Day 66

[from Y/N]

Even if Kiyomi wouldn't be accompanying her, Yuuko decided to still go ahead with her plans. She left the house as usual that morning, dressed in her school uniform with her rucksack on her back; however, her school things were not in it. Today, her rucksack contained a change of clothes, some snacks, and a bottle of water. Her parents would think she was at school the whole day, and anyone walking past her on the street would think that she had already graduated, as she looked slightly older than her sixteen years. It was a flawless plan, and one she had already executed a few times before. Her parents still knew nothing about it.

Yuuko headed in the direction of her high school as usual, but the moment she was out of view of her house, she turned and headed a different way instead. First order of business: get changed out of this uniform.

***

First order of business: meet up with Kiyomi. The two of them usually met up at a set of traffic lights roughly equidistant from their two houses and from the school. From there, their first activity would probably involve ditching out of their uniforms, so they wouldn't look like the truanting students that they were.

When Yuuko reached the traffic lights, Kiyomi was already there. As she had said on the phone, she was dressed neatly in her school uniform. She waved as she saw Yuuko approaching. "Hey, Yuuko!" she said cheerily.

"Hey, Kiyomi!" said Yuuko, glad to see her best friend waiting there.

"So, where to first?" asked Kiyomi.

"Well, I was thinking that first we needed to ditch these uniforms," said Yuuko. "I brought a change of clothes for myself, so I can go change in a toilet cubicle somewhere… what about you? You bring anything like that?"

"No, I didn’t think of that," said Kiyomi, shaking her head. "Will it matter that much? I mean, if someone we know sees us, we're busted either way, right?"

"Everyone who knows us is probably either in school or at work right now," said Yuuko, "so it's fine. But our uniforms still have our school logos on, so people who realize we're truanting might phone them up and tell them. And then we'll be busted. So we better change out of them as fast as possible."

"Yeah, good point," admitted Kiyomi. "So, should we go outfit-shopping first?"

"Sounds good," said Yuuko. "Then we can change in the fitting rooms, or something. As long as no-one there realizes we're ditching, then it's all good."

"Alright then," said Kiyomi. "So, where should we look for clothes, then?"

"I know the perfect place," said Yuuko. "Follow me."

***

Yuuko made her way to a nearby clothing store, and not being in any particular hurry, she took her time picking out a new outfit. By the time she was finished, and emerged back onto the high street, it was past 10am. Her uniform had been haphazardly stuffed inside her bag, and she was now dressed in a brand-new light blue summer dress, white knee-high socks, and white plimsolls.

While she had been shopping, she had also planned out the rest of the day in her head. For now, she would head off to the cinema and catch a movie - it didn't particularly matter which one. After that, it would be lunchtime, and she would head to a café she often went to when truanting. She wasn't quite sure what to do after lunch, but she would probably just head to the arcade for a while until it was time to go home.

***

"What do you think?"

Kiyomi was now dressed in a blue-grey top and white shorts, with the same white plimsolls on her feet as Yuuko. She didn't seem entirely satisfied with Yuuko's plan for the day. "There's not really anything on at the cinema that I wanna watch," said Kiyomi. "Could we head to the arcade now, and maybe do something else after lunch?"

Yuuko shrugged. "Sure, why not," she said. "Alright, let's head off to the arcade then."

Kiyomi nodded, and the pair started making their way towards the local arcade. "Hey, I just thought of something," said Kiyomi suddenly, looking over at her friend. "Won't we have to change back into our uniforms before we head back home?"

"Yeah, but we can just sneak into a toilet cubicle and do that," said Yuuko. "We've got our uniforms in our bag, so it's not gonna be a problem. Trust me." Yuuko smiled, a breeze playing at her long black hair. "You worry too much, Kiyomi."

"When we're doing something like this, it's hard not to worry a little," admitted Kiyomi. "But I do trust you, Yuuko, otherwise I wouldn't be here. So I'm sure everything will work out fine."

"I'm sure it will too," said Yuuko.

***

It didn't occur to Yuuko, as she started making her way towards the cinema, that the arcade and the cinema were both in the same direction from her current location, so whichever one she had chosen to go to, she would currently be heading the same way. It didn't seem like an important detail.

