Aryan, one of the engineers, has made his way to the center. For the past couple of weeks, they worked on the utmost limits.
"Riley, Wylie. We really need the Ksitron. There is no way we can continue to work if we don't have it," he says, holding his cap with his stained oily fingers onto his belly.
"Wait a second? Weren't their fuels below seventy? Enough to, at least fight ten more fights?" he crosses his arms.
"Yes, about that—" his guiltiness moves his eyes to the wall. "We initially thought that the other three would have enough. But as it turns out, the older the particle gets, the less you can use it, meaning it just vanished. I don't know-how or anything but, the fuel is completely empty on all three."
"How can a goddamn particle just vanish? I never heard such bullshit before!" Wylie snaps out of nowhere.
"I don't know. We were just doing our work!" he shouts back at him.
Wylie frowns, ready to blow up., both stare at each other equally angry.
Riley puts her arm on his cramped shoulder. "It's okay, Wylie. If you don't want to go, I will. Okay?"
He looks at her and releases a sigh of relief. "Okay, fine."
Aryan leaves the room immediately. If he were to stay, he might end up being the one selected to go. No one wants to do that—the place is hazardous.
"I got an idea," she says and smiles.
"What kind of idea?" he looks at her with open eyes.
"Follow me."
She walks energetically towards the training room, and he follows her, asking several questions, but she doesn't answer any of them.
"Alright, guys!" she says in a louder voice, lifting both of her arms to the sides, opening the door widely. "You just won the best prize of your life. A trip to the Jack Ketch Fair!"
Logan and the rest look at her with questioning faces, except for Henry. He seems to like it. "Really? What is that?" he questions with a joyful tone.
"Glad you are asking. The Jack Ketch Fair is the place to get the one, the only, the one and only Ksitron!" she claps, and Wylie follows.
"What is that?" Michael shortens his eyes to her.
"As you all know, your machines do not work magically. They need a specific fuel called the Ksitron. It's the only particle that helps them moving the way they do, fast and steady. But I don't want to bore you with stupid science talk," she explains with her index finger moving around.
"But I want to be bored with stupid science talk," says Henry as he looks to the frowning group.
Mayumi shakes her head, "No, you don't, Henry. Trust me. Once they startin', they ain't stopin'," she high-fives Darryl, both looking seemingly unimpressed.
"Why is it called Jack Ketch? What is this name?" questions Michael in a harsh tone.
"I will explain once we will go there. Since we need the fuel ASAP, we are going to head out in two days. You don't need to prepare. We will do that for you this time," reads Wylie.
"And who's going?" Galina looks around.
Riley looks at Wylie with a devil smile. He doesn't know what she wants to tell him until she smiled.
"Of course, you guys. It's your very first mission," says Riley pointing at the middle of Henry and Michael.
"So, just us?" Michael raises an eyebrow.
"No, you three," she says. "And one of us," she returns the finger to her, changing to the thumb and pointing at her chest.
"You will see who in two days," adds Wylie with a sign of two fingers up in the air and leaves the room.
"Guess who will be having a day off," says Darryl and starts to dance. Mayumi moves her head left and right. "Why?" she blows air out of her nose.
"I guess you could say that this was a moving message for him," Logan turns his head to her with a smirk.
Mayumi shakes her head and starts to laugh, "I'm not laughing because it was funny. I'm laughing because you said it, Logan."
"I guess you could say I am somewhat of a hidden comedian," he winks, still smirking at her.
Darryl still dances in the background. It's as if he was listening to music, clapping his hands, moving his feet.
"You can stop now," she says.
"Nope," he says movingly. "I can't contain my happiness anymore. My body moves on its own, knowing I'll be spending all day with you alone."
"Aren't you spending enough time with me already?" she says, questioning his reasons.
"Not enough, my darling," he stops dancing, moves to her ear, and whispers. "Not enough."
"To be fair, his motto of the day says 'keep moving,'" replies Henry as he looks at Darryl's shirt with the message.
Logan smiles, holding back his laughter—it makes him forget the talk with Jason a little. It was the right choice to join them. After all, it is fun, for him at least. He doesn't need Jason to be happy; he can have other people around and feel good.
"I am so excited for tomorrow, Michael! What about you?"
Henry and Michael walk past the hallway.
"Michael?" he asks again after not receiving an answer from him.
"Did you not wonder what the name means?" he stops walking.
"You mean Jack Ketch?"
"Yes, it kind of sounds familiar, but I don't know where I've heard it," he says, grumbling.
"Well, if you want to know it, then just go and ask?"
"But they said they ain't telling us."
"Yeah, about that—"
Henry walks up to Wylie's door and knocks. He looks at Michael and smiles at him, who seems to be disapproving of the situation, still.
Wylie opens the door. "I can explain," he says with his mouth wide open as they look at him from the feet to its head. He wears a dinosaur pajama in green with red highlights.
"Why are you here?" asks Riley from behind.
"You see," Henry looks closer to Wylie and furrows his forehead. "Why are you wearing this?"
"That's—that's actually an excellent question," Wylie stutters. "I lost a bet."
"No, you didn't," she frames him.
