Sona Nyl: 1902: Morning Coffee, A Different Kind of Morning

~1902, a certain month. Afternoon in New York~

It was a certain day in October of 1902.

There were signs of winter in the air that morning.

A normal morning day for Alan Akeley.

By 5 AM, he would wake up and get ready for work. Aside from not using an automatic razor to shave his beard as it doesn't grow long, his morning scenery was otherwise similar to other corporate employees working in Manhattan. He'd wake up, wash his face, put on the sleeves of the shirt he had been ironing out with an automatic steam-blowing iron the night before, and listen to the news broadcast on the radio despite not being his favorite (except for the poetry readings that come on at 5:30 AM). In other words, he checked today's schedule and on the progress of his research. At 6 AM, he leaves the front door of his room and uses a vintage elevator to get to the exit. Upon leaving the seven-story apartment building he used as a boarding home, he made his way to the subway station to take him to Trevor Tower, also known as the Second Empire State Building where the research facility is located.

Just before getting on the subway, he made a stop at the Seattle Style Cafe chain for breakfast, where he found himself as the only customer there. It'll likely be crowded with people by the next hour, but as of this moment, he was the only one.

"Good morning," He said with a smile.

"Morning, Mister Alan," The owner was a middle-aged black man. Seeing the cheerful and gentle smile made him recall his late grandfather despite the difference in their races. "You ordering the usual today, yes? Americano and..."

"I'm not a teacher, you know. Yes, Americano and bagel."

He had an espresso coffee diluted with hot water which had a different taste from that of regular coffee. His fellow researchers would make fun of him due to his youthful tongue, but he paid no mind to it.

Americano goes best with the shop's freshly baked bagels.

"If you may."

He smiles and his order is given to him.

That was his usual morning scene for a while now.

Then.

A customer had barged in.

It was a tall man. A dandy man.

He looked to be a man in a suit and hat. Despite having taken off his hat the moment he stepped into the room, Alan had the impression he was a "hat guy". 

Alan thought they were some kind of gangster or mafia man, but from what he was told, there were indeed real gangsters. The reactions of those he meet can be divided into two groups: one was being extremely aware of their presence, the other was being not so aware at all. Alan was of the former. However, rather than being afraid, he was interested. For him, someone who comes from the countryside, the existence of gangs were like symbols of a city, and so he felt a sense of longing from it as though he had stepped into a novel or a movie.

"Sorry, brother. You'll want to go through the side from here."

He was called out.

He was being friendly.

He had just finished his pile of coffee, bagels, and sweet-baked goods, which put him in quite the good mood. He had on a friendly smile. They reminded him of his cousin from his hometown. He was a good-natured man who had the courage to face the wilderness in the heart of the New World.

"No. I'm fine. I got time."

"That ain't good, brother."

"No."

Indeed, he had time.

He tried to leave plenty of time for work. The research facility opens up at 9 AM, and he had an hour and a half to spare for his scheduled arrival at 7:30 AM, so he had time to spare. Usually he would have about an hour and a half to carry out his research, but at times he would use it to read books or have conversations with his loved ones using a prototype telegram.

Well I'm not exactly that reserved, Alan said.

No. There was nothing to be concerned.

"I know I'm supposed to be following the rules here, but there is a show tonight at the theater so why the heck not? I figured I'd at least take a gift with me, but it's quite a bit of a stretch to do it all for one woman."

"That's surprising. Is it for an actress?"

"Well, kinda."

"Ah, so you're part of the theater trope, huh?"

"Pretty much."

Alan was amazed at the smiling, cheerful hat man.

As a matter of fact, he would travel back and forth from his apartment to the Edison Foundation Facility in Trevor Tower (there were many nights where he couldn't make it back to his room due to this, and though to secretly install a prototype Engine Phone and put it into practice, but that is a tale for another time) and throughout living in Manhattan, he had come many people who seemed to be members of the Mafia but this was his first time having a serious conversation with one.

At times, things would happen as he imagined it. Other times, things will turn out differently than he imagined it.

