38:29

So, hours later, the mission that they were talking about has started, as the M soldiers are patrolling around the City of Above to find more and more C borns. DU5TIN seems to be walking alone around the city though, as he waits for his people to do their work. Wherever he goes, he is greeted politely by the citizens and other soldiers. After all, he has an important rank that everyone knows about, not to mention that he is the disciple of the General himself. But he doesn't look happy about this life he has even so. Is it because of the rank? Is it because of the work? We don't really know, but it is a matter that simply won't get solved so easily.

Now as the patrolling has started and a few soldiers have already found some of the C borns that are hiding around the city, he stands and waits for his people to bring the C borns and to make the next orders, while others remain behind with him. Though the others talk to each other, he doesn't seem as he wishes to do it as well, staying all by himself and just wandering around as said. Minutes later, some of the people got back and managed to catch one C born that is crying heavily, scared for good.

[CBorn]-...No, plehehease! Don't do this to me! Let me go, please!!

[MSoldier4]-Shut up, you stupid brat! You don't have any rights of freedom after everything you've done! Your kind are just monsters playing victims!

[CBorn]-Please! Please, let me go!! I didn't do anything wrong! Please!!

[MSoldier4]-Move already!

And he seems a bit young as well, no older than eleven, a simple C born that goes into the category of "Lost Children of Heaven". He is crying so loudly, afraid of what's going to happen to him, just like all the other C beings that are caught by the M soldiers. Yet DU5TIN cannot help but just look at him. He doesn't seem pleased, but this is his job in the end.

[MSoldier5]-Officer DU5TIN!

[DU5TIN]-Hm?

[MSoldier5]-Where are we taking the slaves?

[DU5TIN]-Just get them to our base. I will hand them over to the General when he has the time.

[MSoldier5]-Should we hand them over for you?

[DU5TIN]-No. I can do it on my own.

[MSoldier6]-Apologies if I'm interrupting, but the last time I checked, we had no places left for the slaves in our base. Where do we put those that we find today? Do we get rid of those that we already had and make space for the new ones?

[DU5TIN]-I already spoke to Officer YUT0 and promised him the slaves he saw at our base for some researches. I will hand them over and this way we will have space for the new ones. If anything, I will leave with the transportation team in a few minutes to solve the problem myself. Colonel AL4UNUS will be in charge until I make my return, understood?

[MSoldier5]-Understood. No worries, Officer. We will do our duties while you are away with work.

[DU5TIN]-I didn't say I fear the fact that you will be lazing around until I get back. But if you promised, then keep your word.

[MSoldier5]-Right...

[DU5TIN]-Anyway, I should get going if I want to complete my task. And please, don't make AL4UNUS's life a living Hell.

[MSoldier6]-I'm afraid that none of us can promise such thing, Officer. Technically speaking, even if we try our best to keep everyone to behave properly, there are still some soldiers which won't follow the orders once you are gone. And you know that very well...

[DU5TIN]-*sigh* Just don't do anything stupid, alright?

[MSoldier6]-Alright.

So, once he has made the orders, the young Officer leaves with the transportation group as he said, taking the one C born they've found now and going to solve the problem regarding the space of the building. Minutes later, DU5TIN meets up with said Officer YUT0, talking about this subject further.

[YUT0]-Officer DU5TIN! Long time, no see!

[DU5TIN]-Are you here to chat or to work, Mr. YUT0? Because I'm here to work.

[YUT0]-Hmph, cold as always. You sure didn't change at all. Such an isolated child... how sad. Alright then, you do you. So, did you bring the slaves you've promised me a few hours ago?

[DU5TIN]-They are in the vehicle. Ask Mr. ZAF4R about them and tell him that you have my approval on taking them to your place. Now, if you excuse me, I have other matters to solve.

[YUT0]-Oh? You want to leave already? How come YOU don't bring them to me?

[DU5TIN]-I have other problems at my base that I need to look into, I can't just stay forever in one place. You can take them on your own. I do not need to waste my time here.

