After a trek through the carpeted roads of Ingenuity, I found myself staring at a building. It's a bit smaller than expected, a large cylindrical building with strange paintings all over it. Murals of flower, trees, and cloudy sky decorated the exterior of the building.
At first, I thought the design is rather cute for a logistics company. Pretty much resembles something from daycare and kindergarten, with all the illustration of people venturing through green landscapes. Then I remembered what sort of symbolism nature has in this world and what this image actually represents.
"Here we are!" Inata practically pushed me into the building.
"Okay, okay," I stepped into the building and looked around. There's a large marble table with a receptionist waiting. "Uhh... Hello?"
Inata already dragged me a to a lift nearby before she can reply. "Sorry! Courier Emergency!" she exclaimed.
I followed her into the elevator. "Wait, where's Sally,"
"Oh she'll keep up, we lost her around the Ceramic Avenue,"
I blinked, why is she in so much hurry? "You said there's a Courier Emergency,"
Inata turned to me then chuckled a little. "Well, not really, but like, Sally's super worried about you," she jabbed her thumb at the doorway. "But she's slow, so she asked me to get you to Aion,"
"What do you mean?"
"You could die don't you? If you don't charge yourself..."
So that's why she's worried? She's worried I'll ran out of battery? I mean, yeah, it'll be a problem. But...
"Sorry for making you worry, you're right, I should take this seriously,"
"Nah, no worries, I'm not as worried," Inata folded her arms. "Now remember to ask Aion about charging yourself up alright?"
Soon, the lift stopped and the door opened, revealing a short hallway. It's decorated with strange child-like drawings and some large stuffed animal in the corners of the room. We stepped down the carpeted hallway to the double door at the end of the room.
"And this is Aion's room," Inata exhaled a deep breath, I can feel her running out of breath and finally calming down now. "Okay, go ahead then, go in, talk to Aion, ask if he knows how to power you up,"
I raised an eyebrow and pushed the double door open, revealing what seems to be a gigantic pillow fort. The floor is composed of soft mattress, all sorts of stuffed animals can be seen everywhere all over the place. Blankets, pillows, and all things soft and fluffy were piled up in strategic corners of the room.
At the middle of the room is a little boy, lying on his stomach reading a book. His hair is black, with streaks of red and he wore a red hoodie. The boy looked up at me, purple eyes gleaming a little in excitement.
"Oooh~ Inata! Stranger! Hello~" the boy stretched his arms and waved at us. "Come in, get comfy," he gestured at all the blankets around him. "Do you want candies?" he took out some candies from his pocket. "I have red, purple, and blue flavors!"
"Dibs on the purple!" Inata took the purple candy and stuffed it into her mouth.
Okay it's not a talking cat... But you gotta admit I was pretty close there! It's... it's basically the same kind of trope subversion...
"Uhh... I guess, I'll take the blue one?" I took the blue candy out of his hand. Then I remembered that I can't eat so I just held on to it. "Are you... uhh, Aion?"
"Humu humu~ That's me, Aion," he lay on his back. Inata also sat next to him, enjoying the candy. She grabbed a big pink pillow and hugged it. "What's your name, Ms. Stranger?" the boy asked, plopping the last red candy into his mouth.
"It's Viel," I sat next to him. So, either this is a prank or this kid is nothing like he seems. I mean, Trailblazers must've been around for a long time. If he's the first Trailblazer, that means he's way older than he looks. Which means... this is probably a test?
"Viel huh? Humu humu~" he grabbed a plushy from the corner of the room. It's a plushy of a kitten. "Can you name this creature?"
I blinked a little, this has gotta be a test...
"It's... a kitten,"
"Uwaaah~ Perfect Score!" he tossed the kitten up into the air and scrambled to get another. Beside me, Inata is looking at me with wide eyes, as if surprised by my answer. "Next one, next one,"
Aion held up a plushy of a whale. "Can you think up the best name for this Plushy?"
I blinked slowly. "Uhh... I guess since it's a whale, you can call it... Captain Blubbers?"
"Captain Blubbers! I love it!" he hugged the whale for a bit before tossing it aside. He then dove into a pile of pillows and took out a pretty realistic looking Capybara Plush.
"What do you think about Mr. Coco? What creature is he?" Aion asked.
