"I think it's a good thing that they're being shipped to the Moon. It's freaky when you don't know if your friends are real people or not."
"Why does something like that matter? If Belles look and work like Humans then what is the problem?"
"You never know when they could go haywire! Don't you remember that news story from a while ago when a Belle abandoned her child on an expressway overpass?"
"The kid wasn't abandoned. The mother was abducted by JAM!"
Junichi Murata and Takahiro Kamenashi were once again arguing about Belles. It was such a controversial topic that I never cared enough to poke my nose into.
"What if Inohara here was a Belle? would you ship her over to the Moon as well?", exclaimed Junichi.
"There's no way she's a Belle. We would have known by now if she was a Belle, with the wings and all," said Takahiro.
"Hey guys, would you shut up? That's not something you should be joking about," I clamoured.
Junichi stroked through his own long, greasy hair before simply walking off. Clearly, he had not been amused by the current discussion. Takahiro clicked his tongue before also walking off, leaving me by myself at my own desk in the classroom. The three of us were long time childhood friends who stuck together closely. It seemed abnormal that the two would get so easily pissed at each other. Debates and arguments over Belles happened frequently within the student body, and an argument between us was nothing out of the ordinary. Yet, there was a minor detail that distinguished today's quarrel from every previous one I had experienced. What if I, Yumemi Inohara were a Belle? The implications would be severe. A wave of confusion assaulted my mind as I pondered such a situation inside my head. Of course, the chances of such a situation happening would be low. I was a second year high schooler at a prestigious Shizuoka high school. Nobody had ever heard of a girl finding out that she was a Belle anywhere past middle school. There was always a hint of despair in the back of my head, however. In more ways than one I fit the bill for being a Belle - an aptitude for computers, seemingly perfect memory and being uncannily fit even though I barely ever exercised.
For the first time, I felt a little insecure about my own existence. The atmostphere was heavy, especially after the argument between my two childhood friends. I sat at my desk in a dazed and dreamy mood, plucking seemingly delicious morsels from my boxed lunch and placing them in my mouth, only to find there wasn't much of a taste at all. The small quarrel reminded me that school girls really do just suddenly disappear. It's no secret that the world government sends "tainted girls" to the Moon against their will. I really knew nothing more than this, aside from the incessant propaganda that was plastered on public billboards, media and the Internet. The propaganda usually always conveyed the same message: "Belles are a mistake by humankind and must be controlled and stopped".
In my own eyes, Belles were a curious creation. All I knew about them was that they are artificially created humans, capable of looking and behaving like the real thing. Had technology really advanced so far as to create a being that was completely indistinguishable from the real thing? Unfortunately, there were no books or online resources I could turn to. I was quite sure that the world government wanted to make sure nobody knew anything unnecessary about Belles. There was some literature on Belle, the first Belle. Created in the spitting image of her creator, she had the most impeccable of manners and a perfect apperance. I thought to myself that mankind had been somehow been denying itself of its own creations. Of course, I could always go to the Moon and find out what they were really like. Only if I had the money - a poor schoolgirl like myself would need a sizable donation to ride the space elevator.
Lunchtime finished and it was time for afternoon classes. The subject was Modern Japanese History. Needless to say, it was quite boring - the teacher had a knack for turning even the most interesting topics on things like Belle history into something dry and unpalatable. His lecturing formed a repetitive drone that was good at putting even the most diligent student to sleep. His glasses reflected the afternoon sun, making it only possible to see the glare on them and not anything behind. Suddenly, I was tapped on the back on both sides by my childhood friends and handed a scribbled note from each. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier. -Junichi", and "I'm sorry for what I said earlier. -Takahiro". I let out a sigh and chuckle, thinking how predictable my good friends were. I was never very good at paying attention in class, preferring to study in my own time. I thus spent a good chunk of my class time just drawing and passing notes around. A recurring theme in my drawings was the figure of a Belle. Despite all the propaganda being thrown around, all I knew was that they all had a pair of white wings. It would be easy to see that this characteristic would easily give away somebody's status as a Belle. I spent countless hours in class trying to put down onto paper what a mysterious being such as a Belle would look like.
Engrossed in my drawing, I failed to realise that class had ended for the day. Apparently, I had even worked through homeroom without noticing. No doubt my good friend Miho Sumida had called out my name for the roll.
"You're obsessed, Yumemi-chan! Don't tell me you want to be a Belle!" Miho teased as she waved her pigtails around.
"I'm not obsessed, just fascinated. Don't you ever wonder what it would be like to know a Belle?"
"Not really, I have enough trouble dealing with REAL people."
"Admit it Inohara, you have a Belle fetish."
Takahiro interrupted, seemingly back to normal after the lunchtime quarrel. I breathed a small sigh of relief, wishing the tension away. It was too easy to get on edge these days, not knowing who could suddenly disappear from your life.
"Belle fetish or not, I still think they should be treated as people," Junichi butted in soon after.
"Alright, whatever, I'm sick of talking about this. Why don't we get something to eat," suggested Miho.
The school day came to an end. Doubts continued to cloud my mind after all the pondering I did at school, but I had no choice but to convince myself that I was just a normal girl. Attempting to clear my mind, I sat down at the desk in my bedroom and started drawing. I continued to indulge in the recurring theme that dominated my mind. As I continued to indulge, my curiosity was further fuelled. Maybe it was worth satiating my appetite for knowledge on Belles. The only trouble would be finding a source of information. Where would I go to find such classified and intentionally hidden information?
Turning to my computer, I decided to delve into the deep web. I booted up NekoNet, and hooked up into the world of the underground, supposedly devoid of intervention from the authorities. Running an Orgel search in the NekoNet instantly yielded an interesting result. "Remnants of Global Institute of Bioexperimental Research (GIBER) - Shizuoka" was what caught my eye. Exploring the web page, I unearthed an unlikely contact. Agnes Olsson, chairman of GIBER and still living in Shizuoka. I knew enough to know that GIBER was the organisation that developed Belle. They were shut down in 2070 for some unknown reason - I was too young to care. Now, with an appetite for information, I was ready. Noting the contact details of Agnes Olsson, I decided I wanted to find out more.
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