Artist's commentary
G576272 Linanala came to thoroughly hate Flak towers
"Why am I the only one you try to kill...?"
On a corner of a big city.
From a backstreet where fallen leaves drift, Linanala glared up at the sky.
The blue sky framed by skyscrapers deepened its hue with the rising sun.
And like middle fingers raised toward the narrow blue sky, tall slender things stood here and there.
The Flak towers.
The huge iron barrel had rust like an untidy beard. The thing was a 500-years-old antique.
I was reminded of the bronze statue of Clark from a textbook.
A kind old man pointing up at the sky saying, "Boys, be ambitious!"
"No way!"
I shook my head vigorously.
I still feel weak at the knees when I remember the moment I was attacked by a Flak tower.
I was shouting amidst a terrible blast and smoke.
"What, that machine still works!?"
How should I say it, I only thought of Flak towers as gargoyles that ward off evil spirits.
From what I heard from Pa, Flak towers haven't moved for over 50 years or so.
And they won't spew fire for the next 50 years, and another 50 years, and forever... Papa thought so, so did I and everyone else.
We knew that Flak towers were weapons.
That they'd shoot down Earthians.
It's strictly forbidden for Earthians to fly in the sky.
Whether by planes or helicopters or balloons, you must not fly in the sky. If you break that rule, you are brutally shot down.
That's what Flak towers are for.
But that was supposed to be a faded-out distant story.
Now everyone gets on effect bikes whenever they want and fly away in the sky. Safely, without fear of anything.
It's because everyone knows how not to be shot down.
A long time ago, they say an old geezer flew a plane with a monkey in the shotgun.
Of course it was suicidal, but there's always an old man who goes off the deep end in any era.
But strangely enough, the Flak towers didn't do anything. The old man returned without being shot down.
"I'm special... I'm the chosen one!"
So convinced, the old man flew again, this time by himself.
But he was shot down instantly and he died.
Eventually, someone realized.
Birds aren't shot down. Meaning, maybe animals aren't targeted by Flak towers.
In other words, it's like this. If you have an animal with you, any animal, you can fly in the sky as much as you want without the fear of being shot down!
Since that realization, the sky became full of Earthians. Everyone began to fly in the sky with dogs and cats in the passenger seat or inside bags.
One guy flew with a rhino beetle, but even then he wasn't shot down.
Meaning, to the museum control organization, the lives of Earthians are less than that of bugs.
So time passed, and I was born.
I came to life as Earth Planetary Museum: Most Intelligent Life Form: Living Specimen No.G576272: Linanala.
Far in the distant past, when earth was invaded by an alien civilization, resistance was futile and the humanas lost the war and surrendered.
(Ironically, they say the Flak towers were built to shoot down alien ships.)
Although the alien civilization didn't persecute humans, they forbade the growth of newborns. Babies were all put in containers, time-frozen and preserved.
About 100 years later.
The last old human passed away, and the human race became extinct once.
The alien civilization established earth as a planetary museum. They constructed a museum control organization, and all plants and animals were to be preserved ecosystem by ecosystem. Also, they changed their objective from preserving human civilization heritages in working conditions, to making "unrebellious obedient humans" to "live inside the exhibit".
Preserved time-frozen babies were one by one unfrozen and became a living exhibit in the planetary museum.
And I was one of them.
It's been 14 years since I was unfrozen from a time-frozen baby. And 2 years since I began flying in the sky with XL, who's snoozing on the luggage rack of my bike.
XL was a dirty puppy clinging round my legs when I came back from school one day.
It was the first time I saw a dog.
The first thing I noticed when I lifted him were the oddly clean belly button and penis. (It was then that I thought of the name XL.)
XL and I grew up together and eventually began flying in the sky on an effect bike.
It was fun. I guess it's called decent happiness.
I was extremely shy and had no friends, so the sky was my one-and-only I could open up to.
I always looked forward to flying in the weekend, and I enjoyed our walks in the sky to the fullest.
The sky was so peaceful and beautiful...
That's why when I was suddenly shot by a Flak tower I was so flabbergasted.
I had a dog with me to protect myself from getting shot and everything, so why! How??
The Flak tower kept shooting again and again. The shells whistled past the wings. But none of them struck home.
...It doesn't fit what I heard from the stories. From what I heard from my pa, Flak towers aim at their targets accurately using radars and sound sensors and always shoot down targets on the first shot...
Such leisurely thoughts passed through the corner of my mind as I desperately maneuvered the bike, dodged past shells and managed to land in a backstreet safely.
Are the other riders all right? ...A disaster crossed my mind. I anxiously looked up at the sky.
I was astonished.
Everyone was leisurely flying in the sky as if nothing happened.
