Welcome to Gaia! ::

No one figured the world would end in 2012. Well, no one but the crazy end-of-the-world theorists anyway.If you ask anyone what happened, you’ll never get a cohesive answer. There were multiple reports about us being bombed whether it was by Iraq, North Korea, China, Germany, Japan… whoever, no one knows. Me? I like to think it was Canada, just for no other reason than no one would expect it. Whoever it was, no one found out. Not before the pulse anyway. A few days after the bombs a pulse exploded over the States. Everything with a computer chip was fried. It may have just caused more mayhem than the bombs. But whatever, all this just to say that no one knows what happened.

Only… that’s not entirely true. There are people that do know, they’re just not talking.

We didn’t get a whole lot of info before the EMP, but we got enough to know that all major cities in the States with anything to brag about governmentally were obliterated with nukes. Apart from that, a few of the large, noteworthy cities got regular bombs just for the hell of it. Including the one I live in. Los Angeles. City of Angels. Yeah… sure. There weren’t any angels that day. None that survived anyway.

So, anyway, after the Pulse it didn’t take too long for a new power to take over. A month total for the civilians to realize it anyway. Everyone was so excited to have order restored…only it wasn’t. Sure, the new “government” cared for it’s people, every single one of them. Only, their people were the ones with money. The rest of us, middle class and down? We get to fend for ourselves. Within the first year, sectors were set up. The highly protected middle with it’s gleaming skyscrapers and perfect homes (after the massive reconstruction effort anyway) became Alpha Sector. The hub of the city. It was actually raised up a bit, to protect the rich’s sensitive eyes against the hideous truth of Sectors 1 through 6. Sure it might not make sense to put the most attractive part of the city smack dab in the middle of a bunch of slums really, but the thing about things now? Every city that’s left, they’ve become fortresses. So the most expendable people and places? They get shoved to the outer edge. That’s us.

The new regime, it’s a dictatorship, no matter what people tell you. Only the rich and powerful benefit from them. Any opposition to the government is met with swift punishment. This doesn’t stop people from trying though. Various factions have sprung up all over the country. The wealthy and ignorant damn them, but us “lower beings” know the truth. That first long nuclear winter? So many of us died, but those in Alpha have no clue, nice and snug in their little utopia. The government did everything for them and left us literally in the cold.

Then, on top of all that, there’s this secret organization called “Bellerophon”. They had been working on genetic manipulation and cybernetic implants, among other things. For years they were trying to create super soldiers and biological agents. It’d be naïve to think they didn’t have any hand in what happened to the country, and North America, ‘cause lets face it, the borders? They ain’t there anymore. Not like they were. How do I know about these guys? That’s a long story. . .


So anyway, we survived whatever “war” they’re telling us went on.
We survived nuclear winter.
We survived “our government” abandoning us.

And hey, we still have global warming to look forward to.

Welcome to Paradise.

It was hard to make a decent living now. Well, that’s really an understatement, it’s hard to scrape by and survive now, but even more difficult when you do it in a way that doesn’t involve lying and subterfuge. Somehow though? Suzu and his friends were managing. They had opened up a little tattoo and piercing place on the first floor of Joachim and Hanabi’s place, and it did surprisingly well. Even after the apocalypse people want to spend money on ink and needles. Or hey, maybe they just wanted to play up that whole “Mad Max” image. Who knew. Suzu didn’t really care. They were bringing in enough cash to keep the Sector Police off their backs, and that’s all that really mattered. Even then, if things got really dicey, they could always count on Dietrich. He’s another one of their little motley crew of misfits, though he came from rich parents, so he gets to live topside. For all that he should be jealous, Suzu just can’t bring himself to be. These random people have become his family now. He’d be dead, or worse, without them.

That being said though, he still found he needed his own space. Being in close proximity to a bunch of people all day still had a tendency to freak him out. He managed to find a nice place down in Venice, or what used to be Venice anyway, overlooking the beach. “Nice” being only slightly rundown. It was an old warehouse back in the day that, with a little bit of imagination, the young man had turned into a pretty comfortable “studio apartment”. All he had to worry about now was paying off any cops coming ‘round looking for squatters. Thanks to Dietrich though they came less and less often.

