5 Silence is never eternal

Seth walked through town with his maroon red duffel bag over the shoulder.

The town had brick roads and fairly short buildings. All the buildings varied in height, but the tallest ones were five stories tall. Pipes shooting out smoke were on every corner, every building, even the brass street lamps had vents in them, sending smoke up towards the sky. Cars and motorcycles too, sent puffs of smoke flying to the clouds.

'The climate is only going to get worse if we continue like this...'

Seth flipped out his paper with directions again. He stopped in the middle of the street and stared at the paper.

'Red four-story building. Fert road 332. Third floor. How am I supposed to find this house...'

Seth wrinkled the paper back into his pocket and continued walking. People on the streets were scarce. Everyone was working in the underground factories during day time.

Seth found someone on the street and asked for directions. He got pointed in an approximate direction. Seth thanked them and continued walking.

The sky was as grey as any other day. No plants, no wildlife. Breathing in the smoke coming from the plentiful vents on the streets and buildings made the lungs tingle.

'God, what are they making down there that produces this much smoke?' Seth pondered, as he crossed the street. Looking up a sign caught his eye.

'Fert road... it seems I have made it.'

He turned onto Fert road and continued walking. The numbers on the houses passing by.

'300, 302, 304...'

It made him remember his first day in the anti-fumes corps. He felt the exact same, holding a little key and walking, with his head turned left looking for the door with the right number to go through.

Thinking about how everyone was dead now, he had to close his eyes and stop remembering. The pain brought up the flame in his chest again.

'I wonder what Aria is doing now that she has a ridiculously overpowered fume prop. Well no shit, of course, she joined the dome guards special force and is living a leisurely life now.'

330, 332, 334..

'Oh, I nearly walked past it. So this is it, huh.'

Seth stood before a skinny red house, looking at which made him think, 'well, it's shabby but you aren't getting any better.' The house was crammed between two other houses, making it look like a piece of sausage mushed in between two slices of burnt toast.

He walked up the steps leading to the front door. It was open. He walked in, and a steep and narrow set of stairs awaited him. He walked up the stairs, looking at his paper for reference, just in case.

He arrived on the third floor. Tried opening the door. The key took a little persuasion before it gave in and turned. The door opened, and a surprisingly clean room greeted Seth.

He put his duffel bag in the corner and walked towards the windows to open the curtains. The room was almost exactly twice as big as the room he used to stay in with Aria, which by normal standards is still small. But he had experience living at an even smaller space with a roommate nonetheless.

Seth removed the dusty blanket from his bed and gave it a few whips, which resulted in most of the dust flying around the room now.

Seth coughed.

"I see you are setting yourself in already," said an old man's voice.

'When did he-' Seth was shaken by how suddenly someone had appeared behind his door, that he forgot to close.

"If you need any help then let me know! I somewhat own this place. If you have any problems be sure to let me know."

The old man's voice was raspy. He tipped his top hat towards Seth and left while scratching his beard. As he turned his back three metal pipes showed on his back.

"Thank you," said Seth and closed his door.

'Creepy people already, right… what did I expect, this is free accommodation.'

Seth opened his windows to let a bit of the dust out. As the dust went out, smoke came in. Seth closed the windows again.

It was getting noisier outside. People were getting back from working in the factories. He heard people walking up the stairs to his house, and keys clinging. He walked to his door and locked it.

'One can never be too safe. It seems to be getting late, as the workers are coming back from the factories. I should probably sleep.'

He dropped onto his bed.

After a few minutes, the streets quieted down and the neighbors too. It was extremely quiet all of a sudden. No cars. No bikes. Not a soul on the street. Even the hissing of the vents had stopped, as the factories were closed.

Seth's room was so silent he could not hear his own breathing. His ears felt emptier than ever before. His mind was panicking.

'Am I deaf? How does one fall asleep in this silence?'

Seth moved around under his blanket, desperately looking for a comfortable spot, which he couldn't find. He gave up.

He decided to take a walk outside. Closing the door behind him, he felt a severe unnerving uneasiness in his chest. He felt as if grave danger was about to fall upon him. Seth noticed he didn't have his shovel with him. He went back inside, fetched his shovel, and made his way out of the building.

The entire town seemed to be revolving around the same time schedule. Not even a single light burned in any of the windows. Only the lamp posts and a shallow gleam from the dome lightened the empty street.

He spotted a couple of chirps hastily making their way into the gutter.

Seth crouched down and looked into the gutter.

"You are up awfully late, aren't you?" said a familiar raspy voice from directly behind Seth.

Seth was shaken and jumped. He fell on his butt.

"Sorry to startle ya, I just wanted to have a little chat."

"A- Alright. Mind introducing yourself first?" asked Seth, dusting off his pants.

"Oh, right, where are my manners. My name is Reinthal."

"I'm Seth."

"I know." the man said, scratching his beard again.

"How?"

"Mrs. Mapuche sent you here. I know by her."

"Is Mrs. Mapuche the researcher lady?"

"Yes she is," said Reinthal and started walking back towards the building.

"What did you want to talk about again, Mr. Reinthal?"

"I want to show you something tomorrow, and I need you to be up nice and early for that. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes, I guess I can."

"Good. Then go to sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day for you."

"A long day?"

"I will explain later. Now," the two had made it back to the house already, "go inside and rest well." Said the man, pushing Seth in through the apartment door.

He shut it behind Seth, who then made his way up to his room, and back onto his bed.

'A long day, huh...'