Shadow Slave

Yutra must have dozed off at some point, because now, he was slowly becoming aware of his surroundings. Something was wrong, though...

He found himself sitting on an alloy chair in a dark room, wearing a set of comfortable civilian clothes. His memory was a bit hazy, and he couldn’t quite remember how he had gotten here.

Had he gotten too drunk celebrating the end of the war?

’Ah, crap. My wife is going to kill me... we’re newlyweds, for Spell’s sake...’

”You’re awake? Good.”

His thoughts were interrupted by an unfamiliar voice.

Looking up, he saw a metal desk in front of him and a stranger sitting across from him on an identical chair. The man was a bit older than him and was wearing the same kind of unassuming clothes. There was a bored expression on his face and a sheet of white paper in his hands.

Yutra was a bit surprised to see paper, since people rarely used it in this digital age. The electric lights hinted that they were in the waking world, so there was no reason to write by hand or print out data.

”Um. Where...”

The man interrupted him.

”I’m Awakened Tegrot. You can just call me Tegrot, Yutra. I guess you’re full of questions... here, just read this first. Then, you can start your shift.”

Yutra accepted the sheet of paper in confusion.

There, on its surface... something that looked like a letter was written in his own awkward handwriting.

’What the?”

His confusion growing, Yutra read the letter.

It said:

[Hey!

You must be completely out of it right now. Where am I? What happened? Gods, the wife is going to kill me! We’re newlywed, for Spell’s sake!

That is what you must be thinking. Right? Don’t worry, I was exactly the same. This letter is meant to explain what is happening in a concise manner. I am not very good with words, so I’ll just write it all how it is. First of all, the war ended some time ago. Our family is doing great. The kids are alright... oh yes, they tell me that I have a second child now. It’s a boy! Congratulations.

Secondly, your memory has been wiped because of some creepy mind attack. In fact, it gets routinely wiped due to the kind of work we are doing right now, as a precaution. That’s why you don’t remember anything.

Thirdly, the work. This is a quarantine facility where people affected by the mind attack are being treated. You’re both a former patient and a member of the staff. Your job is to help manage the patients... your boss is Lady Cassia. Yes, Song of the Fallen herself. Can you believe it? I can hardly believe it myself!

Lastly, listen to the person who handed you this letter and follow their instructions. This position is temporary, but we still should do a good job, right?

Good luck!

PS. If you see a creepy woman in a red dress, don’t get too freaked out. She’s not a ghost, she’s an Echo. Still, just in case, try not to get in her way.

P.P.S. [hid a case of synthetic beer in the generator room. If you end up drinking some, make sure to replace it before being wiped again. Cheers!]

Yutra put the letter down and stared at Tegrot with a dazed expression. The man retrieved the sheet of paper, folded it, and put it in an envelope marked with Yutra’s name. The envelope went into an alloy box containing a dozen or so similar-looking envelopes, each bearing a different name — those, presumably, belonged to other workers of the quarantine facility.

Tegrot smiled.

”You’re going to share that beer, right?” Yutra blinked a couple of times and asked the question that bothered him the most. ”Is Lady Cassia... really our boss?”

Tegrot nodded.

”Yes. She’s in charge of this facility, actually”

Yutra exhaled slowly, then rubbed his face with his hands.

”Got it”

A few seconds later, he asked:

”So, Tegrot. What are my duties?”

***

The facility was located in the depths of a decommissioned underground factory. The factory was bare, ramshackle, and dark... more than a little creepy, really, but Yutra was not complaining. Working in the waking world was a nice change of pace.

The work itself was not difficult. Although the factory was called a quarantine facility, it was basically a prison. A few prisoners were transferred here every day and kept in hastily furnished cells until Lady Cassia could treat them — the job of the staff was to watch them, feed them, and escort them to receive treatments.

The only peculiar thing about the whole arrangement was that all members of the staff, including the people who delivered the prisoners, were former patients themselves and had to undergo occasional treatments, as well.

Yutra was apparently the most senior among them, having been the first cured patient. So, everyone showed him a bit of respect, while some even treated him like an old friend... which felt strange, considering that he did not know these people.

The reason for all that strangeness was the mind disease Lady Cassia was treating. They were told that it was highly infectious, and that the only way to cure it was to erase the affected memories. The situation seemed quite bizarre, but so was everything else in the world of the Nightmare Spell. So, Yutra was not too concerned.

”Please remain calm. You will not be harmed. I apologize for the inconvenience, but bear with it... you have my word, everything is going to be fine.”

