Chapter 256: Day CMLXI, Part I
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I woke up and still was tired, but there was no time for that. I already waited long enough. I did my usual routine and returned to grab the backpack. The barriers were still on, so I had to put them out, and then I went to grab a cart. Filled it with provisions after waiting for my turn, then finally was on my way to the wastelands.
I kept my eyes open, thinking that Ki'rei might show up at any moment, but she didn't. In this manner, I reached the gate. Hatta wasn't lying, they really covered all of them. Two towers stood tall on both sides of the passage, with guards patrolling the walls.
I made it past, and a view of jagged stones protruding from the ground, like fangs of a wild beast, broken earth, and multiple canvases was revealed before me. All of that unpolluted by a single plant. Complete devastation. The memorial of an ancient war that took who knows how many lives.
I started walking, grabbing the attention of guards, that stopped to watch me. They followed me with their eyes until I vanished over the horizon. Here, the usual heat of the day was terribly annoying. The nice cold breeze was now throwing sand in my face.
Maybe half of a day passed before Ki'rei showed herself. She just casually walked from behind one of those large rocks.
- Follow me - she said and started to lead me to the side.
To be exact, right, looking from the city.
- How far is it?
- About a day of travel - she replied.
- It's not that far.
- It's on the edge of the old kingdom on this planet.
- It has to be hidden. Is it underground?
- Yes.
We kept walking through the whole day. I asked her some more questions about the location, but her answers were vague, or she avoided them completely.
I thought we are going to camp for the night, but she refused. According to her, we could rest later, in the home of her, and her masters. When the night came I wanted to light the path with fire, but as soon as I tied it, she started nagging me that it might lure the monsters, although through the whole day I didn't see even a single one.
I had to rely on the 'Eyes of the Void' to not stumble upon uneven ground filled with rocks. Ki'rei seemed to have no problems with traveling with minimal light.
After few more hours, we reached an empty place, in the middle of nowhere. She stopped there and pulled out some kind of device. It was vaguely in the shape of a remote controller or maybe a smartphone. She used it, and from the ground emerged some kind of underground elevator. Big enough for several people or maybe me and the cart - maybe.
I turned the skill of to have a better view. It was black and had few lights on the top part, throwing a bit of white light on the insides. There were no buttons to press or anything. No control panel.
I had to struggle a bit to fit the vehicle in, and Ki'rei had to remain on top of it because there was no more space. I stood between the handles.
Then she used the controller again, the doors closed from the sides, and we started to slowly descend. That was a long process. It could have been even an hour. I started to complain, but she just told me to be quiet, and wait patiently.
When the doors finally opened we found ourselves in front of a white room with seemingly no doors, and no windows. The light was coming from the ceiling. I quickly localized a few thin, and long lamps. She pushed on my back, to make me enter, but I wouldn't even budge. Then, annoyed, she squeezed past me, jumped down, and entered the room herself.
- Come.
Now when she was there, It looks a bit less like a trap, so I followed, pulling the cart behind me. The elevator doors closed, and we both were sprayed by some kind of gas from the holes cleverly hidden in the ceiling.
I hold my breath, but she seemed to ignore the whole thing.
- It's to prevent you from bringing the diseases - she explained. - Normal procedure.
When it finally stopped, the wall in front of us opened reviling a short corridor completely made out of metal, with small lights in the ceiling, making it bright. It was ending with a heavy set of doors. Closed.
Ki'rei without a word went straight there, but since I wasn't following, she looked over her shoulder at me.
- Follow me.
- Are you sure? It doesn't look too welcoming for me.
- Standard procedure. You need to be disinfected and scanned. Come. That's the last part.
I sighed, and followed her, with the cart, obviously. The door to the white room closed behind us, and to my surprise walls of the corridor started moving. They opened slightly horizontally, revealing a set of lenses, that shoot red and green light at us. It took a couple of seconds before everything retracted to its original form.
- Now we need to wait for the confirmation - she explained.
- What confirmation.
- If everything is alright the door will open.
So we ended up waiting for maybe a minute or two before with a gasping sound, the heavy metal door started to rise up. Through the little crack, all I could see at first was bright, white light. It forced me to squint my eyes to be able to see anything, but then my eyes got a bit used to it, and I noticed feet, or rather boots. Multiple. Poking out from something that looked like long, dark robes.
I quickly got my confirmation. Those were indeed robes, dark grey ones, with multiple black buttons, and an even darker belt, with an embroidered pattern that to me looked like a spiderweb.
I also saw the hands, resting on the stomach of the creatures. Long fingers but similar to my own, with an opposing thumb. Skin color varied from dark greyish, similar to the robes, to a dark greenish. There were three of them.
