FROM DUSK TO DAWN IN MIYAKI
Waves of ships fly out of Izumo.
They look... oddly bland. Nothing too special.
People in Yakamoto spot people across the border for what seems to be the first time in decades.
Oddly, the country starts emitting radio waves.
This has never happened before.
Tritonia says "What is it?"
Sizzle says "Izumo.."
"It's.. Not being weird for once?"
"There are people there, and actual radio signals."
Tritonia says "Hold on."
"I'm.. just adjusting the frequency."
Radio operators hear garbled speech.
Gunshots are heard.
....Followed by the transition cutting out abruptly.
Tritonia says "Satellite photos show a lot of smoke over cities..."
"Visible... cities."
"I've never seen this before..."
"I'm going to prepare a taskforce."
Luvuria says "Count me in."
A taskforce of twenty thousand Confederate troops arrive in Halmahera and board boats.
...
Prologue
A loud announcer sounds across the dock.
Authorised personnel only. Intruders will be shot on sight.
Among the troops, a man in plain clothes is escorted onto the boat, clutching a camera.
"Whose this?" a guard asks.
...
"The Confederates requested we send a dozen journalists."
"Journalists?"
"This is a special military operation."
"Top orders."
"Whatever.."
They take an elevator out of the inhospitable lower decks to a more humane-looking mess hall.
The soliders in the room seem quite tough... some have medals on their uniforms too.
The cameraman shuffles through a crowd towards his designated quarters.
Luckily for him, he was given a room for himself away from the other special ops guys.
He sits on his bed and opens his camera.
He scrolls through some aesthetic photos he took on the beach only two days ago.
Now it seems his life is just about to turn upside-down...
Feeling tired, he gets some rest, before exiting back into the mess hall.
He overhears some guys talking about the upcoming mission.
"So uh... where are we even going?" he says.
"I don't know man..."
The others kind of just grunt in agreement.
"All we know for sure is that this is a high-level operation."
"It could be nothing for all we know.."
"Or it could be hell out there."
"No one knows what to expect. Not even the strategists on board."
"We're going in blind.
"Huh."
He returns to his cabin and scrolls through the photos again.
He takes a photo of himself, not for any particular reason though.
He feels the gentle swaying of the ship, as well as the slight creaking of the hull.
It was a long road ahead, he thought.
He puts on the tv, out of boredom...
.....
National mourning lasting a month has been declared in the Confederacy to honour the victims of the Insurgency.
100 years on, what has happened to the Yomtach?
The channel is changed.
Reports are coming in saying 17 people were killed in a terrorist attack in Alkatse during centenary celebrations.
"Shit.. really?"
He takes a photo of this particular news story.
"Hmph."
The channel changes again.
This time, its a video of fireworks being launched in Aparty.
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his passport.
He runs his finger over the Apartian coat of arms on the front.
Taking a photo of the cover, he puts his passport back in his bag.
Feeling unnaturally tired again, he rests more.
Three days later.
An announcer declares on the ship that they are 1 hour away from landing.
Out of curiosity, the cameraman runs to the front of the ship.
He sees land in the distance, with scattered small villages over the rolling hills.
Smoke bellows from the villages.
He sees faint figures on the shore.
However, they seem to disappear soon.
Soon, all the troops on board are summoned below deck to prepare to land.
He lines up with his designated bodyguards as the boat slows to a halt.
Alarms blare as the huge doors open.
All the troops begin walking, and the tanks trail behind them.
The army marches in formation onto the beach and up a cobblestone slipway.
The cameraman is taken aside by the bodyguards.
"So... what am I to do?" he asks.
"Go deep into this place."
"Find something, anything,"
"Am I looking for anything specific?"
"No. Just... just go!"
They lightly shove him.
Clutching his camera still, he runs across the beach and climbs a grassy slope.
Although he can hear the army marching, he is out of view now, and well and truly on his own.
He stumbles onto what looks like a rice paddy.
It's empty.
"Huh?"
"Looks like they were in a hurry."
Indeed, the rice seemed to be harvested hastily.
He enters a deserted hut next to the paddy.
It seemed to be neatly furnished. Or at least it was once upon a time.
There is a rustic bed tucked into the corner, with a beside drawer.
Taking a photo of the room, he sits on the bed and opens the drawers one by one.
He finds a considerable amount of cash.
"Huh.."
Its issued by the "Central Bank of Miyaki Despotate."
