Chapter 11: 8th Fragment – The City Dam

As usual, the sky is filled with velvet orange nuance, with a few floating pieces of cotton going around without any reason. The scenery is captivating for a certain girl from the future and never makes her bored. She hums on her way to the cable car station at the northern end of the city—the most popular transportation for the citizen of Tantoris when they're going to see the water dam. It is a free public station that uses an automated system for visitors. As far as Arisa knows, it is pretty safe.

 

"Basically, this dam is supposed to be a tourist attraction. Still, looking at its popularity, I doubt if that place is crowded with visitors."

 

Arisa notices a large square-shaped machine that has blunt ends. Rather than a square, it may look more like a parallelogram-shaped vehicle. An empty cable car stopped in front of the girl with an ice cream-shaped hairpin in a few minutes.

 

"This thing is similar with the vehicle in the future. It's just that the design is more old-fashioned, and the colors are not attractive at all," she commented.

 

When the door opens automatically, Arisa gets inside and sits on one side that faces the dam. As she observes the interior design of the cable car she is in, she nods a bit.

 

"The seat is quite soft. It feels comfortable. The inside doesn't have air conditioning, but it doesn't matter since this vehicle got decent ventilation. It's a good thing that air in this era is quite cool and fresh."

 

After waiting a few minutes, the cable car begins to move and slowly pace up at a constant speed, getting higher and higher. Arisa also noticed a continuous creaking sound due to the friction of the thick cables that became the rails for this vehicle.

The sight that the girl witness outside the window is quite mesmerizing. A dense vegetation transition between Tantoris and the dam area is split with the Major river, which originates from the dam's water. This area is not a wild forest with wild animals inside. It is only a conservatism area maintained by the city government for fundamental purposes such as water absorption and other functions.

When the girl turns to look in the direction of the city of Tantoris, the panorama she sees is also breathtaking. There are no skyscrapers, only a few buildings gathered around with a river in the middle. Peak Tower, the highest building in this city, is the only building striking enough towards the sky.

Arisa glanced at the backside of this cable car, she saw two other cable cars following her at their constant speed. She can see other visitors who want to enjoy the fresh air around the water dam.

So, I'm not alone up here.

Half an hour later, she arrived at the cable car station. The door opened automatically, and the girl slowly got off. As soon as she steps out of the station, the landscape of the dam that seems to be surrounded by two mountains greets Arisa with its incredible charm.

 

"Wow..."

 

As Arisa walks to the side of the dam area, which was fenced off, she can hear the sound of water flowing through the dam's concrete into the river below as the girl looks down to confirm the sound source. Arisa nodded, finally got the information about that while experiencing it firsthand, and continued her tour around the area.

The place where the girl stands right now is an area designed for public visits, despite it being supposed to be built to supply electricity for this town and another. Standing there, one could see in more detail the condition of the dam walls and how it is designed for public visits. For example, the width of the concrete is wide enough for the government to build a road on its surface for the size of two cars.

Looking around elsewhere, Arisa finds a reasonably large office building. This office is entrusted with managing this dam by the city government, even though it is now closed.

Several large lamps are starting to turn on with their yellowish light in the office area, visitor area, and the dam wall itself. The sun will set soon, so the light is being turned on automatically. Arisa plans to visit this place again when the sun is still in the sky.

 

"But, a view like this is not bad either," she muttered again, spreading her gaze to find several visitors capturing this panorama with their cellphone.

 

It's just Arisa's curiosity still needs to be satisfied. So she decided to retake a tour down to the lower part of the dam even though that big light didn't cover some places. The girl doesn't mind that while humming happily to follow the path that she could pass.

Her steps stop when she sees some garbage scattered in this particular corner of the dam. This area also lacks the necessary lights, so Arisa must focus on adjusting to the darkness.

 

"Uh, the smell," said Arisa while covering her nose. Nevertheless, her footsteps accelerated because of this big question mark inside her head. 

