Whimper

A loud beeping stops him.

The boy has gotten only a few steps before a shrill pealing emits from the forest. He jumps and whirls around. "Nani-" but he cuts himself off. Within a bush there's a faded red and blue glow. He bolts toward it. It's the silver disc he had thrown there before.

He grabs it and places it in front of him. A shimmering screen blows up above it. He drops to his knees as the screen fizzles to comprehension. There is a staticky noise and a man appears within it. The boy's jaw drops.

The screen is translucent and shimmery like water. The man in the image leans forward and his eyebrows furrow. He has blonde hair and blue eyes. "This is the Emergency Help Transmission. The code from your device belongs to Persephone Lillis, and you do not appear to be her."

"E... E..." the boy stutters. Then his eyes widen. "Pasefoni. Pasefoni Lilisu."

"Who are you? Please identify yourself. I will assume you are a threat if you do not give us your identity."

The boy shakes his head. His lip is trembling. "Wakarimasen. Boku ga- Boku ga-"

The man in the screen turns in his seat. "Somebody get a translator!" He glances back. "He's Asian. He can't possibly be Japanese though."

The boy grips onto the silver disc. "Pasefoni wa-" but the man on the screen does not appear to be listening. He is sitting in a chair and is swiveled around. "Chinese? I don't know. He doesn't even have a mask. I don't think Persephone's EHT is in Japan anymore. This boy would be dead with the toxic spores the plants produced there."

Another man enters the screen. He has darker hair and slightly slanted eyes. The blonde and him turn to face the boy. The newcomer speaks something in rising and falling tones.

The boy shakes his head. "Wakarimasen. Chuukoku o hanashimasen."

"He's not Chinese," the dark-haired man says. His voice is tinged with an accent. "This boy just spoke Japanese. I cannot translate that well."

"Do what you can." The blonde turns and looks at something that is not shown in the screen. "Security, there's someone out there. Trace the EHT and prepare for danger." He turns back. "Identify yourself, boy."

The dark-haired man says, "Namae wa?"

The boy flinches. "Yamanaka Haruto desu," he blurts. He rattles a slur of his language. The man only nods and listens. "Pasefoni Lilisu ga-"

"Shizukani shite kudasai," the man murmurs. The boy quiets and the dark-haired man turns to the other. The screen fizzles for a brief moment. "He says his name is Haruto Yamanaka. From what I can understand from the rest of it; he's in trouble."

"I'll run a search on him." The blonde's eyes run over something not in the image and his hands type on a small panel. "Ask him where Persephone is."

"Pasefoni wa, doko desuka?"

"Wakarimasen." The boy's thin hands tremble. "Pasefoni-san wa nigeta, u - uchuusen wa ki no ue o tonde itta, sore wa kanojo o kowagatte deshita. Boku ga - A! Iie iie iie-"

The screen briefly dissipates, and then returns. The boy shakes the disc, but the picture does not regain its full clarity. "Kuso! he hisses.

The blonde is pressing buttons rapidly on the panel in front of him. "We're losing connection. What did he say?"

"He says she fled from a spacecraft the flew above the trees. It scared her."

"He must have been traveling with her," the blonde mutters. "I don't know why she'd pick him up."

"He's Japanese. She must have thought we could figure out why he's still alive."

"Ask him what the spacecraft was. I don't think anyone should have been over there but us."

"Donna uchuusen desuka?" the darker-haired man asks.

The screen fizzles. The man's voice is slightly warped. The boy curses. "Wakaranai uchuusen da!" he cries over and over. His eyes are wide and he shakes the disc. The picture barely is visible. "Akai gazou ga aru- arimasu!"

But then the image is gone.

The boy flips the disc over and tears the back out. There are small black cubes in the contents. He rips them out and jams them back in. The screen does not blow up again.

"Muyou!" He flings the disc away from him. His hands are shaking and he lets out a wild cry. "Muyou desu!"

The boy throws himself to his feet and stalks off. The white bag bounces at his hips. He tears at his hair and gives a cry of anguish. But he stops. He swivels around searches through the grass madly. He rips through the underbrush and around the perimeter. He does this for almost a half an hour. Finally his fervor ends when he finds something. He halts, panting, and snatches up a loose piece of fabric hanging from a tree. A few paces later, he finds a black and gold gun. "Pasefoni," he gasps. He grasps the weapon and holds it to his chest with the piece of fabric squeezed in his hand. "Daijobu kudasai."