The Metropolis Series #2: Quinn Beyond Bounds
14. Milkshakes

SMOKE SHROUDED Julio’s frame. He stared straight down the road, watching a layer of fog dim the city lights that twinkled in the distance.

“Julio…” I sprinted toward him. “The Lethe. I should have known. I am so, so sorry.”

To my surprise, he puffed a cigarette. The smoke had been coming from him. “Yeah, well, life’s unfair,” he spat. “I wish I could just forget everything. It wouldn’t be as painful that way.”

“Julio—”

“Don’t worry about me, Quinn, I’ll be fine.” He puffed on his cigarette again. “Go on. I’ll follow.”

Reluctantly, I left Julio and went back inside The MacGuffin. I found Ms. Louise clearing out a table, eyeing Julio through a nearby window.

“Yikes, that kid should really stop with those cigarettes,” she muttered. “Those aren’t gonna do him any good at all.”

I couldn’t help but get intrigued. “Julio’s been doing that for a while?”

She proceeded to pick up the dirty dishes and bring them to the counter. “It kinda started when he and his girlfriend got separated—that Rachael I mentioned? Yeah, he’s had it pretty bad. Everyone’s worried about him. He’s brave, being the first commander of the front lines and all, but he’s bearing too much of the pain all by himself.” She placed the dishes down with a huff.

“I see. I’ll be honest; I’m pretty worried about him, too…”

Especially after that encounter with Rachael at the alleyway, I thought. That must have been traumatizing.

“Yeah, well, join the club,” said Ms. Louise.

I didn’t mean to get nosy, but I was itching for answers. “Is there something you can tell me about Julio’s past, though? About him and Rachael?”

The young barista stroked her chin. “Sorry, kid, but I can only tell ya bits and pieces.”

“It’s okay. What do you know?”

She leaned against the counter. “They met when they were thirteen; indeed, it was young love. She was an aspiring singer, and he was her biggest fan. They would often come here to grab a bite; it would take them forever to leave their seats.”

For a while, the night turned into a hazy late afternoon, and a young Julio and Rachael sat next to each other in a booth. Tall, empty glasses joined them with straws hanging from their brim. They probably used to contain something sweet, but that sweetness had been transferred to the hushed conversations they shared.

The vision dissolved, and Takahiro appeared before me.

“Ms. Louise…” His arms went across his chest. “Are you telling the newcomer about Julio and Rachael again?”

Ms. Louise shrugged. “Well, the kid got curious, and if she’s gonna be a part of us, then she’ll have to know a thing or two about the juiciest news around.”

“More like gossip…” Takahiro grumbled.

“Ms. Louise,” a woman then called, appearing from the door behind the counter. She looked about Ms. Louise’s age; she had black hair and dark skin. She also wore the same uniform as her. “I think table one’s still waiting for their order.”

“Right. Gotcha, Heather,” Ms. Louise replied.

Heather disappeared back into the door.

Ms. Louise turned to us, readjusting her tennis cap. “Anyway, duty calls, kiddos.” She playfully patted Takahiro on the head, which earned her an annoyed swat on the arm. “It was nice chatting with you.”

And Ms. Louise headed back to work.

Her relationship with Takahiro intrigued me, so on a whim, I asked, “So, is Ms. Louise like your big sister or something?”

“Nah, she just acts like it.” Takahiro rolled his eyes, spinning on his heel as he made his way back to our table. “Probably because I owe her one for giving me this job.”

“Here at The MacGuffin?”

“Yeah. Everyone thinks that we young ones should be on the front lines just because we’re stronger and more resilient.”

I didn’t get what he was talking about at first, but I then gained the slightest idea. “Like Julio and Viv?” I asked him. “They’re the ones who fight the zombies, right?”

Takahiro chuckled. “Zombies? That’s a funny word.”

I knew that those monsters technically weren’t zombies, but the term kind of stuck.