He's had the impression that people in the crime-ridden underworld would be cold and bloody. Even if they presented themselves as fashionable, they likely carried modified pistols like the villains of comic book heroes in movies where he imagined them as sharp-witted people concealing a fancy Engine firearm. Indeed, the colors that appeared and vanished in the man wearing a hat were sharper than the people in his daily life, including those Alan usually interacted with that were stubborn. There was even an unnatural bulge, an object in the left side of his suit. However, the emotions currently being displayed in his eyes were far from aggressiveness.

He knew exactly what they were.

And it was in a warm, welcoming way.

"Then I pray your loved one's performance will be a success."

"Thank you," The man spoke with a wry smile as he shrugged. "And my, aren't a devout Christian, hm?"

"I didn't mean it that way."

Perhaps it would be inappropriate to pray.

He thought a bit on what he should say other than praying. Although Alan fully acknowledge the role divinity plays in society, even appreciating its functionality and in terms of mesmerism value-wise, it was a little too inconvenient for him to say it that way. After all, Alan was conducting a research on a certain sort of phenomena. That of a mathematical formula that makes certain phenomena occur, something that goes against a certain passage in the Old Testament. 

"In that case, I'll say it in a way that isn't of a prayer. After all, someone with a background like mines isn't cut out for the God of Jesus. I haven't been to church since I was a kid in Sunday school."

"I see."

After thinking about it for a little bit,

"Then how about a wish?"

Although the conclusion there wasn't clear-cut.

Yes, that's exactly what he said.

"I personally will wish for that."

"I see. In that case, is it alright if you'd come to the performance?"

"I guess so."

There was an approving nod.

"Then you'll be going?"

There was a confirming nod.

"I got it then."

There was an understanding nod.

Then.

They had exchanged a few words to each other and made some promises.

Once he learned the name of the specific theater and performance, and had it etched into his memory, Alan was given the packed coffee and freshly baked bagels that the black shopkeeper had originally intended to hand to him as his initial order. It was now just a little before 7 AM.

The hat-wearing man, who seemed to be in wait to say something in the store shrugged his shoulders once more and said something.

"I've in your debt, Scholar. I'll surely pay you back."

"There's no need for that."

"No. Gangsters always pay their debts, regardless of what they owe."

The man laughed,

"Here's what I'll do for you. Since I've troubled you about my woman, I'll do something for yours. If the brat was your daughter, I'll do anything for her."

"No. I'm single---" 

Alan replied with a smile.

That was the first morning he felt while saying such a lonely word.

Ah, I see. He wondered if the colorful emotion of joy flashed in the eyes of the man who seemed to be a veteran gangster, and naturally grabs the rugged right hand that was lightly extended to him.

That handshake only lasted for a short time.

---This was it.

---This was the morning from two months prior to New York's disappearance.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

~1907, Underground World. Subway Tunnel/Night~

---This was when the girl was still traveling through the Purple World.

---This was before the Hat Man returned to the other side of the wall.

A rare customer had appeared before Lily The Stranger on the sole Subway Train running on the yellow subway tracks. Normally, nobody would be seen in the subway's "room". There was almost no one in there aside from Lily and A, and the only time anyone else is seen is her, the cat-like woman who would come and go, and most of the time, she doesn't appear. However, there was a customer in the morning.

Yes. It was in the morning, just a little early in the morning.

Lily didn't have a watch, so she didn't know of the exact time but according to the mechanical watch A secretly had, it was just before 7 AM. Lily had strangely woken up early at that time.

Perhaps it was due to the visitor?

No. It was something else. However, she woke up early and despite trying to go back to sleep, her mind and eyes were clear, and more importantly, she wasn't able to spot the tall train conductor who'd stare at her for a long time so she had just woken up.

No, I can do it, "you can't do it alone," what is that, "it's just nothing", hmm...these types of questions and answers were repeated regularly. After washing her face and changing her clothes, the customer had appeared just before she got breakfast.

Beyond the small table she used for dining was a little one.

Something small and dark.

It was like a shadow.

A gremlin.

"Tapemonocrayo~. Nomimoyocrayo~"

"Ah, it must be hungry again."

"You look a little different from the one I saw before."

Lily had seen this small, animal-like black creature in Verranzo and the Bronx before. She had talked with them, and even given them food and items.

