in the ataraxis of aftermath

hakubutsukan station

It was odd, Naoko thought, sharing her compartment with someone else. She hadn't known where Keyla would sit (would she sit? Maybe she'd stand) and so she had taken her usual chair with unusual anxiety.

Keyla didn't seem to think twice about it, humming some poppy song to herself and, after a slight hesitation, settling down in the seat across from Naoko. She propped up her head in her hands, eyes crinkling up as she watched the landscape zip past.

Keyla had been overjoyed when she had heard about the train.

"It still works?" She had asked, rocking forward onto her toes.

"Yes."

"But how? No one's here to drive it! Unless there is? Or maybe you can-?"

"It's driven by AI," Naoko said calmly, voice refusing to match the volume of Keyla's. "It was a prototype."

"A prototype?"

"Yes. It stops and starts automatically, but it doesn't react to delays and emergencies. It wasn't meant to be used by the public yet."

"Oh. And then-..."

"Yes."

Now Keyla had drawn her knees up to her chest, leaning against the cracked glass. Naoko was glad that Keyla wasn't right beside her. She wasn't sure what to do. Or say. The rumbling of the train pulsed in time with her heart. Naoko focused on that instead.

The museum had been another big building, so two whole floors and part of one floor rose above the dark water. The train station was almost as lucky, with most of the water being calf-high and the tops of bridges and upper highways making makeshift roads. Keyla followed Naoko as she stepped across the clear plastic and overgrown cement. The back of Naoko's neck burned with the knowledge that she was being watched.

"Where are we going?" Keyla chirped, making Naoko jump.

Naoko pointed at the museum ahead, nervous her voice would give out if she answered verbally. Keyla didn't seem to mind, and Naoko relaxed as she felt Keyla's attention drift to the building.

The museum was sleek and faded. It blended perfectly against the backdrop, with the exception of being in slightly better shape. It had been (mostly) avoided by any survivors, for the obvious point of not having anything particularly useful. But Naoko visited it anyway. She was glad it still had some sort of order and tidiness.

She couldn't tell how Keyla felt about it, and she thought it would be weird if she snuck a glance, so she settled for continuing on until they had reached one of the broad, empty window frames. The water inside was waist-length, and Naoko eyed Keyla's knee-length boots anxiously. Keyla immediately followed her gaze and grinned bashfully.

"That's okay!" She beamed. "I'll just find another way up and meet you on the floor above! I'll be waiting by the stairs."

Naoko nodded. They both stood there for a moment, tentative, before Naoko turned away and slipped through the window.

Inside, there was an assortment of small boxes and a large desk. An office, probably. Naoko didn't pay it much mind, focusing instead on wading through the doorway.

Outside the office and around the corner were the broad, plain rooms and wide walls that held up canvasses of all shapes and sizes. Naoko still remembered this place, albeit vaguely from her school trips. Before, it had been bright colorful and she had been swathed with other people and classmates. The floors had been shiny and made a pleasant sound beneath her school shoes.

Now it was sunken and dark. Most of the paintings were floating atop the water, canvasses bleached white from droplets and the rising tide. The lights hung lifelessly from the ceilings, drooping like wilted flower petals.

Naoko kept moving as fast as she was able to, eventually spotting the broad staircase and climbing up it, reveling in the weightless feeling of emerging from the water.

Keyla was sitting at the top of the stairs, hands on her knees, fingers clenching and unclenching. Well, she was sitting, but she got up as soon as she saw Naoko. She bounced on her toes until Naoko had caught up with her.

"How did you get in?" Naoko asked, because it seemed like the right thing to say.
Keyla puffed out her chest, putting her hands on her hips.

"I climbed," She said.

"You climbed?" Naoko repeated blankly.

"Yeah."

With no rope? Naoko thought. Over the water? Up a building? She was torn between telling Keyla to never do that again and asking how exactly she had attained such proficient climbing abilities.

Her mouth decided to settle on:

"Oh."

Keyla blinked but Naoko had turned away, already setting off through the museum.

Fortunately, the museum provided ample distraction from Naoko's burning shame. The second floor was large and open, the first floor mostly consisting of a broad balcony-type structure that framed the second. There were large skylight panels on the ceiling. Though most were cracked or shattered, they still threw down patches of white sunlight. Scattered around them were the tall, dusty skeletons of various dinosaurs and other giant creatures. It would've been eerie, the skeletons in an abandoned room, but Naoko didn't mind them. She hardly spared them a second glance as she wove her way through exhibits towards more useful places- like vending machines or cafeterias.

It took her a few moments to realize that Keyla was not with her. Naoko turned and looked back. Keyla was standing completely still, gazing thoughtfully down at a signpost in front of one of the skeletons. Naoko waited, for just a moment, until she headed towards the other girl.

Keyla glanced up when she got closer.

"Look, Naoko!" Keyla pointed at the dinosaur. "It's called a-....uh.... It's called a p-... para-... parasa-..."

"Parasaurolophus."

"Yeah! That!" She smiled at the skeleton, putting her hands on her hips. "It says here that that weird crest thing on their head was a horn!"
"Oh?"

"I wonder why they would need a horn."

"Maybe they used it to call others."

"Oh yeah probably! Like their family or something!"

Or something, Naoko thought.

"Probably their family," she said.

"Wouldn't it be cool! If we had horns, I mean," Keyla looked over at Naoko, expectantly.

Not really, Noako thought.

"Why would we need horns?" she said.

"For calling others? I don't know!" Keyla laughed, undeterred.

"We can already call others. We have voices."

"Oh," Keyla stopped smiling. "Yeah, you're right."

Keyla was just as cheery after that, but Naoko felt distinctly uncomfortable, and was stuck with an awkward weight draped over her shoulders and anxious worms squirming in her stomach.