[Novel] NO. 6 - Vol 9 Ch 4 (a)

CHAPTER 4
Out, out, brief candle

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle.
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage . . .
-Shakespeare, Macbeth Act V Scene V^[1]

Just once, he heard footsteps approach. Someone was trying to run up the stairs. But the footsteps died along with a gunshot, a scream, and someone tumbling down the stairs. He didn't have to see it to know what happened. The same stairs that Shion had flown up moments ago was probably spattered with someone's blood.

Not only the stairs. The floor, the entrance, and the consultation room were probably smeared with blood and littered with broken objects in a horrific scene. A body or two probably lay on the floor.

What about the doctor? What had become of the man who saved Nezumi's life?

[Novel] NO. 6 - Vol 9 Ch 3 (b)

This is a continuation of PART A.

"Your brother?"

"Yes. We were far apart in age. Our father passed away early on, so I raised him like a son. He was abducted by the Security Bureau five years ago, when he was eighteen. Take a guess at why."

"Because he refused to declare his loyalty to No. 6?"

"Absolutely right. My brother refused to partake in the allegiance ritual held at their school every morning. He didn't like being forced to submit. I think it came from his youthful pride and sense of justice. And as a human, it was normal for him to feel this way. My brother was indeed a proper, normal adolescent. Maybe he was a little more rebellious and stubborn than most. He was also a little inexperienced in the ways of the world. My brother was summoned to the Moondrop the same day, and he didn't come back until two weeks later."

[Novel] NO. 6 - Vol 9 Ch 3 (a)

CHAPTER 3
This quintessence of dust

What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god – the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me . . .
-Shakespeare, Hamlet Act II Scene II ^[1]

The doctor was much older than how Shion remembered him. The tall, liberal man used to come to Karan's shop once or twice a week to buy a sandwich or meat pie. A handsome beard and moustache adorned his face, and he spoke in a beautiful, clear baritone.

He had also once invited Shion to specialize in medicine and work at his clinic.

[Novel] NO. 6 - Vol 9 Ch 2 (b)

This is a continuation of PART A.
Please hover over the underlined words to see annotations.

As long as they lived in No. 6, all their hopes were like towers of sand. They melted away all too easily. Then, what are we to do? What must we do so we can build our lives on firm ground instead of sand?

If No. 6 isn't an idyllic city, then what is 'ideal' supposed to be? How are we to create an entirely new world, so different from No. 6?

"Renka, Yoming isn't working alone, is he?"

"No... there must be other people who have gone through the same thing―who have lost their family."

"And Yoming is with them, right? They must be acting together."

"Yes, I'm sure of it."

[Novel] NO. 6 - Vol 9 Ch 2 (a)

CHAPTER 2
But once

Cowards die many times before their deaths,
The valiant never taste of death but once:
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,
It seems to me most strange that men should fear,
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Will come, when it will come.
-Shakespeare, Julius Caesar Act II Scene II ^[1]

The street was filled with people.

Hundreds, thousands of people were running in the same direction. They flowed like a giant river. But a large river would have meandered gently; it would not be full of murderous intent. It would surge as these people did now.

Karan stood with her back to the wall, watching the people go by. The rows of small houses lining the street had all tightly shut their doors and turned off their lights.

Were their residents huddled quietly inside, or were they somewhere in this flow of people?

On her back she felt the cool emptiness of the abandoned houses.

[Novel] NO. 6 - Vol 9 Ch 1 (b)

This is a continuation of PART A.

"There is." Shion stood up. "There is a hospital."

Inukashi and Rikiga turned to each other. They peered into each other's eyes.

"Hospital―? Where?" Rikiga asked in a hoarse, scratchy voice. Shion's gaze slid to the side. On the other end of it was the special alloy wall, illuminated brightly by the flames.

"Inside."

"No. 6!" Inukashi and Rikiga's voices overlapped.

"Yes. We'll find plenty of hospitals there."

"That's absurd!" Rikiga blurted. "How are we going to get inside? My car won't even be able to pass the gates. They'll register it as a suspicious vehicle and it'll get blown up within a few metres of even entering. Impossible. Absolutely impossible. Wait, I know! Shion, how did you escape from No. 6? Can't we go back in that way?"

[Novel] NO. 6 - Vol 9 Ch 1 (a)

So this was No. 6.
This was Elyurias.


CHAPTER 1
That which I say I saw

Gracious my lord,
I should report that which I say I saw,
But know not how to do it.^[1]
-Macbeth, Act V Scene V

They were falling. Falling, almost straight down.

It was faster than anything Shion had imagined. He knew it was impossible, but he heard the sound of the wind. It was the same wind from that stormy night.

It was September 7, 2013―Shion's twelfth birthday. The Holy City of No. 6 had been directly hit by a hurricane. The rain was pounding on the ground, and the wind was roaring. The trees in his yard careened wildly, and leafy branches broke off and whipped through the air. It was an extremely large and severe hurricane, a kind not seen in recent years, but he was sure that no one living in Chronos felt threatened or anxious. Shion and his mother, Karan, had been the same.

[Novel] NO. 6 - Vol 8 Ch 4

CHAPTER 4
To the evening breeze

For more than a thousand years sad Ophelia
Has passed, a white phantom, down the long black river;
For more than a thousand years her sweet madness
Has murmured its romance to the evening breeze.[1]
-Arthur Rimbaud, "Ophelia"

Nezumi fell very slowly and quietly. It was like watching a slow-motion film. An ancient, monochromatic film...

A dull impact hit his chest. Nezumi had fallen on him. Shion caught the boy's weight and heat in his arms. Suddenly, the black-and-white screen regained its repulsive colours of reality.

[Novel] NO. 6 - Vol 8 Ch 3 (b)

This is a continuation of PART A.

"Don't tell me the whole building is going to collapse." The excitement faded from Rikiga's voice, and uncertainty crept in.

"All's good and well if it collapses," Inukashi replied. "Once this place becomes a mountain of rubble, I'll be the first to plant a memorial tree." I'll plant one for Getsuyaku, my black dog, and the countless people who were murdered here. A tree that'll grow huge and bloom with pure white flowers.

"You sounded so happy the other day wishing this place would come falling down, old man," he added.

"That was a form of expression. I don't mind the Correctional Facility falling down, but I have a bit of a problem with this building becoming a pile of rubble."

[Novel] NO. 6 - Vol 8 Ch 3 (a)

CHAPTER 3
Cease from the struggle
of war's impartial contention

"Zeus-sprung son of Laërtes, Odysseus of many devices,
hold back, cease from the struggle of war's impartial contention,
lest wide-thundering Zeus son of Kronos be angry against you."^[1]
-Homer, The Odyssey

The door of the elevator was open by a crack. Nezumi hooked his hand on it.

Give me strength. Please. He prayed, but not to God. He prayed to the girl with the wilful gaze. Safu, give us strength. A little more, just a little strength for us...

The door opened, but not by enough. They could not escape yet. Nezumi heard laboured breathing behind him.

"Shion..."

Shion was getting to his feet. He silently stretched his hands out, and his fingers grasped the door. They looked at each other. Tsukiyo poked his face out of the folds of superfibre and cried once, loudly.