Sorting through the banknotes, he lays out each unique banknote on the bed and takes a photo.
He then puts the money in his pocket.
He also finds a passport, issued by the "Miyaki Despotate"
He opens it to find the pages damaged by water.
The faces are cut out too.
The name is intact, and it is a normal Japanese name.
He takes a photo of the page and puts the passport in his bag.
He leaves the hut, and decides to walk towards the smoke in the distance.
Suddenly, the sky turns dark, for a split second.
He looks up to see miniscule black patches in the sky.
Shreds of metal begin to fall from the sky.
Worried, he goes inside and finds a parasol.
He then continues on his journey.
Chapter 1
Having followed the smoke, he arrives in a village.
Half of the buildings have been reduced to rubble.
He takes many photos of the surroundings.
He hears gunshots in the distance.
"What.."
Suddenly, he spots unfamiliar troops in the distance.
"Oh, shit!"
He runs into one of the less destroyed houses to hide.
Shh!
"...."
"..."
"!!!!!"
"I-"
"I said shh!"
He looks across the room to see a young boy.
The boy shuffles across the room and sits next to him.
"They have a very good sense of hearing.."
"Wh...what..."
"Where am I?"
"Who are you?"
"What is happening?"
"..."
"You're from the boat we saw..."
"Very big boat... scary boat.."
"..."
"My name is Chiharu."
"But.. they told me my name is Haru."
"They took away the kana from my name.."
"What does that mean?"
"In Miyaki... kana means honour."
"No kana... no honour.."
"Chiharu.. I still don't get it.."
"P..please... call me Haru."
"I am not worthy of my name.."
"..."
"They came.. took away all the kana."
"I can't read anything anymore."
"Make.. zero sense."
"What do you mean... they took the kana?"
"Aren't those letters?"
"Grandpa told me... bad people come. Then no human is worthy of kana."
"Kana is for the Overlord.."
"Sigh... make no sense."
"You are not from Miyaki."
"You never understand."
Haru peeks through the window.
"Bad men gone."
"Follow me."
The two walk down the cobble road.
"What happened here?"
"Why is everything destroyed?" the cameraman says as he takes photos
"Every time we upset the Overlord... they tell me..."
"A house gone."
"There were 500 of us here."
"One day, half of them gone."
"House gone too."
"Mum and dad... disappear."
"Neighbour said they went to The City."
"Then neighbour gone too."
...
"Who is the Overlord?"
"Overlord rule Miyaki. Lead us into battle against dangerous Jenoces."
"I-I'm sorry... I ask so many questions..."
"What is Jenoces?"
"No worry. Come in."
They enter a bigger house in the woods.
The boy uses 5 different keys to unlock the door.
They enter the well-furnished house.
There is a hole in the wall with cables dangling out. Was a TV meant to be there?
The boy leads the cameraman upstairs.
They enter into a bedroom.
The boy sits on his bed and retrieves a crate from under it.
He opens it to find books.
"Bad books."
He searches for a specific book.
He gets one out called "An outlander's guide to Miyaki."
He hands it to the cameraman.
"Take, read."
"I go make meal."
He turns the page.
.................
The first page is pretty blank. It reads "I wrote this book one year ago."
The one is crossed out, and replaced with a two, which itself is crossed out and replaced with a three.
This repeats until 96 is reached.
He turns another page, and it reads:
Hello, outlander.
I guarantee that the situation will not change for centuries. Not until someone finds this book.
No outlander has ever come to Miyaki.
And I cannot imagine one will for a long time..
My name is Hideo.
Wherever you may hail from...
Miyaki is your world turned upside down.
4 years ago... (100 years ago)
We peacefully led our lives in Yakamoto.
One day, ships arrived.
They marched soldiers dressed in white into our villages, and told us to offer rations.
We refused, and they killed my wife.
We tried to fight back, and they killed five more people.
And then no one resisted.
They tell us it is for the Overlord.
Yet we do not know who the Overlord is.
All we know is that we must obey.
We are forbidden from leaving our villages, or we will be shot.
...
On year 2, they built a dome across Izumo.
And their brainwashing program began.
First they upset our circadian rhythms.
They used the dome to simulate day and night...
FIrst they prolonged days and shortened nights, then they would swap at random intervals.
We lost track of time in weeks.
Then the soldiers went to the villages, and ransacked our houses.
Using some kind of... paint...
They took all our books.
Then they painted over all our signs...
Leaving only the kanji.
