OLD BONDS
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3IJqNGqoYD
2.1
"Grand Pillar Tuonela, I'm still not sure if this is right." Doctor Ilona Kovanen said to the military commander overseeing the project.
"This is why they were brought into this world. It's the reason for their existence, however unfortunate their origins. If we didn't at least see what they're capable of, it'd be a complete waste of this opportunity." Tuonela replied.
"I know. Sometimes I have to stop seeing test subjects as humans, and empathy shouldn't get in the way of progress." Ilona replied.
"There you go! My words have sunk to you to the point where you even repeat them now." Tuonela said. They were both observing a room from behind a window. Inside the room was a table. Besides the table sat an eleven year old black haired boy. A white coated researcher brought a pinecone on the table and then walked out.
"Destroy it, but don't touch it." Tuonela said into a hole that was that was connected to the test room. The boy in the room looked confused and he just kept looking at the pinecone, making all sorts of faces, but nothing happened.
"I don't understand what you want me to do." The boy said.
"Ugh. He doesn't have it in his nature. He can't do what he could do when he was born." Tuonela said.
"Maybe some sort of stimulant would help him do it." Ilona suggested.
"Hmm. Perhaps." Tuonela said and whispered to a researcher: "Get the thing. You know, the funny stuff."
The researcher nodded and went to retrieve a vial from a rack. He then put the liquid from the vial into a syringe and went inside the room where he injected the syringe into the boy's neck by force and then left the room.
"What... Huh...Ohh." The boy just whined in the room alone in a dazed state. He then lost control of himself and got up from his chair. He looked at the pinecone on the table and it shattered into pieces that flew all over the room.
"He did it!" Tuonela shouted with excitement.
"So that's what it took. But is he going to be okay if we do this to him?" Ilona wondered.
"That is a good question. He could be very useful weapon for our New Tower, and we should take good care of him."
"Well, not just for that reason but for the sake of humaneness too."
"Progress over empathy. Did you already forget. Now let's see if his sister still has the same abilities she did when she was born. Go get 32A from her cell. And take 31A back to his cell."
"Yes, Grand Pillar Tuonela." Ilona said and did as instructed. The boy, who was referred to as 31A after the minute of the hour he was born in and the class of his abilities, was now passed out in the test room. Ilona carried 31A in her arms back to the boy's holding cell and then opened the door to the boy's twin sister 32A's cell.
"You'll have to come with me for a few moments, ok? It won't take long." Ilona said to the black haired girl that was one minute younger than her brother.
"Yes, doctor." The girl said, feeling demoralised from living in the facility all of her life.
"Did you feel pain these last moments?" Ilona asked.
"I did. Every 59 seconds. As I do every day at this hour." 32A answered.
"You'll hurt again but then it'll end again. I promise." Ilona said to her. Once 32A was in the testing room with the pieces of the broken pinecone, she felt a painful pulse every 59 seconds. That wasn't the reason she was there for, however.
"Put the pieces of the pinecone back together, but don't touch them." Tuonela commanded from the other room.
"What?" 32A simply said back.
"You heard me. Focus on the pieces, or whatever you have to do. Just do it."
"Uhh. Okay." 32A said replied and looked at the pieces of the pinecone on the table. The pieces got back together and attached together. The pinecone got back into its old form and became whole again. 32A felt a painful pulse again, as 59 seconds had passed.
"Do you realize the potential we have here, Kovanen? The things we could do with them. Why did we wait so long to try this? It was your idea to be humane to them and look what that got us for all these years. Nothing. We try my idea and we get immediate results from both!" Tuonela said to Ilona smugly.
"Fine, you were right. What do we do with them now? More testing?"
"Exactly. More testing. And bigger tests. We'll find them bigger objects to destroy and repair. They have the potential to be great uses in war as weapons and as aid. Shame that their mother isn't around but I maintain that she would have been in the way and not worth dealing with. Now take the girl back to the cell. She's hurting."Tuonela said. Ilona went to the testing room and took the hand of 32A and walked har back to the cell.
"What happened there? I've never done that or seen anyone do it." 32A asked.
"Some people are special. You might be one of those people. But that means we'll have to do more tests. Don't worry. They won't be anything too hard." Ilona explained to 32A trying to be reassuring and supportive. Neither of the twins being kept in the facility ever met their parents, as both parents ran away the same day the twins were born, and so Ilona tried to be the closest thing they had to a parent, even if she wasn't very good at it.
32A was taken to her holding cell that was decorated the exact same way as her brother's cell. With a desk and a candle against one wall and a bed against another wall, and next to one wall was a hole leading further underground that a person couldn't fit through. In these cells they had lived their entire lives, and they had no idea how deadly the first winters in the New Tower were. Once 32A was in her cell again, she no longer felt the painful pulses.
"I have to go home now but I'll see you tomorrow here." Ilona said to her and closed the thick metal cell door. She then went to the cell of 31A where he was sitting by his desk and drawing with a pen on paper. Ilona stood behind him and looked at what he was drawing.
"Drawing your dreams again?" Ilona asked, and 31A just hummed approvingly, seeming happy. He always seemed to be happy alone and in his own worlds. His communication skills were weak, and the people in the facility figured that it's because of the serious head trauma he suffered the day he was born when his mother stomped his head. Ilona looked at the drawings on 31A's desk. Most of the drawing had a girl who looked exactly like 32A, which always confused everybody because the twins had never seen each other. The drawing that 31A was currently drawing was a tree with a crashed car next to it. This also confused Ilona since 31A has never seen a tree nor a car.
"What happened in this dream?" Ilona asked.
"This sight is the only thing I remember from it. So that's why I'm drawing it." 31A replied. He just kept humming as he kept drawing the details with his pen that Ilona gave him a few years ago, along with the paper sheets.
"Well, enjoy drawing and I'll see you tomorrow here. I have to go home now." Ilona said. 31A once again just hummed to signal that he understood, and then focused on his drawing. Ilona closed the cell door behind her and extinguished all the wall candles on her way out. She climbed up the stairs and got to the surface where the sun was beginning to set. Ilona stayed outside for a bit, standing there in the evening wind.
"This has been a marvelous day for our New Tower, doctor." Tuonela's voice said from behind her.
"It has. And I look forward to tomorrow. I just hope that we don't have to drug either of the kids anymore."
"Don't refer to them as kids. Refer to them as test subjects."