As Yuuko walked, a slight breeze blew, playing at her long black hair and at the hem of her dress. Right now, she thought, as she reached a crossing in the road, everything is alright.

She didn't see the car speeding down the road towards her, as she stepped off the sidewalk.

***

Yuuko didn't see the car speeding towards them, but Kiyomi did.

"Yuuko, look out-!"

"What-?"

It was too late by then. Yuuko was standing in the middle of the lane, and the car would be upon her before she could get out of its way. In the second remaining, Kiyomi realized there was only one thing she could do. She darted forward and pushed Yuuko as hard as she could, away from the car's path.

The car braked, but it was too little, too late. It slammed headlong into Kiyomi, sending her flying up onto the hood and into the windscreen, a spider's web of bloody cracks shattering the glass. As the car finally slowed to a halt, Kiyomi tumbled off the hood, crumpled to the floor and was still.

Yuuko, in a state of shock, did not process at first what had happened. She shakily picked herself up off the asphalt, wincing a little as she climbed to her feet; she appeared to have grazed her knee as she had fallen. As recognition began to sink in, she looked round for her friend and, seeing Kiyomi lying bloodied and broken on the ground, she froze in horror. "K…Kiyomi?" she gasped. Then her shock gave way to panic. "KIYOMI!"

Yuuko knelt down beside her stricken friend, taking her by the shoulders. There was blood everywhere; Kiyomi seemed to be covered in it, her brand-new outfit soaked with crimson. Her face was covered in blood too, rivulets of it running down from various wounds. Yuuko could see her own horrified face reflected in a small shard of glass embedded just above Kiyomi's right eye. "Kiyomi!" Yuuko shouted, shaking her friend gently by the shoulders. "Are you alright? Speak to me! Kiyomi!"

Kiyomi coughed, and a little blood leaked from the corner of her mouth. She took in a shallow, laboured breath, looking up at Yuuko with unfocused eyes. "Yuuko…" she gasped. "Are you… alright…?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine!" said Yuuko, tears starting to well up in her eyes as the graze on her knee became a distant memory. "Oh God, we gotta get you to a hospital-!"

Kiyomi managed a faint smile. With the last of her strength, she reached up and touched a bloodied hand to Yuuko's soft cheek. "I'm glad…" she said. Then the hand fell to the ground, and Kiyomi Hanabishi breathed her last.

"No!" Yuuko shook Kiyomi once again, tears starting to stream down her face, dripping onto the now-lifeless body of her friend and mixing with her spilt blood. "Kiyomi! Don't die, Kiyomi! Please! KIYOMI!!!"

***

Yuuko did not see the car speeding towards her, and nobody was there to warn her of its presence, or push her out of the way. By the time she and the driver had noticed each other, it was too late for either of them to do anything. The driver did brake, but it was too little, too late. The car slammed headlong into Yuuko, sending her flying up onto the hood and into the windscreen, cracking it. As the car screeched to a halt, Yuuko tumbled off of it, lying in a broken heap on the ground.

Despite the heavy impact, she was not dead, though with the internal injuries she had suffered, it was only a matter of time unless she received urgent medical attention. She lay where she fell, in too much agony to move, her breathing shallow and laboured. It seemed to her that she had become soaked in her own blood; she could feel it running down her body, soaking into the clothes she had bought only a few minutes before.

The car remained stationary, the shocked driver attempting to come to terms with what he had just done. Yuuko wondered whether he was calling for help. He has to, she thought desperately. He has to help me. Unless he thinks I'm already dead…

With all the strength she could muster, Yuuko raised a bloodied hand, reaching out in desperation. "Please…" she gasped. "Help… me…"

The driver did not help her. He reversed his car, drove around her, and continued on his way. Yuuko realized this to her despair, but also realized that there was nothing she could do about it. All she could do was lie there, slowly bleeding to death, tears running down her cheeks and mixing with her spilt blood.

