Young Writers Society

「☽」Kisu mī faiyā「☾」

Kitty Intro on Vimeo

Previous Chapter Summaries

「𖤓」PT 1: Kitty and Fi-So in present day are sent to dimension O-090 to prevent the destruction of the dimension. They have taken refuge at a poor farmland. While out, Kitty learns of a dangerous chemical called moonsmoke. After a warning from their supervisor, Angel and prodding from Fi-So, Kitty reveals that she’s been prolonging their visit because they are in her original dimension.

「☽」PT 2: 6 years before present events, Kitty is fighting for a rebellious military force known as Les Cavaliers, against the King’s forces, La Masse. Her little brother, Tora, solves puzzles on a digital database known as The Library. He gets a mysterious message from someone named Baptiste.

「𖤓」PT 3: Kitty and Fi-So take the elevator to Leo Sector, the highest sector that presides above all others. The rich visit a casino and watch the ongoing war between La Masse, the king’s forces and the rebellious force known as Les Cavaliers on giant screens for their own entertainment, this spurs Kitty’s PTSD. After a run-in with some of the denizens of Leo, Kitty rewires a slot machine, earning the money to take a ride down to Mallard Sector, where she grew up.

PT 389, Dimension O-090

Tora stayed in his room for days. Rarely coming out. The only time he did come out was to go to the local dump. Where spare computer parts were often dumped by those who still didn’t trust the technology. One day, Tora had Kitty help him scrounge up some parts.

Kitty flew her craft down. It was like a car, but it operated more like a drone. With propellers coming off all four sides where wheels would’ve been. Tora and Kitty threw parts into the back of the craft. Many of the parts Tora needed were used interchangeably throughout the Byakko Isles. He had a long shopping list of parts, with enough tinkering, he could make what he wanted to. To buy these parts from a tech store would mean a trip to Leo Sector. Where everything was overpriced. Only the rich could have the best access to the library.

“What is it you’re trying to make, bro?” Kitty finally questioned.

“Upgrading my system. Soon, I’ll be able to enter the Library. Not just observe.”

“Enter the library? I’m not sure I follow.”

“Soon, I’ll be able to enter, and speak to those who are skilled with the Library. Just like talking to them in real life.” Tora explained.

“That kind of thing scares me. Just make sure to be careful, please.”

“What about Les Cavaliers?”

“Oh yeah, I wanted to tell you.” Kitty acted like she was going to finish her sentence, but she paused, like she had to think through how she planned to end it. “I’m going to be fighting for them.”

Tora took a second to take this in. He didn’t say anything as he picked out old circuit boards from the trash. He had only one real thing to ask.

“Why didn’t you say no?”

“I can’t say no. If I join, I agree to fight. Hell, I didn’t even have much of a choice with joining. What makes you think I have a choice in fighting?”

“Just please, please be careful.” Tora pleaded. “War isn’t playing around.”

“You tell me that like I don’t know it. I raised us, buddy. After Dad passed. I would never let myself die on you. I’ve been taking lessons, and with my special power, there’s no way anybody is taking me down.”

“Yeah, I guess you are pretty strong, and you can fight from afar. Hey, speaking of, can you get that monitor for me? If you don’t mind.”

Kitty took a knife from her side.

“Plus, this knife is special. It was from Mom. It’s made with a special alloy that can slice through human skin like a knife through butter.”

“Stronger than draco?”

“Yeah, stronger than draco.

Tora looked away as Kitty casually sliced off her arm at the elbow. She manipulated it like a puppet on a string, raising her hand up and up the trash pile until she met the monitor sitting at the top. She carried it down to Tora. Who placed it neatly in their car.

“Is that everything?” Kitty asked as she re-attached her arm. Any wound that may have been there, sealed up in a matter of seconds.

“Yeah, I appreciate the help.”

They activated the flying craft. Inside was cramped, with only two seats and garbage that had been accumulated from Kitty over the weeks. They flew across islands, towards Mallard Sector.

The Byakko Isles consisted of seven different landmasses that floated around the giant tree in the middle. Like the islands, Kitty rotated around the tree until they made it into traffic at Mallard sector. There were “buoys” in the air connected by long, strong wires that aircrafts were supposed to follow. So they didn’t fly every-which-way and bump into each other. There was something like a parking area. A large mass that crafts parked in. Every citizen bought their own spots so there was no confusion, if you were caught without a parking pass or in a spot that wasn’t your own, the craft was thrown overboard like a piece of trash, or it was given to the rich to scrap. Kitty flew over the sector, parking on top of their house.