She recalls it.

The last time she had brought them food...

"They just go and vanish as soon as they finish eating."

They would disappear.

Lily didn't know it yet at the time.

The train had yet to reach the walled city. The memories of Brooklyn weren't in Lily's memories, or perhaps they were concealed so she didn't feel any discomfort or doubts about them residing in the Underground World.

So she only said what she recalls.

They would leave for somewhere.

"No."

Even the conductor's words of refusal were pretty rare.

Lily couldn't think of anything on it at the moment.

"?" She tilted her head in confusion.

"We're running out of supplies. Coffee is the only thing we can serve at the moment."

"...Things like this, we have to cut loose." She looks up. A confirmation.

"Yes," She nods. It was positive.

"I see," She nods. A confirmation.

"You had no breakfast today?" She frowns. A confirmation.

"Yes," She nods. It was positive.

"Crayo~" It asks.

It had a cute, high-pitched voice.

Lily thought of it as like a cry.

Like that of a cat or a puppy.

She had seen the cat-like woman before, but never an actual cat or dog, but that's what she thought in her mind without memory.

Something cute. Something lovely.

This was completely different from the tall man who didn't have breakfast.

"Kretepa~"

"Ah, hum? I'm sorry.
This person is going to be giving me something right now."

"Human? I'm not a person."

"That's alright. Just make it quick." Her cheeks puffed. She asks.

"...Something?" She nods. It was realized.

In that case, the tall conductor took out a coffee cup and a pot of hot water. An Engine Machine and a stiff bag.

---What is this?

---What is this that I'm seeing that I've never seen before?

"What is this?"

"An Engine Machine."

"I'm sure we can figure it out, right?"

"Yes."

"Perhaps not?"

What did this machine do exactly?

She already figured it was a machine. A machine made out of wood and metal. Upon feeling its cold metal, she felt fluttered as she was reminded of the Moles and the bodies of the underground world's people.

It wasn't exactly something that should give her a reaction out of when looking back at the small, black gremlin. But she was a little happy. Not too happy, just a little.

The way it swayed its little body side-to-side, flapping its small feather-like objects and tail meant it was probably a little joyful.

"Does it have something to do with food?"

"It's for drinks."

"Hmm?"

"It's a Machine for grinding coffee beans.
A Machine Mill. It's also referred to as a bean grinder."

"Coffee."

Has she ever tried coffee before?

She felt like she hadn't.

Although she was served red hot medicine, warm milk, and cold tea, this was her first time having coffee. Thus, this early morning was her first experience having coffee.

"Does it taste good?"

---I wonder what it would turn out as?

---This is going to be fun.

Gorigori gorigori gorigori.

Shuru shuru shururu.

Jijiji...

Jiji...

Kobo.

Kobobo.

Kobobobo.

A's method of grinding coffee beans in the machine mill was something he seemed accustomed to.

It was so vivid that she couldn't help but be captivated. Lily and the gremlin watched from the end of the table as the scary machine bean grinder started to be in use, watching as A turned on the complex-shaped handle. The freshly grounded beans gave off a fragrant aroma.

The grounded beans were filtered through something like a thin paper, with the black liquid leaking out more slowly than she expected into a ceramic coffee cup. Even the "coffee" itself had a fragrant aroma emanating from it. The entire "room" was filled with a fragrant aroma.

"It smells good~"

"Smells good~"

"It's flagrantly~"

"Fragrantly~"

Having forgotten about her interaction them, Lily, who had just woken up, was joined by the small, dark cutely-shaped creature who felt a sense of joy in the comfort of the smell.

Ah, I wonder what the taste of something so fragrant could be.

Yes, that's what she thought---

Now, after the task of the filtering process called drip was complete--

Cautiously.

She puts her lip at the cup and takes a sip.

"..."

"..."

"How is it?" He asks.

"It's..."

"Bi..."

"How is the taste?" He asks again.

"It's bitter."

"Bitter."

---So that's what it was?

---It smelled so good and delicious!

"It's bitter!"

"Bitterrr!"

"...Perhaps it would be better if we diluted it with hot water."

(To be continued)