"I’m Amali." She said, with a bow that looked as awkward on her as it did on Zeraki, “Just Amali.”

[ She might be a foreigner too. ] mused Number 7.

“And I would love the company, there’s not much else to do around here. Give me a moment to put these away.” Amali said as she picked her cup up and headed into her tent.

Zeraki walked over to the boundary of the camp and looked into the woods.

‘Is that you, Number 3?’ he asked.

[ Hey!! It was supposed to be a surprise! You ruined it! ] Number 3’s bubbly voice sounded in his head.

[ How do you remember Number 3 yet you forgot my name. ] Number 7 grumbled as his projection became visible, floating a meter (3ft) from the ground.

[ I always knew dad loved me most! ] Number 3’s joy kept leaking into Zeraki’s mind but his heart remained steady.

[ He can’t feel love, you cotton brain. ] cussed Number 7.

‘Number 3, mind reigning in on your emotions? Number 7, since when could you materialize?’

[ When you passed out earlier, bubbles over there woke up and I somehow got pushed out. How did you know it was Number 3 though? You lost your memories. ]

‘I didn’t. She kept leaking her emotions and I associated them with a random number.’

[ Number 3: See! It’s called ‘Emotional Tagging’. I’m dad’s pride and joy. The onion of his eyes. You should read more, mr. grumpy ]

Number 7 rubbed his temple with a sigh, [ Where did you even learn those words from? And you definitely are the onion in my eyes. ]

“Sorry I took so long, what’s on your mind? You look troubled.” Amali walked up to him.

“It’s alright. I’m just trying to remember things.” Zeraki smiled, ignoring Number 7 and 3’s banter and getting rid of the frown that had at some point started to show.

“Right, must be side effects from that ‘incident’ earlier. Anything in particular I can help with?” she asked and started strolling past the camp boundary.

“Well, knowing what country this is would be great.”

“Blegh. This is Blackmore.” She kicked the dirt, “On some days it’s a kingdom, on any other day it’s an Empire. Nobody really knows what it is anymore. The three Duchies are so different from one another that they may as well be three nations.”

“Huh… You hate it here?”

“I’m a foreigner and this is a third rate state, I don’t care enough about it to actually hate it. The only reason I know so much is because I’m an author. I do lots of research.”

“You had my interest, now you have my attention.”

“Ha! Alright. You asked for it. Lets see, there are three Duchies: One prioritizes Order, another focuses on Equality, and the third centers itself around Interpersonal bonds. The one we are heading to is the Burton Duchy. Expect to see propaganda about Equality and Freedom all over the place when we get there. From my research, I believe the Burton Duchy is a poor imitation of the Bright republic —A Quasi first rate state.

I reckon the duke had good intentions, but he failed to consider one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“How immoral his people are. Anyway, I’m here because Blackmore is a great place to gain inspiration for my dystopian novels. Here’s a fun fact. The Burton Duchy never used to have weekends. The crown had to shove it down their throats by making it into law twenty years ago.”

As they continued to walk, they found themselves stepping into the camp clearing once again. Zeraki had no idea when they had circled their way back nor did he feel the discrepancy. Number 3 wanted to comment on it but Number 7 subtly shook his head. She reluctantly kept it to herself and chose to wait.

“Oh look we’re back. If you are interested in listening to me ramble on about this, we can continue tomorrow. We should be close enough now to getting out of these woods. I honestly don’t know how they still have so much forest cover when they milk everything for profit.”

She looked up at Zeraki before letting out a sigh and saying goodnight to him with a reluctant smile on her face.

———

[ Number 3 : I really like Amali. She’s super nice, I think she likes you, dad. You should ask her out when you get to Astrohelm. ]

[ Number 7 : I doubt it. She’s plotting something. Father doesn’t have his memories so we aren’t sure if this vessel was of any import. She must be out to manipulate him… maybe she’s the one that gave this vessel the poison. ]

Zeraki thought about it but shook his head denying their assertions.

‘She radiates Γ Peace ˩ when in close proximity and nothing else. Something on this vessel calms her heart but nothing more. She has no malice towards us.’

Number 3 and 7 accepted his analysis without questioning, allowing Zeraki to understand more about the dynamics of their relationships with him.

[ Father, about earlier, at some point, you walked back to camp without intending to. ] Number 7 stated.

Zeraki was quiet for a moment and felt number 3’s Γ Worry ˩ leak into his mind. As he thought about it, he also realized that his conversation with Amali barely lasted five minutes yet it felt like more.

‘It is indeed a very concerning state of affairs’ he admitted ‘but as long as the two of you are my look outs, I have little to worry about. Let me know if I’m about to do something that would be harmful to this vessel. For now, I believe it to be prudent to understand how these abilities work and find our place in this new world.’

Number 7 only sighed while Number 3 for some reason leaked a myriad of confusing sentiments; from Γ Joy ˩ to Γ Regret ˩ then Γ Frustration ˩.

Sleep wasn’t easy to come by. Zeraki ended up fiddling with his new sixth sense, and if he had an analogy for it, it would be a rough equivalent to being blind from birth then suddenly being able to see.

