City Series:Volume7a Chapter8
Chapter 8: Atelier[edit]
2002 spring (HK)
Page 1[edit]
- Spoil for a Fight
[Sarah views an aerial ship flying overhead. A terrified Beretta wields Sarah’s knife Device against an angry Thunderbird]
In the world, hungover mornings come to Hong Kong first.
I’ve been drinking and partying for about a week and I’m getting sick of it, so I guess it’s time to visit my mom like she wanted.
I take a Hong Kong Cave flight to the broken peninsula.
On the way, an aerial ship passes us on its way to Hong Kong Cave. Is that a German one? Are they here to support SF too?
Beretta and Thunderbird are fighting on the deck.
Beretta tries to grab my knife, so I place a guard over the blade and hand it to him.
I wonder what’s going on at my mom’s place.
I’ve barely called since I said I would make a living with my art and left.
I wonder if she’ll have accepted that choice when I visit this time. I am getting by fine with my art, after all.
Page 2[edit]
- On My Way Home
It’s been so long since I walked through the New Territories.
When Hong Kong was so badly damaged five years ago, the people evacuated to the New Territories and a lot of them stayed.
My mom worked at the City Hall back then, so she led the evacuation of the nonhumans living in Hong Kong.
But I left Hong Kong before all that, so I don’t know much more than that.
It turns out government workers and hopeful artists tend not to get along and the artist will be the one to leave if they have the drive.
Even when I started worrying about it, she would say “you’d just get in the way, so don’t you dare come back” which pissed me off all over again.
That’s just how these things work out sometimes.
She said she had moved from the temporary housing to an actual home in the New Territories, so is that where I’ll be “going home to” from now on? A weird thought since I never actually lived there.
Not that it matters.
I need to make my initial greeting casual enough to show off that I’m an adult now and to avoid letting any of the bad blood between us show.
[Sarah, Beretta, and Thunderbird walk down a street lined with rundown houses]
Page 3[edit]
- Smiling Standoff
“Hi, mom!”
[Sarah walks in while Gleun and Follett stare at each other in the foreground]
Page 4[edit]
- Self-Deceived?
“…”
[Sarah stares in shock as Gleun and Follett turn toward her]
- Gloomy Doubt
“Mom?”
“Do you have the wrong place?”
[Sarah blushes as Gleun and Follett sweat]
- Abashment
“I don’t think…”
“…we are who you are looking for.”
[Sarah smiles with her finger on her chin while Gleun and Follett sweat even more]
Page 5[edit]
- Butcher…?
We all sweat awkwardly until my mom steps in.
“Yes, yes, yes. What is it now?”
Charging in dual-wielding knives to greet me after seven years? What is this old lady thinking?
“I was in the middle of preparing dinner, silly girl. And then the British Representative and French Representative showed up to ask me some questions. Why are you all glaring at each other?”
Oh, they’re here for that too. I really appreciate it.
“You see, that idiot of a girl finally decided to pay her mother a visit.”
This I appreciate much less.
On the other hand, having guests might make this easier. I can avoid a serious discussion with my mom.
Even if that is only delaying the inevitable.
[Sarah’s mom steps out with two kitchen knives, shocking the other three women]
Page 6[edit]
- Constructive Negotiation
Seeing my mom’s home for the first time is a weird feeling, but we settle down in the living room to chat.
The records of the Earth Dragon incident in Hong Kong can be found in Hong Kong Cave and the New Territories.
“And once we have all the necessary information, we can all head to SF.”
The national representatives are splitting up the work between them and getting started on preparing for the Godquake.
“Your mother’s experience should help with the evacuation of the ordinary citizens.”
I ask what their Combat Styles are and they say Energy Gunner and Knight Striker. If that glaring when I first arrived had turned into actual fighting, this house wouldn’t have survived, huh?
I hear my mom’s knives hitting the cutting board in the kitchen. That sound really takes me back and makes me think about my old analog art supplies.
Page 7[edit]
- Chance?
[Thunderbird sees a butt]
It’s time for dinner.
- Spatia? Spatia?
[Thunderbird approaches Follett from behind]
But Thunderbird attacks the Knight Striker’s butt as she’s carrying in the food.
- Out of Impatience
“Gwoh!”
A woman shouldn’t scream like that.
[Thunderbird pecks Follett in the butt]
Page 8[edit]
- Go Bankrupt!
Anyway, the dishes broke, the food went everywhere, and we stretched Thunderbird vertically.
“Oh, god. I’m so sorry. How can I ever repay you?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure those dishes were cheap.”
“They were, but only because my pay comes out of the Hong Kong people’s taxes. And what do we do about dinner now?”
“Taxes? Dinner? Oh, dear. We need to do something about this.”
Would we not need to do something if not for the taxes and dinner part? But whatever.
