Shattering Humanity

{Outside of Sanpaku’s Main Entrance}

Aiden and Sol are still having a discussion while TayTay is still trying to understand what his brain is telling him after eating one of Sol’s toasted marshmallows. He is looking directly at the bright early October moon.

Aiden: "Katsu really does want to end everyone’s suffering, you can tell by the look in his eye...Well, the human one at least.."

The scholar gets reminiscent about his time in the HFF with Katsu and Shelly, smiling.

Aiden: "One of my first memories I can remember, was my caregiver explaining to us all in the orphanage, that the most gifted of orphans could leave behind the life of getting picked on, have a warm bed every night, and have their own choice of meals or snacks everyday."

Sol gets caught off guard by the reveal of Aiden’s origins.

Sol: "...’Orphanage’?! Why does everyone one of you have some kind of tragic history?

My family died in this apocalypse like a lot of people’s, but you, Shelly, the majority of my Division and Drakaina. We really must be living in some kind of poorly written, cliche, post apocalypse, drama, thriller story.

We don’t even know TayTay’s whole upbringing but I’m going to assume he’s eaten good his whole life."

Aiden(nods and chuckles): "Hehe, ’trials and tribulations’ create survivors, I suppose. But yes, I started growing up in an orphanage. It’s not a special feel good story of escaping the world’s pressure as a child without a home with no friends, and no family.

There was no real frame of reference for me as to what a shared compassion felt like. So on my first day at the HFF academy, when Katsu approached me with such high energy, I thought it was just a crude joke and he was pretending just to get a rouse out me. Especially since Shelly stayed silent the whole time, but I later found out she was just as shy to talk to new people as I was, hehe."

Sol, TayTay’s ’Mama’ because of the matching eyes of the sun, looks up at her ’son’, still in deep "thought" about his marshmallow.

His IceEye pops off to 2nd Stage. Now that she has been accepted by Seiõr, Sol shortly admires Taylor’s unprecedented moon silver aura. Not having a clue about the uniqueness of this color aura. She gets a worried look, but about something different.

Sol(thinking): *How would Tay have reacted to living as an orphan? I don’t know anything about his life before meeting him, but I want to.

Would living without constant access to food, extremely change how he developed this eating habit, or would he always find food whenever he wanted anyway, like he does now?

...

...come to think about it, where does he get all that f-...*

*ACHOO! ACHOO!*

She sneezes twice and forgets about her UNNECESSARY question.

Aiden: "Bless you...

During lunch on the week before being assigned Squads, Shelly had gone to throw both of their trash away. What Katsu explained to me was, it was the happiness he receives seeing Shelly succeed, that ’saved him from himself’. After the hard work he did to repair the broken shell his childhood friend had become, it was all worth it after seeing her giggle again.

The first laugh he managed to finally get out of her, was after he tripped up the stairs with cake to cheer her up. As soon as she slowly shuffled out her room, he tripped on a stair, and fell face first in the cake. He got the pink frosting all over his face as he slowly slid down the stairs in embarrassment."

Sol giggles, but she’s thinking about her own captain being the ’clown’ sliding down the stairs with a frosting covered face.

Sol(thinking and blushing): *I would love to see that happen to ’Jackass’.*

Aiden: "Ever since then, he’ll pretend to slip up now and again, just to see what he has proudly achieved. Even if he knows she’s set up a prank to get him, Katsu will play along, to see Shelly shine some more. ’Every laugh and each smile came out easier and more frequent ever since’, is what he whispered to me while she was walking back from the trash bin.

I truly believe, seeing the success of helping someone he dedicated so much time and effort in, makes him just as happy as those of us he helps too."

Sol: "So what, or who, is your ’Shelly’?"

Aiden blushes after seeing Sol looking particularly cute in the light of the fire. Looking at him with her cheek pressed against her knee.

Aiden: "W-What?"

Sol: "Katsu put an emphasis on helping Shelly improve, and he continues to support her. Now he enjoys seeing the fruits of his labor, because she is becoming so incredibly strong, like one of those geeky anime characters he talks about and awkwardly references in coincidence."

Aiden gives a soft smile, remembering Katsu’s star eyes and excitement whenever he gets into his "Nerd Phase".

Aiden: "But Shelly gets his ’corny niche crowd jokes’ and she laughs, so that’s all that matters to him in the end."...

...

...

Sol: "Sooo, you never answered.

Where is your version of ’Shelly’?

What have you put an emphasis on constantly improving, to make you happy enough to keep living?"

Aiden thinks about saying his answer out loud and hesitates.

