《Order》


 Chapter 1

    Ren Young


    I started my morning with a groan. What time was it? How long had I slept? Did it matter today? I don''t think I had any critical plans. I rolled over and covered myself with my thin, worn blanket. Then I tossed the other way and forced myself to sit up. The light that was beginning to peer through my cheap curtains was starting to darken. I closed my eyes and fell back into the bed. I would get up as soon as the shadow passed over our zone.


    A knock at the door interrupted my plans of going back to sleep. The knock was light; I could be sure my father hadn''t come to wake me up today. He tended to bang on the door even when he tried to knock softly.


    "Ren, dear, are you awake?"


    "Yes, Mom, I just woke up."


    "Oh good, Andrew was looking for you. If you have time, you should see him today." I sighed and climbed out of bed. It would''ve been a sorry sight for anyone watching to see me drag my feet as I approached the door. I opened it to greet my mother in the hallway. Like always, she wore a smile. Her hair was tucked back into a bun, and she had already dressed for the day in a loose t-shirt and pants. She was shorter than me, she had been for years, with a thin figure and grey hair. My father always talks about how pretty she is, but I had only known her with the appearance that many years of living had weighed on her.


    "Andrew said you should wait for him at his place."


    "Okay, Mom." I walked past her through the hall and down the stairs. Our house was small, so it would only take a minute to be on my way.


    "Oh Ren," my mother yelled to me from upstairs, "would you be able to pick up some soap on the way home; I helped the McCarren''s make some yesterday, but I couldn''t carry it all home."


    "No problem," I yelled back while walking into the kitchen. I grabbed a bruised apple and took a bite. "I''m heading out now."


    "Okay, be careful." My mother''s voice had grown fainter. She had probably walked down the hall to wake my father. I quickly scoffed down the apple and went out the door. Before leaving, I looked down. I had fallen asleep in my jeans last night, no need to bother changing before leaving.


    The streets were empty at this time of day, and only a few early morning workers shuffled along. Today was no different from any other day. The roads were the same, the workers the same, the mountain in the center of the town with the glowing city on top was the same, just another day in Autarkeia. Though I always wondered how the freaks on the mountain kept the city so white and clean all the time. The shadow cast from the mountain had just about passed over our home. I could see it slowly creeping away.


    I sighed and continued to walk. I was starting to wake up and realized I wasn''t paying attention when my mother told me where Andrew was waiting. At this point, I couldn''t go back and ask her. She wouldn''t get upset, but I knew between my father and her, I wouldn''t hear the end of it for a while. If I wandered long enough, I would find him. He always seemed to show up, even when I didn''t want him to. However, I had no idea what he wanted today. I may have skipped out on him a couple of times when he would give me a lesson, but that was par for the course now. We both expected me to do it, so he wouldn''t be looking for me for skipping out on him the other day. I guess I would just find out once he found me.


    I stopped and stared at the glowing, white city. It seemed like a nice place to live, as opposed to our cobblestone streets and grey buildings with occasional splashes of color. At the very least, it was nice to look at as it stood high on the smooth mountain in the middle of town. Of course, I knew better than to want to live there. From a young age, our parents would tell us ''the monsters in the city would eat us if we ever tried to enter.'' Naturally, it was a lie to keep kids from becoming too adventurous. They would probably only get a beating, at worst, if they even found a way into the city. Some adults were, seemingly, never told and continued to think that way well after their childhood ended.


    "Admiring the city again, Ren?" a squeaky voice interrupted my thoughts. Surprised, I spun around with my fists ready. I started to swing one at the person who spoke to me but stopped it short of hitting his face. The squeamish man who had snuck up behind me stumbled back and fell on his rear. Once I had processed who it was, I put my hands down but left my fists clenched.


    "York, don''t sneak up on me like that!"


    "Haha, sorry, I always forget that Andrew taught you with... that thing..."


    "He called it Marine training."


    "Mar-ine. Yeah, that''s right." I sighed and loosened my fists. I held out a hand to the sad man who was still on the ground. He pushed my hand away and stood up. York was a man with a thin build and a face that could only be described as ratty. Unkempt, dirty, large teeth and beady eyes were accurate descriptions of his appearance. He always stayed pale as a ghost from never going in the sun for too long. The rumors around the whole town were that he never worked a day in his life, only jumping from zone to zone when he had some new scheme.


    York stood up and brushed off his backside with a smirk that seemingly never left his face. It almost made me believe a face can get stuck for staying the same way for too long. He motioned to me that he wanted me to lean in. I turned and looked to make sure no one else was nearby. Fortunately, there was no one around who would gossip.


    "What is it, York?"


    "Aw, come on, Ren, you''re looking around before speaking to me? You know, I don''t think you appreciate our friendship."


    "We both know you would sell me out in an instant if it benefited you." It certainly wouldn''t be the first time he''d done so.


    "Don''t be so rude. Here I have something you''ll find interesting. Want to see?" He gestured to me as he took a few steps back. He wanted me to follow. He was a pain and untrustworthy, but he always did find interesting things around town. It was against my best judgment, but I had no work planned today, and Andrew probably didn''t expect me to find him early. I decided to follow York to see what he had today. What was the worst that could happen? Do I get chased around town by an angry mob? The ratty man had caused his fair share of mobs in the past. The only reason people tolerated him and had not thrown him out in the wasteland years ago was that he entertained people, in a twisted sense, with all his schemes and finds.


    So, I followed the ratty man through the streets to the back alleys of the back alleys. The buildings were increasingly worn the farther we went. Eventually, we exited the narrow streets into an open space and out to the other buildings'' backs. We were on the outskirts of town. Just a little farther, and we would walk into the wasteland. It was made all too clear as a sandstorm, that had been raging for days, and showed no sign of stopping, was pelting against the invisible wall that seemed to keep it out. There was no barrier, at least that the eye could see. Some technology was keeping the wasteland from spreading to the town. No one really knew if it was one of the many machines in town that were built long before anyone currently alive was born or if it was those on the mountain that kept the storm at bay.


    York gestured for me to enter his house. If you could call it a house. It was clearly a condemned building that no one bothered to fix up or demolish since it was so far from town. It was likely one of York''s many houses in town as he was known to move around. The building looked like the roof would fall in on us the moment we entered. Still, I followed him in anyway.


    The house was filled with junk, piles of it scattered around. Some piles were stacked to the ceiling. I wondered if they were holding it up. That would seem likely enough with the state the house was in. It was not a simple matter to walk across the room. I had to weave around the piles of junk, being careful not to knock anything over as the whole house seemed like it would bury us alive if I did. York, naturally, weaved through the piles of junk to the other side with relative ease.


    "Come on, Ren, nothing''s going to jump out and bite you, or at least I hope it won''t." York badgered me as he waited for me to reach him. When I finally emerged into the opening where he stood, he confidently pointed down to an object on the floor. A book? Did he bring me all this way for a book?


    "You brought me all this way for a book?" I was hung up on that point as I picked it up. The cover had an image of a man, or at least it looked like a man. The marks on his face indicated he was another one of those freaks, in a white robe smiling cheerfully with a cover that said:


    "Early Science," I said aloud.


    "Oh, so is that what it says? Good, good, I knew you would be able to help me out."


    "What is this?"


    "It''s a book. Ren, are you sure that priest is teaching you right?" he asked with a tone that expressed almost legitimate concern.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "Yes, I''ve read many books with Andrew; I want to know what this book is, in particular. Where did you find this?" I opened the book and flipped through it. It appeared to be talking about the basic scientific principles that Andrew had taught me long ago.


    "Well, it fell off the mountain. I found it buried in the dirt."


    I closed the book and looked at the cover again. It was definitely from up there, but I had a hard time believing his story.


    "How exactly did this fall off the mountain?"


    "Ah, good question. I wonder..." the rat-man said with a smirk. "So, what do you say? I''ll let you read that book, and you help me with some problems of my own?" I set the book back down and began to walk out of the piles of junk. He was trying to bait me using my interest in the book, but he didn''t realize there was nothing there for me to learn.


    "Sorry, York, I''m not getting involved with another one of your schemes."


    "It''s not a scheme. It''s an educational trip."


    "Not listening." I began to push my way through farther.


    "Wait, Ren, I was at the mountain the other day..." He grabbed my shirt from behind to stop me. Startled, I grabbed some junk to keep from getting pulled back; it was a pointless action. I was not going to get yanked back by him grabbing me. Instead, I took the pile of junk with me, and a large crash interrupted York''s sentence. He stopped for a moment, long enough for me to turn around. "Anyway, I was checking out the mountain when I found a strange hole. So naturally, I checked it out, and you won''t guess where it led."


    This seemed like it was going in a direction that I wouldn''t like. "See, it was a path, and I climbed all the way up." I think I had heard enough. I began to walk past the piles of junk again. "I ended up in their city."


    There it was, I knew this was where this story was headed. I stopped. He couldn''t be trusted, but he wouldn''t leave me alone until I humored him. I kept my back turned to him but quit trying to walk away. I could feel his self-satisfied look behind me. Perhaps I should have never pulled my punch this morning.


    "So what? You''re lucky they didn''t catch you," I said.


    "So, I looked around for a minute, but I didn''t head in. I was going to make another trip to check it out, but then I remembered you had that Mar-ine training." He wanted me to go up to the city myself. I admit it was an interesting proposition. York told lots of stories, but I had never heard him ask someone to help him. If he did so, that would mean he would be caught lying. He didn''t need anyone to go around telling others about how he took them on a wild goose chase. This was different, probably. I doubt he''d found a way into their city. Even if he did, he wouldn''t risk going up, but he must have found something. It was against my best interest, but I was curious to see what he may have found. I turned around. I hope I didn''t look too interested. His smirk told me I did.


    "You want me to go to the city?" It was a stupid notion. If I truly could get there, they would immediately recognize that I wasn''t some synthetic test tube creation. I would probably be beaten unmercifully and thrown back on one of our streets in some zone I often don''t visit. Yes, this was a bad idea.


    "Yes, yes, check it out for me and bring any valuables back. I''ll examine all the stuff and let you keep 50 percent of the valuables."


    It wasn''t a convincing lie. York would find some way to keep 100 percent of the valuables if I even found any. Still, the fact he thought I would find something valuable means there really must be some truth in his story. Andrew would likely discourage me from going along with it if he were here. I could practically hear him already. But why not see what he found? It probably would end up being nothing but a waste of time in the end anyway. I could play along, right?


    "Show me this entrance. I want to see it."


    "Ah-ha, I knew you wouldn''t be able to resist." The tone in his voice pissed me off. I suppose it was earned though; he had gotten me hook, line, and sinker.


    We exited the house. The hustle and bustle of the day could now be heard in the distance, even from where we stood. It would be harder to avoid being seen with York now, but I guess it couldn''t be helped. We began our walk back to the main roads. Once we slipped back in, we were greeted by the typical morning crowd. It wasn''t too heavy of a group to try to walk through, but it made following York difficult as he charged ahead. I doubt he even realized he was losing me. His thoughts were probably full of the potential value of what I might find. At least it wasn''t clear that I was following him as I tried to avoid bumping into the many passersby.


    We walked closer and closer to the mountain, and the town grew denser, both in the number of people and buildings. In the distance, I saw York slip into an alleyway. He probably noticed I had fallen behind since his head stuck out a moment later and looked around. He fixed his gaze in my direction for a moment and then slid back into the alleyway. I was walking at a normal pace. I had no reason to hurry after all.


    A hand gently tapped my shoulder from behind. Clearly trying to get my attention. I stopped and turned to see who had greeted me. It was Andrew, of course it was.


    "Hello, Andrew." York would have to wait a little while longer.


    "Ren, I''ve been looking everywhere for you," he said. He didn''t seem upset, just relatively calm. Per usual for him, after all.


    "Have you? Well, I''ve been around." I gave a weak reply. Andrew sighed.


    "I suppose I should have come to expect this." He put his hand up to rub his temple while closing his eyes. A habit of his. Typical of Andrew, he wore a plain, black robe. It was beaten up from years of wear; I swear it seemed like he only owned the one outfit. He was slightly shorter than me, and around his neck, he wore a dull metal cross. Some claimed that it was gold when he first arrived in town; others claimed it was silver. Who could say at this point? The most striking feature about Andrew, of course, was on his round face. He would appear to be a plain-looking, fair-skinned, bald guy, if not for a nasty burn that covered the right side of his face. It started at his neck and ran up to his scalp, from his right ear to his nose.


    "So, what were you up to?"


    "Oh, nothing. I was just headed to find some work for the day." I had forgotten what I intended to do today, but I couldn''t tell him I had been with York most of the time since I had left the house. Come to think of it, didn''t my mom tell me to see him?


    "Ren, your eye." I reached up and touched near it. Apparently, when I lied, my eye would twitch. Andrew was the first person to tell me about it. Evidently, my parents also knew but decided never to say.


    "I, uh-"


    "Just don''t get into too much trouble, Ren, I will need you to join me for the children''s reading lesson, and I can''t have you somewhere else." A child''s reading lesson. That must be why my mom told me he was looking for me. There''s no problem with that.


    "Oh- okay, where and when?"


    "The day is still to be decided. I need to let all the parents know you will be joining this time." I felt like I made a smile. I didn''t mean to, but I couldn''t stop myself from saying:


    "How many children did you make cry last time?"


    "Those... are not details you need to know right now." Andrew turned away slightly while saying that. He had paused mid-sentence for a moment. It was all of them. He made all the kids cry just by showing up. One of the unfortunate effects of his face looking so mangled. In all fairness, he scared some adults too. After all, when I was younger, I was the only one whose parents let Andrew teach regularly. I think the only reason I wasn''t scared of him was due to the fact that he spent a lot of time with my parents while I was growing up. Some parents were now starting to realize that having someone who knows how to do things, like read and teach their kids, was a good idea. I guess I was the test case for most of them.


    "Alright, let me know when you do, and I''ll be there."


    "Great! Be good, and God bless," Andrew turned and began to walk away, "Oh, and tell York I hope he has a good day as well." Andrew loudly yelled back without turning to look again. How does he know?


    "That damn priest," York suddenly appeared next to me as soon as Andrew disappeared into the crowd. He must have slipped out of the alley when I didn''t show up right away. "How did he even know I was here?"


    "Andrew''s always been like that. He tells me he just knows a lot since he''s old."


    "Well, it''s just creepy." We stood quietly for a moment as the crowd passed around us in all directions, "Come on already!"


    York pulled my arm as he began to walk back to the alley. I shook his hand loose and continued following him. We weaved into the alley and started walking through a maze of other alleys. It always appeared that the buildings closer to the mountain were built first, as they were often the most worn down and in need of repairs. It was commonly believed that they were made without any planning and coordination, which led to long mazes of alleyways where there were spaces between buildings. Unlike on the outskirts, these mazes often only had one entrance that also served as its exit. On rare occasions, they would have two entrances. There were many stories of people getting lost and dying in the alley mazes, but, in reality, most mazes could only trap people for a few hours at most before they found their way out.


    I continued to follow York, who confidently charged around every turn until we finally reached a large, white, smooth wall. Or that was what it appeared to be. We were, in fact, right up to the mountainside where it met two buildings. I looked up and stared at the mountain. Up close, it always looked even more gigantic than one might think. There was no telling how long it would take to climb the side, not that it would be possible, as the mountainside was completely smooth.


    "Come on, man, stop staring." York pushed me to get my attention. I looked at him and then to where he was pointing. The building on our left was built at an angle that gradually guided the wall into the mountain''s side, where it appeared to have been cemented to the mountain. This left a space that would become narrower but was big enough for a person to slide down. Naturally, it appeared it would be a tight fit for a grown person.


    "If you crawl through there for about three meters, you''ll find a hole in the mountain. You won''t be able to go too far because it''s where the building meets the side."


    "Why is there a hole there?"


    York would never try to open a hole in the mountain, nor would he be able to alone. I was somewhat surprised he would crawl that far back in the first place.


    "I have no idea; it was overgrown with plants when I found it, though. I imagine it''s been years since anyone had crawled through it. Anyway, when you reach the hole, it will be tight, and I''m not sure how far you''ll have to crawl."


    "Hmm, so what will I find after I get through?"


    "Go see for yourself. The mountain is actually hollow and built with metal supports, and there is a staircase that goes all the way up."


    "Did you actually go all the way up?" I might believe he found an opening, but for him to climb up that far... it seemed like a stretch any way you put it. York ground his teeth and walked over to the plant at the start of the path. He kicked it over with ease, revealing a path within the overgrown plants. He must have stood the first one up to hide the way.


    "Come on, man, you''re going to need time to climb all the way up. Get going, and I''ll wait here for you," I sighed and bent down to look down the path. I would have to lay on my side and inch my way down the path even to fit. I started to lay down when York gave me encouraging words, "Remember, bring back as much interesting stuff as you can find!"


    I began to slide down the path. It was already starting to feel tight as I pulled and wiggled myself down. Still, I pushed on. Headed to whatever awaited me.

 Chapter 2

    AL.I.C.E-2968442


    I think I woke up with a smile. It was undoubtedly peaceful this morning, not that it was unusual from a typical morning. I turned my head as I stretched out my arms. My clock read 6:00 in glowing blue. It was fairly early in the morning, and I would have to and get ready for school. I sat up and pushed my red hair out of my face. The lights lit automatically, and a mechanized voice greeted me in a natural tone,


    "AL.I.C.E-2968442, your guardian units would like to speak with you before you depart for school." I stood up and walked over to the white wall opposite my bed. It slid open at my approach, and two mechanical arms handed my school uniform to me. A white long sleeve top with white pants.


    "AL.I.C.E-2968442," the voice said again, "your guardian units would like to speak with you before you go to school."


    "Thank you, please inform them I will be down shortly," I replied to the voice this time. It did not answer, but I knew it would relay the message to them. They must, or at least one of them must, have something urgent to say.


    I changed out of my sleepwear, a white long sleeve top with white pants, and handed it to the mechanical arms. It took them and retracted into the wall, which slid shut. After that, I put on my fresh clothes. It was a meaningless task as the clothes I slept in and wore to school were exactly the same, but this was my morning routine, and I did not intend to change. Once I put on my clothes, I brushed my hair behind my ear on the right side in order to show the insignia on my face. I walked to my door, which slid open once I got close to it, and I walked into the hall.


    My guardian units were both waiting around the corner. They were identical SA.RA units, a model designed initially for intelligence focused tasks to assist every increasingly improved AI. Aside from the indicators on their faces, they were identical in appearance: my first guardian, SA.RA-47628475 glared intensely at me while my second guardian, SA.RA-48727777 stood swaying behind her. 48727777 was half asleep, like every morning. Unlike 47628475, my second guardian unit was less strict. She had told me to address her as Nanana when no one else was around. I had no idea why she wanted to be addressed differently from her serial number.


    "2968442," my first guardian began to speak, "need I remind you to keep up with the standards we have set." She was mad about something again. I imagine I did something to upset her, which violated her standards of how I ought to be. Honestly, I had no idea what I did to upset her this time. Nanana came up behind her and wrapped her arms around her, or instead began to use her as a support to keep from falling over; 47628475 jumped at the sudden contact.


    "Come on," she lazily said. "You are too harsh. You know AL.I.C.E models are not designed for intelligence, like us, they are made for beauty. We cannot apply the same standards to her." 47628475 angrily shook Nanana off from herself.


