Rolitania E-Book

Olivia D. Knight

• Herausgeber: BookRix
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

 Rolitania: the fledgling nation that barged onto the scene with an abnormally large amount of money, persuasion, and people willing to move there. The self-proclaimed Queen and Founder of this odd country has never shown her face in public, but it is quite clear that she is merely a child. Several years after its founding, the country appears to be a paradise for its unusual residents. Flourishing, despite the united protests of the world, they live in a secure, enlightened Otakuism. However, their peace is short-lived. Dark forces from outside the country aim to destroy their happiness, starting with the Queen herself. And a seemingly-helpless teenager named Sam just complicates things further. What secrets does Rolitania hide? And just why is this young man so important to the survival of the country?

Leseprobe

Olivia D. Knight

Rolitania

For those who also want to live in a world full of moéBookRix GmbH & Co. KG81371 Munich

Prologue

Ein kampf, das ist nor. Krieg, das ist nor.

Welches ist unvermeidlich ein für tag, ein woche? Jahre? Welches?

Three teenage girls dressed in a rainbow of neon-tinted colors walked down the strip of Takeshita Street, blending in nicely with the small crowd of similarly dressed people. The girls had their schoolbags slung across their shoulders, and the vibrant wigs fastened onto their heads bobbed with every step.

“Hey, Sulu-san,” the girl on the far left nudged the girl beside her and smiled. “What do you think we should do today?” Her short aqua wig matched her natural eye color exactly. The nametag on the eighth grader read ‘Sakai Umi’ in the playful, squiggly shapes of Hiragana.

A small holographic sign floated by them at eye level.

[Want that flawless, doll-like look?]

The voice from it had an airy tone. As it spoke, a video clip played a gentle-looking advertisement, starring a cute actress. Smiling, she pressed the button in the middle of a makeup compact.

[Perfection is only an application away.]

With a strange looking brush, she smeared some of the makeup onto her face. [Then try angelwear’s Persocom-Perfect makeup line.] The innocent looking girl in the commercial tilted her head to the side. [You’ll be glad you pressed that button.]

The girls were so used to those floating ads that they hardly gave a second thought to the product, and walked right past the flashing sign.

“Um…how about we go to the mall in Chiiyiba?” The girl known as Rena Sulu blinked; her pink contacts contrasted perfectly with her green plaid skirt and yellow, long-sleeved uniform top. She had tied the bubblegum wig on her head into a pair of long swishing twintails.

“Sounds good—I heard about this new maid and butler café there. We should go.” On Rena’s right, the other girl, the one in a blond wig with two low spiraling pigtails, suggested this in a mild, happy voice. On her nametag read 'Takizawa Rachel'. “I've been told that not only are there Tsundere butlers, but Yandere maids. That sounds cool, Umi-chan, don't you think? ”

“Oh yeah, I heard they’ve got this awesome ten-layer parfait, right? Sounds good, Taki-chan.” She licked her pink, glossy lips. Since food was Umi's main weakness, the lure of sweets was just too strong to resist.

Giggling, they scuttled along happily, discussing the newest boyband to debut, and raving about the latest updates to their favorite fanfiction stories.

A few more floating holographic signs lingered closer to the buildings and slowly scrolled along the rooftops, most of them several yards long.

Traveling in an opposite direction from the girls, a large group of men passed by the three giggling middle school students. All of the men wore Jedi robes and had Holosabers attached to their waists.

These two groups of people walked past one another without even blinking. It was not an odd occurrence on a busy street such as this. Even more little groups, some in maid outfits, others dressed like bikers, could be seen milling around this particular avenue.

No reason for them to be ridiculed was present, despite their ‘outlandish’ attire. No one would ridicule them in this place, in any case. The reason for it was simple.

Without a doubt, this place was paradise for nerds and geeks of every type, color, and creed. Many of the worldwide community had doubted that such a nation could exist for long, but the past eight years were a living testament to the wrongness of their assumptions. What was the name of this so-called modern-day Elysium? Simple yet chic, it stood out as the embodiment of its people: Rolitania.

The Red String of Fate

You have the strength abandon your friends? Just so you can fulfill your wish, you choose to sacrifice yourself? That is unbearably selfish. Yes, I said it: selfish.

Who do you think you are, dying to save us? Who do you think you are, giving us these emotional scars? I want to know! Tell me! What does ‘friendship’ and ‘love’ mean to you?!! Is it really nothing?

Jessie leaned against the lamppost on the corner of Tatemiso Boulevard and Amakusa Street. Today in outskirts of the Special District right outside of Tokiwadai City, it was a silent, windless afternoon, exactly as the weather channel had predicted. Days like this always made her restless, as the stagnant air was a telltale sign that something ominous was to happen soon.

