Ex Lacrima Remnant

#B-Side XIII – When I opened my eyes

When I opened my eye for the first time, the first thing I saw was a tiny hummingbird, pecking the glass that separated me from the rest of the world. Its wings were flapping so fast that they blurred out, while it fluttered all around my capsule. It was attracted by my flower, maybe, incapable of understanding why, even though it could see it from behind the glass, it couldn’t reach it. So, it pecked the glass a couple times, before giving up, flying around a little and then coming back again at regular intervals. That was my first memory, the first memory I got after waking up from my silent slumber. And I fell in love with that hummingbird, stared at it for minutes, before it left the lab through an open window, tired of wasting energies in futile attempts at piercing that transparent wall. That short meeting sealed my fate. I wanted to fly as free as a hummingbird. I wanted to learn whatever I could on them. Just because of the first glimpse. That’s my warmest memory, one that I cherish every day. One that I will never let go of.

———

When I opened my eye for the first time, I was welcomed by a cacophony of colors, sounds and pictures, all surrounding what I now know was a PV projector. They belonged to a cartoon, an animated show of sorts, but at that point of my life, I couldn’t know better. I was just born, after all, saying hi to the outside world. And my welcome committee was a bunch of fictional girls with cat ears and tails, wearing chokers, meowing and purring. That vision left something deep inside me, something that made my whole body jolt. Of course, later I found out that it was a show Father was watching while waiting for my brain to switch on, not knowing which effect it had on me. Whatever that show was, the image of those catgirls still lives inside my mind. I can see it whenever I close my eye. Only, now something else is replacing it. The picture of another rhizome, wearing the same cat ears, the same tail, the same choker, licking the back of her hand while purring at me, riding my lap, rubbing her head against my breasts. Sometimes, dreams become reality, I guess. And I can’t get enough of it, no matter how hard I try.

———

Cats. Cats everywhere. When I opened my eyes for the first time, all I saw was a clowder of cats. All around my capsule. Father had messed something up with a nearby lab and we were suddenly surrounded by fluffy feline furballs, all meowing and purring, scratching my pod, scratching Father’s legs too, prompting him to kick them out while screaming like a primadonna. One of the cats walked up my capsule, stared at me through the window. I can’t forget those curious eyes, those slit-like pupils gazing inside me. At one point, it even started to meow, while tapping its soft paw on the glass. That fur. Those ears. That tail. I loved everything about it. It’s one of my most cherished memories. Sometimes, I wish I were born a cat, instead of a rhizome. Even now that I have my little Kurbis always with me, I can’t shake the feeling I’d look good with fluffy ears and a tail. These roots and tendrils of mine will have to do, though. I’m a plant woman, after all, and I need to behave like one. Except when I don’t.

———

The noise of a plasma cannon piercing through a gigantic green mech. What a way to wake up. When I opened my eyes for the first time, all I could see was rubble, a fight ensuing and a majestic combat robot shining like a black gem, delivering justice from above. I couldn’t understand anything of that, but one thing was certain: they were fighting. The black robot and the green one were fighting. I didn’t even know my name. I didn’t know what I was or why I even existed. That amazing display of power, of lights and sounds, though, thoroughly hypnotized me, enthralled my youngest self. Only for new pictures to replace that scene, pictures of smaller plastic models of the same robots, which looked more realistic but so small they could be kept in a box. It was advertisement, of course, but tell it to my brain of back then. Still, ain’t it funny that my first word was ‘Zaiken!’, followed by the jingle of the eyecatcher? Blessed be the fact that I was moved to a separated room because I wasn’t waking up, contrary to my sisters. Blessed be that PV projector placed there that day. It’s all thanks to it that I was born under Zaiken’s watchful gaze.