    "Why do I always have to tell you? I swear you two are the worst to be paired with." She gave up and stomped off. She must have finally gotten tired of telling us the same thing repeatedly. Standards apply to all models, regardless of design purpose. I had heard it too many times to count. That day I had missed school, or that day I was out after curfew. These were the most recent instances I had heard it. In the past, she said it more often, especially whenever I asked an odd question. Nanana stumbled over to me and wrapped her arms around me. She was now using me to support herself.


    "Do not get so worried about her, I''ll talk to her later," she whispered to me. Nanana must not have realized that 47628475 had left the hallway and gone elsewhere. She patted my head when she spoke. Then she let go and stumbled down the hallway.


    I ate a quick breakfast, the usual morning nutrient bar, and grabbed my bag for school. The front door slid open as I exited the house, and I stepped out onto the bright walkway. The air blew calmly, and it was as quiet as could be. I moved down the walkway to the elevator. Our home was in the center of a rather large tenement, and there were two elevators at either end. My morning routine was to go in a random direction to one of the doors. Today I think I would go right.


    As per usual, a small crowd was waiting at the elevator to be let down. We all silently stared at the door as we waited for it to reach us. I saw a small person out of the corner of my eye, most likely a child. I was curious to see what model this child was. I was certainly old enough that some new models may have started to be implemented, but I continued to stare at the door. It would be considered rude to look at the child like that, and there were a few too many people around that would see me do it, so I could not try to sneak a peek. I closed my eyes and waited for the elevator to come.


    The elevator beeped, and we all shuffled inside. We were crammed together for the short descent before we were able to push ourselves out. People always rushed a little more to exit the elevator, and today was no different. Someone behind me pushed somewhat hard, so I came stumbling out of the elevator more than usual¡ªthe jerk. Taking a breath, I collected myself and began my walk down the street to school. Nothing was unordinary in the city. The white buildings were as clean as ever, the sky was a perfect shade of blue, and the grass and trees were a brilliant green.


    The city was quiet, even with all the people walking through the streets. We walked in a uniform pattern. The roads were wide, but we always walked in two straight lines going in opposite directions. No one ever taught me this, but it was something that everyone did. I had once asked why but it only led to 47628475 and Nanana telling me it was the "way things were." That was something I heard even more than the lecture about standards.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    I had quite sometime before school would start. I could go early and sit silently in my seat before it was time to start, like everyone else, but I never did. The park seemed like a nice change of pace. It was not somewhere I usually went on my morning commute. I turned to go down the street that would take me to the park. The closest park I knew of, relative to my school, was the one on the edge of the city. It did not take long to get there. We lived fairly close to the edge anyway.


    The park was the same as always. Green grass gently danced together with the leaves in the current of the wind. A white brick pathway diverted off the main street into a semicircle shape through the grass and trees. A series of white, metal benches lined the path facing a large, rectangular cut plant that circled the city. This park was known as South Park. The city''s outermost edge had four parks and four recreational areas that alternated in a circle around it. South Park was known to be the least visited by anyone other than students. I walked over and sat on one of the metal benches. I leaned back to stare at the blue sky. Suddenly, everything was dark. Someone had blocked my vision. I already had a guess to who it was.


    "Guess who, 442?"


    "You''re the only one who shortens my model code like that 443."


    My vision returned, and I turned my head to see the person. She crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks for a moment before smiling at me. AL.I.C.E-2968443, or 443 as she had requested, I called her. She had been produced a year after me, and we became close after we met. Upon our first meeting, she and I were surprised to see another AL.I.C.E model, as we were particularly rare in production. The unit produced before me was made at least ten years prior. After the second meeting, she had declared we were best friends. I did not mind.


    "Hey, hey 442!" she said enthusiastically.


    "Yes?"


    "Did you see that broadcast last night? It was fascinating, wasn''t it?!"


    It was not.


    "Uh, it was just the standard news of the day."


    "Oh you, you have to get into the broadcasts more." 443 spun in a circle. "I just love when the screen comes on, and we can see the two announcers. They are always so amazing!"


    She spoke in a cheerful voice, as usual. I do not know why she was loud all the time, but she really wanted to be a broadcaster in the future. Being an AL.I.C.E model, she had a good chance of being assigned to that role. The broadcasters were typically a pair of male and female beauty models.


    "I''m glad you know where you want to be assigned in the future, but you should not be so loud. There are others nearby."


    The park was out of the way, but a few other students were obviously trying to pay no mind to us as they walked nearby on the street. A little longer and they would be gone, but for now, 443 needed to quiet down. The last thing I would want is for her to get in trouble for causing an incident. She crossed her arms and looked at me with a smile.


    "Well, they can look all they want. After all, once I''m on the broadcasts, they will see me all the time!"


    "Alright, alright. So how did you get here so early?" She usually took her time to get to school. Not that I blamed her, I did the same.


    "Oh, I left early. My guardian units were having a loud discussion again. I don''t know if he said something or she said something; I just left." I imagine something similar happened with my guardians after I left.


    "So, the usual?"


    "Ah!" 443 threw her hands up and slid next to me on the bench. "I thought units were assigned for practicality, but everyone I know talks about their guardian units talking loudly with each other. You could confuse them with the beasts on the outside."


    "Shh, Shh," The girl did not know how to talk in a quiet voice herself. It amazed me that we were the same model when we acted so differently. I stood up and put my hands on her shoulders, "You are getting too excited." 443 let her head hang down.


    "I hope we can be paired together, 442. I know we will get along just fine," she said softly.


    "What, what do you mean?" 443 looked up and smiled with a large grin. She immediately turned around and ran away.


    "See you at school!" she yelled as she ran off. I was alone now. I walked over to a nearby tree and pressed my back against it. School would be starting soon, but I did not feel the need to go. I only left early to get outside for a little bit. Really, I did not know what school would do for me. As an AL.I.C.E model, I would be assigned to a role where my looks were the primary focus.


    A rustle in the greenery caught my attention. I immediately stood up and ran to hide behind the tree. The plant was a thick, green bush hybrid with something else. It was made to be an aesthetically pleasing border between the city and the nightmarish outside. Beyond that is the wall, which stretches at least 15 meters in the air.


    Did someone go behind the bushes? The rustle indicated that someone had indeed gone between the bushes and the wall, most likely a kid exploring. I did the same when I was younger, though I got quite an earful about it from my guardians and some officials. Come to think of it. I did not know why I was hiding. I peeked out from behind the tree and saw a boy climbing over the bush. He lost his grip and ungracefully fell onto the ground. The bush was at least 3 meters high, at least twice as tall as me, and he fell from the top squarely onto his back. I held back a laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.


    I should probably check on him, but I could not recognize his model from here. He could not be a new model since he appeared to be about as old as I was, which was concerning. Could he possibly be a new model that was not officially announced? Perhaps a new research model that would be implemented soon? That might explain why he was not headed to school like he should have been.


    The boy sat up off the ground in one fluid motion. He rubbed his face with his hands. He looked to be taller than me, maybe a head worth, with bronze, tanned skin. It appeared that the color was from a mix of natural pigment and exposure to the sun. His hair was black and unkempt. It seemed that it fell all around his face. He wore ragged clothing that was not the standard uniform, and he appeared to have lean muscles bulging from where I could see skin. Something was wrong with this boy. He looked human but seemed nothing like me.


    "Damn, should have crawled under," he said aloud. The boy stood up and brushed himself off. He looked around and stopped when he noticed me. He looked at me, right into my eyes. I immediately hid behind the tree. He had deep brown eyes. I noticed immediately as no insignia to indicate his model took my attention. I rested my hands on the tree to stop them from trembling. Could he be a monster from the outside? If so, how did he get here? Is that right? Does this make sense? It looked human, and that is what scared me the most.


    I heard footsteps draw closer. It was approaching, but cautiously. Maybe it was more scared of me than I was of it. I doubt it. Should I try to call for help? It might react if I tried to reach for my phone. Should I run? No, it might be faster than me and might get a thrill from the chase. This was a beast from beyond our city. Logic would not work. In the end, I remained behind the tree. I was trembling as the monster approached.

 Chapter 3

    Ren Young


    It was a long climb up, a really long climb. I pulled myself up the last rung of the ladder and pushed open a hatch. Light. There was sunlight. I was finally at the top of the mountain. I let the hatch fall out of the way and climbed out. I laid back onto the ground. It would be more appropriate to say I collapsed onto it. Damn that, York! He was right about entering a large opening. It appeared to have been some library at one point, and I imagine it was where he''d found the book as there were plenty in there. In the back was an ornate looking spiral staircase.


    It was a mistake to go up the stairs. The next thing I knew, I had walked through a door, and it somehow slammed shut. I had no choice but to climb and climb some more. Staircases, ladders, ropes, poles, some walls where the original method of climbing had been lost. It was almost as if there was a mini-city within the mountain and whoever designed that place was clearly not right in the head. Damn that, York. I was beyond tired.


    Now that I was here, I could rest. I don''t know how long I would need to lay here. Where was here? It seemed like it was still morning, but I had been in the mountain so long that it was not possible. Not unless I climbed for a whole day and night. I turned my head to one side. It was a wall. I turned my head to the other side. It was a bush. The wall looked fairly tall and smooth. I doubt I could clear it, nor was I sure it was the best idea to try. That meant I would have to climb over the bush¡ªmore climbing. I hated climbing. I think I may have been traumatized.


    Unsteadily, I tried to pull myself off the ground by using the bush. I didn''t move. I just weakly pulled on the bush. Maybe I would be able to pull myself upright like this? Or maybe not. I made an effort to pull. It would be dubious to call it a good effort. After a few minutes of pulling, I finally gave in and sat up. Then I stood up and grabbed the bush with more determination, so I could adequately begin climbing over. It was sturdy and easily supported me as I pulled myself up. I''m not sure what kind of plant this was. I''m not sure I want to know. In a few moments, I had reached the top. I stopped to take a breath. It now occurred to me that I might have been able to crawl under rather than climbing over. Was I really so excited to climb that I overlooked that? What''s wrong with me? I tried to carefully lower myself down on the other side but failed. I fell from the top of the bush right on to my back.


    I didn''t know how I was going to get out of here. I didn''t know what I was going to do after I got out. Whatever the case, I was not going to climb another thing. I landed on grass, but it didn''t feel as soft as back home. It was like it wasn''t growing out of dirt. I stared up at the sky. It was a perfect shade of blue, like looking at a jewel. As wonderful as it looked, it gave me an uneasy feeling. It was almost too good to be true. Considering that I had gone up the entire time, I had no reason not to know where I was, but I wanted to deny it. I would deny it for as long as I could get away with it.


    "Damn, should have crawled under," I said before I pushed myself off the ground and began to look around.


    I was in some kind of park, but the plants were so well kept and green they almost seemed fake. Beyond the park was a magnificent, white city. I never thought I would see it up close. The city of gods or monsters, depending on who you asked. Do I go and try to explore it? It surely wouldn''t end well, but I had come this far. I could try to go back down; chances are that there were more ways to get out than I had tried. Did I just want to come up here and use being trapped by that door as an excuse? I continued looking around until my eyes met those of another person. Or at least it looked like another person, but the markings on its face told me otherwise.


    It was peeking out from behind a tree but retreated into hiding when I looked in its direction. I had been caught, but I seemed okay for the moment. What exactly should I do here? Do I go and say something to it? Would it know my language? I would certainly get nowhere standing here thinking about it. I started to walk to the tree. It could probably kill me easily, but with luck, I would only end up with a broken bone or two at the worst. I hope that was the worst.


    "Hello," I spoke in the friendliest way I could. It was worth a try. The person-like creature didn''t respond. I walked up until I was standing on the other side of the tree. It would probably be best to keep something in between us.


    "Hello," I said again. I''m not sure how the tone of my voice sounded. I think the second time, my voice may have sounded less friendly. That might prove to be fatal, so I had better be careful.


    "Please go away," it spoke back to me. The voice sounded almost fearful. Was I really worried for nothing? I began to walk around the tree slowly. It didn''t seem like I would be attacked, at least for now. As I rounded the tree, she, or rather it, suddenly took a step back and stood with its back straight. It looked like a girl. A human girl with red hair that flowed down her head like flames. It had bright blue eyes that put the sky above us to shame and creamy, clear, and pale skin that seemed to match my mother''s. If not for the markings on her face, I would think she was a normal human and not some synthetic creature. It was enough to confuse me, and I think I took a step back myself. She was still clearly scared but putting on a false sense of courage as she faced me.


    "Where is your insignia? What model are you?" She spoke firmly but avoided making direct eye contact.


    "Well, err..." How exactly do I answer that? It seemed to be trying to entertain a false hypothesis. I could tell by her shaking hands and unwillingness to look directly at me that she didn''t believe I would give her the answer she wanted. I guess I would just tell her who I was.


    "Hello, my name is Ren. I''m a human from below the mountain." Was my voice shaky? I don''t know why it would be. She gave me a curious look. It was a face that appeared like she couldn''t comprehend what I had just said. It looked wrong for an expression like that to be on a face that was clearly manufactured in order to look perfect. I don''t think I said anything too out of the ordinary.


    "Human, but you are not human," she spoke back to me while slightly tilting her head. Her eyes still avoided looking at me. I couldn''t really blame it. I wasn''t looking at it either. What did she mean?


    "I am clearly human." I didn''t mean to say that out loud, but it slipped out.


    "No, the only humans are living up here on the mountain, where it is safe. There is no way a human could survive outside of Hauteur without being killed by the monsters." She said a word I didn''t know. I assume she was referring to this city. I imagine it was not considered a part of Autarkeia. More importantly, what was wrong with it? There were no humans up here as far as I knew. Could they also have ordinary people living up here as well?


    "What monsters are you talking about? The most violent thing we have to deal with is an angry stray dog or two," I responded like she would understand me. I could tell it was a mistake. It was lost in thought, repeating the word ''dog'' for a moment before snapping back to attention.


    "But the only humans live up here. We began living up here to get away from the beasts!" The redhead was beginning to speak frantically. Its breathing had become irregular. It looked around for a moment before taking a deep breath to calm down. I was starting to get the feeling that my mere presence here was more of a shock to it than I initially imagined. Do none of the freaks up here know anything about our city on the outside? No, that couldn''t be true. There was minimal trade between the two cities; not that ordinary people were ever involved. The common people of this Hauteur city must be kept in the dark. I imagine if the city were not towering above us, our city officials wouldn''t tell us about them either.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    It couldn''t possibly think it was human, but that last sentence seemed to suggest it did. It was rapidly looking in all directions, unable to figure out where it should fix its gaze. Its red hair was waving around. I guess I would ask for clarity. Surely it must mean there were other humans up here too.


    "There are humans up here too?"


    It froze, looking off to my left. It turned its head and finally looked directly at me. Her eyes were wide with confusion, or maybe it was just horror. Either way, it became clearer that she could make other expressions than the one she had been making.


    "What do you mean? I am standing right in front of you," she said with unnerving calm.


    I gritted my teeth. I think I''ve shattered everything she knew about her world. How could I explain this to her? Had she honestly been raised thinking she was a normal person?


    "No, I''m human; the people below are human. You are... something else." I tried to say it in the friendliest tone I could. Her brows still furrowed as she glared at me. The shyness she had before was gone. She was ready to argue. I was starting to appreciate the expressions on her face now that I had grown more accustomed to them.


    "No! I am human, and you must be a monster. That is it! You are a beast disguised as a human to deceive me." She spoke with passion, taking a step forward. She quickly closed the distance in between us and began to pull on my cheeks.


    "Ow, ow, what are you doing!" No question about it; she was stronger than she looked. Another effect of being artificially produced, I suppose.


    "Taking off your mask, you monster in a human''s skin."


    I slapped her hands away and took a step back. Did she think I was wearing a disguise? What the hell was wrong with her? No, I knew exactly what.


    "Monster? You''re just a test tube chimera," I snapped back. It was better when she was shyer and more distant. Now, she was just annoying. She puffed her cheeks, closed her eyes, and looked away from me.


    "I will not be fooled any longer by a creature like yourself." She turned to walk away.


    This was getting out of hand. I should just let her go, and I needed to figure out how to get out of here after all.


    "If you''re human, then what''s your name?" What was I doing? I was just adding fuel to the fire. How could I be sure she didn''t have a name anyway? She stopped and turned back to me with a smug look. That was the only way I could describe it. Puffing out her chest and standing tall, all while smirking.


    "I go by 2968442, monster," she spoke confidently and proudly. Now I felt terrible about bringing this up. Maybe I shouldn''t make the obvious response.


    "That''s not a name; that''s a number. Humans don''t go by numbers; they go by names." I couldn''t shut up today. I think I was taking out my frustration at York for getting me into this mess on her. She glared at me and walked closer, stopping an arm''s length away. Perhaps she still thought I might be able to do something to her.


    "What does it matter what I am called? You think it makes you more human because you are called Ren? What does that even mean?" I blinked. Did I tell her my name? Yes, I did when I introduced myself. I''m surprised she remembered that. I forget names as soon as I''ve been told them.


    "My parents named me Ren after someone they knew in the past. I never knew the guy, but he was supposedly my Dad''s best friend." Why was I telling her this? I had just met this creature, and here I was, acting like we were close. Did I take pity on it now that I had spoken to it?


    "Your guardians named you," the girl said softly. "Do you creatures always name each other?" Wait a minute, her expression just changed. It was almost instant. Now she looked very pensive. What was I supposed to do about this girl, creature? I took a breath before replying. She had calmed down, so I couldn''t respond as angrily as I had before. I swear I''d never met anyone as challenging to keep up with as her.


    "Yes, people give names to their children." She stood in place, frozen. She was lost in thought. I suppose she was thinking about our conversation. I guess, for her, it was a lot to take in. Still, she may be a little eccentric, but she seemed decent enough. If I had met her in town, we probably could have gotten along.


    "Well, what if you gave me a name?" It would be weird being friends with her, but it could prob... My thoughts were interrupted, and I think I jumped back.


    "Wha- what, what train of thought brought you to that?" She wanted me to name her after only knowing her for a matter of minutes. Never mind being friends. This thing was plain weird.


    "Well, you seem to think it will make me human to have a name," she spoke in an arrogant and uninterested tone. "So, if that is what it takes to convince you, I will have you select a name for me." She closed her eyes and turned her head like she was trying to avoid a bad smell. A slight curl on her lips betrayed the cold demeanor she was trying to display to me.


    "Um, well, um."


    Now she''d done it. She had put me in a tough situation. I was never good with names. I once named a spotted dog ''Spot,'' which was the naming level I was at. My mother once told me she felt sorry for her future grandkids. We had a good laugh, but I think she may have been seriously worried.


    "How about Cynthia?" I blurted out.


    "Cynthia." She spoke the name slowly as if savoring it. She turned her head to look at me. It felt like she had inched a little closer, but I couldn''t be sure. "Why that name?"


    "That''s..." Now I''ve done it. Since she was synthetic, the name just came to me. They sounded similar, after all. I couldn''t tell her that after that argument we just had, could I even call that an argument? I needed to think of a better name before she became sold on Cynthia. What are some girl names... Chloe, Catherine, Charlotte? Dammit, why can I only think of C names now?


    The redhead, whose name was about to be Cynthia, tilted her head with wide eyes. I think she was excited to hear the explanation behind her new name.


    "You there! Monster!" someone yelled to us¡ªfinally, an excuse to get out of this conversation. I was saved. I felt a hand on the back of my head, and before I realized it, I was face down on the ground. I was so relieved not to explain the name that I didn''t realize the people yelling would be trouble for me. Whoever had me on the ground twisted my right arm to lock me in place with one hand and pushed down on my head with the other. I tapped on the ground with my left arm.


