Aegis placed his fork and knife down on the empty plate. No one at the slave house had bothered teaching him the right way to eat. No one at the slave house had bothered eating the right way either. All the food would be dumped on one giant table that everyone would fight over. It had been terrifying to watch them eat the first time, and sickening to see now. Besides, once he had found the secret route to the miners, Aegis had stopped eating with the rest of the slaves entirely.

He was, unfortunately, going to have to find a new source of food from now on. While Rick had been very understanding of his circumstances, he had asked Aegis to stop returning to them.

"I don't know what you're caught up in White," Rick had said with a fidget that Aegis assumed was concern—once he had told the old man everything. Almost everything anyway. He had skipped the bit about Ska, his surprise brother. "But you can't stay. I can't put the children in danger," he had added, in an attempt to try and justify his actions, "I'm sorry."

Old Rick had been nice enough to give Aegis one final meal before sending him off at least. The only downside to that was having to enter the sewers right after. It would be tough to keep the food in despite the rancid smell of royal waste. But he'd have to. It wasn't like he knew when he was going to get food again. Or even if he would ever get food again.

Aegis said his goodbyes to the children before leaving the miners. Children were innocent, uncorrupted and always made him smile—regardless of their social status. He would have spent time with slave children too if he had met any. He knew they existed, procreation seemed to be a religiously important issue amongst the slaves, revolting as the thought was. Yet he had never seen a child, and no one was nice enough to tell him where they were either.

He hopped onto the slippery railing and made his way back. It wasn't so much the mandatory procreation that had disgusted him, he had accepted that it was the way of this world. No, it was the thought of being even slightly intimate with another person that made him extremely uncomfortable. It didn't matter how many people were shoved in his face, it didn't even matter what they looked like or if they were men, women or queer. Intimacy made him uneasy.

There was also the issue with his age. Slaves may not have had any rights, but Aegis refused to be hitched off to someone twice his age. He was almost certain he was the youngest adult slave around, or he would be once he figured out exactly how old he was.

Aegis continued his feat of braving the railing in the sewage tunnels quietly. Every sound in this metallic hall amplified and bounced off the walls until he couldn't pinpoint the source anymore. For instance, the suspicious solid and liquid mixture pouring down the pipes to his right sounded like they were also doing so from his left, and from behind him.

He could hear the splish splash of it too, and it was an uncanny feeling that almost sounded like motion. Like the shifting of something much bigger than just solid waste.

Aegis froze, discarding his ascent. Instead, he squatted down, clutching the slippery metal bar with both hands for better balance as he stared at the wall across. It wasn't a feeling. The hair on the back of his neck quite suddenly rose, like an ingrained warning.

Someone was watching him.

Someone was walking.

It was impossibly dark under the city. A small, silver ray of light barely illuminated the murky liquid on the walls and floor through the grates on the ceiling. The light was just enough for him to discern the path ahead and the outpour of water from the wall of giant pipes to his right. Yet he was certain he wasn't imagining the outline of a person there.

It most definitely wasn't Kovolic. The idiot wouldn't have missed an opportunity to start nagging Aegis. It also seemed like this person was standing in the questionable sludge, something Kovolic would never do. Aegis couldn't make out much of their clothes in the dark, or even the colour. All he was sure about, was the water running down one of the tunnels to his right. And it parted in three just before it poured into the main section of sludge underneath him. Water would only do that if it was blocked by two solid objects.

Limbs?

It had to be.

"Hello?" Aegis felt more foolish than brave right now. He couldn't fight, he hadn't even managed to scratch his twin! What made him think he was going to fare any better against this person if they decided to attack him?

But there was no attack. Instead, he heard the 'splish splash' of water once again as the limbs moved.

"Are you a slave?" Aegis stood up tentatively as he asked this, hoping to get a better view. Maybe it was just someone terrified and in need of help. He didn't always have to assume the worst. "Do you need help?"

Splosh!

The figure took a step forward, and under the silver ray of the fake moon, Aegis could see.

The man that was still half-hidden in the shadows wasn't in slave garbs. In fact, he wasn't really wearing much of anything. But Aegis knew the face.

He knew this man!

It was the only person who had ever bothered being nice to him. The kind slave.

"AEGIS!"

And Aegis nearly tripped.

He was able to grab onto the metal railing at the last minute, but his feet had fully immersed in the liquid. A wave of revulsion overcame him as something that was undoubtedly not water, slid over his bare toes.

But that wasn't even the worst part. In the ruckus, the slave had vanished, just as mysteriously as he had appeared.

The giant pipes on the wall were empty once again.

So he shot the dirtiest look he could muster at the idiot that had yelled. The idiot in a shiny, white outfit hoisted on the ladder, safe and dry. His stalker, Kovolic.

"What?!" he retorted, wishing he could drown the moron in the infested water.

