Lirzod just came out of the room, 10-K43.
“Please, ma’am! Listen to me, your child needs this kowa[1]!” a man’s voice reached his ears. When he looked to the side, a clean-shaved, gray-haired man dressed in full white, carrying a hymnal in one of his hands, was chasing after a woman who was running down the corridor, holding her newborn child in her arms.
“Forgive me, brother!” the 32-year-old lady in blue was hastening in an aberrant manner—the after-effects of giving birth—but worry visibly showed on her visage. “My parents didn’t give me that after my birth, and they never told me to take that either. Only people in white coats did. I’m sorry.”
In great haste, the two eventually evanesced.
“What was that about?” he scratched his chin and looked around before his eyes set on the neighboring rooms, which seemed to be locked from the inside. “Those two are still inside? Sawshin must be mugging the words out of that pocketbook.” He locked his room, and then walked away, in one of the routes of the corridors. After making sure his pockets were filled with nuts and some other things, he began to whistle and shape melodies with his mouth, his shoulders dancing to his own tunes in unison.
Soon after Lirzod left the room, two thumping men reached the spot, bouncing eggs into each other’s palms. Looking exactly similar in physique and attire, their white jackets had expressive egg tattoos painted on their backs, divulging their identities.
“This is 10-K43. Mm? And it’s locked,” said the guy with a stony expression, and he had a tag of 251 at his bicep region.
“Maybe he went to the Test Hall,” said the other guy, gently biting the lip, and he had the tag of 252 on his bicep.
“Even if we go there, we don’t know how he looks,” the guy heaved a sigh.
“Hmm...” He rubbed his belly, making it grumble. “First, let’s go find a Bread Booth[2].”
The two of them took a walk in the corridors.
Meanwhile, Lirzod was at the Bread Booth—a green tent without frills and resembled a trekking camp—with a Hollow—an orange-haired youth who wasn’t much older than Lirzod—supplying bread for whoever asked for it. On the backside of the booth, there was but a single table and a bench for people to ensconce oneself. Natheless, they were rarely used as most people just took a packet of bread and made themselves scarce. All bread booths were open-fronted shops.
“What? There’s nothing but bread?” Lirzod frowned, staring at the vendor who stood on the other side of the counter, arms limply hanging at his sides. “There’s at least jam, right?”
“No, sir.”
“But I was told that I’d get bread for free here,” his nose barely caught the smell of egg coming from the booth, but then, he wasn’t here for the eggs.
“Yes, but only plain unraised bread. Raised bread or bread with cream or jam is given for free only from the 20th deck,” the slender and simple looking hollow said, speaking only when spoken to, and he glanced at the tattoo on Lirzod’s little finger, which was the symbol 'ten.' In a flat tone—the way he would speak to most new customers—he faintly smiled and put his hand forward, “Give me three copper coins, and I’ll give you good information.”
Without even thinking, Lirzod quickly handed him the money. It looked as if he wanted to get his hands on some good, and he wasn’t in the mood to think much about anything else.
The booth owner then pocketed the coins and politely spoke, “There are strict rules on this ship regarding food and water. From the twentieth deck, you can buy or sell all kinds of foods, but in the decks from ten to nineteen, all you get here for free is cold plain unraised bread that we hollows call as Flat Brot. For individuals who haven’t reached the twentieth deck, selling or buying any food except for sweet and hot buns in the test halls of these lower decks is against the rules.” His mouth turned down more than a bit. “If I had reached the twentieth deck, then I would have been allowed to sell it to those who have also reached the twentieth deck, but sadly, I didn’t, so I can offer only bread, and that, too, only flat brot. Since you said that your highest achievement is this deck itself, so all you get here for free is unraised bread. One loaf a day for free. If you want hot and risen bread, then you’ve got to pay, and I will go to the test hall and bring it for you.” He faintly smiled, because most people would be afraid to go to the test halls on different decks. Even though fighting inside the test hall was forbidden by the authorities unless it was part of the test, many eyes always kept track of those who visited the test hall. And once those people come out of the hall, they’d be followed, and then it would lead to something bad. This was why the booth owner told Lirzod that he’d go and bring the risen bread; however, what he didn’t know was that Lirzod was unaware of such things.
