A Fleeting Utopia

Chapter 6

A scowl crossed Tsumi's face and she and Nova walked out from behind the shack. Though the idea would probably work, it was absolutely ridiculous. She did have to admit that was fitting for a plan thought up by Nova.
But the second Nova started speaking in a deep voice, Tsumi felt like she had officially lost it.
"Mr. Marco, we would really appreciate it if you could let us have this last canoe ride together. See, I'm Annie here's boyfriend and-"
Did she really have to give me a fake name? And why Annie, of all the names she could have picked? Tsumi shot Nova a look, which she ignored. At this point, the old man wasn't even going to believe them! Could Nova have tried harder to make her voice sound masuline? The only reason she even agreed to this is because Nova was right-this was the kind of thing that got adults-especially lonely old ones who had a canoe rental shop on the beach-sentimental.
"Um, Annie's leaving the town to go to college far away tomorrow, and I wanted to share one last romantic moment with her." Nova wrapped one of her arms around Tsumi's waist.
Tsumi tried not to squirm away as the man began to reply. He took a closer look at both of them. "College? You kids seem a little young for that."
"Yeah, well we-" Nova began, trying to find an excuse.
"But you kids go ahead, on the house. I wouldn't want to ruin your last special day together. But I'll be heading back home. Just make sure y'all back your boat and close this hatch here before you go." The man winked as he began packing a small bag of stuff he had brought to the shack for today. "Now, where did I leave my glasses?"
At those words, Nova quickly grabbed the closest canoe and oars, and began pulling Tsumi towards the water, yelling a hasty 'Thank you!' as they left.
When they were far enough away for comfort, Nova sighed, "Let's just be glad that old man didn't find his glasses in time. Man, what a living cliché!" She took her hood off, letting her long hair flow free.
Tsumi groaned as Nova began putting the boat into the water. "Don't be rude. I can't believe that worked."
Ignoring her, Nova said, "I'm even more glad he had his glasses because there's no way I would look like a boy if he could see me properly? I mean me, a boy? As if! Right Tsumi?"
"Mmmhmmm," Tsumi muttered half-heartedly, hopping into the front of the boat. "You stay in the back."
"What? Why? What if I wanted to be in the front?"
"Then too bad. Plus, the heavier person is supposed to stay in the back."
Nova's mouth gaped open. "Now you're making assumptions about me?
"So what if I am? You're a whole lot taller than me, anyways, so it would make sense."
Nova just grunted in reply. Tsumi handed her another pair of oars. "Here, you have to help if we're going to move off this beach at all.
"Where exactly are we going again?" Nova asked, taking the oars.
"Just wait and see." Tsumi looked into the setting sun as she began to steer the boat further into the chilly, clear water. Her arms began to cramp from the constant motion.
"Do you need me to take over?" Nova asked. Tsumi turned around and saw that Nova's pale cheeks were red with cold. Tsumi stopped for a moment.
"No, but are you cold? Your cheeks are really red."
"Maybe a little," Nova murmured, not meeting her eyes.
"Well, we should be there soon. Here, you can take my scarf. Well, I guess it's really Juno's scarf but-" Tsumi hesitated.
Nova smiled, taking the scarf from her hands and wrapping it around her nose and mouth. "Thanks."
Ugh. In the moment, Tsumi really wanted to thank Nova back for coming along with her and tolerating all of this without having a clue what was going on, but she should be careful how close she got to this girl. Nova was really annoying at times, and often untrustworthy. Though she had been friends with her and the others in her life before all this, so it was probably okay...
Tsumi didn't say anything back as she kept rowing, not looking back at Nova.
She wondered what all of this "nothingness" business was about. This seemed like it was just plain old ocean, nothing out of the ordinary at all. Had she really come all the way out here for nothing? (No pun intended.) Not to mention Nova had convinced them to trick that poor old man, Tsumi thought as she side-eyed Nova. No, there must be something here. They probably just weren't to the right spot yet.
Tsumi tuned back in to the real world instead of wallowing in her worried thoughts to hear the voice of Nova screaming at her. Great, just what I need. She probably just saw a stingray or something and thinks it's going to try to eat us.