"Where have you been?" Kovolic demanded with his head held high and his nose scrunched, most likely because of the smell.

"None of your damn business!" Aegis shot back, he could never admit he'd just been in the city. It wouldn't fare well for the miners.

"You were having a conversation with someone," the meddling idiot said next, "who were you talking to?"

"I've been talking to you for the last minute, you nincompoop!" he snapped. He wasn't even sure what the word meant, but he had heard one angry noble calling another that, and now seemed an apt time as any to use it. "Do you realise your mouth moves when you talk," he went on, "or does your tiny mind not register that either?"

Kovolic's eyes narrowed again, but Aegis wasn't going to let him talk. Deflect, annoy, escape. That was his strategy.

"Now, move out of my way!" Aegis yelled as he folded the ends of his dirty bottoms all the way up to his pale, scarred thighs. He shifted his focus to himself, there was no point raging over the idiot anymore. Aegis realised he was never going to be able to walk along the railing now, not with his slippery soiled feet. The only option was to go through the sludge and hope none of it got on his clothes. He was going to smell like shit anyway.

"Move!" Aegis repeated when he noticed that Kovolic had opted to stare down at him rather than budge. "Or I swear I'll knock you off the ladder on my way up."

Aegis really hoped the pretend-slave wouldn't move. Pushing this insufferable halfwit into the infested water would be the highlight of his day. Though as he trudged across the sewage towards the ladder, he saw Kovolic had already receded back to the upper level. A shame, really.

His feet slipped as he climbed up the ladder at least thrice before he finally made it to solid ground. Aegis ignored Kovolic and made a beeline for the water pipe. Like everything in this forsaken sphere, water wasn't controlled by a basic faucet like the one in the slave toilets. Instead, there was a metal plate on the floor beside the water line. As soon as he had walked near enough, an almost transparent, green panel appeared out of nowhere and hovered above the plate. It was high enough for him to use without the need to squat, which was exactly what he needed right now.

Aegis adjusted the fertiliser levels first, like he had been taught to do by the Head Gardener. He moved the dial all the way to zero, he had enough fertiliser caked on his feet and legs and really didn't need any more. He changed the temperature next, a nice and warm thirty-seven degrees. Aegis wasn't sure why or how he still retained the ability to read and write, but he did. Letters and words made sense together, and didn't look like chicken scratches as the other slaves insisted.

He moved away from the panel, letting it vanish into thin air again as he followed the cleverly camouflaged water pipes among the trimmed grass. Every ten steps or so in any garden, there was always a sprinkler. Aegis was going to have a nice and warm—albeit clothed—shower right here.

"You're only allowed to wash once a month."

"Well good thing I'm not," Aegis replied, shutting his eyes to ignore the loud-mouthed Kovolic and try and enjoy the warm water a little. "I'm just watering the garden, and—whoops—I forgot to move." He pretended to wince, "Dammit, my garbs are wet." Aegis was unable to resist a sneer as he tutted mockingly, "Oh well." he ended with a shrug.

"You think you're very clever—"

"I know I'm very clever," Aegis quipped, eyes still shut as the water washed away the muck on his feet until could feel his toes again.

"And I know you were in the city last night," Kovolic snarled.

And just like that, the water wasn't as enjoyable anymore. The shirt clung to his skin uncomfortably, and he was cold. Was this monster going to threaten the miners? He would toss the idiot into the sewers if he did. No questions. No regret.

"What were you doing in Sector 6?"

Aegis' eyes shot open, but he didn't respond. Instead, he decided to stare Kovolic down, just as the nosy idiot had done moments ago. The older man looked smug, like he'd uncovered some big secret.

Moron!

He didn't even get the sector right. Aegis hadn't been anywhere outside of Sector 2. No one would take kindly to a slave out of place, no one but the miners who were already suffering enough.

It was exactly why Aegis decided that he too, had had enough, "Let's get one thing very clear, asshole," he began darkly, his voice low and menacing, "you are not in charge of me. You're not even a real slave, I don't know who you think you're fooling, but it's not me." He watched the man's face twist into a snarl, but he didn't care. This Kovolic was either a stuffy noble or a member of the Hanshö, and Aegis didn't care which one. He also didn't care if the moron was doing this because he was bored, nosy or even a psychopath. "If you follow me again," he concluded, "it will be your last time."

"Are you threatening me?" Kovolic's voice had dropped an octave. His attempt at appearing intimidating would have been amusing if Aegis wasn't imagining all the different ways he could kill this man and never get caught.

"Are you really even a slave?" He countered with an impassive shrug and when all he got was a silent glare, added, "Unless you're about to become the new Head Gardener Kovolic, stay away from me."

And he shut off the sprinklers using the hovering panel before walking away. Deflecting the question may have worked for now; but the more Aegis thought about it, the more Kovolic seemed dangerous, not foolish.