“I’ve always eaten raised bread,” Lirzod said, tapping his forefinger on his chin. “How does the unraised bread taste?”
“That’s all I eat every day, you know,” the booth owner said. “Well, most of the days. And it’s the same for most people who failed to finish the deck tests or fail to choose good entries who can climb past the twentieth deck. Those who can’t do either of those will get only this plain unraised bread. So if you ask me how this tastes, then let me ask you, how does your saliva taste?”
Lirzod was startled. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
“It’s okay. Negative feelings are common on these lower decks,” the booth owner said and gave out a long sigh, and then raised his voice. “So, do you want to stick to the unraised bread, or do you want to buy the risen bread? By the way, I’ve got drinking water, too, but you’ve got to pay a copper for a quarter-liter.”
Lirzod let out a bark of laughter. “What? A copper coin for that little amount of water? That was a good joke.” But after discerning the blank stares of the hollow, his laughter vanished like a whirlwind. He blinked twice, and then his eyebrows lifted, “Are you serious?”
“I always am,” the booth owner calmly replied. “If you can’t afford drinking water, you can drink from tap water, which isn’t that bad, to be honest. Still, many people can’t drink the same water they use for bathing, brushing their teeth, and cleaning their ass, so they wait in line at a water booth, which allows an individual to drink their stomachful and take half-a-liter of drinking water per day.”
Lirzod didn’t know what to say.
“I can give you any information that you want, but you’ve gotta pay again for that.”
Lirzod pressed his lips.
The booth owner looked disappointed and then looked away and raised his voice a bit. “I have a party to cope with. So, I don’t wanna waste my energy chewing over random rubbish. Either take the bread or walk away.”
Lirzod turned away, touching his throat. One can’t eat proper food until they reach the 20th deck? These shoddy rules are giving me slapsticks one after another, but these are anything but funny. He turned back and cleared his throat before stretching his hand forward.
The booth owner handed him a loaf containing twenty slices of brown bread.
Looking down at the food, he bit his cheeks. “What about spicy stuff?” he couldn’t help but ask again.
“I told you already. I don’t sell it.”
Shrugging his shoulders, Lirzod walked past the tent and occupied the spacious bench. Though it appeared ancient, it didn’t creak or shake to his weight. He unfastened one end of the packet and got his hands on a piece before placing the remaining packet on the varnished wooden table in front of him. The table contrasted the bench in its appearance.
His focus was not on his surroundings but on the brown bread, which didn’t feel soft upon touch. It didn’t have any discoloration, which may occur from the accumulation of fungi. Wondering for how long that packet had been stored in the booth, he dared to sniff it once. Only after his nose confirmed the smell to be up to snuff, did his tongue roll out for touch and teeth dug in to rip a slice out of it. A couple of bites later, his expressions gradually worsened, and he put the piece aside with all the speed his hands could move. “Ugh, this isn’t tasty but nasty. I shouldn’t have tried the top slice.” He picked up another slice that wasn’t as rough and roasted as the last one. After tasting it tentatively, he nodded many a time. “Hmm, not yummy by any means, but not bad for a free good either. If it was slimmer, softer, and a bit tastier, then I don’t have a problem with putting it ahead of johr. But then maybe I’m just getting ahead because it’s my first time eating this kind of bread. The name... was it Flat Brot?”
At the moment, two bulky men were advancing toward the booth. After catching sight of them, the booth owner’s heart raced, and his stomach rock-hardened. T-They are... The Darling Twins! Why the hell are they coming in this direction? His arms began to shake uncontrollably, forcing him to hide them in his pockets.
Elder Darling, the one with the 251 tag on his arm, said, “We’ve faced 499 rejections till now. Is it worth trying for beautiful women? They are casting aside our love without consideration.”
“All the engaging women are merciless—they tear the love letters and souls of their makers alike,” Younger Darling uttered a rushed speech, adding an impatient snort in between. “Hmph, that’s why I have been telling you, we should go for the uglier women if we want to get married and have many children.”