"Wha, what's the idea? Why am I the only one being targeted!?"
I was extremely upset.
The bike was in a hellish state.
The body was smashed up by the impact of the brutal landing. The pipe bypassing the jet exhaust from the central turbine to the rear driving wheel was disjointed, leaking air, and hardly any power reached the driving wheel.
In this state, I couldn't "glide" with the front wheel on ground, not to mention fly in ground-effect mode.
Irritated, I kicked the bypass pipe with my foot. It clicked back to position, but the kick made a new gap in the dented pipe junction. There was nothing I could do to prevent the jet exhaust from leaking.
It was forbidden to run on ground by jet. I didn't want my license to be suspended so that was out of the options.
Out of desperation, I opened the throttle and forced the driving wheel to turn, and slowly glided not caring about the air leak. But before 5 minutes were out, I abruptly ran out of gas.
Now the bike was just a chunk of iron. I pushed and pushed the immensely heavy bike and returned home in tears.
"Do something about those stupid Flak towers!"
I begged my pa and ma, but they just nodded without saying anything.
It was always like that...
My parents are nothing more than community ancillary facilities placed by the control organization to raise living specimens, meaning us Earthians.
So Flak towers are kind of like their work colleagues.
It's forbidden for Earthians to fly in the sky in the first place, so the complaint didn't hold water anyway.
I had no choice but to cry myself to sleep.
Pa was making squeaky noises, so I put some oil on his neck and shoulders. Can't do more for your robotic parents than this.
Eventually Pa spoke quietly.
"You're reaching that age soon. Why don't you stop flying around all the time and come down to find a boyfriend?"
I poked out my tongue and left Pa.
I was annoyed. So even Pa thought of me like that...
For crying out loud. Don't throw me together with those flashy girls!
I just want to fly in the sky I love, whenever I want!
I didn't want to put anything before that. Who cares about boys!
I set my teeth.
The gust of wind blowing down from the building tugged wildly at my hair.
The skyscrapers shone in the morning sun. Wings of various sizes leisurely crossed that narrow sky peaking from between.
The Flak towers were utterly silent.
"Yeah I get it, I get it. I'm the only one you want to kill, right?"
I gave a bitter laugh.
...All right, time to get going!
I started the engine. Compressed air released from the compression cylinder vigorously spun the turbofan engine's compressor. As the rotations reached sufficient speed, I opened the throttle to send fuel to the combustion chamber and ignited.
VROOM, teeeeeeeeng...
For just a moment I turned on the afterburners. The violent explosive flame nearly toppled the vehicle over, but I swung the thrust vectoring nozzle forward and held on. My precious effect bike "Bellbird K152" was in top shape as usual.
"We're flying, XL!"
I tapped XL on the head as he slept on the luggage rack.
XL stretched as he yawned.
"We're gonna fly today too? You never learn, do you? The shell will strike home this time and we'll be shot down."
"We're fine!" I said, climbing onto the saddle. "I don't know why, but their aim is always bad... I mean, it seems like their aim is wavering. Their aiming device has probably gone wacko since it's been out of use for 50 years. They never even hit us."
"Oh great... Be that as it may, one hit and we'd be history."
"'We'd be history'? Some fancy words there! ...Hey I've been wondering, where does a dog learn words like that anyway?"
"Dunno. I just knew that word."
"You were saying something like, 'One day I just found myself talking automatically.' Something like that?"
"Yeah, something like that..."
XL yawned again. What a weirdo.
I reached over to XL's seatbelt and made sure it was fastened properly.
-- Come to think of it, it was like this too when we first got shot by the Flak tower...
We were leisurely flying, when XL made a big yawn and stretched.
The seatbelt got loose and XL almost fell off the luggage rack.
XL has absolutely no interest in flying. Because he couldn't care less, he has no fear. That's why he's always snoozing while we're flying. It's rude, or should I say, calm.
But just that time, even XL was desperate. He clung to the luggage rack and screamed.
Stuff like, "AAAAAAAAARGH" and "HELP MEEEEEEEE".
I turned half my body while trying to keep the vehicle from swinging and to keep it steady, and reached out a hand for XL's front paw.
That's when we were shot by the Flak tower--
Wait a sec...?
It struck me.
Maybe, the Flak tower shot at us because XL screamed...
But why do I think so? Is that a reason to shoot in the first place?
Did the Flak tower mistake XL for an Earthian...?
Naaaaah, impossible.
I mean, all dogs talk right?
...They do, right?
"Hey, XL. Do all dogs..."
XL was sound asleep hugging the basket lunch.
~The End~
From the artist's novels page: pixiv novel #4676470 / tinami #744252
"It was then that I thought of the name XL" - It's the same as writing XYZ vertical is a symbol of a woman's body.