Editing City Series:Volume6b Chapter2 (section)

===Part 5===

The cramped wooden room was a perfect match for the concept of a “cheap inn”.

There was only one small curtained window facing south. The only furniture was a simple bed, a table, and two chairs. There was no bath or toilet, but there was a bidet and a kitchen.

The electric light hanging from the ceiling cast two shadows on the floor.

Hazel stood in the kitchen preparing some food in only a black shirt and Berger sat by the window at one of the table’s chairs.

Hazel worked swiftly to get the charcoal fire going before opening the cabinet below the sink.

“Just because it’s a hideout doesn’t mean you can stock up on nothing but wursts and pasta. That’s not a balanced diet.”

“Don’t worry. I drink beer too, so I’m the second healthiest guy in the world. More importantly…”

She knew what he was going to say next, so she placed her hands on the sink and waited for him to speak.

“What are you doing in Berlin, Hazel?”

…''Exactly what I expected.

She took a breath and answered.

“My teacher gave me a letter for you.”

“Your teacher? You mean my old upperclassman? He sent you back to Germany with the Messiah implant, even if it is broken? You said on the way here we had to hurry because you were being pursued by some weird people, didn’t you? And that you had hid your things? Why would he send you here when that’s obviously what would end up happening?”

“It’s true! I know it may be hard to believe, but he really gave me permission.”

She turned toward him while holding a frying pan.

She saw him sitting sideways in the chair by the window with his elbow on the chair back and his eyes on her. His expression was not a casual one.

He sighed through his nose.

“He gave you permission, did he? What in the world is he thinking?”

“So you believe me? That was easier than I expected.”

“Look, our last little adventure together told me that you’re kind to a fault and nowhere near smart enough to use someone else’s name to sell a lie. …I am surprised a Heidengeist like you would come back here, though.”

“My prosthetic eye is listed as the other one on my passport. My teacher had business in Paris, so he had that counterfeited for me while he was there. Um, the Messiah eye on the right is my real eye and this cat one on the left is a night vision prosthetic…according to my passport.”

“So that means you’re human, huh? You can be weirdly clever when you need to be.”

His tone said that compliment was genuine.

She breathed a sigh of relief and held the frying pan to her chest while looking to his left arm.

“I’m sorry. Losing your left arm must have hurt so much.”

He held up his left hand to show her. He clenched the fist inside the black leather glove.

“Don’t worry about it. Can’t have hurt as much as jamming a knife into your eye. Speaking of which how’s your right eye? The letter you sent me before said your sight was gradually returning.”

“Yes, the sight has returned, but the Messiah functions have not. The doctor said those won’t return until I decide I need its power. Because my will and my body will not be aligned until then.”

She chose her words carefully and kept one thought to herself.

…''That may never recover.

“But instead, I’ve been studying Tuning and Busting ever since that incident two years ago.”

“Huh? Tuning and Busting? Why?”

“I’ve been able to see Tons ever since the Sylphide Incident – or maybe ‘perceive’ is the better word. I can sometimes just ‘see’ the currents of the wind or the water.”

“Tuning and Busting, huh?”

He scratched his head in a troubled way and his mechanical left hand toyed with the woman’s pendant hanging from his neck.

“Personally, I think you should stop that. You’re still a trainee Greenhorner, aren’t you? So why not start studying Ton Medicine instead? Or you could become a vet.”

“But…”

“Hazel, you do know that Tuning and Busting are mostly used as tools of killing in Europe, don’t you? And as the daughter of Oscar Mirildorf and the student of my old underclassman, you should be well aware that we’re on the verge of a war.”

“…”

“The war will begin here in Germany and spread to the rest of Europe. Every country’s Sofort Lesers have made that prophecy. There’s a lot of construction underway here in Berlin, but do you know what that’s for?”

“I’ve heard, yes. They will be creating a new multilevel Berlin called Germania based on the Vaterland ley line acceleration reactors. They plan to develop the city underground and install defense field generators to protect against aerial bombings.”