"Tsumi, do you hear me? Stop rowing! I'm serious!" Nova was shaking Tsumi by the shoulders. She had dropped her oars into the boat and one of them was poking into Tsumi's calf.
"What is it now? If you're not going to help row, at least move your oars, they're poking me." Tsumi grumbled, momentarily resting her oars in the water. A wave larger than usual bumped into Tsumi's oar, spraying a bit of salty, cold water into her face. "Is the water always this cold?"
Nova ignored her, focused on the stationary oars at her sides. A look of relief crossed her face.
"...What?" Tsumi said slowly. Was she just being stupid again, or was something going on? This is why people who joke around all the time aren't trusted in possibly catastrophic situations.
"I don't want to say anything because I don't trust that you won't start moving the boat forward again!" Nova said, looking down at the water.
"Okay, well I'd still appreciate it if you let me know what's happening so we can get to where I wanted to go before we miss dinner. Remember, that's what you yourself were complaining about once I saw you on the beach."
"Don't try to row! And look ahead of you. Was this what you were expecting to see here?"
Tsumi turned around with caution, surprised at the amount of fear tainting her friend's voice. Or should she say, the amount of fear Nova was letting seep into her tone.
The water ahead of them stopped abruptly, a thin line of a glowing blue, water-like substance surrounding the water. It was almost like the whole beach was in one of those wave-maker machines, and they had got to the source of where the waves really came from.
Like it wasn't real.
Which it wasn't.
And then there was the indescribable beyond from the glowing line. It was like everything and nothing at the same time, which couldn't make sense, it shouldn't make sense to her. But somehow, she could see colors, patterns, places, people, all jumbled up beyond the water.
Yet she could not see anything at all, the blinding brightness of absence.
Nova shuddered, yet her eyes were glued to the Nothingness, like she wanted to wallow in the comforting feeling it radiated. "It's kind of alluring, isn't it?" Tsumi asked, catching her gaze.
"Do you know what this is?" Nova fixed her eyes on Tsumi, but they didn't say for long, darting back to the mysterious place.
"Nothing, I think."
"What kind of reply is that? You mean you took me out here to see nothing? The sentence itself makes no sense..." Nova shivered a little. "I don't know what that is, but I don't have a good feeling about it."
Tsumi opened her mouth to speak, but Nova began again.
"And how is this possible, anyways? We should have to cross miles and miles of sea to get off this island and onto the closest country to us. Why are we stopped here? Where's the rest of the sea?"
Tsumi sighed. "I don't know how to begin this..." Tsumi wanted to tell Nova anything, but a voice in the back of her head urged her to keep it to herself for a little longer. Tsumi knew this wasn't the right time, but hopefully this could at least help add to her case on why none of this was real later. But this meant she would have to make something up on the spot.
"I-I'm sure it's not a big deal. It's probably just because I'm from a different universe or whatever-I'm sure there's nothing wrong with the one you guys are in now." Tsumi cringed a little at her untruthful words, but she needed to protect the truth from the others before she could properly illustrate the issue.
Meanwhile, Nova had taken her oars and started to turn the canoe around. "Sure, but then why did you come here on purpose? It's obvious you didn't just happen to want to go on a boat ride with me." She scoffed.
"Well..." Tsumi thought about what had happened with Nova's bunny. It wasn't exactly a vision, per se, but maybe if she acted like she had had some visions while she was sleeping, it could help convince Nova that she was being truthful.
"I had a vision." Tsumi blurted out. Nova stared at her, waiting for elaboration. Tsumi stuttered, not sure how to deliver her case. "Uhh, yeah! A vision! Last night, I had a vision about coming to this exact place! The vision told me that when I came here things would be out of place because I don't belong in a place like this..." Tsumi changed her tone from nervous to solemn at the end of her sentence, hoping Nova would feel bad for her and believe her. She realized doing things like this was becoming a bad habit of hers.
The last thing she wanted to do was manipulate people, but if this was her only option, then...
