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Disjointed memories surround my head. I feel the warmth of someone else’s hand on mine, I hear the buzzing of machinery invade my brain.
Who am I? What am I supposed to do in this world?
As I run through everything I know, I stumble. My name is… Haru… no, Sor… ugh, that’s not it. My name is... Yu… i…? Yui. That seems… not right, but not wrong. What else is there? I have vague memories of leading a normal life. I had friends, a boyfriend… My boyfriend’s face changes as I try to think of it, his expressions warping and twisting endlessly. Why can’t I remember what he looks like?
It’s pitch black, but I can feel that I’m in some sort of city. I don’t know what I’m doing here. Where is this? Do I live here? I sense immense energy all around me. Something dark, forbidden, and beyond anything a human should know. Whatever this city is, it’s dangerous.
My old life is gone. Or lives? I can’t tell. I’ve been taken far from what I used to know, and it all came back to one person.
Maki-chan.
I whisper her name. And in the darkness, I can almost hear her laugh back at me.
A TV screen switches on in front of me. It displays pouring rain at a familiar looking train station. Have I been there before? I’m not sure. Either way, I welcome the light. Looking around, I can see rubble all around. I was right about being in a city. The urban neighborhoods spread as far as the light goes, which isn’t very far at all.
Maybe I can find my way out of here if I bring the TV with me as a light source. But it’s one of those CRTs, y’know, like from the fifties or whatever. It’d be hard to lug around. I decide to explore the immediate area.
From the darkness, I see a small black cat. She’s sitting on the edge of the light, where everything beyond fades to black. I approach her cautiously, not wanting to startle her. The cat looks at me, completely disinterested. I crouch and hold out my hand. She sniffs it, decides I am trustworthy, and stands up. She rubs against my leg affectionately. “Pretty kitty, are you all alone here?” I ask.
The cat meows. I sneeze. She seems to take that as a response, and sulks away. “Goodbye, Othello.” I mutter without even thinking. Odd thing to name a cat. Isn’t there a game named Othello? Is it… a card game?
I don’t think that’s quite right, but the thought still makes me uneasy. Cards are… I don’t like them for some reason. Why?
Someone’s voice echoes in my head, telling me I haven’t won yet. I don’t know if I’m playing cards or listening to the prattle of an irresponsible god.
A few more steps, and I hear the roaring of a train as it comes toward me. I close my eyes, bracing for an impact that never comes.
Am I dead? Am I alive? Cautiously, I open one eye, and then the other.
A voice comes from behind me. “There you are, Miss Anchor. You’re late to the party.” I turn around and see her illuminated from behind by several TV screens.
I hate the sound of her voice. It grates on my ears, worse than the constant buzzing.
“Who are you?” I mutter. Then, changing my mind, I ask a better question. “Who am I?”
Maki-chan laughs in response. “You’re my foil! Or twin, depending on how you see it.”
“I’m nothing like you,” I say. “I don’t play with the lives of others for my own entertainment.” I have no idea where that sentence came from, but it makes Maki-chan pout.
“There’s nothing wrong with having a bit of fun!” she says indignantly.
“Your definition of fun is ending the world on a whim.”
“Well, no matter the cause, the world has ended. And now we only have each other,” Maki-chan replies. “So what’s the point of resisting?”
“Resisting what, exactly?” I ask, not sure if I want to hear the answer.
“C’mon! Make a wish!” she says. That bubbly, annoying voice… I can’t help but be revolted by it. How is she happy, knowing all the destruction she’s caused?
“I refuse.”
Maki-chan pouts again. “So stubborn!”
“Stubbornness is preferable to irresponsibility.”
“Preferable to who? The boys?”
Something in my chest tells me she isn’t talking about boys in general. “Preferable to anyone,” I reply.
“Did your boyfriend like your stubbornness? Did he find it cute?”
“...I don’t remember what my boyfriend looks like,” I admit.
“That’s a shame! They were all so fun to play with…”
All? Did I have more than one boyfriend? I’m not the slutty type, am I? Pushing through the discomfort of that thought, I decide to try a new angle. “So what would happen if I made a wish?”
Maki-chan grins. “Oh! Are you interested? It’d be great to get those memories of yours back, wouldn’t it?”
“I guess it would,” I say noncommittally. “But what’s the limit? For example, what can’t you do?”
"Why don't we find out?" Maki says with a smirk.
Can you unfuck the world, I’m tempted to say. But I smile politely and say, “What would happen if you revoked your own powers?”
“Well, theoretically, I would cease to exist in my current form. I’d be nothing but a human. But I wouldn’t do that. I like being me!”
I nod and say, “What would happen if I revoked them?”
A frightened look flashes on Maki’s face, but is nearly immediately replaced by a grin. “Come on, Miss Anchor. You don’t have that kind of power.”
I reach forward, channeling the dark energy around me. Something comes from my fingertips, a blast of pure determination. The blast sends Maki backwards, and she collapses onto a pile of rubble.
Oh. I didn’t know I could do that.
Maki looks up from the ground and into my eyes. “Who do you think you are?” she sneers.
“The person who will end you.”
Maki studies my face for a second, as if she were a mad scientist observing an experiment. “You aren’t human, are you?”
“Apparently not,” I reply.
Maki nods. "I guess I've finally met my match, huh?"
I don't respond. Instead, I walk toward her. I have to destroy the wish making machine. I'm going to end this mess right now. But as I approach, I realize something.
It's not in her hands.
"What did you do with it?" I snarl, grabbing her by the collar of her shirt.
Maki just giggles in response.
"Where is it?"
"I dunno," Maki says through laughter. "I threw it somewhere. No idea where it went."
I let go of her collar. "You're insufferable." And then out of the corner of my eye, I see a glint in the darkness.
Maki sees it too. It's silent for a second as we both stand there, just thinking. And then I bolt for it.
Maki follows me within a heartbeat. And she's fast, I'll give her that. But I'm faster. I've been running my whole damn life, and the apocalypse isn't going to stop me now.
I snatch up the cube and grin. "Game over."
The look on Maki's face isn't hatred, or even disappointment. It's something else entirely, and I don't think I have a name for it.
The cube shatters under my grasp. A shock of pain courses through my hand and up my arm, but it's done. It's over. I can't move my arm, but that seems like such a tiny price to pay for Maki's reign to end.
Maki slumps to the ground, defeated. She seems so small all of a sudden, and I can't help but feel bad for her, even of she's horrible.
Against my better judgement, I offer my working hand out to her. Stunned, she takes it and rises. She gives me that same unidentifiable expression.
And then I realize.
She's impressed.
"Well played," Maki says. "You won."
"Yeah. I guess I did," I breathe.
We stand in silence for a while, my hand still in hers. "What now?" she asks.
"Let's go somewhere nice," I say.
"Somewhere nice? Like where?"
"The beach." It's the first thing that pops into my head.
Maki grins. "Alright. Let's go to the beach."
And so we start to walk across the rubble, hand in hand, just two girls in a world without dreams.