"Please…" she breathed. "Somebody… help… me…"

Day 65

[from Akita no Akumu]

Everyone in Niikawa knew of the house perched on top of the hill overlooking the city. Everyone on the city knew to stay well away from that house, for within its walls lived the two "cursed children", whose horrific prophecies had brought death to hundreds of Niikawa's residents over their short lifetimes. Nobody had seen either of the children in the ten years since they had fled to that house, but their custodian, who was rather more welcome than they, was a regular visitor to the city, buying groceries and other essentials for the three of them. Thus, the townspeople knew the cursed children to still be alive, and so the house remained off-limits to those in the city.

However, on that particular morning, the lone figure of a teenage girl could be seen making its way slowly up the hill, her back to the rising sun. On her back was a large backpack, filled with everything the girl owned save for her bicycle, pink with a small basket on the front, which she wheeled alongside her as she progressed up the small winding path. The girl paused for a moment, wiping the sweat from her brow, then continued onwards towards the forbidden house.

The girl with the bicycle was not making this journey of her own accord. She, too, had been discovered to be a cursed child, and had been cast out of the city just as the other two had. Like the other two, she had received an invitation from the man living on the house upon the hill, inviting her to stay with him, and so she was making her way there in order to begin her self-imposed exile.

As she finally reached the house, the tired girl let out a sigh of relief, looking forward to getting inside and resting after the long walk up the hill. Resting her bike carefully against the wall of the house, she adjusted her pack and then knocked on the front door. A moment later, it opened, and a kindly-looking middle-aged man stood in the doorway. This was Max, an American expatriate who had opened his door to the two other cursed children, and now to this girl as well.

"Ah, you must be Lani," he said, his accent flawless. "Please, come inside." He stepped aside to let her in.

"Thank you," said Lani, and she stepped across the threshold into her new life. She slipped off her shoes, and set her backpack down by the door, which Max promptly closed behind them.

Inside, Lani found herself in a large, well-decorated living room. She could tell that Max was American, as the décor was very much western in fashion. Her attention was mainly drawn, however, to the two teenagers, about the same age as her, stood nearby. These, surely, were the two cursed children that everyone in Niikawa lived in fear of. They didn't seem all that scary in person, although Lani hadn't been that scared of them to begin with. Indeed, they seemed to be more wary of her than she was of them; they were eyeing her cautiously, as though she were some kind of unfamiliar creature, or an interloper encroaching on their territory.

Max swiftly got started on the introductions. "Lani," he said, addressing the newcomer, "this is Akita Maeda and Daisuke Kimura. Akita, Daisuke," he said, addressing the teenagers, "remember I said there'd be someone new living with us from now on? Well, this is her. Her name is Lani Yoshida; she's the same age as you, and like you, she can predict people's deaths. I hope the three of you will all get along well."

Lani bowed respectfully towards the two. "It's nice to meet you," she said.

Akita and Daisuke remained still for a moment, seemingly unsure how to respond to what was a perfectly ordinary greeting. Eventually, Akita spoke up. "Uhh… thank you," she said quietly.

Day 64

[from Vanishing Point]

"…Tokyo City Patrol are currently investigating an incident yesterday afternoon in which three female prisoners were allegedly broken out of a secure facility on the outskirts of the city. An unidentified male posing as a security guard broke into the facility and escaped with the three girls in tow. The City Patrol have so far not disclosed the identities of the escaped convicts, nor any details of the crimes for which they were imprisoned-"

"Gee, I wonder why," remarked Cobra sarcastically, as she, Hanako, Kiyoko and Kamui watched the news report detailing their own escape.

"-but they insist that there is no danger to the public, and that the four criminals will be tracked down and apprehended as soon as possible," continued the reporter.

"Are… are we really criminals?" asked Kiyoko nervously.

"We are now," said Kamui. "No going back from here. The only way out of this is to finish what we started, and find out the truth behind what's going on at Shinsuke Corporation."

"Shinsuke run the City Patrol, don't they?" asked Kiyoko.

"Yeah," said Kamui, "which is how they abducted you three, and probably dozens of other girls, without anyone noticing. They could just pass you off as criminals being taken to jail, like they're doing now. It also means they're going to be looking all over the city for us. If they catch us, it's game over."

"They won't catch us," said Cobra. "Me and Kiyoko can use our powers to evade them, and as long as the two of you stick with us, you'll be safe as well."