Sol raises an eyebrow and looks mildly offended.

Sol: "Just spit it out, it’s not like I’m gunna judge. I have a feeling I already know what it is anyway. I didn’t go to that academy like all of you, but even I know you held the #1 academic rank of that entire mountain civilization."

Aiden: "It’s- It’s been my personal intelligence and the search for ’the truth’."

Sol: "...’the truth’?

Aiden(nods): "What I have believed was ’the truth’, is what’s right, and explains what is correct in this universe. I didn’t want to learn ’the truth’, necessarily to relay the information I absorbed to others who wanted to know. It was for own my peace of mind. My ability to regurgitate information on que, was just a byproduct of my happiness, but that byproduct allowed me to leave the depressing, grey life of foster care behind.

I truly love learning but only about the things I want to know more about..."

Sol looks from Aiden to the now drooling, mumbling Taylor. The moon silver aura still blazing from his right eye.

She realizes the similarity in mindsets between the two gifted young men, with polar opposite ’gifts’.

Aiden: "...but I’ve hated being forced to use the information I’ve learned, on pointless activities that didn’t peak my interests."

Sol(to herself): "It’s a good thing helping us reestablish society isn’t one of those ’pointless activities’."

Aiden: "What?"

Sol: " Nothinnng, continue!"

TayTay barely mumbles while he stares at the moon in the same way he stares at the sun.

TayTay (softly): "Ma...Ma...

So...ck...

help..."

Aiden: "At the age of 7, I earned perfect scores on all the college entrance exams I took and was given an all inclusive government grant for the gifted, to study at the local university. I later found out from Katsu, it was the same university his father throughout his service in the military."

Sol: "Huh, small world but holy crap,7 years young in college?"

The fire crackles and dances.

Aiden: "Thanks to some ’Gifted Youth Government Grant’ I was removed from the orphanage and to my own dorm room. With an entire university’s access to knowledge and I was given unlimited access to the 24 hour cafeteria, which I took advantage all too well."

Sol(scratches her temple): "Yea, I was gunna congrat you and the Big Guy both, for *ahem* losing a little bit of the guts...no offense."

Aiden: "None taken, thank you in fact.

Where was I?"

Sol: "You were talking about getting a free pass out of poverty with your mind."

Aiden: "Oh yea, so by the age of 15, I had majored in 10 independent fields of engineering. In order it went Mechanical, Computer, Software, Electrical, Chemical, Aerospace, Nuclear, Systems, Environmental and Agricultural. I also have a minors degree in Astronomy and Ancient Astrology Theory."

Sol does an impressed whistle in reaction to the list.

Sol: "How did you find time for all the older girls who were all over you, Hotshot?"

He looks at the broken heart tattoo on his right hand pinky with a smile.

Aiden: "That’s why I knew about the Astrological aspect of palmistry, when Mr. Mina brought it up."

Sol looks at her tattoo on her right hand ring finger.

Aiden(chuckles): "I just continued to learn, and aimed to major in all the possible Engineering fields by the time I was 21.

Like I said, I find enjoyment in ’thinking’ and ’knowing how things work’, and you all know my... drawing... hobby. I enjoy star plotting, connecting constellations, creating my own personal constellations for every month and so on.

I also like drawing blueprint designs, constructing mechanical models based on limited confinements, and just working with my hands in general.

With freehand, I can draw straight lines, perfect circles, and I have the ability to ’eyeball’ the length of a line, without a ruler with pinpoint accuracy...95% of the time."

Sol is both impressed and nervous.

Sol: "Not saying I don’t believe you, Mr. cool smarty-pants, but if I found out the guy who built my airplane, didn’t use proper tools to accurately measure it’s blueprints, I wouldn’t get on that flight."

Aiden lets a small laugh out his nose.

Aiden: "And I wouldn’t blame you...Unfortunately, when Leviathan invaded, I was only 16 and eating in the 24/7 cafeteria while also enjoying my early morning, ’independent reading’. As the invasion happened, the cafeteria was locked up and secured soon after..Along with a small group of survivors, I stayed on that campus for 18 months until a giant Iceman, unprovoked, destroyed the entrance we had barricaded. That allowed groups of smaller Icemen to corner everyone I had grown close to, inside that building.

I hid and curled up into a ball, inside a walk in freezer, while everyone was torn to pieces just outside. Banging on the metal door, pleading for me to open it, but I knew if I did, those monsters would force their way inside, killing us all."

He has Sol’s complete attention now, her eyes of the sun, wide as can be.

Sol: "What happened after? How did you survive long enough until you got to the Sister Mountains?"