    "Mercy, mercy. I give. Come on. You have me outnumbered here." I tried to plead. It felt like my arm could snap at any second. If I made one wrong move, it might. I didn''t even know if they had me outnumbered with my face firmly pressed in the grass. This grass was most undoubtedly fake. Someone stepped on my left hand to keep it from moving.


    "Stand back, citizen; this thing might harm you," a new voice farther away spoke. It seemed like there were at least two of them here. I had no chance.


    "Wait-"


    "Do not worry. We will only be sending it back to where it belongs."


    The redhead was going to say something but was cut off. I felt something, like a ring, going around each of my wrists. Both my arms and head were released, but before I could react, the rings buzzed and suddenly snapped together behind my back. The sudden twist caused my left shoulder to burn. I hope nothing severe just happened to it. So, they were handcuffs. As if to add insult to injury, the person behind me pressed my head into the ground again. Then there was an impact on my side. A kick? I have no idea. It was lighter than I would have thought. Only hard enough to sting a little. They were either holding back not to do too much harm, or they might be weaker than I had thought. It was probably the former.


    "Filthy beast. We do not know how you got here, but we will not allow you to stay."


    With that statement, I was pulled up off the ground. My arms were being held from behind. I looked around. The redhead was gone. They must have taken her elsewhere. One of them walked in front of me and bent over to look at me in the eyes, another human creature with markings on its face. It was bald with a marking that went up to its scalp. It did not seem very friendly. Another was still holding my arms behind me. The one in front of me delivered a punch to my stomach. It held back; I could tell since Andrew always held back the same way. In this case, it probably had to not kill me. I gasped for air. A blow like that probably should have knocked me unconscious, but I could tell from its twisted grin that it had only wanted to make it hurt.


    A silver bird flew in from the sky above and landed on the ground. It was my first time seeing one up close. I had seen plenty fly over town before, but up close, they were something else. It was larger than I thought and looked nothing like a bird from up close. Instead, it looked like a seamless reflective shell in the shape of an arrowhead. The side seemed to crack and broke apart into the form of a door. It slid open, and another human-looking creature stepped out. Its face appeared to be locked in a permanent sneer. Like the last, it did not have any hair, and the markings on his face stretched up to his scalp. The markings were similar, but I noticed a star shape under its left eye that wasn''t on the other. Without saying anything, it walked up to me, the sneer never leaving its face. It would have normally pissed me off, but right now, I didn''t have time to think like that. Nor would it be in my interest to be thinking like that. When it reached me, I had to look up. It stood at least three heads taller than I was. I felt something press into my stomach. I tried to look down, but everything went dark..."Filthy beast." I thought I heard but no longer could tell.

 Chapter 4

    AL.I.C.E-2968442


    After they had taken the boy called Ren away, they took me to a facility where I was to be treated. The first thing they did was have me strip and walk into a room where jets of water sprayed from every angle. After I was dried, I was taken to a therapist who asked me a couple of questions and reassured me the beast had been brought back to its natural habitat when I inquired about him. They did not seem to want to explain precisely what was outside the city. I did not bother pushing. They would probably require me to have more sessions if I did.


    I was surprised to see that my counselor was an outdated BE.T.SY model, as I thought they had all been taken out of service. After my session, she prescribed me a relaxant medication with the rare chocolate flavor. It was a sweet flavor that most people seemed to like, so I gladly took it. I ate my sweet treat as I was being escorted out of the facility. Typical of chocolate, it was an intense, tangy flavor with a metallic aftertaste. I would not mind meeting more like Ren if it meant getting more chocolate like this. Still, I am glad the guards only arrived toward the end of our meeting.


    I had let myself get out of hand back there. I honestly have no idea what got into me. The relaxant was starting to take effect, so I could finally think clearly about what had just happened. I entered the lobby where my guardians were both waiting and when they saw me, they quickly ran over and wrapped their arms around me.


    "2968442, I am so glad you''re safe," they said in almost perfect unison. The personnel that had walked me out made a slight coughing noise, which prompted the two to let go and take a couple of steps back.


    "Did it hurt you?"


    "I cannot believe it even got in, filthy animal."


    "Are you okay? The emotional trauma must be severe?"


    "What are they even doing letting something like that get in."


    "Do you need any medicine? You did not get a disease, did you?"


    "It did not touch you, did it?" They showered me with questions and comments simultaneously, and I could barely tell what each was saying.


    "Calm down, it is okay," I said while closing my eyes, tilting my head, and forcing a small smile. When I opened my eyes, it seemed like it had satisfied them. They took me home without another word. My guardians would have to leave to go back to their duties after dropping me off. 47628475 left immediately to return to her duties, but Nanana walked with me to my room.


    "Are you sure you are okay? Those creatures are supposed to be dangerous out there."


    "Nanana, I''m okay."


    She nodded and left without saying anything else. The door slid shut behind her. I leaned back against the nearest wall. I heard the front door slide open and closed as she left. I did not have to go to school for the rest of the week to reduce stress.


    "Cynthia," I said aloud. My back began to slide down the wall, and before I knew it, I was sitting on the ground. I had asked him for a name, why did I do that? What was I doing? What was I thinking?


    The boy called Ren had seemed to vehemently believe a human should have a name. He seemed to vehemently believe he was human too. Why wasn''t my model number good enough for him? Why was Cynthia any better as a name? Why did I go along with that?


    I shifted so that I could push myself off the ground. I did not want to think about this any longer. He claimed he was human, but how could I believe him. I was the human, after all! I found myself walking out of my room to the couch and lying down on it. I was not sure what I was doing at this point. "Cynthia, I guess that is my name," I said aloud while drifting off.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    I immediately sat up. Wait a minute. When did I decide to go along and accept this? What right does he have to name me in the first place? What need do I have for a name? We do not need any ''names'' here. I stood up and put my hands on my hips. Was I arguing with someone who was not here? It did not matter. I began pacing around the room. I mean, even Nanana-


    I froze in place. Nanana was a sort of name, was it not? Even 442 and 443 could act like names of sorts. Were these names? Was he right? I began to shake my head furiously, and my long hair flowed around with it. I pushed it back out of my face, making sure my insignia was uncovered. A beep caught my attention, and I walked over to a screen that had come out of the wall. It had a long message from 443 checking to see if I was okay. I imagine word got out at the school, and she was able to figure out I was involved. I typed a quick reply to reassure her that I was okay and turned back around.


    I sighed. He did not seem like the monster everyone thought he was. Now that I think about it, no monster would make that stupid grin he made when he was looking around. No matter. I will not see him again, so I do not need to worry. He was kicked out and will not come back. I walked back over to the couch and laid back down. I would call 443 later to tell her about it. I wonder what his world is like. He seemed dirty. Do they not clean themselves there? I wonder where he got those clothes from as well? They were dull but appeared to be made out of different materials.


    "Ahh!" I screamed while sitting up. Why am I still thinking about this? I stood up and walked to the door. There was no reason for me to stay in the house. I was not told I had to stay home either. I would go for a walk. It might help clear my mind. As I exited the building, I took a breath of the fresh air. The streets were void of people; everyone had their assignments until the end of the day, so it was quiet.


    I wandered for a considerable amount of time. Down street after street with no regard to the direction. Somehow I found myself in the park where I met Ren. It was not my intent to come here, but this is where I ended up. I am surprised that it is so empty. I would have thought they would have had some of the guards here to investigate. Maybe they had already. It had been several hours since I met him. I sat down on a bench and looked over at the bush he had climbed over. Why had he not just gone under anyway? Is he just stupid?


    I stood up and walked over to the bush. There was enough give in the branches to crawl under. I bent down and looked under. I could see where I would be able to push through to get to the other side. Then I immediately stood back up and took a few steps away. What was I doing? I did not want to go out there. He is a monster, one of many that were waiting on the other side.


    Still, I found myself looking under the bush again. There was enough room for me to squeeze under. Before I knew it, I had crawled under the bush. When I stood up, I looked to make sure my clothes were not dirty. They were still the same pure white they had always been. I looked around at the scene. There was not much to see. I was in a narrow space between the bush and a large wall. Even though I knew the wall and bush were circular, they were large enough that, from here, it appeared to be a straight hallway. Something caught my eye down the formed, narrow pathway.


    I moved carefully in the tight space toward an opening in the ground. A hatch in the floor had been left flipped onto its side. It revealed an open hole with a ladder going down to be swallowed by darkness. I suppose this is where he came up from, but it was relatively small. It must have been difficult for him to slip through. I bent down on my hands and knees and tried to see below. What was I even doing? I should be heading back to report this. I leaned closer to the hole. It was too dark to see. Should I go down? No, that would be a bad idea. I tried to push myself back up, but my hand slipped instead. I felt myself fall headfirst in the hole. My legs got caught at the opening for a moment, but with nowhere to catch, I helplessly plummeted downward.


    I was in freefall. Falling with my head about to hit the ground first. I quickly managed to flip myself over midair, so my feet were facing the ground rather than my head. I am not sure how much better it will be when I hit. The ladder should be somewhere around, but trying to grab it now would be a bad idea. My arm would likely be damaged from the twisting it would experience. Before I could come up with a plan of what to do, I suddenly felt myself hit a smooth surface. It was steep so as not to stop me from falling but allowed me to start sliding on it. I felt the surface begin to twist, and I hit some solid surface that kept sliding down it. It seemed like it was gradually getting less steep. I would probably stop at some point, but where, I did not know.

 Chapter 5

    Ren Young


    I opened my eyes. I was lying on my back and staring at the sky. Or at least I would be if the dark shadows of people''s heads weren''t hovering above me. They were all muttering something, but my head was still spinning, so I didn''t pay them any mind. I pushed myself off the ground and stood up. I stumbled a bit before I found my footing. The crowd had grown silent as I stood up. They all just stared curiously at me.


    "Okay, okay. The show''s over, folks." I knew that voice. It was York. He scurried through the crowd, which was beginning to break up. When he reached me, he slapped me hard in the back. "Man, that was impressive. I never expected you to come back in one of those silver birds. So, what did you find up there?"


    "Absolutely nothing." I began to walk away. York followed closely behind me. What was he even doing here? I imagine he got tired of waiting for me and left the alleyway, and I suppose if he heard about a silver bird landing in town, he could guess I was involved somehow. I imagine he scurried over as fast as possible.


    "Come on, man, you were in the city of gods and freaks. You have to have found something."


    "Leave me alone, York. I''m going to go to sleep."


    "You''re tired! You were passed out for hours, and you want to sleep more? Man, stop trying to keep it all for yourself. What did you find?" He was already way past the point of annoying me.


    "That the locals were a tiny bit unfriendly." I was too tired for this. I don''t think I hid that in my voice. York backed off as I turned the corner. I think he said one last thing to me, but I had ceased caring.


    I stopped in a fountain area; I had no idea where in the city I was. I recognized no one, so I assume they dropped me off on the other side of the mountain. I turned to look at the mountain. It had no visual indicators to show what side I was on. I would have to wander at this rate. That meant it would likely take a couple of hours until I got home. I sat down and leaned back on the stone fountain''s base. I felt myself drift.


    When I woke up, it was already morning. I quickly stood up and looked around. The passersby gave me a funny look but kept going about their business. I sighed and began to walk. I wasn''t sure which way would take me home. Since Autarkeia was a circle around the mountain, I would end up there sooner or later., So I wasn''t concerned with whichever direction I went. I walked towards the mountain. I wanted to get a little closer before going around since the zones were smaller up close to it. It would at least take less time to walk until I saw something familiar. However, I would likely not see the shadow cast by the mountain this close. It seemed like it was roughly 10:00, so if I saw the shadow, I would know what zone I was in. Once I was satisfied by how close I was to the mountain, I began my walk around it. Hopefully, I would get home soon.


    Now that I was on the move, I had nothing better to do than think about what had happened. I sighed. I guess I should be happy she didn''t hit me in the back of the head along with the others. After the argument we had, I wouldn''t have been surprised if she did. I did tell her she wasn''t a human, after all. I guess I shouldn''t be too hard on her. Andrew always told me sad stories about the beings that lived up there.


    Who am I kidding? Do all of them think they are human up there, or was it just her? She seemed pretty convinced that I was some creature that lurked up there from who knows where. I swear I thought some of the people down here were crazy, but she might be the craziest person I''ve seen. I suppose when you''re manufactured, you might end up being a little weird.


    I shook my head. That''s right. She was not the craziest person I''d met. It is not a person, not really. That was what we were always told, and no matter how human she looked on the outside, she was manufactured to look that way. Nothing more than a failed science experiment.  Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    No matter. I''m wasting time thinking about all of this for no reason. I''ll never see her again. I certainly have no intention of going back up there, especially if more crazy redheads are running around.


    "Oh, Ren." I felt my shoulders drop and my head go down. I knew that voice. It was Andrew. I seemed to be on the other side of town, and I managed to run into him. How much did he get around in a day? Was it just my luck? It seemed like I was meeting with everyone I didn''t want to meet with right now between him and York. I couldn''t have him talking to me when people still might be talking about the strange guy who was dropped off by a silver bird. That was probably what brought him this way in the first place. "I''m glad I found you." He had walked up to me and matched my pace. "We would like to do the reading lesson tomorrow if possible."


    "Oh, sure. Yeah, I can do that." I was surprised by his statement. I had forgotten all about helping the children learn to read. I thought for sure he would say something about the silver bird in some roundabout way that suggested he didn''t know as much as he was letting on. He was like that. Most people thought he was stupid until they got to know him well enough. Then they just started to avoid him.


    "Oh good. I''m surprised to see you in this part of the city. Did you come to see the silver bird that was here earlier?" Damn, there it was. Well, I might as well play along for now.


    "Oh, there was a silver bird? I just got lost when I was on a walk earlier. I felt like exploring some unfamiliar places for some reason," I said to him with a smile, and my eyes closed.


    "Oh, I''m sorry to hear you missed it. You always had such an interest with the gods on the mountain."


    "Should a priest be calling them gods?"


    "Oh, would you rather I call them freaks? Or maybe just humans?"


    I sped up my pace a little so he couldn''t see my face.


    "What was that?"


    "Oh, just a funny thought I had. Anyway, I''ll be teaching in the courtyard next to the VII market tomorrow. We''ll be starting right around 8:00, so don''t be late." With that, Andrew left with a smile. He sped up his pace and went ahead of me. I stopped walking and leaned back against the wall. He never told me if I was heading in the right direction. Knowing him, I was going the long way around, and he just decided not to tell me. I sighed. I guess I would keep heading in the same direction. It was noisier that way, so I was at least heading to a more populous area.


    I kept walking in the arbitrary direction I chose. I could make out some buildings. I was most likely in the VIII zone of the town. I had been here before but not for a while. I was not too far from home after all. I suppose I should have suspected. Supposedly the zones on the other side of the mountain were more rural than city. As I got older, I was unable to make time to explore around the town properly. They say the more rural zones have entire fields of crops and animals, not that I had ever gone over there to see them. The crowds of people around me seemed to be getting angrier and mob-like as I kept walking.


    "Where is it?" I heard a man shout. He and a crowd of people were looking around carrying stones. What part of town did I just enter? I thought I knew where I was, but this seemed bizarre. I turned away for a moment and started to walk away when I realized the man was yelling at someone. Someone scarred and bald that I knew. I turned back around and saw that Andrew was the one who had been stopped by the crowd. He was pointing in the direction opposite to where I was headed. The group seemed satisfied and ran off in that direction, pulling Andrew with them. It must be serious if they felt they needed him to come along. Usually, people didn''t pay him much mind, but they would drag him along when they thought they needed a priest around.


    I was already headed in the opposite direction, but that whole display cemented my direction. I wonder if he had seen me while I passed. Either way, I knew which way I was going now. I quickly headed down a side alley where I figured no one would be. I was confident I could weave through the back and get home. I wanted to avoid being seen as long as people could be talking about the silver bird.


    Someone, however, was waiting in the alley. A girl was sitting behind a trash can in a fetal position. She was wearing a blue jacket and had bright red hair. When she heard me, she jumped in her spot and covered her head with her arms. After a minute of nothing happening, she turned to look at me with red, wet eyes that were the color of a clear blue sky. Her face showed terror, then relief for a moment, before she became scared again. "Ren?" her voice quivered my name. I sighed. When did I end up so unlucky?

 Chapter 6

    AL.I.C.E-2968442(Cynthia)


    The entire makeup of the mountain appeared to have been a city built on a city built on a city. If it were not so dark and difficult to navigate, I would not have minded exploring more. I had spent enough time unconscious after coming to a crash on the ground, and I had no way of knowing how long I had been here. I had managed to find an assortment of things, books, tools, and clothes. I found a jacket among some of the clothes and decided to put it on since the air was cold. I did not know the color, but I thought it would help blend in with the monsters, if possible. At the very least, they did not wear our standard uniforms, if Ren was any indication. Still, my objective was to see the place Ren came from for myself. I had already come this far. I might as well go all the way.


    When I found the exit to the lowest city, a small hole about my height that I had to slide through sideways, I was greeted by another wall creating a narrow space. It looked like a smooth wall that went parallel to the mountain for a while before merging with the mountain. There was no way to go under or around the wall, or at least not one I could see. I pushed my right hand and leg against the side of the wall and my left against the mountain. I inched my way up to the top of the wall. This felt dangerous, but what else could I do to get over it. When I reached the top, I pushed forcefully with my left leg and arm to find myself on top of the wall. It was thick, so I had plenty of room to stand on.


    On the other side of the wall were the backs of buildings. They were small and dirty and appeared to be mismatched with no attempt at aesthetic unity. Maybe this was not a good idea. The beings that lived here were probably disgusting. Ren might just be an outlier from the rest, after all. I looked up at the sky. It was blue, but the color was somewhat lacking from what it was like at home. White puffs of smoke seemed to fly high up in it, in an assortment of shapes. I should probably turn back. Still, I wanted to know what world someone like him could come from. I had come this far. Carefully I hung my legs over the wall. I had maybe a 6-meter drop. It should not hurt. Even a beauty model like myself was made to be fairly robust; that much was proven when I navigated inside the mountain. Still, I hesitated.


    I finally got over whatever odd sensation was stopping me and leaped off. My feet hit the ground first, but instead of stopping there, they slipped, and I kept going until my behind hit the ground, then my head. I laid on my back and stared at the odd sky. Perhaps I should not have thought about how stupid he looked when he fell from the bush. It did not hurt physically, but I feel like I had this coming.


    The sounds of people in the distance convinced me to get up. For a second, I thought they were walking toward me, but their voices never grew closer. I draped the jacket over my body. It was blue, a strange bright color of blue. I put the jacket hood up and pulled it more over the right side of my face, and headed to the voices. Ren did not have any insignia, so it would be unlikely that the others would either. The space between the buildings emptied onto what I assume was the main street.


    There were people everywhere if I can assume they were people. All over, they walked in every direction, barely managing not to run into each other. Some would talk to each other as they walked along. Others would stop and talk when they saw each other, and some still walked without acknowledging their surroundings. I saw a green area where children were kicking around a black and white sphere in the distance. What were they doing? Why was no one bothering to teach them anything?


    What made everything even more overwhelming was the non-uniformity in any of their faces. Each had a distinct look to them. Different hair, different nose, different eyes, everything was different. It was as if no two looked alike. I began to walk into the crowd of moving people. They seemed to pay no mind to me as I navigated through them. I walked closer to the children who were kicking around the sphere. One kicked it hard and fell on his back. The sphere rolled over to me and stopped.


