The first word that came to mind for the city of Varnoss was ostentatious. Everything, and it really was everything, was golden. The buildings were a glittering gold, reflecting the pale light of a yellow sun. Hovering spaceships flitted about like hummingbirds across the skyline, a metallic gold sheen on their wings. Even the streets were golden colored, a rose gold that contrasted with the greener buildings.

The boomerang ship transporting Caleb nestled in between a group of electrum buildings and deposited everyone onto the walkway below. Caleb looked down at the busy streets. Various aliens walked around in golden robes similar to Sorossa's on the streets below. All of them walked with purpose to their destinations.

Caleb's eye followed one walker as he was guided along the walkway path to a transport waiting at the end. The alien held onto a leash that a lizard was pulling on. The thing was big as a large dog and acted the same way. It would scamper around playfully and interact with the others passing by. Some aliens would bend down to scratch the animal under its chin.

A guard gave Caleb a small tap on the shoulder. "We're boarding the vessel now," They said.

"Right right," Caleb answered. He sat down on a chair inside the transport. A belt looped over his body and tightened around him as the vessel took off into the air.

As he passed by the various buildings, Caleb had to ask. "Is everything in this city golden?"

"Just about," A guard answered, pride in his voice.

"The splendor of Varnoss is shown through its people," Sorossa chimed in. "Our artisans and laborers spent years crafting the perfect image of the city, and everyone in the area strives to work for the glory of all Varnoss."

Caleb gave a sideways glance to the Exaltor. "Seems a bit much though. Kinda blinding."

A young alien flew by on a golden Segway.

"Ah look, we're arriving," Sorossa said.

The transport landed in a courtyard in front of the shiniest building Caleb had ever seen. This reminded him of that bean sculpture up in Chicago, but golden. He had vacationed there to meet an online friend and had marveled at the way his reflection bent in all directions. He'd gotten pictures of him under the structure, surrounded on all sides by the reflections of him and his friends.

The building in front of him was like that, but worse. He could make out all sorts of people ferrying in and out of the large doors ahead. Each one was accompanied by a reflection of themselves that walked with them. The image would bob up and down as each person walked, stretching and shrinking as the walkers crossed corners and pillars. "It looks like a funhouse," Caleb murmured.

Even the pavement was reflective. As Sorossa brought Caleb forward he saw his and the other's feet reflected on the pathway. Caleb caught a glimpse of bare legs under Sorossa's robe and quickly looked straight ahead. He was not about to catch a glimpse of some alien's unmentionables. On his left and right, Caleb noticed other landing areas. Another ship touched down at the open area to Caleb's left and he saw another group of golden robed aliens march out.

Caleb and the rest merged with the other group as they all arrived at the end of the courtyard. He was mashed between the guards as everyone squeezed together to fit into the large revolving doors. A line of gold moved forward into the spinning doors and a line moved out at the same time. Caleb was amazed at how efficient the whole thing was. Something like this would have been a nightmare back on Earth.

And with that Caleb got a thought into his head. He knew it was probably a bad thought but it wormed its way up into the good thoughts. As he approached the revolving doors Caleb "tripped" and grabbed the spinning door for support. It slowed to a stop as Caleb kept his weight on it to recover. The first alien to notice was the one about to leave the door. They smacked straight into the golden pane.

The other aliens trying to come out found themselves colliding into each other, backing up the line. The sounds of bodies colliding filled the area coupled with bags falling to the ground as people dropped them to protect themselves. Caleb expected the problem to stop after a few seconds but it kept going. The back of the line didn't stop and kept pushing those up front into the doors. Soon a section of the door had sardined so many aliens together the ones at the end were having to climb over the others to keep from being crushed.

"Recovering" himself, Caleb apologized and walked into the building with Sorossa and the guards. The doors started to move again and the aliens were no longer burdened by traffic. He was having a hard time keeping himself together as he walked forwards. He hadn't expected this much of a reaction! Sorossa was giving him a helpless look as they moved on.

Caleb turned back to look at the line of aliens and completely lost it. His gaze had landed on the section of the door that had packed all the aliens together. As it opened the stuffed aliens popped out like popcorn. Some tripped into the line going into the building while others fell flat on their face from the pressure of those behind them. The whole thing was too much for Caleb and he laughed all the way out of the front room while Sorossa squeezed ever harder on his makeshift stress balls.

The Exaltor and his guards brought Caleb over to a set of stairs leading up. Caleb was still recovering from his laughter, taking deep breaths as he was brought onto the steps. The whole group lifted upwards and Caleb realized this was an escalator and not stairs. On the other side, Caleb saw more aliens going down, oblivious to the mistake he had caused earlier.

Caleb had to ask. "Hey, why isn't anyone reacting to the door jam?"

Sorossa squeezed on the stress ball again before answering. "The appropriate workers will come to sort it out."