Aiden: "There was fruit and canned food in my hiding spot, and I had my ’independant reading’. Once the screaming stopped, there were muffled grunts coming from Icemen eating or hunting for any survivors. I decided, I wouldn’t leave until I read that book front to back. 13 times. Once for each of the 13 people who had died that day."

Sol: "Whoah, I’ve probably only read like, 13 different books in my whole life.

What book was it?"

Aiden: "A complete hardcover of both the ’Old and New Testaments’."

Sol: "Woah... that’s heavy."

Aiden: "I’m not a believer of religion per se, but I am a believer of reading holy transcripts with a humanist perspective.

That every ’story’ is meant to create a sense of empathy through beautiful subtleties, with the assistance of fictional elements, to correlate situations that could happen to someone in this reality and existence.

To read with a metaphorical perspective, taking into consideration the passage’s mindset towards life’s adversities, the consequences to reactions each character goes through, and to rationally, but not ignorantly connect the story morals to the real world meta."

Sol(thinking): *Now that he puts it that way, I’m starting to wonder if it’s the stories themselves that are the true explanation to the concept of a universe.*

Aiden: "I think ALL holy transcripts are important not only for the progression of humanity but also a way to distinguish different cultures.

But it shouldn’t be incisively worshipped, to the point multiple factions end up fighting for their ’truth’ to be ’the truth’. Instead, I always believed religions should encourage their followers to create new, more attention grabbing, more time relatable stories that continue to be passed down the faith’s core values."

Sol: "I was raised Catholic, but my parents didn’t take it as serious as my grandmother. I kinda know what you mean though.

My Mom and Dad didn’t want me to be ’God fearing’ like my NanNa, so they made sure to let me know whenever God was mentioned, it’s as if all the ’Good’ energy from humans were made into a person, and the Devil was a scary creature created only of ’Bad’ energy.

Unfortunately, after the end of modern civilization, I’ve had time to think. If ’the Devil’ truly is cunning, sooner or later, he won’t appear as a scary creature, right? Sooner or later, won’t ’the Devil’ seem just as nonthreatening and unrecognizable from those who claim to help others with the best intentions?

Good people can succumb to ’the Devil’ in the heat of a moment, especially if ’the Devil’ has taken the time to build a reputation to those used for his own happiness."

Aiden looks at his hands with sad eyes.

Aiden: "But now, since we’ve been told and proven Seiõr is the primary explanation for all of the universe’s energy, then what’s left for me?

If all of humanity’s scientific mysteries and religious backbones for faith, can be explained with Ancient Norse practiced magic, then what’s the point of wondering about anything anymore.

At the same time, what’s the point in learning about anything else? Should I still have any emphasis on my life, even if all the ’respectable sources’ I would’ve believed, were written by people who were trying to find ’the truth’, but failed?

In retrospect, ’the most brilliant of our species’, were accidentally and unintentionally moving us all further away from ’the truth’ this entire time. Naive, but dedicated individuals, leaving their unfinished trail of their life’s knowledge towards ’the truth’, for others to hopefully complete."

Sol(to herself): "I mean, that’s one way to put it, I guess.

Sheesh... starting to sound more like ’Captain Downer’

...I wonder where they all are right now."

Aiden puts his face in his hands and his voice begins to sound panicked.

Aiden: "So is that it? Is it simply game over for weaklings like me in this world who can accept and welcome the existence of Seiõr but can’t be given reciprocates back? Is it now ’survival of the acknowledged’?"

Sol lets Aiden continue with his own personal existential panic attack. She watches a beetle carry a leaf passed the bonfire, but the unfortunate bug, carrying the perfect kindle, crawled a little too close to the giant flame. One small ember floats on top the leaf and it begins to ignite the leaf on top of the large bug. Then another ember falls on top.

Aiden: "Katsu and Saku however, they were the two who actually discovered ’the truth’ of humanity’s creation. Our existence being premeditated by two higher, but still mortal forms of intelligence and those lifeforms hoping for us to evolve like they originally planned.

I should feel proud, knowing I was sort of right in my own theory, but I don’t feel prideful at all. Cuz even though one small truth in our creation has been exposed, the larger, more severely life altering truth of Seiõr, has made all other previous truths pointless."

The poor insect gets engulfed in a blanket of fire and in it’s own panic, walks right into the bonfire to complete it’s roasted death.

Sol with sad eyes, looks away from the perfect analogy of what the smartest Takamagahara member is going through. With her arms still wrapped around her shins, Sol buries her face in her knees.