next time.
Despite still only being eight, Sonoka’s experience attending school told her that she didn’t belong. The treatment she received from her classmates was simply transparently malicious. While their house was magnificent, Sonoka didn’t have much else—her mother was frugal with her money and Sonoka understood why. As she was a child, she had yet to truly understand the value of money but even she was old enough to comprehend that money could both hold a family together and break it apart, as she could occasionally see with some of her classmates.
As such, when Sonoka gazed at the destruction with her own eyes, she could only laugh under her breath. So much wealth, squandered by her overly affluent neighbors yet essentially nothing survived the end of the world. Even now, Sonoka could spy those animal-like entities of varying shapes and sizes roaming the sky, blasting high-powered lasers every which way and searing through anything in its path. With their mother firmly holding their hands, Sonoka found herself led to what appears to be a specially constructed bomb shelter a few blocks away from their ruined home. Upon arriving, their mother conversed with the person guarding the door who regarded her and her children with pity; this man was one of their mother’s few friends, occasionally babysitting herself and her sister. He reassured her that there was plenty for everyone.
Stolen story; please report.
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Before Sonoka knew it, it was already early February the year after.
Despite spring being right around the corner, it did not feel like spring was coming as not only did the Honkai decimate infrastructure but they also interfered with global weather patterns. Around the world, abnormal cold snaps have sent temperatures plummeting—the proof was in the blizzard that swept through the periscope of a window she was looking through.
The bomb shelter she was currently in was constructed by their mother’s friend who was paranoid about the end times—he would ironically be accurate in his mad ravings. It was located beneath his mansion’s basement and it was built to last for a long time as all sorts of necessities were prepared, including food, water, and toiletries. Occasionally, Sonoka was allowed to leave the shelter with the supervision of the young man and while it was still mostly chaotic outside, survivors like herself can eke out a living. Sonoka’s favorite pastime was when the young man would take her down to the shore and teach her how to handle a fishing rod; sometimes, all they ate was fish as with both Sonoka and the young man fishing, they would together catch a veritable feast.
This time too was like all the other times, a short period of peace in between the world’s endtimes.
“Uncle, it sure is a beautiful day to fish!”
“You’ve said it, Sonoka-chan,” he beamed, hoisting his rod. “Let’s bring in some tuna for your sister!”
“Chidori should come too…”
“It can’t be helped—she’s terrified of fish slime.”
“You can just wash it off…”
“As expected of the big sister. You really are a strong one, Sonoka-chan.”
“I have to be—Mother’s keeping us together. I can’t be worrying her by being a little girl anymore. I have to grow up.”
“…”
To that, the gentleman could only manage a sad smile.
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“Mr. Tsarnaev, are you sure?”
The onyx-haired Caucasian nodded at the lead researcher’s question. “Please, Professor, I know this may sound far-fetched—hell, it sounded far-fetched in my head. However, I believe that this is the only way forward. They came from wherever they call home, intending to kill us all—let’s use their fallen brethren against them. Besides, if we study them, perhaps we can finally perfect cryonics for global use.”
The professor still had a disapproving expression, however, he soon relented with a sad sigh. “I suppose you do have a point. If we can discover what makes these entities beat, then perhaps—”
Standing astride a capsule holding a preserved human, the young man recalled the past. It was only half a year ago when Dzhokhar Tsarnaev proposed his insane plan to use the Honkai for humanity’s survival—in fact, he still considers himself loony for suggesting it. However, it was far too late for it to be taken back as he had already perfected cryonics. Even now, he was looking at the first clinical trials on a living human. He was now sure more than ever that his out-of-the-box idea was the only way forward and the remaining great scientific minds seemed to agree as his achievements earned him the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Unfortunately due to the state of the world, he was unable to fully appreciate the experience, seeing as the award procedures had to be immensely abridged due to the lack of available personnel for the proceedings; the general collapse of international travel also prevented him from traveling to Stockholm where he would have received his prize.
Not long after Dzhokhar’s breakthroughs in the field of cryonics in early December, the remaining world leaders decided that all children under the age of eighteen were to be put to sleep to preserve them for the future. Dzhokhar had long since publicized his research and findings in the hopes that other countries would be able to reproduce his works, however, as a college student studying in Japan, he is forced to focus his efforts on the country he lives in. Mass production had proceeded smoothly but he was unsure about the distribution of the technology now that most of humanity’s infrastructure had collapsed. He felt his chest constrict at the thought of being unable to save those he cannot reach.
Nevertheless, Dzhokhar steeled himself upon seeing the young girl’s face through the capsule windows. I have to work hard for the sake of the remaining children I can reach… That is my mission.
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It was a few days before the new year following the Fall—the name given to the endtimes—that Sonoka and her family heard the news of Dr. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s medical breakthroughs. The announcement that cryonic technology was perfected and that all children were to be evacuated put a smile on her mother’s face. However, this news was nothing but disastrous to Sonoka. No matter how much she asked her mother to reconsider, she found herself rebuffed. Even now, she continued begging her mother to change her mind as she was led down the hall of a relatively intact hospital complex; her mother bringing them here was so sudden, she was unable to say goodbye to her mother’s friend, their benefactor. As she passed by the rooms, she could see other families saying their goodbyes which further kindled in Sonoka the drive to stay with her mother. Her sister, Chidori, could only silently cry; her timidity prevented her from speaking her mind like Sonoka can, so Sonoka spoke for her too.
Their mother soon talked with the presiding nurse who arranged for their pods. “Listen, Sonoka, Chidori. I, as your mother, do not wish for you to live in a destroyed world like this. You must trust my judgement on this and have a restful sleep. I promise you that we will meet again when the world is better.”
“But Mother—”
“No ‘buts,’ my sweet,” she replied, silencing her with a finger. “Come, the nice nurse has to put something in you.” She led her two daughters by the hand to the nurse who asked them both to climb into the two hospital beds, facing down. She spoke to them in a mild tone as she explained what she was about to do while gently rearranging their hair to expose their napes. Sonoka sucked her breath in as she felt something enter her neck. Her mother soothingly held her hand which calmed Sonoka’s raging heart. The nurse finished what she was doing before informing Sonoka’s mother about the necessary next steps in the procedure.
Sonoka got up from the bed and reached for the back of her neck, wondering what the nurse put in her. She felt something hard, shaped like a small rectangle—perhaps four centimeters wide and two centimeters tall. “What did she put in me?”
“I don’t really get it myself but it’s apparently a regulator for when you’re put to sleep. Speaking of which, it’s time for me to go.”
“Mother—?!”
“Sorry but I’m not allowed to accompany you further.” She got to her knees to hug her two daughters. “I promise you, we will see each other again. Now, be good girls and go take a nap.” The nurse pointedly kept herself invisible as she gave the family the space for their parting moments. Sonoka couldn’t help but cry which was soon followed by her little sister breaking out in tears as well—their mother too began sniffling. “Always know this, Sonoka, Chidori. No matter how much time has passed, remember that I will always, always, always love you.”
“Yes…” Sonoka never stopped looking back as she was led away by the nurse. She burnt the sight of her mother’s tearful yet happy face into her memories, earnestly praying that she may see it again—
—yet that was not what would come to pass.
When Sonoka next awoke from within the capsule with nothing but her still-wet hair hiding her eight-year-old nubile body, she was surrounded by strangers of all ages and genders. One of them looked familiar but Sonoka was sure her memories were playing tricks on her as she could not have met anyone while she was sleeping. Her confusion only grew as the assembly gave her a greeting, one that would drastically shape her life.
“Your Imperial Highness, the Empire’s uttermost eminent Evening Star, we are most graciously thankful for your return.”