I wonder what kind of place this site is since there's a lot of garbage around.

 

Until she arrived in front of a building that could not be said to be suitable for living, Arisa could hypothesize the cause of the previous sight. The most pungent stench is also present in this place, much worse than before. So Arisa guessed that this place was a temporary landfill for the dam area.

Thus, there was nothing to see here, and the girl turned to leave this smelly place.

 

"Hey."

 

A flat-tone voice prevents Arisa from going any further. When the girl tried to see who was calling for her, a figure with a shabby appearance and surrounded by an unpleasant odor called her. She is carrying a large plastic bag full of trash.

The little girl has a petite stature, messy short hair, a wrinkled face, and empty eyes staring at Arisa. Like an unkempt doll, she is so filthy and uncomfortable to look at. She is someone that Arisa won't expect to see in this place.

 

"What do you need here?" she continued to ask.

"I'm just curious. I've never been here, so taking a look at this place would be a good idea," Arisa answered while adjusting her facial muscles in such a way as to smile even though her hands covered half of it.

"Okay. But, this is a landfill. Usually, people are not going here," said the little girl.

"Thank you for the information. I'll go soon because I've seen some places here."

 

Suddenly a big question mark appears on Arisa's mind. A tiny girl alone was around in a foul-smelling place like this. She's also carrying a garbage pile even though the plastic bag size is almost as big as her body.

 

This little girl…

"Are you the landfill staff?" Arisa asked curiously.

"Yeah," replied the girl shortly.

As I guessed. However, underage workers in this era should already not be allowed.

 

Arisa approaches the girl as she is no longer covering her nose and looking down in front of the girl. She is forcing herself to adjust her sense of smell to the stench around her so she can show her whole face to the little girl. The brown-haired girl thinks that there is something she should know from this little girl in this dam.

 

"Your hair clip is cute."

"Oh, this?" With her right hand, Arisa touched the ice cream hair ornament, "This thing is quite special to me. So, I always use it. Thank you."

"No problem."

"I want to ask you something, do you mind?" Arisa said with a low tone.

"I don't."

"Good. There are many questions I would like to know, but for now, let\s ask just some important stuff. So, what's your name?"

"Vanilla."

 

Her name immediately reminds Arisa of the ice cream she often eats for some reason.

 

"Okay, Vanilla. I'm going to ask about some of your private information. First of all…."

 

Arisa asks about her origins as well as other relevant personal data. She knew this girl had absolutely nothing to do with the Tanjung family—her current family in this past timeline. So, it will be challenging to find all the information about her from Ringnet. Vanilla is a total outsider to this project.

So, asking the little girl directly is an effective way.

While Vanilla answered the questions she received, Arisa listened attentively while squatting down to be on par with the little girl.

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And Arisa adjusts her face so that Vanilla can see her always smiling.

After a few minutes of question and answer, Arisa stands back and looks around her surroundings once again. She tried to process the information she got until now.

 

"Okay, I'll repeat it again. You are Vanilla, a little girl who lives in this dam, precisely in the administrative office of the water dam. Your father died of illness, and your mother left you. Since your father was originally the one in charge of cleaning this dam, and he has passed away, now you are in charge of your father's place." Arisa concludes.

"Right. The dam administrator office asked my help while they are looking for replacements."

"As far as I understand it, it's still not right for you, a little girl, to take on such a responsibility. However, it's not my place to decide everything. So, tell me, little girl. Are you happy with this kind of life?"

 

Vanilla is not answering.

 

"Why don't you refuse the requests of the people from the dam office?" asked Arisa.

"Where will I sleep then?"

"Don't have any other siblings?"

"I don't have any."

 

Arisa concludes his talk with Vanilla. So far, Vanilla has lived a miserable life and can only depend on the existence of this dam office. So, it's only natural that this girl doesn't want to lose her only home.

If a place to live is the only thing Vanilla fears losing…

The girl with the long brown hair claps her hands once, completely returning Vanilla's attention. Arisa gives the little girl the best friendly smile she can try.

