Truancy City

by Isamu Fukui

  Takan thought about that. He turned to Jack. “The idea has merit.”

  “I agree.” Jack nodded. “A straight fight would never work against the government’s equipment and resources. However, a guerrilla war might have great success. There are fifty-seven districts in the City covering an enormous area, with millions of people. There are only twenty thousand soldiers under Iris’ command. That’s a drop in an ocean.”

  Cross saw a problem with this.

  “The Militia at its peak only had around ten thousand members ready to fight at any one time,” he said. “I’m not sure what the Truancy had, exactly—”

  “Our numbers were similar,” Takan said.

  “—but that’s still not enough to kick the Government out. The weapons they have are far beyond us, and even if our casualties are one for one, we’ll all be wiped out in the end.”

  Jack shook his head. “You’re thinking in terms of the old conflict, Cross. This can be different.”

  Cross blinked. Takan also looked puzzled. The albino looked on impassively.

  “Can you explain that?” Cross asked.

  “This isn’t just a matter of freedom for students anymore, Cross,” Jack said. “I’ve been hearing that a lot of adults are starting to protest the Government’s occupation and policies—they don’t trust change, and they increasingly view Iris and her regime as alien and unwelcome. This presents you with an extraordinary opportunity.”

  Cross and Takan looked at each other. Neither of them had considered the idea that adults might back their side. The albino said nothing, but stood up as if satisfied. She quietly excused herself from the table.

  “Look, I’ve kept Tack here hidden for this long, and it’s not been easy with supplies being what they are,” Jack said. “But now that Cross is here, he provides a missing piece. Together the two of you can call for united resistance throughout the City. Once it starts, I guarantee it will snowball from there.”

  “Where should we start, though?” Cross asked. “The Government has control of all the broadcasts. Ever since Zyid infiltrated Penance Tower they moved those controls to City Hall.”

  “You won’t need the broadcasts,” Jack said. “Start from the bottom up. Head into the deep City, to the districts where people are the hungriest and most disaffected. You will find only allies there.”

  Takan nodded, and Cross began to feel a sense of elation. They had a real plan now, one that stood a chance of working. A united City, Truants and students fighting alongside each other, no longer seemed like an abstract concept.

  “When should we leave?” Takan asked. “There’s no point to staying here for long. I can call for some Truants from the deep City to meet us.”

  “How about this evening, right before sundown?” Cross suggested. “The sooner the better. The Government is looking for us both.”

  Takan nodded in agreement, then turned to Jack. Father and son looked at each other.

  “You don’t plan to come, do you dad?”

  Jack smiled. “Sharp as always, my Tack. No, I’ll be more useful to you here. I can stay behind and spy on the Government—they still believe me to be one of their loyal agents in the population.”

  “You were a Government agent?” Cross blurted.

  Jack nodded. “For many years my job was to keep tabs on the Mayor. You could even say that it was one of my reports that brought Iris to this City.”

  Takan looked away, an unreadable expression on his face. Cross frowned.

  “What made you change sides?” he asked.

  “My son,” Jack said simply. “When he returned from the dead, came back to me, I realized what I’d done in my grief. Now I’m trying to undo it.” He sighed and looked down at his plate. “Being trusted by the Government has its uses. I still get occasional briefings, and I’m friendly with the local garrison. Before you leave I can provide you with all sorts of information about troop deployment, camp locations, things like that.”

  Cross sat in silence, trying to absorb all of that. Despite Jack’s shocking admission, what had surprised him most of all was that he had so readily turned on the Government for his son’s sake. Rothenberg would have thrown him to the wolves without hesitation.

  Cross was so caught up in his thoughts that he barely noticed it when the albino emerged with Zen, placed a hand on his shoulder, and whispered a single word into his ear.

  “Good-bye.”

  Cross distractedly waved a hand in farewell. A moment later, the front door slammed shut. Cross noticed that both Takan and Jack were looking at him curiously. Then he realized what had just happened.