“And you know Stimmers and Busters are being used for some of that construction, don’t you? The massive Tune Emblems drawn out below cities around Germany and the more than 400 Vaterlands that suck the country’s Tons out of the ley lines will be used to give all pureblooded Germans an Erklärung power. That plus Germania are how they hope the Panzerpolis Project will allow Germany to survive the coming war.”

“And as a part of that, the Geheimnis Agency is building an improved version of the Babel Kanone that failed to fire in England and constructing a massive Gard-class aerial warship.”

“That isn’t just an aerial warship. From what I’ve heard, it’s an Eingeweide. And there’s a lot of Busters working on its construction too. Norse mythology and the Unreif Germane are rising to prominence above even the Bible right now. Yesterday, I saw a book burning in one of the villages I passed through on the way to Berlin.”

Hazel trembled more at the thought of burning the writing than the books themselves.

Berger’s eyes suddenly moved. He glanced over at her and turned his entire chair to face forward.

“Let’s get back on topic, Hazel. Hazel Mirildorf. Why are you in this city?”

She knew why he was asking this and why he was so puzzled by it, but that was why she was uncertain how to respond.

“Um.” She lowered her head for a moment, but then she raised it again while holding the frying pan lightly against her chest. “Berger…you never did respond to my letters. It was only when I actually wrote your name out for those letters that I realized it really does mean Wild Hund, doesn’t it?”

“My mother cared a little too much for her kid. She said she wanted to raise me to be as tough as a stray dog.” He was not smiling. “But don’t change the subject. My name doesn’t matter. Why you’re here does.”

“Well,” she said before trailing off again.

…''There’s so, so much I could say.

“Once the war starts, I felt like I would never again be able to see this city or my friends here. And and there were things I wanted to discuss with you and ask you if I could meet you again.”

“Like what?”

His blunt question made her hesitate again. She clutched the frying pan harder against her chest.

“A lot of people visit my home in LA. They’re all working so hard for this upcoming war. But whenever I ask my dad if there’s anything I can do, he says no.” She thought for a moment. “How can he be so sure there’s nothing I can do?”

Berger sighed at that.

“Y’know…you should really be asking my old upperclassman that. He knows a lot more than me and is just an all-around better person.”

“I-I know that!”

“Um…you didn’t have to agree with that quite so enthusiastically.”

“Eh? Huh? Um, uh…s-sorry. But I’ve been thinking. Two years ago, you told me that to run away was to survive. But then…if you don’t want to run away and you want to stay and fight, does that mean you want to die? And if so…”

“Enough pointless arguments.” He cut her off. “Right now, you need to start cooking, Hazel. I’m the second hungriest guy in the world right now. We can discuss this…well, we’ll be heading out right away tonight, so we can discuss it on the way. My motorcycle has a sidecar.”

He stood up, pushed his chair against the windowsill, and turned toward the door out into the hall.

“Where are you going while I’m cooking?”

“Where are the instructions my old upperclassman left with you? And your clothes? Think about it. You got here and that’s great, but you said you were being chased by someone, right?” He walked toward her and pressed his right index finger against her chest. “I have a job to do, Hazel. They locked down the borders a few days ago, but I still have to get you outside the country. Do you get that? Do you, Hazel Mirildorf? The Swiss border is chilly even in the summer, so where are your things? You need some clothes, don’t you? I’ll go get them, so you wait here.”

“Um…”

“?”

“Please get back soon.”

He smiled at that.

“Don’t worry. Do you know where we are? This place is owned by an AIF member. We’ve been using the place whenever we visit Berlin lately. As long as you stay away from the curtains, this place is plenty safe for a kitten to play in, Hazel.”

She started to say something in response, but stopped and smiled bitterly instead.

She looked down at his finger against her chest and suppressed a sigh.

“Are you…are you always like this, Berger?”

“Always like what?”

“You can’t tell? So…so…”

“Unfortunately, I’m the second dumbest guy in the world. But your chest really hasn’t grown at all, has it? Have you been eating right?”

He pressed against the chest of her shirt and reached the limit of the softness very quick.

The frying pan met his face even quicker.