Kiyoko looked down at her hand. That's right… my power. She didn't know where it had come from, but during the escape from the Shinsuke facility, Kiyoko had discovered that she had the power to turn invisible. She was still learning to control it - it had first triggered after Shinsuke's guards ambushed her and Kamui as they tried to escape, and she had panicked and ran, not realizing she had activated her power subconsciously. Kamui eventually managed to find her again, and together with Cobra and Hanako, who had taken advantage of the commotion to make their own escape, the four of them had fled from the facility.

Now the three girls found themselves at Kamui's house: Kiyoko and Hanako because they couldn't go home, for fear of Shinsuke attacking their loved ones, and Cobra because she had no home to return to, or at least not one that she could remember. Unlike Kiyoko, whose disappearance was what had brought Kamui into the whole affair in the first place, Cobra did not even know her own name. Her current moniker was one Hanako had affectionately given her, based on the distinctive snake tattoo that wound round her right arm. It wasn't the best name, but it was better than "Subject 13".

"…so, what do we do now?" asked Kiyoko. "How do we go about finding the answers?"

"I'd like to start by finding the other twelve test subjects that came before you three," said Kamui. "You were the only ones at the facility when I arrived there, so the first twelve must be somewhere out there. At the very least, I'd like to let them know about this conspiracy they're tangled up in."

"And how do we find them?" asked Hanako. "How will we even know who they are?"

Kamui mulled this over for a moment. "You're all just test subjects to them, right? Then they must have some kind of record of all the subjects, and all the tests they were subjected to, the results, and so on. Even if it's a top-secret record, it'll be somewhere in their database. We can use that to find the identities of the other test subjects."

"It's worth a shot," said Cobra. "So, how will we get that information?"

Kamui smiled knowingly. "Oh, let's just say I know a guy," he said.

***

The girls heard the front door slam as Kamui returned from his trip to his mysterious contact. They quickly rushed over to hear what news he might have. "Did you get the info?" asked Hanako.

Kamui's uneasy expression quickly told them that he had not obtained the information. "Sadly, it's not that easy," he said. "The guy can break their encryptions, no problem, but he has to actually be there to do it. That's not possible for him, but it is possible for you, Kiyoko."

"Eh? What do you mean?" asked Kiyoko, surprised.

"I'm saying, you'll have to infiltrate Shinsuke HQ in order to get the information we need," said Kamui. "With your invisibility, it should be a breeze."

Kiyoko didn't seem convinced. "B-but I don't know how to hack computers-"

"You don't need to," said Kamui reassuringly. "Here." He handed her what appeared to be an ordinary USB flash drive. "This flash drive contains a powerful decryption program that my friend wrote. Plug it into any of the computers in their headquarters and it'll break through their encryptions, allowing you to find the information we need. Once you find something, download it onto the flash drive and bring it back here so we can analyze it." He gave her a serious, but gentle look. "You're the only one who can do this, Kiyoko."

Kiyoko was still far from confident. "But…"

Cobra put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry," she said. "We'll all support you as best we can. You won't be alone in this."

"Yeah!" said Hanako enthusiastically. "We believe in you, Kiyoko! You can do it!"

Kiyoko smiled, touched by her new-found friends' words of encouragement. She looked down at the flash drive in her hand. It seemed so small and fragile, so incapable of holding the power that it supposedly did. I'll just have to trust in it, she thought, like everyone's trusting in me.

"Okay," said Kiyoko, still a little nervous. "I'll do my best."

Day 63

[from Pokémon xTreme]

After a whirlwind flight, Brandon, Taylor and Charizard touched down in Cerulean, outside the gates of a large house with an even larger garden. Beyond the gate, dozens of Pokémon could be seen running and frolicking in the grass surrounding the house.

While Brandon pumped a fist and whooped in celebration - they had arrived before Seth, Taylor clambered off, severely shaken by the ordeal, and sunk onto all fours, practically worshipping the sidewalk upon which they stood. "I never thought I'd be so happy to be on the ground…" she said wearily.

Just then, as Brandon slid off of Charizard's back, a metallic cry heralded the arrival of Seth's Skarmory, landing just next to the victorious group. Seth climbed off, sighing and shaking his head as he recalled Skarmory to its Poké Ball. "I hate to say it," he said, "but you won, Brandon."

