“Alright, you two, shake hands.” Sylvia Leen said, taking hold of both children’s hands and bringing them together. Ark's hand was dwarfed by the gentle giant's grip. Mino's wide brown eyes looked down at Ark without any discernible hostility—something Ark was unaccustomed to.

“Ark, meet Mino,” Sylvia said, gesturing between them. “The two of you will be studying together with me.” Both boys nodded in silence.

“Do you know each other?” Sylvia asked, looking at them curiously.

“No, Miss Leen,” they replied in unison. “Haah… I can’t believe the way they’re running this place,” Sylvia muttered. “In any case, you will practice social interactions with me every day.” “Yes, Miss Leen,” they echoed.

They were well trained, after all. While Ark had loosened his address in front of Sylvia, when they were alone, proper decorum came back with a vengeance now that another trainee was here with him.

Sylvia looked from one to another, then down at their hands, still shaking up and down, as they had been instructed.

“You can let go now,” she sighed, before starting the lesson proper.

They ran through several exercises that mostly had to do with meeting another for the first time, as well as something Sylvia called ‘small talk’—even though Ark found it anything but small. In fact, it was by far the hardest part of the exercise. How could you possibly have interest in how another person’s ‘day’ was going? It was nonsense.

When their time was up, Sylvia shooed them out of her office with a ‘see you tomorrow’, leaving the boy’s outside her door to stare awkwardly at one another.

Ark hesitated for a while, not sure what to do. Finally, he figured he might as well put all of that training to good use, and stuck out his hand to Mino. The big boy looked at it, then back at Ark, an inscrutable expression on his face.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mino. I’m Ark.”

Nodding, the giant took his hand. “Nice to meet you too. I’m Mino.”

Glad that it had gone well, Ark gave him a single nod, then marched down the hallway, toward the mess hall. If that was what you were supposed to do on the outside, Ark figured it was not so bad.

A chime rang through the halls, indicating it was mealtime. Ark switched direction toward the mess hall, walking down white corridors that looked exactly alike to the untrained eye. Every trainee knew the layout of the Maze like the back of their hand, navigating it effortlessly; often better than the trainers, who occasionally got lost, even if they would never admit it.

He marched into a wide, rectangular room with a serving station at the end, and rows of tables and chairs where other trainees were already digging in to their food. Like everything else, the room was covered in white tiles from floor to ceiling, revealing every little stain upon their respective surfaces. The tables where similarly white, with ten chairs to each. Ark knew there were exactly a hundred seats in the room, and that at least a third of them would be unoccupied during mealtime—they alway were.

He received his food from an automated station, and found one of the tables where no one else sat. Most trainees sat in groups according to their training regiment, but Ark had not been a part of regular training for a long while. Subdued conversation was being held across the hall, although a few groups were markedly more animated.

Even as he focused on his food, Ark noticed a nearby table where a group of three boys and two girls were being a lot louder than anyone else, often grinning and slapping each other on the back. Eyes wandering, Ark saw the the instructors who oversaw the mealtime were actively ignoring this group, but cracking down on other tables whenever their conversation got louder.

Ark did not know these trainees personally, but he knew them by reputation. They were aces in their respective fields; the very best of the trainees. They earned their special treatment through achievement, which they guarded jealously. He, of course, wanted to be as far out of their field of view as possible. Nothing good came from being noticed.

While eating, Ark noticed Mino had just entered. It was strange, because he had not been that far behind Ark when he left him at Sylvia’s office. The giant moved very slowly up beside the tables, earning himself an unusual level of attention, simply because of his size. No one among the trainees were anywhere close to Mino in height, and that made them notice him.

Ark had never taken an interest before, but now that he had greeted Mino, he could not help but follow his progress up to the back of the queue, as well as the response from those around him. Instinctively, many moved away an inch, eying the giant with alarm when he got close. Mino’s very presence got him a level of respect that Ark could only dream of.

Mino received his food, and walked back down for a seat. Ark hesitated for a moment, then he thought of Sylvia’s expression when he and Mino had shaken hands for the first time. The sad smile, along with eyes that cheered him on, wanting him to keep going.

