The City of Above

51:53

"Later on, we managed to take one of the elevators that lead to the Underground Tunnels which are known to be the border between the City of Above and our city. But I never actually managed to ever see them in person. The tunnels are usually just used by the military since they have duties above, and the entrances which lead to that place are strategically scattered around in order for the M military to not find them at any cost. Since, of course, we stay hidden from them in the underground to begin with. Them finding our place would only lead to everyone being executed at the General's command. That is pretty much the same reason as to why I never managed to see the tunnels or even the City of Above. And that pretty much explains our own fears as well. Even though our ruler allowed us to go and see the sky above as long as we stood hidden and didn't expose any of the entrances. I guess that sometimes fear wins against dreams.

But anyway, once we got out of the tunnels and entered the City of Above, I actually got to be pretty impressed. Our city was pretty much just a village inside a hidden cave, deep underground where nobody could ever find us. The buildings don't go over two or three floors tall and you could say that we got a lot of merchant areas everywhere you look at. Then there are some parks and some areas dedicated to history figures, since our culture mostly focuses on tradition and history. In fact, the tallest building in our city is not actually a building, but rather a structure that includes the Central Military Base and the Central Memorial where the judgements of the guilty are usually performed in front of the public. Why was it made that way if the Central Base has nothing to do with the judgements? I have no idea.

But the City of Above was different. The buildings were so tall that we thought they could get us to touch the sky itself, and there were so many of those buildings that make me unable to count them. It is a huge city after all, but it still managed to impress me. Not only that, but seeing the night sky for the first time in my life was an amazing experience. Yet I still was perplexed by their own system. There weren't many people around the streets compared to ours. It seemed at first as an abandoned city. And only because of that fact alone, I got chills and a bad feeling as if I'm constantly being watched. In fact, their city system is so different than ours to the fact that it took us a long time to actually find an actual bar. And even the bars were different on their own! The idea behind ours is to just take a quick drink and chat with those you come with or with the bartender. But above, the idea of a bar is more similar to a club."

Once they finally entered a bar, their first surprise was that the bar is actually pretty empty. The only person that they saw inside was the bartender who was just standing and watching the empty bar. But no one seemed to be bothered by this idea, even though the plan was different. They enjoyed the idea of the bar being just theirs. Most started having fun on the open area as well, while others decided to just stay and chat with the bartender.

[N04H]-...Mr. Bartender?

[Barman]-Hm?

[N04H]-May I ask for your name?

[Barman]-My name...?

[N04H]-Yeah! Like... how are you called by the others?

[Barman]-...Why do you wish to know my name?

[Student3]-Because it's normal to know the name of the person you are chatting with, that's why!

[Barman]-...

[N04H]-We just want to talk with you, that's all! I-If that's... fine to you...

[Barman]-...In all those years of working in this business, I've never encountered someone that wanted to talk to the barman. So? Are you working for them? Did I not pay something in time?

[N04H]-..."Them"?

[Barman]-To be honest, I've never imagined they will actually hire kids, but everything is possible at this point.

[Student4]-I'm sorry, but what are you talking about?

[Barman]-...?

The barman simply stood quiet in front of the teens that were here to just chat once he heard the answer given back. N04H was starting to get puzzled as well, let alone to try and think about what is he even talking about, or who are those "them" he just mentioned.

[Barman]-...So you actually came here to just have fun and chat?

[Student3]-Yes, Sir!

[Barman]-...

"In fact, even a barman from the above is more different than one from the underground. While in our city, it is normal to talk with the barman himself, the one from the above is avoiding any personal question or even to talk to anybody in general. It just seemed like every citizen of the above is as we've always expected: rude and stubborn."

But while the barman was confused at the whole situation, he decided to look very closely to N04H's eyes without any kind of explanation. The little man's heartbeats increased pretty quickly, since it was a bit of an uncomfortable moment for him, of course. But only a few seconds later, the barman simply stopped and looked away as if he had made his decision. Almost as if he noticed something that he shouldn't have.

[Barman]-...Fine then. Tell me if you need anything.

