Amaranth Hawthorne's Story

January 1'st, 2034

Today was the first of a brand new year, and today signified the grand opening of the Zeritau project. Everyone who has volunteered for the program was now on their way to Watauchi City by means of plane, boat, or truck. For this particular group of volunteers they would be traveling by boat since some of the monsters assigned to this group were to large to fit onto planes or trucks.

It had been 31 long days by sea, for those that started off in america such as one young man named Dan Irving. One human participant in the Zeritau program. For others, it may have been less time traveling by boat. Dan lay down on a lounging chair on the ship, this particular ship was a cruise ship filled with a contingent of games, water slides, a pool, a cocktail lounge, and all the necessities to ensure no one was bored to death while they made their journey. Dan however was busy lounging on a chair soaking in the sun with his clothes still on, that was until an announcement of the speakers caught everyone's attention.

"Attention all passengers this is your captain speaking, we will be arriving at Watauchi city in one hour from now. Please ensure you have all your belongings ready in time before we arrive at port. Please finish up all activities before then, and we thank you all for your patience during this journey." The captain spoke through the intercom before music began to fill the ship once again. "Good grief...we finally arrived at our designation. I guess better late then never I suppose." Dan muttered under his breath before stretching and relaxing once more.

In the spiciness of the day: Oschenhauer's eyes tremble with the incinerating rays of the sun. She therefore used one hand as a sun-cover; the other hand was perched on a burnished monorail of the water transport. She leant over the boatside. She knitted her brow as she looked, allowing it to turn into a frown. Her mouth turned askew with curiosity. Every few seconds: she would move from the effervescence of the white hot water abashing the boat to a photo she had in her hand that was taken using a Polaroid camera. Every few seconds: a small, wintry front might approach her and clout her ears with noise, moving her scarf; to this: she would respond by slightly absconding from the wind, and biting the heel of her foot into the deck.

Between her thumb and her tallest finger: there lay a picture of Japan, which she had been studying wide-eyed for most of the journey. This picture depicted a metropolis; buildings that sprawled up past the clouds, and such a field of view that it looked as if spectators from the windows could wander amidst the cerulean sky.

After staring hard at the picture for a long, long time: she developed the impression that Japan was very formal, very conforming, and very largely acrid towards difference. Oschenhauers brow intensified slightly and she shivered minutely.

Then, she turned to focus on her left, and her eyes pulsed larger. There was a wall of purple, orange and blue skyscrapers in the distant fog that were scratching against the cloud streets above. Her mouth fell, and her arm trembled. She'd soon pocketed the picture in her left jacket pocket, and began to try and abase the approaching metropolis by looking at it from different angles, but it only filled her with further humility and futility.

Oschenhauer overheard another person, whom she regarded as a source of faculty:

"Good grief...we finally arrived at our designation. I guess better late then never I suppose."

"In such a case: time must have had haste with me." This, she contemplated, almost at silence.

She placed her left foot forward and started walking heelfirst towards the floor that carried the paraphernalia and cars. She seized the doorknob to the interior at head-height and threw the door open in somewhat an irregular way. After doing so: she exited to the fettering wooden floor and dining tables within. In one last navigation attempt: she tried to discriminate from the large crowd of recreating people outside: someone she may know.

After nearly no expenditure of time: she saw what was never told to be right; this facet which Oschenhauer as was so radical, incomprehensible and absurd, so blasphemous, dead and unjust. Any hope that Oschenhauer had accrued bore the highway around her and leapt towards the facet; a metamorphosis from righteousness into an arduous lump of regret and guilt that sat in her throat. What was never told to be right stared at her, absorbing her will. She lunged at the door so that the cogency would seal the door shut, successful in her attempt to find someone that she knew.

"I can only hope to exist districts away", she cajoled herself hopefully. She was sweating copiously on her forehead. Her legs quaked under the pressure of that feeling, that acerbic feeling. Her face gathered even more tension, and her frown was intense, though quivering, as wrinkles formed on the skin covering her invisible prefrontal cortex.

"I can only hope", she began, pitch sprawling, "It didn't notice me".

Chester had mixed feelings about going to a city in Japan. His home was in the US, The Crying Wolf was now going to be run by his cousin and he didn’t exactly like the way she managed her money. However, Chester wasn’t about to pass on the opportunity to meet humans for the first time without the screaming.

As the ship pulled into the port Chester left the deck of the ship and made his way back down to his room. He started gathering the stuff that he had brought with him and put it all in the huge trunk at the end of his bed. The trunk had a telescopic handle and wheels so grabbed it and headed to the dock after packing everything. He got into the big line of humans and monsters as they were all coming off the boat. There was a lot of confusion and Chester tried his best to stay calm. He had his tail wrapped around his waist like a belt so that no one would be tempted to pull on it or play with it, he'd heard that the humans tend to ignore personal boundaries when they got curious. The crowd all around him was loud and far too close for his liking but at the same time he was glad to be off the boat, he hated being on water. He was reminded of scenes he'd seen on tv from old new shows of immigrants coming into the US at Ellis Island, but there was no statue of liberty here. This was just an experiment, what was going to happen if the humans and the monsters couldn' live in peace? What was the likelihood that the humans could live peacefully with monsters when they couldn't even live peacefully with other humans?