We were forbidden to fix any of them...
Then they gave us our books back
again.. just the kanji.
Then they took the first kana from all our names.
We were forbidden to use our birth names.
I don't know why...
On Year 4, a scout arrived from our neighbouring village.
They told us the revolution was imminent...
But half of us were sceptical.
We thought it was some kind of set-up...
But the others knew we had nothing to lose...
I think about how stupid I feel now.
Half of the houses disappeared overnight.
And if there was no house...
That's it.
They were dead..
At least that was all they had left, wasn't it? Hah..
They told us to increase our food output so we could fight the army of Jenoces.
We know nothing about anything outside our borders.. so people took it for granted.
The only thing I know is history.
No present, no future.
And we're frozen in time.
Please, outlander. If you find this... Leave and get an army.
Echo our calls for help.. and maybe we can all find out the truth.
.............
The rest of the book is blank.
Haru comes back upstairs.
"Sorry, I didn't know if you were hungry.."
The cameraman says "Listen, Haru."
"An army is here. I came with them."
"This will all be over soon!
The sky outside goes dark suddenly.
"WAH!"
The boy runs downstairs, and the power goes out with a thud.
He comes back up.
"Patrol, hide."
They both get under the bed.
"Why is it dark?"
"It's night time now... and I'm not home..."
"I've been bad.."
An alarm blares in the distance
Curfew violation in House 37A.
Surrender immediately or face capital punishment.
Haru says "Where boat?"
"Boat take you home?"
The cameraman says "I..."
"Yes.. the boat."
"Safety first.."
"I.."
"The men that took me here told me to find something, anything."
"We'll go back to the boat... bring the book."
"Then we'll go home.."
"It's safe at home.."
They leave the house and run through the woods
"I remember its this way.."
The dome above begins to flicker between day and night.
"AGH!"
"It's blinding me!!"
They pass the rice paddy, and the hut has since been destroyed.
They climb the grassy hill next to the beach
"It's just over..."
"....here..."
The boat has since gone.
He runs towards the footprints the army left behind and falls on his knees
"No... nononono!!"
"Where did you go?!"
He sees a helmet half-buried in the sand.
It's a helmet from a Yakamoto soldier.
He finds a letter inside written in Japanese.
All the kana have been removed.
"Where did they go.."
"Haru... where did they go..."
"!!!!"
"......."
"Alright... you know... Plan B...."
"In an isolated country... with no way out.."
"I..."
"Haru..."
"Where is "The City?""
Chapter 2: Kana
"Over there." Haru says, pointing towards the distance..
The cameraman sees where he is pointing - a faint silhouette of many high rise buildings.
At its centerpiece is an outstanding tower, which crests like a tulip.
The centre of the crown gleams in the sunlight. Odd, he thought...
Haru says "We don't go to City."
"City... dangerous.."
"That where they take Kana."
The cameraman says "So... what do they do with the kana?"
Haru says "I... don't know..."
"But... stranded."
"We must discover."
The cameraman says "Its dangerous like you say.."
"My first priority is to get you safe."
"Then to take photos.."
The sky suddenly turns dark.
The flashes of gunfire are briefly seen on the horizon, before the sky flashes back to day.
Haru says "Friends?"
The cameraman says "...."
"I don't know..."
"Well... the only way is forward."
"I need more photos."
"I have an idea."
The cameraman takes out a portable tripod and sets it up.
He puts the camera on the tripod, and sets it on a high shutter speed video.
"Now we wait..."
They sit on the roof of the building together, watching the sun rise.
Haru says "Look."
He points at the fake moon.
The moon is flickering in and out of view, but the moonshine remains.
Haru says "Nisemono Kagayaka..."
"Grandpa call it that."
The cameraman says "How curious..."
After a few minutes, the sky goes dark for a few seconds, revealing gunfire again.
He retrieves the camera and scrolls through the footage.
"Perfect.."
He deletes the rest of the video, except for one frame.
Haru says "Nisemono Kagayaka.... on photo."
"Amazing.."
"Grandpa says... hollow like Miyaki."
The cameraman says "Hollow?"
Haru says "Hollow."
"Empty..."
"A shell... like dome."
"We are all shell, he says."
"Empty inside.. he says."
The cameraman says "That's not true.."
"We all have something special within us..."
Haru says "Grandpa says... I have nothing worth living for.."
"He... not mean in bad way."
"But we are all zombie.."
"Chess piece, he say."
The cameraman says "But you're not..."