Sighing, he waited for Mino to look his way, before he caught his eyes and raised a hand, beckoning the giant to come over. Mino saw him and stopped, pausing in the middle of the mess hall for a fraction of a second.

Then he turned and walked to another table, seating himself at the opposite end of the hall.

Surprised, Ark forgot to put his hand down. After a moment, he realized and quickly lowered it, genuinely unable to understand what had just happened and—to his dismay—a little hurt by the reaction. Was he that terrible to sit next to? Ark was by far one of the worst trainees within the Maze, so perhaps Mino did not others to associate them together.

Sulking, Ark focused back on his food, biting it down with an anger he had not felt before. Fine, suit yourself, Ark thought, tearing a piece of bread with his teeth, Who needs you, anyway.

His internal tirade was halted very abruptly, when he heard the sound of something squelch, then fall to the ground with a splat. Looking up, he did not spot what had happened exactly, before an angry instructor stomped on over to Mino, raising his voice, “Trainee 009, clean that up, this instant!”

Furrowing his brow, Ark noticed the food that had fallen onto the ground—the remains of a boiled egg—but also the stain on Mino’s cheek, as the boy gave the instructor a ‘Yes, sir’ and immediately cleaned the floor with a napkin.

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Ark could also not help but notice the cadre of elite students sitting nearby him, snickering very loudly, enough to make it very obvious what they were doing. Turning his eyes, he saw the boy, sitting at the center of the group, slowly clean his hand with a towel. A satisfied smile was plastered onto his face, as he watched Mino get berated one more time, and sent out to fetch a mop.

Seeing it, Ark understood immediately that this was not the first time it had happened. He had eaten together with everyone for as long as he could remember, and thinking back there were several instances that now came to mind. How had he never noticed it before?

Looking at Mino’s back as the large boy walked out to find cleaning equipment, Ark did nothing. Inside, though, he felt the pressure in his chest collapse in on itself, imploding and transforming into something new. In its place, a small spark of fire ignited, burning with all of his lingering fear and doubt.

----------------------------------------

Ark awoke in the early morning with a jolt, sitting up inside a small room that Hera had allowed him and Mino to borrow for the night, once it had been clear it was too late for them to cross town.

The dream had been vivid, and the memories cut deep after his talk with Mino on the roof last night. Remembering how they had first met, properly, came with a lot of guilt and recriminations.

It had been the first time that Ark understood how unfair the world was; not just to himself, but to others as well.

Closing his eyes tightly, he tried to banish the memories, or at least the emotions. He had no time for it, not today. The Explorers Guild awaited, as did their future lives as riftwalkers. He could not get bogged down by the past.

He carefully got up and tip-toed out of the room, leaving Mino to snore on in peace. He found the kitchen already being operated by one of the older kids, who gave Ark some of the ready food without a word, and let him eat for himself.

Hera was nowhere to be seen, but Sammie soon burst through the door like a storm, with more kids in her wake, preparing for breakfast with the gusto of a military sergeant. Mino followed soon after, and they ate together, while Sammie talked their ears off.

Sammie’s fork jabbed the air between them. “Back to the Fingers for me,” she said. “You guys should think about getting out of here soon.”

Ark frowned, catching the serious tone behind her casual words. “Why’s that?”

“Just... stuff I’ve heard,” she replied, glancing around as if the walls had ears. “Things are heating up.”

Mino yawned, stretching his massive arms. “What kind of things?”

Sammie leaned in, lowering her voice. “Carven's been telling folks to stock up. You know what that means, right?”

Ark exchanged a look with Mino. “Lockdown?”

She nodded, a grim look in her eyes. “Big time.” Her eyes flicked towards the windows as if expecting someone to burst through at any moment. “You might want to think about hiding out in the guild for a bit.”

Ark paused mid-bite, studying her tense posture. “Why?”

She sighed, twirling her fork aimlessly. “Word is that something’s different, this time. We’re not just gonna protest or shut down factories.”

Mino sat up straighter, concern etching his brow. “Is it that bad?”

Sammie nodded slowly. “Yeah. They’re saying this one’s gonna be big.”

Mino furrowed his brow, a scowl growing deeper on his face. “Are you sure you’ll be alright, Sammie?”

