Chapter 123

“What do you mean? Knowing the world better is what? We shouldn't be clueless children. Me or... anyone. Doesn't it make sense?” William bluntly asked and didn't like how this card in his pocket implied how some disclosed ideas were unequal, or lacking in what counted. Shouldn't this be more open?

Once more, William lacked critical information that Ellie kind of overlooked. Walkers had their privileges, and that involved young ones as well. In some sense, he already got that privilege in the name of Kaufman, outside of everything and many norms.

Luke was half-aware of what was right and didn't want to think about all halves. Ellie kind of brushed this off anyway, thinking why she should be worried about those disinterested. This place wasn't for everything, as all things should be. The military was the same.

“Who knows? It is something that you will find out over time, I guess, or much later as you grow up. I mean, you are young. Outside knows shit all about some matters but you are here now. In the Federation. Caught like a rabbit. Be a good rabbit. Yep.” Luke answered with a relaxed tone that described absolutely nothing meaningful.

Just what was hiding in the library for him to be like that? Would it make sense for someone raised Outside to be barren of that knowledge? For some, it might make perfect sense. For others, it seemed wrong.

William cursed Luke in his mind, knowing that he already talked about the Federation multiple times. Was there some meaning in some tests or knowledge? Could he ask Kaufman, or Burton about it, or was Ellie the most reasonable one out of them? She might not be that, but she was the greatest choice right now.

“And who got me here, or why? You think I am stupid, but I am not. Me being here isn't everything. Miss Anderson and my Walker status is understandable and I get how it works. I lacked willingness until I didn't, but I saw and lived Outside. I am not some moron. The rest is hazy like mist, sure. You and Mi-Yung are that so what's going on with you?” William asked a very critical question.

Luke shook his head and turned around to walk away once more. “Who knows? Ask her when she is back. Trust it or leave it. Ah, I am busy. Very much tired out of my skeleton. It's time to rest.”

From the looks of it, William was fine with waiting if Mi-Yung would be better, unlike Luke. As long as he wouldn't overstep some boundaries that didn't exist with this darn card in his pocket, which was his main concern. His heart and knowledge weren't too poor, yet a lot of context had been missing from his life, which might create a rather unique experience in the library.

William remembered the lingering image of Luke's Arcalist and that peculiar view of the halved Jawran, followed by many other things from that window. Rifts and this whole place left their impressions. Luke was a badass and no surprise. Walkers were monsters who could do much more than that, while Darks were worse, but not always.

Was that it? Were those secrets related to the Dawn and Darks that came with it, or did they follow secrets of the past century and how Walkers and humanity fought back? How? William might see and hear their fights, but how much was it fine for Outsiders?

Briefly, many other ideas, contexts, and guesses appeared in his mind. Perhaps he wasn't thinking about this card and that library from Walker's perspective.

That was correct.

William thought about it as someone who wanted to know things that he ought to know, or was supposed to get. It wasn't related to everyone. This was about his direction, path, and purpose in a much broader, yet fixed way. He didn't know what his future fate would ever hold, so he ended up thinking about meaningless struggles, looking a bit clueless, and less firm in his steps.

Outside was seeping out of his mind and words, and he couldn't adjust to this new world. His Emblem was the reason why it was always like it, yet it was slowly changing in the past two years which had created a rather substantial difference from the other eight years. Dann was why. Miss Anderson was the cause.

And his damned hand was his dawn.

“Oh no, it is so late already. Time for some sleep. Bye.” Luke excused himself and disappeared into his room, leaving William alone in the hallway without saying anything more. A tactical retreat was all he could muster.

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“Would it ever hurt to tell me something meaningful or specific? What a bothersome feeling. It is similar to our discussions in the helicopter and with Kaufman. I don't know things they think I do, but I know things they think I also shouldn't know. Or... yes. When I think about it, it is confusing.”

“Now I have a key but I feel like I don't. Is that normal? What is this card hiding... or what does that library control that needs locks and stuff?” William put it out and glanced at it closely. “Some say good things hide in curiosity, yet curiosity could kill the cat. Little do I know about other animals or the world of Walkers, yet I watched them from time to time and know that I am not that, or that, or am that. Should I be unhinged and change my mind? Will Kaufman stop me because of some silly tests? Am I making a mistake, or should I wait? Oh, the hand of mine, should I fear you and the rest?”