"Damn right I won," said Brandon, still oblivious to his mentee's distress. "Now pay up."

"I can't," said Seth with a shrug, glancing down at Brandon's belt. "Your party's full."

Brandon grinned once more. "Oh, here we go with the excuses," he said, rolling his eyes. "Come on, man, there's a PC in the ranch. You know that one's not gonna fly."

 "Yeah, but it was worth a shot," admitted Seth. "Alright, I'll hand it over once we're inside. But I'm just gonna win it back from you the next time we meet, so don't get too attached to it, alright?"

"I'll try not to," said Brandon with a chuckle.

With that argument settled, Seth turned his attention to Taylor, who was only just climbing shakily to her feet. "Uhh, you might wanna talk to your protégé," he suggested, "I'm not sure she enjoyed the ride that much."

"Oh, right, almost forgot about her," muttered Brandon, turning round to face her. He lent her his hand, helping her steady herself. "Sorry, I got a bit carried away there," he said. "Probably should've taken it easier for your first time, huh?"

"That… that would've been nice, yeah," said Taylor, nodding.

"Alright, I'll take it nice and easy on the way back then," said Brandon. "I promise."

"The way back?" repeated Taylor apprehensively.

"Right, anyway," said Brandon, "we're here at the breeder's house now, so once we get inside and give her a quick chat, you're free to take any Pokémon you like as your starter Pokémon. Well… not the breeding pairs. But you know… one of the youngsters. You alright? You ready to go?"

Taylor seemed to have found her feet now. "Uhh… yeah, I think so," she said.

"Okay, great," said Brandon. "Seth, you ready to go?"

"Ready," said Seth and Kieran in unison.

"Alright, let's get going then." Brandon opened the gate, making his way through into the large front garden and being careful not to let any of the Pokémon inside escape. Taylor, Seth and Kieran followed him through, and started to make their way down the long, crazy-paved path towards the house. A couple of the more inquisitive Pokémon bounded towards them as they passed, investigating the newcomers, and a Buneary seemed to take a liking to Seth, nuzzling against his leg. Seth smiled at it briefly, but otherwise ignored it.

"Now, where would she be…?" Brandon muttered to himself. "Is she in the house, or is she out here somewhere…?"

"Why don't we split up and look for her?" suggested Seth. "You guys check the house, we'll check the garden."

"Sure," said Brandon. "And while I'm in there, I'll borrow the PC and drop off a Pokémon so I have room for Zapdos."

"Sure thing," said Seth. "I'll holler if I find her."

"Alright, see you in a bit," said Brandon.

The two groups went their separate ways, with Brandon and Taylor continuing on towards the house, and Seth and Kieran heading off the path and into the garden itself. As they headed off, Brandon heard Kieran remark, "These Pokémon don't look all that powerful to me…"

Day 62

[from StarLight]

With a flourish, Sanae's transformation was complete once more, the energy of the White Star Emblem surging through her body as she clutched the transformed artefact in her hand. "Alrighty then!" she declared confidently. "Let's go defeat a giant water serpent! Wow, didn't think I'd be saying that when this show started."

Sanae jumped up off the floor, and instead of coming back down, she found herself floating two feet up in the air. At first it was a strange sensation to get used to, but by channelling the energy of the Emblem, and concentrating on where she wanted to go, Sanae found that she was able to fly around her bedroom with ease. "Hey, this is easier than I was expecting!" she exclaimed. "Pretty fun, too!"

"The longer you take, the more damage that monster can do to the city," said Kousen sternly, watching on unamused. "I know you're still finding your feet, but you can find your feet on the way there."

Sanae sighed. "Fine," she said, coasting to a halt by the window. "You know, the audience are probably going to end up not liking you."

"As long as the city of Mitsuzawa is safe, that's all that matters to me," said Kousen. "I know you probably resent me pushing you like this, but I feel that I have to, for the good of the city."

Sanae nodded, and unlocked her window, throwing it open. "Well, now that I've gotten the hang of flying, this'll be the fastest way out."

Kousen nodded, but then a thought occurred to her. "Wait, what about your parents? Shouldn't you tell them you're going out somewhere, so they don't panic that you've gone missing?"