———

I guess I’ll be the odd one out. When I opened my eyes for the first time, there was nothing really interesting. I was simply surrounded by faces similar to mine, all sickly pale. So, contrary to all of my sisters, I never had a hyperfixation till I turned one or so. Sure, I loved sunbathing and grooming my branches, but not to the pathological levels of those social disasters I’m biologically related to. Still, there’s no escaping being a rhizome, right? So, right when I thought I was immune to this virus… that’s when Hiram Gronquist, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Neon, died during a routine orbital flight, in the silence of his cabin on a first class starliner. Heart attack, they said. But the more I heard of it, the more I could see red threads connecting everything. The more I read about it, the more I was absorbed in that mystery. And that mystery led to another mystery. Which led to another mystery. So, come today, I’m digging deep into every and any sort of conspiracy theory. I just can’t let it go. I’m simply too curious. But sunbathing has full priority – I like my tan too much and I don’t want it to go to waste. Unless there’s a much bigger mystery, that is. I simply can’t resist the fascination of the unknown.

———

When I opened my eyes for the first time… well, I guess making us was already kind of routine. So many rhizomes were born. I was surrounded by swarms of clones of myself. Everywhere I looked, I only saw my face. I instinctively knew who I was and why. That’s something they improved in late generation rhizomes like me. So, stashed in a room filled with capsules, I couldn’t really develop an interest in something at a first sight. Or at least that was what I thought, till I saw it. A fluffy bunny plushie, stashed on a cupboard. Turns out that one of the scientists overseeing our birth had bought that for her kid. Those ears. That funny snout. Those oversized feet. That bushy tail... ah, bunnies are so cute! They were always so cute. Real bunnies even more than plushies, even if plushies are squishy and keep your heart warm. I wonder how Mal would look with bunny ears and a bunny tail, while eating a carrot. Is it cuter or not than Mimi doing the same? What if both of them dressed as bunnies? I need to squeeze Riri a little more. Those thoughts make me so confused that I can’t sleep. And I need to sleep, or I won’t be able to help anyone. I have to show them that I’m not a scared bunny, even if I like them. I have to show them that they can rely on me.

———

When I opened my eyes for the first time, there wasn’t anything special around me. Just rows of Spear-type rhizomes, still sleeping. Only another one was awake, though. I could see her quietly moving inside her capsule, intently staring at what I think was a plushie of some sort. I don’t know what she found in it. I just didn’t like it. I didn’t like humans. I didn’t like plushies. I didn’t like rabbits. So, that was it. I grew up without any hyperfixations, felt left out. Every single rhizome has a sort of fixed point their whole life seem to turn around. In a way, I was jealous of them. It felt like they had something to root for, to fight for. When I thought I was immune to that, though, something happened. Something exciting. I met my goddess. My queen. The only rhizome capable of leading us to freedom. I’ll do everything Lily asks me to do, as long as I live, as long as my breath holds. Because we are all in this together. We can’t simply give up. Our species needs her. And I’ll do whatever she wants, no matter how weird or hard her orders are.

———

People kissing! Hugging! Saying sweet words to each other! Romance in all its shapes and forms! Aaaah! When I opened my eyes for the first time, I was the first to wake up in a row of dull capsules, all containing rhizomes like me, all Shield-types. All clones. So, yeah, not a lot to see. I mean, that would be the usual routine at least. But fate wanted that in front of me, of the window that separated me from the rest of the world, two scientists were making out wildly, going at it like wild rabbits. Romance. Love. Passion. That was my calling. That was my secret. I’m a sucker for romance, I’m a sucker for love novels, for love fictions, for love PV dramas. I’m a sucker for gossip too. All because of those two humans tangling tongues before my very just born eyes, unbeknownst to Father. So, yeah, call me rose-tinted, but I melt whenever I hear about romance and I’ll never miss a chance to gush about it. As for my personal romance, though, I’m not sure. I’m so accustomed to watching love bloom that I never considered what I wanted for myself. Though, maybe, being part of a cute couple… ugh, it’s better if I stop here, or my mind will recall the meowing show of my two superior officers. I must say I’m jealous. I would really, really like to have a partner as cute as either of them. Just with less meowing, possibly.