"That's not even my point. We don't know what long term effects the drug could have on them. They haven't even been tested on animals. And the likely brain damage that 31A has may not be a good mix with the drug. You said yourself that the twins can be great assets. We should make sure to treat them well." Ilona argued.
"That's a fine point but we saw the boy doesn't have it in him to destroy a pinecone without the assitance of the drug." Tuonela said back.
"We can get that into him with natural ways. We should let them both outside every now and then. Under tight supervision of course."
"Hmm, perhaps we should. Maybe letting the boy take part in the same training that soldiers do gives him that killer instinct. But if we take them outside, we can't take them to the same place, or at the same time. They can't know that the other one exists." Tuonela said.
"That's a good idea. We can think about that more later. But I have to get home so I'll see you here tomorrow, Grand Pillar Tuonela." Ilona said to him and walked to her house that was very near. The house only had a mattress and on her doorstep was a sack where her daily food ration was. She sat down on the mattress on the floor and opened the sack. Inside was a tin can of meat and a bag of macaroni.
Her house used to have more wooden and metal objects but those were confiscated by the state years ago because they needed materials.
"How many times do I have to tell them to stop sending me macaroni when I don't even have the means to boil it?" Ilona said to herself. She just ate the meat with a fork and then went to sleep on the mattress.
2.2
In the morning, she heard the usual knock at her door. She got up from the mattress and stretched her limbs. The door knocker never waited for a reply, but just went door to door, knocking on each one to wake everybody up. Ilona walked out of her door at the same time as other residents of the same neighbourhood. This was usually her only chance to see people who didn't work at the facility. None of these people knew what her job was, and so they were suspicious of her, and didn't want to talk to her. Whenever people were near her, they made sure to look straight ahead, as if there was something strange about her.
She got to the entrance of the research facility. Some people saw her going into the small brick building that the facility was under, and people sometimes see her coming back from there in the evening. People always wondered what is in there, but nobody dared to check. Punctuality was demanded and people were scared of being late from their duties. Ilona climbed the stairs down and lit up the candles on the walls. She didn't hear any noises from the cells and assumed that both twins were sleeping. In their cells they had no way to know what time of day it was. Ilona sat on an office chair by a desk for a few minutes until she heard steps coming from the staircase. it was Grand Pillar Tuonela carrying a cinderblock and being followed by a researcher and a guard.
"Good...ngh...Morning, Doctor." Tuonela said walking in with the cinderblock in his arms. He lowered the cinderblock on the floor and held his back.
"Good morning, Grand Pillar Tuonela. What might you do with that thing?"
"We're upgrading! We'll see if the boy can destroy this thing, and if the girl can fix it."
"If he needed a drug to even break a pinecone, why do you think he can break this?"
"This time we'll give him more of the drug then."
"What did we just discuss last night, Urpo? No more of the drug!"
"You haven't earned the privilege of calling me by my first name. I don't do that to you either." Tuonela said to Ilona.
"My aplogies, Grand Pillar Tuonela. I got too carried away." Ilona said back.
"What drug?" 31A yelled from his cell.
"Quiet, boy!" Tuonela yelled back.
"What if we take them outside today and get them back here later to do the tests? Maybe 31A will perform better if he gets in a better mental state from being outside. No drug would be needed then." Ilona suggested.
"I really want to see this cinderblock getting smashed." The armed guard said.
"You'll get to see it later. I suggest we do practical testing with the twins. We saw yesterday that the boy can destroy things and the girl can repair things. And we saw that their mother could do both things, and to humans too. It's very likely that they have similar abilities. So I suggest we test my theory by sending 32A to the medical bay to see if she can do anything to injured body parts. And then we'd send 31A into combat training to strengthen his will to harm. Then we can see the cinderblock get smashed." Ilona proposed. The others looked at each other and had nothing better to suggest at the moment.
"That's a fine idea, Doctor Kovanen. Get the boy first and leave the girl here." Tuonela ordered.
"But we will see the cinderblock get smashed?" The guard asked.
"Don't worry. We will. But before that, you Strong Brick Jalonen take 31A out of his cell and take him to the training ground where the soldiers train. You, doctor. You take 32A to the medical bay and see if she can do her tricks on humans. Me and our new researcher will go do... other things." Tuonela said to everybody.
"Yes sir!" The guard called Strong Brick Jalonen replied, and went to retrieve 31A from his cell. He opened the cell door and let the light into the cell.
"Get out and go where I tell you to. That's an order." Jalonen said to 31A. Jalonen then pointed his finger to the staircase. On the surface 31A saw the sky for the first time since the day he was born. He looked around amazed, but not as amazed as one would think.
"Have I been here before?" 31A asked the Jalonen.
"I have no idea. I was assigned here last week. Now follow me." Jalonen replied. 31A stepped on the exact spot where his head was stomped, and he got a strange feeling from it. He stepped away from that spot quickly. There were no people on the streets, as everybody had already gotten to their assigned tasks. While following Jalonen, 31A didn't say anything. He was taught to only speak when spoken to.
They got to the training ground where about thirty soldiers were practising unarmed combat. 31A had never seen so many people in one place. Strong Brick Jalonen didn't greet anyone, but just turned to 31A.
"You were brought here to train combat. So hit me." Jalonen said to 31A.
"What?" 31A said a little confused.
"Punch me in the gut. I don't know how to teach. Just show me what you've got." Jalonen ordered. 31A punched him in the gut. The punch was very weak.
"Okay, we can work on that. Now dodge this!" Jalonen warned before winding up for a roundhouse kick. 31A covered his head with his hands. Just a few millimetres before the foot could make contact with the hands of 31A, the bones in the foot shattered and 31A got slapped in the hands with a foot where all the bones where crunched. Jalonen screamed in agony and everybody on the training ground stopped what they were doing.
"Did that kid just snap the ankle of that clown?" Somebody said.
"What on earth is happening here?" The commander of this group said as he walked up to 31A and Jalonen. He then continued: "Who even are you two? You're not in this companion. Did you just stumble in here and start training?"
"He told me that we should come here and he said that I need practise and then he hurt his own foot. That's all he told me." 31A assured, fearing that he was about to be punished. Jalonen was suffering on the ground holding his foot, not saying any coherent words.
"This man doesn't seem like he´ll talk. You boy. What is your job and where did you two come from." The group's commander asked 31A, who didn't know the answer to the first question.
"We came from under ground." Was all that 31A knew to say, as he didn't know the name or even the purpose of the facility.