"My parents aren't home," said Sanae. "They're archaeologists, they spend all their time working at dig sites. They dug up your Emblem, actually, at a site just outside of town. That's how I got hold of it."

"I see," said Kousen. "That must be hard, not having your parents around."

"Actually, it's kinda convenient from a story perspective," said Sanae. "I mean, if my parents were to walk in here right now and see me like this, and you… just being there… that would be really awkward, you know?"

"True," said Kousen. "Although I don't think I mentioned this, but since my existence is still tied to the Emblem, you're the only one who can see me. Other than the audience, of course."

"That's also pretty convenient," Sanae remarked. "But wait, won't that make it look like I'm talking to myself?"

"I suppose so," admitted Kousen, "but if you fly high enough, nobody should notice."

"Alright then," said Sanae, nodding. "Let's go!"

Sanae turned back to the open window and flew through it, soaring out into the open sky. After taking a moment to enjoy the freedom of flight, she looked back at the house and noticed Kousen was still hovering above it, seemingly frozen in place. Curious, she flew back over, and noticed the youkai staring blankly into the horizon with a look of sheer amazement on her face. "What's wrong, Kousen?" Sanae asked her.

It took Kousen a moment to respond, and when she did, her voice was quiet and awestruck. "This is not the Mitsuzawa I remember," she said.

Sanae followed Kousen's gaze, looking out into the horizon. They were only about thirty feet up, but even at this altitude it was possible to get a sense of just how large the city was - much bigger than in Kousen's day. In the distance, the tall skyscrapers of the central business district were clearly visible, dominating the skyline. The cars passing by below looked surprisingly small considering they weren't all that high up.

There was a low roar as an aeroplane passed by high above them, and Kousen suddenly looked up, alarmed. "What is that?!" she exclaimed, eyeing the unfamiliar contraption with astonishment. "Another monster?"

"That's just an aeroplane," explained Sanae. "It's a flying machine that lets people travel to faraway places."

"That's a… machine?" Kousen repeated in disbelief. "That's a contraption that humans built? And it flies?"

"Yep," said Sanae. "And it only crashes, like, once in a million flights, which is pretty good if you think about it."

"You humans have made so much progress since I was gone," said Kousen. "It is truly remarkable."

"Yeah… hey, wait, weren't you the one saying we had to hurry up and defeat that monster as soon as possible?" said Sanae suddenly. "Come on, we can admire humanity's accomplishments later! Right now we have to go save people!"

Kousen nodded, shaking herself out of her bewilderment. "You're right," she said. "I'm sorry. I guess both of us are going to need some time to adjust to things, but right now, we need to worry about stopping that monster instead. Let's go."

"Let's," said Sanae, nodding. The two of them flew off, heading towards the monster's roars which they could now hear even from across the city. "So," asked Sanae suddenly, "how do I actually fight this thing?"

Day 61

[from Cyborg Team Alpha]

The first thing Ichiko became aware of was a quiet, steady beeping. Her brain, newly-rebooted and still very groggy, was busy trying to slowly get her various bodily systems back up and running again, and so for a few minutes she simply lay there, unable to comprehend what the beeping sound was, where it was coming from, or where she currently was. A single cloudy thought began to drift into her mind: I'm awake. I'm alive.

Gradually, she began to recover her senses, and in turn, her thought process slowly returned to her. She now recognized the beeping: it was that of a heart monitor. She could now make out the gentle hum of machinery in the background, and the sound of her own shallow breathing. Mixed together, these sounds told her that she was in a hospital of some kind. As her nostrils awakened, a sterile smell hit her nose, confirming her suspicion.

Ichiko couldn't remember what had happened to put her in the hospital, but it dawned on her that whatever it was, it had to be serious. Her entire body felt numb; she couldn't feel her hands or feet, much less lift a finger. Not even her heavy eyelids would open, though the lack of light filtering through them made her think that they were swathed with bandages, a thought that merely increased her concern. If only she could speak, or even just make some kind of gesture to show that she were conscious… I can't stay like this forever, she thought. Once I recover just a little more strength, I'm sure I'll be able to move.

