CHAPTER 6: My Time

“Whuzzat the alarm?” Jacob panicked, still keeping a lookout from within his shared cell. “I don’t know what it was,” Vino replied, still tampering with wires from behind another carved-out brick, “But whatever it is, it didn’t come from here.”

“Probably some factory accident or building mishap.” Jake chuckled. “Boy, that would be a sight.”

“What do you have against shayd, exactly?” Vino asked. “Y’know, besides this whole ‘situation’ we’re in. I have my gripes with how they do things, but you seem to have very strong opinions against them.” Jake tapped the edge of the electrified cell out of curiosity, enjoying the sight of electricity arcing from his glass claw.

“Umbral Incursion’s what I have against ‘em. Damn monsters.”

  “Well, the war was hard on all of us. Heck, I was just a kid when it happened. I remember our orchard back home getting destroyed and our family having to resort to… uh…” Vino hastily cleared his throat. “What happened to you during that?”

“You really wanna know? I was a soldier. Terrian Platoon 22. I found an injured shayd and took him in out of the kindness of my core. We nursed ‘im back to health. Two days later, everyone except me was nothing but shards in the wind. You can’t trust ‘em.”

Vino gulped and nervously continued his tampering with the wires.

“Well, I can see why you’d have your reservations after an event like that.”

“It ain’t a road I want to go down again.”

“Yes, I offer my condolences, but we’re going to have to stick with this plan. We need to pick the brain of whatever shayd we end up with in here.”

Jake smiled a crooked smile and flashed his claws.

“Figuratively.” Vino clarified.

“Aw, you’re no fun.” Jake joked.

“This is serious,” Vino explained. “We need this to go off without a hitch, so you’re going to have to do a bit of acting.”

“Easy as jej. I ain’t got any issues being presentable.” Jake said, brushing back the wispy roots on his head. “It’s if he sticks around where we’ll have a problem on our hands.”

“Fine. We still have some work to do, though. Can I borrow you for a second?”

CHAPTER 7: The Law

“CYCLES OF WORK! GONE!” Refanom shook the walls of his office with his indignation as Orsel sat quietly across from his desk. “It’s just— how do you do it? How do you RUIN every single thing you touch? Huh?” Orsel stood up in anger.

“I saved Ytsap’s life!” He shouted.

“Oh, congratulations. I hate to burst your bubble, but your little stunt single-handedly crippled our entire workforce! They’re gonna be out for weeks, and we’re already too far behind after today…” Refanom sighed a great big sigh and slumped back into his chair with one final piece of news to declare. “I’m letting you go, Orsel. As of this moment, you are officially… unemployed.” Orsel snapped forwards in his seat.

“Unem-UNEMPLOYED!? NO! You have to give me another chance! Please! Don’t you know what they do to people like me?”

“I’m well aware.” Refanom smirked. “Frankly, this should’ve come a long time ago. You were always a liability, after all.”

A bang at the door interrupted their conversation. Orsel’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

“You didn’t-” He said, his soul sinking. Refanom opened a bottle of Umbleweed wine he had seemingly been saving for this occasion.

“Oh, but I did. You can come on in, Mr. Glutt!” The door slammed open, mussing up the documents and schematics lining the room. Nestled within the frame was a positively massive shayd with a single, unblinking eye stained with anger and glaring directly at Orsel. “I’m sure you’re familiar with our chief of law enforcement, Yuttoguln.” Announced Refanom, finally dislodging the cork. Yuttoguln grabbed a parchment from his sleeve and read it off in a voice deeper than the black pit.

“Article 2B, section VII, paragraph four— any shayd found not participating in full service of the nation via full-time employment, community service, or other means as specified by the Seven will be promptly and efficiently stripped of their belongings, rights, and freedoms to participate in civil society.” Orsel cowered behind his chair.

“I-I’m participating, look! Community service!” He started picking up the scattered papers from Yuttoguln’s arrival and putting them in a nearby trash bin. “See? I’m cleaning up litter! There! Good as new!” Yuttoguln swept the chair aside and grabbed Orsel’s arm. 

“You have the right to remain silent.”

Orsel was crushed. It was unbelievable, he had been nothing but a model citizen for twenty years here in Shaydon, and here he was cuffed and pacing behind Chief Yuttoguln like a common miscreant. Sure, he had made his mistakes in the past, but he didn’t think he should be incarcerated for them. This is the way things worked here in Shaydon, though. It doesn’t matter if you meant well because once the higher-ups find out you’re of no use to them anymore, you’re swept under the rug.

With his arms cuffed and Yuttoguln leading him toward his jailboat, Orsel plodded forwards shamefully.

“Keep moving.” Yuttoguln ordered as he whacked Orsel forwards with the flat end of his boltcaster. Considering the device was capable of flinging bolts of energy at a voltage high enough to dissipate any elemental, Orsel considered himself lucky that was the only pain he was feeling coming from it. He stepped into the boat’s caged passenger seat, followed shortly after by Yuttoguln, taking his place in the cockpit. His weight shifted and sunk the vessel considerably as he wedged himself into the control booth. With a mighty roar, the boat chugged to life and began to sputter through the canal, towards Orsel’s final destination. As he sat alone, watching the wake shuffle garbage in the canal behind him, Orsel grew quite angry with his situation. Was this really how things had to end for him?! He had saved a life, for goodness’ sake! He rattled against the bars, only to find that they delivered a monstrous shock in response to his rage. Turning to the silent officer Yuttoguln, Orsel desperately plead his case.