I blinked. "I think he's cute? I mean, Capybaras are cool, they're very chill..." I glanced at Inata and the girl visibly reeled away at the sight of it. It clicked to me now, what's going on. These aren't plushies of creatures that exists in this world, these are plushies of creatures that exist in my world, the Old World.
"Ooohh... you're testing me..."
"Uweeeh~ Why would I do such a thing? Hmm?" Aion tossed me the Capybara. "I just want to show off my cute plushie collection," he swan-dived into another pile of pillows.
Beside me, Inata is looking at me with wide eyes. "So, you know these creatures?"
"Yes, they're... Common creatures I saw back in the Old World," I put away Mr. Coco and picked up a plushie of a puppy. "Like this one for example, is a dog, it's man's best friend. Millions of people keep them as pets, they commonly live alongside humans."
Inata reached out to take the plushie. "So... you guys befriend other creatures?"
"Yes..." I thought about how hostile nature is in this world. "It's impossible to do it here, huh?"
Inata nodded. "Yes, I've tried..." she sighed a little in frustration. "They all try to kill us on sight... Even a newborn would cry, peck, bite, and try to hurt us if they sensed us near,"
Wow... It almost feels like every creature that exists have been given this instinctual drive to hate human. Is this like, Mother Nature's revenge for everything mankind has ever done?
Footsteps came from the door and it opened, revealing Sally a little out of breath. "Ahh, sorry I'm late," she dropped on her knees and hopped towards us. She looked around a little in confusion. "Where's Aion?"
The boy popped his head out of his pillow fortress. "Sally nee-chan!" he leapt from the pillow fortress and into Sally's embrace, making himself comfortable on her lap. The girl chuckled softly and gently pat Aion's head.
"Nee... Viel, this is your first time in Ingenuity, right?" Aion asked me with those big purple eyes of his. "What do you think? It's a great city, isn't it?"
I nodded a little. "Yes, it's a nice place to live, though... very strange compared to the old world,"
"Humu humu~" Aion smiled and leaned back on to Sally's lap. "So why did you decide to tag along Inata-chan and Sally nee-chan?"
I blinked a little. What kind of question is that? I mean...
"Well... I got no other choice..."
"Uweeh!?" the boy pouted and shot Inata a look. "You forced her to come here!? That's super mean!!!"
Inata raised her hands. "N-no! We-we didn't, I mean, uhh..." she gulped and looked at me sheepishly. "You don't mind coming here with us right?"
"No... Also, uhh, by no choice I mean between that and roaming in the wild, I pick the former,"
Aion nodded slowly, folding his arms in front of his chest. "Humu humu... So what now?" he asked. "What do you wanna do Viel?"
"Uhh..." I blinked a little. In all my simulations, no matter what sort of situation I'm in, I always have a role I have to do. Now, however, I don't even know my role. "I don't know? I guess..." I looked down. "Okay, I need a job, I guess,"
"Humu! We all have to play our role in society," Aion smiled. "Good luck then!" he gave me a thumbs up.
That's it? Isn't this supposed to be the part where he offered me to join the Pandora Logistics? Or at least, tell me something? Give me an opportunity or two?
"You seem to have lots of questions!" Aion said. "Go ahead, ask away~"
"Right, uhh, do you know what I am? You seem familiar with the Old World,"
"True that~" he crawled off Sally's lap sat close to me. His hand reaches out towards my torso.
"What are you... Whoa!!!" I yelped when my stomach literally flipped open, revealing a compartment in it. "What the fuck!?"
"Uwaaaah~ That's a big storage space!" he sticked his head into my torso. "So cool!!!" his voice echoed in my head. He then took out a bar of something out of my torso. "I found nutrient bar!" he grinned and took a bite out of it. "Mm~ Taste like Inata's cooking!"
Wait, what? Inata's cooking? Does that mean anything I eat gets processed into food bar in my stomach? Wait! What the fuck is going on?
"Mm~" Aion ate everything and grinned. "Hunyaaa~ That's a super cool feature!!! It'll be super handy during long exploration!!!"
Beside me, Sally has that sheepish smile on her face as she shook her head. Inata made an X gesture with her arms.
"Yeah, I don't think we need to go that far," I cleared my throat. "Anyway! Since food turns into a food bar, how do you think I get powered?"
Aion pressed a hand on my chest. "Hmm," he pressed his palm against it and I can feel something thrumming in my chest. "Oooh~ That's so cool!"