"Look mommy, a kitty!" a small female voice came from behind him. He turned to see a human mother holding a baby in one arm and a trunk similar to his own in the other hand and a smaller human that was able to walk on its own holding onto the woman's jacket. The small human had long brown hair done in pigtails and her eyes seemed to grow huge as she saw Chester's face.
"Mommy" She pleaded as she tugged on the jacket. "Can I pet the kitty man?" The mom looked at Chester with a nervous smile.
"Kelly, that's not polite." she hissed. Chester smiled back at the woman.
"It's fine, miss. I'd rather her ask, than just assume we're all dangerous." Chester bent down to one knee and looked at the little girl. "You can pet me if you want, just not the tail."
The girl squealed with glee as she ran her hand down the top of Chester's head and scratched his ears. She almost lost her mind when he involuntarily started to pur. Chester couldn't help but smile at the happiness he had brought this little girl.

The voyage was a strange and wondrous journey for it.

Anima sat on a chair near the pool while reading a book on Japanese society, taking it's time to carefully read through each page as it was a rather slow reader. Perhaps sitting on the chair might of been the wrong way to put it also. It was resting atop the chair, it's sides spilling past the arms and back of the chair like a bag of slime might. Being a gelatinous creature furniture designed for bipedal mammals were not particularly well designed for use by entities such as itself.

Not that it was particularly uncomfortable for it. Anima found little issue in the position it assumed atop the chair, one of almost swallowing the chair in it's body whole. Even if it were to envelop the whole thing no damage would come to the chair. It was a particular breed of slime which were incapable of consuming anything except water and sunlight due to their complete lack of acidity and healing properties.


It was curious as to what human society was like. What friends would it make? What sights would it see? How would it get along with humans? All these questions and more swam about it's squishy not at all well defined mind. Despite not having a brain it was able to think on the same level as most humans. The strangest thing about that however was that slimes such as it weren't the most supernatural beings out there. Despite it's rather alien morphology it was by far not the least plausible thing the monster world had to offer.

"Attention all passengers this is your captain speaking, we will be arriving at Watauchi city in one hour from now. Please ensure you have all your belongings ready in time before we arrive at port. Please finish up all activities before then, and we thank you all for your patience during this journey."

At this message Anima perked up. With an excited smile upon it's glossy green face it looked out to see the city in the distance, lustrous and modern as ever. "Oh joy! I can't wait to see this city of humans!" It beamed with enthusiasm as it started towards getting ready for the ship's docking. It didn't have a lot of preparation but if it wanted to get it all done it needed to start now since it wasn't the fastest creature in the monster kingdom. Firstly it needed to pick up it's book and return it to it's rightful place.


Grasping at the softback book it used the stickiness of it's slimy tentacular appendages to shut the book. Lifting the object however was going to be a greater challenge for Anima possessed no bones or even muscles with which to lift it with. Slipping it's tentacles under the book and wrapping them around it it proceeded to lean back in an attempt to drag the item off the table. It might not of had muscles but it could still exert a measure of hydraulic pressure through it's body which it used to pull the book. Hauling the informational novel as though it were an oversized sledgehammer it slowly made it's way over into the common room aboard the ship. It was able to keep the book off the floor but only just. It's weight was fairly close to Anima's maximum lifting weight, a fact which said a lot about it's physical strength or lack thereof.

The man who stood behind the desk where the books were kept and distributed watched as this gelatinoid character struggled to bring back a book it had rented.

"I-oof, I wish to re-huff-return this book please." Anime struggled through the effort of moving the book to announce that the book was being returned.

"Um... That's very good." The man did not sound certain of what to make of the scene. Being human he, like many, was still getting used to working with monsters. Even though he had been trained to cater to the more unique needs of some monsters it was still difficult to not feel outside the ordinary in this instance.


Rather than force the poor creature to exert itself in this comically absurd manner any longer the man simply stepped around past the desk and took the book from it's tentacles. A shudder ran down his spine as he could feel the thick coat of goop which slowly oozed around his fingertips. The lukewarm goo's sensation on his skin was quite unsettling as he checked to see just how much of the book had been slathered in this secretion. From what he could tell a good amount of the substance was also caught in between the pages, squeezing out from within as a result of the pressure his fingers exerted on the book. The worker simply sighed, not looking forward to having to clean off this book at all.

"Thank you for returning your book. We hope you enjoyed your voyage." It seemed quite clear that the man was faking any sense of positivity in his voice but such cues went well over the friendly slime's bubbly head.

"Thank you as well for being so accommodating. I look forward to meeting more of your wonderful species!" It bid the man a cheerful farewell as it's lower body crawled along the floor not dissimilar to a slug, slowly carrying it's form out the exit and back to the deck.


Next it went to it's belongings. Given it's ability to move possessions on it's own it didn't own a lot of things to carry. It's travel purse mostly held a number of keepsakes and it's night light so it didn't get scared at night. The only other thing it had taken along was it's companion, a small fruit slime by the name of Colada. Fruit slimes were a different breed of slime which were notable as theirs was a fairly weak acid. Such slimes mostly fed off fruit for two reasons. The first reason was that fruit was abundant in the regions their breed came to populate. The other reason was that their acid was not potent enough to subdue most forms of prey.

Not only are fruit slimes known as such due to their diet however. As these slimes tend to pick a favorite fruit to feed on they have adopted both the coloration and flavour of the fruits they feed on. As a result this makes them notably tasty snacks, a gel which possesses the flavour of fruit.


Colada's flavour happened to be pineapple, hence why it was yellow. Colada was not for eating however. Anima had taken it as a friend to keep it from suffering like so many of it's breed do. It had not been an easy trip but with a close friend along Anima was able to brave the strange new world before it.