  “Excuse me,” he said, jumping to his feet.

  Cross ran out the door and found the albino walking leisurely down the empty street, hand in hand with Zen.

  “Wait!” Cross called.

  They paused, then turned around, looking at Cross expectantly.

  “Where are you going?” Cross demanded. “Were you going to leave just like that? I thought you wanted to see the City free!”

  “That’s a lot of questions at once.” The albino smiled, a warm breeze rustling her white hair. “We’re going off to find somewhere we can settle down again. Zen and I enjoyed meeting you, but there’s a war coming now, and that is something we cannot follow you into.”

  Zen nodded vigorously at that. Cross felt a lump in his throat. This was too sudden. In the time that they’d been together Cross had come to rely on the albino’s strength, her wisdom, her presence. He had begun to take those things for granted.

  Cross swallowed. “But the City’s freedom—”

  “Has a chance now,” the albino said. “We’ve given it that chance.”

  “I’m still your student, there’s still a lot I can learn that might be useful!”

  “You’re now well equipped to learn those lessons yourself.” She smiled. “I told you Cross, that you would be my student as long as our journey lasted. Well, now it’s over. Go forth and do as you will.”

  This was it. She was really leaving. Cross felt a pain he’d only ever felt once before—the pain of parting with someone dear. Cross found himself blinking away tears. The albino stepped forward and wrapped him in an embrace that was gentle and familiar, but this time it had a touch of finality.

  “Thank you,” Cross said. “For everything. You were a lot of things I’d never had before; a guardian, a mentor, a friend…”

  “What about me?” Zen complained.

  Cross laughed, then withdrew and hugged Zen too.

  “You’re a good kid,” Cross said. “You can have the life I never could. I’m going to fight so everyone can have that life.”

  Zen looked at Cross seriously—with Cross kneeling they were almost the same height—and nodded. “Someday I’ll fight too.”

  The albino looked a little sad at that, but said nothing. She took Zen’s hand, gave one last glance at Cross, and turned to leave. Cross watched them go until they turned a corner and vanished from sight. Then he returned to the house. There were still plans to be made.

  * * *

  Iris stepped into the apartment and found a lot of commotion packed into the tiny space. Soldiers were still going over every inch of it, checking for hidden compartments, loose floorboards, or anywhere else that a teenager might be hidden. They had only expected to find one fugitive here—the discovery of a second warranted a thorough search. Iris returned the soldiers’ salutes as she passed them by, heading straight for a door that was slightly ajar.

  Inside the bedroom, things were much calmer. There was only one boy, dressed in black, sitting on the floor against the wall. His broken ceramic sword was propped upright as he loosely held it by the handle. He had his sunglasses off, Iris realized. She wasn’t used to seeing his eyes, even when they were closed, as they were now.

  “Congratulations, Umasi.”

  Umasi raised a lazy hand in greeting. “Good evening to you too.”

  Iris smiled. “I heard you helped resolve a little problem.”<
br />
  “There were two fugitives in this room,” he said. “The boy got the girl out the window. I happened to be outside. Incapacitated her before she got too far.”

  Iris glanced around the room. The only window was indeed open. Various, seemingly random articles of clothing littered the floor. The bed was clearly ruffled, the sheets scattered.

  “Were you interrupting anything, perchance?” she asked.

  “Apparently.”

  “How did they take it?”

  “Not well.” Umasi shook his head. “They didn’t like being separated. The girl calmed down after I explained they weren’t going to be killed. The boy was inconsolable when he heard about his parents.”

  “What about the parents?”

  Umasi shrugged. “They’ll face a court-martial, obviously. I did my best to reassure them about their son. I think they believed me, for the most part. They’re being questioned right now.”

  He looked tired. It was the lack of sunglasses, Iris thought. Without them he somehow seemed smaller, more human. The regret on his face was easy to read.

