Bleeding heart

Sara toiled under a sky made of flesh, where countless dead faces stared down at the ground, floating in the wind. Sara hated them, she could not look at them, she was afraid that she would recognize any of them. Still she must look at them, to find the most promising places to gather their falling goods. They were the most recent victims of the collapses in the Chaincrane. As far as Sara can remember, since she was born 20 years ago from a birthbox, the chamberlings of Chamber 7 must pull the chains of the Chaincrane, lest the Chambermaster punish them for their weakness. However, the Chaincrane has been collapsing lately, pulling everyone bound to the chain into the sky, where they float and stare down in eternal horror. The accidents have become so frequent that the bodies have started to crush into each other, creating a frequent rain of frozen gore over the chamber. The Chambermaster has become increasingly annoyed at these losses, and has created teams of chamberlings to gather any piece of chain that returns to the ground. That’s why Sara is out in the open, looking at the faces that crush her soul.

-Over here!- Screamed Laura in excitement to Sara and Marc. It seems that Laura has found a full link of the chain among a pile of frozen arms. Sara grabbed Laura by the shoulder and pulled her back, something was wrong with that pile. From their vantage point, Marc realized that there was a watercreep next to the pile, chomping one of the arms. These creatures look like a human, but are much longer and walk on four legs, have a long tail, a long jaw and are covered in green scales. With the recent feeding opportunities, they have become more daring in approaching the settlement of the chamberlings. Sara and Marc begged Laura to wait out the creature, but she insisted that she had to deliver something to the Chambermaster that very day. She has already been lashed for three days in a row for her shortcomings, and she feared that she might not survive another punishment. Even as Sara tried to force Laura back again, she escaped from her grasp and slowly approached the pile. Sara and Marc observed in silence, without making a move so as to not alert the watercreep, knowing that the creature could not see them if they didn’t move. Laura grabbed the link, but as she was returning to Sara and Marc the watercreep suddenly lifted its head, and charged at Laura with an inhuman speed. Laura ran toward Sara, but the watercreep grabbed her, and pulled her back as her eyes stared at Laura, supplicant. Sara closed her eyes, only to hear the horrible scream of Laura, cut short by a snapping sound, followed by the very loud breaking of bones and flesh. Sara stayed frozen with her eyes tied closed long after the sounds stopped, and even after she knew the watercreep was gone. She stayed frozen in silence, with tears going down her face, the salty flavor replacing the smell of rot.

Back in the settlement, Sara went to Robert, her partner. He had been doing Chaincrane duty all day, and Sara told him that Laura was gone. Sara grabbed him by the shirt and sunk her face in his chest, trying to get lost from this world. Robert patted her back with love. -I have something to show you- he said, and took her to a hidden spot behind the settlement. -A wise man gave me this book, he told me it is the secret for a better life- He pulled a simple looking book from a hole. -This looks like gibberish- Said Sara, to which Robert replied -Only I can read it using the technique that the wise man teched me. Then the eyes of Robert grew red, and his face distorted into uncanny shapes. Sara stepped back in fear, but Robert did not seem to notice. He grabbed the book, and started reading out loud. The pages started to shine, and Robert pulled a bottle of dirty water from this pocket. He grabbed the bottle tight, which flashed slightly, and then his face and the book came back to normal. -What was that?!- Asked Sara, agitated. -Try this water- said Robert. Sara drank the water, and felt that her sadness and weariness disappeared. -Robert, this is amazing! But I’m worried for you. Reading the book changes you.- Robert agreed that it looks unsafe, but he assured that the wise man teached him well. Next day he will try a new spell that might protect them from the Chambermaster. Sara was not convinced yet, but she decided to let it pass for now. She wanted to enjoy her lack of sadness for the rest of the night.

The next day, Robert managed to excuse himself from Chaincrane duty to prepare his spell, while Sara went out to gather more loot. Suddenly, Marc ran to her. -Sara, people are saying that Robert killed several people and took their eyeballs, and everyone is looking for him! Do you know what is happening?- Sara felt her heart sink, and told Marc what she knew. -We must bring him to his senses before he gets hurt, take me to where he has the book!- Sara and Marc arrived at the hidden spot, and there they found Robert reading the book in front of a small circle of eyeballs. -Sara! Marc! You arrive just in time! Witness the end of our misery- He said, but his voice was not his own. His eyes were red again, and his face was even more distorted. -Robert, please look at yourself, you are clearly losing control- Marc said, pulling a mirror to show Robert his reflection. But Robert reacted with anger at his own image. -That is not true!- he screamed, and pointed his accusatory finger at Marc. From it, a string of light emerged, and blew up Marc’s head. Frenzied, Robert jumped at Marc’s body, and tore it apart with inhuman strength. Sara fell to her knees in terror, and Robert turned to face her, raising his hand to shoot again. Then, for a moment, he hesitated, and his eyes became his own again. Sara looked at those beautiful eyes that she had learned to trust, to love, the only source of meaning and strength in her life, and stabbed them with a knife. She stabbed repeatedly, not being aware of her surroundings, and kept stabbing Robert long after he died. Her howling cries joined and got lost among the chorus of machines in the chamber.

Close to Sara, in Chamber 12, a similar event was taking place. Here, a man was reading the very same book, surrounded by the bodies of his loved ones. Upon reading the last page, a bright glow started to emerge from the man’s chest, and his face was overflowing with joy. He started laughing as the glow grew, but soon the joy was gone from his laughter. The glow enveloped him, and then the room, and his laughter had become a barely audible, distorted scream. The glow grew bigger, brighter, hotter, and pierced through the walls of the chamber, into the hull of the ancient spaceship. The structure collapsed, exploding in all directions, sending its millions of inhabitants, slaves and crew alike, to float forever into the vacuum of space. Back in his office, a lowly bureaucrat received a beeping light in his desk, followed by a little printed message. He read the message, and slowly stood up to take from the shelf a big and dusty book labeled “Navy drill for prevention of demonic invasion”. He opened the book to find the name of the ship, “Resilient Hope”, and wrote a failure symbol next to it. -Pathetic- he said, and closed the book.