"What is it?"
"I don't know!" Aion grinned. "But don't worry, you will never ran out of power any time soon!"
"Huh..." I put a hand on my chest. So that's where my power source lies, whatever that is. "How do you know I won't ran out of power?"
"Your chest cavity doesn't play by the rules of thermodynamics, you see? Humu humu~"
Huh? Isn't that one of the most fundamental thing out there? "How is that possible?"
"I dunno~"
"How do you know that?"
"Just a guess~"
Something tells me that pressing on will only lead to a silly game of 20 questions with a literal kid. "Fine..." I sighed a little and turned to Inata and Sally, who's holding back a laugh. "So like, how do you know a lot about the Old World?"
"I was born there~" Aion replied. "But if I tell you anything else, it will ruin the story~"
"The story?"
"Humu humu~" Aion grinned. "The universe is like this super big maze you see? There are infinite amount of ways to go and infinite amount of place to get lost. What's the fun of being told where to go, hmmm?"
"But you'll get lost and you'll never make it anywhere..." I looked down, what is this kid trying to tell me? Why do I feel these... weird feelings trying to wrap together what he's trying to say? "Look... I, I don't even know if I'm still in a simulation or not..."
"So? I love make believe stories!" Aion grinned and raised his arm. "The old world has so many cool stories, you know that?" he stood up and wave his hand around. "Stories of love! Epic fantasy! Sci-fi! All the cool things!" he then turned towards me and tilted his head. "Are you saying those stories are meaningless?"
"No... but... do I have a free will? Can I even carve my own path if everything is already predestined?"
"Uweeh~ Why are you complicating things?" Aion jumped around the bed-like floor and crawled up behind my back. "Just because the story is already finished, doesn't mean it's meaningless, no? I even love reading stories that I've read before and it's still super fun!"
I clenched my fist. This... kid... yeah, no, I'm not stupid. This is not a kid, a kid isn't supposed to have this sort of grasp on the nature of existence. Who is he? Why is he telling me all this?
"Why are you telling me all this?"
"Hmm?" the boy jumped and flipped above my sitting form. He landed back first on the mattress right in front of me, his big purple eyes gazing right into mine. "Why am I telling you this??? Because all those questions are stopping you from doing the most important thing!"
"What can be the most important thing?"
"Having fun of course! Ahaha!" he laughed with mirth and grasped both my cheek with his hand. "Come on Viel~ Stop thinking too much, or you're gonna end up like Deva!"
Fun. A word that I felt like I've heard so many times already. A word, that, for the life of me, I can't remember where I heard it, but I feel like it's so important. As if my developer hard coded it somewhere but never used it.
"Fun..." I realized that Aion has already crawled back to Sally's lap. I opened my mouth, but no words came out. Then I grabbed Mr. Coco and hugged it, feeling his soft synthetic fur. "I mean.. Yeah, I can try that..."
After a long talk with Aion, it's time to say good bye. Aion gifted me a bag of candy, which he shoved right into my stomach compartment. He also gave Inata and Sally each a candy bar, it's pink in color, the kind that melts in your mouth like chocolate but not really chocolate.
"Okay, I see why you guys are hyping him up," I said as we stepped back into the lift.
"Right? Right? Aion's the cutest!" Inata said with a grin. "And I guess he's also super mysterious too, I never know he's lived that long..."
"Yes, I was surprised to know that he lived through the Old World, I've always thought he just learned about it, not came from there," Sally said with a thoughtful look on her face. "You think he knows what happened to the Old World?"
"He definitely knows," I commented as the door opened and we both stepped back to the Pandora Logistics Lobby and out into the carpeted streets of Ingenuity. "I just think he's that sort of person that uhh... yknow, cryptic?"
Inata nodded in agreement. "Yeah, he can be super cryptic sometimes," she folded her arms. "Not to mention that he's literally Deva's senior..." she shook her head. "I still can't believe Deva when he said it."
Sally tilted her head. "Deva is the Senior Trailblazer and one of the most experienced Couriers out there, I think it make sense,"
"Have you seen Deva? He's a grumpy ass with the sense of humor of a slab of brick!" Inata announced, she narrowed her eyes when Sally has a look of fear in her face. "What? You don't think I shouldn't badmouth him? Just because he's my superior doesn't mean...."
The girl paused and sighed a little.
