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On the way to the Great Window, Mizu, Disnee and Betrix passed through one of the nicer urban areas near the center city.
"Where is everything?" Disnee asked Mizu. Betrix had gotten used to translating everything the boy said into Tokyo2an. She did not have to translate back. As long as Disnee was looking at Mizu, the Eye of Liu Xun was able to translate her words. At first Betrix was annoyed at being the interpreter, but she found that the more she allowed Mizu and Disnee to speak, the less she had to explain to the boy.
"What did he say?" Mizu asked."
"He wants to know where is all the garbage," Betrix said. "He's used to living on the Hill. Here they pay poor people like you and me to pick it up, Dis"
"But why?"
"I don't know. You would think they'd pick it up themselves. It would give them something to do."
They were passing through a large grouping of townhouses on the border between the Skybearer and the Green Crescent Clans. The area was a sort of neutral ground, not within the Clans territory, but not contested either.
"I know they don't like you," Mizu said "but if we went to visit, my parents would order a nice meal prepared for us."
"That's okay. I'd rather have a poor meal where I was welcome," said Betrix.
"What kind of food is it?" Disnee asked.
"Same ingredients, different order," said Betrix. "It goes in different but it all comes out the same." She repeated herself in Tokyo2an for Mizu to hear.
"You have a way of spoiling everything," Mizu said. "Before you left you were always criticizing yourself, now all you do is complain about other people."
"Yeah well maybe I got tired of people like Gesso calling me weak because I'm a woman. I didn't matter that I had the strongest addware in the city. You listen to it enough times and you start to believe it."
"So now I have to be the stupid girl?" Mizu said.
"Not my fault how you were raised. Why don't you get out of this place and come stay with us."
"In your garbage hole? No thank you."
"It's nice enough."
"That building hasn't even been cleaned out yet, they just unburied it."
"Which one's hers?" Disnee asked. "Mizu and her parents, where do they live?"
"They live over there," Betrix said. She pointed at one of the nondescript townhouses. One of the second floor balcony doors opened and Mizu picked up her pace, hurrying toward the taller buildings. They took a detour through a small, grassy park. In the center of the park was a pond surrounded by heavily armed guards. These guards were not Emperor's Police, but they were no less imposing.
"Don't get too close," Mizu said, "they're protecting the fish."
"What's a fish?" Disnee asked. Betrix translated for Mizu."
"You could look for yourself but you might get stabbed," Mizu said.
"I can see them," Disnee said.
"Oh yeah, he can see everything with that eye. Then he knows what it is, it's like a rat that lives in the water."
"The koi are symbols of wealth and prosperity. They're beautiful to watch. They are the opposite of rats," Mizu said. "The fish belong to the Emperor. The Magnavoxicans have been guarding them since the collapse. Funny thing is they won't even let the Emperor catch one. He tried one time and they almost killed him."
"Why not?" Disnee asked.
"If the fish were gone what would the guards have left to do?"
Shortly after they passed the pond, they crossed a small footbridge into the park of the Great Window. Hundreds of Tokyo2ans gathered here, clusters of people from each of the Clans: the numerous Hillmongers, the busy Green Crescent, the Sky Bearers and even the reclusive Black Crescent Clan were present, spread out on blankets and rugs. Families had come from all over to watch the stories.
In the front of the crowd the Magnavoxicans sat in orderly rows. Younger members brought bowls of food to the congregation and ferried chamber pots away.
They all sat watching the massive screen; holograms of people, fifty feet tall, moved across the Great Window and sometimes stepped out from it, their dramas playing out in the air overhead, music and voices filling the park.
"Well?" asked Betrix, looking at Disnee.
"What?" Disnee asked.
"People are usually more impressed the first time they see it.
"Oh. Okay."
"He doesn't like it?" Mizu asked.
"Nothing surprises this boy now. I'm starting to regret giving him The Loser's Eye in the first place." She didn't mean it. Lately, they had been earning enough money betting on the fights, using Disnee's eye to choose a winner, that Betrix had not bothered to fight herself. If she could make enough by gambling, she could pay Gesso back with dollars instead of bloodshed, and the three could spend less time practicing, and more time enjoying the city like this.
"He'll like the Great Window better in person," said Mizu. "You'll like this Disnee, come on. Let's find a place to sit."
Betrix found a spot occupied mostly by Hillmongers and unaffiliated Tokyo2ans. She spread a small blanket for the three of them and they sat and watched.
A large spotted cat, in holograph form, stood on two feet and seemed to lean out of the screen and survey the crowd. "It is up to you to protect earth species," it said. "Donate to your local conservation biome." Disnee heard the Magnavoxicans speaking the lines along with the cat.
The Magnavoxicans began to wave and nod their heads, sure enough the creature waved, nodded its head and exited the screen. The Great Window went dark. The crowd held their breath, and leaned forward, waiting to see what would come on next.
The screen turned white, drums sounded and the Magnavoxicans yelled. "Party!"