Shrugging his orange coat and messenger bag on and slipping on his sunglasses, Suzu grabbed his bike and rode the lift down to the main floor. Locking up behind him, he hopped on the bike and headed out to the shop. Owning a car, especially in the lower sectors, was really pointless. Most of them were junked after the Pulse since replacing the chips became too expensive, that and gas. So, most people just used bicycles, if they could even afford those.

Suzu maneuvered his bike through the crowds of people and debris. Trash littered the streets now, old steel girders and concrete from downed buildings that no one decided to remove or try to rebuild, junked cars and various other refuse. People went about their daily lives as best they could in the marketplace, trying to find medicines and food enough to survive. A child darted out in front of him, ‘causing Suzu to swerve at the last minute to avoid him. Unfortunately though, doing so landed him right in the back of one of the Sector Police. The man, who had apparently been hassling one of the street vendors about one thing or another, righted himself and turned around to glare down at Suzu. He grabbed the handlebars of the young man’s bike with a gloved hand and got right in his face. “Ain’t ya got nothin’ ta say? Damn punk, I oughta confiscate this thing from ya seein’ how ya can’t even steer it right!”

Suzu glared at the meaty hand holding his bike and then up at the ruddy face visible through the riot gear. “So sorry.” Though said in his soft voice, the note of sarcasm was very apparent. “I had a choice of hitting the kid or you, and seeing as how you’re in full body armor I figured you could take it. Apparently I was mistaken; you guys apparently aren’t built as strong as you make yourselves out to be. Next time I’ll aim for the kid. Sound good to you?”

The large man gave a growl before smacking Suzu in the mouth, hard enough to knock him off his bike. “You got some mouth on ya, you little…” Before the man could finish though, he looked up at the crowd their little confrontation had drawn and saw more than a few murderous glares in his direction and none of his men to back him up. Knocking the bike over onto the downed boy, he snarled, “Don’t let it happen again.” He looked around a few more times, then stalked off.

Untangling himself from the bike, Suzu got up and dusted himself off. He dabbed at his throbbing lip a few times, his fingers coming away bloodied. Great.

“Hey kid, you alright?” A voice said from behind him just prior to him feeling a slight touch on his shoulder. Suzu started and darted away from the touch.

“Yeah, m’fine…thanks.” He mumbled with a glance at the concerned man before hopping on his bike and continuing on his way to the shop

A few minutes later the little metal ornament above the door to the tattoo parlor chimed as Suzu strode in. He aimed straight for the back of the shop to stash his bike and deposit his belongings. Joachim was back there raiding the fridge for something to drink. Without even turning, the older male greeted his quiet friend. “Hey Suzu, you’re a little late today.” Upon turning around and seeing the blossoming bruise and split lip, he figured out why, though that didn’t stop him from asking, much to Suzu’s annoyance. “Holy s**t, what the hell happened now?”

Without more than a glance to his friend, Suzu took a stool behind the counter waiting for a customer to show up. It was pretty obvious, and he didn’t feel like talking about it, or anything for that matter. His jaw freakin’ hurt.

“Come on man…”

“I decided to stop a fist with my face.”

“No kidding.” Joachim tried to grab Suzu’s chin to see the damage but his hand was slapped away. “Alright fine. Seriously man, it’s not safe for you to be commuting every day. You know I got an extra room upstairs, and you’re more than welcome.”

“Yeah. I know.” More silence, then: “I like my place.”

“Alright, just…you know, try to stay out of trouble.”

Suzu just gave him a tired glance and turned back to examining the counter in front of him. Stay out of trouble. Yeah, sure. It’s not like I go out there looking for it. Well, all the time anyway. It’s those stupid “police” throwing their weight around. Just another day in paradise…

Suzu was studiously examining the grain of the counter in front of him, softly beating out a rhythm. His mind was moving a mile a minute, as it usually did much to his friend’s chagrin. The throbbing pain in his lip and cheek brought back memories he’d rather forget, but isn’t that always the way with the world? The things you want to remember flit away like so much dust in the wind while the painful ones linger like a festering wound.