There was only one way he could have thought Aegis was in Sector 6. Kovolic must have accidentally followed his twin instead of him. But that lead to another question, what was so special about Sector 6? Aegis had never really ventured outside Sector 2, he had never found the need to.

He made his way to another connected garden. The sun hadn't quite risen yet, but it didn't matter. If he got a head start on his tasks, it would mean he could escape earlier to see his twin in the forest. Perhaps he could also gather more information. If he knew what and where Sector 6 was, he wouldn't be as reliant on this mysterious twin too.

Aegis always found his gardening tasks long and gruelling. Every patch of the square green garden had grass, hedges and either an ornament or a fountain. Maintaining them was the easy bit. It was the variety of flowers and plants in the gardens that took so much more time. Some of them needed the sun and sprinklers every day, while others needed it less often. There was also the issue of knowing which fertiliser worked best with which plant.

So the most difficult part of his work in the gardens wasn't the number of gardens or even their size. It was remembering exactly what each of the plants and flowers in his gardens needed.

Of course once the sun rose, his work was also constantly interrupted by pompous nobles. Idiots who would decide to take a stroll into the garden while he was working. He would have to stay out of sight until they left, which could take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours.

Aegis had barely finished with his tasks in the garden a few hours later when he was interrupted by a pair of peacekeepers. The soldiers in black.

"You! Slave!" one of them barked. He wasn't sure which one it was. They both wore identical white armour complete with headgear, and it wasn't like the one his twin had donned. The Hanshö sported white helmets that covered the entire head. There was even some kind of dark glass where the face should have been. They were imperceptible.

Aegis looked from one to the other, he wasn't sure if he was supposed to respond or hide. He was a slave, but they had addressed him directly, crude as it was. Before he had made his mind up, however, he was tugged quite roughly by one. His arms were brought together and a metallic square slapped onto them. Aegis watched the metal stretch and wrap itself uncomfortably around his wrists. His hands were bound.

What the hell was going on?

"Some time in the dungeons ought to teach you," one of the Hanshö said. His voice was harsh, even if Aegis couldn't see the face. "Next time you'll think twice before threatening a Hanshö."

Kovolic!

There was no one else he had threatened today. Or ever.

Aegis didn't argue as he was shoved towards a different side of the hill, one he had never been allowed to go to. These people were not Kovolic and he had to be careful.

The buildings on this side matched the high bricked walls around the palace city. They were worn and unadorned, much like the Hanshö patrolling them. Aegis was led to the tallest of the grey-bricked buildings. It was circular like a tower and was surrounded by the greatest number of soldiers he had ever seen.

Everywhere he looked, he saw peacekeepers in white armour and dark glassed helmets. They looked back at him too, though he wasn't sure if it was out of curiosity or spite. Not one of the soldiers revealed their face.

Aegis could hear his heart thudding, loud and fast. His throat was dry too, like most of his mouth. This feeling was unfamiliar to him and it seemed to stem from imagining what would happen to him in the dungeons. Were they going to hit him until he told them why he was in Sector 6? Just because he couldn't get hurt didn't exempt him from feeling pain. Besides, what would happen if they noticed that he didn't bruise when they hit him?

One thing was certain though, Aegis decided as he was led into the dark, damp tower. No matter how hard they hit him, he wasn't going to give his twin up. He hadn't decided this out of some ridiculous familial love. This decision was purely logical. If he betrayed his brother, there would be no use for him. And that meant death.

Aegis had no intention of dying just yet.

The inside of the tower encased an endless spiral staircase that went in both directions as far as he could see. Aegis was given another shove towards the stairs winding down. He obeyed without a word. There was no way he would be able to fight scores of peacekeepers. It was smarter to stay silent.

Aegis wasn't sure how many floors he had descended before he was pushed into a narrow opening in the wall. The space was so tight that the wall pressed against his chest and back at once. He couldn't even breathe properly, there wasn't enough space for his stomach to expand. He had to turn his head to fit in the narrow opening.

Aegis had just begun to wonder how the Hanshö would squeeze in if he had barely done so, when his world was engulfed in darkness again.

He was conscious. Aegis was sure of that. But there had been a clang of metal against metal and the narrow opening he had squeezed into, vanished, leaving his world pitch black.

Footsteps receded.

And just like that he was completely alone, with nothing but his uneven breaths and his unnaturally loud, beating heart.

There was a crackle above him, and while Aegis couldn't move his head very much, he could hear the omnipresent voice perfectly.

"You're going to tell me what you were doing in Sector 6, slave."

Kovolic's voice resonated from everywhere, it made his heart quicken again. Except, this time, he knew exactly what he was feeling.

And it wasn't fear.

Aegis didn't respond. He wasn't sure if the asshole could even hear him and didn't want to waste his breath. He wasn't sure what would happen to him either, but he wasn't going to show weakness.

Not to Kovolic.