“Isn’t there anything I can do to repeal this? I’ve done nothing but good work for-”

“Quiet.” he ordered, still looking diligently forwards. The walkways on the sides of the canal were eerily empty, as most of the Shayd that filled them in the mornings were now at their jobs. Eventually, the sight Orsel had been dreading had finally come into view. The headquarters for Shaydon’s Law Enforcement. Blinding spotlights and cages lined its impermeable walls, while the sounds of hard labor and suffering echoed throughout the air as they passed slowly by. This was where Shaydon’s most dangerous individuals were kept— criminals, murderers, and anyone the nation deemed an enemy to its strength, which in recent times proved to be quite the sweeping generalization. Orsel had heard rumors that law enforcement had begun to crack down on troublemakers as of late, and shayd were beginning to go missing. The city was a strict place, sure, but he never thought he’d find himself on the wrong end of a cage and boltcaster.

Orsel began to notice that Yuttoguln’s boat was beginning to drift past the entrance to the enormous building.

“Uh, excuse me,” He queried. “Isn’t this where we’re supposed to be stopping?” 

“Our stop is further ahead.” Yuttoguln burbled. Orsel’s concern grew as the boat drifted towards Shaydon’s Research and Development district. The waters of the canal gained an oil-slick shine as it fizzed against the edges of the boat as they moved forwards. The smell of chemicals choked the air worse than anywhere else in Shaydon. Being elementals, the population was thankfully immune to poisons and diseases or anything else that would traditionally hinder the health of organic life, but there was no denying it was still an unpleasant sensation. The place was filled with laboratories and testing sites hidden within the depths of monolithic buildings. It was here where Shaydon’s newest ideas were birthed from the brightest minds the nation had to offer, like the many machines and tools used for people’s jobs… Like the one Orsel used to have.

CHAPTER 8: E-Labs

Eventually, the boat stopped at the docks near a bland, out-of-the-way building with the Shaydonian letter “E” marked on its second floor in fading paint. Yuttoguln wedged himself out of the boat, causing it to jut upwards about a foot due to the shift in weight, not unlike the crane leaving Refanom’s construction barge earlier in the day. The chief of law enforcement swung open the door to Orsel’s cage and yanked him out by the cord of his cuffs. As he got his bearings, he found himself being dragged closer to the building by a long cord attached to his shackles. The path’s only illumination came from a flickering sparkbulb hung above a heavy steel door. Yuttoguln banged on the door, with a small slot opening to reveal a pair of eyes— one milky-white like any other shayd’s, and one pitch black and surrounded by metal prosthetics. A muffled voice crawled its way from behind the door.

“Did you come alone?” the individual hissed monotonously.

“Open the door, Ven. It’s just me.” Yuttoguln groaned. A flurry of locks unlatched themselves behind the gate, and it swung open shortly after. Yuttoguln let himself in, with Orsel in tow. He stayed as far as he could from his captors, especially after seeing Ven’s body, the left of which was completely made up of metal parts.

“My apologies,” Ven explained as she re-locked the door, “You understand better than anyone how important security is to this… venture of ours.” Yuttoguln frowned.

“I did as you requested. I expect my payment.”

“Not so fast, we need to see that this one’s up to snuff.” Ven crooned as Orsel cowered behind Yuttoguln. Ven banged the floor of the building with her steel, tendrilous hand. “Eyve! Get up here! We’ve got another troublemaker.” A trapdoor behind the building’s front desk flung open, and Ven’s better half stepped out of it, grumbling.

“Sis, we gotta start swapping off with every other trip down there. I’m sick of getting stuck with— hello… Who is this?”

The two fingers sprouting from Ven’s left arm lengthened from their sleeve, forming a circle. A web of light and symbols formed in the empty space, separating Orsel and herself. She began to list off his personal information as it appeared on her screen.

”Name: Orsel Jino. Persuasion: Male. Eyes: Ivory. Height: 6’4 extended, 5’0 rested. Date of Formation: Azuli 1, 562.”

“He’s cute, too.” Eyve interjected, pulling the cord on Orsel’s cuffs, yanking him forwards.

“I’m leaving that off the record.” Ven scolded, her normal eye lowered. Yuttoguln looked up at the ceiling in frustration.

“Please pay me so I can leave.” Eyve rolled her eyes and grabbed a large sack from behind the front desk, handing it to Ven. Ven opened the sack- it was filled to the brim with Star, the most popular form of currency on Crux. Ven plucked one of the glittering disks of precious metal from within the confines of the bag, admiring the star-shaped cut of glass embedded in its center.

“I’m puzzled as to why you’re so averse to this arrangement. You’re bringing a criminal to justice and contributing to the future prosperity of our nation. Logically speaking, it’s everything you stand for.” She plunked the coin back into the bag, where Yuttoguln responded by quickly swiping it away. He turned and left silently, slamming the heavy door behind him. The two sisters’ eyes drifted slyly over to Orsel, who began to back step away from his captors. 

“Now, listen,” He cowered, backing himself into a corner. “I-I’m sure we can talk this through, this is all just a big misunderstanding. Surely, two ladies of science like yourself can listen to…” Ven clutched Orsel’s cuff-cord tighter as her left arm morphed into an electric prod, crackling with painful-looking bolts of energy. ”… Reason.” Orsel gulped as he finished his thought.