“Why are you bringing up children now when we can’t even get married?” Elder Darling softly shook his head, pursing his lips.
“Because women who care more about their appearance don’t want to have more children,” Younger Darling’s hands made jerky movements as he replied in a sharp tone.
“Yeah, you might be right this time. Our aunt was like that,” Elder Darling said and sighed. “Guess we’ll have to change our priorities. No more compulsion to propose to beautiful ladies.”
“Ha-ha, yes, finally! There should be no 500th rejection!” they both chest-bumped each other—the sound of which reached all the way to the tent. “At the end of the day, every egg’s worth the same, won’t you agree?”
“Of course, I do.”
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Laughing nonchalantly, they reached the booth whose owner leaked out a forced smile and tried his best to constrain his shaking limbs. “What do you two want, Sir Diggers?”
“What’s the best thing you got?” Acting hyper, Younger Darling darted a serious glance at the owner and spoke in a rough voice, a lot hoarser than when he just chatted with his brother.
“I happened to import a case full of eggs,” the owner hurriedly said, his heart far from beating at a normal rate. “I can make bread omelet... w-with added jam and cheese, of course.”
“Hmm, turn them into sandwiches and bring them quickly,” the brothers were about to move.
“H-How many, sirs?” the owner didn’t want to ask, but his tongue slipped. “I’m extremely sorry. I will keep making them until you order me to stop.”
“Hmph, they better taste good, or else you know what will happen.” Saying that the two of them sauntered to the side.
The owner breathed a sigh of relief but then had to control the anger building up in his stomach. How can bread omelets be turned into sandwiches? These pigs will even eat shit if it’s coated in cream. And what’s more, they won’t even pay. It’s when people like this show up, I hate doing this job. While continuing to swear more and more in silence, he took out the ingredients from the closed shelves and began to prepare the ordered goods. At this rate, if I get stuck here with these pigs, what about the party? He shook his head. I gotta hurry, or my booth will also be emptied. Though his hands visibly sped up in their motion, after he placed the bread slices on the heating twenty-inch black rock, all he could do was wait for them to roast. AHH! He tightly grabbed his hair and almost pulled his scalp out in aggravation.
By then, the two brothers reached the spot where the only bench there was.
Lirzod, at the time, was daydreaming about the days where Primera stuffed Johr as a punishment for things he did. Whenever Primera didn’t spend enough time with him in a week, he purposely angered her so that she would punish him and at least be with him for some more time. Though he liked her and her punishments, he never liked johr. After tasting a slice of bread which was comparable in looks yet a cut above in taste, he couldn’t help but remember some things of the past. If johr at least tasted like this, Primera would have always been with me. His chin poked forward, and his face slightly brightened. Maybe it was the recalling of his past memories that made him suddenly feel as if this Flat Brot tasted much better than johr.
A sudden jerk shoved him to the side and brought him back to his senses. When he turned his head in puzzlement, he saw a boulder bulldozing its way to plant itself next to him. Only a second later, he realized that it wasn’t a boulder but in sooth a human. His eyes never beheld someone so round not just in body but face, as well. A slight activity of his buttocks made the bench creak and crack like a decrepit dog’s spine would if it tried to swim a centimeter in the summer.
Before Lirzod’s mouth even opened for utterance, another hefty nudge ran against him from the opposite direction. “Ngh! What the—” Upon turning around with marked effort, his eyes descried another kindred figure who looked almost the same as the other abnormity. It was hard to distinguish one from the other.
Their sheer size alone could frighten the wolves and tip off the bears. Lirzod's heart was thrown into a panic at the possibility of suffocating to death in between two mammoth physiques. Yet, he took a deep breath and brought his heart rate down. He acted like he didn’t mind them and put his hand forward, but it didn’t touch anything. When he looked at the tabletop, it was without contents, except for the few flies that chumbled on bits and pieces. At that time, chewing sounds came from either side, making him freeze. As the flies exerted more and more energy, he caught glimpses of each of the brothers stuffing five slices of bread at a time into their capacious mouths as if they were snacking on them to satisfy their pit-like stomachs, even if by a little.
