CHAPTER 516

SANCTUM’S END (III)

"Ugh..." Eldon stretched widely, yawning and exhaling deeply. His bones felt extremely rigid, causing him to get up off the oversized chair and walk around the hanging platform for a little while.

He was alone today, his shift lasting whole twelve hours and he was barely four hours in. He truly hated the solitary shifts, yet could only work silently and hope he’ll get promoted soon enough so he doesn’t have to spend twelve hours in absolute isolation every other week.

He kept his eye on the monitors just in case something popped up, but it was a massive rarity. After all, the majority of the space around Adur was entirely charted. Only on occasion would an unknown object fly by, usually being a passing asteroid, but hardly anything of significance.

Hours slowly began ticking by as he did his best to combat the boredom and the desire to fall asleep right then and there. As soon as the clock ticked four, he jumped off his chair and stretched for a minute before bolting out. As the gates to the hallway opened, his replacement stood there dispirited -- Fig. A young lad, barely a few years older than Alana, just shy of two and a half meters.

Eldon looked at he boy sympathetically, the lad’s starkly amber eyes seeming rather teary.

“Hang in there,” Eldon said, clasping the boy’s shoulder firmly in support. “You can do it.”

“... thank you Mr. Eldon,” Fig sighed, shaking his head. “I swear, they aren’t paying us nearly enough for this...”

“... they really aren’t...” Eldon mumbled as the boy faded into the room, the doors closing behind him.

He didn’t let his mind ponder upon the boy for too long, however, as he finally had some time to spend with Alana outside their little apartment. As he had a day off tomorrow, it meant that they could go out to dine tonight and spend the entire day together tomorrow.

He raced home with a beaming smile on his face, his joy so overflowing that he didn’t even curse the eighteen flights of stairs he had to climb -- too much, at least.

Storming into the bedroom, he startled Alana who was sitting by her desk, reading something. The young girl cried out as she stumbled out of her chair and fell onto the floor. Eldon cried out even louder and ran over, helping her up tenderly.

“Dammit, dad!!” the young girl exclaimed, rubbing her back. “Are you going to war or into your bedroom?!”

“... sarcasm?”

“Of course it’s sarcasm!!” Alana growled, sitting back up. “Did you eat? Of course you didn’t eat. You never eat. Look at those bags under your eyes -- do you even sleep anymore? It’s just work, work, work, work with you. Tsk, one of these days I’ll storm into the damn Bureau and give them a piece of my mind!”

“--I-I’m fine, don’t worry about it!” Eldon exclaimed quickly, fearful she might actually do it. “I’m off for today, and I’ve the entire day tomorrow free! So, what do you want to do? Where do you want to eat tonight?”

“Eh?” Alana calmed down quickly, the shimmer in her eyes growing slightly resplendent. “You’re free?”

“Yeah.” Eldon nodded.

“... can... can we visit mom?”

“... of course,” Eldon’s smile turned slightly bitter, yet warm at the same time, as he reached over and caressed the young girl’s cheek gently. “It’s been a while since we visited, huh?”

“... do you think... she misses us, as well?” Alana asked as she nestled into his embrace tightly, her body shivering.

“Of course she does,” Eldon said, pulling her head against his chest, rubbing her hair tenderly. “Your mom misses you very much. While there, we can also grab a bite at Myther’s, you know?”

“... as if we can afford that.” Alana mumbled.

“It’s not your place to worry what we can or can’t afford, kiddo,” Eldon said. “Your dad is just smart enough to manage it, you know? And your dad says that we’ll be eating at Myther’s. I’ve been wanting to try that new fish of theirs for quite some time now.”

"I hear it's awful," she said. "Lyndia said her parents ordered two portions, and threw out three-quarters of it because it was too salty."

“... how about we go for something safe, then?”

“That sounds... good...”

She remained cradled in his arms for a long while, silent, until he finally realized she had fallen asleep. Her cheeks puffed faintly each time she took a breath, causing him to hold in a squeal as he picked her up as gently as he could, carrying her over onto the bed and putting her down.