“But yeah, they’re like soldiers,” Takahiro continued. “When the Metropolis is under threat, they’re the ones assigned to respond. I can’t do that, though…”

He stared down at the floorboards as he walked. He then frowned as he shimmied back to his seat.

I joined him on the table. “Why not?”

Takahiro looked up at me. “Why not what?”

“Be on the front lines?”

“Oh…” he sighed. “It’s simple, really: because I’m scared. Those monsters freak me out, and I can’t seem to do anything about it. If I tell anyone, they’ll laugh at me. Then, I found this place, and Ms. Louise willingly took me in.”

“Well, I’m not judging,” I assured him. “Besides, they freak me out, too.”

And for a while, there was silence between us, but it was in silence that my mind spoke the loudest. I was afraid that I wasn’t supposed to ask this, but my mind fluttered with curiosity:

“Why are you guys protecting the Metropolis when it got rid of you in the first place?”

Then, I thought of Cassandra and that awful deal she offered Harumi: to join her to destroy the Metropolis. She hated this world because she couldn’t exist in it. She wanted revenge, and thinking of that made the rest of my words come out more apprehensively. “Aren’t you guys supposed to want to, I dunno—”

“Get rid of this place?” Takahiro said those words like they didn’t mean anything, but they struck up a painful silence between us that was hard to break.

“Yeah…” I stammered. “That.”

Takahiro scoffed. “The Metropolis didn’t reject us, the Author did,” he then said. “And we’re not fighting just to protect the Metropolis; we’re also fighting to protect our chances of existence. Even if we’re no longer part of this place, we are still connected to it like a bird tied to a cage. The way I understand it, if the Metropolis ceases to exist, we do, too.”

Words couldn’t describe how I felt hearing that. I took glances around the coffee shop to replace them meticulously making coffee, cleaning tables, and serving guests. Their lives were frail, but they acted like everything was normal.

“Anyway,” Takahiro cleared his throat, a bashful look washing over his face. “While you were out with Julio, I found a page on Yu—Harumi’s diary that wasn’t wrecked.”

“Really?” I scooted forward as Takahiro wrapped his fingers in table napkins and gingerly went over the pages. They were covered in Lethe water, and he couldn’t risk a minor memory loss.

“Here.” He showed me the page.

“What does it say?” I asked.

“Something about her basis on figuring out who the main characters are?” He scratched his head. “She wrote that they must at least have a first and last name, something extra characters usually don’t have.”

“Extra characters?”

“Here in the Metropolis, they’re businessmen on pedestrians,” he explained, “newspaper vendors, those hipster teens in cafés… They have only a first or last name, to say the least. Sometimes neither.”

“So, what are you saying?”

“In any story you read, there is always this cast of characters that get the spotlight. Then, there are other characters who probably just appear to give the protagonist his spare change or something.”

After saying so, Takahiro proceeded to brush his fingers over some writing at the bottom of the page. “Anyway, Harumi said that she had listed down those who she thought those characters were on the first page of this notebook. I dunno what for, though, but seeing how wrecked this notebook is, we have to squeeze out as much information from it as we can. Unfortunately…” He turned to the very beginning of the notebook to replace a page torn out. “That said list is missing.”

I gasped. Could the list Takahiro was referring to be the same as the one I had found in the dorm? (I’m now calling out to all Japanese speakers who probably knew from the very beginning.)

“You said that you and this Harumi were roommates at St. John’s, right?” Takahiro asked. “Maybe you could—”

“I have the list,” I said abruptly.

Takahiro’s eyes widened. “You do?”

I reached into my bag. “At least I think I do.” Once found, I gave the list to Takahiro. “I wanna get to the bottom of this. Her reactions to certain things were sometimes inconsistent, probably due to handling Lethe water. I wanna help her out, too.”

This was it. I could finally get to the bottom of that cryptic list. I was glad that I had decided to bring it with me.

Upon receiving the list, Takahiro’s hands trembled. The reaction I got from him was truly unexpected.

“Oh my God,” he exclaimed. “It’s Deus Ex Machina!”