Lirzod narrowed his eyes and stared at them, one by one, but they totally were into stuffing their mouths and paid no attention to him whatsoever. Lirzod blew a breath of air, shrinking his shoulders in.
PUYYKK~!
A revolting pulsation akin to a calamitous thrumming rang in Lirzod’s ears, working over his eardrums from the right, whose source was the butt of the miscreation seated next to him. Pressing his lips against each other, Lirzod turned his head to the right with a heavy heart, when Younger Darling grinned unbecomingly while his mouth still ran like an autonomous machine.
Lirzod turned back, having not taken a breath in the past half-a-minute, and sat stiffer than before.
PUYYKK~!
Another analogous reverberation—only twice as long and loud—echoed around and vibrated the bench and further brought the table into a resonance.
Lirzod's nostrils flared, but he showed no discomfort on his face, not until he turned to his left, only to receive a similar fleer and further shoving from Elder Darling, all of which quivered Lirzod's lower lip as one of his hands shut his nose with his thumb and forefinger. The creaks birthed cracks on the bench.
At that moment, the owner of the booth brought four sandwiches, and he got startled upon seeing Lirzod. This boy’s still here!
Lirzod, too, was baffled because the booth owner told him that he didn’t have anything other than plain bread, which clearly wasn’t the case. If that was a lie, then what else he told was a lie?
However, the booth owner acted like nothing happened as he came over. “Here are your bread omelets, I mean, sandwiches.” He placed them on the table, and they did appear like sandwiches, with the only difference being the addition of a few tomato slices to a bread omelet. Lirzod's eyes widened at the sight of the sandwiches. Before he gathered his thoughts and moved his arm, the two brothers snatched two each into their hands at blistering speeds like cranes would catch fish, and they wasted no time in eating, for they simultaneously exchanged bites with the food in both hands. While eating, both of them who had already occupied most of the bench’s area further squeezed Lirzod from either side.
Lirzod struggled for a few seconds before he forced his way out of their oppressing waists. Towering more than eight feet, they dwarfed Lirzod even while sitting. In a matter of seconds, the sandwiches vanished from sight.
“Hey, go and help the owner!” Elder Darling said in a hoarse voice, giving a darting gaze to Lirzod.
Lirzod stood like a rock, exposing to view a pained stare and an elevated body temperature.
“What’s wrong? Can’t you hear us?” Elder Darling repeated himself. “Move!”
A second later, Lirzod’s feet birthed into motion.
At that moment, Younger Darling sniffed twice and tilted his head downward, his gaze stopping at Lirzod's pants. He grabbed Lirzod’s pockets. “Hiding valuables in there, are we? Why don’t you share them with us?”
“No. I need them.” Lirzod tried to move away but instead got pulled in.
“Now, don’t be like that. Even on this ship, it’s common for the hungry to feed on others,” Younger Darling pulled out nuts out of Lirzod’s pockets and was elated. “Oh, what do we have here?” he barked out a reckless chuckle, “As my nose notified, these are cashews.”
As Younger Darling was about to throw dozens of them at a time into his darning mouth, Elder Darling brought his hand in between. Younger Darling glanced at him and said, “I only swept one of his pockets.”
After realizing the meaning behind the words, Elder Darling chuckled, “hehe,” He looked ahead. “Hmm?” His eyes caught the sight of Lirzod, who already left the spot and reached the booth. “Fine. Let him come back, and then I’ll get my share as well,” Elder Darling told himself.
The front end of the booth wasn’t in the view from where the bench was as it was located on its back. Lirzod looked at the owner, who was busy making sandwiches. “You said you only sell bread.”
“Yeah, that’s what a tenth-decker is eligible to buy,” the owner replied without even looking. “Didn’t you read it in the guidebook?”
“Oh…” Lirzod was surprised. “You mean, that pocketbook?”
The owner nodded while he flipped the bread slices.
“Why so many rules even regarding food?” Lirzod scratched his head.
“Isn’t it obvious?” the owner, only now glanced at Lirzod and leaked out a hurried smile. “Principles align people. Rules align even rotters.”
“I get what you're saying, but...” As he was saying, the owner lifted his arm and exposed his palm while arranging sandwiches in the wooden plates. “It doesn’t change the fact that you lied.”