Beretta has the solution.
[Sarah and her mom squish Thunderbird, Follett stares at a broken plate shard in shock, and Gleun tries to help]
Pages 9-10[edit]
- Special Dinner
Time to show off my art skills.
This should show off what I do for a living better than trying to explain it.
I’ll resurrect our dinner with the skills mom used to say were worthless.
[Sarah repairs their dinner with her knife Device while the others applaud]
It’s a pleasant surprise!
Page 11[edit]
- See You Later
[Sarah and her mom sigh while the other two leave, Follett argumentatively and Gleun pleasantly]
The next noisy morning, the British and French duo leave, one of them smiling and the other arguing.
They say they’re joining the rest of their parties and then heading to SF.
I sigh once they’re gone.
“Mom, I never would have imagined your job and the things you did would be helping SF and me.”
“You’ll just have to work your butt off to try and outdo your spectacular mother.”
You’re supposed to compliment your daughter there, not yourself.
“But you have a reliable partner now, don’t you? That fox that brought you what you needed when you needed it. What was his name again?”
Page 12[edit]
- Is He Quite [covered up by Thunderbird]
I look over to see that “reliable partner” is setting a new losing streak record.
“Re…liable?”
Don’t repeat it as a question now, mom.
“Well, I guess it doesn’t matter. You’re here for a few more days, right? Make sure to go say hello to your father.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
I’m pretty sure we’ll get into a fight and I’ll storm out well before those few days are up. But I guess that’s fine in its own way. Maybe?
[Sarah’s mom points over at Beretta collapsed and bandaged below Thunderbird]
The end of image.
Finish.
Kawa-Commentary[edit]
Chapter 8: Atelier
- General
This is the chapter original to this book. Lots of new characters in this one, huh?
- Page 1
They’re aboard an aerial ship taking them to the center of the Kowloon Peninsula. It has an altitude restriction, but setting up an atmospheric shield is a pain so it probably doesn’t have one.
The ship in the sky is the German Geheimnis Agency’s latest aerial cruiser. It’s a two-hull ship and the left side is the front. The stern of the two hulls is left a bit open to increase its turning ability. A Babel Gun can be attached to the center, but it’s currently detached. It’s colored pitch black, but outside of another country’s airspace, it would be rendered invisible by its illusion spell stealth. It’s currently flying while showing off the majority of its outline.
- Page 2
The New Territories have a lot of places that are more like rows of barracks than a city and you can see that in the vast hilly areas of the real city. (I’ve heard it’s been redone quite a lot nowadays.) The power lines have reinforcement charms attached to make sure the power supply doesn’t get severed. The ditches look like they’ve been maintained to avoid tragedy when it rains.
The second building from the front on the right is a home made from a scrapped bus. They’re working hard to live their lives.
- Page 3
The houses are generally made by setting up pillars, placing a roof on top, and attaching walls to the outside, but the poor foundation means they often collapse. That’s why they use lightweight materials for the walls and roof. As a bonus, that also makes the construction easier.
This house uses thick pillars, which should be unusual compared to the others in the area.
- Page 4
Nothing really to say here…
- Page 5
This house has its own kitchen, but that is because Sarah’s mother’s job requires her to entertain a variety of guests. She’s an influential person in town. The kitchen equipment was scavenged (stolen) from the destroyed part of Hong Kong, but that’s why it’s really nice for being in these barracks.
The trashcan in the back even has a bag inside. Her mother must be the fastidious type.
- Page 6
The living room. The ceiling shows a tarp covering the gaps in the roof to keep rain out. A drying rope is hanging from the lintel because things left to dry outside tend to get stolen. That thing hanging down at the upper center is a type of windchime that uses an emblem to cool the room with its ringing.
There is also a bookcase in the back and you can see some books on it. That’s a picture frame you can barely see near the top of Beretta’s ear with an incense stick standing up with it.
- Page 7
In an area without electric lights, I think it would feel like your neighbors could spy on you if their house was close by. That’s what the curtains are for.
- Page 8
A perfect example of a page with nothing to say about it.
- Pages 9-10
The shelf on the right was seen on page 5 and the cupboard on the left was seen on page 6. A waterproof mat is rolled up at the bottom of the wall, but that is placed under the wall to fill the gap between it and the ground. That keeps water out, but it’s also a sanitary defense since the ditch flows by outside.
But based on the amount of food, I feel like they’re going to be fighting over it…
- Page 11
Follett is pointing and shouting at Gleun because she has to head back to Hong Kong in her Heavy Barrel after losing more money gambling the night before.
- Page 12
There is a single vertical black line on the border decoration near the binding on the right. I asked Ya-san (Editor’s Note: He means Satoyasu) what that was and he said it was Thunderbird’s leg. Sexy…
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