"Come Colada! It's time to see our new home!" It called it's companion over as it gathered it's belongings which were all already packed away in it's travel purse. Pulling the purse onto itself it was able to save itself some effort by letting the purse rest on the main girth of it's body. Even still it needed to keep the strap slung over what could hardly be called a shoulder so the purse didn't sink into it's body. As for Colada itself it crawled over and waited dutifully at Anima's base. It picked up the fruit slime and set Colada atop it's head, wearing it like a whimsical beret upon it's hair. The hair wasn't really hair however, it was just a solid piece of slime molded into the shape of a hairstyle so as to better help Anima blend into human society and socialize more effectively.


With everything it needed Anima set out back onto the deck of the boat, slowly making it's way over to where the crowd was gathering. It was looking forward to that moment when the ship would dock and it would be led down and shown it's new residence. As the city of Watauchi approached so to did it's future and all the surprises it held, both wonderful and otherwise.

"We didn't forget anything, did we," Rosaline asked her excessively tall brother, Amaranth, who was now burdened with carrying his little sister's luggage on top of having to hunch over to fit within the room. The ship was docked and she was in a hurry to get off it. There she was, dressed in pink pajamas looking in a mirror, brushing her hair with one hand, brushing her teeth with another, and selecting out something to wear with her tail all at the same time. The long trip over the ocean has not unaccommodating, but the ocean was no place for an earthen race such as behemoth kin, it was literally being out of their element. In fact, she had spent a portion of the cruise suffering from seasickness, a portion of that time Amaranth was as well.

Her brother took account of each item his sister had piled on top of him, including the minority of his bags that belonged to him. "No, everything is accounted for."

"Good, I'd ever so hate to return to this rocking... thing," she responds with with some contempt, having dressed herself in that short time in a white buttoned shirt, pink skirt, custom designed white strapped boots, and finishing off with a hot pink bucket-hat with a real rose in front. Her face white from makeup, offset by her red hair and the light pink of her nose and bottom lip. "So, what do you think?"

"I think there was a chronological lapse somewhere," Amaranth answered honestly as he looked up tilting his head slightly. "But other than that, it compliments you well... but must I carry-"

"Excellent! Then we can head out then mingle with the natives," she interrupts, walking out the door and onto the deck with a elegant yet hasty stride, not paying attention to the sway of her tail. At one point barely missing Dan, giving him a short gust of air.

"My apologies," Amaranth says, begging pardon in his little sister's stead as he passes by. The two contrasted greatly, stature, demeanor, and he looked more like some foreign royalty from a fantasy world, dressed in his ornate floral long sleeved robes and shiny mask.

"Do you think we'll see any samurai or ninjas," Rosaline asks, unaware of her near tail based incident.

"I am afraid we are far past that era," he responds honestly.

"Oh man, I was really hoping to see a real sword duel, with the intense stare down before the dance-like exchange of swing after swing," she starts to say, waving her hands about and gesturing each action before turning around walking backwards to face Amaranth. "Or the elegant stealth of becoming one with the surroundings, seemingly supernatural abilities to move about unseen, please don't tell me these no longer exist!"

"Well... there is always theater for such cultural exposure, a few I would dare not miss myself to be honest," he responds fondly only to hear Rosaline sputter and bust out laughing.

"Gee, could you sound any more like such a nerd, bro?"

"Says the one who watches too many animated programs and talks of ninjas and samurai," he responds teasingly. Her laughter is halted with a pouting huff, arms crossed.

"Touche," she admits in defeat. "Now, daddy said we were getting a real nice big place for this little experiment, we're going to need the space for the club, afterall."

As the ship reach port, the passengers of the ship slowly made their way off the ship. Dan sat up from his chair and grabbed his bag by his side before placing it on his back. They were finally at Japan, their long 30 day journey was finally at an end and began to walk with the crowd to head to the docks. As he walked however, a tail of one of the monster on board nearly threatened to hit his head, only missing him by mere inches and blowing his hat off in the process.

Dan would grab his hat before it could fly off with the wind before placing it back on his had and re-adjusted it. He was annoyed that some of the monsters on the ship seemed to have no awareness but a taller individual seemed to have noticed the mistake and apologized on the monsters behalf. He was not certain what monster had nearly hit his head to to the nature of the crowd, however he decided to accept the apology on the monsters behalf. "No problem..." He replied as he continued behind the crown before arriving at the docks.

As he arrived at the docks, he could see past the shoulders of everyone the sight of the city. The large towering structures were just a few yards away. In front of this sight stood a pair of people wearing fancy suits and sunglasses. By their appearance they were government officials who were serving as the guide for everyone here. "Can we have everyone's attention here? Please remain quiet as we explain some final things. We will lead you all to your new homes so we ask everyone to remain together to prevent anyone from getting lost. But we will explain some new things here, the currency this town uses will be known an Rell. Rell is a currency planning to be used by both monsters and humans, you will all receive 100,000 Rell and you are all expected to work to earn more. Now, please follow us as we lead you all to your new homes." As they finished they turned around and began to walk into the city, passing by stores and giving detailed information on each of them from normal convince stores to special potion shops that could help cure illness better than any modern medicine. Once they arrived at a small neighborhood a few miles away from the main city, they would begin assigning everyone to live in a simple 2 story house, some modified to be much larger or smaller depending on the occupant.