“E-Enough talking and take these to them,” he handed the four plates to Lirzod and rubbed the sweat off his face.
Muttering something under his own breath, Lirzod stood still for a moment, looking straight in the owner’s eyes.
“What? Didn’t you hear me?” the owner frowned and finger-tapped the tabletop. “They’ll beat you if you don’t hurry up.”
“They have already taken my food without my permission,” Lirzod said, later pressing lips flat.
“They always do,’ the owner said, slipping in his own smile, ‘just go.”
“Yeah. I will.” Lirzod briefly put the plates on the desk and took out four copper coins. He put the coins down and picked up the plates, puzzling the owner.
“What’s the money for?” asked the owner.
“Give it a second,” Lirzod said and then turned back and scuttled away, picking up his pace in a swift manner.
“Hmm?” the owner was puzzled for a moment as he poured drinking water in two wooden tumblers. “Why are you running in the opposite direction?” There was no response to his shout. His eyes then enlarged bit by bit. Straight away, he wanted to come out and chase after Lirzod, but Lirzod had already made enough distance that catching him wouldn’t be an easy affair, and even if he did, the owner was afraid of getting punished by the Darling Twins for not supplying food at the desired pace.
"Oy, cashew boy! What's taking you so long?" a booming voice came from behind the tent, making chills crawl across the owner’s spine, and he sweated profusely; however, he strengthened his heart with a deep breath and came running to the brothers, holding water glasses.
"Hmm? Why are you here?" Elder Darling looked behind the owner, but no other guy was present. "What about that boy? You shifted places with him, huh... Just send him here at once."
"T-That... I..." Having nerves stretched to the max, the owner couldn't speak out his mind.
"Brother, he didn't bring any sandwiches with him," Younger Darling's stare glued to the empty hands of the owner. "Something's not right. Did you mess up with your cooking? Even if you over-roasted them, it’s fine. Just bring ‘em here."
"N-No, Sir Digger," the owner gulped some air as he spoke, "T-T-That boy with the scar… He…”
“Yeah, he’s making the sandwiches. So what?”
“He, he ran away with your sandwiches!"
"What?" Younger Darling got up from the bench rather quickly, his eyes instantly beaming spleen. "That little runt dared to take our bites?"
"Include my cashews in them as well," Elder Darling stood as well, leaving the bench behind in multiple major cracks. They snatched the water glasses from the owner's hands and emptied them in one gulp. From within their jacket pockets, they took out eggs and bounced them in each other's hands. Elder Darling stared coldly at the owner in a downward gaze. "You go make sandwiches with the rest of the eggs, while we go and boil that raw egg a bit."
"Y-Yes, sirs," Staring down at his own hands, the owner had a saggy posture. Whew… I’m safe. It would have been miserable if I were beaten on this day of all days.
The brothers strode away, thumping the wooden floor with every stride. They entered the corridors and discerned the trails left by Lirzod either by sniffing or by grilling the passersby. The flies also tenuously helped their cause. Jam and cheese were rare delicacies on the tenth deck. No wonder the flies were desperate in their attempts to trail Lirzod.
Meanwhile, Lirzod just made short work of one sandwich and drifted in daydreams, reminiscing the times when he stole sandwiches together with Duera when they were kids. All the memories filled his heart with warmth. He looked at the second sandwich, dozing a bit as he traveled through the maze-like corridors. After finishing the second one as well, he felt content. His focus shifted from food and on to something else, and his eyes glistered with a fevered stare. "Those two, they better be sleeping right now. Just wait, your master is coming to put you two in your place," Lirzod said in a steady low-pitched voice as he took fast-paced strides. "Master’s heart is urging for a dance show."
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[1] Kowa: A sweet pill that provides immunity to multiple diseases. It's typically given to every child in the early weeks after their birth, but it's not mandatory.
[2] Bread Booth: A temporary, open-fronted structure built to sell bread for people who belonged to the lower decks. Some were simple tents, whereas some were built with wood. On Exvo, the plain bread was free, but in the outside world, the Shambala Sect established these booths at different places just for the lower class people at cheap prices.