"You came from a hole in the ground? Ah, whatever. Carry this brick into the medical bay and find out what his deal is. Take the kid with him there." The commander ordered, and so two soldiers took Jalonen by his shoulders and carried him to the nearest medical bay. It wasn't very far, as every city district has one.
Meanwhile in the underground facility 32A was screaming loud. But she had a good reason. She had started feeling the painful pulses again every 59 seconds, but this time they were more painful and intense than usual. Ilona, Tuonela and the researcher where inside her cell with her.
"At this rate we'll have to take her to the medical bay just for her own good." Ilona said.
"I said. It'll pass. Just like it always does!" Tuonela insisted.
"But this isn't like usual! She's suffering. Way more than usual." Ilona said back.
"Why are you looking at that wall, 32A? Aren't you usually staring at the door?" The researcher asked 32A.
"That's where the pain is coming from. I don't know what it is!" 32A answered.
"So is the pain usually coming from behind the door?" Ilona asked. 59 seconds had passed since the last pulse and 32A screamed again.
"It does! Every time I'm here. But not now." 32A answered. Ilona got into a circle with Tuonela and the researcher
"So she feels those pulses from behind the door when she's in this cell, but only sometimes. Sometimes she doesn't feel them at all. Now she feels them from a different direction than ever before. And what is unusual about today? Her twin is out of the facility for the first time. The other times that she feels the painful pulses is when her brother is being taken out of his cell, or when she herself is being taken out of her cell. She only feels these pulses when her twin in far away from her, and now they're more painful than ever now that 31A is out of here." Ilona theorised.
"That seems like a plausible theory. We may need to experiment with that." The researcher whispered back.
"I wouldn't enjoy keeping her in pain but progress over empathy." Ilona finished before leaving the cell. The other two followed and the cell's resident stayed in.
"What compass direction is she looking towards?" Ilona asked.
"East, I think." Tuonela answered.
"And where is the training ground where Jalonen took 31A?" Ilona asked.
"I know for a fact that it's east of here." Tuonela answered.
"Well doesn't that just make my theory obvious? They have some sort of a strange connection. Come look at this." Ilona said to the other two. She took them to the empty cell of 31A and took some of his drawings.
"That person in these drawing looks like 32A. These twins have never seen each other, but both somehow know the other on some level." Ilona said as she showed the drawings to the other two.
"That is mighty interesting. I want to test out how painful her pulses can get. That might become a problem if one is used in the battlefield and the other back home." Tuonela said.
"So I'll take her to the medical bay like we agreed earlier? To see if she can help humans and also to see how her pulses get." Ilona asked.
"That is still the plan. But we should wait until the boys come back. We can't let the twins see each other out there. So let's wait." Tuonela said and went to sit on a spinning chair by a table.
After two hours of waiting and listening to sounds of pain coming from the cell, footsteps could be heard from the staircase. Strong Brick Jalonen and 31A came down the strairs very slowly. Jalonen had a cast on his foot and he walked with a crutch. 31A looked happier than he had looked in his entire life. Jalonen less so.
"There they are. What happened out there?" Tuonela said when he saw them come in.
"The kid was a little too good at self defense. Blocked my kick and broke my foot. I'm not even mad at him. We had to take a little detour to the medical bay." Jalonen said.
"The outside is amazing! There's... things above us and there are these tall big... things." 31A tried to explain but he didn't know the words for the things he saw outside because inside the facility those things had never come up in conversations. The only way the twins learned words and language was with lessons that they were given, and also by listening to the other people in the facility, whether secretly or by being talked to.
"I know what's outside. Now we might as well do your second task of today. Get in the test room." Tuonela commanded.
"I've been looking forward to this." Jalonen said and looked pleased. The joy of 31A went away now that he was back here doing routine things. He walked to the test room by himself because he wanted to get this over with quickly. He stood by the table and glared at the cinderblock, focusing so hard on it that a vein almost popped in his forehead. Nothing happened to the cinderblock. Tuonela looked into the room only to see that nothing was happening. He turned his face to Jalonen and yelled: "How did he break your leg again? By just defending himself?"
"That's right! I tried to kick him in the head and then my foot just broke like a pinecone." Jalonen shouted back. Tuonela got an idea. He got in the room and picked up the cinderblock.
"So if self defense gives you some motivation, maybe that's it!" Tuonela said and was ready to throw the cinderblock at 31A. Ilona grabbed Tuonela and stopped him from throwing it.
"You are not throwing that thing at him. What if he can't break it? There goes our great asset. You don't think too far ahead." Ilona said.
"You're right. The drug is the way to go." Tuonela said back.
"Drug?" 31A said while covering behind his hand and crouching. Ilona wanted to console the boy but didn't want to show empathy in front of Tuonela.
"Whitecoat! Bring the needle!" Tuonela yelled and the researcher came into the room with the syringe, walked up to 31A and jabbed it in his neck. All of the adults in the room rushed out because they knew that the drug makes 31A lose control of himself. The cinderblock was shattered into pieces when 31A looked at it. He stumbled around a little and then broke the window in the room by looking at it, and then he passed out.
"Get him out of there and take him to his cell." Tuonela said to Ilona, who complied. After 31A had been put in his bed, Ilona got out of the cell and regrouped with the others. Jalonen looked at his own broken foot.
"Do we need to take the girl to the medical bay when we could see what she can do to my destroyed foot right here?" Jalonen asked.
"Well. That's a good idea. She won't have to see the outside like her brother did, which is a good thing in the long run. Get her out here!" Tuonela said and commanded the researcher who complied. The researcher brought 32A to the others.
"Are you still hurting?" Ilona asked 32A.
"No, actually. It stopped a while ago." She answered.
"Interesting. But today's test is healing this loyal brick's foot. Do it. Now." Tuonela said to her, and she looked at the cast around the foot of Jalonen.
"I suppose I should." She said bored. Jalonen cut the cast off with a pocket knife and didn't even care if the blade hit his foot since he couldn't feel anything down there anyway. His foot looked gnarly and nasty. 32A just let out a sound of disgust and then looked at the broken foot. Every broken part got back together and the foot was healthy again. Jalonen was scared while this happened and it felt strange when feeling came back to the bodypart.
"Your test for the day is done. You may return to your cell." Tuonela said to 32A, who didn't even say anything back. Her life was half boredom and half pain, and that had numbed her completely. 32A walked back to her cell by herself and closed the door.
"Well this day's work was quick and easy. Good to be assigned here." Tuonela said and chuckled.
"So can we leave already?" Jalonen asked.
"You may depart, Strong Brick Jalonen and all others." Tuonela answered.