[YUT0]-*sigh* Alright, alright... Just give me a second to speak to Mr. ZAF4R and I will let you go to your next destination.

While the Officers were talking, the little C born who got caught seems to be watching in fear his fate, guarded by some soldiers to not run away from the vehicle. In the vehicle in which he was standing though, there are more C borns present than just one. All seem so unlively, like they've lost all their hope long time ago. Only he looks afraid, while the others don't even care anymore, as they gave up on the idea that they will break free and go back to their normal lives of running away.

And so, when the Officer comes, he asks for the slaves as said, and the soldiers start handing them over one by one, all except a C born, the little boy that just got caught. After everything is done, he remains alone in the vehicle, starting to look outside again, seeing all the others get dragged to follow the other Officer, while DU5TIN has already left.

Then, minutes later, the vehicle starts moving and goes towards a tall building, most likely the base in which DU5TIN works, one of the buildings of the M soldiers. When it stops, the soldiers inside push him out of the vehicle and start dragging him towards the entrance, entering the building in front of them, in which they go in a huge room full of people and organised technology at which they are working. More exactly, they drag him over towards a man that stands in that room, then begin waiting for the Officer to come.

And so he does. DU5TIN arrives a few moments later and goes towards them, starting typing something on a screen that stands on one of the desks. Another man gets closer to the little guy and actives a device from which the gas spreads around them, not taking long before he holds the kid's hand, making a small cut on his finger and getting the blood on a tiny piece of glass. Then, they put the glass into a machine, at which someone starts working and analysing the blood itself. They get some notes as a result, nothing more, being the code of the C born and the date in which he was created by the machine, resulting in it helping the men writing his full code.

Then, DU5TIN gets the notes on his screen in which he starts doing his work as well. While that happens, the others take the small guy in front of a white wall, while someone takes a quick photo of the C born, which also seems like this got to DU5TIN's screen as well. He works for a bit, only for some minutes later to go in front of another screen, one so huge that you could say it's actually a wall too, in which there are way more people working on. He inserts the information that he got on a smaller screen attached to the control panel and then starts finishing everything left to do.

On the screen itself though, there are so many people there, registered throughout those years, as well as a lot of categories. The categories are something like this: C BORNS, M BORNS, R BORNS, SUSPECTS, MILITARY, WANTED and so on. All of them have different categories as well, for example the C BORNS category has green squares around the photos of the people registered, above them being written their location, like who owns the person or in which base the being is used, and others have a red square around the photo being written MISSING, having files of investigations to find the C borns that were seen around the city but didn't get caught. For the convicted from all the categories there is a black square around the photo, while for the dead ones is a gray square. Under the photos of each person on that screen is written their full code and so on and so forth.

If you stay a bit to think about it, this is the panel in which are registered all the people present in this city, adding new people every day from new C borns found to newborns in general. After all, the little guy just got registered in this panel right now as well, being in the category of C BORNS with a green square, above him being written the name of this base for now and under him his full code that was found with the help of his blood code and birth date. But if you look at the category of WANTED, you can actually see a blurred picture with a figure that has voothrav C colour, being maybe who they know as Seven Two, and who we know as CHE5TER, the ruler of the Underground City. Besides Him, there are some more people like citizens who went off the General's words and vanished not long after, but also a few of the soldiers that we know from the underground, with photos that aren't so clear being taken quickly outside this base, just like CHE5TER's.

After DU5TIN is done, it doesn't take long before he makes some signs for people to complete it with more information, as well as updating the files of the slaves that he gave to the other Officer. Each person has a document describing them, like the job they have, the location in which they can be found, friends or kins of the person, and in the kid's case, where they found him and details after details. It's just so that they know a few things about the person, but the work is done on a smaller screen rather than the principal one.

After that, the kid is taken by the soldiers and walked towards the next destination, which seems to be something similar to the prison cells from our world. From now, the boy knows what's going to happen, so he tries to run away but in vain. Because of his struggle, the soldiers knowing that he isn't affected by the gas anymore shoot him with one of their guns to teach him a lesson. He doesn't get injured after all, only if the gas was still affecting him, but he can still feel the pain, making him cry again. And so, they finally lock him up, only for them to leave and him being left alone in the empty cell, waiting for other people to join his misery.