And the door finally rose all the way to show me their faces.
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I woke up and still was tired, but there was no time for that. I already waited long enough. I did my usual routine and returned to grab the backpack. The barriers were still on, so I had to put them out, and then I went to grab a cart. Filled it with provisions after waiting for my turn, then finally was on my way to the wastelands.
I kept my eyes open, thinking that Ki'rei might show up at any moment, but she didn't. In this manner, I reached the gate. Hatta wasn't lying, they really covered all of them. Two towers stood tall on both sides of the passage, with guards patrolling the walls.
I made it past, and a view of jagged stones protruding from the ground, like fangs of a wild beast, broken earth, and multiple canvases was revealed before me. All of that unpolluted by a single plant. Complete devastation. The memorial of an ancient war that took who knows how many lives.
I started walking, grabbing the attention of guards, that stopped to watch me. They followed me with their eyes until I vanished over the horizon. Here, the usual heat of the day was terribly annoying. The nice cold breeze was now throwing sand in my face.
Maybe half of a day passed before Ki'rei showed herself. She just casually walked from behind one of those large rocks.
- Follow me - she said and started to lead me to the side.
To be exact, right, looking from the city.
- How far is it?
- About a day of travel - she replied.
- It's not that far.
- It's on the edge of the old kingdom on this planet.
- It has to be hidden. Is it underground?
- Yes.
We kept walking through the whole day. I asked her some more questions about the location, but her answers were vague, or she avoided them completely.
I thought we are going to camp for the night, but she refused. According to her, we could rest later, in the home of her, and her masters. When the night came I wanted to light the path with fire, but as soon as I tied it, she started nagging me that it might lure the monsters, although through the whole day I didn't see even a single one.
I had to rely on the 'Eyes of the Void' to not stumble upon uneven ground filled with rocks. Ki'rei seemed to have no problems with traveling with minimal light.
After few more hours, we reached an empty place, in the middle of nowhere. She stopped there and pulled out some kind of device. It was vaguely in the shape of a remote controller or maybe a smartphone. She used it, and from the ground emerged some kind of underground elevator. Big enough for several people or maybe me and the cart - maybe.
I turned the skill of to have a better view. It was black and had few lights on the top part, throwing a bit of white light on the insides. There were no buttons to press or anything. No control panel.
I had to struggle a bit to fit the vehicle in, and Ki'rei had to remain on top of it because there was no more space. I stood between the handles.
Then she used the controller again, the doors closed from the sides, and we started to slowly descend. That was a long process. It could have been even an hour. I started to complain, but she just told me to be quiet, and wait patiently.
When the doors finally opened we found ourselves in front of a white room with seemingly no doors, and no windows. The light was coming from the ceiling. I quickly localized a few thin, and long lamps. She pushed on my back, to make me enter, but I wouldn't even budge. Then, annoyed, she squeezed past me, jumped down, and entered the room herself.
- Come.
Now when she was there, It looks a bit less like a trap, so I followed, pulling the cart behind me. The elevator doors closed, and we both were sprayed by some kind of gas from the holes cleverly hidden in the ceiling.
I hold my breath, but she seemed to ignore the whole thing.
- It's to prevent you from bringing the diseases - she explained. - Normal procedure.
When it finally stopped, the wall in front of us opened reviling a short corridor completely made out of metal, with small lights in the ceiling, making it bright. It was ending with a heavy set of doors. Closed.
Ki'rei without a word went straight there, but since I wasn't following, she looked over her shoulder at me.
- Follow me.
- Are you sure? It doesn't look too welcoming for me.
- Standard procedure. You need to be disinfected and scanned. Come. That's the last part.
I sighed, and followed her, with the cart, obviously. The door to the white room closed behind us, and to my surprise walls of the corridor started moving. They opened slightly horizontally, revealing a set of lenses, that shoot red and green light at us. It took a couple of seconds before everything retracted to its original form.
- Now we need to wait for the confirmation - she explained.
- What confirmation.
- If everything is alright the door will open.
So we ended up waiting for maybe a minute or two before with a gasping sound, the heavy metal door started to rise up. Through the little crack, all I could see at first was bright, white light. It forced me to squint my eyes to be able to see anything, but then my eyes got a bit used to it, and I noticed feet, or rather boots. Multiple. Poking out from something that looked like long, dark robes.
I quickly got my confirmation. Those were indeed robes, dark grey ones, with multiple black buttons, and an even darker belt, with an embroidered pattern that to me looked like a spiderweb.
I also saw the hands, resting on the stomach of the creatures. Long fingers but similar to my own, with an opposing thumb. Skin color varied from dark greyish, similar to the robes, to a dark greenish. There were three of them.