"I'll stay behind and put the candles out." Ilona said. All the others left and once they were climbing the stairs up, Ilona went to the cell of 32A
"Is everything okay?" Ilona asked upon entering. 32A was just laying on the floor.
"Everything is okay." 32A replied.
"You were hurting pretty bad earlier."
"I was. It ended at the time when I started hearing discussion from outside this cell. Then it started again but not as bad. The usual amount. Now it's gone again."
"What did you hear us talk about?"
"Something about outside. Also there was a voice I haven't heard before. Who was that?"
Ilona was not sure what to answer. She knew that she shouldn't tell the truth because it was agreed long ago that the twins would never learn about each other.
"It was nobody important." Ilona answered, but she could tell that 32A was not buying that answer.
"Hmph." 32A just replied.
"We learned today that you can heal wounds on people. Nobody before you has been able to do that in such a way. How do you feel about that?"
"I'll use it as told."
"That's good to hear." Ilona said. She wanted to say to 32A that even she has her own life but she knew that putting thoughts like that in her head, would work against the project, so she stayed loyal to the New Tower's interests.
"How are you?" 32A asked. The question surprised Ilona because 32A never in her life had asked this before.
"I'm fine. Everything is going smoothly over here. But you don't need to be concerned about me." Ilona answered.
"Understood. I won't be." 32A answered thinking that the answer she got was an order. Ilona thought about how damaging this upbringing has been to the communication skills of the twins, but she had no room to feel sorry. "Progress over empathy." were the words that she said to herself in her mind all the time.
"Well. Tomorrow is a new day. I'll see you here then." Ilona said before getting up.
"You will." 32A said back. Ilona left the cell and went to the other cell where 31A lived.
"How was your day?" Ilona asked him and watched 31A sitting by his desk drawing again.
"Today was a good day. I can't wait to go outside again. Will you let me out there again?" 31A answered and asked with more joy in his voice than ever heard before.
"That isn't up to me. But I'm sure you'll get to be out there again. What are you drawing there?"
"Just something that I have a vague memory of." 31A said as he was drawing an exploding pinecone.
"Do you remember what happened in the test room yesterday and today?"
"Not really. I remember looking at a pinecone yesterday and a big block today. I don't remember either one exploding like this though, haha." 31A said. This confirmed to Ilona that the drug affects his memory in small ways.
"So you almost got a a kick in the head today?"
"I did. I didn't get hurt. The Strong Brick did though. I hope he'll be okay."
"Don't worry. He got the best treatment."
"I'm glad to hear that."
"Hey, this may be a wild suggestion and probably against the rules but now that everybody else has left, would you like to sneak outside and come back before anybody notices?" Ilona suggested, thinking that since 31A had already been outside, letting him out again wouldn't hinder any plans.
"Are you serious? Yeah! I would!" 31A said thrilled.
"Well let's go then." Ilona said and kept the cell door open. She felt a little bad about this, thinking that she's giving one twin something she wouldn't give the other, and that it's unfair. But then she thought that the other realistic option would be to not give either one anything nice, so this was the better choice. 31A climbed the stairs up much faster than Ilona did.
"Up here you should act properly and formally. Don't attract attention. You can look around as much as you want, but act like you're following my orders." Ilona explained to 31A.
"Understood." 31A Answered.
"Earlier today I noticed that you don't even know the words for that thing up in the sky, or these tall poles with green on them."
"I've seen those things in my dreams. I've seen all kinds of things in my dreams but I don't know the words for any of them. Nobody ever told me. I didn't even know for sure that these things exist before today." 31A said while looking around and up. Ilona felt sorry for him, despite her teaching. She wasn't sure if 31A never had those words taught to him or if the drug affects his memory that badly.
"That thing above is the sky. And that tall thing is a tree." Ilona explained. 31A repeated the words quietly.
"Now straighten your back and follow me." Ilona said firmly and started walking with 31A following her. They walked straight east where the training ground was. It was empty this time. As they walked past it, 31A felt a great urge to roll on the grass, but he had to behave himself.
"Is this where you trained, or tried to train with Jalonen earlier?" Ilona asked. 31A just left out an affirmative hum. They walked straight north of the training ground where an old library stood. The windows were boarded up and so was the small window in the front door. At the door was a sign that said: "Exclusive government property. Entry forbidden."
"I've walked past this place many times. Nobody is allowed to go in but nobody actually enforces that rule. You want to break in?" Ilona asked.
"Why? What is it?" 31A answered with a question.
"Want to go see?"
"If you say so."
"Stand guard while I remove the boards. If you see anyone, tell me." Ilona said, and went to rip off the boards from the front door. The old boards were in poor shape and came off easily.
"Okay, let's go in. Come here." Ilona said to the direction of 31A, who complied. She let 31A go first through the hole in the door where a glass pane once was, and then she herself followed. The inside of the building had remained untouched since the New Tower gained control of that area and boarded up the building because it was deemed unneeded and harmful for the regime's ideals. Inside the building everything was covered in dust.
"What is this place? Another facility?" 31A asked.
"Not really. Before you and... before you were born, this is where I would come when I needed useful reading material for my studies. I studied medicine and psychology. I wonder if some of that material is still here." Ilona said back.
"Is this where you get my weekly reading practise?"
"Does it look like it? No, it's my job to write it myself every week, and Tuonela checks it after I write it."
31A took a book at random. It was about geography, and the cover had a globe on it. He looked at the cover perplexed. Ilona noticed this.
"You probably don't know what you're looking at. That's the world that we live in. It's a lot bigger than you even know." Ilona said. 31A looked at pictures of far away lands and read some information about them. He was fixated on it and didn't pay attention to the rats running around the place.
"I want to see these places. I want to see Panama and Indonesia and..."
"That probably won't ever happen. Even taking you this far from the facility is against the rules. And once you're ready to be let out, you'll work for the army." Ilona regretted to tell him.
"Oh." 31A said, closed the book and put it back on the shelf as if that was required.
"Let's go somewhere nicer. This place is too dark and dirty." Ilona suggested.
"Okay. Where?"
"I know a place where I often go when I have time. Follow me and act properly outside." Ilona said and made her way to the door. Outside Ilona started making her way to the northeast with 31A behind her. On their way there they passed many houses. Only one person passed them by, but didn't say anything or give any strange looks. After a bit of walking, they arrived at the pond known as Nahkiala's pond. 31A was amazed at the sight of a simple pond. In the book he saw all sorts of sights greater than this but this was in front of his own eyes. Ilona sat down on the ground and looked into the pond. 31A was standing a few steps behind her.