  “You did a great job, Umasi,” Iris said gently. “You should be proud.”

  Umasi smiled wryly. “Did you come all the way down here just to try to make me feel better?”

  Iris shook her head, though she suspected her next words would do exactly that.

  “No,” she said. “I came because I managed to get you an official position. The one you wanted.”

  Umasi’s eyes snapped open, and he stared up at her in surprise.

  “When does it go into effect?”

  “Technically, it’s already done,” Iris said. “If you’d like, I can announce it right now.”

  Umasi shook his head.

  “That should be saved for a more formal occasion,” he said. “We need to take our time to make sure it has the maximum impact. Ideally, we might placate some of the angry citizens.”

  Iris nodded. She had been thinking the same thing herself. The protests from the adult citizenry were becoming an increasing concern as the reeducation program entered full swing.

  A soldier entered the room and saluted Iris.

  “General, HQ has an urgent message for you,” the man said. “It’s about Rothenberg.”

  Iris frowned. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Umasi tense up.

  “What is it?” she demanded.

  “Colonel Hines arrived at the apartment as scheduled today. He found the front door broken down,” the soldier explained. “The apartment looks like it was ransacked. Rothenberg is missing.”

  Iris brushed her forehead with her knuckles.

  “What about the tracking device?”

  “We’ve already checked. It says that he’s currently in District 20 and still moving.”

  Umasi jerked in surprise. He stood up.

  “Iris, let me investigate this,” he said. “I’ll find him.”

  “Umasi, with the tracking device it’ll be child’s play to—”

  “This is about more than just Rothenberg himself,” Umasi insisted, sheathing his sword. “This might be a coincidence, or it might be very important. Please trust me when I say that I need to get to District 20 as soon as possible.”

  Iris hesitated. “Are you rested enough? You’ve had quite a day. First the hospital visit, then the raid, now this.”

  “I’ve had busier days before.”

  Iris nodded. She turned to the soldier.

  “Get him a helicopter. Take him wherever he wants to go.”

  * * *

  As the sky dimmed and the sun began to go down, Takan and Cross stood out on the street, ready to bid a final farewell to Jack. Both of them carried bags stuffed with food and equipment and precious documents. It occurred to Cross that he had only just gotten to know the albino and her son before trading them in for a new companion—one that he knew almost nothing about. Cross was also worried about meeting the Truants that Takan had summoned to join them at the edge of District 20.

  Takan, however, seemed to have all of his attention focused on his father. The two bid each other good-bye, promising to see each other again. Cross felt awkward and entirely left out as the two hugged.

  His discomfort didn’t last long. Soon enough, Takan and Cross were walking together down the street, sticking to the growing shadows whenever they could. The Truancy’s leader had his trench coat on again, and Cross could catch glimpses of his sheathed sword at his side. Cross ignored the contrast he made dressed in plain street clothes, armed with just a knife.

  Neither of them seemed to be able to think of anything to say, unlike the albino, with whom conversation had come easily. Tired of the heavy silence, Cross decided to break it.

  “So, how did you get involved in the Truancy in the first place?”

  Takan glanced at Cross. “Revenge,” he said simply. “My sister was killed in a crossfire between an Enforcer and a Truant.”

  “So you joined up so you could fight the Enforcers.”

  “Something like that.”

  Takan’s expression was blank and utterly unreadable.

  Cross grunted. “Floe mentioned you had some secrets in your past.”

  “Floe?”

  Cross felt a fresh pain from somewhere. It took him a few moments to realize that he missed her.

  “A girl in my squad,” Cross explained. “She was a Truant before she joined us.”

  “I see.” Takan pursed his lips. “Oh, right, I think I remember someone by that name. We thought we lost her in a battle, later heard from our spies that she’d switched sides. So, she ended up in your squad?”

  “Yeah,” Cross said. “She told us a lot about you.”

  “Did she?” Takan sounded amused. “What did she say?”