    "Lady, throw our ball back!" A kid yelled to me, paying no mind to the one who fell on his back. I picked up what I assume was the ball and tossed it to them with a smile. It was a good enough throw, and the ball bounced off the child''s chest. He did not bother trying to catch it. All the children had stopped and were staring at me. Why?Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Then I realized¡ªmy face. I had let my guard down. One of the children ran over to an adult woman like creature, who had been sitting in the shadows watching them. He was looking back and forth between her and me and pointing in my direction. I turned and began to walk away.


    "Chimera!" a woman''s voice shrieked. The busy crowd halted. In an instant, they all seemed to stop suddenly. The people in front of me locked on and stared at me, and it felt like knives were stabbing me in the back. They all started to back up and mutter to themselves. I could not make out what they were saying.


    We stood there for a moment. I was not sure what to do. They were not sure what to do. Should I try to say something? I opened my mouth, but before I could get words out, something hit me in the back of the head. I felt some discomfort and put my hand there as I turned to look. There was a rock at my feet, and a man stood frozen in a throwing position. He looked like he was contemplating what had happened. Clenching his fist, he began to yell,


    "Freak, go back to your mountain! Leave us alone!"


    Some of the adults began to place themselves between the children and me. Another rock came from the crowd. Then another. The discomfort was growing more intense. I could not tell if it was pain or something else that caused me to feel it. I started to run. The part of the crowd that I was running toward flinched for a minute then started to throw even more rocks at me. A rock hit me in the face as I began to jump. I leaped over the crowd, just barely avoiding hitting anyone. My feet barely scrapped over their heads.


    When I landed, I lost my footing and rolled on the ground. I put my hand to my face where the rock had hit me. It was beginning to hurt. It hurt, but it should not. The crowd started to throw more stones at me as I laid on the ground. I put my arms over my head. I was not sure why. It just felt right to do given the situation. I felt water start coming out of my eyes. There was something wrong with me. They were yelling all sorts of words I was unfamiliar with as they started to surround me. They did not let up as more seemingly joined in while throwing stones.


    I managed to push up off the ground and break out in a sprint. The crowd I charged at stumbled back at my sudden burst. I was able to push through and clear the crowd before they could surround me again. My hood was down, and every new face I passed while running would stop and look with horror. Behind me, there were shouts from the crowd that chased after me.


    "Get that chimera."


    "Kill it!"


    "What does it want?"


    I could only make out short parts of what they were saying, but their anger was apparent. I was able to outpace them and turn onto an empty street. I turned quickly and ran through an opening between two buildings. There should be fewer people in between the buildings, and there were enough turns. I grew the distance between us until finally, I fell to my knees. I had no idea where I was. I was hurting where the rock had hit me, and my eyes were full of water and would not stop. What was I even doing? What did I even want to accomplish?


    "Oh child, are you okay?" a voice spoke out from in front of me.


    I immediately tried to leap back but instead found myself rolling on the ground like some mad animal. I scurried on my hands and knees behind a metal can that sat off to the side. I put my legs in front of my body defensively and kept my head down. It was only a matter of time before this new person attacked me.


    The person who spoke to me kneeled and looked at my face. He was an ugly, bald man with half of his round face scarred. He wore all black except for a metal letter ''t'' on a necklace. I did not know what to do, so I just buried my face into my legs. I felt him put his hand on my head for a moment. He grabbed some cloth and wiped off the dirt that was on my forehead. I looked up. I should run before he told them where I was, and they all came back to attack me again, but I could barely see with my eyes so full of water. What was wrong with me? The person, no... one of the creatures, wiped off the rest of my face, insignia, and all. Then he gently placed his hand on top of my hand while standing up.


    "At the very least, they did not break the skin," he started to say, "I suppose that is more convenient to justify their anger," now he muttered something. "Please wait here." Then he turned and walked in the direction I had come from.


    It seemed like an eternity while I sat there. Finally, I heard footsteps. It was only a single person. I looked up and prepared to run. I did not expect to see his face. He stared at me with the same stupid look as he had when we first met. I was safe. Or was I? Now I was in his world. What would keep him from attacking me as the others did?


    "Ren?" I said. It was the most I could choke out.

 Chapter 7

    Ren Young


    This girl was going to be nothing but trouble. If I had known how much, I never would have climbed up to that city. Somehow, we weren''t seen as I led her through the back alleys until I was familiar enough to get home. It took the rest of the day and the night, but we finally made it. I was not sure how many mornings it had been since I originally left. My parents would both be out at this hour, so I knew we would be okay there. She was quiet the whole way and kept her head down. My guess was the mob I saw was after her. Honestly, I don''t know why I was even helping her. I should probably have been throwing rocks at her too. If I hadn''t met her earlier, I might have. The thought kind of disturbed me.


    When we got into the house, I pointed to the couch and said,


    "Sit there; I''ll go get some makeup and clothes."


    "Makeup?" She gave me a confused look.


    I left her in the room and went to look for makeup. It was a good thing my mother and her had a similar skin tone. It was also a good thing my mother didn''t wear makeup often, as she would notice some missing otherwise. It took longer to find the makeup than I thought it would. It ended up being in a box labeled ''kitchen'' in a box labeled ''office'' that was in a hallway closet. Neither labeled box contained items that would go in the rooms indicated. Honestly, if my family were better organized, I wouldn''t have even bothered looking in wrongly labeled boxes for it. I would have just gone to wherever it was supposed to be kept. I guess this made it less likely my mother would notice it was missing.


    The clothes were easy to find. I pulled a set out of the back of the same closet; my mother hardly wore these, so she shouldn''t notice if they were missing. When I came back, the redhead was still standing in the middle of the room. What exactly should I call her? She had some string of numbers she went by, but I didn''t remember them. I couldn''t call her by the name I gave her. I doubt she decided she liked it after giving it some thought. Even if she did like it, the encounter she just had would have probably changed her mind.


    "You didn''t want to sit?" I asked as I opened the makeup.


    "Your couch is dirty," she said with a concerned look.


    "Hey, actually, it''s pretty clean, all things considered."


    I don''t know why I felt the need to defend my couch''s cleanliness, but I did anyway. Considering how nice her town looked, I imagine she had higher standards of cleanliness. I put some makeup on a brush. "Close your eyes. I''m going to cover your tattoo." She looked at me like I had kicked a puppy. After a quick moment, her expression softened, and then she closed her eyes. I began to cover the tattoo. I was no expert in this, but no one would be able to notice, at least. All I had to do was make it look smooth. Any marks that remained showing could be explained away as moles or a birthmark if need be.


    "Do you hate me?" she asked me while I was applying the makeup.


    "If I hated you, I wouldn''t bother with all of this." I guess that was an honest enough answer. I had no idea what to do with her. It was quite a moment before she responded again.


    "They threw rocks at me."


    "I figured."


    "Why?"


    "Why did your guys kick me in the back of the head?" I think that''s what they did. What happened to me is all hazy now. All I know is they certainly made sure I felt like they did. She stayed quiet after my question. When I finished applying the makeup, I picked up a mirror and handed it to her. She took it and looked at her reflection. Her eyes widened, and she reached to touch her face. "Hey, don''t touch it; you''ll smear it!" She put her hand down.


    I handed her the clothes to change into and left the room. It occurred to me I should have had her change before applying the makeup. I hadn''t planned well enough in that regard. When she yelled that she was finished, I entered the room again. I hadn''t picked out anything extravagant for her, a long black skirt and a faded, green ruffled blouse. She looked reasonably good in them. I suppose that might have been a part of how she was designed. I grabbed her old clothes and took them to my room. I hid them under my bed, not the best hiding spot, but it should work. Then I returned to the living room where she had finally sat down on the couch. She didn''t ask why I took her clothes. I assumed she understood I went to hide them.


    I exhaustedly sat down on the couch. It had been a long walk to get home, and I was tired. I wanted to sleep, but I had to go out again to meet with Andrew. It would be about time once I walked over there. I couldn''t skip out on him this time either. Not when I was helping teach. I stood back up.


    "I''m going to be gone for a little bit-" she shot up and walked over to me before I could finish speaking.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    "I will go with you," she said rather quickly. I was surprised. I had expected that she would want to stay away from everyone. Maybe she felt confident now that her tattoo was covered. I don''t know if she should feel so optimistic about it, though. Still, I gave in... We left the house and walked to the market. She was still scared, at first, and held onto my arm as we passed people. After the first few people, she became more confident and started to look at everything that we passed seriously.


    "Ren, what is that?" she asked.


    "A billboard for the restaurant." I had a feeling I knew where this was going.


    "Oh, what is a restaurant? Oh, what is that?" Exactly like I thought.


    "Kids playing baseball?"


    "Oh, what is baseball? Wait, what is that?" She kept asking me questions the whole way. By the time we reached the market, she had to have known everything about this part of town. I hoped she did. Otherwise, she would keep asking questions. We walked into the market. As usual, many shops lined the inside of the courtyard with brightly colored tarps covering the tops. Around the square were additional buildings that each housed small shops of their own. People walked in every direction, stopping at places to shop. We ended up arriving earlier than we needed, so I figured we would walk over to the Stoneware''s shop. It was one of the few shops on the outside of the courtyard that had some AC. We walked in, and Mrs. Stoneware greeted us.


    "Oh, Ren, hello ho- Oh my, who is the beautiful young lady you have with you? Dear, come quick, Ren brought a girl with him!" Mr. Stoneware came running out.


    "Oh my, I never thought I would see the day!" Was this such a big deal for them? The redhead was oblivious to the Stoneware''s comments. She was staring at their goods. The Stoneware''s owned a bakery, and, as usual, they had an assortment of cakes and other goods out for shoppers to see. She looked like she had never seen a cake before. Mrs. Stoneware walked up to her and grabbed her hand, and started shaking it excitedly.


    "How do you do? You can call me Mrs. Stoneware. It''s a pleasure to meet you. What''s your name?" She eagerly greeted her.


    I should have probably explained our relationship to the redhead, but it was already too late for that now. Most important was how she was going to introduce herself. We had not come up with a plan in advance, and I couldn''t have her rattle off a string of numbers again. I opened my mouth to say something but was interrupted.


    "Uh, Cynthia." She surprised me with her response. I didn''t think that name would have stuck or that she would have answered so readily with it when asked.


    "Oh, Cynthia. A beautiful name for a beautiful maiden." Now Mr. Stoneware was chiming in. Was he trying to sweet-talk her? He never changed. Get people happy, and they buy cakes. That''s what he always told me whenever I worked at the shop.


    "Cynthia dear, ignore that husband of mine. Anyway, I don''t know if Ren told you much about us, but I''m like a second mother to him."


    "Second mother?"


    "Yes, and as his second parents, we''ll tell you everything you need to know about handling him." Mr. Stoneware was chiming in again.


    "Handling him?" She was clearly confused. Maybe I should have had her wait outside. This might not end well if we weren''t careful.


    "Oh, I know, Cynthia dear, I''ll give you a free cupcake. Then we''ll let you two be on your way." Mrs. Stoneware was already around the counter and wrapping up a cupcake for Cynthia.


    "Cupcake?"


    "Oh, dear, can''t we have them stay a while longer? They might buy something." Mr. Stoneware said. Honestly, it was a good thing they were off in their own little world; otherwise, they would notice how confused she was by basic things.


    "No dear," Mrs. Stoneware said sharply, "We''re interrupting a date."


    Mr. Stoneware didn''t say anything else but instead handed the cupcake to Cynthia and pushed us out the door.


    "You kids have fun!" they said in unison as the door closed.


    "Date?" Cynthia was still confused about what just happened.


    "Just go ahead and eat the cupcake." I didn''t have the energy to explain what just happened.


    "This is food?" she asked surprisingly as she pulled on the decorative liner that wrapped the cake. She looked at with wide eyes as the liner fell off with ease. It didn''t look like anything too grand, just a simple chocolate cake with a couple of colors to decorate the frosting.


    She hesitatingly took a bite out of the cupcake. She stopped chewing for a second and stared at the cupcake a moment before swallowing it. A smile lit up her face, and she scoffed the rest of the cupcake down in seconds. I handed her a handkerchief.


    "You have some crumbs on your face." Her face glowed as bright red as her hair. She took the handkerchief and looked away to wipe her face. She was careful when wiping the right side. At least I didn''t have to worry about her revealing herself in a dumb way.


    "What was that- that taste?" She was still enamored by the cupcake. I suppose I would be, too, if it were the first time I''d had one.


    "It looked chocolate flavored."


    "Chocolate." She seemed to stare off into space and ponder the word for a minute. I guess she didn''t know what chocolate was. I had no idea what they normally ate up there. Still, I hoped she wouldn''t ask me to explain chocolate. I had no idea how to describe a flavor. I guess if she wanted to know, I could take her where they grow the cocoa. I had never been myself, so it wouldn''t be a bad idea.


    I looked over to a pedestal with a model of the town sitting on it. It served as a town map and a way to tell the time. I could see the shadow cast from the mountain moving away from the zone, much like what happened with our actual town. It was about time to meet with Andrew. We would have to discuss the chocolate later if she was still curious. "Come on, Cynthia, let''s go."


    I began to walk away, but she stood in place for a moment. "You okay?"


    She seemed to be reacting to something. Her body was slightly shaking. She had no idea what the cupcake was. Did it have too much sugar? Was she even used to sugar? She seemed like she had just consumed some kind of drug. She smiled and took a deep breath. She began to walk over to me


    "I am alright. Where are we going to next?"


    I could make out the back of Andrew''s bald head in the distance, even amongst the large crowd. All we had to do was go in that direction. I wasn''t sure if that was a good idea. She would get lost in a crowd like this. That would be a problem. Even disguised, I didn''t want to leave her alone to wander the town. Taking her hand, I started to lead her through the crowd.

 Chapter 8

    AL.I.C.E-2968442/ Cynthia


    Wha- Wha- He grabbed my hand as he began to walk to his destination. What was he even doing? More importantly, was that the first time he called me by my name since I came here? Why was this so shocking in the first place? Why did I even care if he called me by the name he came up with? Why could I not stop thinking about all this weird stuff? We plunged into and weaved through the crowd until we reached an open space where kids were running around. There was a bald man who I recognized immediately.


    I felt my breathing grow heavier. There was no mistaking that burned face and letter ''t'' necklace. Would he recognize me, even with my insignia covered? Surely he got a good enough look at my face in that alley.


    "Hey Andrew, I''m not late, am I?" Ren asked the man as he let go of my hand. He walked up to the man and grabbed to start shaking it. The bald man named Andrew smiled.


    "For once, you are not late, Ren."


    "Hey-" Ren started to say something, but Andrew interrupted him.


    "Now, who is your friend here?" Andrew asked, gesturing to me. Ren''s eyes frantically looked around for a moment before answering.


    "This is Cynthia, uh, we met recently, but you wouldn''t know her," Ren said, stumbling on his words.


    "Oh, Cynthia, is it?" Andrew walked up to me and held out his hand. I was avoiding looking directly at his face. He must be expecting me to shake his hand like Ren did, "A pleasure to meet you." I put my hand up to his and awkwardly imitated what I saw the two of them doing earlier. The Stoneware lady did this earlier as well. Do they just grab each other''s hands all the time here? Andrew turned to Ren, "I''ll gather the children, go sit on those benches over there."


    He pointed to some trunks of wood that had been chopped in half and lain on the ground in the shape of a circle. Those were the benches, and was that wood? From a real tree? Why would they cut a tree down for a bench?


    We were the first to sit down. I sat next to Ren on one of the benches. I was not sure what we were doing here, but Andrew was yelling to the children. He gestured to the circle we were sitting in.


    "Children, please go sit by Ren." The children looked at Andrew and screamed as they ran over to huddle close to us. Andrew''s face seemly never betrayed his calm demeanor, but for a short moment, he looked dejected.


    "Okay, guys," Ren was speaking to the children who were all sitting uncomfortably close on the same bench as us, "He won''t bite. Sit on the other benches. The children spread out onto other benches while Andrew was walking over. They filled each bench, leaving one for the burned bald man to sit on alone. Once the children had all spread out, I noticed two looked exactly alike.


    "Ren, Ren," I whispered to him, "Those two girls look identical."


    "They''re twins."


    "Twins?"


    "When two kids are born at the same time..."


    "Born?"


    "Uh..., I''ll have to explain that one later." Ren looked down when he spoke. Had I said something wrong?


    "Hey, lady," one of the kids spoke to me as Andrew sat down. It was a young boy, maybe nine or ten years old. "You''re really pretty."


    "Yeah, she''s really pretty," another boy chimed in.


    "When I grow up, I want to be as beautiful as you," now a girl was chiming in.


    "I''m going to marry you someday," the first boy said.


    "No, she''s going to be my wife," another boy chimed in.


    "Stop it; she''s Ren''s wife."


    The children began to discuss me. I had no idea what they were talking about. I looked to Ren, who was still looking down with a frown. What were these kids talking about? Wife? Marry? I was unfamiliar with the words. What did they think my relation to Ren was? I turned to look at Ren. He had turned away and was holding his hand on his forehead. Their conversation was interrupted by Andrew.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    "Now, children, it is time for the lesson." They all became quiet. Andrew gave a sad sigh. He pulled out a stack of paper from under his black jacket. "Take one and pass it to the next person, Aleisha." He handed the stack to the girl that sat closest to him, and she took what appeared to be a packet of paper off the top and passed it to the next. Each child did the same until it reached me. I followed suit and took my packet and handed it to Ren, who had turned to the crowd again. I looked at the object I had just received.


    I believe this is what they call a book. I know we had learned about them, and I think I saw some in the mountain, but physical print went out of date centuries ago. The title on the front said The Little Kittie. Under the title was a multitude of colors, with no mind to aesthetic appeal, separating the page covered up by a furry creature with a sharp face and pointy ears. I had no idea what this was, but I found the creature enjoyable to look at. I wanted to ask Ren, but he had already opened the book to the first page. I did the same with the kids that seemed to know what was going on more than me.


    Words in large letters were printed on each page to form short sentences. The words were my language. I guess that was Ren''s as well, considering we could understand each other when we spoke. Was he really going to read? Could Ren read? The town seemed to be devoid of letters, even on signs that Ren said were advertising something. I had assumed no one here would be able to read.


    "Grace was a little kitty," Ren said. Then he stopped to look at the kids. Each was looking intently at the page. I looked at the page myself. He had read it correctly. The page itself was a simple painting of what I assumed is the kitty called Grace. Do even creatures like this have names here?


    "One day, she was looking out of the window, and she saw three cats walking down the street." Ren had turned the page and continued reading. He paused again, waiting for the children to follow along at their own pace. Occasionally, a child would have a question about a word, and he or Andrew would help them understand. Andrew smiled as the children looked at their books. It seemed like a good idea to make it appear I was unable to read the words. I did not want Andrew or the children to suspect anything about me.


    "The cats were running around playing, and Grace thought to herself, I want to go and play with them." Ren continued reading and pausing the story.


    "So, she looked all around the house for a way to go and play with the others. She didn''t have an easy way out, so she had to go all the way up to the attic. From the attic, she leaped out on the-" A boy suddenly threw down his book.


    "Why do we even need to learn this stupid stuff?" he yelled.


    "Now, Dennis," Andrew started to say.


    "Why should I have to listen to you, old man! My parents don''t listen to you, but they expect me to! They''re so stupid!" The boy was screaming and stomping his feet. Ren groaned.


    "Dennis," Ren spoke to the boy. The boy stopped stomping to look at Ren with a nasty look, "If you can''t read, there are lots of stories you won''t understand."


    "This story is stupid, and you''re stupid!" Dennis hysterically screamed and stomped off.