She did not even have to think twice about it—Jessie could actually feel the tension building in the air, like the smell of ozone before a lightning strike.

Apparently, T.A.M.a.R.A could detect this as well, because she had issued a Priority One mission to Judgment, which meant that Jessie was going to be working on it without question.

It was 4:30 in the afternoon, and Jessie had already watched a number of high school students walk past. She identified at least four different schools’ uniforms, and sighed multiple times. Recalling the Queen’s insistence upon school uniforms for all of the schools in the country, the 30-something woman could only stare into the sky and chuckle.

Looking at the shaking figure beside her, Jessie rolled her eyes. If it had been some rookie assigned to her as backup, she would most definitely be able to handle it. Yet the person who was quaking in anticipation at Jessie’s side was neither a rookie, nor were they as powerless as they seemed to appear.

“Calm down, Chō,” said Jessie smoothly, placing a hand on top of the girl’s head of dark looping curls. “It’s going to be alright.”

The girl next to her was not too much shorter, but one could most certainly tell that she was significantly younger. Her Lolita-style dress was less extravagant than the ones you would see in Neo Harajuku, but for this ordinary street corner, the multiple layers of ruffles on the dress, not to mention the giant bow in her hair, were a little excessive.

“You don’t know that, Papa,” replied the girl, who pouted and crossed her arms. The reason she called Jessie ‘Papa’ was a complicated story, one that most people would have no time for. “We only have one shot at this, and if we fail…” Her entire body stiffened, and considering the girl’s outfit, she suddenly looked like a life-sized doll.

Jessie noticed the blank expression that suddenly glazed over the girl’s features.

“Look, we can just use the Tribute to fold time, that’s all. Don’t worry.” Tapping on the wrist portion of her all-black tactical suit, Jessie tried to move the girl’s thoughts away from somber possibilities. “So cheer up; you’re the one and only Kurokochōhime, right? Aren’t you supposed to be our Queen or something? Don’t chicken out on me, now, Chō.”

Jessie was teasing her, obviously, but as a whole, the advice was sound.

After hearing those words, Kuro took a deep breath and relaxed her shoulders. Embarrassed at her little moment of paranoia, she closed her deep brown eyes and furrowed her brow slightly. The girl folded her hands neatly in front of her and spoke in a more refined tone than earlier. Each movement was now slightly modified, most likely in consideration of Jessie’s earlier statement, and with only a sweeping glance one could tell how much more elegant and careful Kuro’s actions suddenly had become.

Yes, without a doubt, this person was ‘The Queen’. It was not this, though, about Rolitania that was the most shocking thing.

“You are right—perhaps I do need to calm down,” said Kuro. Jessie was one of her oldest friends, so she had no trouble following the piece of advice she was given.

Noting the more formal tone the girl had taken, Jessie refrained from rolling her eyes. Smiling now, the older-looking woman nodded.

“Exactly, Chō, there’s nothing to worry about.”

With that declaration, Jessie slid her fingers along the sleeve of her suit slightly. It was tight-fitting, like a wetsuit, but when one looked closely it was very textured, with several web-like veins running up and down the arms and legs. Actually, the entire suit was a one-piece designed to look like separate pieces of clothing.

It covered half of her neck, and the top half was a zippable jacket top, but when opened, you could tell that it was all a single piece on the inside. The bottom portion of the suit stopped at Jessie’s ankles. Her military-grade combat boots completed the entire curious ensemble.

If any of the passersby got too curious, they would have assumed that these two were a couple of enthusiastic cosplayers on their way to one of the many conventions annually held in Tokiwadai.

However enjoyable that may have sounded, it certainly was not the case. Kuro and Jessie would have loved to be swinging around holographic lightsabers at the Star Expo being held this afternoon, but they had already received their mission.

Passing along in front of them across the street was a boy.

At first glance, he was of a decent height, around 5’ 11”, but due to his innate insecurity, the teen was slightly hunched over. He had a shock of light blonde hair that looked like he had overslept and not bothered to comb it at all.

For the most part, T.A.M.a.R.A. analyzed and categorized the data gleaned from its observations by way of personal rank. Each person was ranked by overall national importance. If it were a citizen, unless they had an existing criminal record they would be ranked very low. If it were someone already identified as a flight risk in another country, then he or she would be placed relatively high.

For example, the President of the United States or another influential figure would be ranked somewhere in the single digits.

However, this boy was different.

