Season 1 chapter 5
The Outskirts of Seistain
They kept moving through the trees until the thick forest began to thin out, revealing the main road leading back into the city. They pushed through the final line of bushes, expecting to see the usual quiet streets.
Instead, they froze.
The road leading into Seistain was unrecognizable. Massive military deposits had been set up at every single entrance. Thousands of troops in grey uniforms marched in rigid lines, their iron boots clicking heavily against the pavement. Steam-hissing engines and heavy artillery cannons were positioned at the intersections, blocking the roads completely.
But the absolute worst part was the posters. Pasted onto every single light pole and brick wall were hand-drawn, highly accurate sketches of their own eleven-year-old faces.
Kniya looked at the massive army, then back at the rifle on his shoulder. He didn't look terrified; he just looked deeply insulted.
"This country is so completely fucked up," Kniya laughed obnoxiously, chewing his gum. "Look at them! They are literally spending this massive amount of resources, tanks, and manpower just to find two fucking children. They can't even handle a simple investigation without deploying the entire vanguard. This country is really good at showcasing its budget on the street."
Malesh stared at the lines of soldiers, his face remaining perfectly blank. "It is a massive waste of federal capital. The overhead costs for deploying heavy artillery to find two kids is completely illogical. If they used this much money on development and food, the country wouldn't be such a total mess."
"Well, we are also a part of this country," Kniya smirked, adjusting his grip on the rifle strap. "Whatever the fuck it is, I don't give a single shit. Let them waste their money on our posters. I think my hair looks excellent in that sketch."
The Strategy of Corruption
They crouched behind the thick bushes, watching the searchlights sweep across the dirt road. The adrenaline was wearing off, and the reality of the situation was settling in.
"Okay, Malesh," Kniya said, turning his head. "We have a serious problem here. What should we do now? How do we get rid of this mess?"
Malesh stared blankly at a steam-tank rumbling past the intersection. "I am running the calculations, Kniya, and the probability of us walking through that gate without getting shot is zero. We need a definitive solution to clear our names. What do you suggest?"
Kniya tapped his chin, a slow, malicious grin spreading across his face.
"Wait a minute," Kniya said, his eyes lighting up. "Malesh, what were we talking about earlier today on the bench? Right before those tall idiots interrupted us?"
Malesh thought for a second. "We were discussing the application of bribes."
"Exactly!" Kniya clapped his hands together quietly. "But you know what comes after bribes? Corruption! It is a very popular term in every government office. And where do you think we can find the most corrupted records of the guy who is running this entire military circus?"
Malesh frowned. "Where?"
"Are you that much stupid, Malesh?" Kniya scoffed, poking his shoulder. "The records, you idiot! Every single dirty transaction is written down somewhere. And where are the government records kept? The Central Library! We are going to find his files, find out exactly who he stole money from, and then we are going to blackmail the absolute shit out of him."
Malesh processed the logic for a second, his deadpan expression shifting into a nod of approval. "A hostile data takeover. Highly efficient. Let's move."
The Journey Through the City
Moving from the forest edge into the city center was an absolute nightmare, but they didn't have a choice. The streets were crawling with soldiers, and the air was thick with the smell of coal smoke and steam exhaust.
They shuffled down a narrow industrial alley, keeping their heads down and blending into the shadows. As they crept near a busy market sector, they stopped behind a pile of garbage crates.
A few yards away, a group of three grey-uniformed soldiers were violently messing with a local fruit seller. They were shouting, knocking his wooden cart over, and crushing his fresh apples and mangoes into the cobblestones just because they were bored.
Malesh watched the harassment with a flat, bored expression. Kniya, however, scowled. He didn't care about the fruit, but he absolutely hated the arrogance of the guards.
Kniya quietly bent down and picked up a heavy, jagged piece of loose cobblestone from the alley floor.
"Watch this," Kniya whispered.
He stepped out slightly from the shadows, wound his arm back, and hurled the heavy rock with brutal precision across the street.
CRACK.
The rock struck the lead soldier squarely in the back of the head. The soldier instantly collapsed face-first into a pile of crushed mangoes, completely knocked out with a serious head injury.
"Sniper! We are under attack!" the other two soldiers screamed in absolute panic, dropping to their knees and aiming their rifles wildly at the empty rooftops.
Kniya and Malesh didn't even run. They just stepped back into the deep shadows of the alley, quietly laughing at the sheer, unadulterated stupidity of the military guards. Leaving the soldiers to shoot at empty air, the two eleven-year-olds turned and slipped deeper into the city, heading straight for the Central Library.