A white-shirted man with long hair jumped out of the screen, holographic red confetti exploded from the screen and the Magnavoxicans got up and began to dance, turning to one another and shaking hands, hugging and crying, acting as if they hadn't seen one another for a long time. "How well do you know your neighbor?" said the speaker. "Love, connect, party! This PSA was paid for by the earth memorial fund and the General Consensus Inclusivity Scheme. Now, back to the program." The Magnavoxicans stopped laughing, hurried back to their places and bowed their heads.
Somber music played as the main program resumed.
Two people stood in a small, clean room speaking quietly, their whispers echoed in the park and were repeated by the chorus of Magnavoxicans.
"Why are they all talking?" Disnee asked.
"They know all of the stories," Betrix said.
"This one's my favorite," said Mizu, "it's so romantic."
"What's it about?" Disnee asked Betrix.
"I don't remember," Betrix said, "this one doesn't play often, that's why they're so worked up about it."
On the screen, a man lay unconscious. A woman sat at his bedside crying and whispering into his ear. A man in a white coat came into the room and spoke to the crying woman about the dying man's health.
Some of the Magnavoxicans hissed and booed at the screen. Others stood and shouted that the man in white was a traitor.
"He will be redeemed," shouted a stray voice, but this person was booed down.
"He doesn't know the story," said Mizu. "That man is not the one who is redeemed. It's his twin brother."
"I thought his twin brother's face got burned in a fire," Betrix said.
"No," Mizu said, "he went to a clinic on the moon and they fixed his face. Then he stole his evil brother's identity and took over his medical practice."
"He went to the moon?" Disnee had never heard of anyone going to the moon.
"How do you remember all of these?" Betrix asked."
"I live down the street."
"Shh," a man on the blanket in front of them scolded Betrix and Mizu. "You're ruining it for the little ones." He covered his children's ears so Mizu wouldn't spoil any more of the plot.
The story continued. The man in the white coat was speaking. The Magnavoxicans did not repeat the words of the man in the coat. They only booed and hissed when he spoke. As the booing reached its peak, the door opened and another, more handsome man came in carrying a bag full of medicines. The audience swooned.
"I don't understand what's happening," Disnee said. Betrix explained.
"The woman's husband is sick and the first doctor is telling her that her husband may never wake up again. But really he is in love with the woman and is poisoning her husband so that he can have her all to himself. The man with the bag is also in love with the woman, but he is trying to save her husband because he is so honest and his love is not a selfish love."
"That's not a very good story," said Disnee.
"Don't say that here," said Mizu.
"It's not real right? It's a made up story. You can't really walk to the moon."
"I don't know," Mizu said, "maybe it happened a long time ago. The Magnavoxicans believe that someday these stories will show them the birth of Atlas and the creation of Hull."
"But they're just stories," Disnee said. "And they've seen this before. Why do they keep watching it if nothing new happens?"
"They think maybe they missed something."
"That doesn't make sense."
"Ooh, this is the part where the doctor finds out that he lost his memory." Mizu said.
"You are ruining it for the children." The man in front of them said. "If you will not speak more quietly, then find another spot to sit."
Betrix laughed.
Mizu apologized.
The crowd was quiet now. The bad doctor, who was secretly a twin had left the room after remembering his lost memories. Now the good doctor and the woman were alone, sitting beside the unconscious husband. She was speaking about how much she cared for him. How it pained her to be so near to him, yet unable to look him in the eye and tell him how she felt.
"She speaks to you, not the man on the bed!" one of the Magnavoxicans yelled out.
The good doctor touched the woman's hand and told her that sometimes in life, some things were not meant to be.
"Don't listen to him," another Magnavoxican said. "He hides his true feelings for you!"
The woman held onto the doctor's hand and said that sometimes you have to choose what you have, but other times, you need to have what you choose. The audience repeated the line.
"This is your chance!" several of the Magnavoxicans shouted. "Kiss her!"
"I remember this episode." Betrix said. "It was playing the first night you brought me to the Great Window, remember?"
"I do," Mizu said, "your Tokyo2an was terrible when you moved here, and your eyesight was bad too. We had to sit all the way up front and you got in a fight with a Magnavoxican. I'd never seen a fight at the Great Window, until you came along."
"Why are they doing that?" Disnee asked, pointing at the screen. The patient had come out of his coma only to catch his wife and his doctor in a passionate embrace. He and the doctor were arguing.
"They're both in love with the same woman," Mizu said. The doctor left the room, saying that he was going to join a commune on the moon and never see the woman again. He got into some strange vehicle and was whisked away through the air.
"What are those flying boxes?" Disnee asked.
"Those are kuruma," said Mizu, "sometimes they call them cars. There are a bunch of them piled in the Great Hill. The Great Stories say they used to fly."