Oschenhauer started to take fraying steps through the eating hall; she orbited the tables and barely noticed the chairs, in some cases stubbing her toe on a chair or pulsing into a worden frame by coincidence. She was caught up in a storm of peach, white, blue, green, red and yellow faces, locomoting quickly towards the exit; they leant like skyscrapers over her; often it felt like she wasn't notices at all. She aligned to the somewhat magnetic flow; the voices coagulated into one monotonous mumble but she might hear the occasional murmur. The ferreting floor quickly came dimmed with footprints. Suddenly as voice, undimmed in its competing enthusiasm, started to inform everyone dogmatically through the tannoy, without a trace of indolence from the long journey. Oschenhauer looked up in order to locate the speaker:

"Can we have everyone's attention here?", Oschenhauer was hesitant to pause, and due to the large cogency of the people: she found it arduous to do so regardless.

"Please remain quiet as we explain some final things." Not many fell quiet,though Oschenhauer was already soundless.

"We will lead you all to your new homes so we ask everyone to remain together to prevent anyone from getting lost. But we will explain some new things here, the currency this town uses will be known an Rell. Rell is a currency planning to be used by both monsters and humans, you will all receive 100,000 Rell and you are all expected to work to earn more. Now, please follow us as we lead you all to your new homes."

There were a few phantasmal screams. Going along her path: she wondered if this would be commonplace. The only boon of transport she carried was the satchel on her back.
Somewhat miraculously: Oschenhauer reached a wall. She affected the wall by trying to steal the paint with her nail. She regarded it curiously, and continued to hug the wall as she walked in order to map it out. Her nails became somewhat sore when they transitioned from a mortar surface onto a metal surface: she'd found a door that seemed to have its own habit of becoming agape and shut. She'd seen nothing of the sort, and unlike the boat which she was quite well versed on: she couldn't know the door.

When the mouth of the door opened: an orange faced being with a peculiar orifice on his forehead, trembling hands and large claws, entered into a dimly lit sort of cage which the door had opened up to. Oschenhauer tried to be noneffective; arms hanging at her sides like limp weights, and planted her back against the wall to lean backwards.

"I'd rather not go in here by myself; I'm agoraphobic" it argued, volume uneven.

Another orange faced being with and extended nose pursued the first being into the lift

"You're not going alone; of course I'm coming as well!" the other monster scolded with a stiff authority and cogency.

"Why is no one else using the lift?" the initial monster queried, frowning in the general direction of the second, putting his hand on top of his head and cycling it.

The monster gestured with its hand towards a nearby window: "Perhaps they'd like to appreciate the view", it contemplated.

"Or perhaps it's because this is the disabled lift and the disabled people would take longer to get here." it extended on the options, almost as if haggling.

Oschenhauer looked up at them at this point with narrow eyes. Her upper lip stuck out for piscean effect.

"You look like an angry fish." the first monster criticized of her. 'Would you like to use this lift as well?"

"If it is not a bother" she responded with a spark of enthusiasm. Quickly she rebounded off of the platform and adjoined to the lift group with an electrical faculty. Once in: the door closed slowly after, until the light level was low, intimate and caliginous. The agoraphobic monster must have felt a melancholy, for it shivered. On the machine before the door: the agoraphobic monster chose out a button and pressed it acutely with his index.

"Lift going down" ; Oschenhauer couldn't tell who was speaking. The person giving on-board instructions was clearly a male. This voice was dimmed, electronic, generic and feminine. It came from above; she found a speaker, noting it as a probable source.

The room looked metropolitan; there was a plastic wall of foamy marble and a defective mirror. A black bar went to the edges of the lift; it was beveled twice.

Air ran through the room and she could only feel part of the front due to the two gargantuan windshields. Static and silence passed through the room while the lift was travelling. There was an illusion of a fine, fine second that passed to another fine, fine second that was in fact one second. The lift scratched at something minutely; behind the doors she could hear cars hurrying and a second wave of people jargon. The orange monster, brown in the arcs cast by the lift, grunted, and thus spoke:

"Well; I guess that means we've made it in one piece" he seemed to confess this with some guilt.

"It's an irrational fear, the doctor said" the non-agoraphobic monster cajoled him, putting an arm around his shoulder blade.

The agoraphobic monster perceived the small Oschenhauer again, smiling obtusely and warmly, and inquiring:
"Will we see you again?"

"I can hope so" Oschenhauer responded with a fleck of light in her voice, "For what it's worth: it's been pleasant meeting you"

"I'll bet you don't say that a lot" the monster noticed, with lucid humor about his investigation.

"You was would be right", and with that, Oschenhauer beamed at the man. The lift became agape once more, and the couple of monsters departed. Oschenhauer looked around: there were limousines, Beatles and automobiles in a disparity of colors, though mainly white red and black. There were people walking around, navigating the maze of cars like ramblers, perhaps in order to find a vehicle that belonged to them. The doors almost closed on Oschenhauer before she remembered to get out.

She took an inquisitive gaze both ways, discovering an abrasive and burnished metal stairwell existing dead-left from which people had descended. She resolved that this was it; this was where she may depart. Then, she became once again not entirely convinced once she noticed the anarchistic roar of an engine, pulsing with metal envy.

"So, where may the people leave?" she observed.

Ericson had flown over to Japan from the U.S. and for his flight, you could say that he was itching to stretch out his legs a bit. Once the plane had landed and entered the terminal, he practically sprinted off to baggage claim. With his determination, Ericson set out to Watauchi City to find his new place that he paid for online. He all too excited to see the place and make sure that his personal belongings made it there safely. He rushed to find his apartment complex among the busy city to see the place seemed a little run down, but that didn't diminish the excitement that Ericson had. He unlocked the door to his place to find all of his things there safe and sound for the most part, except for his futon. It was in horrible shape from being flown over to Japan. He sighed before going to his bedroom to toss his bags on the floor, plopped on the bed and fell asleep.