‘I thought what I was looking at were her ‘emotions’ but that’s not entirely true. It’s more accurate to say, ‘I can see what she wants me to know’. I perceive how she felt and her true thoughts are exposed.'

[ Number 7: Like how body parts convey their sensations to the brain. ]

‘Precisely! I don’t need words to be expressed by them for me to truly understand what they want to communicate. This is why I could instantly learn the language she used. Communication with her started the moment I noticed her exhaustion.’

[ Number 7: huh… Mind reading? Not bad, father. ]

‘Hmm. No. It’s not equivalent to mind-reading since she had to have been willing to let me in. That would explain why I felt it only from her; loneliness is like a beacon, sending a message to anyone who cares to listen. I wonder what happens when I project my own sentiment to interact with hers?’

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Number 7 shrugged, [ Well you understood something about communication earlier today that led to you passing out. It’s not a surprise that you ended up with a stronger version of the same ability. ]

Comfortable with what he understood of his new sense, he drifted off to sleep. Zeraki had the last watch until sunrise, so he expected to be woken up pretty early.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

After everyone was done packing up, the carriage set off on another day’s worth of travel.

This was a rectangular cuboid passenger carriage with five cushioned seats along each of its sides. Bitrus always sat in the front right seat —with Ola and Hadiza across from him. The seat next to him had always been Zeraki’s; one empty seat from Hadiza to Hami on the left and two empty seats from Zeraki to Amali on the right. Kito sat directly opposite Amali. Zeraki took the empty seat next to her for the day.

Hadiza was still taking lessons from Bitrus and Ola; Hami gave Zeraki a thumbs up when Amali wasn’t looking; and Kito was still buried in his medical books. Opening his sixth sense to them, Zeraki noticed they all had lingering sentiments. Some Zeraki could identify; others…well, not so much. The brothers, though, had a slight variation of the same sentiment —like the same shade of color.

When Zeraki settled in, Amali’s Γ Stress ˩ steadily dissipated and the tired look in her eyes faded.

“You look troubled. Anything I can help with?”

Amali leaned back with her head against the headrest. Then she smiled, “Not really… I just signed something I shouldn’t have.”

Zeraki projected a Γ Tenderness ˩ sentiment that leaked from Number 3 to her. This made her chuckle for a moment before going silent again.

“You know what sucks most?” She asked.

He looked at her side profile and waited for her to continue. There was Γ Reluctance ˩ sentiment about her.

“It’s that I don’t even know what the contract says—” she suddenly cut herself off as a new sentiment Zeraki couldn’t identify surfaced. All he could tell about it was that she considered it an unpleasant feeling.

“Enough of the depressing shit… where did we leave off last night?” she asked with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“You were telling me about the Burton Duchy.”

“Ha! You fool. This was your one chance to change the subject, but you have chosen death. Now you have no choice but to listen to me rumble on and on about boring history until you die of boredom!”

Zeraki chuckled at the poor acting and Number 3 made no effort to hide how much she liked Amali. The earlier dark sentiment still lingered about Amali and refused to wane. With Number 3’s insistence, Zeraki projected a sentiment that could roughly be translated to ‘You have a friend in me’. This was a leaked sentiment from Number 3. When the dark sentiment on Amali interacted with the one produced by Number 3, nothing seemed to happen at first.

Then Zeraki suddenly felt his mind flex. The dark sentiment still lingered but Zeraki could also feel that within it, Number 3’s sentiment kept melting the darkness as the darkness also tried to drown out Number 3’s.

The look on Amali’s face softened and her smile reached her eyes. She turned and looked out the window, “Look! I told you we might be exiting the woods today.”

Since they had their backs to the window, turning around brought them physically closer. The Γ Peace ˩ sentiment grew so much that the darker one receded and continued it’s tug-of-war with Number 3’s sentiment where Zeraki could no longer perceive them.

Through the window, Zeraki could see stumps of trees stretching quite a few kilometers.

“This is the logging industry. They destroy to make money. When they make money, they invest in better ways to destroy in order to make more money. I call it the ‘Vicious cycle of death’.” Amali said, still smiling.

“This doesn’t bother you?”

"Not particularly. I come from a second-rate state. What happens here isn't any of my business. I don't remember how, but I do know that the fallout from Blackmore's idiotic choices never reaches the south.

Now, the logging industry doesn’t have a monopoly. At least not in the truest sense of the word. Trees are everywhere and anyone can own an axe.

"The entertainment comes from the transportation industry. Particularly, the railroad companies. There are three prominent railroad companies in the Burton Duchy and they have their dirty fingers in every other industry. Mining, agriculture, timber, civilian transportation, construction; you name it. If there’s raw material to be transported, it’s being done by trains.

"A profit driven economy and the philosophy of equality and freedom works only for the first and maybe second generation. By the third generation, winners from the first generation provide really tall shoulders for the third generation to stand on. Losers from the first generation have nothing to offer the third generation that will assist them in achieving success.

"The railroad industry is dominated by these three companies because the owners come from families with three centuries worth of wealth, resource and knowledge accumulation. For any person born from a factory worker to succeed, they’ll need to overcome all these. Being a genius isn’t enough anymore, they’ll need luck."

