Yuko hurried her way back to the ground, an excited smile on her face.
Her smile faltered for a moment when she saw the conflicted look on her father's face, only for him to pull her into a tight hug. “Don't scare me like that ever again, you got it?”
Yuko returned the embrace eagerly. Well, as eagerly as she could considering he seemed to be wearing some sturdy case under his shirt. “Says who, exactly? I thought you were dead!” Yuko argued, though there wasn't a hint of venom in her tone.
“I was told they didn't find me ‘till day 3. Concussion and a broken rib, kid. I was barely even awake for a few weeks,” he explained, “by the time they considered me sane enough to believe me, you were nowhere to be found. Then when I got back onto my feet I heard the stories of the returned expedition crew and the kid that snuck along to stay. I almost exploded then and there!”
His concern was so clear in his voice, it hurt. Yuko couldn't stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks as she buried her face in his chest. “I missed you, dad…”
“I missed you too, kid. If I weren't thanking the gods you're alive I'd be giving you the biggest telling off this side of the city has ever seen.”
She chuckled lightly. “Do you even want to know what we found? What I saw?” she asked jokingly.
He laughed softly, before groaning and reaching for his chest. “Every littlest detail, as soon as we're out of this crappy spot.”
People had already gathered around Yuko as soon as she entered the South encampment, but as soon as she started speaking, a crowd started to form and grow. She shared as many details as she had words to share them through.
By the time she was done, she could see nothing but the ceiling and the endless faces of people surrounding her and her father. Many of them were shocked, confused or filled with disbelief. Yuko almost wondered if she sprouted a second head for a moment. There were also mutters of fear, and even less frequently, awe and wonder. She recognized these people. Not personally, but she saw herself in them. Disenfranchised, disadvantaged, left behind by the system that couldn't uphold them all. They were desperate for change, for things to get better. She was, too.
Finally she turned to address them. “Shini won't be able to exist forever. But there is a whole world out there! All for us to explore and find our place! We don't need to continue hiding in this miserable hole until it kills us!” she exclaimed into the crowd.
At first there were more murmurs, before one person started to clap, and then another, as the crowd erupted in a cacophony of cheers and applause. For the first time in what might've been a long time, there was hope in the previously dull eyes of these people. They had a clear chance at a way forward, and nothing was going to stop them anymore.
Change was imminent. It was time to take it for the betterment of themselves.
A day passed and Yuko heard nothing from the higher ups. No plans, no announcements, no anything relating to the Migration, all while people in the East encampments had already started to prepare their belongings, rationing their food, and discussing their strategies. It was impressively civil, the way the people had come together over the promise of a new life.
When Yuko tried to find her companions, it took her hours. Not because she didn't know where they were, she had a vague idea of where they had to be, but because nearly every door had its own guards that refused to believe her, despite the fact that they barely stopped her the day before. After multiple arguments, she'd finally made it far enough for Shizumi to hear her and vouch for her. They weren't happy, but let her in.
They appeared to be in some kind of small sleeping hall. Everyone else was seated around a small table in the middle with a frustrated frown on their expression. They seemed to light up as soon as they saw Yuko, though.
“Thank the stars you're okay,” Wakane said as she let out a sigh of relief.
“... What's going on?”
The city council didn't want to move. They didn't want to go and leave everything behind. They wanted solutions to repair Shini, despite Shini's decay being at their doorstep. At the same time, they didn't want to give others the choice, either. This was to be buried.
“Why even take the choice away from everyone else?” Yuko asked, clear frustration in her voice as she slams a fist on the table.
“It's quite easy,” Satoru offered, “Think about why they wouldn't want anyone leaving.”
There was a small groan as Yuko considered it. “Depending on how the news is brought, there could be a lot of chaos, I guess. Some people don't wanna go, others do. But everyone in the encampments was ready to pack up and leave today if they had to when I told them.”
Satoru offered a knowing look, and Yuko continued the train of thought.
“... They need the East to continue doing the labor for them. With them gone…”
“Who is going to operate the farms and fields?” Kosuke finished.
Wakane took to her feet and walked over to Yuko, seemingly energized. “But you told some of them about the migration?”
“I told everyone that would listen. It feels like hundreds of people came to listen to me talk. I can go talk to more people.”
Shizumi shook her head. “That's going to be difficult. They won't let you leave again, and are probably regretting letting you do so in the first place.”
It wasn't until this point that Yuko realised just how much this room looked like a cell.
“What are they even going to do? Keep us here forever?” Yuko asked.
“I think they're still trying to figure that out,” Satoru muses.
“I remain hopeful that they will consider releasing us to return to the surface, at least.” Kosuke mused.
Wakane remained in a good mood still. “I believe the solution will come so long as we're patient and have some faith in the people.”
It took two days for the riots to start. Massive amounts of people from the encampments and surrounding areas moved into the streets of the West District to protest the way they'd been treated since the flood. Even since before the flood. Fights ravaged the streets to demand answers about the Migrations. The police stood no chance against such a force of people. Against such desperation.
The news about the Migration spread like a wildfire from there. It was an absolute chaos to hear how the East District population was ready to walk out of the city without any medication over staying in the conditions they were currently, while the West District staunchly did not want to move. The North and even more so the South were left in the most conflict, no one belief triumphing the other. The West tried to bargain, make the smallest of successions to douse the flames of rebellion only to serve like oil to the fire.
Now it was them who were given no choice. Without the people of the East as well as portions of the South and North, the West could never maintain their lifestyle. Without the East, Shini would slowly die out as their resources were used up much faster than they could be cultivated. Everyone who remained would be left to fend for themselves and fight amongst each other until there was no one left. It was doomed and they could see it already.
Three days after the riots became so prevalent even Yuko and the others heard about them. That same day, they were promptly released without question, guided to have a meeting with the council. The room might as well have had over a hundred people in it, divided in smaller groups each locked in their own frantic discussion as to the logistics of moving the entire city’s population on a potentially week long journey across a place none of them had been before.
It became official later that day. Planning and organisation of the Migration had started.