His name was Samuel Stevens, he was seventeen years old, and he was about to do something very alarming. However, what would shock many Judgment officers would be that, his rank always took up the #1 spot on T.A.M.a.R.A’s list, no matter what.

That was why T.A.M.a.R.A. had put this case on the top of the list in Judgment’s docket. It was also the same reason that the Queen would be sitting in on this mission as well—she had gotten the alert only mere seconds after T.A.M.a.R.A had finished the analysis.

Kuro gripped the front of her dress and steadied her breathing. If she was going to do this, it had to be done the same way as she remembered.

Watching the Queen prepare herself, Jessie donned a solemn face. “We’re counting on you to bring him back to us, Chō, alright? Just focus.”

As if she didn’t already know.

“I realize that.” Kuro did not need to be reminded that she needed to focus. “I need you and the team to be on standby with EMS; that’s all I ask.”

“Rodger.” To cut the already stiff atmosphere, Jessie gave a playful salute. A second later, her roguish grin faded again, and her face was all-too concerned. “But be careful. I know you’re strong, Chō, but…even diamonds can break.”

A bitter frown emerged from Kuro’s lips, marring her face with a somewhat sinister gloom.

“You think I don’t know that?” she hissed in a low voice.

The girl hopped off the street curb and disappeared into nothingness right before Jessie’s eyes.

If there was anyone to blame for his suffering, he had to point the finger at himself.

Blood stained his face. Blood stained his hands. Blood soaked through the school uniform he was wearing. Blood was splattered everywhere.

All of it belonged to him.

Something about the sight of his own blood was calming, despite how it pooled in semi-congealed puddles around him. Watching as his life slowly drained away felt somewhat surreal. Yes, it was terrifying and fuzzy and cold, but also strangely satisfying. In a way, he was finally being set free from his body.

Samuel would have laughed, but he had no strength left to do so. His vision was already clouded with tears, but now darkness wavered on the edges of his vision.

It was coming for him, slowly but surely.

The darkness was slowly closing in around him. It was as if he were an insect, and the incoming oblivion was a great hand, ready to crash down upon him.

His breaths were getting shallower, now.

If he were to wait long enough, then maybe this time he really would die.

What a laugh. Death? Wasn’t that what he had wished for so desperately? Wasn’t that what he often dreamed about?

Was this not the escape he had planned?

Tears mixed into the blood, diluting the redness spattered on the floor below.

Speaking of the floor, it was a little too hard for his liking.

He had tried to kill himself quickly, but he had been too hasty with the box cutter, and ended up slicing the wrong spot. Now he lay motionless in silent agony as the strings of Fate surrounded him, bound to drag him away and rip apart his existence into nothingness.

Mistakes woven upon mistakes: the bleeding tapestry of his life.

A ‘Chance Encounter’

What is truly ‘real’? What is simply ‘fantasy’? Caught in a whirlwind, I was swept away from your fallacies. Everything is connected. We all have the same origin. Nothing is coincidence. Nothing is unplanned. Deny the eventuality of your Fate, and you will live to rue the day you were born.

Rumors on the Internet are as numerous as the grains of sand on a beach. Most of them are based in pure fantasy, but there are a few rare instances where a rumor has turned out to be true.

Like, for instance, in this moment, where Sam found himself staring straight at a living legend.

Darker than Death’s embrace, her hair flowed behind her like a cape.

Four burly teenagers stood in front them. Reviewing the situation, Sam noticed the uncomfortable sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Remarkably, though, this feeling of fear had not been for himself.

It was for this group of boys in front of him.

Sam could not think of anything to say, merely whimper from his seat on the ground, as he looked ahead towards the scene that had unfolded before him.

“You better get on your way, ojou-chan,” warned the boy standing in front. “We don’t want to hurt you, alright?”

“Tch.” The girl gritted her teeth and flung herself forward. Her dainty dress-shoe made a soft clack as she propelled her body towards the self-appointed leader of these thugs.

He had only half a second to widen his eyes in surprise. With both hands, she slugged him square in the stomach, her palms flat, cleanly nailing his solar plexus. In shock, he stumbled backwards, crashing right into his not-so-confident followers, who caught him.

“Ron!” shouted his comrades.

His eyes had rolled to the back of his head, and from his mouth spilled white foam.

“You trash,” muttered the girl.

The others were trying to hoist their incapacitated friend onto their shoulders, however, this girl was not about to let him leave. She sprinted towards the retreating villains and launched herself off the ground as if she were tackling the high jump in gym class. After what looked like an impossible leap, she landed right in front of the escaping boys.

The other three teens felt all of their blood vessels turn into icicles.

