Nier Replicant: Shades of the Past

Chapter 6 - Mars

The echoes of my footsteps touching the metal steps ended when I climbed the stairs and opened the metal door in front of me with a tired grunt.

I sighed exhaustedly as I leaned against the gray stone doorframe, wiping the sweat from my face and shielding my eyes from the sunlight.

"Jekyll, are you sure there wasn't one of those boxes that go up and down around here?"

"The elevators, you mean?"

"Yes, that's right!" I replied as I walked away from the door and looked around.

The staircase I climbed was inside a small gray stone building next to a large road made of dark material with white and yellow lines drawn on it.

There were strange machines lined up on the road, a kind of rusty metal box painted green, with a long tail, glass windows, doors on both sides, and long pieces of metal attached to a disc on top.

There was also another machine falling apart on the other side of the road, and I only had one word to describe it, colossal.

It looked like a gigantic metallic bird painted black with two huge wings and three large cylinders underneath each one.

The machine also had dozens of black wheels on the bottom and, strangely, the front of the machine pointed towards the sky, revealing a ramp leading inside.

"I have no idea; I just guided you along the path I found in my fragmented memories." Jekyll spoke, answering my previous question.

"I guess that would be too much to ask." I responded, walking in the opposite direction of the colossal machine and approaching the end of the road.

Jekyll told me that the machines were flying machines called helicopters and planes, but he could not remember the models, whatever that meant.

Helicopter and plane are strange names, although I cannot deny how impressive the things that past humans created are.

I regretted my decision as soon as I reached the end of the road as I realized where this place was.

We stood on top of one of the walls of the abyss. As if that was not enough, I spotted The Aerie far below, looking like a speck in the distance.

My eyes widened and my breathing stopped as I felt something strange, it was a mix of fear due to how high I was and awe at the view in front of me.

I saw the grassy fields in the distance with small villages here and there; I also saw the mountains beyond with their snow-capped peaks touching the sky.

Shifting my focus, I noticed the ruined city that Jekyll and I visited earlier, and looking in the opposite direction, I saw the sea with ships slowly sailing by.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yes, for sure, but it's a shame that all these places are covered in ruins."

"There is beauty in ruins, Hyde, they tell stories, but I have unfortunately forgotten most of them. In the end, I just want to save humanity and walk on the sun again." Jekyll responded as he removed his hand from my body and reached toward the sky, only to retreat as it burned.

I looked up while shielding my eyes with my hand, but I glimpsed the blue sky filled with white clouds as birds flew away. Suddenly, a strong gale blew towards me, blowing my clothes and pushing me back.

"HEY, WHAT THE FUCK?!?" Zon screamed into my bag as it shook violently from side to side, I forgot he was here with me.

I looked up at the sky again when the gale stopped and thought about what Jekyll said. Walking in the sun again... It is not a bad dream; maybe you can make it come true.