    "Please continue with the children, Ren. I''ll go speak to him," Andrew said to Ren. Then he got up and followed Dennis.


    Ren continued reading the story while the children did their best to follow along. Each kid did their best to keep up with him and would ask questions. At some point, the boy who had made a scene earlier quietly returned and rejoined the group.


    The story was quite sad. The kitty, Grace, tried awfully hard to get out of her house, but once she did, the other cats only ran away.


    "Grace chased after the other cats as fast as she could, but she couldn''t catch up." Ren continued to read the story, pausing and helping the kids between each line as he did. "Finally, Grace said to herself, ''I should go home. It''s warm there.'' She looked around but realized she didn''t know where she was. She tried to get back home but only found herself in a more unfamiliar place."


    Was this the type of story these children should be hearing? It almost seemed like the story was manufactured entirely to scare them to stay in their houses. I could not understand why this was what Ren was reading to them.


    "Finally, Grace laid down in a sandbox in the park. She was tired from running around all day. Before she knew it, she was tapped by someone. It was Simon, the other kitty that lived with her in her owner''s house. He smiled at her, and she relaxed. He took her home where she was able to be happy."


    Ren finished the story with the kids. They all thanked him for reading the story to them and ran their separate ways with their books in hand. The last child to leave was the boy who had thrown a tantrum in the middle of the story. He looked at Ren then looked away. After a moment, he looked back to Ren and nodded, then ran off with his book in hand.


    Andrew smiled and slapped Ren in the back.


    "Well done, Ren."


    "Ow, that hurt. Don''t hit me so hard."


    "Oh, I barely tapped you. Now, miss Cynthia." Andrew turned to look at me. I froze for a moment. He had not said much to me earlier. I was not sure what to expect. "I hope you enjoyed the story. Maybe next time, you''ll be able to read aloud with us." I stood silently.


    "Andrew, what do you mean?" asked Ren nervously. He likely figured I could read but that it should remain a secret, or maybe he was not sure if I could read.


    "I''m saying you''ll teach her, of course," Andrew laughed. Ren laughed nervously, so I tried to laugh as well. "Stay safe, children," Andrew began to walk off but stopped and turned back, "Oh, and you should probably head home soon. I believe we are expecting heavy rain today." With that last comment, the man called Andrew disappeared into the crowd.


    "That Priest," Ren said in a low voice. I turned to look at him. He seemed hyper-focused on something now, as if what Andrew had said struck him deeply. "Come on. We should get back to my house." He grabbed my hand and quickly led me through the crowds.

 Chapter 9

    Ren Young


    Sure enough, it started to drip when we were about halfway to my house. I would need to get Cynthia inside soon before it washed away the makeup. I began to pick up my pace as the rain started to get heavier. Everyone else on the streets was heading inside for shelter. I guess it was good that Andrew decided to warn me, but I have no idea how he knew who Cynthia was. She was able to keep up with me as I dragged her behind me. I suppose I shouldn''t be surprised, and then she suddenly pulled her hand free.


    "Ren!" Cynthia''s voice rang out excitedly from behind me.


    I turned around to see her staring up in the sky excitedly. She was pointing with the hand she had just pulled free. "There is water falling from the- ah, it got in my eye!" She began to rub her eye frantically.


    "It''s okay, it''s just rain," I assured her. The rain quickly began to intensify. Cynthia looked up with a broad smile. She started to run around in a circle laughing.


    "It''s falling from the sky!"


    I was glad that everyone had already gone to find shelter. She ran in circles like a child for a moment until she stopped and looked at me.


    "You don''t seem excited?" she asked me.


    "It''s just rain. It is pretty normal around here." She looked up and stared at the sky for a moment.


    "Normal." The makeup was starting to run off her face as the rain was coming down harder now.


    "Come on; we need to get inside before your makeup washes away." I started to walk away. Cynthia, with a shocked expression, reached up to where the makeup was on her face. Which naturally made it worse. It was certainly not waterproof.


    "It comes off that easily?"


    "Don''t touch it!" I exclaimed. She quickly moved her hand from her face to behind her back and looked away from me. "Come on," I said more quietly, "We need to get going."


    We began to walk back to my house. This time she kept up with my pace and did her best not to get distracted. At least not distracted as easily, only turning her head to look at things and not stopping us to ask about them.


    "Hey Ren," she spoke up after a moment of walking, "What is a kitty exactly?"


    "From the story?"


    "Yes, that. It seemed like it was some kind of animal."


    "Yeah, it''s pretty common for people to keep cats as pets. They''re pretty rare around here, but Andrew says there are plenty beyond the wasteland."


    "Wasteland?"


    "Oh, uh, our city circles the mountain over there," I pointed to the mountain even though it was plainly obvious what mountain I would be referring to, "and just outside our city is a desert wasteland. Supposedly beyond that is a lush forest and fields, but only Andrew is said to have been beyond the wasteland."


    "No one goes into the wasteland?"


    "It''s prone to frequent sandstorms that last days at a time. Something was made to put a barrier up to keep the sand out, and only Andrew has ever been known to come out alive."


    "How did he make it then?"


    "Don''t know. The story is that he just showed up from the wasteland one day with torn up clothes. Hard to say if it''s even true. He will never tell me anything when I ask." Cynthia looked like she wanted to talk more, but we''d reached the front door at my house. At this point, we were drenched from the rain. I reached for the handle. I hoped my parents weren''t home yet. That way, I would have time to reapply Cynthia''s makeup, which made her face look horrible at this point. I opened the door.


    "Welcome home, Ren," my mother yelled cheerfully from down the hall. There was a good chance that my father would be home too. She addressed me by name, so she knew not to assume it was him coming in the door after all. Damn. How was I going to explain this? Even if the markings on her face were not showing, I was still bringing home some girl they had never met. I would never hear the end of this.


    We walked into the house. My parents were still around the corner, so I had a minute to think of something. I just had to come up with an excuse to get Cynthia up to my room and get makeup on her before my parents saw her. I could come up with the rest of the story later. Something like, she was from a part of town far away from here and got lost exploring. Technically that wasn''t even a lie.


    "Ren, did someone come in with you?" My father was astute as any other day, only when it was inconvenient for me.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    He must have heard the extra footsteps. I still don''t know how he does it. I frantically rubbed the makeup on her face with my hands. She tightly closed her eyes and made a frown when I did. I imagine I surprised her. Reluctantly, I brought Cynthia around the corner. The makeup was smeared, but it might pass as acceptable in the right light. I could probably pass it off as a beauty mark if they pried. We would have to see. My mother came around the corner to greet me. She beamed a smile when she saw Cynthia.


    "Oh my," she turned to yell down the hallway. "Dear, Ren brought a girl home," she turned back around and looked our way. In an instant, she went from standing at the corner of the hall to being in front of Cynthia and looked right into her eyes. "It''s so nice to meet you!" Without any warning, she grabbed Cynthia''s hands and started to shake them. Cynthia stood with a confused expression. She had no idea what to think. I couldn''t blame her.


    My father poked his head around the corner. He smirked then slid back out of view. I could hear him chuckle a little. He would probably want to talk about my future family later. Damn it, Dad, you''re worse than Mom. My mother had begun to bombard Cynthia with an endless stream of words in rapid-fire succession.


    "Oh, it''s nice to meet you. What''s your name? Where did you and Ren meet? How long have you known each other? Are you staying for dinner? Are you staying the night? You seem like such a nice girl. I was starting to worry since Ren had been out for a while, but now I know it''s okay-"


    She kept going on and on. Cynthia just stood there with a confused look on her face. I had to give her credit. The last time I brought a girl around, an actual girlfriend and not a freak in disguise, my parents scared her away rather quickly. I couldn''t tell if Cynthia''s ignorance kept her from running out or she was just able to take all this in her stride. I guess it was a little of both. I have to hand it to her; not many people could keep this calm when my parents got going.


    "Dear, give the poor girl a rest." My father intervened from the other room. He said that, but he probably wanted to ask Cynthia more questions. Like, how did my son find such a pretty girl and such.


    "We should probably have dinner," I spoke up. We would get nowhere if I didn''t intervene, "Mom, you were cooking when we got here, right?" My mother suddenly spun around and ran to the kitchen. She had left something on the burner and walked away again. I sighed. I hope Cynthia likes her food on the crispy side. Cynthia stood motionless for a minute before coming back to her senses.


    "Oh, I can help make dinner," she said in an unsure tone. A bang rang from the kitchen and echoed as my mother came running back out. She grabbed Cynthia by both wrists and smiled intensely with her eyes shut.


    "You would help me, dear? You''re so wonderful." My mother was excited to get help. She dragged Cynthia into the kitchen. I think I saw a sense of regret, or perhaps a plea for help, in her eyes as she was pulled away. Whatever sparked her to offer help was now gone, replaced with a sense of dread of what was to come. I''m sorry, Cynthia. I won''t forget your sacrifice. I went into the living room and sat on the couch, next to my father. There was no helping Cynthia now. The two of us were not allowed to step into the kitchen when a meal was being cooked out of fear that it would turn out worse than simply burned.


    My father was looking at me and smirking. I stared forward at the wall instead of turning to look at him. He didn''t say anything. I didn''t say anything. It was going to be a long night at this rate. I still didn''t know what to do with Cynthia. I''d gone along with bringing her around the town, but she didn''t belong here. Now that she''d seen the town, I would have to show her the way up the mountain. Unfortunately, it would have to be in the morning. The rain didn''t look like it would stop soon, and I couldn''t risk people seeing her face if all the makeup washed off.


    "So, Ren," My father must have gotten tired of the silence, he spoke in a serious tone, "Is she a good cook?" It was not the question I expected, but I guess his priorities made sense with our family''s culinary history.


    "Uh, I''m not sure." Should I expect something amazing? Obviously, anyone would be better than my dad or me, but she could end up being at my mother''s level. Maybe this would be one of those things where she turns out to be a fantastic cook. They had to eat good food up there, right? I imagine they had excellent five-star meals every day. Probably lobster with a side of garlic rice, something we had stories of, but not the ingredients for. A crash and Cynthia''s surprised yell from the kitchen broke my spirits. There were four of us here; it would be sad if none of us could cook a decent meal. I just hope it was edible.


    "So, where did you meet her?" My dad started up a conversation.


    "Uh, she''s from a remote part of town. She got lost exploring."


    "And you just happened to go this far to help her? Seems like a bit much, doesn''t it?" My dad was starting to sound like he was onto something. "Who would have thought you were a sucker for redheads," he said with a laugh. Nope, he was way off.


    He put his hand on my shoulder. I think he was getting ready to give me essential life advice. Before he could speak, the fire alarm went off. I grabbed a pillow off the couch and got up. The fire alarm was a few feet away, so it was my job, or my dad''s, to fan it when it went off. When I finally got it to be quiet, my dad yelled to the kitchen:


    "Was that a real or false alarm."


    "Real! Come on in," my mother yelled back. Dinner was ready. My father and I shuffled into the kitchen, to our table where the plates and utensils had already been placed. The table was a small wooden table with three chairs and not nearly enough room for four plates and the food. We managed somehow, by placing the food on the counter, to fit four plates. My father gestured to Cynthia to sit. She looked around and then at him.


    "Don''t worry, dear. I can stand."


    My father typically did this with a guest, so it didn''t bother him. She reluctantly sat down. The food looked to be a burned beef steak and mixed vegetable mash. There was no way to tell what vegetables were used in it if any at all. I made a plate and began to eat. Needless to say, it was terrible. Cynthia followed suit and made a plate. She stared at the plate for a moment. Then she watched me cut my steak before trying herself. She seemed to be having trouble using the utensils.


    After getting a bite-sized piece on her fork, she ate it. She chewed for a moment before pausing then chewing some more. She swallowed and stared at the plate.


    "Is something wrong, dear?" my mother asked.


    "It''s delicious," Cynthia said without looking up. She didn''t say anything else and continued to eat. My parents smiled before eating their meals. This whole thing was a little odd, but I decided to let it go. I took another bite of my food. Maybe it didn''t taste so bad.

 Interlude

    Night had fallen on the city of beasts. He hated having to be here, but he was tasked with a critical mission. To find the AL.I.C.E model that had left the city and investigate what had led to this. He stood on top of a roof. The streets would be too obvious. Sparse as they were, some of the monsters were out at night, and he had to be careful to complete his mission. The officials had been busy arguing over the best way to prevent the next monster from getting in; they ended up letting the AL.I.C.E model escape. And so, it was left to him. A model made for roles that required a natural killer to investigate.


    He hated this town. The creatures were ugly and deformed. He only wanted to finish the investigation, grab the girl, and complete his mission. The girl would be easy to find. Unbeknownst to her, she had been planted with a tracker for her whole life. All he had to do was track how the beast came into the city.


    His only lead was a missing book from the ancient library of the first city. He followed the tracks that appeared to take the missing book and followed them this far. To an average model, this would be difficult; standard eye enhancements would not be sufficient. Fortunately for him, he had implants, which improved this task. Once he locked in a set of tracks, they would appear as a path of glowing footprints leading him to his target. This is what he followed. Leaping from the building he stood on, he quickly made it to the next building and then the next after that¡ªmoving about 60 meters in two short bounds. He stopped and slid behind a chimney. A creature walking by had stopped to look in his direction, most likely having seen the movement out of the corner of its eye. The creature posed no threat to him, but he could not let himself be seen just yet.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    When the beast decided it was nothing, it moved on. The man looked to the ground again. The tracks turned to go down an alleyway. He followed them through the weaving alleyways to a small thing on the edge of the city. It could be called an abode; the fact that a light was on indicated one of the creatures was in it. The tracks went into the doorway. He walked up to the door and kicked it in. A scream filled the inside of the house, and a small monster seemed to roll off the couch and land onto the floor.


    Piles of trash blocked the way. The man swatted them aside as he walked by. Effortlessly moving his arm and causing things to fly like they had been shot out of a cannon. The small creature ran across the room and began digging through a pile. It reminded the man of the extinct animal called a rat. He walked up to the rat-like creature that turned around and pointed a large gun at him. The man swatted the gun away. It flew across the room, and the rat monster was screaming, looking at its hand. The force of the gun flying off probably twisted and broke a finger or two where he held the trigger. The man picked the creature up and slammed it against the wall, careful not to apply enough force to knock it out.


    "Book," was all he said to the creature. It disgusted him that it could even understand what he said. The ratty creature only whimpered and pointed behind the man. He turned and saw the book he was looking for. It was clear the ratty monster knew precisely why he was there. He turned back to the whimpering creature. With a fluid motion, he spun around and threw it onto the ground.


    "Stop, stop!" the creature pleaded while trying to push itself off the ground. It seemed to be crawling to another spot in the room. Another weapon? The man walked over to the creature and stepped on its leg. It yelled incomprehensible, clear words of mercy. The man leaned over to look closely at the rat monster''s face.


    "Tell me everything."

 Chapter 10

    Cynthia/ AL.I.C.E-2968442


    I slowly opened my eyes. Where was I? I was lying on a dirty couch staring at a ceiling I did not know. There was a stain on it, probably from some point in the past. I sat up and started to remember last night. After we had finished dinner, I talked with Ren and his parents for a while. They had asked me all kinds of questions, and Ren and I had tried our best to spin a realistic and consistent story about where I had come from and what I was doing here. When it came time for us to go to sleep, his parents had asked me if I would sleep in Ren''s room. He furiously refused, and I was left to sleep on the couch. I suppose I could not blame him for being uncomfortable around me. At the end of the day, he was still likely to see me as a non-human. He probably did not want me to be so close when he was unconscious of fear I might harm him.


    I leaned back on the couch. It was dirty but reasonably comfortable. Better than our couch at home, at least. Perhaps I could convince my guardians to get a new one once I got back. If we could even get a new couch, that is. It was already there before we moved in, so it might not be replaceable.


    I stared at the ceiling. It had a light blue paint applied to it. The faint smell of the dinner we had eaten last night still hung in the air. Everyone seemed to look at it questionably, but it was good. It was really good. I had never tasted anything like it. Though, it was not as good as that chocolate cupcake thing I had eaten earlier that day. Just thinking about it made my mouth water slightly. I swallowed. Was that even chocolate? It tasted nothing like the chocolate I had before. I wonder what other flavors tasted like here. Chicken, broccoli, apples, or anything else. Honestly, they all seemed to have similar flavors that were similar when compared. Was it like that here? What else was different here anyway? I do not know how long I had before I should head back. Indeed, I could spend a little more time looking around today as well. I would have to see everything I could get Ren to show me today.


    A pair of hands wrapped around me from behind and covered my mouth. I hadn''t even heard them approach. Was I too lost in thought? I felt myself tense up. If it was one of the beings from down here, I should be able to overpower it, despite not being designed for combat.


    "Don''t scream." It was Ren''s voice. I loosened back up. If he did not want me to scream, he should not be sneaking up behind me and grabbing me. He let go and walked around the couch so that he was in front of me. He was carrying the makeup he had used yesterday. I guess it must have rubbed off in my sleep. That seemed likely enough. He opened the makeup and began to brush it on my face. Still, he did not have to sneak up behind me like that. I am not sure what goes on in his head sometimes.


    "Stop making that face. It makes it hard to apply the makeup."


    I relaxed my expression. I am not sure what face I was making, but I imagine I was conveying my frustration with him. He continued to brush onto my face carefully. He stepped back a few times and walked around the room to look at my face from different angles, then came back to apply more makeup until he seemed satisfied with the results. The whole exchange seemed to take about 10 minutes.


    He walked back behind me and came back around with a bag on his back. He gestured for me to follow.


    "Where are we going?" I asked him.


    "I''m going to show you the way back up to your home."


    "Wha- I don''t have to go back yet, do I?" He seemed to ponder my words for a moment before replying.


    "Definitely. I don''t expect you can be missing for so long before your... people begin to worry about you." He paused before saying ''people,'' I guess we were still in disagreement on the matter.


    "I am sure it will be okay. I haven''t been gone too long." I did not want to go yet. Now that I could blend in better, I wanted to explore everything about this world before I left. There was so much more to see, and I am sure I would not get another opportunity like this, after all.


    "More than that, I need to get you back before we start to rub off on you any further." I am not sure what excuse he was making. He seemed to be suggesting I was being affected by my experience here. I could not let him take me back just yet, though.


    "Please, can we take a long way at least?" I am not sure what my expression looked like as I pleaded to him, but he began to rub the back of his head and looked away. Ren sighed.


    "I guess we can take a longer route."


    "Yay, thanks, Ren." I ran up to him and wrapped my arms around him. I had noticed people doing this on the streets as we walked through town yesterday, and both Nanana and 47628475 had done it to me, so I figured it was an effective way to communicate feelings. He was stiff for a moment. Then he gently pushed me back. He turned around and walked to his front door.


    "Well, let''s get going. It will take all day at this rate," he said with his back to me. With a turn of the handle, he opened the door and stepped outside. I followed him. It was dark, and the air was cool. I could see the sun coming up in the distance. The sky was a mix of orange and red. In the distance, I could see the storm he had talked about yesterday. It seemed to swirl and hit along an invisible barrier from all sides of the town, climbing up in a dome shape before giving way to the morning sky.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    We walked silently for a moment. I followed behind Ren, who charged ahead to our destination. At this point, there was not much to see. I guess I understood why he was willing to take a long way. It did not matter now with anything to distract me. Come to think of it, with Ren leading the way, could I be sure this was a long way? He could be taking me the fastest route and claim that there was a shorter way. I turned and saw an alleyway.


    "Hey, Ren." I stopped.