The new prisoner — a grim-looking woman with an unmistakable air of a government soldier — looked at him with wide, terrified eyes.

Judging by the tattoo on her shoulder, she was a former member of the Second Evacuation Army. The veterans of Antarctica were tough people, so it was strange to see her so rattled.

The woman stared at him for a while, then opened her mouth and said in a hoarse voice:

”Holy hell. I guess I am alive, after all.”

Yutra gave her a composed look, then checked her essence-dampening shackles and escorted her to the cell.

The woman’s name was Rit, and from what she told him, she had been held in some infernal prison camp before being sent to this facility. The camp was supposedly located in a terrifying abyss devoid of all light, where the souls of dead people guarded thousands of prisoners at the behest of a fallen angel who sometimes descended from a colossal black wall.

The prisoners were mostly left to their own devices, but the angel would sometimes take one of them to the wall. None of the taken had ever returned.

So, when Rit had been taken by the angel, she thought that it was the end for her. After listening to Rit, Yutra could not help but sigh.

The woman was clearly disturbed and suffering from serious delusions...

The mind attack must have driven her insane. It was a good thing that Lady Cassia would be able to help her, too.

A few days later, Yutra escorted Rit to receive the treatment.

Later, he was surprised to see her again. Rit was free of the shackles, wearing unassuming civilian clothes. She gave him a polite bow.

”Awakened Yutra. Uh... sorry to bother you, but I am still a bit confused. Oh, I am Rit, the new hire. Tegrot told me that you’ll show me the ropes?”

Yutra blinked a few times.

”Right. Sure. Welcome... aboard?”

He hesitated for a few moments, then asked:

”Say, you wouldn’t know anything about an infernal prison camp hidden in a lightless abyss, right?”

Rit gave him a dubious glance.

”Sorry, but what the hell are you talking about?”

Yutra coughed.

”No, nothing. Right, have you already written the letter? If not, let’s take care of that first.’

***

Yutra, Tegrot, and Rit were sitting on alloy crates in the generator room. In front of them, a case of synthetic beer was already half-empty, with empty cans assembled carefully into a neat row.

”How long does a shift last, anyway?” Synthetic beer had a limited effect on Awakened, but Rit was slightly slurring her words. She was a real lightweight.

Tegrot took a sip, then sighed in satisfaction and shrugged.

”A couple of weeks, I think? On average. It depends, really, on what you get exposed to. Yutra had to guard a very talkative patient once, so he got wiped after only three days.”

Rit gave Yutra a dubious stare.

”Really?”

He frowned.

”How should I know? I don’t remember.’

Taking a big gulp, he added an empty can to the row and sighed.

”You know what I miss? Monster meat.”

His two pals scowled at him. Yutra grinned. ”I know that every Awakened is sick of it, but me? I can never get enough. My wife and I actually met during our solstice, so as soon as we Awakened, she went out of her way to make sure that we only ate natural food. Ah, but I really like the taste of monster meat.’

Tegrot and Rit glanced at each other, then simultaneously shook their heads.

”Hey, Rit. I think Yutra is contaminated. He’s spouting insane things. Should I report him to Lady Cassia?”

At the mention of Song of the Fallen, Rit’s usually harsh eyes brightened.

”Lady Cassia! I met her today. She’s so... So...”

Tegrot nodded.

”Yes, She is.”

Yutra could not help but nod, too. A silly smile appeared on his face when he remembered his own interactions with Lady Cassia.

”To our lady!”

The three of them clinked their cans together and drank from them happily. ”Although... she would probably be cross with us if she caught us drinking on the job: The three of them looked at each other with concerned expressions.

Eventually, Yutra shrugged.

”Well. Good thing she hasn’t caught us then. What she doesn’t know can’t hurt her, right?”

Tegrot nodded.

”Right. We should destroy the evidence, though”

Rit reached for another can.

”Yeah. We should hurry up and eliminate this entire crate, for sure...”

***

A few days later, Yutra escorted a patient to the treatment room and waited in front of the door.

When the treatment was over, he entered the cell, intending to take the patient to the discharge crew. To his surprise, though, the man was unconscious — Lady Cassie was slumped on the chair, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

When she lowered her hand, Yutra froze, awestruck.

This was the first time he saw their lady without her usual blindfold. He had expected her eyes to be white and cloudy, but they were clear and of a breathtaking blue color instead.

Her eyes, just like the rest of her, were breathtakingly beautiful.

It was a good thing that Lady Cassia’s beauty was so heavenly as to seem unreal. It was as if she existed in an entirely different world from mortal men like Yutra, and because of it, he could only regard her as a sublime being. Someone too sacred to be touched by the dirt of the world.

