Young Writers Society

So.. yeah, I wrote this back in April but never posted it (I'm posting it as it is, not editing). It is the second part of the first chapter of Nona, my first attempt at sci-fi, and you should go read the first part before you read this one. I might pick up this story again, might not. This is old, but feel free to tear it apart and let me know what you think. Predictions would also be great! :)

By the way: the ending is abrupt because this first chapter is not yet complete.

~

Guns fired bullet after bullet, jerking back with every ear-splitting shot. Nona’s ears rang with the pounding gunshots even through her earplugs, but it was only an annoyance… She couldn’t feel the pain.

Even the strange nausea had quickly disappeared as the thrill of fighting took over. The joy of being in control- being able to loose bullets at all of her problems and enjoy how incredibly easy it was to overpower a squad of hardened criminals.

One of her targets swore loudly, diving behind a row of seats for cover.

Dummy. This isn’t hide and seek…

Nona got close- twisting through the car and jamming her gun right up against the seat the man was using as cover. Before he could react, she pulled the trigger.

There was a crack as the bullet ripped through plastic and white leather. Then the thud of a body dropping to the floor of the train.

A manic grin flickered across her face and she felt the sudden sick urge to laugh, before catching herself. A plunging feeling of horror suddenly took over as she realized where she was. What.. what’s wrong with me?

She barely got out of the way in time as one of the last two men aimed and fired wildly at her- eyes dark and desperate. Don’t become a monster, Nona. Don’t lose yourself, a voice whispered from the back of her head.

She threw herself back into the fight.

~

Koji sat in the dark as he watched the murders.

He kept his eyes fixed on the computer screen, taking in every morbid detail of the horrific scene playing out across it. Nona…

Blood sprayed across the sterile white seats of the train car and bullets flew. The girl stood in the midst of it, jumping, dodging, and firing bullet after bullet at her targets. Seemingly calm, detached, thin body moving perfectly through the chaos- with grace…

Koji finally tore his eyes away from the silent screen, teeth gritted and hands clenched under the metal desk. He exhaled, hissing through his teeth as he struggled with the hate and anger boiling up inside him.

That demon…

“You’re not good at hiding your emotions,” a quiet voice noted from behind him.

Koji turned in his chair, squinting at the dark figure standing there.

“Maddox. How long have you been watching?” he said stiffly.

“Not long.”

The man stepped out of the shadows and took a seat, absently running a hand through greying hair and glancing at Koji with steel-colored eyes. He turned to the monitors after a moment, the ghost of a smile playing along his thin mouth.

“She hesitated twice- at the hatch and just a moment ago. Did you notice?”

Koji shook his head, turning back to the screen. Now the girl was checking the bodies of her victims for life, obedient like the little pawn she was…

“It seems that Nona did exactly what she was told to do, and on time- as usual,” Maddox said. “I’ll need the notes and recording from this test. And- ah, there’s no need to tell her that she was watched. It would only bring up questions about how we placed the camera.”

“I understand.”

The dusty screen still showed the dim interior of the monorail. The girl, in her ratty grey baseball cap and baggy sweatshirt, sat on a blood-stained seat and smiled faintly as she put her earpiece back in.

That clear, sweet voice buzzed in Koji’s ear.

“Hey Jiji, job’s done. You’re gonna pick me up soon, right?”

The soft words came out instinctively. “Don’t worry. We’re coming.”

“…Wow Koji. You almost sounded like you cared that time. Must finally be warming up to-“

Koji turned the earpiece off.

~

“Must finally be warming up to me!”

Nona heard a soft beep from the earpiece midsentence, meaning that Koji had turned his off.

Great. What’d I do to annoy him this time?

She got up from her seat, glancing at the grisly, bloody mess in the back of the car. Quickly turning away, she felt that same odd sense of nausea and dread- a heavy lump in the back of her throat. She didn’t like the feeling.

Frowning slightly, she stuck her hands into her pockets and moved up into the next deserted car. After sliding the door shut, she collapsed into the first seat by a window and watched the world fly past…

The stars were barely visible, dim pinpricks veiled in heavy maroon clouds. The sky was stained with centuries of light and smog from a steel city. A low- almost inaudible- hum of Aurin machinery, self-driving cars screeching down the damp streets, and everyday city sound lay in the background of the towering steel buildings, hanging bridges, and streets.

My world. It’s always been this way…

The monorail that she was riding in was one of many that were no longer used. Due to some change years ago, no one needed it anymore. Other routes became easier- or maybe it was some other reason, but either way it probably hadn’t been used in weeks, months even, except by the band of criminals and Nona that night.

Nona turned from the window to look at the rest of the car. Empty white seats, coated in a filmy layer of dust. Cobwebs in every corner.

These things run on their own. Don’t even need maintenance, and they get energy right from the Aurinstone. So why bother to shut one down because no one uses it?

I wonder when those bodies will be found. Or even if they’ll be found at all. An image of the men she had killed ran through her head, their bodies lying in that last dark car for decades undiscovered… carried around on the ghost train until even their bones crumbled away.

“Arghh. I need to get home. I need to get out of here,” she muttered to herself, finally breaking the silence of the empty car. Everything’s so detached, empty, dead. I’ve always known it, but it’s at moments like these that I feel it stronger than ever.

Might be because I just murdered six men.

There was a small, electronic-sounding beep from Nona’s earpiece. Koji’s voice buzzed into her ear, now terse and serious as usual.

“Nona. We’re waiting at the next stop. Your train will come up on it in a minute.”

“Okay.”

She could already feel the monorail slowing for the upcoming station, a platform on the thirtieth floor of a now-unused building. In less than a minute, the station came into view outside the filmy grey windows. The rows of doors neatly pulled themselves open with a mechanical hiss- like a tired sigh, allowing their nonexistent passengers to exit.

Nona stepped out onto the empty platform and listened as the doors swung closed behind her. She turned to watch as the monorail slowly picked up speed and faded into the distance, continuing its eternal rounds across Eden.

“Nona.”

“Father!”

In his customary black coat, greying hair, and thin metal glasses, Father stepped through a pair of open double-doors at one end of the deserted platform and calmly waved Nona over. Koji, his feathery black hair untidy and carrying a baggy grey jacket slung over one arm, stood in the dark doorway behind him.