Dreams and Legends

by Spadaro, Jason

Gobble Dawn and Bone Teeth ate quietly, sitting around a small fire they'd made in the tunnel way. They'd offered Fidget some food, which he had originally tried to turn down, but eventually accepted. The Standardized Food Product filled them, and they began to talk about plans for the next day.

  "You know the Prophecy," said Bone Teeth. "It will not be kind."

  "It will not," said Gobble Dawn. "But, like all things, we shall see."

  "That's what I'm worried about."

  Fidget was nervous. He'd joined them as a protective measure, looking for security, but this did not seem to be safe. "What... shall we see?"

  Gobble Dawn stretched out. "The Burning. The queen needs fuel to continue, to move forward. To produce. That has to come from somewhere."

  Fidget nodded in acknowledgement. "That is true."

  Bone Teeth looked at him, sad, and asked, "If there is not enough power to run the machines that mine the coal that runs the city, then what is there left to burn?"

  "Well... items, I guess."

  Gobble Dawn's mute head was disinterested, and appeared to begin to nod off from the exhaustion of the day's travel. "No," its more alert head said, "that is not the way it's been handed down. That's not the way of the prophecy."

  "What is the way of the prophecy, then?"

  "We will be burned." Gobble Dawn was direct. It rolled off his tongue like a fact, of a law of nature. "Well, not us specifically. But there will be others sent to the furnaces. They will keep the machines running. Then Ore Flesh will have his work. You can't tell me you've never known any of this?"

  Fidget sat, uneasy. "I knew. We all know. Just... to have it confirmed. It seemed so outlandish. Why must you talk to the Foreman?"

  Bone Teeth spoke up again. "It is our mission. We must bring specifications to the Assistant Engineer. The Foreman has those specifications. That will bring about our solution."

  "Why not the Chief Engineer?" Fidget knew the answer to this one too. He just wanted to hear it confirmed. All these things that had been passed off as legends seemed to be transpiring.

  Gobble Dawn laughed. "Oh, come now, you know that answer to that as well as Bone Teeth or me."

  "Hmm?"

  Gobble Dawn looked at its feet, sitting on the stone floor of the passage. "No one's seen the Chief Engineer in a very, very long time."

  ~ ~ ~

  The next day the three travelers made their way up through the tunnels above. Not many people traveled through the tunnels at this point, although the way the stories had been told, when the city, and furnaces, and mines were new they were filled with traffic. Now they seemed vacant.

  The mine needed workers, but these were members of the Foreman's personal guard. The occasional merchant would keep them supplied with things produced by the queen's industry, but this was the extent of their contact with the level below. The merchants in question were very few, and very old, selected by both the Lady in Scarlet and the Foreman jointly. It was most likely one of those that had been the messenger that had carried the queen's letter to the Foreman, telling him what must be done.

  While walking to the mines, the first stop to reach the Foreman, they met a merchant. In a deep black robe, he drove a powered cart. It had a caged back, which held a variety of goods he had not sold, and some specialized materials that could not be transported without great care. Bone Teeth (who was in front) gave him a low nod, but the old trader had not acknowledged him.

  Gobble Dawn's mute head looked back as the cart drove back where they'd came, and as usual said nothing.

  Fidget saw the cart, and whispered to Gobble Dawn, "I bet he brought the note. The proclamation from the Lady."

  Gobble Dawn considered this. "Maybe."

  "It's like walking past Death, seeing that cart go by."

  "Death is not unkind, when it is necessary," interjected Bone Teeth. He hadn't taken offense to the old merchant ignoring him. They all had their tasks, and distractions were just more things to get in the way. Distractions like the conjecture about chance encounters in the tunnels.

  Gobble Dawn spoke up, "Maybe he's not like Death, but like Death's messenger."

  Bone Teeth made a guttural noise. "I would not call the Lady 'Death'. I thought better of you, Gobble Dawn."

  "Not the Lady. Oh no. It's the idea of Death. Like its very essence. I mean, we've taken destruction, and made it anthropomorphic. It's come into its own, become a person. Maybe..."

  "Maybe it's just making me uneasy. Fire and burning sound terrible," interjected Fidget quietly.

  That stopped Gobble Dawn mid-thought, and they walked in silence the rest of the way through the tunnel. After a number of intersections, which led to old storage areas (from what they could see), it opened up to a vast open cavern with a number of workers sitting around. It had several large, rough corridors heading off in every direction, and a single finished tunnel opposite from where they'd entered.

  The workers themselves were dirty, and wore standard issue metal helmets and heavy plastic work jackets. They sat by what appeared to be excavation tools and mining carts, all powered off. Several large dark green pipes lay stacked in a far corner. They sat, and talked.

  A tall one, with three eyes was talking louder than the others. "You know where this is going? The round up gangs. The fighting. I don't want to be part of it." His pupils were massive.

  "Aye," said a squat worker with four arms, "but it's our lot. You see, it's all been agreed upon. It's not like the Foreman is taking orders, per se. It's just all been figured out."