Caleb turned back to look down at the chaos he'd caused. He saw a portion of the line had been redirected towards the other revolving doors, with no complaint from anyone in line. Aliens in a blue-gold robe were gesturing for the line to move and some were setting up a cordoned area. No one complained about the extra wait that came with merging the two lines together. Caleb knew you wouldn't see that from any line on Earth.

On the outside, a group of aliens dressed in white gold kneeled down to treat the injuries of those present. They were encircled by more of the blue-gold aliens. Caleb assumed the white gold robes meant medic and the blue-gold meant police. One by one, the medics would go over to an alien on the ground and treat them. None of the aliens would cry out for attention and none of them would try to get the attention of a passing medic for help.

"You're all like a bunch of ants," Caleb said.

"Sorry?" Sorossa replied, turning to listen.

"You all have your job and never try to do anything else than what was assigned. Like ants." Caleb explained.

"Of course," Sorossa said. "The Emperor has given each of us a role and it is our goal to pursue mastery of that role over our lifetime."

"Seems fake but okay," Caleb jested.

"You should be the same," Sorossa said. "The Emperor would have given you a job after you swore yourself to him."

Caleb nodded. "Right, yeah. Sure." He wasn't about to say that it didn't have any effect in the middle of the capital. He might've been immutable but it would get boring slogging through the whole place to escape. Plus, he was sure there were some good aliens around here. Maybe some that lived in the sewers away from the others and hadn't bought into this whole emperor thing. On second thought, the sewers were probably as golden as the rest of the city. Maybe away from the capital then.

Lost in his thoughts, Caleb allowed himself to be directed past a group of blue-gold aliens and down a hallway to an elevator. As he pondered what golden sewers would look like (and how to keep them clean) Sorossa brought them out of the elevator and into a large amphitheater. The Exaltor's shoes clacked on the ground and echoed across the entire room.

"Is this the one?" A voice spoke.

"It must be." Another said.

"It looks weak." Said the last.

Caleb looked up at the voices that interrupted his thoughts. He was in the middle of pondering the golden sewers problem (maybe the aliens had golden shits) and wasn't happy with the break from his train of thought. The three aliens in front of him were ancient, or at least they looked ancient. They stood at the top of the theater, hunched and resting on a cane.

The three shambled down the steps towards Caleb, each wrinkled face plastered with emotion. The one to Caleb's left was sad, in all spectrums of the word. Lonely, hurt, guilty, embarrassed, you name it the alien showed it. The one to Caleb's right was the same but with anger. Caleb saw flashes of aggression, bitterness, skepticism, and betrayal. The last, the one in the middle, held a face of happiness. As it neared flashes of curiosity, inspiration, and even arousal appeared on their face.

Caleb placed a hand in front of him to ward off the old alien just in case.

"I can't read him!" The middle one laughed.

"Nor I," The left one lamented.

"I can't either!" The one to the right raged.

"Are you doing a bit?" Caleb asked. "Am I being pranked?"

Sorossa tensed, squeezing his stress relief. No one who swore to the Emperor would dare to show this much disrespect. But Sorossa had been there when Caleb made the oath. He had seen the light of the Emperor surround the man. Sure, there was always a transition period. Sorossa remembered the first time he witnessed an oath of fealty. It had taken a bit of time for the alien to settle into his job. But Caleb was acting the exact same as always!

"Ha! He's funny!" The middle one giggled.

"But a bit mean…" The left one bawled.

"We're the Emoters, you idiot!" The right one barked.

Caleb looked between the three. "You mean you…" He trailed off.

"Yes!" The middle one clapped.

"We interpret the Emperor's feelings," The left one sobbed.

"And don't you forget it!" The right one scorned.

The room was silent after the last echo of, "Forget it!" passed through everyone's ears. Caleb was taking turns looking at the three Emoters while Sorossa squeezed his stress ball. The Emoters were staring at Caleb, trying their best to read the blank face. Finally, Caleb spoke.

"So is the Emperor mute?"

The Emoters looked at him.

"What?" All three said.

"Is he mute? Can he not speak?" Caleb elaborated.

"He doesn't need to speak!" The one on the right yelled.

"Whatever he does, we know what it means," The one on the left wept.

"And we love to do it!" The middle one exclaimed.

Caleb looked between the three. "But why? Shouldn't the emperor be able to say what he wants?"

"Ah! But what he wants isn't always what he means!" The middle one chuckled.

"And he doesn't talk to us anyways," The one on the left mourned.

"And do you really think the Emperor has time to talk to his subjects?!" The one on the right accused.

"I feel like that's the point. Leaders lead and all that." Caleb answered.

"But he does!" The three exclaimed.

"Every movement of his glorious frame gives us hope!" The middle one said.

"Every twitch brings tears," The left one sobbed.

"Every action brings fiery retribution to his enemies!" The right one snapped.

"He is our everything!" The three said in unison.

"Umm…" Caleb looked over to Sorossa, but the Exaltor had dropped to his knees with a look of reverence. Caleb looked back to the three Emoters, they were shining with a tan light. He looked back to Sorossa who was now covered in the same light.

"Damn it," Caleb cursed. "You worship a god-emperor."