Neo-Ace Scene 01 - Tokyo - Draft Preview
Shadows faded into twilight darkness. It was the beginning of night in Tokyo. The brilliant lights of the city and its famous holographic billboards and video displays repelled the darkness. Moving parades of giant fantastical beasts, anime heroes battling villains, and flashy advertisements were suspended over the streets around its busy train stations and popular locations like Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Ginza. Sounds of music and catchy advertising jingles filled the air with a cacophony of sound. Up close, augmented reality glasses and mini holo-projectors could show specific ads to people who had enabled their personal location identifiers.
Overlooking the vibrant city was the recently constructed Tokyo World Tree that also had the nickname of Yggdrasil. Yggdrasil was the tree that reached into the heavens and deep into the earth from Norse mythology. It embodied the hopes of Tokyoites for the rebirth of their city onto the world scene after the destruction wrought by the Alien War and the subsequent Kanto earthquake that had capped it off. World Tree was about half of the height of Mount Fuji, the tallest point in Japan. At a height of 1600 metres it was built to be bigger and taller than any free standing tower built by man, including the previous record holder, the Tokyo Skytree. Only the advanced materials technology developed during the Alien War allowed it to exist and withstand both massive earthquakes or typhoons. It was so tall that it received both an earlier sunrise before the rest of the city and a delayed sunset at the top. The only structures taller than it were the orbital elevators that reached into orbit from the mountains of Peru, Mount Ararat in Turkey, and Mauna Kea in Hawaii.
An external elevator car rapidly rose out of the tower’s massive base footings and began ascending to the observation decks that were just below the canopy that crowned the tower. The elevator was a silvery speck that on the brightly lit surface of the tower whose built-in lighting subtly shifted in color over time. Twelve main struts fanning out in all directions comprised the main canopy structure at the top. Each strut in turn had extendable micro-struts which would become the branches and leaves of the great World Tree. In the day, it was a glittering silver and gold canopy. At night, the built-in holo-projectors turned the canopy into a brilliant lightshow that had played animations for everyone to see.
Mayumi Shimizu and Hiro, her godfather, rode the glass walled elevator up with two dozen other excited people. The passengers were a diverse lot that ranged from grandmothers in kimonos, families with children, dating couples to obvious tourists from other countries. The World Tree had just been open for a year and a half, but it still drew large crowds of every day. Ceiling mounted displays on the inner walls of the elevator showed their rising position and facts about the tower as they climbed. Mayumi ignored the displays and had her face pressed against the glass to get the most of the breathtaking view while the less bold were well back from the glass. She could almost imagine she was flying in the dimly lit elevator. Next to her, Hiro just observed her happiness and was content with that fact as he contemplated the view himself. Most of the landscape below had lights in it except where there were parks, but he knew that some of the dark patches were still rubble that had not been cleared. Tokyo had been rebuilt again, for the third time in 200 years, but it would still be a few years before it was fully redeveloped.
The elevator eventually arrived at the first observation deck. A number of the passengers disembarked, a few new ones boarded, and the elevator did a brief rise to the second observation deck. All of the passengers excitedly walked off onto a wide gallery that circled the tower. The gallery was fully enclosed with large floor to ceiling windows that offered spectacular panoramic views of the city. At this altitude a full enclosure was necessary to protect people from the weather as the winds could be high, the temperature was cooler, and you could even be in the weather as you were in or above the rainclouds.
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| Tokyo at night from the Skytree. Flickr / edocko777 |
“You like history too much, ojisan!” Mayumi called back. She was very fond of her godfather and called him ojisan, for uncle, a term of endearment that she used from before the death of her parents. Running to the huge windows she looked out over the city again. “The city lights are beautiful, it is like a sea of lights in all directions. Look you can even see the grounds of the Imperial Palace there. The entire castle is all lit up!”
