The Graveyard

They've been walking for days. The city never showed itself on the horizon. The moon rays were caressing their skin, which was turning yellow. The lack of food and water didn't kill them, much to their surprise, but their bodies were acting weirdly. Their bellies were swollen and their eyes sore and red.

It was freezing but their bodies were enduring the cold easily.

"How far is the city from here?" asked the youngest one to Kurban.

"I think…six or seven miles. I'm not sure"

"Do you think that they will get us back in it again? I feel like an outcast right now" asked to oldest.

"I don't know but I don't think that they will let us in. We're considered traitors"

"Yes, but we can still get into Haguel through the dump's drainage channels, can't we?"

"We've never been beyond the gates, and this is the first for all of us in this situation. I don't want to give you hope. I don't want to tell you lies. And, anyway, how do you plan to get past the walls?" told him Kurban.

Then they stayed silent for a while. The desert made them feel lonely even though they weren't alone.

A soft breeze started coming from East. It blew on sand. The dunes were swaying like wave crests.

There was something familiar about the place they were in. It was an odd sensation.

"Guys, wasn't the Kirkegaardsand like a valley surrounded by dunes, was it?" asked the youngest one.

"Yes, why?" asked the oldest.

"Because I think that we've been moving in the wrong direction"

A strange silence followed that sentence.

"How could it be, where are the others then?" asked Kurban.

"I don't know"

"Keep moving. They couldn't have disappeared into thin air"

Their feet increased their pace.

The wind was blowing harder.

One of them stumbled down.

Kurban went beside him to help him.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes. I think that I've hit something"

He stood up and all of them tried to look for what was standing in his way.

At last, the oldest picked up a pair of shoes.

"They are exactly like ours," told him.

They started looking for more. Other objects which belonged to their co-workers emerged from the sand.

"What's going on?" asked one of them.

Kurban and the old one looked in the eyes.

"We need to find shelter" stated Kurban.

"Do you…do you think that they're dead?" asked the young one.

Kurban didn't say anything.

That night there were a lot of customers and Pyramus felt overwhelmed by the number of orders he had to manage. His superiors were putting a lot of pressure on him. The Halars who were seated at the tables were ordering a lot of fish and steamed vegetables, more than usual. That seemed odd to him. No one cared about the fact that the Hara has been sealed. Most of them were happy about that. In the end Guels didn't matter to them. He was worried. It wasn't a simple situation. Gluskap has been able to help him so far, but their operation was taking too long.

"I'm sorry, I'm talking to you. I'm trying to order my dinner," shouted a customer.

He refocused and recomposed himself.

"Salmon's sashimi and a mix of grilled veggies" ordered him.

He wrote it down and, after nodding, left to reach another table.

For two hours he kept serving posh people, tireless.

His phone ringed during one of his few free moments.

It was Gluskap.

"Hey Py, did you take the Dillinger's Mask?" asked Gluskap.

"No, why would I, that's yours. Have you looked in the showcase?"

"Yes, and it's missing"

"What about your brother?" asked Pyramus

"It's impossible. He doesn't care about it"

"Yes, but he used your office recently"

"I seriously doubt it. My brother is too focused on his job to think about my stuff"

A weird silence followed that sentence.

"Do you think that he knows?"

"No…no. I'm sure about that. We've been extremely careful" reassured him Gluskap.

"I think…"

"I'm sorry" intruded Pyramus's boss.

He put a hand on the phone and moved his eyes toward his superior.

"You can go back home" stated him.

"Really? I thought that today was a busy day"

"Pack your things and go home. You're fired"

Pyramus terminated Gluskap's call and get rid of his apron.

"Just to know. What's the reason?" asked the young lad tense.

"New rules mean new cuts. Be grateful to the Guels. They managed to fuck this city up, again"

"You can't do it" stated Pyramus

"Don't make a scene and go home son. I don't want to call the security"

Pyramus gave him an angry look and then moved away. He just wanted to scream and cuss. He couldn't understand why the lockdown would affect a business which is based on Halars only. He wanted to tell his boss the truth, but he didn't want to overcomplicate things.

He left the restaurant and walked to his car.

A yellow vehicle was standing far from him and two people inside it were looking at him.

The engine started and he started to drive.

He looked in the back mirror and caught the same car.

Probably it was a coincidence.

After curves and queues in the Hara's streets he still found that odd car behind him.

He felt uneasy.