“…is all I’m sayin’.” Joachim had finished speaking, though Suzu only caught the last little bit. He turned his claret eyes up to reply to his friend with his blank stare. “Did you hear anything I just said?” Joachim asked in exasperation.

“Not really, no.” Suzu responded in his seemingly perpetually soft voice. The kid rarely raised it above little more than a whisper, it was slightly raspy, honey sounding voice, cracking occasionally on his words.

Joachim sighed, “Look just…they obviously like picking on you, maybe if you weren’t alone it wouldn’t happen so much, right? I could at least walk with you if you don’t want to move in here.”

Having found some paper and a pencil, Suzu was now doodling away. Just before Joachim figured he was either being ignored or wasn’t heard again the younger man spoke up, “I can manage. That would just be pointless traveling for you anyway.”

“Hey man, if it means not having you trailing blood into my shop, then I’m not complaining.” As Joachim was replying the ornament above the door jangled as it was opened and admitted a young lady. Joachim smiled warmly greeting her, while Suzu was still consumed in his doodles.

“Are you available? I would like to get my very first tattoo.”

Not knowing who was being addressed, Suzu looked up to see a girl with long red and purple hair looking between he and Joachim. The change in position though moved part of his hair and revealed his slightly battered face.

“My goodness are you ok? That really does look like it hurts.” The girl inquired.

Suzu looked back down at the counter and tapped the pencil a few times. “M’fine.” He was waiting for Joachim to take over the awkward conversation, his skills definitely lacking in that area, but just his luck Hanabi’s high voice called for Joachim in the back who seemed to happily oblige, flashing Suzu a sympathetic but encouraging smile.

Alone now with the girl, he fixed his garnet eyes on her. “What’d you have in mind?”

Suzu was waiting for an answer, uncomfortable under the girl’s scrutiny. He was beginning to wonder if she even heard him, he sort of had a tendency to talk too quietly for people to hear sometimes. His insecurity getting the better of him, the young man let his hair fall into his face more and brought a delicate looking hand up to his mouth, worrying the thumbnail in his teeth. He was about to ask again when the girl finally seemed to snap from whatever trance she was in and answered him.

"I was thinking a Celtic Cross in between my shoulder blades, no color just the black."

The platinum haired boy ducked behind the counter for a moment to come back up with a large binder. He flipped through; finding the right section, then flipped it around for the girl to see. Before he could explain anything though, she spoke up again.

"So we are headin out to "The Shrine" tonight to dance, and I was wondering if you would like to meet up with me there? You look like you could use a good night off of whatever it is you are in to."

To say that Suzu found that proposition more than a little odd would be an understatement. He looked into her blue eyes, his crimson ones emanating confusion. “…uhm, you don’t even know me.” It sounded stupid, blatantly obvious, and so pathetically vulnerable even to him, but he just couldn’t wrap his mind around someone inviting another out when they didn’t even know their name. He had a deep-seated mistrust of pretty much everyone, having been beaten into him years ago.

“I may not know you but I am one of those people who can tell who to trust and who is not going in the wrong direction in life. I like to invite people out to go dancing, especially when it seems that they need too.”

This gave Suzu a pause. He’d never met someone so carefree before. Well, Hanabi was pretty close, but even she wouldn’t invite someone out before asking his or her name. He couldn’t understand how someone could be like that, different upbringing obviously. Perhaps she wasn’t from the same sector…
Before he could continue that train of thought another man came through the door. From the way he just approached the girl Suzu figured they were friends. Unconsciously he backed away a few steps.

“You and your friends are welcome to show up there and meet with me I would like to get to know all of you. We usually meet up there and just dance the night away so you should really give it some consideration.”

Suzu was about to decline, him never being one for dancing, let alone being crammed into a room full of people, when Joachim came in from the back again and put his arm on Suzu’s shoulders in a friendly manner calculated to annoy. Sure enough, the shorter male glared up at his friend and shrugged out from underneath him. “That sounds like some fun, we’ll probably check it out after closing. I mean, it’s not too far from here right? Nothing like some music and drinks after a hard day’s work.” Joachim answered with a giant grin. Suzu’s glare increased about a hundred-fold. The older boy coughed a little and spoke while heading back toward the rear of the shop, “Uh, yeah, looks like you got things covered here. Tattoo right? I’ll just, uh, go get a room ready.”