[Student4]-What about our question?

[Barman]-...

[Student3]-What's your name?

[Barman]-My name... isn't that important. Go and have fun with your friends. I will be here if you need anything else.

"Considering that it is way too hard to communicate with anybody from the above, we just moved along and simply enjoyed our small event. But yet again, I felt like every movement we were doing was being supervised, even in a closed space. And I guess that feeling was actually never wrong, since the M soldiers do watch everything happening in the City of Above."

16.09.1641

01:57

"Probably not much time has passed since we've arrived at the bar, and yet somehow, things were quickly going down the hill. Someone made his appearance at the bar, even though few of us initially noticed that fact. But just in a few seconds after he has entered, a whole group of people followed him and crowded the bar. We were confused at first, and a lot of us stopped whatever we were doing at that time to just look at the new people who just appeared. But just a few moments of analysing the situation made us realise what was truly happening: we have been exposed. The uniforms of each person was the same and they were very similar to the description of the M soldiers' uniform. In other words... we were doomed to a merciless fate.

What did I do the moment I realise what was happening? I hid, of course. I ran quietly to the nearest table and hid underneath it to watch everything from afar. I was scared after all. Everyone knows what happens if the M military finds people like me, so I simply acted on instinct. And I didn't have much to do anyway, I was just a fresh graduate at the end of the day. But I had a suspicion on who has sold us out..."

[NEH3MI4H]-I see everyone is having fun here, am I right?

[Barman]-...Good day, Officer NEH3MI4H! I'm afraid you came at a wrong time. I already informed your people that I'm going to pay the debt in the next ten days.

[NEH3MI4H]-Oh, I didn't come here for your money! I came here because of a rumour about a party at which I wasn't invited. So... what are we celebrating here?

[Barman]-...

[Student5]-W-We are just... having a party, Sir! We wanted to have a little bit of fun between friends!

[NEH3MI4H]-Oh, how sweet... Mind if my colleagues and I join you?

The man did a sign to the soldiers, to which they have started inspecting the kids quickly and in more detail. As to why they've done such action, they wanted to prove whether the teens are normal citizens, or rather whether they are C borns or not. More exactly, they were trying to reap the part that makes their disguises work, being present somewhere around their chest area. N04H was watching everything, not knowing what to do. When they succeeded to take off the disguise from one of the girls of the group, the Officer came in hope that he will see a result.

In order to find what he was looking for, he waited for the whole appearance to slowly reveal itself and make the differences in their races more clear. If the girl was to have normal colours of hair and eyes, just like we and those soldiers do, then she was either an R born or an M born. Or to be more clear, she was a non-C born. If it is for the girl to have a specific colour both at the end of her hair and in her eyes that can react to her powers or even emotions, then she is a C born. When the appearance was revealed, it was pretty clear that she belonged to the C borns, as she had the colour orange in both her hair and her eyes. Everyone, in fact, belonged in that group since they were all C borns, including N04H who has the C colour green. But the soldiers managed to reveal only one of them. Still, they didn't need any more proof than one C born being present in order to take them.

[NEH3MI4H]-...Take them all. Do not let any of them escape.

And with that command being said, all of the teens started running out of pure fear. But it had no point anyway. They all got captured no matter what they've tried. Even with their powers from the gods, they weren't experienced enough to fight the M soldiers themselves.

[NEH3MI4H]-But I will admit, you all made me curious. Where have you been hiding all this time without getting caught, hm?

"...And since we got exposed, the M soldiers managed to take everyone from my group with them. At first, I thought they will get me too, even though I was hiding unlike them. I just stood there motionless under the table, not knowing what to do. But then, the same sphere I've taken from the school's room fell down on the floor. While it did attract unwanted attention and made an M soldier come my way, it also was my only item left to take in my hands and pray to the gods that everything will be fine. And somehow... it did end up being just fine. Because the moment the soldier lifted the table and looked underneath it, he just stood a second and left. I was confused as to why he didn't take me as well. I thought for a second he just spared my life. But then I looked at my hands and realised that I cannot see them anymore. Somehow, I've become invisible."