ODE TO THE END: A BALLAD OF BROTHERS

CHAPTER 9

Amid the sea of fair skin were a few who shared Achim's complexion. It gave him hope that he blend, but he quickly encountered a problem. As he observed the citizens like him, Achim found that they had a disposition beyond what he could imitate.

Across the city he watched those sharing his likeness complete thankless tasks. Their work required constant strain and said strain exhausted not only their bodies but their wills. As a result, these men and women dropped their heads on instinct and listlessly waded in a mass of people that had been designated their betters. The resignation burned upon their hearts was revealed in their faces, and a simple change of clothes could not hide that collective dejection that Achim lacked. He understood though, in his own way and for his own reasons, but Achim knew he could never truly blend. Of course, this one problem of several.

There were other factors that kept Achim cautious, but none were as pressing, or as oppressive, as the gray-clad guard. They were clearly a policing force within the wall, but beyond The Divide, Achim observed a cruel, military force in those that wore their uniforms. The influence of this gray guard extended no further than the realm itself, the ruins include, but boy were they intrusive. As he wondered what they might have known, Achim cursed as he thought of The Sire. "I shouldn't have just killed all of them." Not just the Sire and his assistant, but everyone who bore witness.

Whoever the gray guard were, they had enough resources to occupy both sides of a wide, densely populated territory. Achim carefully presumed that it might impossible to avoid them. So what did he do when faced with an unavoidable problem? He hung back, and observed.

The gray guard occupied both sides of The Divide, but Achim quickly noticed that they were not created equal. Those patrolling this side of the realm were different. Where Achim could describe the sloppy forces in The Alleys as nothing more than ruffians to be avoided, those who wore the same uniform within the wall were professionals.

Their pressed appearance was the result of countless hours preening over their uniforms. Their black boots often glowed and their belt arrangement of pistols and gadgets were identical across the collective. The men and women who donned the gray did not just look better then their rim-dwelling counterparts, they acted with a poise that spoke more of their skill than any amount of boasting the slum patrols did. The Alleys may have been given a dusty band of state-sanctioned brigands, but no expense was spared in the inner city. The guards  here were sharp, and, to make matters worse, they were looking for something.

Achim gathered all of this information as he pilfered the sprawling metropolis of what he needed. Thanks to his abilities, he easily acquired a number of thing on the sly. The constant surplus made it a simple task. Machines were used in order to prevent theft, but not even their artificial senses could not capture the boy when he did not want to be seen. He would enter a store in stealth, peruse at an inconspicuous pace, then vanish alongside what he had taken with him. The machines were quick enough to catch the stolen goods as they rushed through the checkpoint, but Achim was gone long before anyone knew what happened.

Store clerks assumed that their machinery simply malfunctioned, but Achim took extra precaution by limiting his roguish acts. Three times would be his final count. Three thefts that activated three sounding alarms in three distance locations. It would not have been impossible to detect the imprints of a pattern, the likelihood was too low for Achim to seriously compare. He was one kid, one ghost, amid a vast sea of bodies, yet, as he counted his spoils, Achim noted the scouring eyes of the guards in gray.

Achim groaned. The dark boy then retreated into the alley depths, where he lent himself time to think. With a hand on his chin, he began to pace those dirty narrow channels.

"Alright Achim, what do you have?" The boy leaned against the wall with a list in mind. "A large region, two zones within that region, and an organized group of soldiers who might be looking for me."
Achim mulled over these factors with a pensive expression. None were encouraging, but he had to think of something. "How am I supposed to find Adlai in this huge place if I'm forced to watch my back?"