Alavieska stretched out before Enza. It was the middle of the day. Usually, there would be people out and about.
It had been a month since the trash chute incident. The smell hadn't dissipated at all. The door to Hymylä was unable to be shut with any amount of force.
Public morale had significantly decreased, and the Institute did their best to quell panic over possible diseases or toxins they could be inhaling. Everyone had been told to stay inside.
She was sitting on a boulder near a playground. Athalia's release was a few hours away.
She hadn't been up here since the sentence. Although Athalia had been allowed to go anywhere for the month's duration, everyone knew where she would be.
She heard the faintest of winds.
She approached closer to the source and realized it was a voice. It was coming from somewhere deep beneath the ground, in Athalia's cave.
She's talking to herself?
"The most fair method of punishing a criminal is to inflict an amount of pain equal to the pain caused by the crime.
"All negative impacts of a crime can be boiled down to pain for someone.
"But how can you put this into practice?
"Who is to say that one kind of agony surpasses another?
"Subjectivity is a known factor in criminal trials.
"It's calculated for…
"How can an opinion determine the rest of someone's existence?
"How could anyone call that justice?
"Alavieska is lucky.
"For all the complaining, for all the self-pitying that goes on, we have it good here.
"To not have a justice system is a blessing. True justice is our greatest asset.
"But to have an incredible asset is to have an incredible weakness.
"We rely on but a single perfect Instrument to carry out justice for us. It's a grand and beautiful thing.
"Because of it, as well as a low population size, crime is nearly eliminated in Alavieska.
"But what if that Instrument is taken away?
"How will the onlookers react?
"Will they perhaps have to start thinking for themselves?"
The voice paused to catch its breath. It was raspy, like it had been speaking constantly for hour after hour.
Enza smirked.
What's all this about?
What sparked this? Did you pick up a textbook and start reading up about courts on Earth? Or was it what you saw on the third stratum? I can't wait for the expedition debrief…
I agree that we're lucky, but I don't think there's any reason to be scared. It's extremely unlikely that the 8-Ball would be taken away by anyone.
She listened as the shouting resumed.
"Just knowing they would be weak if the time came is enough for me to hate them.
"Ignorance is a great evil, one which must undergo justice.
"And if our perfect little Instrument of ignorance were destroyed, all wouldn't yet be lost…
"Another Instrument would have to be created.
"In fact, that Instrument must be created anyway.
"The 8-Ball's decisions are perfect… I can't deny that. But it isn't in the way any of you think.
"I can only imagine the reaction the truth would get at the Institute. Unfortunately, whether someone's listening or not, I don't want to say. No need to ruin the plan so early, even if it ended up taking me down.
"It's close to the end, isn't it? All those hours of counting paid off. I hope I never awaken again. I never did find entertainment…
"If only I weren't me."
A bell tolled far below.
Enza stood up, her fists clenched.
She walked around to the entrance of Athalia's cave in order to let her out, only to find the boulder smashed to pieces.
***
The first thing Athalia felt when she woke up was a terrible pain in her throat.
Smoke inhalation, I suppose…
Her limbs wobbled as she stood up. She barely managed not to fall over.
GONG
GONG
GONG
She jumped in fright, then felt amused.
Whoever rang the bell was late…
She walked to the waterslide that snaked down from above. There was a staircase carved next to it.
She grabbed a pair of slippers from the floor and sprinted up the stairs. Her muscles screamed in pain, but she continued to accelerate.
She reached the top and gulped in fresh air. She also realized she was incredibly thirsty.
She turned to her right, to head for the city.
Enza stood in front of her, holding a coil of rope. Athalia couldn't read her expression.
"Haha, why didn't you throw that down for me?"
Enza didn't reply and started running down the side of the hill. Athalia didn't follow after her.
Be like that if you want…
She ran towards the rock wall to her left in excitement. When she reached it, she started madly kicking her right foot against it, still with the same rock shoe on.
After dozens of kicks, both shoes finally broke, and Athalia felt hundreds of pounds lighter. She slipped on her slippers and walked leisurely down the hill.
I assume I have to go to the Institute building right away… but there's something else I need to do first. I can spare a few minutes…
She ran diagonally across the hillside toward the edge of the city. She arrived at a small building. It was closer to a box than a house, but a house it was.
She turned the doorknob. It was unlocked.
The only thing in the room was a bed.
A boy with shining golden hair lay on it silently, eyes closed. He was wrapped in white robes.
Athalia took a seat on the edge of the bed.
"It won't be long now. You just have to persevere a little longer… I have a way to save you.
"The expedition was… well, I don't want to give you a half-hearted description. I want to tell you everything. Once I get back from the debrief, okay?"
She reached out and ruffled the boy's hair before running out of the room.
A few minutes later, she had made it across town and stood in front of the Institute.
Right as she was about to push open the doors, she groaned as she heard a buzzing sound.