  "I just don't like it," replied the three-eyed one. "Don't like it in the least."

  "Nor should we."

  Gobble dawn approached the group of four miners, while Fidget and Bone Teeth hung back.

  "A question, gentlemen. Do you know where we can find the Foreman?" The miners sized up Gobble Dawn cautiously. The two silent miners looked at their feet.

  Three Eyes spoke up. "Yeah, what do you need?"

  "We have a message. From the Lady in Scarlet."

  "I see." They looked him over. "He's in the Branch office, past the Furnaces." When he mentioned the Furnaces, the pitch in his voice changed, like a combination of nervousness and sorrow.

  Gobble Dawn recognized this, and hesitantly asked, "Has it started yet? The Burning?"

  "Aye. I'm sure you passed the merchant on the way up here. He brought the note, I'd wager. He also towed ten carts of...defectives. Lost units." Gobble Dawn couldn't tell if it was disdain or remorse that colored the miner's face when he said that.

  "I see."

  The squat one gave a short, coarse laugh. "No you don't, but you will. The Branch Office is down that tunnel." He gestured in the direction of the finished tunnel on the other side of the cavern. "You'll see them as you pass by the Furnaces. Go far enough, and you'll come to the Office."

  "Thank you. By the way, I've been wondering. Why aren't all of you..."

  The squat one interjected. "Working? Why bother? The power's out. We can do squat. A few of us are down there, doing what we can with what still works, but it's not much. The strange part is that it's nothing on our end. Production was, as always, up up up. It's like the coal just stopped giving a damn. The old method stopped working."

  Although he didn't really seem to understand it, Gobble Dawn nodded. "Thank you." He walked to his companions. "This way." He pointed at the finished tunnel.

  As they walked off, the workers shook their heads and went back to talking. "Like I was saying, they'll expect us to form round up crews by the factories. I don't like it at all." The squat one was quiet, following the three travelers with his eyes. "Good luck!" he yelled. He was sure they would need it, just not when or why.

  ~ ~ ~

  They passed through the tunnel, and came to a large iron door with a heavy knocker. Bone Teeth, who was crawling in front, stopped and looked back at Gobble Dawn. Gobble Dawn approached the door, and with great effort swung the heavy metal ring. The sound of metal against metal rang down the hall, e
choing off the smoothed stone walls.

  A slot opened in the door, with a set of darting eyes peering through. "Who is it?" said the set of eyes.

  "We have been sent by the Lady in Scarlet with a request. We must speak to the Foreman."

  "The Foreman? I will check on this. Wait here."

  The slot slammed shut, leaving them wondering who the mysterious eyes belonged to. Fidget sat on the floor, trying to reattach a piece of fiber optic that had become detached when they'd left the central room of the mines. Bone Teeth looked over at him.

  "Why do you keep working with those?," he said.

  Fidget looked up. "It's all just information, and the paths it follows. That's all any of this is. I have a little more control over it than most, but we're all wired in some way or another."

  "I see," said Bone Teeth, but he really didn't. He was just annoyed at the interloper who had inserted himself in their odyssey. "Does that... help you?"

  "No. Maybe? What does it matter?"

  Gobble Dawn regarded this. It looked back over at the doorway, and went back to wondering what they would do if they were told no. They couldn't ram down the door, no matter how much Bone Teeth would want to. They couldn't really turn back, either. If the Foreman respected the legends and lore that founded all of this, then he'd let them in.

  Maybe?

  Unless there was deeper lore, but that was well beyond his ability to even consider at the moment. For now, they would have to wait and see.

  With the sharp slide of metal again, the slot reopened. The eyes that had been there before reappeared. They darted about. "Hello? Are you still there?"

  "Yes," answered Gobble Dawn. "What did the Foreman say?"

  "He said he was busy, but to let you in. One moment." A sound of a large metal lock system working inside the door could be heard, then the metal entrance swung open. The owner of the eyes stood there, a tall, wispy thing covered in soot. Beyond him was darkness dotted with red glows. "You'll have to wait here for a while, until he's finished. I'll come and get you when it's time."

  "Thank you." Gobble Dawn bowed, holding both its hands together in the sleeves of its robes. Bone Teeth made guttural acknowledgment of gratitude, but was distracted by the place they now stood. It was all darkness, with dots of flames in the distance. He thought that far away he could just make out some large cages.

  Fidget backed up against the door, wondering again if this had been the right decision.

  He looked at the cages in the distance. The shadows shifted, indicators of unknown inhabitants, obscured by the darkness. Workers fed the furnaces from a dwindling pile of fuel. It was impossible to tell where the one that had answered the door had disappeared. Fidget sat on the floor, and looked at the faint blue pin pricks of the fiber optic contacts on his skin. It was as if everything here was consumed by darkness or fire. His eye spun and quietly clicked as it tried to focus on what light was available.

  Bone Teeth watched with silent resolve as two workers struggled at the entrance of a cage. They pulled and pushed with the entity within, eventually dragging it out kicking and thrashing from inside. A third worker opened a door to the furnace then ran to assist the other two.