    "What?" Ren stopped after a few steps when he realized I was no longer following him.


    "Let''s go down that alleyway." I pointed to it. He looked at it, then shook his head.


    "No, we should keep going." I frowned. He wanted to get rid of me as soon as possible. I turned and ran to the alleyway. "Hey... What are you doing?" Ren yelled as he chased after me.


    "If you want to stop me, you will just have to catch me," I yelled back to him. There was no way he could catch up to me. Even though I was not made for running, I should be faster than him. I laughed as I ran into the alleyway, with Ren chasing after me. Maybe I was acting a bit childish, but I wanted to spend some more time here, even if it meant acting like this.


    Ren chased after me as we weaved around the alleys. I could tell I was faster than him, so I made sure to manage my pace, so he was always about 2 meters behind. I kept laughing as we ran. Was this really so much fun? I could hardly control my laughter at this point.


    "You will have to try harder if you want to catch me!" I gleefully shouted. We rounded another turn. Then another. Ren was shouting something, but he could not get the words to come out correctly while running.


    I rounded another corner, it made a U shape with the buildings, but Ren did not immediately come around as I would expect him to. As I was getting ready to turn the second corner in the U, I slowed down slightly and turned my head to look back more easily. Before I realized it, I had crashed into someone who wrapped their arms around me. It was Ren. Where had he come from? He was breathing heavily.


    "I caught you. Are you done now?" he said between heavy breaths.


    "Yes," I whimpered a reply. His body was shaky, but he held me in place firmly. He seemed angry. I do not think I have seen him this way before. He released me, and he fell into a sitting position. He did not seem to fall back but rather straight down. All while still breathing heavily. "Where did you come from?" I had to know how he got in front of me. He pointed to the building beside us.


    "The walls were short enough to climb over." I looked at the building. Some offshoot from another larger building without any windows caused the U shape in the alleys. There was a ledge of sorts around the middle of the building. It seemed to form a kind of pyramid, made out of three sections that someone of Ren''s height could climb over by jumping to reach each section, but to do so would be rather impressive for someone from down here. It seemed like Ren was a climbing expert, for some odd reason.


    Ren was now lying on his back. His breath had slowed slightly, and he was covered in sweat. It seemed like I may have overestimated how much he could chase me earlier. That was not the best idea. Come to think of it, why had I made him chase me around like that? I sat down next to him. He saw me do that and began to push himself off the ground. He shakily stood up and started to stagger in a direction.


    "Come on, we''ll be in here a while," he said to me. I had no idea what he meant, but I stood up and started to follow him. We turned a few corners, and I began to understand what he had meant. Every turn looked similar, and I had not paid attention to which way we had come from.


    "Ren?" As we rounded another corner, I was beginning to become worried.


    "Yes, Cynthia," his tone sounded off. Was he annoyed, maybe?


    "Where are we?"


    "Your guess is as good as mine." We weaved around another corner, which split into two paths. I was not paying much attention when I ran in here. I wish I had. It seemed we were trapped.


    "Is there a way out?" I was beginning to worry. What if we would be trapped in here? How long would it be? It would be all my fault. I got Ren stuck like this. What have I done?


    "We got in, didn''t we? We just need to find where that is," he said in a calm voice. Ren''s breathing had returned to a normal pace, and he walked as he usually did. He seemed to have somewhat recovered from the chase.


    "Aren''t you worried about being stuck here?" He seemed so calm. It made me feel silly for worrying like I was. How could I ask if there was a way out? Was I stupid?


    "We should only be stuck in here for a few hours at most. We will find a way out." He remained calm. I guess there was no reason to worry. I sat down and pressed my back against a wall.


    "If that is the case, why don''t we rest for a little bit." He stopped and turned around. He made a defiant face but did not argue and sat down to lean against the wall opposite to me. I did not need to rest at all, but I imagine that he would like to stop for a moment despite seeming normal. The fact that he did not argue seemed to suggest I was right. He took a deep breath.


    "Why did you run down this way anyway?" he asked me.


    "I- uh, I... I could not come up with an answer. I remember wanting to prolong my time here, but I forgot all that and enjoyed running around during the chase. I did not know how to explain myself.


    "Forget it." Ren could see that I was struggling with a response. He gave me a pass to answer. I would not let this chance slip by to change the subject.


    "What do you think of me, Ren?" What was I asking? I should have asked something different. Something like ''how is the weather today.'' I felt like that would be a legitimate conversation in a town where water falls from the sky.


    "A freak being that thinks she''s human and constantly gives me trouble," Ren answered casually. He did not even pause to give his answer a second thought.


    "Wha- Wait, Ren..."He did not even try to soften his response. He just said it. I stuttered to come up with a reply. My mouth just hung open, with no words coming out. He turned his head to look away from me. Should I be this surprised? My opinion of him may have become more favorable, but I still knew he was not human.


    "But someone that''s not so bad when you get to know her," he said softly, without looking at me. He stood up and began to walk away. I did not get a chance to reply before he spoke again. "Come on; we need to find our way out of here." I got up and followed behind him. We rounded a corner. I picked up my pace until I was walking next to him. I could charge ahead and leave him behind, make him follow me. I decided that would not be the best idea. It may be his town, but we were equally lost here.


    I slowed my pace to match his. We were walking side by side. He was not so bad either, once you got to know him.

 Chapter 11

    Ren Young


    I''d told Cynthia we would be lost for hours; I had hoped I would be wrong. I wasn''t¡ªcorner after corner, dead-end after dead-end. We finally emerged from the alley maze. Walking side by side, we exited onto the street. It was not where we entered. We had found a different exit than where we started. This would put us severely behind schedule. I couldn''t waste too much time before getting Cynthia home. At this rate, others from up there would come looking for her. I''m sure I would have an equally unpleasant experience if that happened, most likely worse than the one I had when they found me up there.


    Now we were on the street. I didn''t even know which street. We''d spent enough time in the alley maze. People were out and about going about their daily business. It would be harder to navigate and have Cynthia following me.


    I looked down the street. It was a vendor''s street setup. Small shops lined each side, and people went from shop to shop. Shop was a bit of an overstatement. Each storefront was a little stand that could be assembled and disassembled quickly. They were positioned between doors and alleys to avoid disrupting the flow of people. Unlike the market I had taken her to yesterday, these sellers provided more niche items and couldn''t afford to stay in one zone of town, as there wasn''t enough demand. Typically, they would gather on the same street for a day before moving on. Cynthia tapped my arm and gleefully pointed to the shops. She wanted to see them. I should tell her we need to get her home, but at this point, I was in no rush. She would just do something to stall for time anyway.


    We entered the market if you could call it that. Walking at a slow pace, we looked back and forth at each shop on the street. There was a variety today. A shop was selling makeup, I should consider buying more to replace what I had taken after I got Cynthia back. A shop was selling various odd, small cooking tools that seemed only to serve one purpose, to take up space. A shop was selling various shirts with splashes of bright colors or designs. We stopped at this one. Rather, Cynthia stopped when she saw something on one of the shirts.


    "Ren, look, a kitty." She pointed to a shirt with an image of a cat. It appeared to have been deformed to appear cuter, the eyes were larger and more friendly than a typical cat, and the shape was made to appear softer. At least as far as I could tell, the only cats anyone ever seemed to see here were in old pictures.


    "I see you have a good eye, miss." The man behind the counter was a balding middle-aged man. A black eye patch covered his left eye. He had a scraggly beard and wore what appeared to be one of his own shirts. It had the words "Life is what you make it" written on it. I doubt he knew what the shirt said. He smiled at the two of us. It was sort of a creepy, unnerving smile, not the kind from someone dangerous. It was the kind from someone who planned to make a sale. Cynthia was clearly an easy target.


    She picked up the shirt and felt the cat on it. She frowned. I imagine she had never felt a shirt with a graphic printed on it and thought it would be soft like the rest of the shirt was. I felt one of the graphics on a random shirt. An image of a rat standing over a defeated cat. Cartoony but unrealistic. The graphic felt cheap. It would likely start to come apart after one or two washes. These shirts were most certainly a waste of money, and I could guess the seller had gotten the designs from somewhere else, considering the amount of text. Still, Cynthia seemed like she really liked the shirt with the cat on it. I sighed.


    "How much for the shirt?" I had no idea why I was doing this. It wasn''t like she would be able to use it when she got back home. Yet here I was, about to spend money. She seemed excited by my question and eagerly looked at the man selling the shirts. He rubbed his beard for a moment and responded.


    "Five blue pieces." He might as well just be robbing me. This shirt was worth only five or six green at most. I didn''t have that kind of money on me. I just had some scraps left in my pants pockets from some other time. I looked over at Cynthia, who was curiously looking back and forth at the two of us while holding the shirt. She had no idea what value our money had, and I had no idea how to explain it without a proper reference. I turned to look back at the seller.


    "Four green, and I''ll tell you what all the words say on your shirts." The man laughed at my proposal.


    "That''s an interesting proposal, my boy. What makes you think you can read all my shirts?"


    "Heard of Andrew?" It was a dumb question. Everyone knew about Andrew in this town.


    "That priest... don''t tell me," The man started laughing, "You''re that young-un who was taught by him, huh? Alright, boy, you got yourself a deal." Andrew''s fame was able to get me somewhere. He probably wouldn''t like me using it to haggle, though. I turned over the four green diamonds I had in my pocket. It was all I had on me, and I proceeded to read the shirts I could see while pointing to them.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "Don''t take no for an answer. In the heart lies passion. Life is what you make it." The man listened closely and attentively as I rattled off the odd phrases he printed on some of his shirts. I imagine this was the first time he was finding out what they said. In the end, I paid him, he shook my hand, and we were on our way. Cynthia had slipped the cat shirt over the shirt she already wore and was now walking with a wide grin next to me.


    We navigated through crowds as I tried to get a bearing of where we were. The day was in full swing now, and people were walking in every which direction. I had to be careful not to lose Cynthia in this crowd.


    We reached an intersection of two streets that I recognized. York had taken me down this very street the day I went up to the city. We just had to go the same way, and I could get her home. Naturally, I didn''t tell her we were close; I didn''t want to repeat the alley incident from earlier today.


    I led her down the street to the alley which led to the path I had taken up. We were close to the hole where she would be able to find her way back up. I took off my backpack as I walked and began to unzip it. I had put her clothes from her city in it for when she went back up. I guess I would just have to take the shirt I bought her when I took back the rest of the clothes. A nice keepsake for the last couple of weird days, I suppose.


    "Ren, we are almost there, aren''t we?" She feigned a little ignorance. She had gotten noticeably less happy as we got closer to the mountain, and I''m sure she knew we were getting closer. I didn''t say anything and kept walking. What should I say in a situation like this?


    We rounded the last corner. We could see where the buildings butted up against the mountain. Here at last. I walked up to the building that I had squeezed by before and looked down the path. My heart sunk. What appeared to be some kind of hardened epoxy oozed out of the hole. They had filled it. I turned away and leaned back against the smooth mountain. I slid down the wall until I was sitting. I guess I shouldn''t be surprised. After I had gotten up there, I imagine they didn''t want that happening again. But this revelation only meant I didn''t know how to get her home.


    Cynthia made no expression. She looked down the path then sat down next to me, looking at her feet. I imagine she was happy in some sense, now that she didn''t have to go back just yet, but she realized that she was also trapped. We sat in silence for a moment.


    "This is not where I came out," she said. She must be implying that there were multiple exits and entrances in the mountain. It wasn''t surprising, but I''m sure it didn''t matter.


    "They probably flooded the whole mountain to seal every potential entrance." I didn''t want to believe it, but it''s what I would have done if a creature I viewed as a monster showed up in my town in the manner I had. We were stuck now. I had no idea what to do.


    Footsteps down the alley caught my attention. A man walked around the corner. At least it looked like a man. He wore white clothing and was completely bald. A tattoo covered the right side of his face. I didn''t get any more of a good look at him. I had jumped to my feet and pulled Cynthia up. Perhaps this was a good thing, he would take Cynthia back, and we would go our separate ways. I wish that were true. Everything about his posture told me he was ready and looking for a fight.


    "Hello, AL.I.C.E-2968442, it''s time to go home," he spoke in a tone that sounded off. It sounded agitated, but not in a way that was directed at myself or Cynthia. I don''t know how to explain it. "Well, let us get going. I''m sure you are ready to go," he spoke again in the same tone. Perhaps this was how he always spoke.


    I looked at Cynthia. She was looking down. Had she been the whole time? Did she even look to see who was speaking to her? She was lost in thought. The person who stood at the end of the pathway merely sneered and began walking toward us. Slowly. Aggressively.


    I doubt I stood much of a chance if I took him head-on. I charged forward, pulling a surprised Cynthia along with me, and threw my bag at his face. He simply stopped and let it hit his face as we ran past. I think I saw a grin on his face before the bag hit him. He let us pass. He wanted to have to chase us down.


    I pulled Cynthia along around a corner. She wasn''t exactly resisting, but she wasn''t running along with me. She was probably conflicted about what was going on. I heard footsteps running along behind me. Looking back, I could see his large form chasing after us. He kept about a meter behind us, just out of his reach. It was intentional. He was toying with us. We rounded a few more corners and exited onto the street. Surely, he wouldn''t follow us into the crowd. He did.


    The crowd suddenly started to break apart. People yelled profanities as I pushed them away. Screaming started from behind us when they saw what was chasing us. If he wanted a fight, I guess I would give him one. He was trouble, and I felt a need to sock him in the face anyway. I guess it was because he looked like the guys that beat me up before. Of course, he could very well not have been a part of that group, but I would punch him anyway.


    I kept trying to push people away. I would need to get him to an area where I would have an advantage. He was larger and more robust than me, so I needed a room or place where his movement would be limited. There was an alley in the V zone where it was so narrow my shoulders brushed against the walls. He was too broad to fit in easily. I could get him there and have an easy time punching him.


    I suddenly felt my footing give way. I had cleared the crowd but tripped over something. I wasn''t sure what, but I plummeted to the ground. Cynthia, naturally, fell with me. So much for my plan. I rolled over to look at our pursuer. All I saw was his massive fist heading to my face.

 Chapter 12

    Cynthia(AL.I.C.E-2968442)


    As he was pulling me along, Ren tripped, and we both fell to the ground. I looked up to see our pursuer launching a fist at Ren''s head. Ren suddenly pushed me away, while rolling in the opposite direction, as the man''s fist smashed the ground where Ren''s head once was. Ren quickly stood up and took a defensive stance as our pursuer slowly straightened his back. After seeing the ground get pulverized like that, Ren intended to fight? He had no chance.


    Our pursuer was someone I recognized. I had never seen him before, personally, but the insignia that wrapped up on top of his bald head was unmistakable, and the star rank under his left eye confirmed it. The captain of the security committee. A M.A.R.K model that was more imposing than any other unit before. Even more than any other M.A.R.K models I had met.


    "General," I spoke out loud as I looked up.


    "I see you recognize me AL.I.C.E-2968442. Please wait a moment while I get rid of this small pest." I could only see the side of his face from where I stood, but it looked like the side of his mouth was upturned from what I saw. As if he were about to enjoy this fight. I pushed myself off the ground, but I could not do anything. Ren and the General stared at each other for a moment as they slowly began to walk in circles around each other. In a flash, the general threw a fist at Ren. Ren quickly slid to his left, letting the general''s fist barely slide across his left cheek, and threw his fist at the general, landing a blow on his bald head.


    There was a crack, and Ren backed off. He tore his shirt and wrapped it tightly around the hand that had made contact. Then he rubbed a cut that had formed on his cheek where the general''s fist had slid across. The general smirked. He had not moved from his thrown fist position during the whole exchange and just now drew it back and began walking to Ren. Ren took steps back as he slowly walked to him.


    "Run while you can," he yelled to me. Ren''s back was now against a wall of a nearby building. I turned and took off in the other direction. I pushed through the crowd of people; they had armed themselves with rocks like they had done against me but were now hesitant to throw them. They only stared at the giant who was fighting Ren. The sound of the wall smashing came from behind me. I pushed my way out of the crowd and ran along with a few others from the back, who had just decided to run away as well.


    I turned down a street, turned a corner, and ran down another. Why was I even running? The General had only come to collect me. He had no reason to be hostile, nor would he have been if Ren hadn''t been as hostile to him. I stopped and turned around. The General was walking a distance behind me, dragging something. Some of the crowd stood farther in the distance peering from around the corners of the street. As he got closer, I could see it was Ren that was being dragged along. The General held on to one leg and pulled Ren, face down, behind him. I took a few steps back. A strange reaction, but Ren would likely only endure worse at this rate if I ran away again. I began walking toward the General. We met and stood face to face, or instead he looked down at my face from his imposing height. He had dragged Ren''s unconscious body by his leg the whole way and only now let go.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "Well, this beast did impress me some, to say the least," he said as he dropped Ren''s leg, "It had proper training, but that was clearly its first real fight." He seemed amused by the fight he and Ren had just had. Fight was not even the right word for what just happened. The crowd, still far behind us, continued to watch from a safe distance.


    "Hello General, what brings you here?" What kind of question was that? I could not think of anything else to say, so I just spat something out. He chuckled.


    "Why, I''ve come to collect you. You know you have gotten the top brass in quite a frenzy. To be honest, I am a little jealous." He walked up to me and, without stopping, grabbed my arm and began to pull me away. His grip on my arm was relatively light, but his pulling had some force. I struggled to turn around and keep pace. It was clear he did not want to waste any more time here. I slipped out of his arm and turned around to walk properly beside him. He did not bother to grab me again; he probably figured I would comply.


    I turned around to see Ren unceremoniously lying unconscious on the ground. He was still face down, and the General likely dragged him that way intentionally. I turned to look away. It was probably best this way. I had spent more time here than I planned. Any longer and I might have started to think that they were people too. It was silly to think I should stay here longer. I should just go back and forget everything that happened with Ren. No reason to remember these beasts.


    A silver seraph suddenly materialized in the air in front of us and landed. It had presumably been cloaked and was following the general along. There was no way I could have gotten away with Ren. Its silver side door slid open, and we walked inside. I took one last look at the frozen crowd and Ren. He started to push himself up and turned in our direction before falling again. He looked up and stretched out an arm to us. Then he collapsed face down on the ground again. What was he trying to do? Stop me? He was just trying to send me home, and now I was going home. The door slid shut, and I felt us lift off the ground.


    We were in the air now. It would only be a matter of minutes before I would be home. Now that I thought about it, I was starting to miss home. I was beginning to miss 443, Nanana, and 47628475. It would be good to see them again. I would have to act like I had a bad time in the town when I saw them. I am sure I would get in trouble in some way if I painted it as a good experience. The story of being attacked by the townspeople would certainly convince them. I began to brush myself off. I just realized I was wearing the clothes I had gotten in the town. Did the General intend to bring me back like this? I was about to say something to him when I felt something press against my back. Then it was dark.

 Chapter 13

    Ren Young


    I woke up with a face full of dirt. A ringing sound permeated through my ears into my skull, and my head felt like it was in a press. I couldn''t say I enjoyed waking up on the ground, but it seemed like I was going to keep doing so. I rolled onto my back and stared at the sky. There was no one staring me down this time, at least. I probably should get up and get out of the street. The ringing was starting to subside, and I could hear a commotion of some kind in the distance. I tried to sit up. It was too quick, and it felt like the world somersaulted. I grabbed my head and closed my eyes. Everything was spinning, even though I wasn''t moving.