"There's nobody around. You may sit down." Ilona said, and so 31A sat down next to her and looked at the pond. He felt like he could sit there for hours and just look at the pond on this cool day.
"So you get to come here every day?" 31A asked.
"Not every day. But if I have enough time, I usually spend it here relaxing."
"Must be nice. I'm jealous."
"We could come here more often when ever there's a day when the work gets done quickly."
"We could? That'd be nice." 31A said with a smile.
It was then that Ilona remembered that 32A is in her cell and probably suffering from the painful pulses again. She instantly got an urgent look on her face and got up. 31A looked perplexed.
"What is it?" He asked.
"We need to get back home, and quickly."
"Why?"
"Just follow me. That's an order." Ilona said as she couldn't think of a lie that covers up the real reason. She walked briskly back to the facility with 31A behind her.
Once they were underground, Ilona pointed 31A to his cell where he sat down on his bed. Ilona shut the door and went to the cell of 32A. There she was laying in her bed with her knuckles bloody. The corner of the cell that is on the northeastern side had blood on it.
"Were you in pain again?" Ilona asked her.
"I was. It's over now." 32A answered sounding bored in her usual way.
"I'm sorry."
"Why? You didn't cause it."
"But I could have been here to be by your side when it happened." Ilona said, thinking of something to say instead of the truth.
"Why are you here by the way? Didn't you go home?"
"I came here to pick up something that I forgot and then I heard you screaming." Ilona explained with another lie.
"I'm glad you came. I'm good. Don't forget anything this time." 32A said to Ilona.
"I won't forget. See you tomorrow." Ilona said and then closed the door and went back the cell of 31A. She opened the door and saw 31A sitting by his desk and reading a book.
"Where did you get that?" Ilona asked.
"I took it from from that place that were in earlier." 31A answered.
"What is it?"
"Seems to be just words and sentences in one language and then complete nonsense." 31A said, trying to make sense of the book. Ilona got closer to look at the book.
"One part has Finnish. The second part has the same in Latin. It's a language learning book."
"Oh. Neat. I guess I could learn Latin then. Whatever language that is. I took another similar book but for German."
"Don't let anyone see them or they'll ask where you got them. Hide them under your pillow."
"I guess I should. Thanks for taking me out there."
"Speaking of that. You can't go outside anymore unless Tuonela tells you to."
"I can't? But you said that we'd go there more often." 31A said back.
"We can't. If Grand Pillar Tuonela or any of his associates see you out there, that would not be good." Ilona said, thinking of 32A and her pain.
"Hmm. Okay. I understand."
"I hope you liked being out there. I'm glad I could take you there once."
"It was nice to be there."
"I should leave you now to get to my own things. I'll see you here tomorrow." Ilona said to him. 31A just gave an affirmative hum and sat there in peace. After closing the cell door, Ilona stood on the main lobby that the cells were around. She was looking at both the cells doors that were across the lobby from each other.
"Agh! I feel so bad for them. They both deserve an ordinary life but they can't. They should get to know each other but they can't. The project is too important for science. I've gotten attached to them, but I should also see them as test subjects. I want to just talk to both of them but I'm not that sort of figure for them. I should only be a researcher. Me being anything else is harmful for the project. I have to overlook my empathy and do what's best for humanity." She thought to herself. She climbed up the stairs after putting the candles out.
She didn't want to go straight home. She wanted to walk outside and enjoy the outside air. She walked the same route that she walked earlier with 31A, but this time there were more people outside. She didn't go all the way to the pond, but along the way she climbed on a traintrack that was on the way, figuring she would just walk as long as she wants to, and so she walked the traintrack southeast for as long as she felt like. While walking there she just kept thinking about her conflict, even though she tried to distract herself.
After walking on the traintrack for an hour she started seeing something in the distance. It was getting closer. Then Ilona started hearing the galloping of hooves. It was a horse running towards her. She could see that there was a person on the horse's back, and once the horse was close enough, she saw that there was another person too. The person riding the horse noticed her, and stopped the horse.
"Finally somebody who isn't armed. Do you know a way to the gate of Nokia that doesn't have checkpoints?" The rider asked.
"And why do you need to know that?" Ilona asked back.
"That's none of your business. Do you know a way?"
"I know a way if you tell me why do you need to get there. I won't assist any dissidents for no reason."
"Fine. I need to get this man out of here and outside the walls into the Deadland. He can't get there himself because of his broken legs. He tried to get in through the gate at Kouvola but they didn't let him in, so I snuck him in because he needs to cross the territory."
"That doesn't seem too harmful for our order. I can tell you a way there. I can even get the man's legs healed." Ilona said to the rider.
"I don't think these legs can be fixed by the means you have here." The man with broken legs said to Ilona.
"I know someone who's really good. But we should go there at night. As suspicious as that sounds." Ilona said.
"She's leading us into a trap. Let's go, Samuel." The rider said and started riding away."
"Fine! Go! But you won't know the way out!" Ilona shouted from behind. The rider stopped the horse and turned it around and returned to Ilona.
"Fine. We'll wait until it's night and then we'll follow you to your suspicious doctor."
"Good choice. Nobody seems to be around. So let's wait here. I have nowhere to be today so I can waste time here." Ilona said.
"Why are you so willing to help us?" Samuel, the injured man asked.
"This doctor that I know doesn't get much work. And I don't see you as a risk." Ilona said back. The rider got down from the horse and also took Samuel down to the ground and they all sat down.
"I've been riding since midnight. Me and Samuel are both tired and deprived of sleep. Can we trust you to wake me up when the time is right?" The rider asked.
"We can't trust her." I'll stay awake and if she tries anything. I'll wake you up. I can survive without sleep a little while longer." Samuel said to the rider.
"You're right. Let's do that." The rider said back and lied down on the traintracks. Samuel sat there with his broken legs and stared at Ilona intensely.
"So why do you want into the Deadland? Are you spies working for the enemy? I better believe your answer or I'll cancel our deal." Ilona said to Samuel.
"Fine. My old home is out there and I need to get something from there." Samuel answered. Ilona didn't believe it for a second but decided to tolerate this dynamic duo anyway.
"I see. That seems like a good reason." Ilona said and remained silent.
There they sat until the sun went down, with Samuel staring at Ilona and the rider sleeping on the tracks. Ilona got up and kicked the rider very lightly.
"Time to get up and go. Follow me." Ilona said.
