Episode 13. Zena’s song

"Is this where you ended up after all of that?"

Marty, who was listening to Siu's story, showed a keen interest.

"Yes, exactly. Zena was following her avatar during virtual reality firefighting training when she stumbled upon this passage. I never thought there would be such a place near the IDYPIA Barrier."

"It's quite a coincidence."

"But when we entered, I had this strange feeling of familiarity and nostalgia."

"Me too. It's like I've known this place for a long time."

"Me too!"

The conversation between the two was echoed by Marty. Upon hearing this, Siu and Zena fell silent for a moment.

"Why, why?"

Siu held Marty's hand, looking into her eyes, and smiled brightly.

"As expected, right?! See, I was right."

"Yeah."

"What is it?"

"I thought that people with special feelings might sense the same thing as us when they enter this place."

"Oh!"

Marty remembered that Siu had asked her for her impressions as soon as they entered this place.

"So that's why you asked me earlier?"

"Yeah, and you are the the type of person we've been looking for."

Zena gestured towards Marty.

"Marty, would you like to join us?"

Siu's question left Marty in contemplation.

While she had been drawn to follow and engage in the conversation, she couldn't be certain of how much trust she could place in Siu and Zena. There was the lingering possibility that Siu and Zena were AG Security Agents setting a trap. In the worst-case scenario, Marty might end up undergoing re-education, and even her current feelings might fade away.

For the first time in her life, she had a choice to make.

"Alright, I want to join too."

"Great."

"Well thought out."

Marty held out her hand, and the reason was simple. It was her desire to find herself. Despite the uncertainty of whether it could be a trap, she still wanted to believe.

She didn't want to end her life in despair. She needed someone like her who wouldn't hide their emotions.

"By the way..."

"Yes?"

"Do you still have those graduation test materials?"

Marty's unexpected question left both of them speechless.

"Ah... the data?"

"Yes, can you show it to me?"

"Sorry, I don't have it right now. I memorized it and then burned it all."

"Oh, I see."

Marty became disheartened. Siu and Zena found this honest emotion in the girl truly endearing. They believed that it was Marty's unique strength, something they themselves lacked.

"Next time when the opportunity arises, I'll let you know. It's all in my head."

"Really?!"

Marty reacted enthusiastically to their words.

"Great! Then consider this a warm welcome to join us."

"Huh?"

"Come this way."

Welcoming Marty's participation, Siu and Zena guided Marty into a larger room further inside.

"Wow..."

Marty's eyes widened.

"What's all this?"

The large room that Zena brought Marty to was unlike the plain rooms and corridors they had seen before. It was painted in a sky-blue color, reminiscent of a child's room. Under the table in the room and hidden in unexpected places like drawers were various items from the ancient civilization, including white ballet dresses, frilly pajamas, colorful leggings, holey cotton shirts, and jeans. To Marty, who had only worn the clothes provided in IDYPIA, these items seemed like treasures.

"How's this? Do you like it?"

"Yes! It's so fascinating and nice."

Marty answered Siu's question honestly.

"When we first discovered this place, we had a similar reaction."

"And you chose the white ballet dress?"

"Well, I thought it suited me the best."

"That's hard to argue with."

While Siu and Zena engaged in their playful conversation, Marty activated the "Target Recognition Mode" of the brain chip. Instantly, descriptions of the items in front of them, including their names and uses, appeared.

"These are wireless earphones, and this is a computer... In the 21st century, computers looked like this. Huh? This is... a digital camera. You would store memories here and record things. It's fascinating!"

Marty examined each item with curious eyes. After the Emotion Reset, the school had never provided information about the history or items from before IDYPIA. They only repeated the history of AG and IDYPIA, brainwashing those under the influence of the brain chips to believe that it was the only truth, without questioning it.

"It's kind of strange to be talking about this now, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, these old items. They never taught us about them in school or anywhere else, but when you activate the Object Recognition Mode, it recognizes some of them,"

Siu activated the Object Recognition Mode by pointing it at the nearby dress.

"Well, it's been a feature from before, but maybe they left it alone because there were no people like us who questioned it?"

"Do you think AG would be that careless?"

"Or maybe someone revived that feature?"

"Then, who and why would someone do that?"

Siu and Zena found themselves in a dilemma, unable to find an answer,

"Hey, what's this? It feels lightweight."

Marty picked up an old acoustic guitar to examine it, but the information didn't appear in the object recognition mode.

"That's an acoustic guitar. It's in this book here."

Siu handed Marty an encyclopedia that was spread out. Marty checked the entry for the acoustic guitar in the encyclopedia.

"An instrument made of 6 metal strings. An instrument?"

" It's a tool used to produce sound through music. This body here is called the resonator, and it's used to create sound."

"You mean it makes sound?"

"Exactly like this."

Zena picked up the guitar and, with her left hand, held down some chords. With her right hand, she strummed the guitar. The 6 strings vibrated, and the sound waves transmitted through the resonator, creating a beautiful sound that resonated.

"Wow..."

"You can already play chords?"

"Yeah, I've practiced quite a bit. Hehe."

Zena smiled brightly and raised her left hand, showing calloused fingertips as a clear sign of her hard work.

"Oh, show us. I'm curious."

"Okay, just a moment."

Zena unfolded a yellowed note that had been around for a long time. After taking a deep breath, she began to sing.

Counting the stars in the night sky, I've longed for peace so earnestly.

Miracles have come, and we dreamed of a better tomorrow.

But somehow, it feels strange. The world is so perfect, but something feels off.

Was this what we dreamt of for the future?

I can't quite remember. I can't remember now.

Certainly, the world is too beautiful, and I am too happy.

The sound of Zena's guitar gradually faded, and silence filled the room.

"That's it for now,"

Zena concluded with a smile, and Siu applauded.

"You did great"

"Sniff…"

Tears welled up in Marty's eyes, catching Siu and Zena off guard.

"Why am I like this? Nothing got into my eyes, and I know it's really well, really good... Why am I crying like this?"

Surprised by the tears flowing without realizing it, Marty tries to hide it. Then Siu approaches and holds Marty's hand tightly.

"I may not know exactly what this is yet, but someday, I'll figure it out. And when that day comes, we'll be together."

"That's right. So don't worry, Marty."

"Thank you, I want to be with you all until the end."

Encouraged by Siu's words and deeply moved by Zena's song, Marty had found what she was searching for—people to share her heart with and a place where she belonged.

"Ah, and…"

However, soon a thought crossed her mind.

"??"

"By any chance…"

Someone who she could be herself with, someone who she could face her feelings head-on with.

However, right now, she couldn't even attend classes with that person, and she didn't even know what they were doing or where they were.

Tyra.

"Can other people come too? I have a friend who's around the same age as me..."

Upon hearing that, Siu and Zena responded with joy and said simultaneously,

"Of course!"

"Absolutely!"

Marty smiled widely at their reactions. She wanted to graduate quickly and bring Tyra here. Just like the lyrics of the song about wishing upon the stars in the night sky.

***