Kitty and Tora worked together to get the parts they had accrued out and into his room. Which became increasingly cluttered with computer parts. Kitty nearly gasped when they went into his room, which had become a cluster of computer hardware and tools, with ominous blue light shining everywhere from monitors.

“You can just put the stuff on the bed. Thanks, sis!” Tora said thankfully.

“Ooookay Mr. Genius. I have to get to work. Let me know if anything comes up. If you can appear through my radio, that'd be pretty cool.” Kitty joked as she left.

He toyed with the new tools he had acquired. Causing massive fire hazards when he put on a welding mask and began soldering on the circuit boards. There was a tool in the corner of the room that he had begun to make. It was best described as a mask that he put over his face, it would lead him to the Library. While making the virtual mask, he was making an avatar of himself. Attempting to replicate how he looked in reality. The digital avatar was all gray, some features were more polished than others., like a child midway through puberty. Perhaps Tora’s nose was too big for his face, his arms slightly longer than they should, his hair too pixely.

Are you ready to meet me?” A chat from Baptiste read on one of the monitors.

“Yes.” Tora responded.

He looked at his avatar form. It was enough for him. Besides, how much better could Baptiste look than his model? Tora had put so much work into the library, and for what? To be worried about a fake version of himself? He pushed these thoughts away, and put the mask over his face. It was attached to strings of wires that came from all around his walls. This was the first test, he crossed his fingers as he flipped the switch to turn it on. His vision was blurry, like looking through the eyes of a robot. It was like he was standing in radio static. He looked around, calling out for Baptiste.

“Panda? Are you here?” Tora called.

A distorted voice called back.

“...Panda? Whose that?”

Red eyes stared back at Tora through the static as his heart sank into his stomach. Piercing red eyes and a horrible smile revealed itself through the static. As Tora’s eyes adjusted, a beautiful woman stood before him. She wore expensive clothing, which hung off of her like she was trying to flaunt her hourglass figure. Her face was youthful, with a shiny flare to it. Like she had done her own makeup in The Library.

“Holy…Are you Panda?!” Tora asked.

The girl began to laugh at him. As her body changed and morphed into someone else. A skinny man with long, dirty blonde hair. It was tied back with a ribbon. Leaving one long strand of hair falling to his waist. Panda wore a white collared shirt under an oversized gray sweater. He was wearing short pants hidden by his long shirt. Revealed as his laughter sent his body bobbing up and down. His skin and hair was filled with color.

“Ha…I spent so long on those renders I wasn’t able to finish myself. I wasn’t able to finish my pupils. This is the real me.”

Panda’s pupils stared back with an empty grayness. In the real world. Tora nearly sunk into his chair. He had barely even colored or worked out the kinks with his render!

“Is this really you?” Tora asked inquisitively.

“Yes. Honest. I am the skinny kid you see in front of you.”

“I’m sorry, Panda. I wasn’t even able to fully finish my model.”

Panda smiled. Even his expressions in the real world seemed to match his tone in the virtual space.

“Let’s finish your model, then. We have access to The Library. All the information in the isles and more is at our fingertips. It’ll be much easier, and fun!”

They sat next to each other in the blank space.

“Where do you like to have fun, Tora?.” He chirped.

“What do you mean?” Tora asked.

The blurred area that was around them turned into a huge grassy field that had the sun looking straight down at them. There were neighboring planets and moons as they looked up into the sky.

“How did you…?” Tora had his mouth hanging open.

Panda grabbed his hands.

“Do you not see the endless potential of what we have here? We can go anywhere, do anything. We are like gods in this realm. The library isn’t just where information is stored. It is an entirely new world.”

They sat down and got comfortable in the field, working on Tora’s avatar. Coloring it just how he wanted. Editing it so it looked more and more similar to him. As they worked, they talked in person, not over messages. Tora and Panda have been talking for months now as Tora built up his system. But it was never this personable.

“Hey, can I tell you about something, Tora?” Panda asked.

“Yeah. Of course.”

“I think I created the first virus.” He said, deadpan.

“What?”

“It is something that infects other systems with code. Causes systems to go haywire and break. Not just that, but I can enter anywhere I please with this virus. If I use it.”

“How did you make it?”