"Shut up!" he says back at her, angrily lifting his tone.
"We wanted to know who the Jack Ketch thing is," Michael looks him deeply in the eyes, making him unable to speak.
"We told you, in two days, you'll know," says Riley.
"I know, but we really want to know! You can't do this to us. Please," Henry places his palms against each other, looking down.
"Okay, fine. If you want to know," Riley steps up and holds the door in her hand. "We will tell you—in two days," and slams it shut.
"Good job," says Michael walking away.
"At least I tried, Michael," he says, exhaling heavily.
The Jack Ketch fair is an unknown yet disturbing place. The so-called underground people have their way here. They don't pay with the Antares way; they still cling to the old and almost forgotten paper money. At this fair, you can get anything, absolutely anything. These people are not part of any group; they live on their own, in this disturbing circus of hell. The dark side of this world that unfolded just after the introduction of the eight rule.
Lead by a woman who thirsts for blood and danger. Nobody knows her identity, her name, or anything, not even her slaves' do. Her only name that everyone knows is Jack Ketch.
Riley and Wylie have met her once—they never want to meet her ever again.
Michael, Henry, and Galina wait in front of the entrance hall together with Jason, two days later. No one seems to talk, kind of an awkward atmosphere. Footsteps break this silence as they come closer and closer, revealing themselves as Wylie.
"Good morning. You guys ready?" Jason smiles.
"Not really," says Galina regretfully.
"Alright. You have to wear this." Jason throws a blue uniform at them.
"What is that?" asks Michael.
Michael looks at the familiar yet disturbing piece of cloth, he has seen it before, but he can't seem to figure out where.
"It's an Antares uniform. We have to go through London, and we don't want to gain attention, right?" says Wylie.
"Through London?" he asks, lifting the last word.
"Yes, Michael, through London."
"I will drive you to the port. From there, you need to take the ship across the sea. Since you have the uniform, you will get in with ease, and no questions asked," explains Jason.
"How will you get us there?" asks Henry.
"With my P'UP," he says smilingly.
"Wow, so that is a P'UP?" she asks, judgingly looking at the old and rusty Pickup truck. It seems like it hasn't been used for a long time.
"She is my lady," says Jason, putting his hand on the dirty front. "She will get us to the port, through the desert and back."
"But, can't just two people sit in there?" she questions.
"Yes," says Wylie and turns to them with a smirk. "You three are going to sit in the back; he needs me more than you."
"I shouldn't have said anything," his arms are crossed as they pass the bumpy road.
A moment later, he's sitting inside the back of the car together with Michael and Henry.
"Hey, it's not such a ba—"Michael can't finish his sentence. A bulge pushes them up to the air in the middle of his talk.
"Not so bad, huh?" says Wylie looking at him with frustration.
Jason is a terrible driver.
He drives too fast and too carelessly. Every time he's about to hit a rock, the people jump in the air. Sometimes he's doing it on purpose.
"I hope you are having a good time in the back!" says Galina with malicious joy in her voice. She raises her hand to the side, out of the window to feel the breeze running through.
"Yeah," Wylie chuckles and creases his forehead. "Good time, indeed."
He bumps into Michael's crouch, hitting his leg with his face. He opens his eyes, taking his look away from his leg, fast.
Michael laughs at him. "You know you can hold on to the edges not to jump up that high, right?"
"Of course I knew that," he says with an arrogant yet awkward voice.
"Of course you did," Michael shortens his eyes with a smile. "Of course you did."
"This view is awesome, though. Just look at it. This is stunning, so calm, and so open," says Henry as he looks around.
"This is Africa in the middle of nowhere. It's not a surprise," says Wylie.
"Come to think of it, why did you choose this place for your base?" he turns his head to him.
"Well, I just answered your question before you asked. We were looking for a place that no one will ever come to or even look at. That's why Jason chose this place."
"Oh, I see. So it was more so, a question of what's the safest place to be at."
"Yeah, exactly."
The port of North Africa, Rabat.
The only place on this continent is filled with people from all over the world. They sail away—chatter at the local pub. Some work hard to get the crates on their ship, some sail out into the open sea. Different clothes everywhere, some may belong to Antares, and some don't. Yet, they all talk as if they belong to the same.
The four leave Jason's car. He immediately makes a turn and drives back away with light speed.
"And, he's gone," says Galina. "Okay, so where do we need to go now?" she adds, looking up to the sun. "How can people walk with these clothes and not get a headache?"
"Good question, no idea," says Michael.
Wylie looks at his wrinkled paper that he takes out of his bag. "Alright," he looks up. "Let's go, this way."
The three follow him to the port up ahead. The fresh windy breeze runs through their hair, and they take a closer look around. The city up ahead growing strongly, with newly found buildings to replace the old. Skyscraper reaching out of the inside to shine from afar. The constructions, bricks with the same color of sand.
"Why do the people seem so happy here?" questions Henry, baffled.
"Because people like them, have no worries. They are all essential workers," explains Wylie as they walk further down the road.
"And they don't need to take part in any of this?"
Wylie stops and looks at Henry. "No, without them, no one is going to survive."
