Pablo Costa

Ch 1: Fast-paced first day

A giant holographic clock alternates between 4 usable colors, with the fifth lost to rusty circuitry; Its projections flicker from time to time, unveiling the building in the shape of a thin pillar used as a display board. One of the many massive constructs that rise above the rainbow gas clouds and whimsy pink smoke, with roofs that touch the black-pit ceiling above it.

The clock only shows 3:33 -M, and nobody knows anymore if it was supposed to be morning or evening, except for the tenants of the apartment right next to four playful lights, who live in perpetual evening. Since they marketed their building for such services, the tenants blacked out their windows to stop waking up to a neverending or sleeping carnival. Complaints were made, all ignored and life went on, under the cover of painted glass.

On top of everything, this same building was also a host for a second, imposing, old analog type of clock. During the first 100 years of its lifetime it was quiet and serene. The next century, it was noisy, as teenagers used it as a hangout spot. Then another century went by, and the years of neglect made the clock’s arms to rust and for dust to gather in their joints. Each movement of the arms left a small creak in their wake, and a rumble as if a stone was dragged over a concrete road. To add insult to injury, this clock was stuck at 3:03.

The megacity, named the County, had multiple pillars stretching into the darkened ceiling, connecting different layers, and making sure everything was in line to support the sky. On one such pillar, a lengthy digital clock was randomly stitched on, a panel used also for brief messages or commercials. It flickered in dim light, on and off, with letters appearing between the numbers or empty spaces. This one was set to 3:13.

---

Between the tall condos, factories, and weirdly shaped buildings, the giant support towers sprawled all over the County’s floors were the first to entrap the attention of the people sent here as working hands- a group colloquially called the underground staff. They knew the true length of the pillars, seeing as it accompanied them through every level, piercing between the structural layers of the settlement. Always churning, keeping it all stable with the sounds of rusty old machines, an everyday background noise for the citizens.

At some point, the doors of one of the elevators disguised as one of the columns split open, letting a horde of people exit in a hurry. Amid all this havoc, two young boys get pushed out the second the elevator’s floor stops trembling- to be swept by the waves of passersby is a tradition for all newcomers at this point.

Back in their village, in the Underlevel, at the base of the pyramidal shape County, they learned some know-how about the upper levels, passed down by other laborers; Though, knowing about it and acting against it were two different concepts.

The exit connected to a pair of four lanes filled only with mechanical people or people with mechanics modifications grafted into them. The boys noticed that some had messy hair and were dressed in stained jumpsuits, while others were changing into old work suits and grooming their faces in the middle of the road. Many used bikes or skates incorporated into their feet to stride around in a hurry. Most of them gave a quick nod or hello to acquaintances, traded or delivered snacks and drinks, and then continued moving on. No one could afford to be late.

Besides the people’s engraved hurriedness, something else stood out- all branded some sort of metallic contraption on them. They rustled and clanked with each step, some having robotic arms longer than their body, dragged around by tiredness and resentment. Others were built like fridges, with perfectly square angles to their bodies.

The newcomers, trying to get a better grasp on what kind of pickle they were dealing with, moved to an empty spot on the side of the road. There they noticed that on each side of the lane there was a separate, hidden road filled with the elderly and sickly, making sure that they were shipped to the factories and offices on time.

The middle level of the pyramidal megacity was more intense than what the brands prepared them for. “ It’s at least very busy. That part of the infomercials was true”, thought one of the boys. It was more overwhelming than they expected, and they needed a few minutes to take it all in.

---

-“ Well, I would love to loiter around it some more, but we’ve got a shift to start”, said the eldest of the boys. Their first and only plan out of the elevator was to maybe, possibly, befriend a worker that had connections on this level, but that shriveled the second they got out.

As if being in the new environment wasn’t enough of a shock, the divergent times displayed by the clocks confused them even further. Their day-one instructions told them, firstly and only, in which direction the factory was:

-“ Just go straight to the giant building on the left, the one that spews orange smoke. Not the dark yellow, mustard kind, but straight-up orange, ok? Ok. Good luck, and welcome to the team!”. Afterward, they got shoved with the rest of the new starters into the elevator and sent on their merry way.