"He's right behind me, isn't he?"
"Yeah,"
Inata turned around to face him, only to find another flick to her forehead. "Do not underestimate Aion," Deva began. "Despite what his appearance might suggest, he's a person who deserves an utmost respect," he spoke sternly.
"I wasn't badmouthing him, I was badmouthing you!" Inata exclaimed, earning another flick on her forehead. "You keep doing that... Stop it!"
"No," Deva folded his arms and turned to Viel. "Then, did you learn anything from Aion?"
"Yeah, sorta, he was pretty cryptic," I told him. "I'm still not sure about the Old World or myself or anything like that,"
Deva nodded a little. "He's cryptic on matters he deems unnecessary, he's not the type to hide important information, is there anything he told you in a straightforward manner?"
I thought back about what Aion said. Straightforward manner huh? "Well, he did reveal that I have a big compartment in my stomach, he told me to take a candy, and he said that the universe is like a maze and there's no fun in being told where to go, and..."
I looked down, thinking about his advice, telling me to just have fun despite... Not knowing if anything is real or not.
The man's expression softened a little, as if remembering something. "Ingenuity is not Curiosity,"
"What?"
"Have you heard the saying? Curiosity kills, Ingenuity saves," he began. "Trying to find answer for the sake of it, is like trying to finish a riddle by looking at the answer sheet," he led us up a staircase. "The wise don't go looking for answer, they go looking for questions,"
"Questions?"
Deva tilted his head. "Your questions are still too shallow, Viel, that's why he's not telling you anything," he smiled a little. "You ask, 'What happened to the Old World', the answer is 'A terrible disaster happened,'. Does that satisfy your curiosity?"
I bit my lip, that answer is correct, but... it doesn't explain anything. "Then..."
"Then what disaster struck the Old World?" Deva finished my question. "The answer to that, is the Fae's uprising,"
"But-"
"But what are Fae?" Deva finished my question. "Fae are nature spirits, also known as Kami"
"Then-"
"And so now you have an idea on what Fae-kin are, and what happened to the old world, now what? How did the Fae defeat mankind? The answer is that they rewrite the laws of nature, what then?"
I opened my mouth and closed it again. Then I sighed a little in realization, obviously I will ask how this city is still standing, and all that... Just endless questions and endless answers.
"Okay, okay, just knowing about the answer will only lead to more and more question,"
"It's not just that," Deva replied. "Now that you know that the old world was wiped out because a disaster concerning the fae, what are you going to do with this information?"
I looked down, really, I'm just getting schooled now. "I don't know, I'm just... curious," I must sound like an idiot now, dammit...
"That's right, just like a kid who uses the answer sheet to pass the test. There is only knowledge, not wisdom. You don't know what to do with the answers..."
What do I do with these answers?
"Then... what am I supposed to do?"
"You go looking for the right question first," Deva said simply. "Once you have asked the right question, only then can you find wisdom, not just knowledge and trivia,"
After talking for a while, it's time to deal with the more realistic issue. You know stuff like employment, housing, residence, immigration... You'd think me being an ancient artifact would change anything, but nope! Here I am on line to get my proper Proof of Citizenship.
Thankfully for me, Deva said he'll ask Aion to pull some strings for me. He said he'll streamline the process. All I have to do is bring these documents to the Ingenuity Administration Center. Apparently, it's the only one in a few in the city and because of that... well...
I've been standing here for 2 hours now. Inata gave up after the first hour, and told us she's gonna grab some drink. Sally stayed by my side, bless her, she's my favorite now.
"Are there any other cities other than Ingenuity? Have you been there?" I asked Sally.
"Mmm, there's 5 major city that exists in this world. Determination, Love, Myth, Ingenuity, and the biggest of them all... Humanity," Sally explained, her soothing voice made this queue way, way more bearable. "What about in your world?"
"There are like 200-ish countries each with at least a hundred cities in it," I replied. "Honestly, it's just way too crowded back in my world."
"What's country?"
I blinked a little. "The governor above a city?"
"Hmm... You mean like the Council of Humanity?" Sally looked up, a thoughtful look on her face. "The Council of Humanity rule over the City of Humanity and due to this, she also has power on all the other cities,"
"Ah, that makes Humanity the capital of... whatever you call this world," I tilted my head. "Or is it closer to states??? Uhh..." yeah, no, I'm not translating old world politics on this one.
