Misaka
“Daddy! I’m sorry!” I wept. “I just wanted to be loved and popular!” Even through my tears I knew that what I had just said was one of the most cliché things I COULD say. “Misaka. Do you realize what you have to do?” My father asked me. “You want me to make everything right?” I really had no idea what I could do, there were too many options. “I need you to live like a normal person. Make friends, have a fun school life. Just be a normal child for once. A child that doesn’t rely on money or popularity.” “Is that all? Is that all you want from me?” I asked father through tears. “That’s all I ever wanted from you.” “Then why couldn’t you have just said this to me!? Why did you have to put me in this place!?” “Because you never would have listened otherwise! I have told you these things but you never listened! Putting you in a place like this is the only way you would understand!” Alright. I understood now. Even though this whole situation was completely strange and off the wall, I understood. “I’ll do it. I’ll do my best to live like a normal girl. Just…just let me leave this place.” “You can’t do that quite yet,” the voice came back, “You must go into the next room and step inside the remaining pod.” “Pod? Why?” “Because, as I said, the world is ending and I need you to be here for when it is safe.” I didn’t care anymore. No matter how ridiculous this whole situation was, I was ready to do whatever I needed to make my father happy. So, as I walked into the next room, I didn’t even pay attention to Junichi lying there on the floor. I just stepped into the open pod and let whatever happened next, happen.
Tomari
“All these pods. I know these people! Yuki, sensei, Misaka…” I said to Junichi from across the room. “Yeah, but what about this fourth one?” He asked back. “I don’t know, let me see…” I walked over to Junichi and the fourth pod. “It’s hard to see inside, the inside is frosted over.” “Tomari, Junichi, you’ve done well.” The voice spoke up. “Y-you!” I yelled at the voice, wherever it was coming from. “You lied to me! You said Junichi was dead! You tricked me!” “What? What are you talking about, Tomari?” Junichi, standing beside me, asked confusedly. “You showed me a dead body and kept telling me I was all out of time! YOU SHOWED ME A DEAD BODY!” “I’m sorry that you had to see that…however, it was the only way to make you move on.” The voice said. “No it wasn’t! You could have just said that Junichi was waiting!” “Yes, but you would not have moved as fast as you did, and I really would like to get this game over with.” “Game? Tomari, what is going on?” Junichi asked. And also, what do you mean we’ve done well? I’ve done nothing except run to this godforsaken room only to find Junichi alive and paralyzed. Speaking of which, “Why couldn’t Junichi move when I got here!?” “Is that really what you should be asking right now? There are so many other questions you could ask. Like, where are you? Why are you here? Who put you here?” The voice said this in a condescending tone. It was mocking me. “Alright then, answer those questions as well!” I yelled. “I can’t. But I can tell you why Junichi could not move earlier and I can tell you how, once you set him against the wall, he could.” I waited for the voice to continue and give me an answer. “Junichi, when placed in this room, was given an injection of a paralyzing agent. It works to stop the spine, however at the same time, it increases the nervous system’s ability to feel. It’s all very technical and even if I were to explain it, you wouldn’t understand. Now, when you moved him to the wall, he was injected with an antidote of sorts. Does that cover everything?” So, the voice was mocking me. Does it think I’m an idiot? “What was the point!? Why go through all that trouble?!” This was all ridiculous, none of it made any sense and it seems as though it was just some idiotic plot device in a story. “Well, that’s simple. As Junichi lay paralyzed on the floor, he fell asleep. During that time, the people that you currently see in the pods came through. If Junichi had been awake, they may have never stepped into the pods and instead would have sat with Junichi until something changed. But nothing would have changed. No matter how long they sat with him. That is why we needed him asleep. And once everyone was in the pods, we needed you to come in. But for that, Junichi needed to be awake to convince you to step into the final pod.” “But there are no empty pods! And what are the pods even for!?” The voice continued with its rant, “You don’t need to know what the pods are for. All you need to know is that the world has ended and you 5 are among the last survivors. Now, get into the pod.” “Which pod!? I told you, there are all filled!” “Are they?” The voice said sarcastically. After it said this, one of the pods opened. It was the one that had frosted over on the window. Inside, it was empty. “Get in.” The voice demanded. “What about Junichi? What is he going to do?” I asked, looking at Junichi, who was standing beside me with a look of stupefaction on his face. “He has a part that he still has to fufill. Now get in the pod.” “I don’t know what is going on, Tomari, but I think you should get in the pod.” Junichi said to me.