  Cross hesitated—was it really a good idea to confront him about this now? Deciding that if they were going to work together he would have to know, Cross plunged head-on.

  “She said you killed your predecessor, Zyid.”

  Silence. Then laughter.

  “Well, that rumor did get around.” Takan tilted his head down so that his face was cast into shadow. “It’s true.”

  Cross stopped in his tracks. “Takan, why—”

  But Takan had stopped as well, suddenly tense. For a moment Cross thought that the Truant was going to attack him. Then he too noticed the dark shape that had staggered its way into the street in front of them. The shape of a massive man with a hammer.

  Heart pounding, Cross drew his knife with a shaking hand. Rothenberg roared his challenge.

  “I’VE FOUND YOU, BOY!”

  Takan winced and glanced at Cross. “Friend of yours?”

  Cross grimaced but did not reply. Why did this have to happen now, in front of Takan? Just seeing Rothenberg and hearing his voice evoked childhood terrors. No matter how hard he tried to concentrate his instincts told him to cower and flee.

  Takan stared at Cross, then at Rothenberg, and seemed to understand. He lay a hand on Cross’ shoulder.

  “I can handle this, Cross,” Takan said. “Why don’t you go on ahead? Get to the rendezvous point. I’ll catch up in a bit.”

  Cross twitched. “But—”

  “I can tell that this isn’t an enemy you want to fight,” Takan said sharply. “Don’t worry, I won’t take long.”

  Cross hesitated. Rothenberg roared again and began approaching with heavy steps. In an instant Cross was reminded of the tantrum he had thrown in the auditorium back in District 2. He cringed at the resemblance.

  Something clicked then, and Cross turned to flee down a different street. Rothenberg made to follow, but Takan placed himself in the way, drawing his sword, ready to fight.

  “Stop!”

  Takan and Rothenberg turned to see who had yelled. It was a grown man with brown hair and a mustache, clutching a metal pole from a broken street sign.

  “Dad?” Takan blurted. “What are you doing here?”

  “I heard this animal all the way from the house and c
ame running,” Jack said, gripping the pole tighter. “Keep going, Tack. I’ll take care of this.”

  “I can handle it, dad.”

  “You don’t understand.” Jack shook his head. “Look at his body armor. If he’s equipped like that, it means the Government is tracking him. They won’t be far behind.”

  Takan glanced at Rothenberg’s gear, suddenly indecisive. Rothenberg, for his part, glared at Jack.

  “Jack!” he snarled. “I never thought I’d run into you again—and you’re this brat’s father? A pair of weaklings and failures. I’m going to enjoy killing you both.”

  Jack ignored him.

  “I’m sorry, Tack,” he said in a pained voice. “This whole thing is my fault. If only I’d told you the truth … if I’d never come to this damned City…”

  Takan shook his head. “No dad, it’s just as much my fault.”

  “I’ve suffered your death once already; that was quite enough,” Jack said. “Go after Cross. I can afford to be found by the Government. You two can’t.”

  “He’ll kill you!” Takan protested.

  “I said run! That’s an ord—” Jack shook his head. “Tack … please. Go. I’m begging you.”

  Takan wavered for a moment, glanced again at Rothenberg and his Government equipment, then nodded.

  “I love you, dad.”

  “I love you too, Tack. Always did.”

  With that, Takan sheathed his sword and ran after Cross. Rothenberg growled in frustration as he made to follow, only to find his path blocked again, this time by Jack. Rothenberg glowered.

  “Very sweet of you, Jack,” he snarled, “but it’ll only buy them a minute.”

  Jack raised his pole. “That’ll be enough. Your legs don’t seem to be in great shape.”

  “You know, I always thought that you were an insufferable paper pusher, an example of everything wrong with this City’s bureaucracy.” Rothenberg spat. “I’ve wanted to do this for a long time.”

  “I always thought you were an animal.” Jack shook his head. “I know your history—you’re here to hunt down your own son, aren’t you?”