-“ Well, I guess we at least have some kind of direction. We can definitely see a building with smoke coming out of it”, said the older brother.

-“Yeah, but one question. Do you know what orange or mustard, or whatever, even looks like?”, asked the other sibling. They then stared at the different colored smoke coming from the factories, now playing a guessing game of which was which. At some point, they even tried letting fate solve it for them, relying on a falling wrench to make the choice for them.

-“ Ah, c’mon, why is this so complicated? And stupid clocks are showing different numbers, so we don’t even know how much time we have left until the shift starts!”.

-“ Wish those dumb things explained what orange is. Or mustard. We should at least go in the direction mentioned in the instructions, maybe we can find a map or something”, complained the younger one.” Maybe stop by each factory and ask?”

-”Iiii…” The older brother had the same thought, but the stress of time put a bigger weight on his shoulders than he expected. “…sure, that sounds like a plan. Let’s just go I guess.”

With a trajectory in mind, the two set off towards, hopefully, the correct future workplace. Along the way, they tried to ask for help, but with no luck. They lacked some need-to-know bits about their new employers, the eight Brand, and the fact that their work costumes branded them as future plague-bearers for the rest of the people. It was one of the many unwritten and unspoken rules that the County’s Middle level held from outsiders.

---

Their unfortunate strike ended when a raspy, but excited voice greeted them. The sudden, rough, noise frightened the two, and the boys quickly turned around to become even bewildered by the unknown person who greeted them.

The stranger had albino skin, but the paleness wasn’t sickly looking, more like their body was entirely covered in paint. The bald head and lanky frame, though, made them compare the stranger to an ill person, and from a distance they seemed emaciated. Their height, while being in the middle of the height scale, didn’t help the figure to not appear as a stick person. The feeble presence was only on the physical side, though, as they were brimming with energy and passion from every word and movement of their body.

-” Hi there, you two. Let me guess, you’re lost, am I right?” With a wide smile and sunny disposition, the stranger asked the two if they needed some help. The boys then noticed the logo on their suits and quickly relinquished the shock to relief when they saw that this was a colleague of the same Brand.

A few moments later, though, the younger one’s reassured face turned into one filled with contempt. He recognized what the stranger was. His brother noticed his obvious repulsion, but quickly tried to avoid any useless conflicts.

-” Oh, hello, sorry. It’s our first day, and we couldn’t figure out when or where, or what we should do. The clocks and roads and, well, everything, confused us a bit”, remarked the older brother.

-“They do, don’t they? Oh, then you must be from the new batch of hires, right? I actually saw you running around a few minutes ago, to be honest, but I didn’t know for sure if you were newbies or not.” said the pale stranger.

The stick figure also noticed the younger one’s attitude, but thought: “ Ah, hope this won’t be much trouble. I already used my last healing gel from the last altercation. Stress really does a deal on the newcomers“. Their inaugural entry into the work life was already as sour as it got, so to sweeten the deal a little bit, the stranger tried to give them some insights into how the workers of the Middle levels handle some of their problems:

Pale stranger -” Guess you weren’t told, but most of the employees get a device like this”, they say, pointing towards a brown bracelet attached to their arm. “It’s called Relate, and it’s an amazing piece of tech if you ask me. Quite easy to use as well!- You just grab this part here, stretch it over your hand, and it forms a holographic screen. It’s a nifty thing, right? We mainly use them to check the correct time, though. Or for entertainment during the allowed minutes.”

The boys soon learned that once the stranger started to ramble about products, they couldn’t be stopped, but did manage to ignore it since something else was bothering them.

 -“ Firstly: take down the clocks. And second, how come we didn’t receive a device like that?”, a question that both were ruminating on.Pale stranger -“ Sorry, nobody takes care of the clocks anymore, and we kinda forgot about them. I do apologize for the collective screw-up, boys. Also, don’t worry about the Relates, you will get one of these if…scratch that- when you make it past 3 weeks. Still, until then, you can use the middle clock, that one still shows the correct time. Sooo, is there anything else I can help you with?