“No way,” whispered the boy who was supporting Ron’s left shoulder, “NO WAAAAAAY!”

Three blows landed. Four giant thuds echoed throughout the empty street bathed in moonlight.

Sam shuddered.

This was the same girl who had saved him from Death once before. She had disappeared before he woke up, but there was no mistaking her for anyone else.

Especially not with that length of impressive hair, let alone that unforgettable expression. She was scrutinizing him so sharply that he could feel the fear cutting through him.

It was hollow, devoid of any emotion, save for her eyes. Those eyes were so furious that he believed that they could slice through steel.

In fact, unknown to Samuel, they actually could.

It was understandable to pity oneself, but actually going through with such an act made him feel ridiculous. At the time it sounded logical, but in reality, he could not fathom why such a cloud of darkness had obscured his sanity.

It had started, he reasoned, when he had allowed himself to be swayed by a certain 3D girl. However, the series of events that followed had been less than dignified. Eventually, he had succumbed to the plight of becoming a hikkikomori, which worried his family considerably. After all, he had quit his “respectable” job at Subday, quit school, locked himself in his room, spent all of his time watching anime or playing games, and occasionally went on forums to complain bitterly about 3D girls.

That was the pitiful life he had led up until the internal errors within his thought processes began to pile up in infinite loops. The despair that stemmed from his solitude had begun to drive him insane. Or, rather, the mental damage from his unfortunate encounter with that particular girl at school had eventually led him to believe that there was no joy in his life.

Either way, during some of his more idle moments in front of the computer, Samuel had come across a strange forum that had a large portion of its members who were confirmed residents of Rolitania.

The name of this odd message board happened to be: "La Channel8".

For some inexplicable reason he found himself spending more and more time on this board. There was a lot of so-called credible information about Rolitania, and some of it intrigued him. After all, his last visit to the Special District had been oddly surreal, and many of the others on the board had had similar experiences as well.

Looking at the semi translucent 51-inch screen of his Desktop eDesk, Sam scanned through the walls of text in front of him.

The Special District had always been a strange place to be, especially at night. Seeing Terrifying things was just one of the reasons that Rolitanians in general did not carelessly loiter in such a place. Unless you lived there, and that was unlikely enough, then you would not stick around that place. Why, if one were sane, you didn't wander there after the sun went down.

But the existence of such a place was very sketchy in the eyes of the public.

Sam pulled up several forums about the Special District. They all said the same things. No one really knew what went on in there, or why it was deemed ‘Special’.

“Why do you have to go through a checkpoint to get in?” he muttered to himself. “It just doesn’t make sense.”

None of these posts was making any sense. Some of them even had poorly exposed photos of ‘supposed strange happenings’ that went on during the nighttime hours.

Disgusted with his sparse findings, Sam clicked on a stray hyperlink in a post that said “Urban Legends of the Special District”, in all caps. This led to yet another thread, deeper into the La Channel8 forum, where all the creepy conspiracy theorists lurked. Of course, despite all his experience with online message boards, what Samuel had not yet figured out was that once you pulled one thread, it lead to another, and another, and by the time you got to the end of the piece of yarn, you were left with a heap of useless string, and your sweater would be ruined beyond repair.

Nevertheless, in his wanderings, Sam had come across a few interesting, but quite unbelievable claims.

SECRET DISTRICT IS COVER UP FOR SECRET ESPER RESEARCH LAB

TWO HEADED FISH-MEN ROAM AROUND AT NIGHT

LIVING SLIME COMPLETLY DEVOURS TWO WHOLE BUILDINGS

MYSTERIOUS FLASH OF LIGHT REVEALS SECRET LASER TESTS

THE UNDRESSTRESS IS REAL! SHE WAS SIGHTED IN DAYLIGHT!

Some of there were too good to be true, he reasoned. Of course, with a country full of Otaku, no wonder the conspiracies sounded like bad Ideas for fanfiction. He was going to give up his delving into this madness, but something he read made him pause and gasp softly. The words he had just read caused his thoughts to stop so completely that he had no breath to speak. Noting how the dryness in his throat was making it close up, Sam unsuccessfully tried to gulp in fear.

In the middle of the glowing screen in front of him was a link to an Urban Legend he felt was actually grounded in some truth:

A MYSTERIOUS, CUTE GIRL WILL AIDE YOU IF YOU ARE IN TROUBLE

His mouse hovered hesitatingly over the link. From within the hand that clutched his mouse, Sam’s heart was threatening to burst open his own fingers, it was beating so hard. Biting his lip and dashing aside whatever doubts, Sam clicked it.