“I was inspired by some La Masse blueprints that I was able to get my hands on. It was some sort of scary weapon of war. I ended up destroying it. My Dad’s going to be mad.”

“Good. My sister is in the war. I want her to be as safe as possible.”

“Wow, that sounds scary. I hate war. My foolish father is the one sinking all this money into it.”

“Father? You never mention your family like this. What are they like?”

“Oh, you didn’t know?” Panda responded with surprise. “My Dad’s the king. Guess that makes me “Prince” Baptiste.” He said with a laugh.

“Holy crap! You are the king’s son?!”

“Less of a son and more of a stalker. He doesn’t see me often. But I hack into his cameras, I get to choose when I get quality father time.” Panda admitted proudly. “That weapon of war, it was scary. It was called moonsmoke, it’s supposed to cause soldiers to go insane. It makes me mad. Why would my father let something like that be made?”

“Sounds bad…” Tora responded.

“But hey, we get to hang here. Where there’s no war.” Panda lightened the mood.

Tora could feel his warmth, even though he wasn’t really there.

______________________________________________________________________________

Kitty bummed a cigarette, blowing some smoke into the air inside of a small tent. Men around her began to suit up for battle.

“Come on, Kitty. Put out that smoke. The Masses are almost here.” A comrade said.

“She’s fresh meat. She’ll figure this shit out. Get suited up, bitch. We don’t have time to fuck around.”

Kitty walked over to the soldier who had spoken to her. She stared him straight in the eyes and took the cigarette from her mouth.

PLICK!

She flicked the burning cigarette into the man’s face. The smoke fell to the ground and rolled around before another soldier stomped it out.

“So I’m fresh meat? Who are you then?” Kitty asked.

“I am your captain, and you will listen to me when I address you, fresh meat.”

“You certainly don’t look like any captain I’ve ever seen.” Kitty fired back.

“Stop acting high and mighty. The only reason you are here is because of your little party trick. You’ll have to kill a man, a fellow soldier, the only thing separating you being one simple belief. Once you’ve recovered from that, speak with me. Sorry about the bitch thing. Your kind pisses me off. You all think you can win every battle with your powers.”

Kitty scoffed and walked away from the captain.

“You are right. I don’t know anything about war. I’ll do what I can to help.”

The “Masses” were a stand-in word for the La Masse. They were heavily allied with King Baptiste. Who funded lots of La Masse’s supplies, while Les Cavaliers supplies were scrounged together. As they lost people, they picked more off the streets. Kitty herself had volunteered as a helper in the Les Cavaliers because of her increased capabilities as someone with special abilities.

There is a small number of people in the world with special abilities like Kitty. Most of the people with these abilities are sent to fight. Due to losses, Kitty was drafted into the force because of her fighting abilities. Many knew her, turning her into an asset in the never-ending war. She pushed down those thoughts that ate at her every night. Was the war going to even end? Would she be able to survive past the end? She convinced herself that those dreadful feelings would get nowhere. So she pushed them down, reminding herself that it was a great honor to fight for her people.

She suited up, preparing for a hard battle. It was a shame, if she was to cut her arm off, the protection she was issued would be rendered useless. The armor that they were given was like chainmail, but it was made from draco. It was surprisingly easy to move around in, not adding much weight to the body. When the soldiers were preparing to be deployed, they all jumped on mobile ships, armed to the teeth with weapons of all kinds. To Kitty, it was similar to capturing the flag. See who can capture the most free land that led further down the tree. It could go for infinity. Some land was bigger than others, the bigger the land, the bloodier the battle. Kitty was put onto a small group of soldiers. They were clearly lower rank, horrified to fight the ruthless soldiers of La Masse. They held their guns close to their bodies.

They arrived at a small plot of land that was being taken over by some members of La Masse. It was easy to tell who the enemy soldiers were due to their dark chainmail. When they landed, some of the soldiers ran out like lost dogs, others stayed inside of the craft. Kitty stepped out, but stayed near the craft.

She brought a small gun to her side. A lone La Masse soldier on the other side came across the battlefield, approaching one of her comrades. She aimed carefully, and fired off her shot. The bullet smashed through his chainmail and went straight through his leg. Kitty heard what sounded like an inhuman scream.

