Alice in Borderland: The Cycle Continues

Epilogue - 731st Day of Restitution

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The streets were bustling with people. Ringing phones, honking cars, and the distant beep of construction cranes filled the city with a loud ambience.

Benkei and Tori crossed the street, each carrying a shopping bag of clothes and manga.

Judumai walked down the sidewalk, bags of groceries in hand, and an electric piano slung across his back.

Niko and Aulia exited The Golden Bowl restaurant in dirty aprons.

Ashikaga left the Namika Theater, her hair still pinned up with jewels.

Gabura and Aoyama–guitar behind her–held hands. There were looks–many looks. However, neither paid much attention to the stares.

Zakū and Maeda both carried ice cream cones, still in their school uniforms.

Each of them had a destination in mind. News reports and interviews were all over the city, on such a historic day.

"Two years have officially passed since the Tokyo Meteorite Disaster. The Plaza of Lives and the surrounding streets and parks are holding a special festival in commemoration of such a tragedy. In the past year, the Plaza of Lives has expanded down all four streets, and has also begun expanding vertically. It now has three floors up, three floors beneath the ground, and over two thousand portraits. The goal is to find and paint every single victim. The project has..."

"It has been two years since the Tokyo Meteorite Disaster. Although the development of Tokyo has come along slowly, the economy is still slow to recover after the post-impact succession. And with the country at its worst point financially and environmentally, the lack of stability has further decreased birth rates, and Japan is facing a threatening shortage of labor...."

"It's been two years since the Tokyo Meteorite Disaster. Regardless, reconstruction is proceeding at a steady pace. The strike on the metropolis center spurred a recession, an enormous budget deficit, a widening intergenerational gap, declining GDP, nursing care deficit, rising deficits... Political measures that look only haphazard to the citizens resulted in many pessimistic voices appearing on TV saying, "there's no hope in the future", and "Japan's outlook is bleak". In these sad times, our special programming comes to you at this critical two year anniversary. To get to the core of the issue, we'll be conducting on the street interviews with a simple question.

"Cutting to the chase, that question is:

"Why do you think you're alive?"

The question caught Benkei and Tori off guard. "That's a good question." He nodded, a bashful smile on his face. "Unfortunately, philosophy has never been my thing."

"That is a good question." Tori said, tapping their chin. "I think... Well, we have an obligation to keep going, right? I'm in the game now, and I can't just quit."

. . .

"Oh!" Judumai said. "Hmm... I think for my family and my friends. I mean, really, I owe it all to them."

. . .

"Hey, people need to be fed good food!" Niko laughed. "That's what we're here for!"

"And for me, I need to be constantly meeting new people!" Aulia said. "I want to keep immersing myself in new people, cultures, foods, and perspectives."

. . .

"For the little victories we accomplish everyday." Ashikaga grinned. "Something as simple as beating a video game level, or mopping the floor... To getting a lead role in a play!"