Pulling the blanket over her with a smile on his face, he went to her desk and began cleaning up; it was mostly her school books and a single magazine about the newest technologies. Eldon felt rather proud as he was able to understand at the very least ten words per paragraph as he skimmed the first few pages, but since he felt sleepiness creep in, he quickly put it away.

“... your handwriting’s really messy, kiddo,” he mumbled, his lips curling up into a smile again. “Just like your mom’s.”

Realizing they wouldn’t be going anywhere tonight, he went to the kitchen and in front of the wide-open wall with just a few buttons next to a glassed hole. He punched in a four-digit combination and waited for a few seconds before the glass moved up, revealing a bowl of steaming soup behind.

He ate in silence, the sole source of light an overhead bulb encased in thick plastic. His mind felt very light; rather, it’s been like that for months now. He had little to complain about, after all. Though the job was difficult, and it would hardly make him rich, it was enough for the two of them. Alana’s grades were at the very top of her year, and he had no doubt she would enroll in the most prestigious Academy. The only question that remains is what she’d like to do when she grows up.

He didn’t care, truly; it was entirely up to her, which is why he never really asked her. Though he did intend to discuss it with her eventually just to confirm she had something in mind, at the very least. As for him? He didn’t matter all that much. A decade more and he’ll have fulfilled all the requirements for the Retirement Benefits, which would be more than enough to carry him through the winter years of his life.

Following the dinner, he stayed up for a few more hours watching the news before also deciding to turn in. They'd have to get up rather early in the morning to avoid the traffic, which is why he set the alarm for before dawn, closing his eyes and nestling into the bed, next to Alana.

It was a dreamless sleep, one from which he was awoken by the annoying, blaring sound of the alarm. Groaning, he barely managed to come to after nearly a minute, sitting up and yawning. Glancing to the side, he saw that Alana wasn’t there, causing his heart to start for a moment. However, as he heard the boiling water coming from the kitchen, he realized she must have woken before him.

He first went to the bathroom before walking into the kitchen. A single table and two chairs, besides the window-wall on the side opposite of the doors, were the only decorations of the dull room.

There was already a wide breakfast spread waiting for him on the table, including the boiling-hot coffee as well as lime pancakes.

"--when did you wake up?" he asked, sitting down and taking a quick sip of coffee. It streamed through his throat like magma, even hurting slightly, though the sensation of joy far surpassed it.

“Not too long ago,” Alana said, taking a piece of bread and putting it into the jar of butter, swooping a whole handful. “You slept well?”

“I guess. Geez, you really need to lighten with the butter,” he said, shuddering. “You’ll get really fat.”

“Oh, look who’s telling me,” she rolled her eyes at him. “When was the last time you tried working out?”

“Never!”

“Don’t say it with such pride!”

“Ah, I’ll go, I’ll go... calm down.”

“Yeah, right,” Alana sighed, shaking her head and dipping the bread into the butter once more. “I’ve already called the Transport. I hope that’s okay.”

"Of course," he nodded. "I hope we'll avoid traffic."

“We should,” she said. “If you speed up a bit.”

“You try speeding up the drinking of the boiling coffee.”

“Then don’t make it boiling!!”

“But you made it!!”

“Because you won’t drink any other!” she exclaimed back. “You have way too many weird quirks!”

“Oh, look who’s calling the kettle black...”

“S-shut up! Eat your damn breakfast!” the girl quickly devoured a whole bread with gusto, while Eldon also sped up, only eating two pancakes as he wasn’t feeling too hungry since he ate rather late last night.

“Alright, go get ready,” she said, getting up. “I’ll clean up.”

Eldon obediently listened, taking a quick shower and dressing up in his best suit -- one his dad bought for him over twenty-five years ago. Though it was old, it had gone past the phase of being ‘old’ and into being ‘retro’. He wore it not too long ago during one of the parties at work, and a lot of his colleagues asked him where he got it. His ego rarely got stroked, which is why he still remembered the party fondly.