[I hear that if you're in trouble while in the special district, a cute superheroine one will come to rescue you from the danger!] read the post.

This thread was not old, but there were a few already speaking about it. He did not want to join in the conversation himself, and so far it already was turning out to be one giant argument.

OutbreakScion: Well, maybe it’s staged beforehand. I mean think about it. The government pays some acting troupe to stage a mugging, and suddenly this actress pops out of nowhere and pretends to save you.

MerryMarry: Wow. I sense someone is a LOT skeptical. I mean, it happened to a few of my friends at school, so I am tempted to believe it.

Momochan: I dunno. I was ‘saved’ by this girl, and to be honest, she was less than heroic.

OutbreakScion:All of you are so gullible. Besides, @momochan, what about her seemed ‘unheroic’?

PetralkaMon: Hmmmm. I think I saw a picture of her on the Internet before. That heroine in the Special District is a little…too cute to not be a hired actress.

Momochan: Well, it was just a feeling. But the rescue was…off.

OutbreakScion: So like I said. Totally a bunch of actors.

KiriKira:He never said it felt fake. Momochan said it felt off, @outbreakscion.

Momochan:Thanks @kirikira. Yeah, I mean, she saved me and all, but it wasn’t like she was happy to help. In fact I felt a little guilty that I couldn’t handle myself. But it was the aura she gave off. It felt…more like how a villain’s aura could be.

MerryMarry: Well that makes sense now! I wonder if we’re talking about the same person, but my friends said something similar.

OutbreakScion: Huh? Explain, both of you.

MerryMarry: What was the most memorable thing about the whole thing?

Momochan: That’s how it felt. I can’t explain it any other way. Like, the way she looked at me seemed to swallow up my hope. It was like…

“…staring into a black hole.”

The overhanging gloom of darkness lingered within the room like the acrid smell of cigarette smoke. The only light was the otherworldly glow of the television screens that took up the entire wall. In front of these screens was a dark lump of a body, wrapped up in several quilts. Within this sushi roll of a person, there was a hole, big enough just for their face. A tuft of black hair poked out from this hole as well.

Staring at the screens, the girl reached from within the folds of the quilts, to the bowl in front of her.

It was full of tiny chocolate covered cookies. For the fifth time today, she realized that it was too far for her hands to grasp.

Still watching the program in front of her, she frowned and furrowed her brow.

Several cookies floated upwards slowly, only to quietly drift into her open mouth.

Chewing the ultra-sweet food, she blushed in satisfaction and continued to watch.

This process would have repeated again and again, for another eighteen hours, if left unchecked.

Behind the unsuspecting girl, a figure slowly rose up from the darkness.

The lights turned on.

Desperately covering her face with a quilt, the girl clutched her eyes in pain.

Khailie Glover, the instigator in all this, looked down upon the cowering form of Rolitania’s queen, Kurokochōhime.

Kuro had watched over 12+ hours of anime, so it was understandable that her advisor/older sister would interrupt her binge watching. Of course, Kuro would try to claim that she was merely having an 'anime marathon'.

The one and only Princess-Queen shivered at the sudden withdrawal of her audio-visual drug. Thin streams of saline fluid streamed down her face. At the moment she was still connected to Animeland, so her brain hadn’t adjusted yet. This resulted in her unconscious use of the Japanese language.

“Why,” murmured the girl in shaking despair. “Aneechan, why did you take it away?”

Looking at the neurotic state that Kuro slipped into, Khailie sighed, almost pitying the youngster. However, Khailie was not going to give in to her little sister’s tears. Almost a week had passed since the special mission Kuro and Jessie went on, so enough was enough. It did not matter to Khailie whether or not if she was the leader of a country; this girl curled up at her feet was not allowed to go back to her unhealthy NEET lifestyle.

“Are you going to sit here and mope? Or are you going to go to school and win him over with the power of moé?” Khalie adjusted her glasses. The teen clenched a fist and stared at the lump of NEET lying on the floor in agony.

“But Aneechan—,” began Kuro. She didn’t want a lecture from ‘The Queen of the Earth’ this early in the morning. Or was it late at night? She couldn’t tell, because time had no meaning after the tenth hour.

Khalie’s loud voice sliced Kuro’s pathetic whines in half. “O-ho? You’re going to wait until some other cute girl scoops him up?”

A rumbling in the distance, similar to the gathering of thunderclouds, echoed through the room. Rising up like drunken zombie, Kuro staggered to her feet.

“What was that?” inquired the voice colder than frost.

Trembling, her sister looked aside nervously. Maybe Khailie should have stayed quiet after all.