The garnet-eyed boy shook his head as his friend left again. The binder was turned back toward him and, nibbling on his thumbnail again, he examined the cross the girl had picked out.

“Yeah. It’s fifty bucks, minimum, and an additional fifty per hour.” He said, glancing up at her. She was staring into his eyes, and though it made him uncomfortable, he wasn’t one to look away. He noticed her friend sit down over by the entrance. “So, uhm, if everything’s alright, you can come on back.”

Nodding, Suzu led the girl into the back of the store where they had various rooms set up. Everything was kept extremely sanitary, so much so it had the same type of scent as a hospitable. It was something they prided themselves on though. These days it was rare to find a shop of such caliber.

The girl paused near the door and Suzu turned to look to see what the issue was. What she said caused him to stop and ponder over things again. She was so earnest, and really quite straightforward. Honestly, he really didn’t want to go out, he never did. Though, he was pretty sure that Joachim wouldn’t let him out of his sight either. The girl walked off before he could give her a reply, but even if she hadn’t, there wasn’t much he found to say. What? Yeah, I’m kinda not good around big crowds… it’s a long story. Yeah right.



“This is a really nice place you have”

Joachim turned from what he was doing to see the girl from the front. “Oh, hey thanks.” He smiled, “We do our best. As you can see I’ve got a bit of the needle bug,” The larger man noted, waving his hand toward his right side. There was a large tribal tattoo snaking over the right side of his neck and down his arm, presumably all the way down his right side from what was seen around his white tanktop and jeans. “I looked around for a decent place and couldn’t find anyplace that I’d want to have a needle jabbed into me, so I opened my own here.” He put out his hand, “Name’s Joachim, the quiet one out there is Suzu. Don’t mind him, he may not say a lot, but he’s a nice guy. Nice to meet you Tatyana.”



Suzu came into the back to see his friend and the girl talking. He heard her referred to as Tatyana. “Hey,” he called, “over here.” He waved her into the room to his right and motioned for her to lie down on the table. “You’re going to have to, uh, take off your shirt.” He turned to the counter to get the gun and ink ready.

Joachim smiled warmly as she followed Suzu into the side room. He wandered further back into the shop to see if Hanabi needed any help.



The pale boy felt the blood rush to his cheeks at her comment, offering a quiet reply of: “It seemed to be the polite thing to do.”

Her next comment, though really common sense increased the pink tinge to the boy’s cheeks. “Uhm, yeah…I guess.” Composing himself, he in turn removed the white and black striped hoodie and placed it on the counter, leaving him in a tight black t-shirt adorned with silver wings accented with a leather cuff over one wrist and a small arm sock over the other.

Suzu was somewhat startled by the random little giggle that escaped from the girl lying on the chair. “Try not to move. There’ll be a little sting.” He placed his thin left hand on her back to steady her, somewhat hesitantly as it had a tendency to be icy cold. Bringing the gun to her back he started it up, free handing the design she had chosen. “It’ll probably be about an hour or so for the outline and another for filling it in.” The boy explained in his soft, scratchy voice. He had seen Joachim and his clients talk carelessly while tattooing or piercing, but Suzu had a hard time keeping up a conversation, finding most things unnecessary to say. The constant buzz and methodic line work eased his mind though and he focused on the task at hand.

Over the course of the first hour, Suzu noticed a gradual tensing in Tatyana’s muscles, but attributed it to the discomfort that the procedure caused. After a while, they all seemed to relax quite suddenly, which was not exactly normal. If it weren’t for his very careful, almost shaky, hands to begin with, the sudden relaxing of the muscles would have caused him to make a mistake. He lifted the needle from where he was shading in a line.

“If it’s too uncomfortable, tell me and I can stop.” He said, needle poised to continue, waiting for consent. Joachim would often go ahead even if the person seemed to be second-guessing him or herself, it was their money after all, but Suzu couldn’t bring himself to do that. He knew what it was like to have all choice taken away, in everything he did or had done to him, and he would never wish that feeling on anyone, even on something as trivial as a tattoo. So, he continued waiting.