"You're a person.."
Haru says "They took the only thing we have.."
"Our kana."
"Without kana, what are we?"
"Confused... we are confused..."
The cameraman spots a radio antenna in the distance.
The cameraman says "We need to go to that tower."
"We need to talk with outside."
Haru says "You can't."
"There is no way... no way.."
The cameraman packs his gear.
The cameraman says "..."
"Do you have any other ideas?"
"No?"
"Then let's go."
Haru says "Mean..."
"I am only trying to keep.. us safe.."
They leave the town and arrive at the radio antenna
The building is deserted, and they walk inside.
The interior is rather basic.
Next to the door is a telescope locked in a glass case.
The cameraman says "Why is this locked behind glass?"
"Its just a telescope..."
Haru says "RED BOX!"
"Red box. No.."
"We must not touch red box."
"Dead. Dead when we touch.."
The cameraman says "Surely not." reaching to open it.
He looks despairingly at Haru and hesitates.
Regardless, he gently lays his fingertips on it.
"See?"
"No dead."
Haru says "How.."
"...."
The cameraman says "They told lies, Haru."
"Not of much use to us though..."
He sits down next to a console.
He powers it on.
"Hmm.."
"It's taking a while to turn on."
He gets up and peers outside.
The moon is still flickering.
The sky goes dark again, and gunfire re-emerges.
He spots an orange glow above him.
"What... is that.."
He opens the red box and gets the telescope.
He points it at the glow and looks down the scope.
"Huh?"
"It's a chunk of metal, and its on fire."
"A big chunk too..."
He points up to the dome.
"And its a good telescope too.."
He zooms in further.
He sees faint figures that appear to be floating just below the ceiling.
He sees them walk around as if they were stepping on something.
"Hey, Haru."
"Bring the camera."
Haru brings him the camera and puts it in his hand.
"Okay, I'll guide you through this."
He kneels one knee down, and guides Haru's hand under the telescope.
He gets Haru up on his knee, and Haru wraps his arm around the cameraman to keep his balance.
Haru is holding one end of the telescope, the other end hanging off of the cameraman's shoulder.
Carefully, the cameraman puts the camera on a high shutter speed video and connects the camera lens to the telescope.
He starts filming and carefully guides Haru to move his hand slowly in circles.
"There.."
"We should have gotten a frame."
"Haru, what do you think you can see in this picture?"
Haru says "Blurry..."
"Shadows in the sky.."
The cameraman says "Good! Good..."
He goes back to the console.
There is a small device on the console which accommodates for many storage mediums.
Taking the SD card from the camera, he plugs it in.
"Now what was the frequency.."
"Ah."
Haru says "What.."
"What this mean?"
The cameraman says "This sends a wave."
"They get the wave, and turn it back into the photos."
He sends the message down a frequency listed on the back of his camera.
He also encodes some sort of RSVP.
In a few seconds, he receives a response.
They are requesting to establish a communication link.
The cameraman says "Hm?"
He opens the line.
"Hello? is this Halmahera? Do you copy?"
"Sit tight, little journalist."
"They are on their way."
"Don't think you can escape me."
The line cuts to a scrambled sound but opens again.
"LISTEN! LISTEN."
"You don't know me.."
"But we will meet soon."
"Head for the coast again."
"The town directly east of here.."
"In the town hall there is an elevator. Take it all the way down.."
"They don't know about this place yet.."
"Meet us there, we have a way out."
"Halmahera received your photos."
"We have communication but no one can do anything.."
"Luckily we could encrypt our communication but... before anything could reach the dome it's been obliterated."
"I-"
"There's no time to waste, they're coming for you and you need to run NOW."
The console sparks.
The sound of troops marching draw closer.
The cameraman says "Haru, we need to go."
He lifts Haru onto his shoulders and runs.
Hesitating at first, he takes the telescope.
Hiding behind a building, he glances back and sees the troops dressed in white open fire on the building.
They disappear into the forest, and alarms set off in the villages.
Fugitive located.
Apprehend. Subjugate.
While running, he glances up.
More pieces of metal are falling from a similar spot.
Suddenly, he sees a flash.
However, the dome does not return to day.
It was an explosion.
There is now a rather large hole at the very center-top of the dome.
Stopping for a moment, he gets out the telescope and aims it at the hole.
Its nighttime in the real world, but the sky looks unnatural..
He sees lasers flicker across the gaping hole, preventing anything from entering or leaving.