"Wow. You didn't actually leave us. Lead the way." The rider said back and got up. Ilona led them to the facility and didn't see a soul on the way there. The sound of the hooves touching the asphalt sounded loud at night as they all wanted to stay quiet. They got to the facility with no problems.
"Leave the horse here. Obviously. Your injured friend will need to come in himself." Ilona said to the two others.
"Not happening. I'm not going in there. You'll bring your doctor in here. I'm not walking into this trap." Samuel said. Ilona understood at this point that Samuel would not trust her.
"Fine. I'll bring her up here." She said and made her way down the stairs. She went to the cell of 32A and woke her up.
"I'm so sorry to wake you up but you need to do something for me." Ilona said.
"Huh? Doctor? What is it?" 32A said back.
"You need to help somebody who's hurt and you'll have to come with me."
"Fine. If that's an order." 32A said and got up from her bed, already dressed in her prisoner jumpsuit, the way she preferred. They both went up the stairs with Ilona leading the way. Once they were near the top, 32A felt a painful pulse. She was caught by surprise and almost fell, but managed to save herself by grabbing the guardrail.
"Are you okay?" Ilona asked.
"I'm fine. It didn't hurt that much. Just surprised me." 32A answered. They got to the top where they saw the rider, the horse and Samuel who looked coarse. This was the first time that 32A had saw the outside since the day she was born. She looked around a little and looked unimpressed. This was also the first time that she hed seen an animal. The horse had her scared.
"Don't worry. They just need help. This man here. His legs don't work. Can you do what you did to that soldier and heal him?" Ilona asked 32A.
"I can do that." 32A answered, being nervous near the horse. She put both her hands on Samuel's knees and in three seconds they were completely fine.
"How did she do that?" Samuel asked, and the rider looked shocked too.
"That's what we're researching here. Best you leave now." Ilona said to them.
"You still need to show us the way." the rider reminded.
"I didn't forget. I used to drive to that direction sometimes and I didn't want to deal with checkpoints so I learned a route to avoid them. I still remember that route." Ilona said and pulled out a paper and a pen from her pocket. She drew a rough recreation of the route with road names and handed the paper to the rider.
"Safe travels. Where ever you're going." Ilona said to them, and took 32A and they went back down the stairs, while the rider and Samuel rode away. While walking down the stairs 32A had questions.
"Who were those people and what was that animal?" 32A asked.
"Those people were just two people who needed some help. That animal was a horse. Useful for carrying people. Fast too." Ilona answered.
"I don't like the outside. It's dark and cold and even there I can't escape the pulses."
"It's not always cold and dark obviously. Remember what you were taught about the sun and earth and seasons. It's been a long time so it's okay if you forget."
"Hard to remember when I only hear things but never see them." 32A said and sounded bored. Down at the facility Ilona led 32A to her cell in the complete dark. They both knew the positioning of the cell well enough that they found it anyway.
Ilona climbed up the stairs. She went straight to her house where she ate her daily canned meat and swallowed some dry macaronies. After that she went to sleep thinking about today's encounter and wondering why anybody would want to go into the Deadland. That took her mind away from her difficult feelings.
2.3
In the morning she woke up to the typical knock on the door. She woke up and walked to the facility. On the way she heard two of her neighbours talking something about hearing galloping last night. Once she got down to the facility, the candles were lit up and two soldiers who she had never seen before were holding 31A who had handcuffs on.
"What is happening here?" Ilona asked and sounded worried.
"Looks like this test subject managed to escape yesterday but then got homesick. After going home yesterday, I came back here to pick up something I forgot, and I found the cell empty. I ordered tight supervision and more checkpoints on all roads. They found nothing. Turns out the boy came back here by himself. But at least the checkpoints caught something they otherwise wouldn't have this night but that's besides the point. 31A will have to be moved somewhere else. His home will be in Tampere, where he will be under my supervision and doing errands in the army. He's clearly not fit for this place and holding him in a cell doesn't work. He already passed his final test with the assistance of the drug. He's ready for the army." Tuonela explained. Ilona looked at 31A and noticed that he was unconscious. The soldiers were holding him up.
"Have you asked his opinion?" Ilona asked.
"The opinions of test subjects don't matter. He's being relocated." Tuonela answered.
"And why is there a headless lamb in the test room?"
"That was the final test."
"You want to send him to the army to make a killer out of him?"
"That way he would be the most use. We'll teach him combat and shooting, as well as practical skills with vehicles and such. The perfect soldier. Do you have any objection to that?"
"No sir. What is best for our order is the priority." Ilona said. On some level she was glad for 31A about this because working for the army would likely be better than living in a cell. But she also knew that 32A would suffer all the time now and she felt terrible for her.
"Won't 32A suffer constantly now? We already found out what causes her painful pulses." Ilona asked.
"That'll be your problem now. You'll stay here and continue to do testing and research with her." Tuonela said back.
"Now stop blocking the doorway. We have places to be." One of the soldiers said to Ilona, and then came to shove her away, as the soldiers and Tuonela went up the stairs dragging 31A with them. Ilona grabbed Tuonela's arm and stopped him.
"Wouldn't it be better to also move 32A somewhere? I've already taught her useful skills like repairing and crafting. We've seen that she can heal wounds. Wouldn't she be more useful working at a medical tent?" Ilona asked.
"You know what? That's a good idea. We wouldn't need to maintain this facility anymore, and the cleaners, ration carriers and toilet emptiers would no longer need to come here. Take her to the local medical tent and tell the people who run the tent what she's all about." Tuonela said back. After Tuonela and the soldiers had left with 31A and the place was empty, Ilona went to open the cell of 32A who was laying on the bed with her eyes open and looking bored.
"What was all that noise? I heard voices that I hadn't heard before. And I also heard the voice of something that didn't sound human." 32A asked but didn't sound curious.
"They came here before me and they left when I came. They told me that I'll need to take you somewhere else from here. This place won't be used anymore. You'll help wounded people now and I should take you there." Ilona said back.
"Oh. Where is that place?" 32A asked and then felt a slightly painful pulse.
"I'll take you there. Come on. Let's go. Your daily ration probably won't be delivered here so no point waiting for breakfast." Ilona said, and 32A got up. She didn't have any belongings in the cell so she just got up wearing her jumpsuit already. Outside the cell 32A saw the cell of her twin wide open for the first time ever, and she saw some of the drawings on the wall. She walked away from Ilona and into the cell to look at the drawings closer. She recognised that the girl who was in many of the drawing was the same girl that she always sees in the reflection of the water bucket where she drinks from. And on one of the drawings that girl was standing by a horse that had two people on its back.