    I sat there a moment until I felt somewhat stable, then shakily got to my feet. In the distance, I could see people running around and panicking. I hobbled over to their area. How hard had he hit me? Was I going to be off for a while due to that fight? Was that even a fight? Now that I thought about it, I had no recollection of what happened after the chase with Cynthia. I had stood up to fight. I think I told her to run, and now I was here.


    Well, no matter. She had gone home. It would be okay now, though I doubt she would get out of punishment. I don''t think they would have sent that violent one to collect her otherwise. I shouldn''t be thinking like this. She was some freak from up there. I shouldn''t care about her. I closed my eyes and shook my head, then indefinitely regretted it as I uncontrollably stumbled, off-balance, to my right. I stopped by reaching out and resting against a wall. Or rather, the wall stopped me as I crashed into it. I felt like my body did a flip as a leaned against it. My stomach stung like I was about to puke. I don''t think I had anything for a little while; that was the only reason I might not be getting sick right now. Today was going to be awful.


    When I finally regained some of my bearings, I began to walk down to the crowd again. How long had I wasted just getting myself together at this point? I would need to get some painkillers for my throbbing head¡ªsome rather strong painkillers at this rate. The street opened into a clearing where the crowd was gathered. People rushed back and forth carrying all manner of supplies. One carried food. Another carried a rifle with several fresh batteries for it. I stopped someone carrying a large amount of toilet tissue.


    "Hey, what''s going on?"


    "What! Where have you been?" the tissue man said, with a pile that covered his face from view. "The monsters just invaded. They''re coming to kill us all!" Monsters? Was he talking about that fight? I looked around at the frantic crowd and back to the man.


    "Why do you have toilet tissue?" The weapons and food I saw people lugging around made sense, at least. He didn''t get a chance to reply. Someone in the distance yelled and pointed at us.


    "Look! He has it all!" The toilet tissue man cursed and ran off around me without another word. A small group chased after him. What the hell happened while I was out? I stumbled away from the crowd, down an empty street. I wasn''t sure I could accurately get myself home, but I should be able to get close enough for now. All I felt like doing right now was sleeping. This whole thing had become a disaster. I should never have agreed to go with York that day.


    At this point, I was wandering somewhat aimlessly. It seemed panic had overtaken the town. I could see trails of smoke in the distance. Something had caught on fire. I turned and walked the other way. I can''t blame them. I''m sure there were whispers of when Cynthia showed up earlier. A man who could punch through a building was probably the nail in the coffin. Did he punch through a building? I feel like he did. It was aggravating that I couldn''t remember.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    I continued stumbling until I found my way to the marketplace. I had only taken Cynthia here yesterday. Now it was chaos. My stomach twisted at the sight of it, or perhaps I just wanted to get sick still. I could no longer tell. The shops had all shut their doors, but people kept banging on the doors. Demanding the shopkeepers sell to them. The shops in the center of the plaza had all been picked clean and only remained empty shells of what they once were. I wandered over to the Stoneware''s bakery. It was shut up like the rest. The door looked like it had been beaten on. A hastily drawn ''sold out'' sign hung in the door''s window. A crude picture of a person looking at an empty shelf with sold-out written in small text above. With the sign, I couldn''t see in the back. I turned away in the direction of home.


    "Ren!" A shout came from the storefront. I turned. Mrs. Stoneware was leaning outside from the upstairs window. I heard movement from the store, and Mr. Stoneware opened the door and pulled me inside.


    "Are you okay, boy?" he asked, shutting the door and locked it again.


    "Yeah, yeah."


    "What happened to you?" Mrs. Stoneware asked as she came down the stairs.


    "Uh, I''m not sure. People are going crazy out there."


    "Haven''t you heard? People are going nuts cause those chimeras are all over the town," Mr. Stoneware told me.


    "I see." It seemed likely, considering what I had seen.


    "Ren," Mr. Stoneware started to say, "Some are saying you''re the one who brought one of those monsters to town. There was talk of a redheaded chimera that disappeared earlier."


    "Dear, don''t..."


    "No, we need to hear it from him. Is it true?"


    "I, I," What could I say? I didn''t bring either of them to town, but I was heavily involved with what had happened, "I didn''t bring her to town."


    "But you helped her?" Mrs. Stoneware asked while looking away.


    "I..." I couldn''t find the words to say. Mr. Stoneware stood up and turned his back to me.


    "You can stay here until things quiet down, but you''ll need to think about what you''ve done," he said, then walked upstairs.


    "To think, I gave it a cupcake," Mrs. Stoneware said bitterly while sitting in a chair and looking at the ground. Her hair had fallen down her head and was now covering her eyes.


    This was too much for right now. I could hardly keep myself standing up. In this situation, I likely couldn''t string a coherent sentence together if I wanted to. I turned around and unlocked the door. Mrs. Stoneware did not say anything as I walked out, but I heard the lock snap back once the door had closed behind me.


    All I wanted, right now, was to go home. It couldn''t be too much to ask for. I started to head in the right direction. My feet were shaky, but I would get there soon. I walked past a group beating on some man.


    "You''re one of them, aren''t you?"


    "No, stop. How long have we known each other?" I kept stumbling past them. Sleep was all I cared about right now. I didn''t want to be involved with anything else involving her. A little longer, and I walked through my front door. My parents were in the doorway getting shoes and jackets on.


    "Oh, Ren, your back," my father said.


    "Where''s Cynthia? Isn''t she with you?"


    "What happened?" They bombarded me with questions. Reasonable questions, but my mind was not in the right place for this right now.


    "I''ll tell you later. You probably shouldn''t go out in that." I brushed past them and began to walk up the steps.


    "Ren, wait," my mother yelled out. I stopped.


    "Aren''t you worried about her?" An odd question.


    "I''m sure she''s fine. She''s back home now."


    "You don''t think she might need your help now?"


    "No, she''s where she belongs, and I want nothing more to do with her." I slumped up the stairs to my bedroom. When I got close enough, I fell onto the bed. Only my torso and head were lying on it, but that was okay. Everything drifted away.

 Chapter 14

    Cynthia (AL.I.C.E-2968442)


    When I opened my eyes, I was staring down at a plain white table. I shook my head and looked up. I was sitting in a chair in a small room. Across from me, on the other side of the table, sat a man. He looked at me and smiled. He was bald and short, with a round face. Even with his insignia I could not tell what model he was. Curiously, he also had a spade shape on his left cheek in addition to his insignia on the right. Unlike the General''s star, I did not know what that indicated. Still, I felt like I had seen him somewhere before, somewhere recently.


    "Oh, good, you are awake. How are you feeling, AL.I.C.E-2968442?" he addressed me. How long had I been out? How long did he wait here for me to wake up? What was going on?


    "Where am I?" I took another look around the room. It was plain white. I looked down. I was back in an everyday uniform. Come to think of it; I had not changed before leaving. What had happened to those clothes? I never returned the ones Ren loaned me. Would he be mad about that?


    "I suppose you would be confused. You see, I am here to assess your state before reintegrating you back into society. We need to be sure you have not been affected by the beasts down below, after all." He spoke in a gentle and inviting tone. There was no hint of malice in his voice, but something felt off. I think it was that his brow looked slightly furrowed as he spoke to me.


    "You don''t have to worry. I haven''t been affected negatively," I tried to reassure him. He seemed to wince as I spoke to him. I am not sure why he did. Before speaking again, he regained the twisted friendly look he had before.


    "Well, my dear, that is for me to decide." I noticed I was slouching and sat straight up in the chair. I would need to look my best to impress him.


    "Very well. What would you like to know?"


    "Good. Now, AL.I.C.E-2968442, or do you prefer I call you something else?" he asked. Honestly, I had gotten used to being called Cynthia at this point.


    "No, that is my model code after all," I lied. I hoped he could not tell I was lying.


    "Hmm."


    "If I may ask, what should I refer to you as? I am afraid I am not familiar with your model?"


    "Ah, yes, I was a test run model. There were only a handful of us ever produced. You may call me Ace." That was an odd thing to call him, but I would not bring that point up.


    "Good to know you, Ace. Is there anything else you would like to know?"


    "Oh yes, there is plenty I would like to know. Let us see. Why did you go into the beast''s city?"


    "It was an accident. I fell down a hole and didn''t know how to get back." That was sort of true. I could have tried to climb back once I reached the bottom, after all.


    "Hmm. Well, what compelled you to venture into the city and even stay the night? Surely you could have attempted to climb back up."


    "I was afraid I would get lost in the mountain."


    "I see, and what of the beast the General reported seeing you with? It seems he even tried to fight our dear General in hand to hand combat. I suppose it speaks to the intelligence of those beasts down there."


    "Oh, he was nobody."


    "Nobody?"


    "Nobody."


    "I see. Well, please wait here a moment. I will return shortly." Ace suddenly got up and left the room. I sat in silence for a moment. I looked down at my wrists. I was not being restrained, and I could get up at any moment. I stayed seated. I had to pretend like I had not changed in any way. I had not changed, and I did not know why they would think that.


    After a while, Ace returned and sat back down. He asked me many more questions with the same off-putting smile, and I answered while carefully trying to twist truths and lies together into a believable story.


    "Now, AL.I.C.E-2968442, this is my last question for you. Did you enjoy your time there?" I thought about everything I had experienced. The pain of being pelted by rocks, the taste of the new foods, exploring the world, unlike mine, spending time with Ren.


    "No, everything was terrible. I would never want to go back." I told my most convincing lie yet.


    "Hmm. Well, that is all I had for you. Now please come with me." He wasted no time getting up and walking out the door. I stumbled up out of my chair to chase after him. I went through the door as fast as I could without running to catch up with him. His pace was swift as he sped down the hall to what appeared to be an elevator. It took everything I had, but I managed to keep up enough to stay few steps behind him.


    The hallway we walked down was a straight line. It looked like the door of the room I had just been in went straight from the elevator through this bare, white hallway. There were no doors along the hallway to any other rooms. There was not even a window that I could see out of to see where we might be.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    The elevator door slid open before we reached it, and we both stepped inside. He leaned up against one of the walls, and I pressed my back against the other side of it. The elevator was small, most likely meant to carry only a few people at any given time. The door slid shut. I felt a jerk as the elevator moved sideways, then stopped before moving up.


    "Where are we going?" I asked him while looking down. We were both facing the elevator door and did not turn to look at each other.


    "You will see in a short moment."


    He did not seem like he wanted to answer. We rode the elevator in silence for what felt like an eternity before it finally stopped, and the door slid open. He said nothing but simply walked out into a large open room. There was a platform in the center of the room, and desks for people went around the center in an arc. A large chandelier hung high up in the ceiling and provided a light down to the platform. The rest of the room seemed more shadowed as a result. I stepped out of the elevator, and Ace gestured to the center. I was not sure what was going on, yet my stomach began to twist. Was I uneasy?


    I strode to the center and stood on the platform. I was bathed in light and looked at the relatively darker desks that surrounded the platform. Each of the desks had a chair, and in each sat a person. Even though there was lighting, I could make out some of their features. They were all different models, and I recognized none of them. Each had a spade added somewhere on the left sides of their faces. Ace went and sat at an empty desk at the end of the line. All the seats were filled. I might have counted how many were here, but I had no desire to look at any of their glaring faces. Instead, I looked around the room. There were not that many people here, yet this room was vast and open.


    "Well, everyone. This here is AL.I.C.E-2968442, who stands on trial today." Ace spoke up. Trial? What was he talking about? Was I to be punished? What had I done? "Now, AL.I.C.E-2968442, or would you rather we call you Cynthia?" Ace stopped and looked directly at me for me to answer the question. I swallowed and looked away. It felt like he was staring through me. I did not like the feeling.


    "Ca- Call- me what you like." I stumbled over the words, but I had to try to make this convincing.


    "I see," Ace said.


    "Why are we even putting up with this?" another man from the group suddenly yelled out. Ace''s desk was the farthest away on this speaker''s right; only two others sat beside him on his left.


    "Now, Jack, we have procedures to follow." This time a woman, who sat directly to the left, the one who just yelled, spoke.


    "We all know she has been corrupted. Let us just rid ourselves of this failure," Jack spat back. His face was a bright shade of red. I imagine it was this way all the time, by his current demeanor.


    "Please excuse him, AL.I.C.E-2968442. We will now begin." The man who sat directly to the right of Ace spoke up.


    "Thank you, Deuce," I thought I heard Ace say to him, but it was so soft I could not be sure.


    "Ahem," the woman next to Jack cleared her throat. "AL.I.C.E-2968442, you are sitting here today on the basis that you entered a den of monsters willingly. Not only did you discover a fracture in our security, which we must actually thank you for, but you also acted upon the discovery by endangering our very society as a whole. Do you concur with this assessment?"


    What was she talking about? How did I risk endangering society? It seemed like Ace was worried about how I had become corrupted. Now they were asking about how I was risking the safety of everyone else.


    "I don''t believe that I risked endangering society," I responded. They all seemed to wince at my reply. Had I picked up some sort of odd dialect in my time there? No, that did not make any sense.


    The man, next to Ace, stood up. Deuce, if I heard correctly. The entire room looked in his direction. He began to walk to the other side of the room, next to a man on the farthest end, who sat next to the women who had just been speaking. This man was drooping slightly over the table. When Deuce reached this man, he bent over and whispered something into his ear. In almost an instant, the man shot up and pointed directly at me. What was going on?


    "AL.I.C.E-2968442, you say that you have not created any risk to society. But! But? But..." He shouted then stopped. Without another word, he sat back down and drooped his head back down. The rest of the group seemed to sigh simultaneously as if they knew something I did not. Ace cleared his throat, which caught my attention. The man who sat next to him had returned and was silently shaking his head with his eyes closed.


    "I apologize for that display," Ace began, "but I believe I understand the point King was about to make. If you would, I will try to continue."


    "Go ahead, Ace," Jack said while propping his head up with one arm and rolling his eyes. His tone did not sound genuine.


    "Ahem, AL.I.C.E-2968442, you believe you have not endangered our society, but let me ask. When you were there, did you eat anything other than the nutrition bars we provide here?"


    "Um, yes." Several members of the crowd gasped as if I said something surprising. Why would they be surprised? I was gone a whole day, and they do not have the bars down there. Honestly, that chocolate cupcake was way better than any chocolate thing up here, and I would rather eat that again. The thought made my mouth water a little. I swallowed and focused on the disturbed group. I am sure saying something like that out loud would not go over well in this group.


    "Now, now, calm down," Ace addressed the rest of the room. What was the point of having this many people here for this? Most of them were sitting in silence. "AL.I.C.E-2968442," Ace was addressing me again, "Could you tell me what this is?" He pulled something out and held it in the air in front of him, holding it with his index finger and thumb and keeping his arm stretched out as far as it possibly could go.


    The shirt Ren had gotten me hung in front of him. The kitty was in plain view. I said nothing. The crowd began to murmur to themselves. Ace made a self-satisfied smile and sat back down. He produced a bottle of sanitizer from below the desk and started to wipe his hands off. I had no idea what was going on. Are we accomplishing anything with all this back and forth? The crowd certainly looked like they were thinking about something. The women between Jack and King stood up this time.


    "Well, I believe that is enough for now. It seems everyone agrees with your decided punishment."


    "We were in agreement before. We just wasted time," Jack, who now was laying his head on the desk, butted in. The women stood silent for a second, glaring in his direction, before continuing with a smile.


    "Now, AL.I.C.E-2968442, we will lay out your punishment for the crime of violating the natural order."


    I felt a slight unease as everyone seemed to sit up and look in my direction automatically. Even Jack, who had appeared to have fallen asleep, and King, who had been distantly staring into space, were now staring intently at me. The room was silent as I waited to hear what this punishment was to be.

 Chapter 15

    Ren Young


    Banging at the front door woke me up. How long have I been asleep? I groaned and sat up. The banging was still ringing through the house. It sounded like a crowd was yelling outside as well. Shut up already. I sat up and walked out of the house. My head felt clearer now, though I didn''t remember much of what happened after that creature showed up to beat me down.


    My parents were at the end of the hallway, looking down the steps. I stopped and looked down at our front door. It was visibly shaking from the banging, and my parents had not only moved our kitchen table in front of it, but they had also weighed it down with every heavy object we owned. The table was piled with dense books, stone decorations, cast iron cookware, and apparently whatever else they thought would weigh it down. The table looked like it was starting to bow in from the weight.


    "Uh, what''s going on?" I had been standing there for a minute, but both of my parents seemed too deep in thought to notice.


    "The people have come to voice a formal complaint," my dad answered. This seemed like more than a complaint. "It seems we have been found out for having rather unusual house guests."


    "Ren, dear. Would you like to tell us something about Cynthia?" My mom didn''t bother beating around the bush like my dad.


    "Not particularly."


    "Not particularly?" my mother repeated in a questioning tone. We stood in silence for a moment. My dad reached out his hand and gestured for me to hold mine out. When I did, he dropped the light cream makeup I had used on Cynthia into my hand. I let out a sigh.


    "How long have you known?"


    "How long have we known? I''m surprised more people didn''t notice with the job you did applying the makeup," my father spoke in a friendly tone.


    "It was obvious when we first saw her," my mother said.


    "The rain was worse than I thought," I said aloud.


    "Don''t go blaming the rain for your lack of talent," my father said. He had once spent a year working to apply makeup to some magazine models when he was younger. The makeup my mother owned was acquired from that time, not that I would know, as I had yet to be born at the time. The industry would eventually crash, as the cost for magazines was too high for the demand, and they became rare collector items, but he was confident in the skills he''d picked up then.


    "I''ll head out by the roof and lay low at Andrew''s for a while," I told them. This conversation could just keep going on at this rate.


    My mother suddenly hugged me. I wasn''t sure what to say. She let go, and my father walked up and put his hand on my shoulder. He smiled.


    "Alright, be safe," my parents said in unison. They probably figured it was in our best interest for me to hideout. They could say I haven''t been home recently while I hid. However, that exchange was a little weird.


    I walked down the hallway and pulled at a rope we had tied onto the wall. The wall slid open onto some stairs, and I climbed up. The house was initially built with an attic, but the roof had been long lost in the past, making the stairs to the attic useless except to climb onto the roof. I reached the top and peaked over the edge at the crowd.


    People filled the walkway from my front door out to the street. They were all yelling, and some in the back were throwing things at the house. I have no idea what they would do if they got a hold of me. I don''t think they know what they would do either. I slipped back out of view of the street before anyone happened to look up and see me.


    I would have to jump over a few roofs before I would be far enough away to get onto the street at this rate. I sighed. If I had never bothered climbing that mountain, I wouldn''t be in this mess. I took off at the fastest sprint I could make in the short distance that was the roof. Pushing off with my legs, I landed on the roof behind our home. The neighbors would probably be surprised by the sudden bang, but I feel that they would be used to hearing it by now. With another sprint, I leaped across the next building and then the next, without slowing down.


    It took some trial and error when I was younger, but I can now hop across about ten buildings if I keep up the same speed. Today was no different, as I landed on the last roof. After the first three houses the buildings were larger for businesses, so I could get a fair distance away easily. I never thought that something I did for fun when I was younger would be so useful now. At this point, I could no longer hear the crowd at my house.


    I let myself hang over the edge of the building and drop onto the ground. Some people passed by and gave me a strange look while muttering to themselves. I imagine my reputation had spread everywhere at this point, but I didn''t imagine I would get attacked by anyone that was not angry enough to come to my house this morning. I walked down the street in the direction of Andrew''s. Whenever people saw me, they would move to the other side of the street or completely walk in a different direction. It would be a while before things got back to normal.