He zooms in to a peculiar feature in the sky.
There's many more stars, and many of them stand out.
However, there is a void in the middle..
The cameraman says "What is that nebula?"
"Why is it so dark..."
Haru says "This isn;t the first time.."
"The hole appear 3 year ago..."
"They say they saw big metal flying into the dark..."
"They weren't supposed to look, they were.."
"Gone."
They keep walking.
They arrive at the derelict town hall.
All the houses in this village have been reduced to rubble.
"All gone..."
The cameraman says "This is the place the voice told us to go to."
They go inside, and the interior is messy.
He finds the elevator, and they get in.
Pressing the button, the elevator begins to creak and move slowly.
The cameraman says "That nebula.."
"What if it's a portal?"
"That's why metal was flying into it?"
Haru says "Maybe.."
"But.."
"Why dark?"
The cameraman says "Perhaps.. it's one way?"
"But why would they need a one way portal.."
"No idea.."
The doors of the elevator open.
They emerge into a glass tunnel surrounded by water.
There is no natural light.
They hold hands to not get lost and walk into the darkness.
The cameraman says "Why is there water?"
"Is this some kind of cave?"
They see a faint light in the distance.
"Hello?"
"Who's there?"
"Ah, seems you got my message quickly."
"Who are you?"
The lights slowly turn on.
They see a tall lady with long hair, tied around a hairpin.
Shes wearing a kimono, but it doesn't seem to fit her.
"Follow me." she says.
They enter a lobby at the end of the tunnel.
A sign reading "The Atlantis Project" stretches over a front desk, but the word "Izumo" has been spray painted over it.
The lady says "And you must be Haru."
"I hear you're one of the last ones on the surface.."
Haru says "Me?"
"I was... alone?"
The lady says "Well.."
"Functionally, yes."
"Fortunately for the people of Izumo, word spread quickly about this place before the authorities came rolling in."
"There's a few thousand of us down here..."
The cameraman says "..."
"Slow down..."
"I-"
"What is this place?"
"What is that thing in the sky.."
"Who are you?!"
The lady laughs.
The lady says "What am I?"
"A prisoner, hah!"
"I go by Shira nowadays."
"I dropped the old name for... reasons."
"Reasons your employers don't want you to know.."
The cameraman says "So... you're familiars with the Confederate Army?"
The lady says "Oh... trust me."
"I'm familiars with the people who run the Confederacy.."
"Did you know I kidnapped the president once?"
The cameraman says "You did what?"
"Hang on.."
"YOU did what?"
The cameraman goes wide-eyed.
"Ohhhh no..."
"They told me to steer well clear of your affiliates, let alone you."
"I... frankly can't believe this."
He sighs and walks away.
Haru says "Mister... mister.."
"Uhhh.."
The lady says "Hello there, little one."
"Pssst, do you want to know a secret?" She says, kneeling down to him.
Haru says "Secrets are illegal, lady."
The lady says "My real name is Sakura."
"I couldn't tell your camera friend here..."
"You see, I signed a deal with a government."
"I had to shut up, but I got something in exchange."
"And from then on, my identity was hidden."
"But I trust you Haru."
"You're special."
She laughs again.
"Hey, look."
She cups her hands and grows a small flower from the palms of her hands.
"In Gensokyo, we call this a kagaya."
"Like the Nisemono Kagayaka.."
"The flower looks sturdy.."
"But take a petal off.."
Haru picks a petal.
"Poof.."
The flower disintegrates in her hand.
"Oh, he's coming back.."
The cameraman says "Well, Miss Secret Agent."
"Whoever you are.."
"Why are we here?"
Sakura says "Well, hadn't I known you were here..."
"Well.."
"Let's just say I saved your life."
The cameraman says "My life didnt need saving.."
Sakura says "You broadcasted a radio signal, In Miyaki."
"The City picked up your signal even before I did.."
"Ugh.. you're so ungrateful."
"I could have just left you, you know?"
The cameraman says "That's not what I meant-"
Sakura says "Well, your stupidity aside.."
"These people have been trapped here for generations."
"And we might have just found a way past the dome.."
Haru says "Leave... dome?"
Sakura says "See? Even this eight year old child is more enthusiastic than you are.."
"What do you say?"
"You in? Or would you rather be left to die out there?"
The cameraman says "I-"
Sakura says "Well there we go."
"Welcome to exiled Izumo." she says, leading the two down further into the underwater city.