After a while - Ichiko didn't know how long exactly - she felt the feeling began to return to her body. She soon wished she hadn't. Aches and pains began to spread across her flesh until most of her body hurt. She still could not feel her hands and feet, though her knees and shoulder were in agony, as was her right eye, which she realized seemed to be open. She tried to close it against the pain, but found that she could not. Her discomfort, and her worry, continued to grow.

Perhaps her increased heart rate her betrayed her consciousness, for at last she heard a voice nearby. "Oh shit, she's waking up!" it said. There was a sound like someone getting up, then hurried footsteps. A door opened and closed somewhere, and then there was silence. Whoever was in the room had run to get help, perhaps.

Sure enough, a minute later the door opened again and more footsteps hurried into the room. The voices of the new arrivals mingled and mixed with each other as they drifted lazily into Ichiko's ear, making it hard to distinguish what each voice was saying.

"I'll go and up her pain relief-" "-wait to meet the newest member of the-" "Sit down and be quiet-" "-Jesus Christ, how extensive were her repairs? The professor-" "-50 milligrams of adrenaline-" "Not too much, or you'll put her right back to sleep again" "I know, I know… alright, done."

The voices stopped for a moment, as those gathered round her seemed to settle down. Ichiko could sense someone standing by her side, and a moment later she heard a soft female voice. "Hey there," it said. "Can you hear us? Can you move yet?"

Ichiko, still seemingly immobile, did not and could not respond. The painkillers had not yet kicked in, and she was still hurting all over, except, strangely, her lower legs, right arm and hands, all of which were still completely numb. She tried focusing on just her left arm, trying to get it to move, but it still hurt too much.

"I'll assume that's a no to the second question at least," said the female voice. "Well, if you can hear me, you probably have quite a lot of questions, like, "Where am I?" or "What happened to me?" I'll try and answer those for you, but I have to be honest with you, you might not like the answers to all of them. Okay?"

"What if she can't hear you?" asked another voice, this one male, and further away. "You'll think you've explained everything, then when she wakes up properly, she won't have a clue what's going on."

"Well, until she can speak, or at least move, I can't verify whether she can hear me or not," said the female voice. "But it's likely that she can, at this stage."

Another male voice, this one rather more authoritative, spoke up at this point. Ichiko couldn't exactly tell, but it sounded slightly muffled, perhaps. "Well, let's just wait until we know for sure, just to be on the safe side."

"So we just, what, sit here and wait for her to move?"

"Yes."

"And how long will that take?"

"As long as it takes," said the authoritative voice.

There was a sigh, and the silence once more. As her pain gradually subsided, Ichiko decided to try once again to move her arm. If that was what it would take to get her answers, she had to try. Slowly, she managed to shift her arm a little way along the bedsheets.

The movement did not go unnoticed. "Did you see that?" said the female voice. "Her arm just moved!"

"I saw," said the authoritative voice.

"If you can hear me," said the female voice gently, "move your arm again."

Ichiko mustered a little more strength, and did as she was told, shifting her arm back again. This time, she felt the palm of her hand brush against the fabric of the sheets as she did so. The feeling in the rest of her body was starting to return.

"Well, since I know you can hear me now," said the female voice, "I'm going to go ahead and explain your current situation. Like I said, you may not like some of what you're about to hear, but you need to hear it. Okay? Alright, then I'll start with where you are…"

Day 60

[from The Ballad of Conor Stewart]

"Okay, so, where was I?"

"You were about to tell us about your first season," said Saarinen.

"Ah, yes, that's right," said Conor. "Okay, so… Brazil '87 would've been my first F1 race. You can imagine I was a bit nervous going into it. I'd done all the testing, I'd done the practice mileage, but now I was actually going to race the thing. As luck would have it, there were only, I think, 25 entrants that day, so at least I didn't have to worry about making the grid - there was no 107% rule in those days, of course, so all you had to do was actually set a quali lap and you were on the grid, no questions asked. Mind you, with the gulf between the turbos and non-turbos, a 107% rule wouldn't exactly have been fair.