On the screen, the man was sitting alone, looking out at the city through the window of his kuruma. The screen faded to a scene of him digging leisurely in the soil of a farming pod, supposedly one of the communes on the moon. It was clear that some time passed because the once clean-shaven doctor now wore many days worth of roguish stubble. The audience swooned.
"Hey Betrix," Mizu said, "tell me, what are the boys like in New Lexington?"
"You're too old for boys, Mizu, you need to be looking for men."
"The older ones are afraid because I can beat them in a fight," Mizu said.
"You can beat the younger ones too."
"But their egos aren't that big yet."
"That's not all that isn't big yet."
"Come on Betrix tell me what the men in New Lexington were like."
"Bunch of farmers and soldiers. They were a lot like the Green Crescent Clan," Betrix said. "And they didn't wear addware. I got a lot of looks walking around dressed like this, and not all admiring.
"Come on I'm sure somebody was interested."
"They were interested in something," Betrix said, "but it didn't involve me sticking around."
Mizu laughed. "You meet anyone? The soldier, that you swam in the baths with, what was he like?"
"Well, I couldn't see him, I was blind. And he wasn't much of a talker. He was good for a swim."
"Talkers don't have much chance with you"
"It's not that I hate talking. I just don't like the listening part. That's why I like Dis here, he doesn't talk much. Soon as I find a man that I like to listen to I might keep him around."
"But not the soldier?"
"We got on okay. Then I had to get away, I kind of kidnapped Disnee, remember? Anyway Marker's here in the city now. You can go look at him if you wanna' know what Lexington men look like, but it's probably best if I don't run into him again."
"And what if you did meet up with him again? Could you take him?"
"Are we still talking about combat?"
Mizu shrugged, "That's up to you."
"Once is enough. You know me, I don't like to get tied down, one way or the other."
"That's it?" asked Mizu. "So you're just going to be alone forever? And now you're fighting again. How long do you think you'll be able to keep that up?"
"I don't know," Betrix said. "We're making good money betting on the fights. That Eye of his can spot a winner. If you want to kick some money in, we can double it."
"And if it doesn't pay off? You're just going to keep fighting until you're an old woman? You remember the last time."
"I don't want to talk about it in front of the boy."
"He's not listening," Mizu said.
On the great window, the husband had followed the good doctor to the moon and confronted him. The evil doctor also followed, bringing a pistol into the farming commune intending to kill the husband, but the good doctor had thrown himself in front of the bullet, saving the life of his former patient. The other farmers had heard the gunshot and taken the gun away from the evil doctor. The woman arrived just in time to see her true love sacrifice himself to save the life of her husband. Now she was holding the good doctor in her arms and crying.
"He shouldn't be watching this," Betrix said, "it'll give him the wrong idea about girls."
"I'm not done talking about you," Mizu said, "haven't you ever wondered if you could be like them?" Mizu pointed at the screen, the doctor and the heroine were sharing a final kiss.
"What? You mean dead with a bullet in my heart?" Betrix said.
"No, I mean in love," Mizu said, "You don't have to buy a farm together and fill it full of babies. I just worry you're gonna end up old and brain dead from too many kicks to the head, with no one to wipe the drool off your chin."
"Do you remember Kenichi?" Betrix said.
"He was dead when I met you," Mizu said.
"But you remember, he was the champion when I first arrived. He let me sit in on a practice session once, introduced me to my first trainer. I wasn't ready to be with anyone yet, after what I'd been through, but he was patient and nice. It only happened once then I was busy training and he was defending his title. I always wondered if there could have been something, but, maybe that's just cause he's dead I'll never have to follow through on it."
Betrix was becoming gloomy. Mizu frowned knowing she had gone too far. She hadn't meant to upset her friend."
"And you're trying to talk me into fighting in the Arena Under the Hill." Mizu said, "I guess a dead friend would be easier for you too." Something about this made Betrix laugh.
"I wouldn't have to answer so many questions," she said, "come on Dis, let's get out of here, I hate these cheeseplum love stories that end on the moon."
There was a break in the music and Betrix accidentally yelled the last bit far too loudly. Half of the audience turned to look at her.
"What?" she said. "Mizu want to get some noodles?"
Mizu looked as if she might die of embarrassment. She shook her head and turned back to the screen, pretending not to know them.
"Come on, we all know he's not really dead," Betrix said, "the evil twin switched their faces right before he lost his memory.
The crowd booed.
"She's just going to leave him anyway when he's sent off to jail for impersonating a doctor."
"He was under hypnosis. He didn't know any better," said the man on the blanket. "Now be quiet, you're spoiling it for the children."
"You're embarrassing me," Mizu said. The crowd was still jeering, but the people on the screen were talking again and some had gone back to watching the show.
"So no noodles?" Betrix asked, "Come on Dis we're going to get noodles."
"I want to know what happens," he said.
"I'll tell you over noodles. You coming Mizu?"
"I don't know you," she said, refusing to look at Betrix. "I'll meet you there. I'm too embarrassed to be seen with you right now.