Can't he ever take anything seriously?
A bee buzzed into her face, holding a sheet of tissue paper in its grip. Athalia snatched it away rudely, prompting the bee to sting her hand. Luckily, it didn't release any of the chemicals it was carrying.
"Damn you… I'll remember your beady black eyes specifically… don't think I won't…"
She unfolded the tissue paper as best she could without tearing it. A few words had been roughly scrawled.
"I am not evil's heart but its spine."
A riddle, eh?
Athalia took a seat on the steps of the Institute and stared at the rock ceiling far above. Her eyes were drawn to the hourglass, high in the sky.
That thing has evil energy, that's for sure. But it hasn't done anything to us yet, so I don't think I'd call it evil's heart or spine.
Her gaze turned to Alavieska. He's trying to get me to go to a specific location, so it has to be out there somewhere. There's no way he'd hold the meeting down the cliff or something…
What is evil's heart in Alavieska?
I mean, I don't think anyone here is that evil. At least, not anyone who's here currently. To be honest, I don't know if I can say what makes something "evil" in the first place. All I know is that when I see something evil, I can recognize it as such.
But what does Kismet think is evil?
Running out of food, working, and losing would be my best guesses. Losing in a gamble in particular…
So if the force of the universe that causes a gamble to be lost is the heart of evil, the spine would be what enforces the loss—and what gives the sense of security that allows people to gamble in the first place.
In Alavieska, there's only one thing that manages the repossession of bets for official gambles. It's that abacus. What an easy riddle…
She stood up and sprinted down the main street. She made a turn and found herself at a storefront with a stone sign swinging from the roof.
Aster Bookkeeping and Games
Bells jingled on the door as she gently pushed it open. Directly in front of her was a wall that was completely bare, save for a large wooden abacus, one as tall as Athalia herself. The rest of the store was filled with board games of various kinds. They hung from the walls and were spread over the floor.
She was slightly confused to not see anyone upon entering.
Well, I guess I won't reach the riddle's goal until I touch it…
She stepped forward and reached out to rest her hand on the wooden abacus.
A voice crowed behind her.
"It's you. You're the one who's been trying to interfere with the repossessions!"
Before she had time to think of a defense, a weight like a truck slammed into her back. All the wind was instantly knocked out of her.
She sputtered and stared at her attacker. It was a girl her age with straight blonde hair. She had her arms crossed and was looking at Athalia distastefully.
"You just got released from punishment, and you go straight to committing another crime?"
She didn't wait for Athalia to defend herself and dragged her by her ponytail to the opposite end of the store.
There was a fireplace embedded in the wall. However, it was inverted…
Instead of going up to the ceiling, the chimney went underground. There weren't any logs, but everything was covered in ash.
The blonde girl pulled open the grate. Athalia was close to catching her breath but got kicked in the back and lost all her wind again. She landed face down inside the fireplace, half her body dangling over the dark chimney tunnel.
"Apologize to Kismet. They were trying to blame him for this… Thank the heavens I uncovered the real culprit's identity. Think long on your sins."
With a final push, Athalia tumbled down the inverted chimney. She still didn't have air to scream.
The ride wasn't long. As she approached the bottom, she heard an incessant buzzing grow louder and louder.
Her fall was broken by a net of bees. Her weight wasn't even enough to budge them.
"Ew. Get off me…"
The bees obeyed, and she tumbled to the ground.
A face leaned in over her. She saw a grin with two fake teeth in the center.
She lashed out with both hands to strangle him. He laughed and stepped back. "Did you like my riddle? I'm trying to take inspiration from that sphinx, but I don't think I've perfected it yet."
Athalia crawled to her feet and walked over to Enza, who was standing quietly in the corner of the room. When they met eyes, Athalia thought she saw a strange expression flit across Enza's face, but she must have imagined it...
"Were you in on this?"
Enza clasped her hands and met her gaze innocently. "In on what? I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at, Athalia…"
Athalia pointed at Kismet without turning back around. "You're fine with his cheating? Do you stand for nothing? He's trying to blame it on me, you know."
Enza shrugged. "It was part of the riddle. You should've known it was too easy. But don't worry too much…"
She leaned in and whispered to Athalia with a smile. "There's more unburied evidence regarding this matter. This won't be enough for him to frame you."
Athalia opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by a loud clap behind her.
"Sit down, you two. I'm excited to hear your story. Ah, but Athalia…"
Athalia was covered head to toe in soot from sliding down the chimney. The room they were in was also caked from floor to ceiling in ash, but Kismet and Enza remained clean.
Kismet fished around in his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. He balled it up and tossed it to Athalia. "Clean yourself off. You're unsightly."
Does he want to die? If only I still had the blowgun…
Athalia declined the Sisyphean task offered to her and sat down at a table, propping her legs up.
"It's been a month since I got to talk; I'll be the one to tell the story."