Land of the Setting Sun
5/23/2007 - Otaku
The day of our arrival snuck up on us like a prankster, quite literally. I was enjoying a nice bout of sleep when I was jump-scared into oblivion by Ogasawara, who was yelling something incomprehensible about land.
"It's right there! James get your ass up and look!" I groggily rubbed my eyes and sat up, cracking my spine in a few spots. Over the railing I could see the blurry, grey shimmer of land, left and right as far as the eye could muster. Blinking my eyes a few times revealed even more detail. The landscape was jagged like broken teeth, composed of slanted and snapped buildings that littered the skyline. The grey of the buildings faded seamlessly into the sky, and seemed to stretch everything upwards and make it look both ominous and cartoony. The longer I looked at it, the more anxious I became, so I started packing up my belongings instead.
We settled the tugboat alongside the remains of some apartment buildings; some of the sailors would remain behind to look after the ship, and the rest of us would be free to explore. Putting boots on the ground for the first time in a week was beyond strange, I hadn't realized how used to the swaying I'd become. I stared at my feet for a second, to steady myself, then looked up and got immediately thrown off balance again.
The city dwarfed us, monoliths packed like sardines into a kiln, which had been turned up to the highest temperature to sear away all of the color. I kicked a few stones across the ground, watching them settle in a nearby pile of concrete that had been peeled off the ground like a wrapper. It was everything I'd anticipated it would be, the remnants of a civilization, the remainder of a peoples' home. Ogasawara picked up the first roadsign saw, glanced at it, and shook his head.
"We're in the Otaku District," he said, "still a little south of Itaki's home, which is in Shinagawa. From here, it's a pretty decent walk, but we should be able to make it if we leave right away."
The crew groaned in protest, appalled by the idea of setting off immediately, but we didn't have a whole lot of time to waste. The delays we'd suffered so far had left the door wide open for people to get here before us.
The day of our arrival snuck up on us like a prankster, quite literally. I was enjoying a nice bout of sleep when I was jump-scared into oblivion by Ogasawara, who was yelling something incomprehensible about land.
"It's right there! James get your ass up and look!" I groggily rubbed my eyes and sat up, cracking my spine in a few spots. Over the railing I could see the blurry, grey shimmer of land, left and right as far as the eye could muster. Blinking my eyes a few times revealed even more detail. The landscape was jagged like broken teeth, composed of slanted and snapped buildings that littered the skyline. The grey of the buildings faded seamlessly into the sky, and seemed to stretch everything upwards and make it look both ominous and cartoony. The longer I looked at it, the more anxious I became, so I started packing up my belongings instead.
We settled the tugboat alongside the remains of some apartment buildings; some of the sailors would remain behind to look after the ship, and the rest of us would be free to explore. Putting boots on the ground for the first time in a week was beyond strange, I hadn't realized how used to the swaying I'd become. I stared at my feet for a second, to steady myself, then looked up and got immediately thrown off balance again.
The city dwarfed us, monoliths packed like sardines into a kiln, which had been turned up to the highest temperature to sear away all of the color. I kicked a few stones across the ground, watching them settle in a nearby pile of concrete that had been peeled off the ground like a wrapper. It was everything I'd anticipated it would be, the remnants of a civilization, the remainder of a peoples' home. Ogasawara picked up the first roadsign saw, glanced at it, and shook his head.
"We're in the Otaku District," he said, "still a little south of Itaki's home, which is in Shinagawa. From here, it's a pretty decent walk, but we should be able to make it if we leave right away."
The crew groaned in protest, appalled by the idea of setting off immediately, but we didn't have a whole lot of time to waste. The delays we'd suffered so far had left the door wide open for people to get here before us.