It was grim, after surviving the mass genocide of the automatons...
Adam and his group drove toward the side of the stratum, remembering what Yuruki had said. I looked up... seeing a railway road, as if it was floating into the sky.
A train was always running, flashing a white light... moving in cycles through parts of the city. Adam's cat, Berto, popped out of the Kettenkrad, where the kids were hiding under a blanket.
"Hey!" Kineki shouted as his head popped out.
Yoku looked at the cat. "Sigh... you always know how to survive, don't you," he said, glancing at the top, seeing lights flickering and dimming in a certain part of the stratum.
Sigh "What do I do now..." Yoku rambled.
He thought about the map—wondering where the kids he gave it to were now. He checked where they were: the northwest of the city.
Adam sighed. All the planning in the settlement was gone, utterly destroyed... not once did he think this would happen.
It slowly turned dark—not because night was falling, but because the area had been covered in massive structures of concrete, pipes, railway lines, and pavement... The ceiling stretch covering the sky
Some Blocks even stretched above, layered and covered with plaster and leftover resources. The Kettenkrad and Adam's battered truck continued forward, their movements causing shaking noises whenever they drove over large building blocks or pipes.
There was moss around—dark blue and green moss. Whenever the truck rolled over it, it lit up slightly.
They drove forward, now nearly covered in the looming darkness. They switched on the lights—Adam flicking the truck's headlights, which flickered dimly.
Then came a strange stench. Smoke.
There was smoke in some parts of the area—probably gas.
"Hey, Yoku," Adam coughed. "Should we continue through here?"
Yoku looked around... "-_- I'm lost."
Looking around again, lost... Adam looked up and spotted a rail system with fences.
"Hey! I'm tired... let's rest up there."
They drove up and rested. Adam and Yoku were playing checkers. It was a draw—they both had kings, but Adam had more pieces, while Yoku had only one king... and he surrendered.
Kineki and Mino were playing with long-legged spiders. Kineki placed some of the spiders on Mino's hair, making her freak out.
"Hey! That was rude!" she huffed.
"It's funny," he smiled.
Yuri just sighed. "According to my data, it's a spider—long legs. They thrive in the dark. Maybe the heat of this area preserves them?"
Adam just looked at him. "I don't know... maybe." He was feeling weird—lightheaded. A brain fog. What's wrong with me?
He looked at his friends—wondering if they were feeling it too. Kineki and Mino were showing signs of it... dizzy, disoriented.
Then came the sound of steps.
An eye in the dark...
Adam instinctively flashed his flashlight toward it. The light stunned someone.
A black-haired boy stood there—thin, with a large hat, glowing orange eyes, and a gas mask covering his face. His voice was monotone.
"Hey!... You should be wearing a gas mask. You'll die inhaling the air."
The group was surprised as he handed them gas masks.
"That was stupid," he huffed, annoyed. "Shouldn't you know this is Carbon Monoxide Territory? I can't believe Engalf stationed us here..."
He wore a thick explorer's uniform.
Adam thought about it. "-_- Yeah... that was stupid. But I couldn't smell it… That's why I'm feeling faint."
Yoku was just frustrated.
He stomped his foot. "And I can't believe they sent kids here… And you!" he said, pointing at Adam.
"Me?"
"Why did the transference signal stop transmitting at this part? Did they abandon us?"
Adam was confused. What the heck is a transference signal? He didn't even know what settlement the boy was talking about.
Yoku spoke up, "Well, no... Engalf settlement is destroyed," he said, remembering the broken radio signal.
"Four sectors of it? That's a large settlement..."
"Yes?" Yoky blinked. What the heck is he talking about?
"Now... I don't know if I believe you..."
Adam just sighed. "Can we not talk in here?"
Adam and his group continued to ride at the upward center, bubbles of gas forming like ozone below them—fading as they spread outward into the environment, vanishing into the cold air.