As she was going over other ridiculous stories she had come to believe about Japan she was soon interrupted by a man speaking up over the crowd. Her grin breaks upon hearing that they have their own currency. Not only that, they would be all having the same amount each. Still with her back turned she slowly looks back at the man, her jaw slowly going agape. "W-what, sir I-" she stuttered, her right eye twitches. "Bro?"

Amaranth leans down to her as close as he can with his stature. "Together we will have a total of 200,000 Rell, it is more than adequate in getting started," he whispers. Some comfort comes to his little sister from this, slowly nodding her head in agreement.

The two of them quietly followed the men in suits looking at the form of controlled city they shall be living in. As expected, it looked relatively pristine, expected of an enclosed place. Amaranth appreciated the level of peace represented, but the more brash Rosaline looked upon it with crossed arms. She was looking for excitement, fun, not another fortress of solitude like back home. This whole thing was some excuse to stop being shut behind a door. She still had hopes for a ninja to pop out despite her brother's naysaying.

After being shown her residence and given the Rell she gave the property a good glance. It was special fitted to her brother's particularly large size making for a rather respectable place of residence. It wasn't exactly a mansion, of course, but looking at its large double doors and pillared architecture to facilitate the adjustments needed for Amaranth would lead one to assume otherwise. She pauses at the doors and takes a quick glance at the grass of the lawn and cracks a smirk. Time for a first impression, she thought.

"Brother, hand me my bags, I feel something is amiss here," she says softly holding her hand out to him with the other on her hip, the tip of her tail twirling in circles. Amaranth nods and leans down to her. As she took bags from her brother she strutted into the lawn. She effortlessly takes her heavy bags into her left arm, reaches into one of them then scatters the lawn with seeds. She then closed her eyes and held out her hand, a light rumbling could be heard, the seeds pierce down into the earth then shortly after leaves and stems jut up and grow at a highly accelerated rate, elegantly twisting in form, growing out in elaborate forms outlining the walkway and yard, like a fence of greenery. In a matter of seconds it completed, two stems reaching out and curving at the entrance, twisting together to form a draping archway, and then all over blooming with brilliant red roses. "I'll leave the hedge art to your heart's content, Am." He silently nods.

"Thank you for your hospitable provisions, I hope our stay will be mutually pleasant," Amaranth says turning to the two men then to everyone else. Then the towering figure takes a deep and humble bow to everyone. "I... believe it is customary to bow in order to show gratitude and consideration. There was a time for my people where to lower one's self would be considered a humiliation, but the truth is that we were never truly above either. As such, I will view you all as equals, perhaps even friends if so desired."

"On that note," Rosaline said out loud with a smile, waving a finger in the air. "I'd like to say we will be opening a club, The Elysian Orchid. Despite the ritzy name and that some small profit is to be made off it... the grand focus is fun, music, drinks, dance, food, and so on! Because lets face it, in the end of the day I want to provide that means where we can all unwind, you know? And I look forward to getting to know all of you as an extended welcome by the Hawthorne family!"

She drops her bags down and places her hands behind her back glancing off to the side leaning back a bit. Her wide smile lightens some, and her tail curls around her right leg. "But to be honest, I just want to have some fun out in the open myself for a change, I don't like being-" she mutters rubbing her right arm and looking out blankly at nothing in particular. Her brother reacts immediately by placing a hand on her shoulder. She groggily looks up at him. "Uh..? Oh! Um, yeah, so uh, look forward to that!"

"Do not concern yourselves over this, my sister is only weary from the long travel, and then the display here," Amaranth says calmly, waving a hand to the rose fence. With this Amaranth takes her bags again and escorts her inside. He politely bows once more before shutting the doors behind them.

Oschenhauer was finally there: at an abode, a garden for her possessions. She briefly recollected what she’d just activated.

A noise apparatus was sounding on her wrist; today could very well be the one of which it was willed for the wave machine, the boat, to start undulating and moving away but it was the wristwatch that came out as the successor of the noise, circulating and giving decay at regular intervals. The wristwatch was slightly coarse from non-use and the salt crunched about under the level of the minute-hand as it ticked. It took her back to when she was at the port, having just left the mariner. The far sea bore some waves that clashed with the distant granite rocks and incinerated into but foam.

Out the window there were also ice clouds to burden the civilians with a wintry attack. She remained superstitious of pollution in Watauchi; her first impressions with it were not good.

There were a few too many chemicals in the food, chemicals in the air, chemicals in the buildings, chemicals in the asbestos, chemicals in the pipes, chemicals in the sea, chemicals in the road, chemicals in the people, chemicals in the drinking water. Oschenhauer exclaimed about the chemicals; spurned them, burdened them with being the acrid killer of such a beautiful country, she knew from the few mountains she'd seen that the original inhabitants, now specters as they were belated by the great enterprise of civilization: were much better. Her first impressions made her eyes sharp, relentless; they looked like they’d turned into guillotines that diced the area around her with an immense caliginous fray. The result was a coup de grace on the fragile, inspired emotions of the monsters around her; seeing her undid their day, which was quite blithe, up until that universe called Oschenhauer had to ruin it for them.

Oschenhauer had left the boat, drumming her feet across the metal walkway. She’d recalled the man behind her stared largely down at the little cockroach, making marmalade out of the small substance in between his clenched fists; it was probably substituted for some sort of vicious scolding he would have gave to the little pipsqueak. Oschenhauer discontinued the noise when she was on left ground, and with no one in front of her: she quickly assailed the furthermost pole that was on the walkway after zipping over to it, like a grasshopper and a thunderbolt.

