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The Fireflies (6) : In the warm summer nights, little glowing lights begin to bob and dart through the city. Fireflies are mating, so this isn't uncommon in itself; in the past few days you've probably seen hundreds of fireflies. What makes these lights so unique is that they seem to change color; you might see a blue one, a green one, a red one. They flicker randomly, and something just seems off with them. If you come into contact with one, you will find yourself with a strange electric jolt. They cannot be caught, and will flicker away if you pursue too aggressively. This isn’t the first time they’ve appeared in Destiny City, but no one’s been able to tell where they came from or where they’re going. No matter how quickly you chase them, they always seem to disappear before you can find any answers.
The weirdly-colored fireflies were back again this year, and Yukio was bound and determined to catch one and study it. He'd tried during last year's Star Festival and failed to capture any, getting himself zapped for his troubles. Strange that fireflies gave electric shocks, even mild ones – but these didn't seem to be ordinary fireflies. These fireflies, intermingling with normal ones, glowed blue or red or green and were even more elusive than the regular fireflies, which were everywhere in the summer evening; parks, front or back yards, wherever there was plentiful foliage.
Yukio used to catch fireflies in his yard as a child, so he was well-practiced in the technique: use a jar with a lid with holes punched in it, scoop the lazily-flitting bug(s) into the jar, slap the lid down as quickly as one could, and that was it. He'd bring his prize inside to show it off, only to have his parents tell him he could keep it overnight and release it in the morning. He was good as a kid, but his reflexes as an adult, even in his civilian guise, were formidable, thanks to parkour and working the decks with lightning speed as a DJ, so he had little doubt that this time he'd be successful. He could hope, at least.
Creeping deeper into the park where the bracken and undergrowth flourished and the trees were a little more densely packed, he held his jar at the ready, waiting to see if one of the multicolored fireflies would wink into existence nearby. There were plenty of the regular variety, their cool bioluminescence blinking in and out all around him as they performed their time-honored mating ritual. It was tempting to catch a few of the normal fireflies, and maybe after he caught a rainbow one, he would. But his focus right now was on the oddly-colored ones. He stalked slowly through the gently-glowing swarms, not wanting to scare off any before he could catch one. Just one, that was all he wanted! Yukio wanted to know – did they change color? Did they blink faster or slower? How did they cause the electric shocks? His curiosity was driving him to the point of obsession.
Suddenly off to his left a red glow winked on. He reacted instantly, stepping and scooping as quickly as he could, then he slammed the lid home and looked at his prize. It was a small group of ordinary fireflies, dammit. Somehow he'd missed the red one. With a frustrated snort, he opened the jar and shook out the bugs. Well, try try again, as they say.
Yukio stood still for a moment to let the fireflies settle down, then resumed his slow stalking, eyes darting this way and that to spot one of the strange little bugs. Then right in front of his nose – a blue firefly appeared! "Aaaa," he yelped, bringing up the jar to capture it. He missed again, brushing the insect with his hand, which resulted in a shock that he felt all the way up his arm. "Ow, s**t," he grumbled as he nearly dropped the jar. He pulled his hand away quickly, hissing in pain. Those little bastards hurt.
Stepping back, he switched the jar to his other hand and shook his entire arm to get the feeling back and the pain gone from the zap. It seemed incredible to him that such a small thing as a weird firefly that glowed in colors could generate a shock like that. Despite the pain, it only made him want to study one of them even more. They were nothing like an electric eel in voltage (not that he'd ever been shocked by one of those things, but he'd read about them), but it was not insignificant. For a moment, he wondered if maybe they were yet another alien thing that had decided to beset Destiny City during Star Festival.
He decided he was going to give it one more try before giving up for the night. Giving a steadying sigh, he once more began his slow creep through the park, keeping his eyes open for one of the colorful little bugs to flash into view. As he skulked along, he pondered just exactly how he planned to study the little cretin, should he finally catch one. He could at least watch it to see if it actually did change color, or if a red one was always red, a blue one blue, etc. Thinking some more, he remembered he had a friend in the hacker community who had a small Tesla coil – not one of those plasma ball things, but an actual miniature tower – and he wondered how something like that might affect the bugs, safely in a jar.
With a start, Yukio suddenly spotted a small swarm of the colorful fireflies just in front of him. They were winking in and out of view, bobbing around without a concern, a lot of them. Now was his chance. As fast as he could move, he strode into the swarm, scooping frantically with the jar. If he didn't catch one this way, he was never going to. Immediately the bugs started attacking him, giving him shock after shock until he had no choice but to flee. He slammed the lid down on top of the jar and backed off, waving his arms in the air to shoo them off, careful not to drop his prize. If he'd managed to catch one, that is.
Once away from the swarm, still feeling the sting from the electric zaps, he looked at his jar.
Empty. Of course.
Yukio sighed. He didn't even feel like catching regular normal fireflies now; he'd only release them in the morning anyway. Turning, he left the more dense part of the park and headed toward the main festival area, dropping his jar in a trash bin on the way. Maybe he'd grab himself some star charms as consolation… Yeah, that was it. Star charms would be the balm his soul needed right now. Forget about weird fireflies that glowed in colors; they'd be gone again after Star Festival anyway.
(wc=1027)
