The girl stared out on the city below, a beige-and-white shawl wrapped around her. Something about the city--the capital of a great empire, she’d been told--seemed familiar. Perhaps she’d seen somewhere like it in the past? She’d been slowly remembering words and their meanings, but nothing to hint as to where she came from. There was a feeling of coldness inside, like a heat had used to reside there was no longer present. Something was missing, something important. Not just her memories, but who she was. What had she thought about before? What had she obsessed over? People were such a mystery to her.

A name had come to her mind a few days ago as she sat pondering over her existence. She had no clue if it was her name, or the name of a friend or foe. Perhaps it had no meaning to her and she had simply thought it up because she had wanted something to hold onto and make her own when nothing else seemed to be. And from what they’d told her, it was a fairly common name in the land down by the sea in the middle of the city, as well as on the Spires. Wherever those were. But Kima had a nice ring to it, at least in her opinion. And if it really was so common, maybe it would help her connect with people and fit in. Of all things, she wanted to fit in.

The girl froze. The thought had entered unbidden into her mind, but now that she had thought it she was sure it was true. Somewhere in her previous life, as she thought of it, she’d wanted more than anything to have someone else understand her. To feel as though she belonged with another completely. This had been odd, but she’d wanted it all the same.

Something new to add to her blank slate. This time around, whatever it took, she’d make sure she fit in. Perhaps she would come to see this blankness as a gift.

The girl--Kima, as she decided to call herself--looked over the capital city again. Honored Mikhel and Honored Aina were wise, but they could not teach her much beyond the villages and life of the mountains. She would learn what she could and thank them profusely, but in time she would have to leave and seek someplace in the city for learning. Surely there was somewhere she could go to have people teach her how things worked. She longed to fill her mind with more than blank space. To think thoughts that had some meaning, to dream up something of worth. That was also something she desired. Although that seemed new, a want that came of necessity after she’d forgotten.

Kima settled her arms on her knees, placing her chin on top and pulling the shawl closer around her. Somewhere, there was a purpose in life. Maybe even a purpose specifically for her? She was the only person that could know the answer to that. And right now, she had no clue.

Charity led the way back to the pulleys, beckoning to Ambrose. “Since you’re a full Engineer now, you’ll need a new uniform. That one you’re wearing is probably still new enough that it could be reused for the next recruit. The quartermaster should be able to get you one.”

No handle waited in the shafts to take them back up. Charity stuck her head in a shaft and looked up before banging the metal device on her right wrist seven times against the metal rope on the edge of the shaft. She turned to him and pointed to the rope. “Since you don’t have weeks to learn everything around here on your own, stick with me for at least a few days and I’ll give you the crash course. This is how you summon a handle of the pulleys. Bang, don’t tap your chrono against this rope. This is the lowest level that the pulleys reach, so the code for it is seven hits. It goes up from here, Q4 being six, Q3 being five and so on. The rope rings a bell up at the top in the pulley office, and they’ll get you up as soon as they can. I’ve been up there once or twice, and they’re really nice people.”

“I think I get it. But if this is the lowest floor, why does the shaft keep going down?”

Charity glanced down. “If you ask the older Engineers, they’ll say it keeps going down forever. In reality, there’s some sort of cushion down there in case you lose your grip on your handle and fall. I’ve never seen it because I’ve never fallen, but I trust that it’s there.”

“Alright. I’ll just plan on not falling.”

“Good plan.” A handle dropped into view, and Charity set it to the ‘I’ before clicking the button on the back again. “Oh, and this button sends the handle directly back to your previous floor when you step off. Don’t press it otherwise, because it creates a real holdup when the handles go places where they don’t have to.” She stepped into the shaft and was whisked upward. A minute later, the handle popped back into view. Ambrose grabbed hold and stepped into the oblivion, feeling the thrill of speed as he flew upward. The lights of the quarter floors came and went, glowing up to brightness and then dimming again after they flashed by. Finally the pulleys brought him to a stop on the invention floor. He stepped off and joined Charity, who turned immediately to the right and through a door.

“Many of the administrative offices are down here, as well as everything useful. There are metal-etched maps every so often, but they’re hard to make well and you’ll get the hang of it after you’re down here for a while. You shouldn’t have to be up in Honor Cavern unless someone really important calls you in.”

The hallways beyond the invention floor weren’t as nicely decorated, but the lighting was adequate and the edges were covered by enough panelling to make it seem finished. Charity directed him down the left passage. Not too far that way was a bigger cavern, this one lined with tables and chairs. “There’s the dining cavern. Don’t worry about that for now. You can come back and get breakfast or lunch or whatever in a little bit. The quartermaster’s office is only a little further down.”

The office turned out to be a lot larger than Ambrose had thought it would be. It was less an office and more a small storage area, racks of jumpsuits and goggles filling a space twice as tall as the average person. A sliding overhead door was currently open, revealing a portly man with bushy sideburns cross-referencing two lists at the desk near the entrance. He didn’t notice the two Engineers as they walked in. Charity cleared her throat and tapped on the edge of the desk. The quartermaster looked up from the papers briefly before going back to his work.