Now: there she was, in her house. Her conversation with the man was brief, but it was informative. It may have been the facts that had made her day blue as well. Now: she’s been looking at her watch, trying to escape the gnawing feeling of dread which came with the reason in the man’s words. She was in a clustered street, she owned a property, there was no front lawn; but all of this seemed irrelevant when the man said:

“There is no higher education for Ids included in the Zeritau project. It sounds immoral, but please try to understand: we don’t know how to finance it, we don’t know how tangible it is, we don’t know what to put on your curriculum.”

The real confusion came with what “Finance”, “tangible” or “curriculum” even meant. Oschenhauer didn’t know about economics, she didn’t know about politics, and she knew nothing of a “curriculum”; Oschenhauer was home-schooled. She remembered how the commune had seemed to encourage her and her friends to part ways to go travelling; and then: she felt that she was ruined, spurned.

“But with being spurned” said aloud, and her frown seemed to somersault into a smile: “Comes freedom”.

She was in her house, lying on her floor cross-legged as no appliances were installed, and she furrowed her brow at freedom. There were no appliances or surfaces in her house at the moment, expected to pay for those on her own; however: she had an oven, shower, kitchen desktop, washing machine and bed. How terribly empty it all was. She was in fact mediating on freedom as she respited there, with her eyes closed so that she wouldn’t have to believe that she was there. She’d haphazardly placed the credit card containing her Rell on the floor.

She embraced that word: freedom, that material world with no metaphysical “laws” that caught her up in real chains. Anytime, anywhere, any place, anyhow, any when; people would object, but these objections would be nothing but noise. Then: she realized that in this world: others could do the same; people that were not virtuous, those who craved infinite simplicity, infinite peace or silence. Those silence-people were to get arms, and legs, and build up the means to silence; no other means to definite silence was there, than death. Furthermore: death to Oschenhauer, as she herself was quite boisterous.

Oschenhauer no longer could stand the thought of a concrete wilderness; she’d hoped for it to be liberating, but in the end it just felt dangerous. Oschenhauer wanted freedom, not dangerous freedom.

“But freedom is danger, and makes us thirsty to oppress other freedoms” Oschenhauer piped up. If Freedom were a person: he or she would be a vicious, megalomaniacal killer; it would be a highly seductive, tempting person who would reel you in and moments later leave you as a cadaver.

After that: she stopped thinking about freedom, as she no longer wanted it to occupy her time.

She got to her feet: she would go outside and properly explore the neighborhood. Surely there ware non-indoctrinated citizens out there too, who were looking for an honest friend. On this impoverished street: it was more than likely.

"Hell-o, d'you recognise me? It's Jules, your local traffic chick --- aaand I have some exciting news for you. Has the mess on Mitchell Freeway been cleared? Is the traffic light on Bo through to Blackbourne? Has the entire week been accident free? Well - I wouldn't be able to tell you any of that. Why? Hm, that must be because I'm right here at Japan's very own Watauchi City!"

A camera raised above the heads in a crowd, shaking about in crazed celebration. Above the buzzing chatter, the shrill "whoooo-ing" of a woman could be heard. The camera suddenly ducked back down from view.

"That's right, I've been sent on a very special mission to report not the traffic of this fantastical place, but the progress of the experiment. Will humans and monsters peacefully coexist? Well, you and I are going to find out. You, from the safety of your own home, and me - from, aha, right here at the front lines."

"Can we have everyone's attention, please?"

"Looks like the experiment of the century's about to get started! Wish me luck!"

.

.

.

Juliet Little re-watched the footage for the eighth time, sitting cross-legged on her bed. Every few seconds, she would pause the video, her heart would drop, and she'd play it again. Photos were ugly, but not as evil as film. A film was hundreds, no, thousands of pictures all jammed together to make one, big, moving photo. So many unflattering moments were immortalized and all you had to do was pause for one to be revealed.

She fell back on her bed, raising the camera above her head. After preparing a big, attractive grin, she pressed record.

"Well, this is me!" she chirped painfully, turning the camera left to right to see the bare room in its entirety, "Small, grey and boring. I only just moved in, so..." she faltered and seized up for a moment. After some time she swallowed, then breathed in before grinning and beginning again with forced enthusiasm, "Well, this is me! Small, grey and full of potential! Things are pretty hectic right now." Her eyes glanced to the clock in the room. "I'll explore tomorrow. Need to find a job, too. It's a new beginning, alright. Well, this is really exciting, and I'm so happy to be apart of this. This is Jules signing off from the first day at Watauchi City - g'night, Australia!"

As soon as the camera stopped recording she sat up, peeled from her bed and knelt down beside her laptop in the corner of the room. She plugged the camera in and began syncing the footage to the computer before standing and glancing back to the clock. She wrote on a sticky note and left it on her lava lamp beside her bed. After a moment of dawdling without reason, she took her pyjamas and toiletry bag from her unsorted luggage and brought her phone with her into the bathroom. A notification went off in her pocket and she ignored it. While showering, another notification startled her.

She walked into the kitchen, her damp hair creating a wet patch on the back of her pyjama shirt. She opened the pantry to see what was already stocked; canned food, porridge, sugar, rice and pasta. She took out the containers of rice and pasta and weighed them up in her hands as she made a decision. When she went to put the rice back, it lightly tapped against the shelf. This tap was just enough for the container to slip from her trembling hand and hit the ground. The hit was just enough for the lid to pop out and the contents of the container to go spraying all over the kitchen floor. That was just enough to make Juliet curse. Repeatedly.