No answers came.

“Kaufman is an old Walker. The oldest, or so I dare to think. Those are unpredictable. So... what kind is he? How old, or how much of this world had he seen? Is it trustworthy, or were my internal screams right about him? I shouldn't accept his offer, right...”

In the end, William yawned and went to his room with a dejected expression because he had no one to talk to. He wasn't too exhausted. He was more mentally drained and even forgot about the food. He jumped to his bed with his new clothes and tossed the old diary aside.

He was used to sleeping like this due to exhaustion and work, but his new clothes were too valuable to waste like this. He realized it sooner rather than later and took them off, tossing them to the ground. Sleeping in underwear was a fine choice since the temperature was just about right.

He left the wooden box and bamboo bottle on the table before succumbing to the blissful silence of this beautiful night, unknown to the reason why Luke was late, or what was happening close to the horizon.

Frankly, it wasn't important to him in the slighting.

Unbeknown to him, something very important went missing. Something within his body could not be contained after everything that happened close or later. It fled before he fell asleep, and he didn't know it as always.

Moonlight and the mustering crimson mashed together above the Federation, creating a starry sight in a cloudless sky, distantly followed by many echoes, tremors in the air, and numerous tints that washed across the skies. When Walkers fought, colors flowed through everything, including the sea below, creating raging currents, but nothing moved to the Federation.

Within William's right forearm was no Emblem. Instead, there was an empty socket revealing the flesh, bones, and moving particles of quite some mysteries and movement. Lines resembled veins that dig into flesh and bones and proper blood vessels and veins, flowing and moving, yet not bleeding him out.

Nothing was leaking, though a small light was visible in this hideous wound. Everything moved deeper as if alive, while the core was hiding under some cloth not far away from the bed.

Something that should not happen, happened again.

William couldn't see a point in pondering on the unknown, since he went out of his mind first. Eyes closed, he was sleeping soon afterward.

The night crept on regardless of the missing Emblem or slowly decreasing light and movement in William's arm. The big window of this room revealed a starry sky and an open street that did not aim at the west or south, where battles transpired. Above, there were never-ending seas of stars if one watched it with different eyes. Then, behind the buildings and below this curtain of stairs, there was the ocean that seemed endless, yet it was like a droplet compared to the sky.

It wasn't a one-of-a-kind sky. There were many places with even better views, while the sky itself was even bigger and prettier when getting lost in it.

The moon hung where it should be, glinting and proving night its purpose. It wasn't something that should disappear overnight, if not ever, but the Dawn made its change and the moon altered ever since. It still disappeared every day, but that was because of a true dawn and a sunrise. It was a completely unimportant fact. Even a child got it. While technically true, the moon would glide around the globe, cycling the course of the night for the rest of the world regardless of its charming red light and crossed wounds.

In William's room, the clothes that he tossed to the ground began to move after midnight, around an hour after he fell asleep. Not too early or too late, his Emblem was aroused by the light, jerking the clothes, but not turning them to shreds because that wouldn't be clever and exemplary. William would be pissed off beyond belief.

It seemed as if some insect crawled under the shirt. It shuffled, moved, itched, and tried to force free from this cotton madness of a prison. It was hideous yet comforting. Why was it also cozy and new? The tight shirt's sleeve was more of an annoyance. Until dim crimson light and particles flew from the sleeve, revealing something strange that arrived and bathed in the moonlight.

It truly came out of the sleeve. Arcana. Patterns. Vectors. They were mesmerizing, looking like a glimmer of something meaningful yet chaotic.

It was no snake or some animal. Was it something non-material, or was it even something real? It was no coin. One would not guess what it was since it wasn't real for the common sense. It was irregular and unknown, yet visible and real, but some could see it as crazy or hazy or pretty if they saw it with their naked eyes. Then, some would ponder about it, make sketches, call it names, or contain it.

Those who would know would hardly contain themselves and their heads wouldn't take it well the more they would watch. Their acts would disregard the moon and the sky, for finding the reason for this lawless manifestation shouldn't be here.

With crimson lines, waves, and cycling power the size of a palm, it was unknown why, but a small humanoid figure crawled out of the sleeve and soon set out its quirky legs on the ground, walking in a hazy mesh of crimson patterns.