Rise of the Godking - Chapter 28

It turned in the air, slowly, arcs of fire flying off of it at random intervals. His eyes soon began to water, but he still stayed, gripped by its novelty, its majesty, its…impossibility.

'How can such a thing even exist? How many fucking secrets does this place even have?'

He almost hadn't heard the old man speak, and even as he scuttled onto the road in front of him, he just stood there, trying to come to terms with the fact that this was where he was.

He hadn't even known the names of the two levels above the pit, but he had always imagined them as normal towns where people did honorable work and even got paid.

This was as far from what he had thought as was possible. The large tower in the middle was so tall that he was sure he would be like an ant if he stood in front of it, and all in all, this place seemed much bigger than the pit.

At least… until one started to study it more, and see that there weren't too many houses around.

At first sight, it had seemed so because his eyes were confused by the scale of the tower, making everything seem bigger. But now, as he stared all around, he saw that there were barely a hundred houses like the one he had just come out of.

"Come on! We haven't got all day! And the shift will end soon, so these streets will be teeming with people!"



The old man's agitated shout finally made him move. He walked in his direction and caught up in a few seconds, and as soon as he did so, he asked, "How… is this possible?"

With a snort filled with disdain, the man replied, "Oh, I see we have a dumb one, here! Weren't you listening when I just spoke? No one knows! It's just been there since forever!"

Daneel coughed with embarrassment, while a blush crept into his cheeks. What the man had just said presented in the problem, though, so he gave voice to it even though he was speaking to someone he had just met a few moments ago.

"Then… when do people sleep?"

The old man looked at him with raised eyebrows as he heard the question, and then… he laughed.

"Whenever they want! Down in the pit, it is always dark, whereas here, it's always so damn well lit that old men like me need to build a mountain of pillows on their head to create at least an illusion of darkness! Whoever built this place had a sick sense of humor, I tell you…"

He walked off again, then, as Daneel hurried to catch up to him. It wasn't very hard; three steps of his equaled one of Daneel's, so eventually, he had to slow down so that he could walk beside him.

The road was paved with stones, and each and every house was the same rectangular block of wood, undecorated and unchanged even though different families were supposed to be living inside each. In the windows of a few, he saw children, but for the most part, the houses were empty.

They seemed to be heading in the direction of that central cigar of stone, and with each step, Daneel kept looking at it, wondering how the hell it could have been built, and what kind of god had had to descend to create that heavenly orb of flame and light.

The old man didn't say anything, so he looked through his memories to find out any nuggets of information he could find about this place. He didn't find much success, though, as he had never paid attention to anyone else but himself and his victims, so he turned back to the events that had come before his departure from the Pit.

He suddenly remembered his treasure and checked his pockets, but alas, it wasn't present.

"Are you looking for the meat you somehow found even though you were in the Pit? I would love to know how you got it, but I respect secrets… anyway, it was flavored with poop, so I threw it away. Should I have washed it and given it to you? Oh, that would definitely have been something Sebastian would have done…"

His words drifted away as Daneel saw that he was traveling to the lane of reminiscence, but still, he shook his head, realizing right away that whatever he had seen during the drug-induced coma had been real.

He wanted to find out how he had come here, but he wasn't sure whether he should ask the old man. So, he turned to the guardian angel that had saved him from the clutches of the enforcer just now.

"So… I was asleep, but were you watching everything that was happening? Can you tell me how I got here?"

[Responding to host. System is always active. Surveillance capabilities are unrelated to the status of the host. Host was transported after being hidden in a cart meant for taking human waste from the Pit to the Refinery.]

Daneel gagged as he vividly recalled the sights and smells, and after a moment, he decided that he should this leave this matter altogether if he didn't want to puke on the road.

By then, they had reached close enough to the tower that it was just a few paces away. But as they were about to continue, though… a bell that was oddly similar to the one rung in the Pit was heard, and the old man cursed and stepped aside.

"Fuck! I miscalculated the time, as always. Come here, just stay out of their way. All the workers will be going home, now. We can continue the tour after they're gone. Just… act as if you belong"

Daneel nodded, and in fact, he saw that he was looking forward to seeing these netizens of the refinery. In the Pit, he had often heard slaves talking about how much better off these people were. Many even worked hard because they were promised that if their debt was settled, they would be upgraded to a job here, so he wanted to see just what the aspiration of all those poor souls looked like.

Two large, stone doors, hidden until now, began to swing open just a few paces away from them. Around the tower was a large, open circle, with the houses beginning a few meters away from its base. Up close, it seemed even more like a marvel of architecture. It had been made out of large stone blocks, each ten times as tall and wide as a fully grown man. The joints between the blocks could hardly be seen despite the brilliantly illuminated surroundings. And of course… the sun above was even more prominent, now, so much so that just a glance in its direction was enough to make him get a headache.

He kept his eyes on the doors, anticipating a refined group of people who would come out to make their way home.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

A flood of individuals poured out of the doors even before they fully swung open. They wore leather tunics that were ragged and torn, and most of their faces were dirty. They looked tired, so tired that their eyes barely took in their surroundings. They walked almost like zombies, their legs carrying them down the path that had been drilled into their minds so much so that they didn't need to think to follow it.

There was nothing refined about them. Nothing to aspire to. Nothing to be jealous of.

They seemed just a bit more well off than those in the Pit, but that was about it. A considerable portion looked as starved as the slaves. Surprisingly, even children were present within them, wearing small tunics and holding their stomachs as if they wished they could fill them.

Starving children was one sight he had been sure he would avoid here… but just a few minutes after his arrival, it was in front of his eyes. The only thing that was better was that many of the children clutched the hands of the mothers, who led them toward the houses around the tower, talking to them in low voices.

And also… there were a few smiles here and there, but they were far too few to justify what those in the Pit thought about these people who lived above.

Unable to come to terms with it, Daneel turned to the old man and said, "Are these, maybe… the bottom tier workers? There must be others, right, who are far better off? All the slaves keep talking about how life here is a luxury…"

As his voice trailed away, the old man looked at his confused face… and laughed, once again.

It wasn't one of amusement, though. It sounded sad, as if it was only coming out of his mouth because it was taking the place of something that he wanted to hide.

After he stopped, he turned to Daneel and spoke in a low, but strong voice.

"That is probably the real joke about this entire place. Each layer thinks that those living in the one above them are better, so they work their asses off to get there… but it's only after arriving that they realize that they were wrong, all along. We are all slaves to those on the surface. All of us! It is clear and in your face in the case of those in the Pit, but as for here… the people are slaves to an economy that requires them to work, and keep working if they want to eat and feed themselves, and their children. Oh, they are paid, yes… but there are also taxed, and they only have one source of food. You'll learn all about this soon, anyway. Before I forget…let me tell you the reason that my son went to such great pains, risking even his life to send you here. You made a promise. You must keep it. If you don't, we will throw you to those dogs ourselves. But if you succeed…you will be one of us. And as one of us, you will be privy to all of our secrets, and the real truth of this world. For your sake…I pray that you have a plan."

The old man's words washed over Daneel, hitting him with the depraved truth that they held, but even before he could register it all…the system spoke in his mind, and made him let out a deep breath.

[Route to mission completion identified. Fulfill objective 'Change food budget of the Pit' to obtain remaining information, and unlock next system skill.]