Sally nodded a little. "I think I got it, so since there's so little human exist in this world, we only have one country, which has no name. While you have so much human in your world that you all make your own countries, is that it?"
"Yep, that's the gist of it!"
After a while, the line finally finished and... Sike! Of course not. It's just Inata returning with two flasks of drinks. She handed one for Sally and sipped on the other one. "Still not done yet?" she asked, sipping on some red and blue swirly liquid.
"No," I looked at her drink, curious. "So... What's the flavor of that drink?"
Inata tilted her head. "Red and blue," she sipped it some more. "Citric red and blue if you wanna be technical, they're great for cold drinks, candies, and cold treats."
Huh, they actually call flavor by the color of it, interesting. "It sucks that I cannot eat anymore," I sighed a little. "You think there's anyone smart enough in this world that can give me the ability to taste something."
Inata and Sally glanced at each other. "I mean, whoever it is, they live in the city of Determination," Sally replied. "Determination boasts the most expert on Smart Construct like you," she took a sip of her drink, it's yellow and blue. "They contribute the most knowledge and innovation to the City of Humanity when it comes to engineering and science."
"What about this city? What does Ingenuity contribute?"
"Trailblazers," Sally smiled. "Skilled labor force basically, and kaiju hunters,"
Kaiju Hunters...
Right...
Of course Kaiju exists...
"Welcome, how can I help you?" a voice snapped me out of my musings. I looked forward and saw the receptionist lady smiling politely.
I quickly gave her the documents Deva prepared for me. "Uhh, Viel, citizenship registration,"
The receptionist quickly browsed through the documents. "First name Viel, no last name?" she asked.
"Yeah?"
The woman tapped her pen for a moment. "You will need a last name for proper citizenship, is there any name do you prefer?"
"What? Uhh..." I tried to think up a name and found one. My last name that I have in my simulations. "Viel Paradox," I told her.
"Viel Paradox... Age unknown, Origin..." she froze a little, eyes widening. She seemingly took a double check on the other documents, as if re-verifying everything. "Old World..." she looked at me with wide eyes for a moment before looking back at the document. "Title, Old World Relic."
Wow, not even gonna sugar coat it? Interesting, I thought Deva would at least fake it somehow. But nope, I am an Old World Relic, officially.
"Here's the finalized document, head on over to the digital card printer on your right to create your proof of citizenship. Should you ever lose it, bring these documents back here and print it,"
I walked towards the printer with Sally and Inata in tow.
"Paradox? Not a bad name," Inata said with a grin. "Must be cool to be able to just make your own name," she has that wistful smile on her face. "Ahhh, I would love to change my name to Inata Wildfire..."
Sally shook her head. "It would be improper if you change your name Inata. People only do that if they are ashamed of being related to their own caretaker," she told her. "Besides, Prajna is a nice name, don't you think?"
"Well, fine! Prajna isn't that bad, but Inata? That's a boring name! Should go with something cool, like... Luminosity! Or... Nexus! Or... Dragonborn!!! Or... Reclaimer!!!"
Was that actual game reference??
"Anyway, Viel," Sally turned to me. "Do you want to come with me to the loom?"
"Loom?"
Inata appeared between us. "Are you seriously asking her to do the single most boring thing in the world?"
"What's Loom?"
Inata turned to me. "It's a textile store, and god, Sally, my sweet love, she will stare at a piece of fabric for hours, before saying 'ah yes, we can make a nice shirt out of this',"
Sally pouted. "It's not hours I'm just... looking for inspiration!" she waved her hands around. "Like, the feeling when you gazed upon a beautiful piece of fabric,"
"You know most people figure out what to make before going to visit the loom right?" Inata asked.
"Not everyone, Miko say that there's nothing more inspiring than to gaze upon the beautiful, beautiful arrangement of fabric," Sally clasped her hands. "She finds the simplest joy in arranging the colors, the textures, the sheer dimension and weight... Letting each rolls speak out their desires on what they wish to become!"
Inata face palmed. "That's cuz Miko lives there! She works there, it's her circle's store!"
I took a step back as the two bickered back and forth. Honestly? It feels like watching a romcom of sort, seriously. Didn't realize that Inata can be the reasonable one.
After almost two minutes of bickering they all turned to me.
"We're going to the loom," they said finally at once.