 

"Can we meet again at this place tomorrow, Vanilla?" Arisa asked in a gentle tone.

Vanilla widened her eyes, hearing the request. However, she nods at Arisa's request.

"It's settled. Then, I'll be going home. Good evening. Don't forget to wash everything on your body."

 

The ice cream-loving girl walks away, heading to the cable car station and going down to the city, leaving Vanilla alone once again while looking at the town of Tantoris from the side of the dam for a while. That little gaze follows the cable car Arisa was in until it is out of sight.

 

"Strange person," she muttered.

 

Then, the little girl goes back slowly towards the dam office, illuminated by the dim yellow light from the dam's headlight.

When Arisa arrived at her house, she immediately did intense research on the information inside the Ringnet. Several holographic screens are projected on the walls of her room as she reads through the extensive captions.

Her gaze jumps from screen to screen, reading every piece of data she gets from gathering around.

 

"Hmm, hmm." Her head was nodding as her brain digested the information. There was no stopping Arisa until it got pretty late.

 

The next day at the dam administrator's office, which is starting to get busy with incoming workers, a girl with an ice cream-shaped hairpin stood in front of the receptionist. She looked with such a strong eye and smiled confidently, to the point that the person in charge of the reception desk was a little uncomfortable.

 

"Like I said before, to meet the office head here, you have to make an appointment."

"It won't take much time. Can't he come over to listen to me for a second?"

"I'm sorry, but—

"What is it?"

 

A chubby man comes out from inside, seeing the receptionist overwhelmed with Arisa, who insists on meeting the head of this office. Seeing him, Arisa is confident that he is the one who is in charge here.

 

"What do you need this early in the morning, miss?"

"You are the head of this office, I assume?" Arisa confirmed.

"Yes, it is true. What can I help you with?"

 

When Arisa wants to say something, the figure of a little girl comes out from a different room. She met the eyes of the girl with long hair on her back and was dumbfounded.

 

"Vanilla, we meet again."

"G-Good morning"

"Since the person concerned is also here, let me go straight to the point." Arisa takes a deep breath. "I want to adopt Vanilla as a member of my family. So, automatically, Vanilla will be released from all the responsibilities she bears until now."

 

Both the head office and the receptionist couldn't contain their surprise, especially Vanilla. She needs time to process Arisa's request fully. Following Vanilla's routine, she should be getting ready to go to the warehouse, take her cleaning equipment and go around the dam to watch the garbage around and keep the water dam clean.

However, a girl suddenly came here and claimed that she wanted to adopt her.

 

"Wait a moment. We still need this child—"

"Is it essential to employ a small child with housing compensation in this place?" Arisa asked.

Hearing this conversation, Vanilla felt something must be going on and getting closer to the three people near the entrance.

"Um..." said the little girl as she was about to pull Arisa's clothes. However, Vanilla didn't know what to say, so she gave up and walked back slowly.

"I will take all the responsibility. Vanilla deserves a better life, just like the other kids around her age. Not getting an assignment, so she doesn't lose her place to sleep."

"But you can't just suddenly barge in like that, Miss!"

"Should we talk about the law regarding minors' employment?"

"You can say something like that. But, I bet that you don't even know how the laws are going to work here."

"I'm confident that at least I know if some company making someone as young as Vanilla to work full time, it is truly illegal. When there's something too complex, I know someone that can help me."

"You're just all talk."

"Should we bring our matter to the court right now?

 

The Office Head wants to say something until he realizes that Arisa's gaze is somewhat weird to him. Her voice didn't stutter. Her eyes are powerful and honest—he can tell that Arisa isn't bluffing about it. He fell silent with that posture of her alone. Nevertheless, Arisa carefully observes the chubby man's expression, and she is sure that he will not prevent her from adopting Vanilla.

She then walked to Vanilla and crouched down, then gazed deep into her eyes.

"From now on, you are my sister. Vanilla."

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