"Whose room is this? What are these drawings?" 32A asked Ilona.
"This is my room. I drew these pictures." Ilona answered with an explanation that doesn't go against the plan.
"Every day you tell me that you need to go home. This can't be your home is. You're not telling me the truth." 32A said in a straight tone.
"I didn't say that it's my home. It's just a room that I sometimes stay in."
"Is that me in those pictures? Why have you drawn so many of these?"
"Because everything out there is evil and ugly. I want to draw something that's good in nature." Ilona answered, trying to come up with something believable and to also make 32A feel good about herself. 32A was not buying it, but she didn't care to argue anymore. She looked into the direction of the test room and saw the headless lamb on the table. She didn't seem at all shocked by it.
"No, you shouldn't go there." Ilona said and tried to take her hand, but she slipped out of her grip and went there anyway. She looked at the lamb whose head was on the ground badly damaged.
"I can heal it." 32A said. She took the head of the lamb and put it together with the lamb's neck. However nothing happened. The head stayed just as separated from the rest of the lamb as it was before.
"Oh. It's too badly damaged. Or it's been dead for too long perhaps. So that's the limit of my skill. Let's go, doctor." 32A said disappointed and turned back to Ilona as she wiped her bloody hand on her jumpsuit. They climbed the stairs up to the surface where it was a sunny morning. The pulses that 32A felt were getting stronger and more painful every 59 seconds. Ilona noticed it.
"Are you feeling okay?" Ilona asked.
"No. But I'll be fine. It'll pass like it always does. This time it's coming from there." 32A said and pointed north where her twin was taken. In the gravel on the ground where tireprints.
"I'm not sure if it'll pass this time." Ilona said back.
"Oh. Why do you think so?"
"You'll learn once I learn more. I don't really even know myself what causes it."
"Oh. Let's just go where we were supposed to go."
"Good idea." Ilona said and led the way.
Ilona led the way and 32A got to see the neighbourhood for the first time in her life. Unlike her brother, she remembered the words for trees and the sky. They walked the entire way looking formal and proper. They arrived at the nearest medical tent after twenty minutes of walking.
Inside the medical tent was not a lot of people. One nurse and one first responder were stationed there. Inside the tent were 12 bunks, but only two were occupied. Both by citizens with commond colds.
"Are you the people who we're waiting for?" The nurse asked.
"So they told you already? I was told to bring this test subject to work here." Ilona said back. 32A stepped forward.
"What can she do?" The nurse asked.
"She can basically heal any wound as long as it's not too bad. She's even revived a dead person." Ilona answered, still remembering what happened when the twins were born.
"Well if that's true then our job will be even easier than it already is. Can you show?" The nurse said. 32A walked to one of the bunks and touched the patient who was laying on the bed. The patient was frightened when 32A put her hand on the patient's lung. After a few seconds, nothing happened.
"Very impressive." The nurse said sarcastically.
"Must be because it's a viral infection. I can't kill the virus. I can heal wounds and repair damage. I'll prove it." 32A said and took a pair of scissors from a nearby table.
"Sorry." She said and then jammed the scissors into the kidney of the patient. The patient screamed. 32A pulled the scissors out and the patient screamed again. 32A then put her hand on the wound and the wound healed and it looked and felt like nothing even happened. The reactions of the nurse and first responder ranged from confused to horried to amazed.
"Well that's certainly useful. Maybe she'd be more useful in an area where wounds and injuries are more common. An army town like Tampere. Over here we mostly treat sicknesses." The nurse said.
"That might be better. When would be the next chance to move her there?" Ilona asked back, thinking that it would be better for 32A to be closer to her twin to ease the pain.
"Well, they send deliveries into this tiny town only once a week. So she'll have to be here until then."
"Hmm. I guess that's okay. Also if you see the way she twitches every now and then, that's a thing we'll have to get fixed and I believe the help is there." Ilona said.
"It hurts. It hurts a lot." 32A said and stayed tough even though the pulses she had been feeling the last ten minutes were the most painful she had ever felt.
"That seems like it should be looked into." The nurse said.
"We've been researching it for years and we have no idea what causes it." Ilona said back. 32A sat down on one of the bunks and kept her eyes pointing north. The nurse walked up to Ilona and whispered in her ear: "If she's going to be here an entire week, we should sedate her to make it easier for her."
Ilona nodded, and so the nurse went to a table and took a case from under the table. From the case the nurse took a vial and put a bit of its contents into a syringe and walked up to 32A.
"Hey! What are you doing?" 32A said and sounded scared. She grabbed the nurse's wrist to stop the syringe from going into her neck, but she wasn't strong enough, and so the syring was pushed into her neck. 32A was instantly out and the nurse laid her on the bed. Even when she was out, her body twitched every 59 seconds.
"I've never seen anything like this. The way she healed that patient's wound is not explainable by our understanding of medical science." The first responder said.
"That's why we've been keeping her under tight supervision until now. We should make sure that nothing happens to her here either. She's too valuable." Ilona said.
2.4
32A was being kept on the bunk for a week where she didn't wake up at any point. On the day that the next transportation to Tampere was supposed to arrive, it didn't. When Ilona arrived into the medical tent that morning, 32A was already awake from her week long nap, and the nurse was leaning back on a chair.
"The nurse was very precise with the dose, it seems. How are you?" Ilona asked.
"I woke up some time ago. It was still dim. I still hurt as usual." 32A said and was almost knocked off the bunk by the pulse that she felt.
"I came here when I heard her scream. She kept screaming every minute or so after she woke up. By now she seems to have gotten used to it." The nurse said.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to this." 32A said sounding depressed.
"So the transportation to Tampere should come today?" Ilona asked.
"It was supposed to come two hours ago. I don't know where it is." The nurse said.
It was then when a soldier opened the flaps of the tent and came in.
"What are you people still doing here? Everybody was supposed evacuate!" The soldier shouted to them.
"Evacuate? Why? And where?" Ilona asked.
"Everybody except soldiers were supposed to jump into the wagons when the message came that the rebels are on their way here."
"Rebels? What is happening. I've heard nothing about anything like that."
"Basically yesterday a large number of soldiers of in Tampere stopped obeying and raided armories. They now control the city over there and they're on a mission to purge all army camps in the province. They're coming over here already. That's why citizens were taken out of here further south because this town may turn into a battlefield."
