“Wait, you can’t be serious. You want me to do what?” Cypher scratched his head and watched in ever deeping confusion as Eurus nonchalantly devoured another cupcake. The dozen he had purchased had been destroyed in seconds.

“It’s really very simple, but if you REALLY need me to go over it again I will.” Eurus had brought Cypher to the edge of the city. In front of them the land turned from dry dirt with the occasional shrub, to rolling hills of sand that stretched as far as the eye could see and even beyond.

Night had fully set in with a half moon and sky full of stars lighting up the desert. Amidst the rolling hills on the horizon sat a black obelisk with white light etched across its surface. This object is what now occupied Cypher's mind as he waited for his task.

“Ok, so it’s really simple. You follow that marker all the way out there every night.”

“Ok?”

“And you keep following them until you reach whatever they are markers for.”

“But why?”

“Because.”

“Because why?”

“Because I wanna know what's at the end.”

“Why don’t you do it then? I want nothing to do with this suicide mission.”

“One, I’m a busy person. Two, you OWE me.”

Cypher nervously stared off into the desert. “Won’t I just starve or die from thirst out there?”

Eurus shrugged his shoulders as he kicked a rock out into the sand. “From some of the stories I’ve heard there's supplies and shelter at the base of the markers.”

“Wait, then how are people dying? It doesn’t even look that far away.”

“People are dumb, the desert is dangerous, and that thing is way farther than you think it is.”

“Has anyone ever made it to the end?”

“Nope, why do you think I'm sending you!”

“This seems like a death sentence….”

“If you feel that way, I could kill you right now if you’d prefer?”

“What's stopping me from just coming back to the city after disappearing over the horizon? The city is big, I could just hide from you.”

Eurus stopped suddenly and spun around with a smile. “I was hoping you would ask.” Putting up his right hand, he began slowly counting down from five. At two he slowly put up his left hand. When zero struck a large BOOM shattered the quiet and nearly knocked over Cypher.

In Eurus’s left hand there now sat a watermelon sized ball. It’s smooth surface was bright red as smoke peeled off it’s surface. “I asked my son who lives at the south pole to toss me this. Felt like it would get the point across.”

Cypher, knocked onto his butt. Stared up at Eurus with stunned silence.

“Oh, I should probably give this back to him.” Winding his arm back, Eurus suddenly snapped forward. The sonic boom being the only thing Cypher could perceive as the ball was thrown back around the planet.

“Ok… I’ll do it.”

“Oh good! And here I was readying a whole spiel on how I could track you. But if you're down, then you better get going.”

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“Now? Shouldn’t I prepare or something?”

“Nah, the towers disappear into the sand every night. With a new one rising in the distance to lead to the way.”

“What happens if I lose track of them?”

“If you're too slow, well. You’ll become just another bleached set of bones. Which works as payment to me as well.”

“You're an asshole you know.”

“Eh, you broke into my house. So, fairs fair.”

Cypher grumbled something back as he faced the distant marker. Taking a few tentative steps he walked out into the wasteland. Turning back he looked at Eurus, hoping he would change his request.

Eurus made a shooing motion, an amused grin crossing his face. “You got this Cypher, think! You could be famous, the first to make it to the end of that path.”

Grimacing slightly, Cypher turned away and walked off towards the first marker.

The hard dry ground quickly gave way to the desert sand. Every now and again Cypher turned his head to see Eurus watching him, the two becoming further and further away until the horizon hid them from each other.

His going was slow, the sand sliding away and making each step slow and deliberate to keep from falling. Preferring to avoid climbing the dunes, Cypher stuck to the valleys. His eyes always faced forward on his target.

Minutes turned into hours, and soon the lights from the city faded to nothing. In its place the vault of the night sky and its infinite light accompanied him on his journey. The obelisk seemed to be growing closer but everytime he thought the next dune would be it. The beacon seemed to be just as far away.

For a time his mind raced with ideas, sometimes humming to himself to keep himself company. But as the night dragged on, the endless climbing and sliding through the sand began to wear on him. His exhaustion eventually forced him into a silence as he hung his head, only occasionally checking to see his position.

As morning began creeping over the horizon he suddenly bumped into the base of the obelisk. Filled with a new energy, Cypher was stunned as he realized the true size of the thing.

The obelisk stood nearly a quarter of a mile tall, its width however was only a few feet wide where it stuck beneath the sand. The lines of light that were etched into its surface seemed entirely random as they climbed up.

Cypher, with his renewed enthusiasm circled the base until he found what he was looking for. And low and behold, Eurus was correct. A box was attached to the obelisks base, a large tanker bolted above it with a spout at the bottom.

His thirst having been shoved away for so long came with a vengeance. And with great aplomb, he greedily drank from the tank. After he was satiated, Cypher began setting up his camp. The box contained a tent, kindling, and a small pot with a variety of what he thought was food.

His meal was not glamorous but it was hefty and filling, and while it could best be described as mystery brown stuff. It didn’t taste all that bad.

The tent however was a different story, taking multiple attempts and many expletives to finally be set up. The time at which had turned into full morning, the desert sun now bearing down fully on him.

Escaping the heat, Cypher climbed into the small tent and zipped it shut. The entire thing was white with a strange shimmer on the exterior. It’s interior was bare and simple, a sleeping bag being the only thing wrapped inside of it .The tents inside was surprisingly cool, the sun’s rays being deflected off it’s surface.

Sleep found him quickly, the exhaustion finally taking over as he slipped inside of the even more cold sleeping bag. His mind briefly wandered about how the next night would go, but this was quickly silenced by his body telling him to sleep.

A loud blaring noise sounded suddenly.

Cypher, bleary and confused sat up. The noise repeated again, and then another time before stopping.

“I guess that’s my wake up call..”

After some stumbling in the dark tent, Cypher opened the flap and climbed out. Stretching his limbs as he looked up at the night sky, and in the distance he could see his next target. Another shining obelisk, deeping in the desert calling out for him.

Taking some time, he ate the rest of the leftover food stuff for his breakfast. And after having a few more drinks of water he stepped away. Taking a last look at the first obelisk before stepping off towards the next.

His steps were interrupted as the ground suddenly began to shake violently. The obelisk before his eyes began to disappear beneath the desert. Some ancient mechanism pulling it back down silently.

To his amazement the entire disappeared beneath the surface, the ever flowing sand covering the massive structure as if it had never been there.

Cypher shook his head, a wide grin on his face as he turned back to his new objective. And with greater determination, stepped off into the endless desert.