And the door finally rose all the way to show me their faces.
I woke up and still was tired, but there was no time for that. I already waited long enough. I did my usual routine and returned to grab the backpack. The barriers were still on, so I had to put them out, and then I went to grab a cart. Filled it with provisions after waiting for my turn, then finally was on my way to the wastelands.I kept my eyes open, thinking that Ki'rei might show up at any moment, but she didn't. In this manner, I reached the gate. Hatta wasn't lying, they really covered all of them. Two towers stood tall on both sides of the passage, with guards patrolling the walls.I made it past, and a view of jagged stones protruding from the ground, like fangs of a wild beast, broken earth, and multiple canvases was revealed before me. All of that unpolluted by a single plant. Complete devastation. The memorial of an ancient war that took who knows how many lives.I started walking, grabbing the attention of guards, that stopped to watch me. They followed me with their eyes until I vanished over the horizon. Here, the usual heat of the day was terribly annoying. The nice cold breeze was now throwing sand in my face.Maybe half of a day passed before Ki'rei showed herself. She just casually walked from behind one of those large rocks.- Follow me - she said and started to lead me to the side.To be exact, right, looking from the city.- How far is it?- About a day of travel - she replied.- It's not that far.- It's on the edge of the old kingdom on this planet.- It has to be hidden. Is it underground?- Yes.We kept walking through the whole day. I asked her some more questions about the location, but her answers were vague, or she avoided them completely.I thought we are going to camp for the night, but she refused. According to her, we could rest later, in the home of her, and her masters. When the night came I wanted to light the path with fire, but as soon as I tied it, she started nagging me that it might lure the monsters, although through the whole day I didn't see even a single one.I had to rely on the 'Eyes of the Void' to not stumble upon uneven ground filled with rocks. Ki'rei seemed to have no problems with traveling with minimal light.After few more hours, we reached an empty place, in the middle of nowhere. She stopped there and pulled out some kind of device. It was vaguely in the shape of a remote controller or maybe a smartphone. She used it, and from the ground emerged some kind of underground elevator. Big enough for several people or maybe me and the cart - maybe.I turned the skill of to have a better view. It was black and had few lights on the top part, throwing a bit of white light on the insides. There were no buttons to press or anything. No control panel.I had to struggle a bit to fit the vehicle in, and Ki'rei had to remain on top of it because there was no more space. I stood between the handles.Then she used the controller again, the doors closed from the sides, and we started to slowly descend. That was a long process. It could have been even an hour. I started to complain, but she just told me to be quiet, and wait patiently.When the doors finally opened we found ourselves in front of a white room with seemingly no doors, and no windows. The light was coming from the ceiling. I quickly localized a few thin, and long lamps. She pushed on my back, to make me enter, but I wouldn't even budge. Then, annoyed, she squeezed past me, jumped down, and entered the room herself.- Come.Now when she was there, It looks a bit less like a trap, so I followed, pulling the cart behind me. The elevator doors closed, and we both were sprayed by some kind of gas from the holes cleverly hidden in the ceiling.I hold my breath, but she seemed to ignore the whole thing.- It's to prevent you from bringing the diseases - she explained. - Normal procedure.When it finally stopped, the wall in front of us opened reviling a short corridor completely made out of metal, with small lights in the ceiling, making it bright. It was ending with a heavy set of doors. Closed.Ki'rei without a word went straight there, but since I wasn't following, she looked over her shoulder at me.- Follow me.- Are you sure? It doesn't look too welcoming for me.- Standard procedure. You need to be disinfected and scanned. Come. That's the last part.I sighed, and followed her, with the cart, obviously. The door to the white room closed behind us, and to my surprise walls of the corridor started moving. They opened slightly horizontally, revealing a set of lenses, that shoot red and green light at us. It took a couple of seconds before everything retracted to its original form.- Now we need to wait for the confirmation - she explained.- What confirmation.- If everything is alright the door will open.So we ended up waiting for maybe a minute or two before with a gasping sound, the heavy metal door started to rise up. Through the little crack, all I could see at first was bright, white light. It forced me to squint my eyes to be able to see anything, but then my eyes got a bit used to it, and I noticed feet, or rather boots. Multiple. Poking out from something that looked like long, dark robes.I quickly got my confirmation. Those were indeed robes, dark grey ones, with multiple black buttons, and an even darker belt, with an embroidered pattern that to me looked like a spiderweb.I also saw the hands, resting on the stomach of the creatures. Long fingers but similar to my own, with an opposing thumb. Skin color varied from dark greyish, similar to the robes, to a dark greenish. There were three of them.And the door finally rose all the way to show me their faces.
