Chapter 01-1 Easter
Right at Easter, evening’s rain was very heavy, instantly washing away days of accumulated heat, and intertwining with the cool spring breeze to form what visually appeared a light white mist .
A short-haired girl with a long navy blue umbrella, wearing a thin dark gray jacket and clutching her soft brown leather shoulder bag, walked quickly through the rain and mist.
As she passed by the appliance store, a row of televisions was simultaneously showing news commentaries：
“After losing contact for up to seven months, NASA has announced that it has successfully re-established contact with Voyager 2. Although both it and its sister probe, Voyager 1, had been flying significantly slower for a time, for reasons that vary, both unmanned outer solar system space probes carrying Earth civilization have now flown out of the solar system and officially entered interstellar space, and around 2025, along with running out of fuel, they will also lose contact with Earth completely, and scientists cannot be sure that they Exactly what will be the end, such as whether to encounter alien civilization or not......”
At that same moment, a man she brushed past muttered angrily to himself, “Who the hell cares about alien civilizations, I just wish I could take this bra-like shit off my face right now, I want to breathe!”
The girl had no time to pay attention and walked straight into the cafe.
A string of wind chimes made of metal mechanical parts hung on the door of the cafe, tinkling as she barged in.
The girl’s eyes were full of caution from start to finish, until she saw a familiar face and her tense body relaxed a little.
“Kacia!” the man sitting in the corner by the window waved to her dramatically.
“Shh!” The girl immediately made a silent gesture to the man, whispering to him to keep a low profile, “Let’s not sit by the window, it’s dangerous.”
“Don’t worry, I have made careful arrangements to make sure this is the safest place to be.” The man then replied in a low voice, “You sit down first.”
The girl looked around, did not find any abnormalities, had to listen to the man’s words and sat down, also took her mask off.
“Did you get the stuff?” The girl asked eagerly.
The man nodded and pulled out a coin from his pocket, breaking it in half, inside was a micro chip.
The girl saw the chip intact and instantly breathed a huge sigh of relief: “MR.Gao, thank you so much!”
The man reglued the coin and handed it to the girl.
The girl reached for it, but the man squeezed the end of the coin.
“Kacia, are you sure you want to cover this story? I’m afraid ......” the man’s eyes flashed, full of unease, “I’m afraid you’ll get into trouble.”
The girl was silent, and with a slight force of her hand, snatched the coin away.
“Those people can be the kids of the big shots, while you are just a school magazine reporter and a high school student. Have you thought about what they will do to you in case their evil deeds are exposed by you? In case you influence the election ......”
The girl looked to the calendar placed at the front desk of the cafe and answered.
“Once the holidays are over, we’ll have to go to school again.′ You’re not like us, you’re a minority in this country, you deserve to put up with the bullying.′ How long will we have to pass on this cruel discourse?”
“The dangers you are about to face may be more frightening than a war correspondent have to face.”
“For some people, it’s likely that every day is a war, and they can’t runaway from it even in school. Many people turn a blind eye to the hurt, even take it for granted, and it is my job to try to make sure that those innocent friends can be seen, can be empathized with, and can live the peaceful life that every human being deserves.”
The man was stunned and sighed lightly, “You are such a selfless, fraternal idealist, but it’s a pity you don’t do politics.”
“Someone once told me something -” through the floor to ceiling windows, Kacia looked out at the dark night sky, her eyes unwavering, “when you stand up to powerful enemies for other people and not for yourself You will find out how vulnerable they are.”
“I’m not as great as you are!” The man’s voice suddenly rose, cutting through the silence in the cafe and drawing sideways glances from the surrounding customers.
The man continued to mutter, “I have elderly parents and young children, unlike you, you are an orphan can have no qualms ......”
Under the dim light, the girl’s clear, calm amber eyes steeply appear a hint of volatility.
“I’m sorry ......” The man quickly realized the offense of his words, but it seemed that his apology went beyond that.
The girl pursed her lips and patted the man’s shoulder: “It’s okay, I’ll go first and wait for tomorrow’s headlines.”
The girl then took out some cash and put it on the table, signaling the waiter to settle the bill.
“MR.Gao, don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to the people around me again.”
The girl stood at the corner of the bookshelf, packing the special coin in her hand into the concealed compartment of her shoulder bag. A pale glow enveloped her slender body, reflecting the outline of her confident smile with more angularity than usual.
When the girl finished, she put her mask back on and left the cafe in a hurry, not noticing what was happening behind her.
A male waiter came to MR.Gao.
“The person you’re looking for, that’s her, Kacia Lin,” MR.Gao’s whole body couldn’t help but tremble slightly from fear, he forced one side of his fist, not daring to look up at the attendant, “I didn’t give those things to her, please you guys... please let my family go, I’ll keep my mouth shut about the whole thing.”
The corner of the waiter’s mouth curved up in an evil arc: “Sir, someone has already paid the bill, you can leave now.”
He pulls out a photo from under the checkout slip of a girl painted with a blood red X symbol and dressed in a straight school uniform. She was none other than Kacia Lin, the short-haired girl from earlier, and the prey he had been ordered to murder.
The waiter stepped past the bookshelf, and when the cafe door was thrown open again, the young man with the peculiar totem tattoo carved on his wrist had long since ripped off his uniform apron, and replaced it with a black civilian suit that facilitated his hunting.
He carefully lowered his dark flat cap, followed unhurriedly, and managed to tail Kacia Lin, who had not yet gone far, as they faded into the night.
“Kacia, I gave you a choice, you should have listened to them and followed the rules of the game properly ......”
In the cafe, customers who did not know what was going on were casting strange glances at sobbing MR.Gao.
At this moment, if MR. Gao’s cries, as well as the music coming from the vintage gramophone were slightly less loud, perhaps people would have noticed something unusual.
For example, no one pushed open the wooden frame door, the string made of metal mechanical parts, polished by the vicissitudes of the years to some rust of the ancient wind chimes, the tiny gears on the flash of a strange current, while abruptly turned up.
After leaving the cafe, although the rain had stopped, the streets became less crowded as the night grew heavier.
Kacia crossed the road quickly with her umbrella, and stopped along the road to put it away under the eaves. But to her surprise, a pure white, exquisite wedding dress suddenly came into her eyes, and under the bright light, the wedding dress looked extraordinarily elegant and noble, so she couldn’t help but freeze in place.
“You’re only 17, you should be enjoying your youth and love, not wallowing in never-ending coverage of bad events ......,” remembering the words of advice from a friend at the school magazine.
She quietly stared at herself reflected in the floor-to-ceiling windows, and her heart could not stop rippling - it seemed so long since she had dressed up that she could not remember the last time she had gone to a party without any purpose. If you look closely, her natural amber eyes look much less luminous than before.
She unknowingly stroked her hair. A few years earlier, she had decided to follow her professional role models and cut her long, dark, straight hair into a manly, stiff, short cut.
As far as remembered, that should have been the last time she cried?
No, the last time she cried, it was not for the hair, but for Senior Willy, the former president of the school magazine, whom she revered.