He started changing his route to lose it.

He delayed his return home of two hours. But the car was still there.

He decided then to get home as soon as possible. He hoped to lose the yellow vehicle in the traffic jam.

Thankfully it disappeared when he reached his block.

He parked his car and looked.

In a purple car there were two guys who were looking at him and eating.

He started moving toward them. Slowly.

Suddenly, they started the engine and went away.

That was odd, too odd.

His phone ringed again.

"Are you ok?" asked Gluskap worried

"Yes"

"What happened?"

Pyramus didn't answer immediately.

"We're running out of time. Maybe we have to ponder the idea to move to Zerzura sooner"

Tithon was working on a project about the building of a new transportation system in Haguel to help the workers reach the DIYU faster when Malsumis went through his door. He was with a guy whose face wasn't new to him. His unnaturally grey hair and the infinity shaped claw. He looked like an Halars and it seemed odd to have him there.

"He's Alastor. You're going to work with him on your project because his department is strongly linked with yours"

Tithon didn't say anything. Alastor too.

"Alright, it seems like you have a lot to discuss. I'm gonna leave to let you find a starting point. Good Luck" said Malsumis while he was leaving the room.

Alastor looked at Tithon. A little grin on his face.

"What?" asked Tithon

"I don't understand why he assigned me to you because I despise your race"

"My race? Only because I'm a Guel and you're a Halar we don't have to hate each other"

"It isn't about that. I know who you are and how you came to be. I've seen you evolve into what you're know. I was there when it all started"

"What then?"

"You should remember me. I was there when you got your first promotion, and I was there to remember you that you're shitty at public speaking"

"So, you're the one who liked to annoy me based on racism"

"We all know that you're here because you bend to Malsumis like a slave…"

"What the fuck are you saying?" Tithon stood up and put himself in front of him.

"Ikuinen, please. Your integrity disappeared long ago"

"You…" Tithon showed him his fist.

"What? Is that really what you want to get to? We need to work. It's the only way to retain our job"

Tithon calmed himself down and sat down again.

"Alright Alastor. Just…for now"

"For sure. It'll be quick and easy" joked Alastor.

"Take a chair and sit here, please. We need to talk about the new beads model"

He was moving his paperwork when a flyer felt on the table.

"Forankret i Løgner? I love that place," said Alastor

"Really?" asked Tithon

"Sure. They have the best caviar on the planet. Did you try the Bluefin Tuna?"

"Yeah, it's delicious. I mean, I used to eat at Exin but Forankret is on another level"

"Unfortunately, we can't get to the Hara right now. Have you ever been to the Amistad de Sangre?" asked Alastor

"No. What is it?"

"A nice place in Alusta"

That name felt uncomfortable for Tithon.

"Is everything alright?"

"Just…."

"Considering that we're here and we need to get along, I think that we should go there" proposed Alastor

"I'll think about it" said Tithon

"Alright. We'll see. What were you saying about the beads?"

Commander Mabdil showed his badge to the screen. Shortly after the door opened, a doorman greeted him and accompanied to the elevator. He chose the last floor. The elevator quickly moved up and reached its destination. He left it and paced a long corridor made of dim white lights and glasses.

Two whiskers were standing in front of a door set at the corridor's end.

They checked his documents and let him through.

The room was lit by a huge monitor set in the middle of the table. Four people were standing around it.

He reached the empty chair which was standing right in front of him and sat on it.

"Who is that?" asked him while looking at a picture on the monitor.

"He's our lead for the Haguel's case" stated Malsumis

"Am I not supposed to…"

"No, you're not. Me and my brother have handled this mess together to ease your job"

"Covering your bad deeds isn't exactly my job" remarked Mabdil

"Is there anything wrong with that Commander?" asked a female voice

"Well, we wouldn't have to deal with the Hummingbirds if you would've listened to me"

"Commander, the order came from Lady Gehenna herself, you can't go against it" said Gluskap

"What's the point of keeping alive a couple of traitors and feeding them to Drekavac's mutants?"