[ I don’t think this counts as immorality, father. It’s more an inevitable state of affairs. I don’t see how it’s the citizen’s fault. ] Number 7 muttered.

“Is this what you meant when you said the duke overlooked his people’s immorality yesterday?” Zeraki asked.

She turned and looked into his eyes and smiled again.

“Thank you. You were actually paying attention.” She reached out and patted his head. Number 3 was over the moon and her joy kept sipping into his mind like she was the one being patted.

‘Number 7, can you switch with Number 3?’

[ Sadly, no, father. You are stuck with her until someone else awakes. ] Number 7 simply stated.

“And no. Look. What do you see now?” Amali asked, bringing his attention back.

After the section of the logged forest came the plantations. Corn, coffee, tobacco and some other plants he didn’t recognize. Men, women and children could be seen working hard as far as the eye could see —A lot of children.

Zeraki wasn’t particularly disturbed by this. The only reason he could tell that it was a bad thing was because Number 3 made her horror at seeing the exhausted, bare foot children known. Even Number 7 looked like he’d rather be somewhere else.

“If people only needed to overcome the disparity in resources then there was still faint hope in building a life while maintaining a clear conscious. The immorality comes in when; those with high shoulders to stand on are pieces of shit and make it their life’s purpose to stomp on a dream, join hands with pieces of shit that have no bottom line when it comes to making a profit.”

She leaned her chin on the back seat and whispered, “Welcome to the Land of Freedom, Opportunity and Equality.”

—————

Amali fell asleep after they got bored looking at the plantations. The peace of mind she got from being proximally close to him worked to lull her to sleep.

“She seems to have gotten better. I haven’t seen her that relaxed from the first time I saw her.” Hami said.

“Yeah, you were right. She needed the company.” Zeraki carefully moved her head that was on his shoulder and placed her on her headrest, ignoring Number 3’s pleas to let her be, before picking up a book Kito wasn’t using. ‘Anatomy’.

“It’s impressive how you can easily interact with people like that.”

“I just know how to speak different languages. What’s in Astrohelm for you?” Zeraki asked Hami as he perused through the book. He stopped reading it when it became obvious that he wasn’t going to comprehend the entire field of biology like he did language. As far as he could tell, neither he, Number 7 nor Number 3 were experts in the field. He only continued flipping the pages because Number 7 was curious about the level of medicine Blackmore had reached.

“National Law enforcement exam for me; Physician and Alchemical Society entrance exam for Kito. You?”

“Well, I’m hoping to get a job at a library. That would be nice.”

*sigh “May Midnight witness your journey.”

‘Who’s Midnight?’

[ Sounds like a religion. ] Number 7 answered.

Zeraki observed Hami’s lingering scent and cautiously projected Γ Curiosity ˩ towards it and asked,

“You are a believer in the Midnight faith?”

After a long pause, he pulled out a photograph from his wallet and gave it to Zeraki. A girl slightly older than Hadiza with an uncanny resemblance to Kito which made it obvious she was family.

“Your sister?”

Kito tensed up like a startled cat.

“Yeah, she went missing a couple months ago. Chances are, she’s also in Astrohelm. She’s the religious one… I’m only trying to be like her.”

He didn’t go into the details, so Zeraki chose to be content with him sharing that much already. Zeraki projected to them both his resolve to let them know if he ever got any information about her. More accurately, the sentiment projected belonged to a sleeping conscious. He didn’t know who but it was strong enough to leak it’s desire to help.

‘Does anyone know who that sentiment belong’s to?’ Zeraki mentally voiced his question.

[ Number 7: ‘A man looking for his sister’. If I had to take a guess, I’d say Number 9. ]

[ Number 3: Why? He says mean things all the time. ] Number 3 sounded guilty as she whispered [ …I don’t like him. ]

[ Number 7: True. He’s got pride the size of mount Kilimanjaro, but trust me on this. It’s him. He’s the type of guy to say mean things to your face and end up dieing protecting you while no one’s looking. ]

Kito’s dark sentiment didn’t so much as waver, while Hami accepted the sentiment and ended up in a similar tag of war like with Amali. His mind flexed, and he could subconsciously feel two points in his mind.

‘The points appear when my sentiments interact with their dark sentiments.’

[ Number 7: I don’t think it’s that simple, father. I think the points only appear when you make a promise and they have a modicum of faith that you can fulfill it. Kito didn’t believe in the sentiment to help them but Hami did. Amali also accepted Number 3’s promise to be there for her when she needed a friend. ]

‘I suppose that makes sense. I wonder what happens when the promises are fulfilled…’

Zeraki got to understand Hami the more they talked. He wasn’t as smart as his brother, but he was observant. He also labored under the weight of responsibility with a smile on his face. If Zeraki didn’t have the ability to read his sentiments, he would have easily believed that Hami was an optimistic, happy-go-lucky kind of man looking forward to joining law enforcement and living happily ever after. But Zeraki could tell that he worried for his sister’s safety, his brother’s education, and his chances at actually passing the law enforcement exams, amongst other things Zeraki couldn’t identify.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — —