Ruins if the Old World

New York was being rebuilt anew.

Street by street, quartal by quartal, a new city emerged from the ruins of the old one.  The Big Apple was aiming to become the shining jewel in America's crown, once more. But, although the city bore the same name, and even the same nickname, it was hardly going to be the same place it was before. No, the old New York died in fires of the metahuman attack. The city built on top of it resembled the city very little, both in layout and architecture. So much that a person who visited New York prior to the attack would not recognize or find his way in the new city. Shining buildings made of steel, glass, and concrete, everywhere. Much of the old city was gone forever.

Sasha disliked the new New York. It felt so foreign and alien to her. As she had to walk the streets every day, she could not shake the feeling of how glossy and new it was. The memories, precious memories of the city before the attack, were erased both in her mind and in reality. The automaton girl looked around, warily, as she walked down one of the new streets. She was almost indistinguishable from her peers, clad in her old clothes she used to wear before her death. But the metallic bits on her shoulders did stand out. As did her red, unblinking eyes, and the metallic latch around her head, which ended up in two muffs covering her ears. This was a very sophisticated hearing system, which allowed her to listen as though she had real ears. Or, perhaps, it wasthe sword she carried in the scabbards on her back. The people passing by gave Sasha odd glances, but she did not care, or bother to notice.

Since her transformation, she became very single-minded.

And now, her mind was focused on a single thing. Sasha memorized the entire map of the new city, and was making her way towards the ruined quartals of the city. Those that still bore some semblance to what the city used to be before the destruction, even though they bore the scars of fire and rampage that took place. Here, she roamed for days on end, trying to remember something, anything. Visiting places and burned out homes where her friends used to live. Hoping that she would recollect something, bits and pieces of memory returning.

As she approached the ruins, the people she encountered became less and less, until, eventually, there was only Sasha traveling down a littered alley. It ended with a barred fence, that said "Keep Out!" in red letters, preventing any intruders into the ruined area of the city. Sasha looked at the frame and frowned. Taking the bars with her hands, she bent them open, making a hole for her to pass  through.

Every time she visited, the automaton girl took something home. A trinket, a souvenir from her visit. She had amassed a great collection of junk at home. This day was going to be no different. In solitude, the machine walked across the empty street, crushing broken glass under her feet, and stepping over metal bars and wires. She climbed over makeshift barricades and avoided charred, metallic corpses of cars and armored vehicles lost in battle against Metahumans. The machine frowned, just thinking of those days. Her mind kept replaying the same old picture in her mind - a bright flash, and a thousand of sharp shards tearing her body apart. Death was quick, but still very painful. And, now that she was a machine, she could not forget it either.

Her train of thought was interrupted, when she heard stepping on something that was  not glass or rubble. Looking down, she found what looked like a half-burned plush toy. The small toy rabbit was once white. Now it was grey and black, as one of his ears was burned, along with side of its face. Sasha reached down and picked it up, brushing the side of her hand against the toy's face. She could not feel its surface. But the image made her remember something.

"I used to like these..." - she said, as she kept the ruined toy, holding it in her hands, as she traveled further down the empty street. A particular place felt familiar - a burned-out shop with the remaining sign saying "Toy--" still hanging at the front. This one she found, no doubt came from there. Curious if she could find more, Sasha climbed through the broken window, inside. The shards tore and cut at her dress and scratched the metal surface of her body. But she did not care.

Glass shards were not a threat to her, anymore...

what a miss, king kong most have come to town Jeannie thinks as she wonders about the city streets. it made her sad seeing it all smashed up new york was one of her favorite places to visit.

huh her sensitive hearing picked up what sounded like a girls voice and footsteps coming from a busted up building. oh no that's bad kiddies shouldn't play in dangerous places.

so she goes to see if someone needed saving and wonders into the building. hello anybody home? this really an't the best place to be right now. they needed to fix it up first.