In response, she threw her fork at Mino. It hit his head, harmless, and clattered onto the ground. “Don’t you go worrying about me, Big Guy, you’re the ones who are betraying the district and becoming guild shills. Just go hide in there, and don’t come out for a while, hear?”

Ark shook his head and finished his breakfast. “We better get going,” he said, rising from his seat, “We gotta grab some stuff from the apartment, before we give up the lease.”

Mino nodded and stood up, but Sammie grabbed his arm before they could escape. “Promise me that you will be safe,” she said, looking up at the gentle giant.

Mino smiled and patted Sammie on the shoulder. “We’ll be fine, Sammie. You should be the one to be careful. The Fingers are dangerous.”

With that, they left Respite. Ark looked back, before they walked through the hull that would obscure the refurbished, old ship. Up high, at what had once been the bridge, he could just see the outline of someone watching them go. He waved at Hera, certain it was her.

She was still as scary as ever, but after last night, he thought he understood her a little. Perhaps she really did care.

Then they walked through the field of junk, where the first orphans were already sifting through it. They waved at Mino, who waved back with a smile on his lips. “We should come back to visit more often,” he said, after bending down to give another child a high-five.

“I thought you said that no one comes to visit this place?” Ark said, smiling.

“I was wrong,” Mino shrugged, “We should.”

They were all the way to the gates, when Bess came running up to them, waving. “Wait!” Ark and Mino turned around, and she ran straight into Mino, hugging his leg.

“Thank you,” she said, a slight sob to her voice, “Thank yous so much.”

Mino bend down with a smile, brushing her hair with his large hand. She’d gotten a bath, since yesterday, and looked almost civil now, with her blond hair free of grime. After a moment, she released him, and gave Ark a hug as well.

Then she ran away as fast as she could, waving at them.

“See that?” Mino said, his voice as happy as Ark had ever heard it, “That’s why it’s worth it, living I mean.”

“Yeah,” Ark agreed, and gave the scrapyard one last look. He and Mino had been lost when they got here the first time, after being thrown out of the Maze. Back then it had seemed like a scary and cold place, but now?

“It’s good to be home, once in a while,” he said, “You’re right. We should visit more often.”

With that agreement, they turned and walked back out on the street, and out of the Dusk-district. It was early morning, which meant foot-traffic was low, but never absent. They spent an hour tracing their way through the crowd back to their apartment.

Picking through their meager belongings, Ark packed an extra mask—for the Ashlands—as well as a few extra pieces of clothing. When they walked out, they were both carrying a small rug sack with all their belongings in this realm. The rest, they left for the landlord to throw out.

“You ready?” Ark said, anticipation on his breath.

“Yeah… let’s do this,” Mino said, setting his jaw.

With steady steps, they took a new path, toward the center of Lowtown. This part of town had originally been built as a garrison and staging area, from whence Vanguard could send forces against the enemy. This meant the buildings were wider and larger than later construction, based on solid steel beams and good concrete, plated with metal against wear and tear.

Here the most affluent citizens of Lowtown made their living, mostly through resource exchange with MidCity and Upper Reach. From here, the processed resources from Lowtown factories were transported up the central pillar of Vanguard to automated factories above, where they would build the advanced tech that riftwalkers relied on to explore and extract raw materials back to Vanguard. It was a beautiful circle of efficiency, marred by transparent exploitation of the workers at the bottom of the system.

It was in this area that Ark and Mino came to a halt before one of the bigger buildings in the area. It was square as a brick, and as aesthetically pleasing as one, but from a myriad of windows there hung banners in glowing yellow, set with a symbol of a map set in the ring of a compass—marking the old-world, cardinal directions with their first letter.

Though he could not see the details from here, Ark knew the center of the map held a small image of a shield, connected to a web of nodes that represented the realms explored by Vanguard. Every time a new realm was found, a node was added to the map.

It was the signature of the only guild that actively operated in Lowtown—the rest kept to MidCity or Upper Reach, away from the rabble. It was also the primary mission of the guild; to map the realms and find a way home, back to Terra.

It was the symbol of the Explorers Guild of riftwalkers.