  They fought to get the prisoner to the entrance of the furnace. Then paused. They could be heard talking, but it was distant enough that nothing specific could be understood. Then they threw the prisoner in. With a scream it was consumed.

  ~ ~ ~

  When the worker returned to tell them the Foreman would see them, Fidget proceeded with caution past the cages. Neither Bone Teeth or Gobble Dawn felt there was any risk, but Fidget knew he was a tagalong, not a needed component. They moved through the darkness, past furnaces and idle operators, until they came to a heavy wooden door. It was reinforced with iron plates and large rivets. In a brass plate it said "Foreman" across the top.

  The worker opened the door, motioned them to enter, and then slammed the door behind them.

  The office was large, with a formidable desk at one end. Cabinets and shelves lined the room, with books, papers, and rolled tubes. The Foreman sat behind the desk. He was a massive man with a helmet like the ones they'd seen on the workers in the mines. He smoked a large cigar, and had fierce eyes behind a set of circular goggles.

  "I'm told you're here to see me," he said.

  "Yes, sir," replied Bone Teeth. "We have a request from the Lady in Scarlet."

  The Foreman regarded the three travelers, with a look of annoyance. He considered them interlopers, after a fashion.

  He half-chewed his cigar. "What is it? She's been making a lot of those lately."

  Gobble Dawn coughed. "Yes, it's an unusual time. She would like us to take the master specifications to the Assistant Engineer."

  "Well, that's interesting." An awkwardness set in for Bone Teeth and Gobble Dawn. They were used to the formality and theater of the Lady in Scarlet's court. This was quite different.

  Fidget was nervous, but not out of awkwardness. He noticed since they'd entered that the shadows didn't seem right. There was something unusual about the light cast around the room, like it was darker in the corners than it should be. The focus on his mechanical eye spun, and he tried to nail down some reasoning. He couldn't.

  The Foreman got up from his desk, and went over to a cabinet nearby. Standing at full height, he was even more imposing. His heavy work boots knocked against the floor, kicking off the dust and soot as they moved. He rummaged through the cabinet, and pulled out a locked notebook. The edges of the paper were aged, yellow and brittle looking. He strode over to Gobble Dawn, and handed the book to it.

  "Tell the Assistant Engineer," the monster of a man said, "that he's been slacking. We needed this yesterday. Anything else you folks need from me?" He spat on the stone floor.

  "Uhhh... Yes, sir," said Gobble Dawn. "We need... to know where to find him."

  "Of course." He walked over to the large door and opened it. "Down that way there's a tunnel. Follow it. There's a T a few days from here. Take the left."

  "What's on the right?" Fidget asked.

  The Foreman glared. "You wouldn't like it."

  "Okay," Fidget replied, meek and intimidated.

  "Soot Mouth!" shouted the Foreman through the darkness. A minute later a spider-like man, walking on its ten arms and legs appeared.

  "Yes, Boss?"

  "Take these guys to the North Tunnel. Show them the way out, then they're on their own."

  "Sounds good, Boss."

  Bone Teeth dipped his head, "Thank you, sir."

  The Foreman looked at him with the same critical, silent stare. "Yeah. Good luck. You'll need it." He turned around and went back in his office, slamming the door behind him. Fidget thought he saw a shadow swoop from the bottom of the doorway, but it could have been made by the door swinging.

  "Come on. I've got work to do." Soot Mouth started walking through the inky black of the room towards the North Tunnel.

  ~ ~ ~

  When Soot Mouth left them, they felt relieved. The faint illumination of the hallway was welcome; the inset, translucent lights that characterized the other caverns and halls that they'd walked so far returned. Gobble Dawn looked at one, and considered that the furnace room may have had them at one time, but the accumulation of ash and grime from the constant fires would have covered the surface of the lights with soot quickly.

  They walked for a day in the uniform hallway, without any change. The hallway stretched behind and in front, miles in either direction. The finished walls had the same semi-polished look, and any of the ash from the furnace room was gone within fifteen minutes of walking. They walked toward the T the Foreman had mentioned.

  They were forced by exhaustion to make camp before reaching the T. Fidget looked around nervously, sitting on the ground preparing for sleep. The shadows still didn't look right.

  Gobble Dawn and Bone Teeth fell asleep after their quick meal. Fidget, on the other hand, could not.

  "You!"

  He sat u
p with a start. He'd heard a voice shout. Gobble Dawn and Bone Teeth hadn't seemed to notice anything. It couldn't have been loud enough to wake them. Fidget couldn't place where it'd come from, though.

  He sat up, and, looking around the hall, nervously tried to reattach one of the fiber optic cables that had become unseated from its connector on his chest. He looked to his left, and saw his entire left arm covered in unusual shadow.

  "You there! I know you saw me, then and now!" The voice shouted into his ear again.

  "What?" Fidget spun his head around, trying to locate the source of the voice.

  "You saw me...I went into the furnace. I'm what's left."

  "What's left?"

  "Yes... The rest of me burned away. You need to fix this."