They were out of the building in less than ten minutes. Alana wore a simple, slightly loose, lime-dyed silken dress with sun-dyed patterns running across the sides.

The Transport she ordered was of the cheap kind -- an oddly-shaped wheeler with a tall, crescent roof and jets extended on the sides, billowing down yellowish flames. The two barely managed to squeeze in, though it remained quite uncomfortable. The vehicle was self-driving, which is why they hardly cared for comfort since it was intended as the cheapest form of transportation, usually for one person.

“Destination?” a robotic voice quickly asked them as they settled in.

“CIRA, please,” Eldon said. “And speed up if possible so we don’t get caught in traffic.”

"-- a decrease from sixteen minutes of travel to nine will cost an additional twenty credits. Approve?"

“Approve.” Eldon quickly said as he saw Alana trying to reject.

“Idiot! That was two meals worth of credits!” she whispered angrily into his ear.

“Don’t worry about it.” he chuckled lightly and leaned back, as much as he could, as the vehicle began moving.

It first lifted off roughly to a hundred meters, a mid-layered portion of the approved lanes, before leaning slightly forward and bursting forth. It moved roughly six hundred kilometers per hour which, though on the lower end of things, was still rather speedy.

The two spent their journey in silence, Eldon locked in his thoughts while Alana tried to glean some of the blurred buildings outside through the window, though with little success.

Luckily, they managed to avoid the morning jams, which meant that they arrived in less than nine minutes -- just as the A.I. promised they would. The landing was rather rough, causing their inner organs to tumble slightly, and for Alana to feel sick for a moment, though, otherwise, it went without a hitch.

They exited straight in front of a massive building made out of cyan glass and framed, shimmering steel beams, rising to over two hundred floors. It loomed over the surrounding buildings like a behemoth, gigantic ‘CIRA’ looming over the exit.

Streams of people went in and out, people of all walks of life, and Eldon and Alana joined the newly entering group silently.

The insides of the institute were massive, as though they entered the belly of a titan. There were over a hundred elevators spread throughout the ground floor leading up, with reception built around the central pillar of stone decorated with dozens of monitors. The institute’s staff raced left and right to accommodate anyone who might have some questions, but the two of them had no need for the help as they’ve underwent this ritual a lot of times before.

They quickly left the group and bound right, toward the further edge of the ground floor, one far less populated than the main portion. The glassed floor beneath gave way to the stone-tiled one, decorated and bright walls replaced by the ones that saw little maintenance. Reaching the corner elevator, steel-built device unlike others which ran on Augmentation, they entered and specified the eighteenth floor.

The ride was rather loud as the cables tumbled over the rusting gears, with Alana even exclaiming fearfully once or twice in the process. It, however, didn’t last that long, less than a minute. Exiting, they found themselves inside the familiar hall, with over a hundred different rooms spread about.

Eldon quickly pulled the card through the Checker; the device took a moment to register and dissolve the electric guard over the gateway.

“--Room 4463. Time limit is one hour.” the robotic voice informed them as they walked past, though neither caught much of it as they’ve heard it countless times before.

The hallway had a rather tall ceiling, and divided this quarter of the floor into four squares altogether, the hallway forming a cross at the center. Room 4463 was to the left of the intersection, nearly toward the end. It was gated by the wooden doors, which opened as Eldon dragged the card through another Checker.

The room itself was rather cramped, barely enough to fit ten grown men side by side, yet enough to fit what it was supposed to hold.

Alana’s expression soured immediately, her eyes growing teary as she walked over to the other wall of the room where, perched against it, an amnesty-decorated, glassed coffin resided. Over a hundred pumps stretched from its sides and into the wall behind, going somewhere into the building.

Inside the coffin, a middle-aged woman, just shy of three meters in height, lay still, her hands crossed over her chest, entirely naked. Silver hair spilled back over the pillow and to the coffin’s sides. She was just as she was the last time, Eldon mused as Alana put her hands onto the coffin, leaning against its cool surface.

“... I hope you’ve been well,” Eldon said, walking up, placing the hand onto the coffin himself. “Biyung.”