Sinville, a town in Eastmere, Lavenor, covered an area of nearly 16 square kilometers in the desert. From afar, it looked like a kingdom of stone.
The scorching sun beat down upon the town.
Merchants filled its streets.
Children ran through its alleys.
Wagons and supply trucks came and went through the gates.
Life went on.
Completely unaware of the battle raging only four kilometers away.
Beneath those lively streets...
Hidden beneath layers of stone...
An underground prison waited in silence.
Row after row of empty cells stretched into the darkness.
Only one held a prisoner.
Two soldiers guarded the cell.
They chatted quietly among themselves.
Every now and then, one of them laughed.
Behind rusty iron bars...
Pietro lay on a dusty bed, its surface worn by generations of inmates.
He rested one leg casually over the other.
He looked up at the ceiling, his expression darkening.
Then he looked at the soldiers, who were chatting and laughing together.
Pietro tried to remember something, but a mild pain in his head interrupted his thoughts.
"Agh..."
He gritted his teeth, pressing a palm against his forehead.
"Why is this happening again...?"
"There's no time."
He stood up.
"I'm pretty sure the Mayor didn't trap me here for that stupid reason..."
He remembered Polish's words
...
"Multiple robberies have happened these past few months."
Polish looked at the ceiling.
"So, we have to check every single person who visits the city."
Troov spoke up.
"And because you came inside without a security check, we had to arrest you."
Polish placed his hand on the iron bar.
"Please try to understand. These robberies are so insane that I had to come here myself."
"You're just gonna go through a security check before you can live here. If you cooperate with us, that would be great..."
...
Pietro clenched his teeth tighter.
"Robbery, my ass..."
"L-like... Why does the Mayor have to come because of a simple robbery?"
His eyes widened.
"C-could it be..."
"That... They're going to execute me...?"
His eyes moved rapidly, never settling on one spot.
Sweat dripped down his cheek.
"O-oh... no, no, no, no... I don't wanna die!"
He breathed heavily.
"I knew it, I knew..."
"...I shouldn't have broken that statue."
He tried to calm himself down.
"This isn't the time for panicking..."
He placed his palm on his face.
"...I need to escape."
DING!
"Shit... So it's afternoon now...?"
"Oh, lunch time. Our shift is over," the junior guard said.
"Yeah."
Slowly, they walked away.
"...Hey! There's a prisoner who hasn't eaten since morning, you morons!" Pietro said angrily while holding onto the iron bars.
He stepped back a little and sat on the bed, looking at the ceiling.
...
"What should I do... WHO THE HELL PEED ON THE BED!?"
His cheeks went red with embarrassment.
"Oh, that was me...?"
"...Wait, the bed isn't even wet!"
"...Am I just imagining things...?"
Pietro lay on the bed.
He looked at the ticking clock on the wall.
1:00
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"I will just have a quick nap then..."
Silence.
...
After sometime, Pietro slowly opened his eyes.
"It's been 20 minutes..."
For the first time, the prison felt... quiet.
Too quiet, maybe.
"They usually change shifts every 15 minutes or so... What's taking them so long?"
His eyes darted toward the cell in front of his.
"Maybe I should just stay here..."
He turned to the other side.
"...And wait for my dea—"
CLANG!
A metallic sound echoed through the prison.
"Umm..."
Pietro slowly stood up, his eyes searching the dimly candlelit room.
He walked up to the gate, grabbed the iron bars, and rattled them, trying to force the gate open.
The rattling echoed through the whole prison like thunder trapped beneath the earth.
A sound loud enough to burst anyone's eardrums.
But Pietro?
He seemed... fine.
After finally giving up, Pietro stared at the gate like it owed him money.
"Stupid gate..." he muttered in frustration.
His eyes darted across it.
That's when he noticed...
...A steel wire tied to the iron bars.
Pietro immediately untied it.
Holding it in his hand, he whispered to himself, "This could work..."
He shoved the steel wire into the keyhole.
He moved it slowly, adjusting the angle by the smallest amount.
The wire scraped against the inside of the lock.
He pulled it back.
Twisted.
Pushed it forward again.
KRRRK...
The wire caught onto something.
Pietro's eyes narrowed.
He twisted.
CLICK!
The rusted mechanism shifted.
The bolt slid backward.
Pietro pulled the wire out and pushed against the door.
Creeeak...
The cell door opened.
Pietro stared at the open doorway for a moment.
Then stepped outside the cell.
Walking through the dusty hallway, Pietro looked around.
