Work Text:
I opened my eyes on the new day. The sun shone faintly through my veiled window, barely brightening my room. I laid there, on my bed, staring at the ceiling. I saw its rough texture, picking out faces that weren’t there on its white surface. I could hear the bustle of the streets outside my walls, cars whizzing by as the day started to move. However, I couldn’t muster the strength to get out of bed.
It wasn’t like I was in any rush to do so. I didn’t have any classes until the evening, and I didn’t have any plans otherwise, at least to my recollection. If I wanted to, I could just lay there for hours, as if I didn’t even exist. I mean, it’s not like it would be any different from how I normally held myself, just more… horizontal.
Then, I remembered, “Right, I’m meeting my brother today.” My back creaked out of the slot it had made in the bed, heaving into a slouched seated position. I stared out at the world, my world, which for now, was just the blank, brown wall, before crawling out of bed and picking up my phone. I looked at its back, briefly. The SmartBrain logo stood out on its silver back in a slightly darker shade. My eyes then glazed over the screen, looking at the few notifications I’d missed. I choose to ignore them. There aren’t many anyways.
I quickly grabbed a t-shirt from my messy drawers and threw it over my head. My pants went on just as messily, baggily covering my legs, turning them into indistinct tubes. My shoes slipped on effortlessly, beat up from years of use and abuse. I slid my phone in my pocket, and moved towards the door.
Before I left, though, I caught my reflection in one of the nearby windows. It was hazy and transparent, but it was there. My eyes were deep in my skull, shadowy and tired. My hair, unkempt and broken. However, looking at all that, all this that came together, it felt like there was something… missing. I looked away before my lingering apathy was able to subside. I plugged my headphones into my phone, placed them over my ears, and pressed the button on the wire to unpause what I had been listening to, and walked out the door to the bus station.
—
As I walked, the headphones played their noises, drowning out the noise of the world. They said, “Welcome to the Memory of Heroes Podcast, where we remember the past that brought us here to the present. This episode, as with every episode, is sponsored by SmartBrain Industries, the foremost leader in podcasting technology. From microphones to editing software, choosing SmartBrain will be the smartest decision you ever make. It’s a good thing, too, because today’s episode deals directly with one of SmartBrain’s earliest ventures, and most prolific. That being their Rider System.
“Back in the day, our world was ravaged by Orphnochs. They lived with us, disguised as us, until they realized what they were, and decided to strike. Their monstrous forms would flare up, stony gray, animalistic things. They were a threat to humanity, and SmartBrain finally decided to do something about it. At that point, they were a simple mobile phone company, however, they realized they had the technology and potential to do something more.
“After about a year of prototyping, by 2003, they had finally developed their magnum opus, the Kaixa Gear, a belt and phone that, when combined, would allow its user to transform into the heroic Kamen Rider Unit: Kaixa. His armor was unlike any seen before. Made of their patented ‘Digital Kevlar Weave,’ it provided unmatched armor durability for the level of flexibility the suit had. That isn’t even to mention the strength enhancements given to their bodies, allowing them to face the Orphnoc at every level. Finally, they used patented laser technology that specifically targeted Orphnoc cells, disintegrating them from the inside, while being completely harmless to humans. For Kaixa, it was held in the SB-913X Kaixa Blaygun, the ultimate multipurpose weapon.
“After Kaixa’s debut, the effectiveness of the system was proven well enough to create demand from every country in the western world. So much, in fact, that SmartBrain fast tracked the development of the mass produced version of the Rider System, the Ride Troopers. They have since become the standard in Anti-Orphnoch defense.
“However, SmartBrain themselves plan to change this. They have recently unveiled their newest Rider System, that being the Kaixa Driver NEXT. It is meant to be stronger, faster, more technologically advanced in every way, taking the past 20 years of their development and throwing it all into this one driver. It was rolled out a few days ago, and is already being used to great effect.
“However, with all that context out of the way, I would like to introduce our special guest, the designer of the NEXT system, one…”
With that, I took my headphones off. I was only listening to this show because it was required “reading” for this class I was taking. Now, I realized, it was just some ad for SmartBrain’s military efforts. It was annoying. However, something else… itched at the back of his head. Something about the podcast left me uneasy. I didn’t know what it was, but something deep inside me just wanted to… wanted to…
As the bus pulled into my stop, I repressed that feeling, got up from my seat, and walked off the bus.
—
“Yeah, my classes have been good, man,” my brother told me while chewing on a sandwich, “I mean, I already knew most of the coding languages we’ve gone over, but hey, it's always good to refresh yourself, you know.”
I was staring out the window, watching as cars drove by the small diner, a local favorite of my brother’s. He wore his usual long overcoat, covering his casual dress underneath. Perfect for someone planning to work behind a computer all day. The harsh fluorescent lights reflected off of his glasses, obscuring his eyes. His short hair was spiked up with copious amounts of product, making it glisten as well.
“Hey, are you doing alright?” he asked. I turned my head towards him quickly. I didn’t want him to have the wrong idea of me. I just stare sometimes.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I responded through my teeth, “All that coding must be tough, though. I could never parse my way through all those random characters.”
“No, it’s chill. You just kind of have to get used to it. Have your classes been going well?”
“Yeah, they’ve been fine. It’s weird to learn how to write all over again, in such an awkward manner. Like, I have to take all my usual instincts and make them more stilted.”
“That’s how screenplays are, huh?”
“Yeah, it’s so rigid and structured.”
“But, I mean, they need that structure, right? I mean, I assume.”
“It’s so that they can be shot without much extra effort. It’s just… a bit much, you know.”