"Phew," Adam sighed. "I could've died not getting a gas mask in here…"
The boy was still walking alongside them—not riding with them. Just trudging forward on foot as if distance didn't matter.
Adam turned to glance at him. "Hey… you can join, you know."
The boy paused, almost startled, then stuttered, "I… I can walk on my own… and… thank you, anyway…"
Up ahead, there was a small, punk-like cabin stationed between the fences of a looming tower. It was enclosed tightly—no windows, just a door sealed shut like something wasn't supposed to get in—or out.
They entered through it. Inside was another door. Then another one again. Each one slammed closed behind them, sealing them in layers, as if stepping through pressurized memory. As they passed through, Adam noticed the vents running beside the walls—air hummed through them, icy cold and filtered.
Inside, the space opened into a narrow room. Two women were stationed at the front near some kind of monitoring system. Another man, maybe in his forties, lay sleeping against the far side. An old gray-haired man sat quietly, reading something through thick lenses. At the very back, an old woman stood cooking near a heater-stove, stirring something that steamed against the chill of the room.
The two women turned as the group entered. One of them, with sharp gray eyes and wearing a white research uniform, stepped forward.
"You got any of the resources we specifically ordered?" she asked, tapping her fingers on the edge of the counter. "What about the osmosis tube or the gas analyzer?"
Adam blinked—he didn't even know what those things were. The words spun in his head like tools out of reach.
Yoku scratched the back of his neck and sighed. "No… we're from…" He paused, furrowing his brows, trying to recall. "What was that town called again?"
Mino leaned in, answering for him. "We've come from Stadth."
Yoku looked down, embarrassed, staring at his only arm as if the answer had slipped from the missing limb itself. He sat down slowly on the edge of a bench. "Guys… I think… I'm just gonna rest."
The strangers glanced at each other, some expression shared between them—then one of the women nodded. "Yeah, I think there's a spare room over there."
Yoku stood again without a word and began to walk toward the hall. Adam watched him go and let out a breath.
What would it feel like, he wondered, to lose the thing you need most? The very thing that defines you?
It would be like a scientist losing their brain.
Like a writer losing their arm.
Like a poet without a voice.
It's all my fault, Adam thought. It's all my fault…
The cap-headed boy suddenly perked up. "Ah! I remembered… That guy said that Engalf is destroyed… Funny, right? Mya? Riko?"
The old man, still seated beside the transference signal radio, adjusted the frequency with a twist of the dial. His voice was quiet but steady.
"I don't think so. Even if one part of the city sector was overtaken, there would still be signal. That was scientist Mono's plan, after all. Redundant channels. Safety net. But now… it's completely lost."
The air tightened in the room. Everyone held still.
Later, Adam moved to leave.
Yuri stared at him from across the space, eyes narrowing with disbelief. Seriously, Adam? You're gonna leave me here with them?
Adam kept walking, heading down the hallway toward one of the rooms. Inside was a bunk bed with four levels. The space was small, dim, and cluttered.
Yoku was sitting on the edge of one bed, his head in his palm. All around him were scattered notes—sketches of buildings, blueprints, diagrams, half-finished plans of architecture and engineering. The style was a strange mixture—like a child's first drawings messily overlaid with the precise yet shaky hands of an old man.
"Hahh… I feel like I'm useless now…" Yoku muttered, not looking up. He sat still, heavy and broken in thought.
Adam couldn't say anything. Couldn't reach that kind of grief. So he just stayed for a while, quiet.
"If you're asking," Yoku said eventually, forcing a small smile, "I'm fine… I'm planning something… Well—I better get Alisto."
He strapped the gas mask over his face, tightened the strap, and stood up again—walking out a second time, the door clicking behind him.
Adam sat alone in the room, fingers reaching into his pocket. He pulled out the orb and stared at it. Turning it. Rolling it gently in his palm.
He let out a slow breath.
Sigh… Now what to do…?
Where's could Simon be now or Yuruki…