“I told ye already, I cannae give ye another set. I don’t care how badly ye cut or burned ‘em this time, I have too much t’ do here.”

Charity looked at Ambrose and turned a little red. “Just forget about that, okay?” She turned to the quartermaster. “They’re not for me, sir. They’re for him.” The man looked up again, scrutinizing both of them.

“Another one? I swear I just had a group in here fer uniforms not two weeks ago.”

“He just started.”

“And he already needs a new uniform? What’d he do, take a stroll behind Ahlstrom’s station?” The quartermaster chuckled at his own joke.

“Oh, sorry. I meant an Engineer’s uniform. He’s not a trainee in that sense anymore.”

The man’s eyes widened a little. “Oh, y’mean Iike that. I see, I see. Ye should’ve led with that, ye know.” He turned to the stacks. “I’m sure I’ve got something here that’ll fit ye.” The quartermaster disappeared behind a stack of crates.

Ambrose looked at Charity. “So what’s this about needing a new uniform?”

The redness returned to her cheeks. “I made some dull mistakes. I’m still figuring it out, but it’ll be fine. “Forget I said anything.”

“Alright. Just make sure I don’t make the same ones.”

The quartermaster popped back out from the crates, a jumpsuit in his hands. “See? I told ye I had something.” He tottered back over to the desk and handed them to Ambrose before flipping a paper around and pointed to it. “Just sign here. I try to keep track of when ye get a uniform so I know about when ye need a new one.” He looked at Charity. “And when yer not due for another one yet.” His eyes dropped back to Ambrose, who was signing the paper with a charcoal pencil. “Course, if something really does happen, ye can rest assured knowing I try to accommodate.”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Ambrose finished signing the paper and stood up straight, unfolding the jumpsuit. It was grey and long, probably a little too long. He’d grow into it. A khaki vest fell out, landing on his foot. He picked it up and turned it around. It bore a single copper stripe along the back, along with a few pockets. In fact, the whole thing had pockets and loops all over it. He’d have to come up with a filing system just to remember where he put everything.

The quartermaster grabbed a pair of goggles off his desk and tapped one of the lenses. “Make sure ye keep these on ye. Engineering is pretty interesting, but it’s rarely safe. In fact, for ye, I’d say the more interesting it is, the less safe.”

Ambrose nodded to the quartermaster, touching his head to make sure his goggles hadn’t already gotten lost. “I’ll do my best.”

“Good. Now get outta my sight. I’ve got many things left to do. Best of luck and whatever else.” He sat back down and replaced the goggles on the desk before picking up a cataloguing sheet and a pencil. As they walked out, Charity pulled a shoulder bag from a rack and tossed it to Ambrose. “You’ll want this.” He stuffed his new uniform in the bag and clasped the cover shut.

The two Engineers walked to the dining chamber before Charity came to a halt. “Alright, go eat. You’re probably starving after last night. I know Peace a little too well. Get some grub and meet me back in our room on the invention floor when you’re done. I’ll grab your manual and your chrono and the rest of your things. You’ll start actually learning soon. In the meantime, go meet some people. There might be a few like you.”

“Alright. I’ll see you up there then.” Ambrose turned into the dining area and looked around. The tables were set up parallel with a wall that had different tables of food by it. But there was no one to serve the food. Did people just come and eat what they wanted? Charity must have just assumed he’d figure it out.

He grabbed a tray from the leftmost table and looked down the line. Only two Engineers were getting food. But there were so many different options! The closest one looked like flatbread with some sort of oily sauce. It smelled like nothing he’d ever had before, herbs clashing in just the right way. He decided to try that option for now and work his way down with each meal. He’d have plenty of time down here, so he didn’t need to rush through the food. It was a little hard to walk past all the aromas, but he managed to make it without stopping for anything else. He did grab a palefruit from the basket on one of the last tables to add to his meal. He might as well try to be sort of balanced in what he ate. That’s what his mother would have told him to do. Besides, he didn’t know what some of the other fruits were, and he didn’t want to take something he’d end up not eating. Maybe Charity could explain some of them to him at a later time.

An ornate spigot stuck out from the wall at the end of the tables, a tarnished gear connected to the side. Ambrose unscrewed the canteen on his belt and held it up to the nozzle before turning the gear. The water gradually trickled out, slow enough that he didn’t spill a single drop. After the canteen was full, he twisted the gear back and capped the canteen. That should be enough to last him until the next time he came down to eat.

The dining chamber only had a few Engineers sitting around eating, and most of them looked like they were trying to set a record for the fastest time to eat a meal. He assumed those ones had been up too late the night before and overslept. But a group in the middle of the empty tables near the corridor seemed to be taking their time. There were only four of them, but that difference made Ambrose think they were the ones Charity had told him to look for. He skirted around the edge of the tables before walking up to the part of the long table where they sat. The two closest to him, a boy with dark skin and a girl with cropped hair and a colorful bracelet around her wrist, looked up. The boy nudged the girl beside him. “Lydia, looks like there’s another one.”