Then he stopped.
Every cell.
They... all looked alike.
Every single one looked exactly like Pietro's.
The same bed.
The same markings on the wall.
The same candle. It was even placed in the exact same position as the one in his own cell.
He kept walking, turning his head left and right every few steps.
"If I remember correctly, then there must be an exit sign..."
...
The same lighting inside every cell.
The same steel wire tied to the iron bars... on every gate.
Then...
Dead end.
A single rusty sign hung on the wall.
Pietro lifted his head and stared at it.
"Oh great..."
He narrowed his eyes.
"...What language even is this?"
He muttered, "Whatever."
Pietro placed both of his palms on the cold metal door.
After trying to push it open, he finally found a keyhole.
He bit his lip.
"Where can I find a key for this?"
"Wait, the wire!"
"I guess I forgot it inside my cell..."
He turned around and started walking back.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud—
A voice...
Presumably, it was coming from Pietro's cell.
It was...
Crying.
Pietro's mouth opened slightly as he tried to make sense of everything.
"Hello... w-who is that...?"
"...Hey, if it's a prank, then you failed... Haha," Pietro laughed nervously.
...
"Why aren't you answeri—"
"You could have..." the voice said while crying.
"I could have... what?"
"You could have... saved us..."
"What?"
"YOU COULD HAVE SAVED US!"
The voice cried harder.
Pietro walked toward his cell...
Then he froze.
A chill ran down his spine as he looked forward.
In the dark, spacious corner of the prison, just a few steps from his cell, there was...
A silhouette.
Bulky.
Tall.
Taller than the gate itself.
A deep, guttural growl vibrated through its massive chest with every breath, each exhale ending in a sharp, animalistic hiss.
Its face was completely hidden in the darkness. The candlelight fell across its side, revealing the rotten flesh and the bone beneath the skin of its arm.
It stared at him with glowing yellow eyes.
"You could have saved us." This time, the voice definitely came from inside the cell.
Pietro held his head.
The creature's teeth ground together with every breath it took, making an eerie sound.
"No."
"But, because of your greediness..."
Pietro shook his head.
"No. No, no, no!"
Sweat rolled down his cheeks.
"...You failed."
He lifted his head. It breathed, and vapor floated around its face.
"W-What is t-that?"
"Now..."
"W-who are you!?"
"Face the..."
The figure stepped forward.
Its steps were heavy.
Pietro's body moved on its own, and he stepped back.
While panicking, he tried to turn around.
But he couldn't.
It felt like his body was as heavy as a train.
Tears formed in his eyes.
"Help..."
Then the creature rushed straight toward him.
KHRAAAUUUGH!
"CONSEQUENCES!!!"
The voice's final word and the creature's scream echoed through the entire prison.
"SOMEBODY HELP!"
The distance between the creature and Pietro shrank.
"HELP!"
Pietro stood there, frozen and helpless.
"Why me...?"
"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME!!!?"
The creature's enormous palm were wrapping around Pietro's skull.
"NO, NO!"
"NO!!!"
"AAHHH!!!"
Then—
He woke up...
...In his bed.
His scream even vibrated the rusty iron gate.
"Man, WHAT WAS THAT!!???" The senior guard shouted.
Another said, "YEAH, WHY WOULD YOU SCREAM LIKE THAT!?"
They were both cupping their ears.
Pietro stared at them, his eyes wide with terror, sweat dripping from his face.
His eyes darted from the guards to the candle, then to the walls, and finally to the steel wire tied to the cell gate.
"DUDE, YOU COULD HAVE JUST SAID IT QUIETLY, WE ARE NOT DEAF!"
"Y-you... you two?"
"Yeah!"
"You killed our whole mood with that!"
"We were just gone for 7 minutes, and in that time you have managed to shake the whole prison with that scream of yours!?"
"Wait... 7... minutes?"
"Yes, dude!"
Pietro turned his head toward the clock.
1:07
Indeed, only seven minutes had passed since he closed his eyes.
The senior guard opened the gate while the other still cupped his ears.
"Anyway, here's your food."
He placed the plate on the bed and started to close the door.
"Oh, yeah."
He remembered something.
"Don't worry. You are getting freed tomorrow."
"We're gonna go and have our lunch now. Bye."
After locking the gate, both of them waved at Pietro and left.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Then they stopped.
Pietro held his head tightly and gritted his teeth.
His expression changed to one of complete panic once again.
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!!??
