City of Amnesia

"That seems to be the smart thing to do." Zell said, "I'll call when Thiera comes back, we can discuss it all then." She finished, putting paint to canvas as she did. "It was nice to hear from you Roger, we'll talk later, good bye."

"... I don't like this, Dad." Luna looked at Guverah and frowned before lowering her voice, "It all seems real suss to me..."

*Thiera & Lilith come back about an hour or so later.*

L"I will go make dinner. What are you in the mood for?"

T"I don't know. Go see what Zell wants."

*Once she gets upstairs, she opens the door without bothering to knock. She then does some funny things with her mouth as a tape recorder like noise issues.*

L"I will go make dinner. What are you in the mood for?"
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*Back at the station, Luna's unnamed father goes over the plans.*

<Well, the first thing we're supposed to do is get the story out. We'll need to contact a news station & follow up with random calls.>

*Inside her apartment Hitomi puts the manuscript on a table and goes to the bathroom where she checks her wound. After removing the bandages she pokes the wound a few times.*

Zell was still painting when she heard the front door open and people enter. When she heard the voices of Thiera and Lilith, Zell began to put away her supplies and clean up a bit. By the time Lilith walked in Zell was putting on a clean, paint free shirt. "I'm not a picky eater, whatever you would like to cook would be wonderful." Zell said, "That is a nice trick you can do with your mouth by the way." She added.

"Mmmkay" Luna swiveled her chair slowly.

It'd be cool to own a Megadeus...

"Thank you. There is sea food left. I will prepare that."

*She exits the room.*
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*She barely feels anything from the wound.*
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*He turns a page. His eyes widen & his jaw twitches.*

<What...I don't...What is this they're playing at?!>

*She wipes the wound down with a damp rag, gets dressed and returns to where she put the manuscript and begins to read it from the beginning.*

"What?" Luna swiveled her chair to look around, frowning deeply.

<We're on the list of people who have to move to Paradigm-2.>
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*The only new thing Hitomi finds is a large, cursive script on the back page. It reads, "Gordon Rosewater."*

"Urgh, I knew something was going on" Luna stood up from her chair, "...They're giving us the elbow so they can do what they want here..."
Various theories on what the higher ups were planning on doing to this Paradigm were already cycling through her head.

[That's the same name from the sign out card for "Metropolis".]

*She puts the manuscript down and stares at it.*

["Metropolis" spoke of Megadeus which was the thing that went by the window yesterday and I apparently became the pilot of one today. This manuscript spoke of horsemen and God. 'Cast in the name of God...' Did the Megadeus say those words? I should ask at the library tomorrow who Gordon Rosewater is. All of it seems to be connected somehow, but there seems to be more pieces missing.]

*Topaz is standing by the ocean, staring out into the horizon.*

[...It's not like me to investigate this blindly. I was supposed to be trying to find out what that large robot was... or even who the man who brought the tunnel down upon him was. But I have a feeling... I want to know what it was that I saw down there.]

*She marches into the water and then dives.*

*He hands the folder to a passing cop.*

<Here. Start calling people.>
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*Hitomi's phone rings.*
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*Vega is blind folded at one point. When the blind fold is removed, he's tied to a chair in a dimly lit room. Standing in front of him, staring at him coldly, is a woman in a magenta suit with dark skin, long, red hair, & red, slitted eyes.*

<You are the Megadeus pilot.>
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*She sees, once again, submurged city blocks, hundreds of sky scrapers, only a few dozen reaching above the water.*

"So are we just going to leave?" Luna asked her father, "I mean... we don't exactly have the authority to disobey them but isn't it our job to find out what is going on?"

*Hitomi jumps as if she had forgotten she has a phone. She then goes and answers it.*

"Hello."

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"Am not."

*The woman smacks him hard across the face.*

<Don't play stupid, you swine!>
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<Our job is to uphold the law. And the Paradigm Corporation is the law.>
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<Hitomi Alla? We're calling to inform you that you've been randomly selected to be moved, all expenses paid, to Paradigm-2, our new sister city. You should be hearing about it in the news over the coming week.>

[Probability of the random selection not actually being random: High.]

"M... Moving?"

[I like this apartment.]

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*Vega shakes his head.*

"Ow! What happened to things like lawyers and interogation rooms featuring a table for you to slam your fist on to emphasize that you're serious?"

Zell nodded, "Sea food it is then, I like eating clams, and the ones last night were really good." She said, following Lilith out of the room and towards the dining room.

<Yes. I'm told the houses are very nice.>
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"The same thing that's about to happen to your testicles."

*She raises her foot, showing her high heels.*
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*Thiera is already sitting at the table. Lilith goes into the kitchen.*

"Okay..."

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"Let's have none of that."

*Close to the surface, she swims towards the top of a skyscraper, goes back up to breathe, and then dives and swims down along the building, trying to look inside through the windows.*

"If it isn't our job to do what is in the best interest of the people..." Luna looked out of the doorway at the busy police station, sighing, "Then I might just do some independent investigation."
Luna turned back to her father, suddenly smiling - "Since when have I ever passed up an opportunity for something as interesting as this?"

*He frowns.*

<Don't probe too deep. There are a lot of dangerous places in this city. Especially for those the state classifies as criminals.>
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*The rooms seem to be empty, but the furniture within them is more-or-less untouched, sometimes knocked over, but usually sitting innocently on the floors. From the surface, she doesn't get more than 3 floors down before her lungs start to burn.*
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<Then tell me how & why you activated the Megadeus!>
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<Well...now that you know...bye, I guess.>

"Goodbye."

*She hangs up.*

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"A name came to mind and it activated when I said that name. I had no intention of activating it."