"I am really sorry that all this happened to you. I mean, I guess that sounds decently reasonable, with a vision...Well, not really. But for now, I'll choose to believe you." Nova said, sounding at least partially honest. Tsumi could tell she wasn't totally convinced, but adding more to the story now would just give her more lies to keep track of, and that was truly the last thing she wanted to do.
Thankfully, the two got back to shore without either of them falling in. After putting the canoe back like they had promised to the man, they returned to the subway.
"We're for sure going to miss dinner. I really hope one of the others saved us something. Or maybe one of the managers will let us into the kitchen to cook, though that isn't really my strong suit." Nova said as she sat in one of the numerous empty seats on the subway. There were only a few other sleepy looking people sharing the subway with them. Nova spread her legs out onto the empty nearby seats.
"Don't do that."
"Fine."
Tsumi stared at the subway ceiling, closing her eyes slightly as the minutes passed. Soon enough, Tsumi was being shaken by Nova.
"Stop, I'm not even asleep. I was just resting." What she said was true-she hadn't let go of her consciousness and slipped into sleep during the short subway trip.
"It looked like you were! Sorry." Nova paused for a moment. "Actually, I'm not." She yanked Tsumi's hand, pulling her to the nearby door and off onto the subway station near the headquarters.
"Come on, we better hurry back."
Expectedly, there was no food left. Nova whined to Tsumi. Like she could do anything. She was more focused on what she should do to save her friends, and everyone else here. But of course, no one could know that yet.
Fortunately, Nova called Juno and she had managed to save a couple boxes of whatever was for dinner that evening.
"Thank you so much," Nova mumbled happily as she sat at one of the lunchroom tables, Juno and Tsumi nearby. Tsumi stared down at her untouched food, then at Nova's glass.
"Plain milk?"
"What about it? It makes your bones strong!"
"How does anyone genuinely like that?"
"Guys..."
Tsumi remembered the fact that Juno was there at the table with them. "Thank you so much for this food Juno, but I'll have to skip out on it this time. I have a...stomachache."
"Oh, I'm sorry about that! Do you want me to fetch some medicine from the supply room? I could ask some of the staff to-"
"No, it's okay."
Nova looked over at Juno. A look Tsumi was not fond of flashed over her face. "Ooh, I have a fun idea for tonight! Shopping! And not just any shopping..." Nova slapped her palms on the table, creating a drumroll sound. "Gun shopping!"
"Not this again...I've told you, my bow and arrow is perfectly fine! I'm fine without a ridiculous gun."
"Come on, you can't just heal us forever. You need to help get rid of those robots! And a gun is the perfect weapon to do so!"
"But...now? Didn't you guys already get back from shopping together or getting lunch, or something?"
Tsumi shot her a wary look. "That's what you thought we were doing?"
"Please! Oh! I just remembered, on one of the floors of this building, I think there's a weapon and supply shop for self defense purposes against the Aloi. Though, I don't think they're the best weapons or anything, we're sure to find something suitable!"
"Well, I guess if I don't have to leave..." Juno looked at Tsumi. "But I want Tsumi to come."
"What? Why me? I was just about to leave and try to get some sleep before Nova gets back to our room."
Nova frowned. "For the record, it's still my room, you're just staying in it. For now."
Tsumi ignored her and turned to Juno. "Maybe you could ask Ikuu. Though I don't think he'll be too much more willing to go then I am."
"He already went to sleep." Juno's smile faded.
"See, you have to come with us! Then we can all go to sleep! I won't play any music out of my speaker, or anything!"
"You shouldn't be! That isn't normal if you're aware other people are trying to sleep." Tsumi sighed. How did this go from Nova wanting to go to both of them wanting her to come? It looked like she had no choice. But if she was going to go, she at least needed to get something out of it.
"Is there somewhere where I can get a spiral notebook?" Tsumi asked, not meeting either of their eyes.
"I don't think there's a place to buy a new one here. But I have some extra ones in my room. I'll give you one if you come with us." Juno promised, her light brown eyes wide.
"Deal. But if this takes more than 15 minutes..."
"It won't, I swear! Now what floor was it on again...?"