Otherwise, he would have to remind himself that he was a married man every time he saw her.

Noticing him, Lady Cassie pulled up her blindfold and sighed.

”He fainted after seeing me after the treatment. I am sorry, Yutra... I will have to trouble you with dragging this man to the discharge team.”

He bowed lightly.

”Of course, my lady! It is not trouble at all.” Instead of getting to it, however, Yutra lingered for a few moments.

”You seem tired, my lady”

She blessed him with a soft smile.

”I am a bit tired, yes. Thank you for noticing. Not to worry, though — there should be fewer patients to treat soon.”

Yutra was glad to hear it.

”Still. You should take care of your health, my lady. Take a day off and do something fun.

She chuckled.

”Should I? I haven’t been home for a while, so perhaps I’ll follow your advice and visit my parents... but not just yet. How can I go home before all of you can?”

Yutra scratched the back of his head.

He didn’t remember his previous shifts, so from his point of view, his stay at the quarantine facility had been brief. He still missed his wife and daughter terribly, though. And there was also the son he had not met yet...

”Let’s hope that this mind disease will be cured soon, then. Right, my lady?”

She regarded him silently for a while, then nodded.

”Yes. Let’s hope that it will.”

Not knowing what else to say, Yutra went to pick up the unconscious mind.

Despite what he had told Lady Cassia, there did not seem to be an end to their work. The number of patients was only growing, not diminishing. There was a reason why Rit and a few others had been recruited as additional staff — the facility desperately needed more hands.

Come to think of it...

’I wonder how long I’ve actually spent here: There was no way to know.

Slightly troubled, Yutra picked up the patient and dragged him out of the cell.

***

Yutra was sitting on a metal chair, holding an alloy box in his hand.

On the other side of the desk, Tegrot was slowly coming to his senses. A few moments later, his buddy flinched and looked around with wide eyes.

”What the hell?! Where the hell am I?!” Seeing him completely out of it was a little cute.

Tegrot’s eyes fell on Yutra, ignited with fear and hostility.

”Who the hell are you?!”

Yutra grimaced and pretended to clean his ear.

”By the dead gods, Tegrot. Can you lower the volume a little? My ears are ringing.”

Opening the box, Yutra fished out an envelope from it and took out a folded letter.

”l am Awakened Yutra. You can just call me Yutra, though... you must have a lot of questions. Read this letter first, it should clear up a few things.”

Handing the guarded and uneasy Tegrot the letter, Yutra leaned back and waited silently. Tegrot’s letter was way longer and wordier than his own, so it was going to take a while for the man to finish it.

As Tegrot read, Yutra thought back to being in the same spot at the start of his shift. He also thought about his letter.

His heart suddenly skipped a beat.

’Oh, right. I need to replace that case of beer!’

***

One of the patients attacked Yutra while being escorted.

It was a stupid decision, really. Not only was his Aspect suppressed, but he was also devoid of Changing Star’s blessing — that was a common trait that all infected shared. Well, of course they did. Why would Lady Nephis bless some crazies?

The fact that the staff enjoyed her care and the patients did not was proof that they were doing righteous work.

Even if it felt tedious, sometimes.

Yutra was not put out by the attack, but he was sad to see the patient in pain. The emergency team arrived to take the man away — his life was not in danger, but he was in dire need of medical attention.

Left alone in the dark corridor, Yutra stared at the blood staining the floor and the walls. There were other, older stains like these around the facility.

Had there always been so many?

From the corner of his eye, he thought he saw something red moving in the darkness. But when Yutra glanced up, there was nothing there.

Frowning slightly, he sighed and went to fetch a different patient.

***

Yutra must have dozed off at some point, because now, he was slowly becoming aware of his surroundings. Something was wrong, though...

He found himself sitting on an alloy chair in a dark room, wearing a set of comfortable civilian clothes. His memory was a bit hazy, and he couldn’t quite remember how he had gotten here.

”My wife is going to kill me...”

”Have you come to your senses, Yutra?”

His thoughts were interrupted by an unfamiliar voice.

Looking up, he saw a woman with concerned eyes sitting across from him. She was wearing clothes that were similar to his, holding a folded sheet of paper in her hands.

”Uh... greetings, miss. I am sorry, but could you tell me where i am?”

The woman regarded him silently for a while, then let out a wistful sigh.

”I’m Awakened Rit. You can just call me Rit, though... welcome back, Yutra. Read this letter first.”

Soon enough, Yutra started a new shift — although, of course, it felt like the first shift to him.

It always did.