Hikaru knew where he needed to go: Kigen Library, in Mizukagami. But how would he get there? He needed an adult. He needed his mother.
Chiyo Chiba was twenty-seven solar cycles old. Her long, deep-black hair fell untidily over her shoulders. Dark circles and premature wrinkles marked her delicate face. Her brown eyes remained dull, distant, as though trapped in an illusion from which she could not wake.
Her slender body left her bones prominent beneath dry, worn skin. She wore battered sweats and moved like a broken whisper, wavering between despair and brief flashes of control.
Hikaru waited for one of those moments. He approached her and lowered his eyes. "Okaasan… can you take me to Kigen Library?"
Chiyo narrowed her eyes.
Her son's dark irises reminded her of his bastard father's. A coward who had fled to Kurayami no Sora, perhaps in search of the thorny embrace of the Ninkyō dantai.
"What do you want at the library, Hika-chibi?" Her gentle voice enveloped the boy.
Hikaru recognized traces of a sweetness life had corrupted in that tone. "I want a French dictionary."
Chiyo's eyes widened. "Shh! Are you crazy? Don't say that out loud. Mr. Saito's been putting weird ideas in your head."
Hikaru began gesturing energetically. "Mr. Saito has nothing to do with it!" His little hands found his mother's long fingers and clasped them. "Please."
Some forgotten string vibrated within Chiyo. For a moment, she remembered the months she had spent at university.
Before everything fell apart. Before Hikaru's fucking father, whose name she preferred not to utter. Before she began pursuing chemistry in laboratories. Now, she injected it into her own body. Her interrupted future ran through her veins. She looked at her son. She did not want Hikaru to end up facing that abyss too.
Before surrendering to the next dose, she gathered the strength to dress herself and the boy as best she could.
How long had it been since she had gone downtown?
Mirai Yokocho stretched around Kigen Library. The neighborhood buzzed with nanoshops, art studios, markets, and exotic establishments lining the busy streets. Chaotic colors spread across the façades, mingling with electrifying sounds and luminous holograms.
Chiyo felt the sidelong looks cast her way. She was out of place. But whenever she looked at Hikaru, she found his face lit with enthusiasm. How could she ignore that?
They entered the library.
Dark wooden shelves, crammed with books, rose among floating holograms. Tablets and holoscreens projected information in a dance of brilliant lights. A soft hum accompanied the robots organizing the collection. Digital interfaces produced almost inaudible clicks.
In the reading area, people spoke in low voices. In the commercial spaces, some voices rose with enthusiasm. The smell of aged paper permeated the air. Cold metal tables stood among soft leather chairs, offering comfort to scholars. The aroma of coffee drifted from a discreet corner.
Chiyo surveyed the room. Now what? How would she ask for it?
Hikaru let go of her hand and began darting excitedly among the shelves and machines. "Okaasan, look at those droids!"
Chiyo led him to an empty corner and crouched in front of him. "Hika-chiba, settle down. We'll get what you're looking for. I think it's this way…"
She knew perfectly well that such material was unlikely to be available in a collection open to researchers. Much less to the public. She found the international area and began discreetly watching the robot guarding the restricted section.
She needed to distract it. But how?
Hikaru examined the books around him. Picked one up, leafed through a few pages, and put it back, his eyes shining with wonder.
Then Chiyo had an idea. "Chiba-chiba, did you see those robot bugs on the other side? I heard you're allowed to catch them, y'know?"
Hikaru did not even blink. He darted into the other aisle.
A little later, the plan worked. Kōsetsu, the guard robot, left to investigate the commotion.
Chiyo seized the opportunity and entered the restricted area. She took a deep breath. Her heart was beating fast. She accessed the internal catalog and searched for terms related to the French language.
She found a result. Shelf 76-RT.
She looked around. Endless aisles stretched in both directions.
Chikushō.
She took a step. The door opened. Kōsetsu appeared. Hikaru struggled in his metal claws.
"Let him go!" Chiyo's demand echoed down the aisle.
The metallic voice replied, "Are you responsible for the child?"
"You noticed, did you? Let him go now!" Chiyo raised her arms to take her son.
As soon as he was released, Hikaru clung to her, tears in his eyes.
The blue lights of Kōsetsu's eyes shone as he assessed the situation. "You should not be in here."
Chiyo's face grew hot. "I need to find something for him."
"You must leave." Kōsetsu leaned his angular body over her.
"I just want a dictionary." Hikaru lifted his tearful face toward his mother.
The robot was puzzled. He had never encountered a situation like this. He needed to adapt his response. But how? "Which dictionary?"
"French."
Kōsetsu consulted his database. He found imprecise information on the subject. Even so, he judged that it should be safe. Part of his function was to establish connections with humans. Perhaps he could do that now. "Did you search the catalog?"
"It's in section 76-RT."
"Follow me." Kōsetsu began guiding them through the library's endless passages.
Chiyo could barely believe her luck. She followed him in silence, afraid that even a breath out of rhythm might alter that technology's algorithms. What if the robot reconsidered? What if they were thrown out?
Kōsetsu stopped before a section and checked the records. "76-RT."
Chiyo hurried to search. The smell of rotting, moldy paper filled the air. Decaying books crowded the shelves. Something there had to do. She covered her nose and began rummaging through the volumes.
Hikaru kept asking whether she had found the dictionary yet.
"Shh, Hika-chan." Two books remained. Chiyo reached into the dust and mold. Fragile pages brushed her fingers. The tension seemed to burn her skin.
Then she felt the weight of a bound volume sliding beneath the other books. She pulled it out. A title was stamped on the cover. French. A dictionary.
"Found it!" Chiyo froze for half a second. Was she really going to hug a guard robot? Before she had even finished the thought, she had already thrown herself at Kōsetsu, wrapping him in a warm embrace. She laughed. "Thanks, Tsu!"
The next instant, she shot out of there like a rocket. Hikaru matched his mother's rush, laughing too.
The hug caused a glitch in Kōsetsu that lasted several seconds. When he finally processed what had happened, he alerted security.
Too late.
Outside, the wind tousled Chiyo's hair. For a moment, it carried away some of the weight she bore. Her chest expanded with a refreshing joy. Light reached the dimmed corners of her face. Her heart raced. Adrenaline. Dopamine. And then, laughter. Chiyo and Hikaru laughed out loud.
They skipped through the streets all the way back to the shack in Kaigan.
Her happiness was so great that, that night, Chiyo did not even use neoheroin. She sat with her son and helped him decipher a few words from the diary. Then she told him stories to help him fall asleep. And fell asleep beside him.
Serene sleep.
Sweet dreams beneath the waning moonlight.