Her comrades simply avoided him. Leaving Kitty as the only one who had to do it. She came over to the man. Who laid on the ground, staring at the sky. Kitty stood above him with her gun in hand. She zeroed in on the man. Taking in his characteristics. The nice jawline, blonde hair that peeked through his helmet, and brown eyes. As her breath slowed, she heard him gasping for air. One breath silenced to preserve another.

“Please…” He started.

“I…” Kitty said, frozen.

BANG!

Kitty’s chainmail was abruptly blown off of herself, along with one of her arms. She was sent stumbling forward, quickly turning on her heels to face the man who had done this to her. She had blood coming from her nose as her body began to heal. Blatantly revealing that she possessed special abilities. She reattached her arm. The man who stood in front of her had bright, glowing hands and feet. He wore no armor, bearing his chest to any soldier that dared to defy him. When he turned to look down at the soldier, Kitty saw a dragon tattooed on his back. He turned back to Kitty, staring her down.

Very impressive healing.” He said.

“Who the hell are you?” Kitty asked.

“Dragon. It feels kind of unoriginal, so you can call me D if you want.”

“Dragon’s fine. You took my kill.” She remarked greedily.

“You weren’t going to kill that poor soldier. I see it in your eyes. The instinct’s there, but the will to kill? No.” He admitted for her.

Dragon aimed straight for Kitty’s chest, aiming to punch straight through her. She instinctively whipped her knife up to block. Dragon’s eyes widened as the knife effortlessly parried his attack.

“You are just another body to add to the count. Are you serious about fighting? Or are you like all the others?” He questioned.

Dragon continued to talk as he danced around Kitty. Forcing her to stay close.

“Anybody at home? Any kids? Siblings? There’s something here you feel like you have to protect from La Masse. What is it?”

Kitty just grazed his chest as he jumped backward. He looked up with a smile.

“I’m not interested in moral conundrums. You are in my way, so I have to beat you!”

Kitty thought as her body commanded itself to fend off Dragon. She decided that she couldn’t think the kill through. She had to rip the band aid off. The next person she ran into, she’d make it quick and painless.

She was finally able to jump away from Dragon. She sliced one of her limbs off to fight him from a distance, behind him, she saw more Les Cavaliers begin to come down. Some began to shoot at Dragon. Who smiled at Kitty and jumped away. She looked back at her comrades, who began to pour in. A stinging pain entered her back. A stray bullet. She lifted her gun and shot straight back.

The man who she shot was closer than she expected. His head exploded like fireworks, leaving it’s ash to coat Kitty’s body. Her heart sank to the floor, her ears rang from the sudden shot. Then she kept moving. More soldiers.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Tora was finally revealed with his fully rendered model. He wore his favorite clothing, a dyed wife beater under his favorite hand-me-down from Kitty. It was a zip-up sweatshirt with a colorful blue and white design on it. Panda looked at him with pride in his eyes.

“Here he is. My best render yet. Is this really what you look like in reality?” He teased.

“Yeah, this is me.” Tora insisted.

“All your clothes are hand-me-downs from your sister, though?”

“Yeah. We don’t really have the money to be spending on extra clothes. I don’t mind wearing her old clothes.”

“How about I ship you some new clothes, ones that you can call your own?”

“O-oh. That’d be really nice. Are you able to do that?” Tora asked shyly.

“Of course. I have more money than I know what to do with. After we are done here, let’s find some things online that you like.” He reassured with a smile.

They were in a green and black string of AI walls that were slowly being overwritten with their own code. There was some sort of large room being made, they were each collaborating on it, each writing strings of code on their own.

“What is your sister like?” Panda asked.

“Kitty? She’s amazing, and so strong too! She’s raised me since our Dad passed. Our Mom passed when I was born, and then we lost Dad. Kitty’s pretty much had to raise me since I was just a little kid.” Tora explained.

“Must get pretty lonely then. With her being out all the time.”

“We probably don’t spend as much time together as I’d want to. I guess it’s why I have the library.”

“Code doesn’t replace family. We may have each other, but don’t forget family.”

“Wise, coming from you.”

“Yeah, my Dad’s an asshole, and it’s not like I have a mentally stable Mom, or any other family members to play with me. I do see my caretaker everyday. She brings me food, and sometimes cookies. I feel like Dad thinks of war like a game. I should probably introduce him to this stuff then.”

“What? Make a war game and secretly trap him in a simulation where he gets to do whatever he wants?” Tora imagined with a laugh.

“I wish. People like him love feeling the power over the isles. He likes to be able to choose which one is poor and which one isn’t. Which one is a breeding ground for war and which is a money pit.”