"So now what?"
"Best you can do is hide. And this tent probably won't be a good hiding place. Go! Get out! Hide!" The soldier yelled at them, and so Ilona and 32A left the tent. The nurse and the first responder took the two patients from the tent and went their own way. Outside the tent on the suburban streets Ilona and 32A could see soldiers carrying rifles and jogging towards the north.
"I know a place where we can hide. Let's go there." Ilona said to 32A and took her by the hand. They ran the roads and they went to the boarded up library that Ilona went to with 31A earlier. They went through the hole in the door.
"I don't think any fighting will be done here. This place has been untouched for years." Ilona said.
"I guess that's a good thing then." 32A said back, seemingly not worried at all and asked: "What's a battle?"
"I guess you've never been taught that word, or even the concept of it. It's when two groups of people fight until the other one doesn't fight back anymore. And I think our side will win this battle." Ilona said.
"I guess they will." 32A said back.
After sitting there behind a bookshelf for an hour with no noises coming from outside, 32A started questioning if anything was going to happen at all.
"Is this what a battle is like?" 32A asked. Before Ilona could even answer, yelling was heard from outside.
"Retreat! Retreat!" A voice shouted outside, and ten seconds later a wave of footseps was heard right outside the library. Ilona listened to a conversation coming from outside.
"What is the situation in the front line?"
"Total defeat. The survivors are now retreating here to strengthen our lines here."
Both Ilona and 32A did their best to be quiet despite the painful pulses. The lines were formed near the library, and after thirteen minutes of waiting, she sound of glass bottles shattering could be heard accompanied by yelling coming from the north and the northwest.
"They're here! They're here! Fire at will!" Could be heard from the other side of the wall. The sound of gunfire, shouting and bottles breaking dominated every direction. 32A wasn't trying to hide her pain because she didn't think that anyone would hear in the midst of the noise.
Eventually the noises went quiet. The only thing that could be heard from outside was fires burning and victorious shouting.
"That's another victory, boys! The shit tower is just about fallen! Send two of us back to Tampere to let them know that more people can now come here and we'll establish our rule here. From here we'll attack further south. We'll convert or exterminate all servants of the New Tower within a month at this rate!" A voice outside yelled, and people cheered.
"Was that a battle?" 32A asked, not sounding terribly curious.
"You don't seem flinched. Are you okay?" Ilona asked back.
"I'm fine. What do we do now? Back to the tent?"
"We're not going back there. Or anywhere in this place. These people hate us and they want us dead. If they see us, they'll shoot us right away."
"How do you know that?"
"I just have a feeling. Let's stay here until the night falls and then we'll leave the town and we'll head south."
"But wouldn't the battles just follow us? They're going to attack to the south from here, like that guy outside said."
"You're right. But where else could we go?"
"Those two on the strange animal last night went north. Where were they going?"
"They were going to the Deadland. But going there would be even more of a suicide. Do you remember what you've been taught about it?"
"But can't I heal most things. We'll be fine there."
"Didn't we just see that you can't heal diseases?"
"Depends what kind of disease it is."
"Why do you insist on going that way?" Ilona asked and 32A went silent for a bit.
"Because my pain comes from there and I want to get closer to it to make it stop." 32A answered. This answer made Ilona rethink.
"That's actually a good reason. If we went south, your pain would only get worse and worse until your life is pure suffering." Ilona said and wondered what happened to 31A up there during the rebellion.
"So you agree that we should go north?" 32A asked.
"Yes. Let's go north once it's night. Until then we should be quiet." Ilona said.
They sat on the floor quietly all day, listening to sounds outside. Sounds of celebration, and dragging of corpses could be heard from outside. When it was dim outside and all noise had died down, Ilona figured it could be a good time to see if it's safe to go. She told 32A that she'd go take a look outside to see if anyone's around and then come back. So that's what Ilona did. She stepped out of the building and nobody was immediately around. She jogged around the building and checked the other side of the building where the battle happened. Not all of the corpses had been dragged out. All of the bodies on the ground wore gray t-shirts and black combat pants. A couple of bodies were burned. Ilona wasn't shocked by the sight. She had seen worse. She went back inside the library and went to 32A who was sitting next to a wall.
"We can go. Nobody is around." Ilona said.
"Finally." 32A said and sounded bored. She got up and followed Ilona to the exit. Ilona was about to exit but then saw two men coming towards the entrance. She immediately went back in before they saw her. Ilona saw that the two men wore gray t-shirt and black combat pants, just like soldiers of The New Tower do, but these two men had a large black X in the front of their shirts. Ilona figured that this is how the rebels identify each other. Ilona held the mouth of 32A until the two men passed the door. One of them stopped at the door upon noticing that the door had a hole that a person could crawl through. Ilona was shaking, and when 32A felt another pulse, Ilona could feel it too in her hand. After the rebel had stood there for ten seconds, he went away and caught up with the other rebel. Ilona peeked out of the hole in the door and saw the rebels walking away. She got out through the door and waited for 32A to also come.
"We may need to disguise ourselves if we want to make it anywhere. Follow me." Ilona told 32A and went to the other side of the building. She took two shirts from the corpses and then and then put her finger on a burned corpse and got her finger all black. She drew large black X's on the shirts that she took from the bodies.
"Put this shirt on." Ilona said to 32A as she handed the shirt to her. 32A noticed that there was a bullet hole in the back. When she put the shirt on, it almost reached her knees. Ilona also put on one of the shirts, and they both headed north. They went to the main highway as that was the straightest way to Tampere, where 31A was taken. Ilona figured that at this point there was no reason to keep the project going. She would let the twins meet each other and then take both of them out of the rebel territory.
They walked along the highway until it was the dead of night. The sky was black and the stars were bright. 32A looked at the sky and it was nothing like she had ever seen before. She knew what stars and suns were, but she had only heard them described. She stopped walking and just looked at the sky. Ilona also stopped.
"The night sky is pretty, isn't it?" Ilona asked. 32A didn't answer.
"I guess we should continue in the morning." Ilona said and sat down. 32A also sat down on the asphalt.
"Before you ask, I'm still hurting, but I'm also getting used to it." 32A said.
"That's good. If things go right, we might get your pain to end."
"How do you know that?"
"I don't. That's why I won't promise anything. I'll tell you when I'm sure."
"Hmm. Okay." 32A replied and lied down. 32A had no trouble falling asleep on the cold hard asphalt, but Ilona couldn't sleep.
ns 15.158.61.48da2