    I broke into a sprint down the street. It would take a while to get to Andrew''s, and I didn''t want to stay out too long. In the distance, I could see someone looking in my direction. They were waving their arms as if to get my attention. I bit my tongue. It was York. I slowed my pace and stopped in front of him, just out of arm''s length. For some reason, his hand was wrapped in bandages,


    "What, York? I''m in a bit of a hurry."


    "Oh, I bet you are," he spoke in a smug tone.


    "Do you have something you want to say to me?"


    "I just wanted to see how you were doing after getting that beatdown." I sighed. Like everyone else, he must have heard about what happened. He must have guessed I would stay at Andrew''s and knew I would pass by here eventually. He''s annoying that way.


    "Yes, I''m fine."


    "Oh, what about that pretty redhead you were with?"


    "She''s back home now."


    "I can''t imagine that it is having a good time." What was his point of being here? He had a sneer on his face, and his tone seemed like he was speaking down to me. He was starting to piss me off more than he usually did.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Look, York, what do you want? I don''t have time." York pointed his wrapped hand at my face.


    "Well, you are going to make time!" he suddenly shouted. I don''t think I''ve ever heard him raise his voice like this. He put his arm down and closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. Then he spoke in his usual tone, "You didn''t tell me you met such a pretty creature up there. When I saw it, I might have fallen in love if I didn''t know what it was." When did he see her? Did we pass in the town when I was walking Cynthia around? York didn''t stop talking. "Did you spend any time wondering how that monster knew to go where the opening was? No, I guess you couldn''t, with you getting such a beat down and all." He chuckled a little. It clicked faster than I could put it into words. I immediately grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and lifted his feet off the ground.


    "Yo- how- wh- I couldn''t put my thoughts into words. Somehow he had led that man to us and was now boasting about it. What did he even hope to accomplish? He knew, even if I were injured, I would win in a fight. Still, all he was doing was smiling. He suddenly leaned over to look behind me.


    "Well, it looks like our company has arrived." I looked behind me. A large crowd was closing in. As they got closer, I could see that they were armed with wooden bats and beams. Words like traitor and sympathizer echoed through the streets. I let York go and turned back. He laughed and scurried to the side. There was no running now. If I tried, they would take off after me, and I wouldn''t be able to hide at Andrew''s as I had planned. "Good luck, Ren," York yelled off to the side as he was walking away, "I hope our next business venture goes better."


    When the crowd got close enough, it split off and went around me until I was completely enclosed in a circle. There must have been about 30 to 40 angry people surrounding me. I could probably hold my own in a fight and take down a dozen or so, they were untrained after all, but I was going to get a beatdown, nonetheless.


    We stood motionless for what seemed like an eternity, waiting for the first person to make a move when a voice rang out over all our heads. Immediately, we all turned to find the source. The ordinarily smooth, grey mountain was lit up with the face of one of the chimeras. It appeared as if several screens wrapped around the mountain in a band near the top with the same image repeated on all of them. We all stood in awe, staring. I doubt anyone knew the mountain could do this. I imagine the whole town was fixed on the image now. It was probably what they wanted with this stunt.


    "Well, I hope I have all of your attention because this is the only time we are making an announcement."


    The crowd''s full attention was focused on the screen. If I was getting out of this, now was the time. I started to slowly move my way into and through the crowd as the voice spoke. "So, as you by now know, a human from our city found her way into your... city." There was a noticeable pause before the word city. I continued to slowly slip past the distracted crowd as they watched, dumbfounded.


    "So, I have come to apologize for this incident formally. We never meant to allow this to happen." I broke free of the crowd and carefully tiptoed my way to the corner of the street. I broke off in a run once I was fully out of sight, as the crowd kept watching. I would have to take the back way to Andrew''s now, to be safe.


    "We hope this has not caused any ill will to our relations at this point in time," the person on the mountain was still talking, "I want to let you know that we will punish the one responsible for this mess." I ducked into an alley and stopped to catch my breath. "Due to that, we will be exiling code AL.I.C.E-2968442 promptly and efficiently. She will be dropped off in the wasteland, and permissions to pass through the barrier will be revoked. We hope that we will be able to cooperate in the future. Thank you."


    The voice stopped, and the crowd in the distance began to yell loudly. I am not sure if what I heard were cries of anger at my disappearance or cries of joy at punishment for Cynthia. I leaned back against the wall. Cynthia was to be punished. I guess that was it. It would be suicide to go into the wasteland under normal circumstances, but with the sandstorm roaring right now, she had no hope of survival, more robust than me or not.


    "Well, you heard them; what are you going to do?"


    "Just sit here a while longer," I replied before realizing I had just been spoken to. I leaped up into the air from the ground and backed away a few steps. I recognized this man.


    "Jeez, Andrew, don''t sneak up on me like that." He laughed.


    "I couldn''t help it. You were the one not paying attention."


    "Fine," I suppose he was right. "What are you doing here anyway?"


    "Just out for a stroll."


    "Uh-huh"


    "What are you doing here?"


    "I was going to your place to hide out."


    "Hide out?"


    "Yes." This conversation was starting to bug me. I didn''t want to spend any more time outside with that crowd after me.


    "Well, let us get going." He began to walk down the alley. I followed several steps behind him. "It is a shame for dear Cynthia," Andrew said.


    "Yes, she won''t last very long out there."


    "Oh no, unfortunately for her, she will," he said with a calm voice. He was probably right; he tended to be right about these things. Still, it wasn''t like I could do anything. It wasn''t like I should do anything.


    "You may be right."


    "Unfortunately, I am." I suppose I should be questioning him more. He never said it, but I''m sure he knew Cynthia was from up there. He seemed confident about her fate. Yet, he remained as calm as he always was. We turned a corner and reached the back door of his house. I followed him as he walked in.


    Andrew''s house was a unique place. There was no church to speak of when he first arrived in town, so people often called his home the church. It didn''t look like a church when you entered, at least based on how he described a church ought to look.


    "How long do you think it will take to get back to normal?" I asked after a moment of silence as I kicked off my shoes and walked over to the couch. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temple before responding.


    "Oh, probably a few months before people stop panicking and trying to kill you. Though it will be a while longer before things get back to what you are going to call normal," he said as he sat down in a chair facing the couch on the other side of the room. I sat down on the sofa and faced him. I immediately looked at the ground.


    So, it would probably take a while before things got back to normal. Honestly, if that guy never showed up to take Cynthia back, I would probably still feel like things are different for a while anyway. I guess it''s for the best that the rest of the town will feel that way as well.


    Do I want things to go this way? I have been telling myself that I do.


    "Well, if you like, I have some clothing that would be suitable enough for a trip to the wasteland."


    "Huh." I looked back up at Andrew. His expression was unchanged, as always. What does he mean? What is he trying to imply?


    "Why would I want that?"


    "I don''t think I can answer that question for you."


    "It would be suicide to go out there."


    "Most likely."


    "I wouldn''t be able to get back easily."


    "No, you would not."


    "I wouldn''t be able to find her in that storm."


    "I never said anything about finding anyone," Andrew replied to me calmly. I bit my tongue.


    "That doesn''t matter." I got up and walked out of the room. Andrew had a study down the hall, with a collection of books. He wrote the vast majority, though he claims he is only transcribing books he read in the past.


    "Where are you going?"


    "To read." I walked out of the room, leaving Andrew sitting alone.


    What would he expect me to do? Go out in that storm and wander until I find her? Even if I did, I couldn''t bring her back to town. I stopped and banged my fist on a wall. We would have to wander around the wasteland until we hopefully found our way out into the lush mythical area outside of it? It was stupid. Why would anyone agree to that? She will just have to die there. She will just have to die there?


    I turned around and slid down the wall. I wish Andrew hadn''t made it seem like I could go out there and find her. I was trying to let her go, whatever her fate may be. I suppose I must have enjoyed the time we spent together, even if I wanted to deny it. I sighed and looked up. It wouldn''t hurt to see what Andrew had here. I''m sure it would be ridiculous, and I would be able to deny using it right away.


    I pushed myself off the ground and began walking down to where Andrew was sitting. I would humor him and then decline. That would be the end of this. There is nothing I can do now anyway, so no need to entertain ridiculous thoughts.

 Chapter 16

    Cynthia


    I was to be exiled in the wasteland that existed outside of Ren''s town. They told me that, then they shuffled me down a hall, an elevator, and into a new room to wait for my sentence. I sat in a cold metal chair and looked at the ceiling. I suppose this was the end. The wasteland stretched across the rest of the world; I would have to wander endlessly until I died.


    I looked down. My eyes felt wet. I squeezed them shut, but it did not stop the liquid from going down my cheek. A door slid open, and a M.A.R.K model walked in. This one was older, and his expression was softer.


    "My, my. Such a pretty model should not make a face like that." When he spoke to me, it sounded like he was talking down to me. I wiped the tears from my face and twisted my brow in the best way I could to express my distaste to him. He laughed.


    "Something funny?"


    "Oh no, dear, I just love the defiance in your eyes. My job gets quite boring when everyone that comes through has given up and only looks at the floor."


    "Well, glad I could entertain you." He laughed some more.


    "Oh, I wish everyone that we had to kick out had your spirit." He walked over and patted me on the head. Then he sat in a chair that was opposite of mine. "Now, AL.I.C.E-2968442-"


    "Cynthia," I abruptly interrupted him.


    "Cynthia?"


    "Yes, please call me that."


    "I see, that is a genuinely nice name. Tell me, Cynthia, did that boy from down there give you that name?"


    "And what if he did?" My tone was not friendly, but I doubt anyone would blame me. He merely shrugged.


    "Well, you may call me Solder, if you wish. Now I need to tell you how this whole process works. We have some people close to you on their way. They are not aware of what you have done, and telling them will only make them share the same fate as you. We have simply told them you had committed a crime and that you will be exiled for it. Please take care when talking to them. After the meetings, you will be shipped out and dropped off in the wasteland. Fairly easy, if I say so myself, do you have any questions?"


    Just what would he expect me to ask after all that? I shook my head to indicate I did not have any questions. He smiled and stood up. I followed him with my eyes as he walked to the door. When he reached it, he turned around to slightly bow my way, before turning back to leave. I was now alone. I leaned back on the cold, metal chair and sighed. I guess this was it. I could not do anything. My fate was to be dumped in that wasteland and left there to die.


    I sat in silence for who knows how long. There was no clock or even a window in this room, and I was left alone to wait for people to come supposedly. I guess they may be having trouble finding people actually to come and see me before I leave. I am sure even those who tolerated me in the past would only be happy to hear I would be sent away.


    More time passed. It looked like there were slight cracks in the wall opposite of me. Maybe I should mentally trace them to see if I can make an image of them and pass the time. No. I could not let my mind wander at a time like this. I had to remain focused on what was going on and how I was- hopeless and waiting to die. I wish someone would come in to distract me already.


    With nearly perfect timing, the door slid open. It was almost creepy how spot on this timing was, and with everything else that had happened, I could not be sure they were monitoring me for this exact moment. To do that, they would need to watch my thoughts somehow, though, and they could not do that. I think.


    Two people walked in together. It was my guardians. They both wore the same expression. An expression I had never seen either of them wear before. They walked to the other side of the table and stayed standing. Their eyes were sad, and they both looked down at the bare table. Their mouths were downturned. Nanana opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out.


    "It''s good to see you," I said while also looking down at the plain table. This was awful. Where was Nanana''s careless attitude? Where was 47628475''s angry lecture at how I had screwed up yet again? I did not want this. They both looked so defeated.


    "2968442-" Nanana started to say something but stopped. She looked away, to the bare wall on her right, and sighed. Then she walked over to me, gently wrapping her arms around me. "Stay safe in exile." 47628475 got up and followed Nanana''s lead. It should have felt suffocating, with the two of them hanging on me like this. I desperately tried to hold my tears in my eyes. I could not make them suspect my fate would be worse than what they had likely been told.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    They let go of me and walked out of the room. Nanana was the first to reach the door. She stopped a moment but then looked down and walked out. 47628475 was the second to reach the exit. Like Nanana, she stopped and looked down.


    "I often gave you a hard time, but-" she started to say something and stopped. She walked out without finishing. The door slid shut behind her.


    Once again, I was left alone. This time, I was not left to wait a long time in silence. The door slid back open almost immediately. The person to walk in this time was 443. My younger look-alike appeared just as cheery as she did any other day.


    "Hey, 442. How are you doing?" she asked as she walked into the room and flopped in the chair across the table. How am I doing? She was way too cheery for this situation. My stomach started to feel discomfort. Under normal circumstances, this sudden feeling might warrant a trip to the hospital. It did not matter much now that I was to die.


    "Well, I''ve been better," I mumbled out some words to her. She started laughing.


    "Yeah, I can imagine. Man, getting exiled for your crimes. What a way to go!" she spoke cheerfully, with a friendly-looking smile.


    "Yeah, I guess it is."


    "So, guess what. I have exciting news." She suddenly started up on a new topic.


    "Wha-" I could not even manage a complete word.


    "I am going to be assigned to the broadcast when I graduate. It will be a guarantee." Was she already getting an assignment? It was a bit early for that, and it was exactly what she wanted. The pain in my stomach worsened. I tried to distract myself by focusing on her smile. It was a friendly smile, to be sure, but something felt off. Is that really how my face looks when I smile? Ren must have been bothered every time I smiled at him if that is the case. It is strange. I never looked closely at myself or 443 to see how similar we were.


    "Well, that''s good to hear. I''m sorry I won''t be able to celebrate with you."


    "Oh, do not worry about it. I will find a new best friend to celebrate with once we are done here." Now my chest started to hurt. I grabbed at it and looked down. 443 got up and walked over next to me. She crouched down, so our heads were at the same height. "Hey, 442, 442, are you okay?" I did not say anything. "Oh well, I guess you have to get going soon. See you later." She gave parting words and happily skipped out of the room, and the door slid shut behind her.


    I was left alone yet again. It was no different than the previous times, but now it felt even more painful. I do not care anymore. The pain I was feeling already suggested that something was wrong with me. Maybe being thrown in the wasteland was for the best. I could just get out. I did not have to think about this anymore. My mind could just go blank.


    The door slid open a few more times, and a few more people came in. They all said things to me. Then the door was slid open one last time. Someone grabbed my arm and pulled me out. I followed along in the direction I was pulled. We walked down halls, around corners, and finally into a ship. I felt the ship take off. We were flying.


    "Hey, Hey," someone was talking. "Hey, pay attention," someone was talking. "Dammit, AL.I.C.E-2968442." Was someone talking to me?


    A sharp pain on my left cheek got my attention. I suddenly stumbled back and grabbed at it. My back hit the wall of the ship, preventing me from moving farther. I looked around. I was strapped into a seat of a ship. A man was standing in front of me. His hand was still in the air from where it had hit my face. The one who talked to me earlier today. Solder? No, this was the other one. The General that had come to collect me and fought Ren.


    "Finally paying attention, huh?" He leaned back and grabbed a bag, which he tossed on my lap. "It''s not much, but put on the face mask and goggles. You will not want to get sand in your eyes and mouth. I also put some bars in there for you. They are expired, but it will be better than nothing." My mouth hung open. I looked down and unzipped the bag. Sure enough, a face mask and goggles sat on top of some expired bars. The mask and goggles looked like they had seen better days, but I suppose it was better than nothing. I pulled them out and began to put them over my face.


    "Why are you giving me this?"


    "Should not be your fault that they did not seal the mountain properly."


    "Couldn''t you get in trouble for this?"


    "Only if they find out, and who is going to tell them. You? Plus, this is what they get for sending me to that cesspool to find you," he spat. "I have taken bath after bath, but I still cannot get the smell out." He held up his arms and looked at his body as if it was covered in grime. I finished fiddling with the mask and goggles and zipped up the bag. I was taking care to keep it firmly held in one hand. I did not want to forget it.


    "Well, thanks, I suppose." He turned away and did not say anything else. It was apparent this is for his own petty reasons and not out of concern for me.


    The ship shook, and the back door slid open. The sand immediately started to fly in, only to be stopped by a barrier where we sat. I felt the ship begin to go sharply up, and my body start to pull down to the ground. Then, the straps that secured me released automatically. I was suddenly thrown out of the ship, into the storm. I was in free fall, and the sand blocked my view. I clutched my hand that held the bag to double-check it was still there.


    I hit the ground. The impact came as a complete surprise. I had no way to see it coming. I felt myself roll several times down a hill before finally coming to a rest face down. I pushed myself off the ground, being careful to hold the bag tightly. The wind blew past me at speeds I could not fathom. The sand was buffing against me, trying to break through my skin. The goggles that covered my left eye broke with the impact, and sand had already started to fly into my eye. I shut it to keep it from getting in further.


    Gripping the bag, I started to try to walk forward. I lost my balance and immediately fell. I would have laid there longer, but the sand was already beginning to pile on top of me. If I stayed still too long, I might be buried. I pushed forward, wandering in the storm. What exactly was I doing? Would I walk this storm until I finally dropped permanently? I stopped and looked up where the sky should be. I closed my other eye. I suppose I would wander around a bit longer and pretend like things would turn out well. I took another step forward into the storm.

 Epilogue

    The storm that engulfed the wasteland continued to rage on. The harsh winds were beating on a lone boy who had ventured out into it. Was it bravery? Was it stupidity? He didn''t know himself. He had come out with one purpose. Dressed head to toe in thick clothing, on top of that, he wore a cloak that covered most of that. His head was covered in a thick mask with glass goggles that fogged up with every breath.


    He wandered, though it was not aimless. He had a direction, for he had been given a small device that would act as a tracker. As long as the dot on the tracker was in front of him, he could walk forward. Time was limited; it wouldn''t be long before the signal would be shut off, that is what he was told. So, he walked. What would he find when he reached the dot? Not even he knew what he should expect to see. Still, he walked.


    Over the hill, across a field, through a forest. He passed by plenty of dead scenery, covered by the blanket of the storm. He would never know how far he had gone, nor how he could hope to get back. He had no plans to go back. Once he reached the dot, he would simply choose a direction and keep walking. He had been told he would find his way out of the storm. He was not sure he believed that.


    Finally, the small device started to beep. It was faint and could hardly be heard over the wind. He did not notice it but knew to turn around when the dot suddenly went behind him on the device. He had finally reached the location¡ªa small shelter, or rather the remains of one. Holes in the sides and roof suggested the sand was not being kept out. He walked to the shelter, opened the door, and stepped inside. The room was filled with sand, except for a small corner of it that the remaining shelter managed to cover.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    In that corner sat a girl. She sat pressed into the corner with her knees up to her chin. Her long, red hair covered her face. It was the only color in this dreary scene. She had not heard him enter due to the winds of the storm drowning out all other sounds. He walked up to her and tapped on her knee. She jumped, almost straight up, before losing her balance and falling. He laughed and offered an outstretched hand to her. All the while, he took off his bulky mask and took a breath of the sandy air. She didn''t smile immediately. She didn''t immediately cry. She just stared at him for a moment before doing both.


    She accepted his hand, and he pulled her up. Swiftly, he removed the cloak and wrapped it around her. She donned her mask and goggles, damaged as they were. He put his mask back on. They each grabbed each other''s hands, as to not lose each other in the coming journey. Then he picked a direction. It was entirely random. They began walking forward.


    She had left a bag behind. It was full of a random assortment of expired nutrient bars. Food that gave vitamins but didn''t taste very good. She had held on dearly to that bag that she had now left behind. With each step they took, they got farther from the bag. Another step and their silhouettes were getting blurry. Another step and they were almost out of view. Another step and they could no longer be seen. They would keep taking steps until they reached their goal wherever it may be.