A notification - a text message.

She snatched her phone from her pocket and looked at the screen. She paused, her lips pursing as she saw what messages she had missed. She checked the time then unlocked the screen and dialed a number.

["Good, it's you. Wait, we'll put you on hold."]

Juliet walked over to the table, placing the container of pasta on its surface. Her long fingernail tapped the side of the plastic impatiently in time with the second hand of the clock upstairs, a complete coincidence. Her breath was too loud.

In a snap, music and laughter sounded over the phone. Her drooping eyelids opened and her head perked, her slouched shoulders rolling outwards.

["Jules!!!"]

Two voices chimed, followed by a chorus of cheering children.

"Heyyyyy!!" Juliet responded, her character dramatically changing from the agitated woman she was just before.

["Jules, are you there?"] A cheerful male voice asked.

"Yes, I'm here."

["How's our favourite traffic gal doing?"]

"Good, good thanks. I'm good."

["Soooo, I heard you have something very exciting to tell us."] A woman's voice. Provocative. A much more mature tone than Juliet. Speaking of, Juliet had no idea what she just said.

"Hm?"

["You OK?"]

"Oh - yes!" Juliet eased herself into talking naturally, "I'm great, just -whew- flat out at the moment. I just arrived in Watauchi City, and I got my house, and rice is everywhere -"

["Is that a joke?"] The woman laughed before asking.

"No, really. Rice is everywhere." Juliet lowered the phone and ran her toes through the grains. "[("Di-")]I doubt you can hear it, but just know [("Uh-")] that things are working out [("Did -")] exactly the way I expected them to."

["Did I hear Watauchi City?"] The man at last managed to cut in with rehearsed interest. ["You mean, the city created for the Zeritau project?"]

The formalities are over. Onto the story.

"You heard right, Reg!" Juliet squeaked, "I'm here with 900 000 other humans AND monsters at what may be the biggest turning point in human - and monster - history! Or at least, the most incredible."

["That. Is. Amazing! Wooow, can you believe it?"] The woman. ["Can you tell us about the process? We're all yearning to hear what is happening."]

"Well, we've each been assigned a house. We have our own currency, too - Rells. Everyone starts off with 100 000 - everyone, regardless of what social standing they had outside of this city." She paused to think. "Tomorrow, I think I'll be looking out for a job... along with everyone else in the city. Haha."

The man laughed. ["But you have a job, you're with us!"]

The woman joined in laughing. ["You're OUR Jules!"]

Juliet mimicked them. "That won't help me here!"

The laughter faded out and the man's tone softened, but Juliet could sense another change in his voice. A subtle, hurried one. He was drawing the interview to a close. ["Well, we just want to let you know how brave we think you are, Jules. It's incredible what you're doing. Is there anything you want to say about it? What do you think about the entire situation? You're there, do you think that humans and monsters really will get along?"]

"Well, I..." A notification. "... I haven't seen any issue so far."

["Uh-huh. None?"]

"None. I..." Juliet looked at her rice covered feet, her toes curling. "... I think if monsters and humans can live together happily, then... people should, too."

["Aww. Ain't that right."] Any sentiment that could have been was immediately washed out with electronic music and exaggerated empathy. ["Well, that's all we have time for. If you want to see Jules' fantastic adventure, go to the website http://www.93.8/JulesZeritau.com.au. She'll be updating her Vlog - daily, is it, Jules?"]

"Spontaneously."

Harsh laughter sounded through the phone and Juliet coiled away. ["Sounds about right! Check it out!"]

["Well, thanks for your time Jules."] The man. ["We'll see you... when will we see you?"]

"In two years."

["Whoa! Don't go forgetting us!"]

I don't know you.

["Right, see you not-so-soon!"]

"Bye!"

["Byeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!"]

...

Juliet was greeted by her notifications.

Mum (12), Liam (4), Ruben (1)

She rubbed her throat and opened the messages.

Liam:

Hey, Julie, I've been thinking. The long distance relationship? It doesn't work with me. I know you waited for me while I was in Canada, I know, but this is something completely different. I just want to have the freedom to see others while you're gone without feeling guilty. Heck, this is two f**king years, for christs sake. You've got to give me a break!

.

.

Hey Julie, I'm sorry. I didn't want to do this over text but you were too excited when you got on the ship. I didn't have the heart to do it then. But this is good for you too, right? Now you don't have to stay lonely while you're there. I mean, it isn't every day that you get the possibility of screwing around with a monster, right? Go find one of those cat boys you like so much, you freakazoid haha.

.

.

OK, fine, I was being rude. I just want to say that you're amazing, really, and I am going to miss you. But the thing is, the longer you're gone, the less I'm going to miss you. I don't want to miss out for someone who may not be the one, you know? You know it too. If when you come back and we're both lonely, maybe we can try again. I just don't want us both to be waiting for nothing.

.

.

I can hear you on the radio. It's good to hear that you're having fun. I'll miss your voice telling me to turn right or left at Blackbourne. :)

.

.

The smile blurred.

Rosaline awoke the next day in a haze, face planted, smothered against her familiar large pillow. She lifted her head slowly and slipped around seating herself at the side of her bed. Yesterday was a haze in her mind and was slowly coming back to her. Oh yeah, the Zeritau thingy. She rubbed her eyes and slipped off the bed on her clawed bare feet feeling the soft carpeting underfoot. As she looked around with her green eyes she saw her room decorated much like the one back home. She didn't want to think about it right now.