The girl--Lydia--looked up at Ambrose, a quizzical expression on her face. “Where’d you come from, stranger?”

“Hillcrest. A little ways from here.” He pointed to the table. “Do you mind?”

The boy smiled. “Nah, go ahead. There’s not enough of us as it is.” He raised his hand in greeting. “My name’s Fitz.”

Ambrose raised his hand and pressed their palms together. “Ambrose.”

Fitz pulled his hand back. “Woah! What was that?” He looked over at Ambrose. “You’re a trainee, right?”

The girl with the bracelet rolled her eyes. “What does he look like, dulleyes? If he were an Engineer, he’d be rushing to get to work instead of sitting here.”

Fitz rolled his eyes back. “I can see that. But you try it and see how you feel.”

The girl raised her palm. “I guess this is meant to be a greeting, so hi. My name’s Annika. And you’re Ambrose.”

Ambrose raised his hand again and connected their palms. Annika jerked back like something had bitten her. “Okay, I stand corrected. My apologies, Honored Engineer.”

Ambrose shook his head. “Don’t say that. It doesn’t sound right.”

Annika frowned. What do you mean?”

“I’ve only been an Engineer for a little while. Not even a full day.”

She blinked. “Okay, let me get this straight. You’ve been here not very long, definitely not for longer than two weeks, because they told us we were the only ones. And you’re already a full-fledged Engineer?”

Ambrose nodded. “I started today.”

“Today?” Annika shook her head. “Give me time to process all of this.” She waved her hand at the others. “Talk to them.”

“Okay?” Ambrose turned to the other two sitting at the table. He raised his left hand around Fitz’s back. “Lydia, right?”

The girl nodded, swiping aside her long chestnut hair. There was a braid running along the side, a white ribbon woven into it. She met his palm with hers and nodded. “Good to meet you, Ambrose.” She pointed across the table at the fourth member of the group, a boy who was quietly chipping away at his food. “This is Dain. He’s not really one for talking.” Dain looked up briefly and nodded at Ambrose before returning to staring at his food.

“So what exactly do you do around here? There doesn’t seem to be much open space or time.” Ambrose picked up the flatbread and swirled it around in the sauce before taking a bite. It was the best thing he’d ever tasted, short of his mother’s hardnut and berry pie that she baked every year for his birthday.

“Well, we got here about two weeks ago. Since then, it’s been mainly theory lessons with our mentors and trips to the Pillar. I guess there was a day somewhere in the middle where most of the Engineers weren’t working, so they had a sort of game day down here in this space. But none of us understood the games and nobody felt like asking, so we just sat in Fitz’s room and talked.”

“Huh. I guess that makes sense.” Ambrose took another bite of the flatbread. “How’s life down here in general? I feel like there’s a lot of things I already miss about the surface…”

Lydia shushed him. “That’s one thing you’ll learn soon down here. They don’t really like us to talk about the surface. I mean, it comes up, but they want us to focus on life down here. Honestly, it makes sense. Why try to get back what you had when there’s so much to learn and do down here?”

“Oh. I see. I just thought that maybe I’d get to go back up in a few weeks and meet up with my family and a few others. Maybe just one.”

Fitz looked over at him. “Did you have a girl up there?”

Ambrose turned a little red. “Is it that obvious?”

Fitz nodded. “Yep. And if she knows what’s good for her, she’ll find someone new.” He saw the look on Ambrose’s face. “Sorry, man, but it’s for the best. You want her to be happy, right?”

“Yeah, I guess so. It’s gonna be hard though.”

Fitz patted him on the shoulder. “I know. Annika had someone too.”

“Hey. Leave me out of this.”

“Okay, okay. Fine. I’m just saying you’re not the only one. And it’ll be better this way.” Fitz leaned in like he was going to tell Ambrose a secret. “We’re different, down here. We have something, something not everyone up there has. That’s another thing they’ll tell you. You’re meant for something greater than you thought before. I’m sure that girl, whoever she is, will find a way to be happy up there with someone like her. You, though. You’re gonna go places.”

Ambrose had a lot of thoughts run through his head, but he shoved them away. He wanted these people to like him. Besides, they were probably right. “I guess I’ll have to see where this all goes. She wasn’t ever really mine anyways.”

“There you go. You’ve got us now.” Fitz looked around the table. “Well, you’ve got me at least.”

“Thanks.” Ambrose looked down at his food. It was mostly gone, but the act reminded him of Charity’s words. “Oh, sorry, I need to be back up on the invention floor soon. My mentor said she’d have some more things for me.”

Lydia looked up from her food. “Well, I guess you’ll see us around. Maybe.”

Fitz grinned. “You’ll definitely see us. We’re pretty easy to find. Just listen for Annika tripping over things.”

“That was one time!”

Ambrose laughed before getting up and picking up his tray. “Alright. Sounds good to me. Maybe I’ll even see you tonight.”

“See you later, Engineer.” Annika raised a fork in farewell.

Ambrose walked over to the table near the corridor and stacked his tray on top of the two or three that were already there. Now, back up to the invention floor. The day wasn’t over yet.