87. Glitter Industries

        Since neither Nolan or Torus had any desire to go clubbing in Fina, they found themselves alone together in the Engine Chamber quite often, it was a natural friendship that kindled between them over time. Torus preferred a nook in the corner of the Engine Chamber over the shiny penthouse suite he had initially been offered. Cave life was much more appealling than a depressing view of the rain lashing down upon Lemuria, that sort of torture made his skin crawl. Here he had privacy to read and study the world around him, no one stopped by unless they had to, he could keep an eye on the latest developments and somehow, it felt like he was physically sustained by the energies of the rock around him.

         His office was simple, rustic and practical, he had no need for red velvet chairs or gilded paintings of himself. A rough looking desk and a few leather armchairs sufficed, a small bar and an open fireplace added life to the dungeon, a bookcase on the wall held a small collection of old books and tablets he had managed to save from disposal, revealing his penchant to read. The reddish and worn rug on the floor did little to cover the sandstone, it was almost buried beneath sand itself. On the walls, ancient wrought iron torches gave the room a seductive glow, contrasting against the collection of broken or discontinued neon signs, some of which worked still.

         Normally, Torus was the one watching the inventor at work, but tonight it was Nolan who stood by, watching with growing interest as Torus worked on his new fundraising project which involved grinding an unusually smelly object which created enormous amounts of glitter, which fountained around the wheels of the squealing grinder normally used to sharpen tools and file rough welds. Torus stopped the grinder and picked up the bowl beneath to examine the glittery dust under the light.

         "I wonder if they'll go for it..."
         "What is it?" Nolan finally dared ask.
         Torus pinched a tiny sample of the dust and held it up to the light, admiring its glittery magic as he released the particles in front of the light, letting them fall, sparkling back down into the bowl. "It's good" Torus smiled before licking the residue off his fingers.

         Nolan gasped! Torus had a really long serpent-like tongue!

         "What?" Torus snapped, noticing Nolan's shocked reaction.
         "Nothing!" Nolan lied, heart pounding now. "It's so... Glittery!"

         "We need a name" Torus announced, chewing on the grit. "For marketing." He turned on the grinder again, pulled another nugget from his pocket and held it to the spinning rasp. "I was thinking... Soloha!"

         "Soloha?" Nolan smiled, skeptical of the stinky glitter falling into the bowl.

         "It has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

         "Yeah, I guess..." Nolan replied, if only to please, since he had no idea what it was. "Soloha... Sure. I like it."

         "Soloha it is then!" Torus confirmed with a smile as the glitter fountained around the wheels of the squealing grinder anew.

         It was so hard to admit ignorance but Nolan couldn't remain in the dark any longer. "But what is it?"

         "It's a recreational drug."
         "I know, you told me that already, but what is it?"

         Torus stopped the wheel. "Take a seat" he gestured to his office.

        

         Nolan took a seat in the leather armchair as Torus took a seat behind his desk, dish of glitter in hand. He opened the drawer and pulled out a pipe, then placed a micro spoon of the glittery powder into the bowl. He searched for his lighter... "Got a light?"

         Nolan reached into his pocket for his lighter, pondering this extraordinary fundraising idea. He wasn't convinced any smelly substance would catch on in spite of the glittery appeal...

         "Here." He passed him the lighter and sat back to watch with guarded enthusiasm as Torus lit the bowl, the mound of powder glowing gold, filling his lungs...
         Torus exhaled a cloud of white smoke and passed the smoking bowl his way, grinning.

         "You want me to try it?" Nolan hesitated to reach for the pipe hovering in front of him. "But I don't smoke!"

         "That's why I passed it to you" he exhaled. "You can't sell something if you don't know what it's all about" he had a valid point. "Experience it! It's quite smooth, even better with the right kind of wine."