There was silence. Panda turned away from his code and looked at Tora.

“This place…It’s like our own secret hideout. Where nobody else can find us. I am so happy I met you, Tora.” Panda confessed.

Tora’s face immediately flushed as he felt Panda’s eyes on him. When he turned to face him, Panda snickered at him nervously.

“Will we ever see each other in real life?” Tora asked.

“If I were to leave the Leo sector, everyone would go crazy. We will have to wait for the right time. Maybe we’ll have to build touch sensors. So I can feel your hands.”

_____________________________________________________________________________

Over the months, Tora and Kitty saw each other less and less. Tora borderline obsessed over Panda. When Kitty brought packages from Panda into Tora’s room she was bewildered, because it looked like Tora was talking to a ghost. On one rare occasion, Tora and Kitty ate dinner together.

“So…What’s going on with this Panda person?” Kitty quickly questioned.

“He’s someone I met online. We are working together to build up The Library from the inside. It’s really exciting!”

Kitty ruffled Tora’s hair. “Just make sure to spend some time in the real world too. That shit’s dangerous, too much escapism is a lot on the brain.”

Tora looked back at Kitty scornfully. .

“Uh…What about this Panda person? Anything more about him than “we met online?”

“Funny story. He’s the king's son.”

“The fucking what?” She howled, “Have you asked him about the war? Can’t he do something about it?!”

“No, he can’t really. He’s kind of a shut-in, and his Dad is probably worse than we think. Panda is doing what he can, though. The king was going to send out this really dangerous chemical called moonsmoke. So Panda got rid of it and took it into the digital world where he can only find it.”

“I would fully get rid of that. We haven’t had to deal with chemical warfare yet, and I’d rather avoid it.”

“How have you been doing? You look tired. Has something been keeping you up?”

Kitty chuckled. “Yeah. But I shouldn’t laugh. Are you going to look at me differently?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“It’s about what I did. Are you going to look at me differently?” Kitty squeaked.

“No.” Tora responded.

“...I haven’t just killed one man, I started with one. It had to be more. They wouldn’t stop attacking. I can’t sleep at night. This war shit, it’s not for the strong. It’s hell.”

After a moment of silence, Tora was ready to ask her to withdraw from the war again. When he looked into her tired eyes, all he could do was hold his sister’s hand and give her a hug, he looked up, seeing her eyes glisten for a second.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Kitty fell deeper into the war, while Tora stayed home per her orders. He began to stroll around town, making computer systems for those who found interest in the Library. (Usually his age.) He made a good amount of draco for the systems he got commissioned. Allowing him to put more money into his system. By the fifth month since meeting Tora, they finally “touched” hands for the first time. They combined their great minds to create sensors that reacted to other sensors in the digital space. These sensors were all mapped onto Tora and Panda’s avatars. So they were able to touch each other.

“Hey, Tora. Have you ever kissed anyone?”

Tora nearly jumped back in his seat and in the digital world.

“What?!”

“Wouldn’t it be fun to simulate it? It’s not like we are really kissing. It’s sensors reacting to what we think our skin feels like. Which is probably inaccurate.”

“Panda…What are we?” Tora squeaked. “Are we partners of some kind? Is what we are doing wrong? The weak aren’t supposed to kiss the strong”

“Money does not equal strength. I don’t care what others think anymore. Nobody in this empty castle makes me excited anymore. So kiss me like fire.”

They kissed.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Tora and Panda’s relationship didn’t change very much after this. They spent as much time together as lovers already. Panda began to get more excitable with his enhancements. He experimented with himself to bring more of himself into the digital space. He told Tora about how he did slight experiments on himself to simulate the idea of eating. He was inside of his room, even more vast than Tora’s. Hooking up wires to himself like a madman in a TV show. Tora and Kitty began to have dinner more frequently. Tora held back the new developments with Panda.

“You’re really some sort of captain now?” Tora exclaimed.

“Old captain died. With the amount of people who have passed, I was the oldest one.”

“You’ll be okay, right? Isn’t it a lot of pressure being a captain? You were just worried about killing your enemies.”

“That was months ago. To be a good leader, you must kill your enemies who wish for death. It’s your duty to spare who wants to be spared and to kill who wants to die.”

“How do you know?”

“You’ll see it in their eyes.”

“Since when we’re you like this, Kitty?”