"I guess so."
"But, make sure to avoid the city up ahead."
"Why so?" asks Galina.
Wylie sighs. "Soldiers everywhere, yes London is full of them too but, the difference is that this place," he points with his index finger towards the palace-like building in the middle of the city that doesn't look like the rest. It's an ancient facility with a roundish structure and bright brown construction. "This right here is the center of one of the most infamous people in the world. One of his so-called "governor" live in there."
"Who is he?" asks Henry.
Wylie sighs and turns to him. "He's the one who almost tracked us down. He takes away territory from the nearby people and gathers those in prison. Every single capital or important city has those buildings with Alphonse's people."
"Wait a minute," Michael shakes his head. "That would mean that he's literally lying about his own laws?"
"He always did, Michael. He always did."
"But what about London? What about his governor?"
"You see," says Wylie. "Some take their work more seriously than the others do. This one, who's living in here, does everything he can to capture and," he looks down. "Take their lives."
"And they almost found you once?" asks Galina with crossed arms.
"Yes, kind of. You see, we know where he looks, and we are in the middle of nowhere, which by the way usually doesn't happen because you never leave your city, at least they don't," Henry shares his looks with Galina. "He sometimes goes through the desert but can't and won't find us."
"I hope you are right," he says.
The water waves crash onto the walls as they see an older fisherman waving from just across the way to get them out of the thoughts.
"Is he waving at us?" Michael throws suspicious looks at the group.
"Yeah, that's Ekon. He's the nicest person we know. He's also the one who provides us with tons of food every week."
"Wow, there is so much that I thought I knew, but I didn't," states Michael.
"That's how the world works. You'll only get a glimpse of it every time if you're outside."
"Hello, my young friend. How is it going with," Ekon moves his head closer to him and smiles. "You know what I am talking about?"
Ekon is a mid-forty-year-old man from Nigeria. He likes to wear yellow clothes and a white hat. His rubber boots, often in dark green, don't fit the rest—he likes it that way.
"Ekon, please. We are professionals," Wylie laughs.
"Sorry, my friend," he adds." "Today, my big Angi is in use. We have to use her little sister. I hope it's okay," he says, taking the rope of the ship next to him.
"Who is Angie? Angi? Anki?" asks Henry.
"Angi is my boat's name. I give them all a name to personalize them," he giggles and puts his palm softly on the cold, yellow boat.
"Okay," says Henry. He leans back to Michael's ear, whispering. "Why is everyone weird here?"
"I know, right?" he whispers back.
"We are about to head. So, let's go, come on. Let's go!" he says, making them follow him.
They take a seat on the small boat and glimpse at the port and then head out onto the sea.
"How long is this going to take?" asks Henry looking back.
"Maybe a week?" he replies.
"Wait, what?" he jumps up.
Ekon laughs. "I am joking. We will accelerate soon. And then we should be in London tomorrow night. We are going with the speed of light!"
"Where are we going to sleep?" asks Galina, looking around the wooden ground.
"Underneath the bright, shining starry night!" he throws his arm out.
"I didn't think we would be on a three-day trip," says Michael.
"Yeah, but this is the safest way for us, at least," replies Wylie.
Henry seems to be in thoughts as he looks at the vast ocean. "The world seems so endless if you look at it. But at the same time, not enough space for all of us," he mumbles to himself.
"We all can't live on earth together," adds Galina to his surprise that she heard him talk.
"The planet is just not big enough for some egos," Michael looks up to the sky.
"Are you going to the JKF again, or why you going to London, Wylie?" asks Ekon looking at the sea upfront.
"Yes, we need Ksitron."
"Ah yes, for your machines. What were they called again?"
"Horizon," says Wylie looking up ahead.
"Oh yea, whenever you get lost, just look up and see the future as the Horizon stands in front," he chuckles. "I'm glad you're fighting for the right thing. Sadly nothing will change for us."
"What do you mean by that, Ekon?" questions Henry.
"Well, young man. We, as people who deliver food around the continents, nothing will ever change," he chuckles. "People will always need us, and Alphonse can't stop us from giving away the food we harvested. He tried, we refused to give him, and then he gave us a choice."
"I guess no one ever thought of working together. Instead, they decided just to throw away what we could have had," says Henry.
"Sometimes people don't see what's obviously lying ahead of them," says Michael. "They are blinded and only see this one particular way out, even though they are many more. You just have to take a closer look."
"The only thing Alphonse could do, but that would mean to cut off every essential worker in a way, to you know—"
"Make a law that prevents us from giving it away," Ekon adds to Wylie.
Michael shortens his eyes. "But why didn't he do it before?"
"Like I said," says Ekon. "We refused to provide for his people. Then, he gave us a choice. The choice to choose by our own will, but in return, we might never get the benefits they do."
Henry moves his head slightly. "Wait, so you don't get what they get and so on?"
"No," he chuckles. "We are free, free from his laws and serve people we want to. In return, he will leave us alone. We are basically legalized immunities without any restrictions."
"Didn't think Alphonse would do something like that," says Galina."
"It'sworse," adds Michael. "He can't make everyone kneel down."