38:51

DU5TIN seems to be visiting the small guy, as he finished with the work at the panel and will have to go back in a few minutes to his people to patrol again. The little guy, on the other hand, seems to be standing on the ground, next to the bars, looking at the floor with his head on his knees and his hands covering it. The Officer doesn't really care though, as he is carrying something like a blanket and a small pillow. He then gets close to the cell and looks at the little guy, speaking to him.

[DU5TIN]-Look at me.

No response though.

[DU5TIN]-I said look at me.

In the end, the kid looks at him more like out of fear. So, DU5TIN takes a deep breath first, then sits down to put on the floor in his cell what he brought.

[DU5TIN]-...You might as well be grateful of my offering, because I don't think you will have an easy life from the moment you leave this place.

Still no response, but as he tries to get up and leave, the kid grabs him by his right foot. He looks back at him again, only for the kid to speak to him for the first time.

[CBorn]-...Help me, please! I know you can help me! Please!!

DU5TIN doesn't respond though either.

[CBorn]-You are their boss, right? You can tell them that I'm innocent! Please! Please... help me...

And yet again, he doesn't respond. But he takes a deep breath once more and looks at the floor, a bit unhappy.

[DU5TIN]-...I'm afraid that's not how it works. I advise you to rest for now rather than trying to convince me to help you out. You only waste your time, as well as you do with mine.

Then, he simply walks away and shuts the door, only for the kid to be left alone again. And so, the Officer goes back to his duty, yet this time he seems to be thinking about something... something that doesn't really please him.

"You know, CHE5TER... You are not the only one who suffers in this world. My entire life I've been taught that your kind are merciless monsters, creatures that we should fear and run away from. Yet the moment I met you and RY4N... you've changed my perspective on these people we call monsters.

I stopped running away out of fear when I saw a C born, I stopped fearing them in general. And it wasn't hate either. I was simply confused on what to believe... The more I met C borns, the more I felt like there is something that nobody told me, as if someone was keeping the truth away from me so that I won't find it. Don't you think that I don't feel bad when I see such souls that I used to hide from be more scared than I ever was?

And even if I wanted to help them or understand them, I just couldn't, not even with my title. The moment they find out what I think about all of this, I will be nothing more than a dead man. No matter what I will do, I will be convicted, just like all the others that disobeyed the General's orders.

It doesn't help that you want to talk to me either. If I ever get caught, I might as well blame you for my death. So why are you doing this? You say you want to help me, yet you make my life even harder than it already is. Or maybe you are simply trying to trick me and wanted me dead all along. In any case, you won't win. You will never do. Bastards never win. So give up on this plan of yours and leave me alone."

The more he worked, the more C borns were caught. The kid is no longer alone after all, as it's past the midnight and almost all were caught off guard. What can you say? In this city, if you have a rank in the military, you can enter in anybody's house even if they want it or not. Not to mention all the negotiations with the slave owners for the C borns going on now. If anything, you can't say that you have a space of privacy in this city at all.

And yet, knowing how Officer DU5TIN feels about all of this, is it even possible to live like this? Knowing that you might be wrong in your actions and all, yet unable to stop because of the people around you? After all, not only the Underground City has its problems, but also the City of Above. The perfect city that the M soldiers dreamt of, yet people still live in fear and sadness.

To think about it, it is said that this city has the highest suicide rates after all, especially when it comes to the M borns. Even if the "M" stands for "Immortals", they can still die. Not from natural causes, but from wounds and blood loss. Most of the people that kill themselves in this city are simply using the gas for some minutes and then jump off a building. The most deaths registered in this city that don't come from executions are, after all... from this method, and nobody is spared from this fate. Even if you think you are alright now, one day you will feel like ending it all. After all, who says DU5TIN is spared from this fate? He is an M born after all. How much will he endure this immortality?