         The bars of her cell suggested a dreadful reality; Zara was a prisoner at the Gate, the world as she knew it was gone forever. From here she would go to either the Promised Land or Hellias, depending on her Sin Confessions. She pondered her fate as she sat on the cot, this all felt more like Hellias than the Promised Land, it was hard to believe Sophia's assurances. So many awful stories of Hellias had been told, so many images had been rendered and re-rendered in every text book and work of art since so long ago, she knew what to expect. Hellias was dogon country, there was nothing but barren wastelands, they had studied it in Culloom. Archaic dwellings made of gigantic bones and dried human flesh were the closest thing to civilization. It was the land of criminals and traitors, murder and death, Eternal Torture could be expected in the land of Eternal Winter. And that was only if she survived! Hellias was where Aquilla roamed free! His breath turned bedrock to ashes, he skinned his victims alive and wore their hides as clothing, he incinerated all who dared come near, he was the leader of the dogons, the god of Eternal Flames that had made Hellias the Eternal Winter that it was!

         Zara shivered, chilled by the terrifying thoughts, she potentially faced great hardship. Images of Orien's terrified face flashed through her mind out of nowhere, making her feel sick inside. Orien was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen… A tear welled in her eye as his image returned to fill her mind. She couldn't go to Hellias; she would never see Orien again....

         Footsteps broke her thoughts as two of the guards entered the room. They stopped at Sophia's cell. "Sophia of the Dragon Year?"

         "Yes" Sophia rose.  

        Zara watched as the guard reached up to unlock her door, noticing how easy it was. 

        "See you there" Sophia smiled, fingers crossed.

         "Bye..." Zara lifted her hand to wave. Heart pounding, Zara watched the guards lead Sophia down the hall and disappear around the corner towards all the screaming and smoke. Scared, she curled up into a fetal position and pulled the blanket over her face, reciting any affirmations she could remember. It was almost impossible to think, her head was spinning and pounding so wildly her thoughts kept freezing up.

         Moments later she heard Sophia's screams from the caverns below. She bolted upright in horror, had she really heard Sophia scream? The screams sounded so much more dreadful coming from someone she knew! She listened to the screams for another terrifying moment, heart pounding so hard, neck craned to hear. Why did it have to sound so painful? Would it really hurt so bad? Twelve lessons? Would the other lessons make her scream too?

         "I never let the small things ruin my day" she repeated, closing her eyes, clutching her ears with her hands, trying to silence her friend's agonizing wails. But images of the goddess of the Earth now flashed through her mind again, photographic snap shots of the tentacled creature from her nightmares, she couldn't imagine having to face her in real life! Suddenly she realized how brave Sophia had been as the guard had led her away... Orien's angelic face suddenly filled her imagination again, he had been so brave too… Images of the sacrifice followed once again. She was whimpering now. This was why she was expired, she was just malfunctioning so bad! She took a deep breath and thought about her medal, fondling it with deepening reflection, it was at least something to be proud of.

         Nothing made sense, why was it so big and shiny if she was to end up here? A tear fell down her cheek as she thought about her tragic life, it was too soon to go to the Promised Land, she wasn't ready, she wanted to be an Architectural Designer, at the very least she just wanted a chance to draw! She had worked so hard at her goals, she hadn't even had a chance to prove her training and skills. Why did they invest all that scholarship business in her and not even use it?

         The screaming stopped... Zara ran her fingers around the golden medal, pondering its value. What good was it if she was just going to expire? Was it worth something in the Promised Land?

         But then, Sophia's screams picked up again, sounding even more terrifying than the last screams. She clutched her ears but the screams continued on and on, sounding even more wretched and agonizing than the ones Sophia had let out before. 

        What would happen to her if she forgot her sins? Would she remember all her sins? She tried to quantify them in her head but her thoughts kept freezing up, she couldn't remember them all... She couldn't even remember if she had already counted them or not... She tried again but began to hyperventilate, overwhelmed by the daunting task. 

         She closed her eyes and tried again and again to count them all but the blood was pumping so hard through her veins it felt like there was a drum in her head, the harder she tried to remember her sins the harder it was to remember them! What if she couldn't remember all of her sins?