"Didn't have to make it exactly feel like home, Am, she grumbled as she went over to a dresser made of cherry wood and stares deeply into the large mirror. She cringes at the sight that stared back in her reflection, she was a mess, her red was frizzy, her makeup was all gone showing every detail or her species. The jagged flaps of her upper lip, the long pointed ears, the spots on her cheeks, her bright green eyes and horizontally slit pupils. Her light pink nose, and deep pink on the sides of her otherwise white face. She gritted her teeth into a forced smile, her sharp pointed teeth and facial features making for an eerie Cheshire cat grin. "And the winner of creepiest thing to see in the morning goes to Rose!"

She then turned to her wardrobe, swung it open to a plethora of different outfits that she had packed away from home and bought along the way. She looked around at the different shoes and shirts, and skirts, upon wide racks. She scrutinized each weighing the pros and cons like it were the biggest decision today.

Gotta look casual, too much and I'll look rich... I mean I am rich but... I don't want to broadcast that. I mean I want to click. What clicks with humans? As she internally debated it she didn't notice Amaranth walk in as she grew more frustrated. "Aughh! Why is this so hard, I dress so well all the time! I think..."

"Why don't you just be yourself," her brother inquired as he reached over with a large arm shuffling through her clothes. She jumps in a start, looking back at him. He finally picks something out and with his large hands has the hangers dangle upon a finger each. "Wouldn't this be adequate?"

Rosaline glanced over and run her fingers across the fabric. It wasn't extravagant, in fact it was mostly a white shirt, a pair of pink sleeved fingerless gloves, and a pink skirt. "But isn't this a bit... mundane? And won't people see my fingers and what about a hat to cover my-"

"I was under the impression that this was about showing that we can intermingle, not to hide who and what we are," Amaranth answered honestly. "And besides, you will make your ears sore by covering them up so much."

Rose squints her eyes glaring deeply at her big brother who just in turn stares back until finally letting out a sigh in defeat. Her ears are feeling rather itchy anyways. "Fine, whatever, you win," she mutters as she takes the clothes and heads to the bathroom to get ready. "But if I terrify anyone today, it is your fault." She then shuts the door behind.

Amaranth then proceeds to head out and down the stairs, he had stayed up for most of the night setting up the very large space of the living room to accommodate a modest club with tables and chairs for a variety of guests and a space for dances and even a stage with a mic and sound system. Amazingly a number of these items were acquired ahead of time, others purchased. The missing part was drinks and catering. He glances out at the lawn, realizing too he still has to do the finishing touches.

He heads out the front door and begins attending to some shrubs, making them into the likeness of their late mother, Incarnata, with an arm outstretched to the sky. Even with his powers it took effort, weaving the branches and making the support structures. For a finishing touch he took out some seeds and planted them around each base of the shrubs and sprouting forth were elegant vines twirling around them, breaking out into brilliant purple passion flowers. The vines too drape over the walkway of the entrance, like a banner held by each sculpture.

"This one is for you, mother, may this day blossom forth a better tomorrow," he says softly as he touches the face of one of the shrub sculptures. Something felt off though, his senses were tingling. Plant life seemed in distress somewhere. It was somewhere down the road. Then he turns to see a block a ways down that looks poorly managed. From behind his ornate visor he squints, thinking to himself how odd it seemed. "How obtuse, to present homes in such a condition is unacceptable."

He stares for some time and scratches the side of his face with his large hand. He was supposed to attend to finalizing the club, but surely it could not hurt to attend to the needs of others for a bit. It never hurts to help. And so he got sidetracked, wandering down the road with bags in arms picking litter as he went along then coaxing the beginning . It was a strange sight, a tall being as him, in ornate robes under the sun picking up trash, but in his mind it was just a civic duty. As he went along, inspiring a bit of life to sprout from a bit of barren earth, he began to think about his career here in Watauchi. "Perhaps a gardener would be befitting of my ilk?"

Back home Rose emerged from the bathroom dressed in the selection of clothes including a pair of sandals. She was embarrassed, her ears were laying out flat, picking at her sleeves, and tail wrapped around her right leg. She did have her makeup on that hid a bit of her mouth faulting and contacts in making her eyes blue and human-like, but otherwise her appearance was more natural showing the traits of her species. It was this that made her uncomfortable, showing what she is to people.

She glanced up to see Amaranth, but he was nowhere to be seen. Her eyes darted around, embarrassment turned to panic. "Am, where are you," she said looking around in his large room then downstairs. After some time looking she came to one conclusion: He's gone out and left me behind! We were supposed to finish this together! She huffs grabbing her phone and laptop, and headed outside hastily and heading out down the street clopping her sandals upon the sidewalk forcing on a smile through her frustration. She wasn't going to spend this evening alone, it was time to mingle, to advertise. She holds up her phone and gives a wide smile and winks, taking a selfie. Then starts making a post on her social account.

Hello! Rosa-chan here @ Watauchi, hitting the streets 2 meet some peeps! Sorry bout yesterday, I got a bit tired from the trip, BUT TODAY!!! Going to the park, looking forward to hanging out with anyone! Then tonight a party! ;) #watauchi #zeritau #social #fun

Her smile faded and her pace slowed. She hesitated a bit before posting. There weren't any followers, her fame back home had no baring here. She was alone here, a nobody starting a new life. A terrible feeling hits in the pit of her stomach. Here she was a nobody Her older sister warned her how risky this was, that she'd crack being away from home, that either people won't know her and not care, or know her and want to hurt her, that humans cannot be trusted, nor can anything that isn't them. She swallowed... slapped her cheeks and put on a small grin. No time for a panic attack, full steam ahead! She posted and sped forward to the park.