With that, me and him sat in an awkward silence. The conversation didn’t have much else to say. Despite growing up in the same household, the two of us had split lives completely. He was going down the path of some successful tech bro, probably about to be courted by SmartBrain themselves, while I was struggling to get off the ground, still living at home, not sure of where to go. Well, I guess, not even caring.
After a bit, my brother looked down at his phone, then said, “Well, I’ve got a meeting here in a bit, so I’m going to have to go… Uh, would you like a ride?”
I responded, “No, I’m good, I’ll just take the bus.”
“You sure, it won’t be much of a hassle, I can just…”
“I’m good!”
A tense silence stood in the air, before he responded, “Alright, then, as long as you’re careful of Orphnoch attacks, they’ve been springing up around here a lot.”
“I’ll be fine. I’ve gotten around them before.” I was more confrontational than I had been, though I wasn’t really sure why. I was sure it was nothing.
Without much extra thought, my brother got up from his seat, left some cash on the table to pay the bill, then left. I sat there for a second, my mind returning to its resting apathy.
—
I stood at the bus stop looking up at the sign. I had been standing there for 10 minutes, and the board said the next bus should have been there 5 minutes ago. However, now I was left just standing there, nervously tapping my foot on the ground. It looked like it was about to rain.
But then, I heard something far off. The pitter-patter of running feet, light mechanical whirring, splashing puddles. Then suddenly, from a nearby alley, a large, gray figure rushed out, skidding on the ground as they turned onto the main street. Their skin looked stony, like armor sculpted onto an ancient statue. Two horns poked out of their head, twisting around in awkward spirals. Their feet looked more like hooves. They were an Orphnoch. Despite this, despite all I had heard, I could recognize a sense in their eyes. A fear.
Right behind them walked out a soldier, their metallic boots clanging on the ground. Around their waist was a metallic belt, with its own rectangle within it, looking like an old SmartBrain Smartphone. Their bronze chestplate reflected what little sunlight there was. Their head was covered in a similarly bronze helmet. The helmet’s face was adorned with a simple, circular visor, made of a polished silver, blocking any humanity that may be beneath. The Ride Trooper turned its head to see the fleeing Orphnoch, then began making chase.
I watched as the two entered a nearby alley, before disappearing from my vision. However, I heard a clang come from the alley, as if the trooper had kicked the Orphnoch’s stony skin. That noise… it stirred something within me. I looked up at the bus sign again, then back down at the alley. Impulsively, I ran across the street and towards the alley, hiding behind one of the buildings.
As I peered in, I saw the Orphnoch on the ground, dazed, lying against the back of the alleyway. Standing in front of them was the trooper. They had grabbed the phone off of their belt and opened it. After pressing some of the buttons, they bent the top of the phone, as it said, “SINGLE MODE.” The trooper then held it like a small handgun, pointing it at the Orphnoch’s leg. They then pulled a trigger on the phone, a small nozzle at the top shooting out a blue beam. It hit the Orphnoch’s leg, leading them to flinch back, a small blue flame appearing out of the wound.
They then said to the Orphnoch, “You’re as good as dead here. Tell me where your friends are, and I’ll make your death quick and painless.”
The Orphnoch simply grunted, looking down at their injured leg.
The Trooper scoffed, then said, “Well, we’ll find it eventually.” They then pressed the complete button on the blaster, leading it to say, “EXCEED CHARGE,” the phone then whirring with energy. The Orphnoch looked up at the Trooper, then looked to their side. They had noticed me. However, they didn’t say anything. They just stared at me, the same recognizable look in their eyes. However, there was something more in it.
As the world froze around me, I turned to look at the window next to me. Once again, my faint reflection stood in defiance of me. However, this time, there was something more recognizable. I stared into my eyes. I watched them shake, the faint veins layered on the white eyeballs becoming a red blur. I felt a familiar panic, a familiar fear, a familiar…
That’s when it clicked. With that, in my reflection, I saw a flash, a flash of what I could be, what I wanted to be…
What I was.
The final piece fell into place, all caused by a sense of familiarity. It gave me a sense of my future, any future that I could have, and the piece that I needed to have that future. With that, I felt the world differently than ever. I felt the cool breeze of the cold day, I felt the blues caused by the overcast sky hit my eyes. I felt my foot sitting on the rocky ground, I felt the cold metal pipe that sat next to it.
As the Ride Trooper pointed their blaster towards the Orphnoch, I yelled out behind them, “There’s another one behind you! Look out!” With that, they quickly turned around and shot out, a massive blast heading out in the street before dissipating on a wall across the street. They stood in disbelief for a second as I crouched down, grabbed the pipe, and hit them from below the chin. With that, they stumbled back briefly, but it was enough for the Orphnoch to get up, grab the trooper by the leg, and throw them against the wall. The Trooper, then, just sat there and groaned, head lying on their shoulder.
The Orphnoch limped forward, still staring at me, before stopping in front of me. They then said, “Thanks.”
They were about to turn around to run, but stopped as I said, “Wait!”
“What? I’m sorry, I don’t have time…”
“Take me with you, please. I’ve been unsure of a lot for my whole life, but for some reason, seeing you, helping you, gave me a sense of clarity for the first time in a long time. So, please, I want to figure this out.”
They stood there, looking down at the ground, before turning back around and walking towards me. They then stopped, grabbed my phone out of my pocket, and threw it to the ground. They then stamped down on it, smashing the SmartBrain logo in two. They then looked up at me and asked, “Well, who are you, then.”
I responded, “My name’s Ian. I think I might be an Orphnoch.”