11:30 PM WIB. Enver Eraly stepped into the main discharge pipe leading to the Astral Disposal Sector. The diameter of this pipe was three meters, with concrete walls already eroded by acid. Dark purple waste fluid flowed beneath Enver's feet at a depth of ten centimeters. This liquid contained ectoplasmic residues from souls that had failed to be processed by the Council's system. Every time Enver's feet touched the fluid, a chemical reaction occurred in the form of small plumes of smoke smelling like sulfur and burning iron.
Enver drew a breath through a cloth filter he had moistened with the remaining Pure Essence. His lungs underwent irregular contractions. Metallic dust particles in the air entered his respiratory system and adhered to his bronchial walls. Enver felt a tangible shortness of breath. The oxygen in this place was below the level of fourteen percent. He had to keep his heart rate below one hundred beats per minute to conserve oxygen intake.
The black hair weighing 210 kilograms dragged behind Enver's body. The weight of the hair created massive friction against the rough pipe floor. Enver used his leg muscles to their maximum capacity to keep moving forward. Ibu Sumiyati hovered to Enver's left. Enver glanced sideways. He saw an entity one hundred and sixty centimeters tall with extremely flat white skin. There were no eye indentations or nostrils on that face. Enver's brain suffered a processing failure in recognizing that visual identity. Enver knew logically that it was his mother, yet his nervous system sent no emotional signals whatsoever. The facial data had been permanently erased from his memory.
Ibu Sumiyati struck the steel pipe wall with her astral hand. The sound of a metallic boom echoed within the narrow corridor. Ibu Sumiyati was experiencing an energy malfunction. Without the intake of essence from Enver, her ectoplasmic structure began to thin until it appeared transparent.
"We cannot stop here," Enver said. His voice sounded heavy as his vocal cords were irritated by the corrosive air.
After walking for five hundred meters, Enver saw the yellow light of a flashlight at the end of the corridor. A man sat atop a pile of scrapped machinery. The man wore an old-model gas mask and a leather jacket that was already peeling. His name was Kael. Kael held an energy scanner that beeped continuously every time Enver approached.
"Stop right there," Kael said. "You are carrying an energy load that is too large. You will attract predators down here."
Enver stopped. He observed Kael through his contract vision. Inside Kael's chest was a Council identity chip that was half-broken. Kael was a former mechanical technician who had fled from the central purification system.
"I need an exit path toward the outskirts of the city," Enver said.
Kael stood and approached Enver. His eyes were fixed on Enver's extremely long and thick hair. Kael touched the end of the hair with a rubber glove. "This hair is a soul battery. It contains pure energy condensed by a demon contract. I have a map of underground secret paths that are not monitored by The Eraser's radar. I will give it to you if you give me ten centimeters of your hair."
Z'loq manifested inside a bubble of liquid waste that popped near Enver's feet. The demon's face was visible through the reflection of the purple liquid.
"Do not do it, Enver," Z'loq said. "That hair is the gravity balancer of your body. That 210-kilogram mass is distributed specifically by the Idea 2 contract system. If you cut ten centimeters without a calibration procedure, your body's center of gravity will shift abruptly. Your neck could snap in seconds because it won't be able to hold the unbalanced load."
Enver looked toward Kael, then toward Z'loq. The choice he had was a lethal physical risk or being caught by The Eraser units currently combing the tunnel entrance. In the distance, Enver heard the hum of the Council's tracking drone engines. The sound grew louder.
"I will cut it myself," Enver said to Kael.
Enver took a sharp iron plate from the floor. He measured ten centimeters from the bottom end of his hair. Ibu Sumiyati moved forward and held Enver's body from behind to provide additional stability. Enver sliced his hair with a swift motion.
A sound like a snapping steel cable echoed inside the pipe. Enver felt a violent jolt in his neck bones. His body tilted forward as the hair's center of mass changed instantly. Enver had to exert all the strength in his neck and shoulder muscles to stay upright. A sharp pain appeared in his spinal nerves. However, he managed to endure. He threw the hair cutting toward Kael.
Kael took the hair cutting and put it into a lead box. He handed a small navigation device to Enver. "Follow the green light on this device. That path will lead you to the final disposal bunker on the outskirts of Bekasi."
As Enver was about to take the navigation device, Kael's flashlight suddenly went out. Ibu Sumiyati entered a standby position by spreading her astral hair in all directions. She let out a very sharp hissing sound.
The pipe floor began to vibrate. This vibration did not come from human machinery or Council drones. It was an organic vibration with a very low frequency. From the deepest darkness of the Disposal Sector, a pair of giant red eyes emerged. The size of one eye was as large as a human head.
"Astral Gorgon," Kael whispered. He crawled backward very quickly and disappeared into a crack in the pipe wall.
The Astral Gorgon was a predator formed from the accumulation of soul waste over decades. This creature did not have a fixed physical form. Its body consisted of thousands of small hands and feet that moved continuously within a mass of black liquid. The creature was attracted to the scent of the Pure Essence that Enver had recently injected into his body.
Enver tried to activate his golden veins, but his body was still shaking due to the weight imbalance of his hair. Ibu Sumiyati jumped forward to block the Astral Gorgon's line of sight. The creature opened its wide mouth. Inside that mouth were hundreds of human heads screaming silently.
"Mother, do not attack directly," Enver commanded.
The Astral Gorgon launched an attack by throwing globs of corrosive liquid toward them. The liquid hit the pipe wall and caused a large hole instantly. Enver dragged his hair with great difficulty to dodge. He felt his leg muscles beginning to suffer micro-tears due to the excessive workload.
A cliffhanger occurred as the Astral Gorgon let out a roar that shook the entire concrete pipe structure. At the same time, the navigation device in Enver's hand showed that The Eraser units were already exactly above their position. Enver was trapped between a hungry astral predator and a force of executors equipped with destructive technology. Enver looked toward the darkness in front of him. He had to choose to fight inside this narrow pipe or blow up the pipe to create a new escape path that he might not necessarily be able to pass in his state of memory impairment.
Enver stared at those giant red eyes. He released his ten golden veins onto the floor. Static electricity began to appear around his heavy black hair. The battle in the degradation zone had just begun.