Mayumi lived with her aunt’s family, who was her mother’s sister, but had always felt a little like an outsider. For twelve years they had taken care of her since the death of her parents in a terrible car accident, but they cared for their own three children more than her. It wasn’t like they didn’t love her or neglected her, but she felt they just didn’t have enough love to spread around to the extra child they had never expected. On the other hand, Hiro, had always managed to pop in every month to visit her despite his busy schedule. He was a senior sales executive who traveled the globe for Galáxia Japão Pharmaceuticals (GJP), a large Brazillian and Japanese company that kept him on the move. She had known him since she was three and he had played an even more important role in her life after the deaths of her parents. However, she never called him ojisan when her actual aunt and uncle were around as it would have caused problems.
Mayumi returned back to Hiro when she realized that he had not come up to the window and was just staring out. She stood against him and gently held onto his arm. Mayumi was not tall and she easily put her head onto his chest for comfort. Hiro was about 5' 10" and her head only came up to his shoulders.
"I'm sorry," Hiro murmured out. "I'm ruining the day for you. This was supposed to be your happy, belated birthday from me."
Mayumi snapped her head up. "That's ridiculous. You just being here makes me happy! You came back early from Rio just for me."
Hiro smiled. "I just have many things on my mind. I cannot believe you have turned fifteen and have turned into a beautiful young woman. It seems like yesterday that were still piggybacking on my shoulders at the zoo."
"That was a long time ago, ojisan."
"I know, but humour an old man and his memories. I am very proud about how you turned out. You would have made your mother and father very proud too."
"You are going to make me sad if you keep this up."
"I know. I know, but bear with me just a little longer, then we will talk about happy things. I just want to talk about your future."
Mayumi gave the slighted of frowns then nodded in agreement.
"You have done well in school and scored at the top for the national mecha synchronization tests. That is a remarkable achievement that gives you automatic entry into the Japanese Defence Forces Mecha Academy. I'm glad you chose to attend the CAJUN Neo-Ace Academy instead when they offered you a spot. But... I was a little surprised as it is a big move for you."
"I surprised myself, ojisan." Mayumi replied. "I wasn't sure at first, but then I talked about it with my friends and they thought it could be a big opportunity. How many chances like this does a person get in their life? It would be a grand adventure."
"You have become strong," Hiro spoke affirmatively. "I would have told you to go too." He then paused for a moment. "Your adopted parents were very concerned about you moving to Canada on your own, but I convinced them that it would be fine, as it was very prestigious. After all, you would be going to school and training with the best student pilots from Japan, Canada, and Pacifica. The Union would not want their best to come to harm."
"I knew I could count on you, ojisan." Mayumi had guessed her uncle had something to do with the sudden change of mind from her uncle and aunt. "They really respect you, and I'm glad you changed their minds." Mayumi was positively radiant with the news of her uncle's support. "You have always been the best for me!"
Hiro looked her in the eyes. “It was not easy, “ he added in a serious tone. “Your aunt was really worried about you. Remember when you use to have the terrible dreams about the world ending. I know you think they don’t love you as much as their own children, but I remember how desperate they were when their own doctors could not help you. Their doctors said it was just the trauma from the loss of your parents. I finally put them in contact with the right specialist who helped the dreams stop. I hope you appreciate them. I know I do.”
Mayumi’s exuberance calmed down. “I know, ojisan. I’m going to miss my family here, my friends, and Japan. This is going to be serious training as I will be a soldier.”
“I’m glad you understand. They have done a fine job of raising you. And I think you will do just fine in Canada. Your English is good and you will make new friends.”
She gave him a great big hug. Hiro affectionately returned an equally big hug, but a part of his heart was heavy with doubt. Only his real love for Mayumi showed on the surface though. He had watched over the child for a long time and hoped he was doing the right thing. The academy would be good for her talents, but it would put her on a path to danger.
Both of them enjoyed the long hug before Hiro finally spoke out. "Let's get a good view for the illuminations. It will probably be very crowded. Remember, I still have a birthday present for you too! I think you will really like it!"
Mayumi was just all smiles. It was something that Hiro wanted to remember forever.
*****
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