ZZZ: Dawn of The Black Sun

Seele was anxious the whole night. Not even the Veteran's Guide To New Eridu can distract her from her anxiety. What if Belle and the Officer came back empty handed? What if they found Teddy beyond repair? What if... What if...

"Seele,"

"Y-yes!" Seele looked around and turned to Bronya sitting next to her. "Um, I'm sorry, what?"

Bronya tilted her head. "Koleda was asking if you like the movie,"

Right, the movie, it tells the tale of the time traveler finding herself in New Eridu. Despite being knowledgeable about the Hollow, she struggles with the overall culture, society and overall living in New Eridu. It's a great blend of Slice of Life and Adventure.

"I... I kinda like it, it's really nice," she smiled at Koleda. "Thank you for letting us stay and watch movies here, Koleda..."

Koleda grinned. "You're welcome! Thanks for the company too guys, it can be pretty quiet here in the video store,"

"Where are your parents, Koleda?" Kiana asked.

Bronya nudged at Kiana's ribs, but said nothing.

"Parents?" Koleda's expression fell. "Ah... well... I'm afraid they're gone," she folded her arms. "Never really liked them..."

Cue the awkward silence. Seele felt like it's rather suspicious that Koleda never mentions about her parents when at school. Now it's obvious why. Despite her tactlessness, Kiana did her a favor of asking something she's actually afraid to ask. Though the mention about not really liking them, it made Seele relate to her, in some way.

"Anyway!" Koleda cleared her throat. "We should get ready to sleep. Sis might take a while with the detective work, so... We'll wait for the good news tomorrow!" she took out the video tape from the H.D.D and put it back to the shelves. "Help me clean up guys."

Mei was the first, jumping from the couch to grab a broom nearby. Seele helped Koleda with putting back the tapes back to the shelf. Kiana simply scooted over in the sofa, not wanting to bother anyone with their clean up, only for Bronya to grab her by the ear to help with cleaning up the H.D.D.

Just when they finished setting up the pillows and blankets, the doorbell rang. Seele followed everyone out of the room, heart racing in anticipation. She imagined in her head, Belle returning with Teddy in her arms, save and sound, and she can spend her night sleeping while cuddling with her favorite Bangoo.

"Good Evening everyone!" Belle greeted them cheerfully, locking the door behind her. "I hope I didn't bother your sleep," she stretched her arms a little and yawned. "Sorry to keep you guys waiting,"

Seele looked around, expression fell when she saw no sign of Teddy anywhere. She tried not to let her disappointment show and dared to hope that... at the very least she found a clue where he is.

"Eh, it's alright sis," Koleda turned to Seele and Bronya before looking back at Belle. "Anyway, did you find it? Did you?"

Belle shook her head. "Not yet, but I found this," she handed Seele and Bronya a rolled up poster. "We found it left at the side of the Cinema, Teddy was uhh... mugged while holding this,"

Seele took the poster and unfurled it, revealing a limited-edition poster of Tre Carls, her favorite movie. "This is..." she looked at the writing on it, eyes watering in realization. "Teddy... he wanted to give this to me..."

It wasn't just a limited edition poster, it was a gift. That Bangboo was trying to give her a gift when she lost him. Though, no matter how much she loved this gift, it's still nothing compared to what it could've been. Teddy handing this gift to her, with his two stubby arms and an eye smile, while making that adorable vocalization.

"You said he was 'mugged'?" Seele could barely hear Bronya talk beside her.

"Yeah..." Belle rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry... But apparently some people did take the Bangboo away. Officer Qingyi is still working on tracking down the suspects," she sighed a little. "I wish I could help more, but I don't think it's safe for me to interfere with Public Security work."

Seele hugged the poster and nodded understandingly. "It's okay Miss Belle... You did what you can," she wiped some tears of her face. "I just hope Teddy is fine..." she leaned on to Bronya's shoulder who just pat her head comfortingly.

Koleda sighed a little and folded her arms. "Sis, just in case..."

Belle put a finger on her lip and nodded.

Seele wasn't sure what that was, but still... in her still hopeful and delusional mind, she wished that it's simply another clue that they can bring him back.

"Come on Seele," Bronya put an arm around Seele's shoulder, it was warm. "Let's go to sleep, it's already late,"

Seele closed her eyes and let Bronya lead her into the Staff Room, hugging the poster on her chest as she lay on the mattress.

"Bronya..." Seele muttered finally, eyes gazing at the ceiling. "What do you think we should do if Belle can't help us?"

There was a moment of silence before Bronya answers.

"We'll find another way..."

[LINE BREAK]

"Qingyi, you have to drop the Case of the Missing Bangboo,"

That string of sentence was not what her systems were expecting to process first thing in the morning. She gently put down her steaming cup of hot water and turned to the girl standing next to her.

"An unknown exception occurred," she said. "Please try again later,"

Zhu Yuan sighed softly. "I know you've invested a lot of time in this case, but..." she handed Qingyi a piece of paper. "A report came from the HR, the case is closed by the order of the client's guardian,"

Qingyi narrowed her eyes. "Client's guardian?" she blinked and did a quick search on Seele's background. "Client's mother, Cocolia, the principal of St. Freya Elementary School?"

"Precisely," Zhu Yuan replied. "Ms. Cocolia came to report that she's found the Bangboo and to stop all investigation,"

"The Bangboo was stolen by the infamous Boonaper Gang, I find it suspicious she can just find it..."

"No... What I meant is that... she's found a replacement for the Bangboo," Zhu Yuan held up her hands. "I know, I know, you might think it's cruel. I also don't like it. But right now, we have a more urgent case to work on. We can't have you too caught up on this one,"

Qingyi curled up her palm, mind racing on how she can combat this. "I'm afraid I have to disagree, Zhu Yuan," she began. "First off, my client is not Cocolia nor Seele, my client is Belle herself, she's the one that asked for my help," she looked at Zhu Yuan right in the eye. "Second of all, by stopping the case, I would lose any chance of interacting with Belle. This case isn't hindering my mission, it's actually helping my mission,"

"The name on Case Registration is Seele and you have found everything useful you could from her," Zhu Yuan said calmly. "Look, Qingyi, don't get too caught up on this case, I know you feel bad for the kid's lost toy, but remember... more serious matter is at work here."

Toy... That lost Bangboo is just a toy...

Qingyi knew that Zhu Yuan didn't mean it that way, that when she refers to a Bangboo she was not referring to intelligent construct such as her. She knew that Zhu Yuan never sees her as a Bangboo, she knew that everyone in the Public Security sees her as a person.

What she doesn't understand is why? Why is she treated differently? Is it because she looks human? Is that it? The fact that she speaks human, wear human clothes, is that why people sees her as a human? Not an intelligent construct?

If she were to look like a Bangboo instead of a person, would they consider her just a tool?

"Uhh, Qingyi?" Zhu Yuan said softly. "Look, if it bothers you so much we can..."

"My apologies," Qingyi stood up. "I'll notify Belle that we are dropping the case,"

"Oh! Okay, umm..." Zhu Yuan looked down. "What are you going to tell her?"

"I will tell her the truth," Qingyi started walking away. "Bangboos aren't people, they're not important enough,"

"Wait, Qingyi that's not what I..."

Qingyi didn't hear the rest of it. She closed the door behind her, thinking about Seele, Bronya, and Belle.

A machine is a tool to be used and then discarded, she knew that.

There's no reason for her to try hard this mission, she knew that.

It just hurts to hear it from someone she's considered a friend.