The Central Library
Kniya and Malesh sprinted away from the panicked soldiers, slipping through the deep shadows of the market district until the chaos faded behind them. They moved from the narrow alleyways toward the massive dome of the Central Library.
The library was an ancient structure with cracked stone pillars and towering windows that hadn't been cleaned in over a decade. It was entirely cold and dark; the government bureaucrats clearly didn't pay any attention to its maintenance, leaving the property to freeze in the night air.
They didn't use the front entrance. Instead, they found a rusted service grate near the boiler room at the back of the building. Kniya used his pocket knife to shimmy the old latch, and they quietly slipped inside, the warm, dry air hitting their bruised faces instantly.
Inside, the silence was heavy, smelling strongly of rotting paper, glue, and dust.
"Okay," Malesh whispered, his voice echoing faintly in the darkness. "Where the hell do we go to look for it? This place is a massive maze."
Kniya looked at the endless rows of towering wooden shelves. "We need to check the records, Malesh. We need to find out who is actually running this entire military circus."
"So how do we check?" Malesh asked, scratching his head. "There are a million books here. Corruption can be hidden in literally any of these drawers."
"Don't panic," Kniya said, blowing a small bubble with his mint gum. "We just need to find the files related to the defense budget or state fund allocations. It's basic accounting, just with more dirty secrets."
The Missing Data
They moved quickly to the far west wing, pulling down heavy, dust-covered ledgers. For twenty minutes, they frantically scanned the columns under the faint light of a gas lamp, but they found absolutely nothing. The territory development records were completely empty.
"This is bullshit," Kniya grumbled, slamming a black binder shut. "There are no infrastructure receipts here at all. The central archives don't hold any actual data on the funding."
Malesh closed his ledger, his face completely deadpan. "Our initial calculation was incorrect. The government bureaucracy is lazy, but they aren't stupid enough to leave the real military spending receipts in a public library."
Suddenly, Malesh paused, his fingers brushing against a thin, tattered logbook shoved between two massive encyclopedias. He pulled it out, dusting it off, and flipped to the middle section.
"Wait," Malesh stated flatly. "Look at this entry, Kniya."
Kniya leaned over his shoulder, squinting at the faded ink. The logbook contained a brief, highly encrypted summary of state spending, but at the very bottom of the page, there was a tiny, handwritten note: All primary expenditure vouchers and transaction logs permanently forwarded to the Naurkov Military Archives.
Kniya's eyes narrowed with a sharp, dangerous resolve.
"Bingo," Kniya grinned wickedly, popping his gum. "So they didn't vaporize the paperwork. They just hid it in their own backyard. If we want the real data to blackmail this guy, we have to go straight to that base and break into the Naurkov Military Archives."
"Breaking into a heavily fortified military archive is a high-risk venture," Malesh noted, completely expressionless as he closed the logbook. "We are highly likely to get shot."
"Then don't get shot, logic-boy," Kniya smirked, checking his pockets. "We are going to Naurkov."
The Streets of Seistain
Kniya tightened his belt, checking his uniform pockets. "Let's move. The streets are going to be crawling with those grey-coat bastards now that it's nighttime."
They retraced their steps, slipping out of the rusted service grate and into the cool night air. Malesh tightly gripped the canvas-wrapped rifle against his chest as they navigated the dark industrial avenues.
Suddenly, a blinding white searchlight swept over the brick wall just inches above their heads.
"Get down!" Kniya hissed, tackling Malesh into a pile of wet cardboard boxes behind a dumpster.
A massive steam-tank rumbled loudly past the alley entrance, making Kniya's teeth vibrate against his gum. Walking directly beside the tank treads was a high-ranking military commander, barking orders at his squad. The commander stopped right near their dumpster, his back turned to the alley.
Kniya looked at the arrogant commander, then looked at Malesh. A highly unhinged, mischievous smirk crossed Kniya's face.
Before Malesh could stop him, Kniya leaned out from behind the boxes, drew a deep breath, and spat forcefully right onto the back of the commander's pristine uniform jacket.
"Now run!" Kniya whispered wildly.
They scrambled backward into the shadows of the alley, sprinting away in total silence.
"What the fuck?!" the commander shrieked out in the street, spinning around in pure rage. "Who did that?! Who the hell just spat on my uniform?!"
The soldiers frantically looked around the empty street, completely confused. "Sorry, sir! I think so... it was just a random stray crow flying overhead, sir!"