"Now, Allen, of course, had a bit more F1 experience than I did, and he'd driven the circuit before, whereas I hadn't, so he gave me a few pointers on the best lines to take. I took in the tips, did my best during the practice sessions, went out for qualifying, and ended up 20th, with Allen 22nd. Can't remember how many non-turbos there were on the grid that day… five, maybe six? ….but we were slap-bang in the middle of 'em. From our point of view, that was the important thing: we weren't racing the turbos, except for the slower ones like Zakspeed and Osella. We were racing the other non-turbos.

"So I lined up on the starting grid, for my first-ever F1 race. I remember I was alongside Martin Brundle, in his Zakspeed, and as the flag dropped - it was a flag in those days, not five lights - when the flag dropped, I actually got a better start than him, and managed to get past him for a bit until his turbo kicked in and he went straight back past me. Funnily enough, though, he retired on lap 15 when his turbo gave out. Allen retired as well… I, uhh, I think his engine blew up. I don't remember exactly, but there was a lot of smoke coming out of his car when I drove past it, so it was either an engine problem or some kinda oil leak.

"I actually finished the race. Now, I've probably said that the cars in those days were difficult to drive, but actually, the Hildebrand wasn't all that difficult once I'd gotten the hang of it. Yeah, it was slow, but that made it all the more easy to handle. It was a good beginner's car, I think. I think if I'd leapt in at the deep end, with a turbo team like Brabham, I probably would've struggled more in that first season than I did with Hildebrand in the end. So while it wasn't a great first season in terms of results, it was excellent in terms of allowing me to find my feet in F1. So if you guys can only get offered a race seat at, say, Marussia or Caterham, don't just assume it's below you and turn it down. Any experience is good experience, and many of the sport's greats started out at the bottom like I did. Fernando Alonso, for example. He started out at Minardi, and look how he turned out.

"Anyway, uhh… I finished 12th out of 13 finishers at that first race in Brazil. Nearly finished 11th, but Streiff in his Tyrrell leapfrogged me at the final round of stops. I wasn't sure how to feel about the result, really. On the one hand, I'd at least finished, and I hadn't really been expecting to do that well in the first place. On the other hand, no matter how you look at it, I was second from last. I wasn't looking forward to my prospects for the season. I chatted to a couple of the other guys about it and they basically all said, well, you've only just started. Get some experience under your belt, get some good results, and if you prove yourself, then it'll all fall into place in the end. So I figured, alright then, might as well tough it out. Got nothing to gain from giving up after only one race.

"Things stayed like that for a while. By Imola, there were now enough entrants that some people weren't going to qualify. Nelson Piquet crashed during practice, had to sit out the race, and that took the pressure off a little, and in the end both me and Allen qualified. I finished 11th out of 14, helped by a couple of cars running out of fuel but still getting classified, and Berg retired again. At Belgium it was my turn to retire, after my gearbox gave out, and Allen finished 10th out of 11. Then came the big one: my first Monaco Grand Prix.

"I'd never been to Monaco before, never raced that circuit, but of all the races on the calendar that year, that was the one I was looking forward to the most. That, and my home race at Adelaide. When we got there, I must've spent hours just wandering around, taking it all in. It was weird, though, 'coz I mean, a couple of the guys actually lived there, like a lot of 'em do now, they knew the people and the places and everything. They'd be stopping their neighbours on the street and having a chat with them. The famous guys, like Senna, Berger, Prost, they were constantly getting stopped and asked for photos and autographs and shit. I didn't get stopped once. Nobody knew who the hell I was!" Conor chuckled, grinning fondly. "I dunno if I preferred it like that, or the constant autograph requests I got after I moved to Ferrari. They both had their perks, if I'm honest, but they were both pretty annoying. At that time, I wanted to be known like the others. By '95, I was walking down the street wishing nobody knew who I was still!" He chuckled again. "Yeah, good times, though.

"Hildebrand managed to book rooms for me and Allen at the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel and Resort. Oh, man, it was the best fucking hotel I'd ever slept in. I felt like a king. It was at that point - standing on the balcony of my room, looking out at the Monte Carlo sunset - it was then that I thought, I can't give this up. What does it matter if I'm finishing second-from-last every race, and struggling to even get on the grid? This is the greatest ride I've ever been on, and I'm being paid to take it. I'll be damned if I'm getting off."