"Because after the Aokigahara's suicide we don't want to have another problem like that"

"Alright but what about the fact that your asset has unveiled the truth? People are asking questions"

"Don't worry about it. Her body is being grown right now" stated the woman

"It isn't our only worry right now. I wanted all of you here because I think that we have a mole in our team. And I think that he's the key to find out who we're dealing with" said Malsumis

"Why him?" asked Gluskap

"Because his characteristics fit Ikuinen and Perteklinis description of Alusta's bomber"

"And why do you think that we have a mole then?" asked the woman

"The Hummingbirds are still alive and untouched. They know what are our weaknesses to the point that they know exactly how we think after situations like Alusta's bombing and Endymion Ikuinen's murder" answered Malsumis

"What do you want me to do?" asked Mabdil

"Find out more about our target and, if necessary, apprehend him," said the woman

"Can we dismiss the meeting than?" asked Gluskap with a worried tone in his voice

"Is everything alright Gluskap?" asked Malsumis

"Sure, I just need to go because I have a late dinner with a girl from Valsgoud" said Gluskap while leaving the room

No one said anything. Everybody knew that relations were a temporary thing.

When Gluskap left the room, the monitor turned off and the light turned on.

"Commander, we don't trust him" stated the woman

"Miss, what are you saying?" asked Mabdil confused

"She is saying that we think that Gluskap is the mole"

"Why are you so sure?" asked Mabdil with more doubts in his mind

"Because our asset got interesting information from his old colleague"

"Are you talking about the watch?"

"Yes Mabdil" answered Malsumis

"What if you're wrong? I think that my men should take a…" started Mabdil when the lady interrupted him by lifting a finger

"Just do as we said. The Department of Security has been doing covert operations for ages. Considering that you're a fourth-generation model, you have missed a lot during your reboots" stated her

"Yes…yes Miss. What about your fiancée?" asked the Commander

"I don't care about him, why would I?"

"Lilith, you need to be sure about that, otherwise your mother won't be happy about that" suggested her Malsumis.

Kurban and his companions were starving after weeks without having any kind of food or water. Without a compass was hard to find the right and avoid finding themselves in the Kirkegaardsand again. They just wanted to get back to Haguel.

Hot days of incessant walking and cold nights of watches, waiting to find out who decimated their co-workers.

The horizon felt always distant and unreachable. Two steps ahead felt like nothing.

It was harder when sandstorms infuriated on them. Without a shelter, they were exposed to them, and their skin was becoming pale, weakened by the sand and the lack of nutrients.

"What are you going to do when we'll be back in Haguel?" asked the youngest

"Let me think…I'll have dinner with my wife. I miss her housemade sushi"

"Sushi, isn't it a bit expensive for a DIYU's worker?"

"Yes, but I think that we would celebrate kid. What about you…?"

"Lunukin. You can call me Lunukin"

"Lunukin, interesting name. I'm Kera, by the way" said the old one

"Well, about your question. I don't have a partner and I don't have a family; I just know that there are people who consider me a friend of them. And there's also this guy who always calls me…Alastor"

"Why? Is he insane?"

"No, I think. He told me that I remember him of one of our managers. He said that my hair and face are the same as a guy called Alastor…I don't know really" explained Lunukin

"What about you, Perteklinis?" asked Kera to Kurban.

"Well…"

"I don't think that Tithon Ikuinen wants you back but, is there someone who's waiting for you at home?" said Lunukin while trying not to touch a topic which was hard for Kurban to approach

"Yes, actually. Her name is Endymion"

"How is she?" asked Lunukin

"She is…gorgeous. The purest, most beautiful person I've ever met"

"Do you love her?"

Kurban waited a little to answer. His memories of her were still there and she was worried about her relationship with Tithon.

"Why didn't you tell her?" asked Kera

"To be sincere. I was in a hard spot"

"How?"

"She was the wife of the guy who put us here" said Kurban with rage in his voice

"That's bad Kurban. I hope that she's well. For your sake" tried Kera to cheer him up

Lunukin moved ahead of the group, toward a strange spike which was emerging from the sand. He started moving around it.

"I hope so…I'm still…"

"Guys, come here, I've found something, it's…"

Lunukin disappeared in front of them. Swallowed by an invisible hole.

Kurban and Kera ran toward the spike.

Kera went down too.

Kurban slowed down. He turned around to understand what was happening.

He stepped ahead.

The sand started opening under him as he was being sucked down in the sand.

He felt on a metallic tube and started sliding down with increasing speed.

Arrived at the pipe's bottom he found Lunukin and Kera who were slowly standing back up.

"Where are we?" asked the young lad.

Suddenly the lights turned on.

All around them were lying infinite piles of bodies.

Kurban was at ease, like he had been there before.