IF I DON'T GET OUT OF HERE, I'M GONNA GO INSA—
CLICK!
...
Scraaape!
The main exit gate opened.
"Do you not think we should replace this damn door? It might break at any time because of how rusty it is," the rookie said.
The senior replied, "I mean, yeah. We've been planning on doing that for a long time. But because of the current situation, we couldn't."
"Current situation?"
"Right, you're a newbie here. So, you won't know—"
"Hey, you two! I have been looking all over for you. What are you doing there?"
"C-coming, chef!" Their voices cracked.
"Come on, you only have 7 minutes left for lunch until your shift starts again!"
"Shift? Again!?"
"But we already finished it!"
"It's an order by the captain!"
Their footsteps slowly faded away.
Silence returned to the prison.
Pietro glanced down at the plate sitting on his bed.
The food smelled like something that had been dragged out of a nuclear wasteland and left to rot for years.
His eyes watered as he scrunched up his nose.
"Could've just given me bread instead."
His eyes darted toward the wire.
"Hmm..."
Well, it worked in the dream, then maybe...
Pietro stared at it for a few seconds.
Then he sighed.
...
CLANK!
Above, the giant shadow of the mansion covered the gorgeous grass field right behind it.
The two guards casually had their lunch under an apple tree.
One leaned against the tree, and the other just sat on the circular stone bench.
"Shit!" the rookie yelled.
"Hey, don't swear."
"Sorry! It's just the oily spoon. It keeps slipping out of my hands!"
The senior guard glanced toward the small houses as he chewed on his bread.
"Don't you think swallow it's pretty hot today?"
CLANK!
The spoon again fell from the rookie's hands as he tried to scoop the soup.
"That thing isn't following the laws of physics at a—!"
He paused.
"Well, yeah... it's hotter than usual."
"It's crazy how the Mayor managed to create this whole grass field out of nothing," the elder guard said, running a hand over the grass.
"I heard he brought these plants from the abnormal forest on our border," the rookie said.
"Somehow, these can survive no matter what the temperature or environment is."
"Also..."
He jumped and picked an apple from the tree before taking a big bite.
"Mmm... They grow fast."
The old chef walked through the other side of the mansion.
Then, his eyes darted toward the two guards.
So, he stopped.
"Hey!"
The elder guard immediately stood up, and both of them straightened nervously.
"Yes, chef!"
The chef looked at his watch.
"Your shift started 2 minutes ago!" he shouted.
Then he looked back at them.
"What are you doing here!?"
"Two minutes?"
They immediately sprinted.
The rookie threw the apple onto the ground.
The chef shook his head and also went on.
A crack appeared on the apple as it hit the ground hard.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
"We gotta hurry up!"
The guards ran toward the prison's main gate as they breathed heavily.
The rookie shoved the key into the keyhole.
But it just wouldn't turn.
"Why isn't it working?"
"Twist it the other way."
CLICK.
He pushed.
"What the... it isn't opening!"
"Augh. Let me see."
The senior came forward and twisted the key the other way.
CLICK!
He pushed and the door opened.
"You left it open!"
"I didn't... wait, I think I forgot to lock it previously," he scratched his head nervously.
The senior sighed, and they kept walking.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
The sound of their boots hitting the hard stone floor echoed through the whole prison.
Clack.
Clack.
Clack.
"Did you know Pietro is a guard?" the senior asked.
"A guard? Then why did he get arrested?"
"I don't know. Two days ago, Captain Troov just brought him here while he was unconscious."
Thud.
Thud.
Silence.
The rookie paused.
"What happened? Why did you stop—"
Sweat rolled down their necks as they looked at Pietro's cell.
"Oh... no."
"You... can't be serious," the senior said slowly.
The door was open, and the room was... empty.
"WHERE DID HE GO!"
Huff. Huff. Huff.
COUGH!
That took longer than I thought!
Pietro ran through the alleys of the town, wearing a white cloth over his mouth.
"At least..."
"I'm not pant behind bars anymore."
Shooting his arms into the sky, he screamed, "FREEDOM, WOO HOO!!!"
His voice echoed through the whole town.
Buzzzz...
A fly hovered over the cracked apple.
Buzzzz...
Attracted by its fragrance, it landed on the exposed flesh.
It rubbed its front legs together.
Then stopped.
Something beneath its feet moved.
The fly tried to lift off.
It couldn't.
The surface of the apple had begun pulling it downward.
Its wings buzzed violently.
The apple slowly swallowed it...