Chapter Text
Chiwa felt the cold air rushing by her sides, the air smelling worse as she fell.
Goddamnit.
Damnit!
All she had done was stop by Rudo and Regto’s place. She hadn’t ever been there officially prior to Rudo’s… sentencing… but she scoped it out after Rudo had been tossed. She saw the crowding, the scene with guards surrounding it. They grabbed Regto with very little care, throwing around the corpse like a ragdoll.
Some part of her hopes Regto survived, she didn’t want to believe Rudo snapped and murdered him so cruelly- but if he did survive, Rudo would’ve been shunned to the pit for nothing. There was no positives, no silver lining.
The son of a killer.
How foolish of her to believe otherwise.
How foolish it was of her to hold out hope. Chiwa didn’t want Rudo to be a murderer. She didn’t want to see him leave.
She didn’t want him to die in the pit.
And here she was, destined to the same fate.
All that happened was that she simply stood in front of the shell of Rudo’s house, she would usually stop by once a week. Chiwa wanted to remember the good parts of Rudo, the happy memories, where he was most considerate of them all, and made sure never to waste anything. Her last visit wasn’t anything different than what she normally did, which was just open the door and look inside, never actually stepping inside the home. Doing so felt too personal, too presumptuous, as she never had actually been inside the home before.
But this time, this time was her last. She had only been standing there for maybe five minutes, but then she felt herself get grabbed and yanked, pulled and jerked around.
“You’re under arrest!” Chiwa heard a man shout, grabbed by a swarm of hands, definitely more than one person.
After an initial moment of frozen shock, she shook her head and was brought back to the moment.
“What?” She gasped, trying to maintain a steady voice in all her fear, “Hey! What gives!?” She asked, probably not the best way to speak to the guards, but that likely wouldn’t have changed the outcome. She felt more force in the manhandling, it started to hurt, she felt fingers digging into her skin, more pressure in the grips of large hands.
“You’re under arrest for conspiring!” One of the officers yelled, making her ears ring.
“What are you talking about!” Chiwa resisted.
“We were given reports of your suspicious behavior. Always lurking around this home, the home of the killer! We were told you were here to conspire, here to plan how to continue Rudo the killer’s brutality,” One of the men growled.
“That’s crap! I wouldn’t hurt anyone, let me go!” She writhed in their hands, but it only made their holds on her hurt more.
“Like we’ll believe that! Your resistance by itself deserves punishment! You’re going to be thrown into the Pit!” Chiwa didn’t know which of the men said it, she was running out of stamina to continue fighting them, the hands on her shoulder, arms, and legs, her body lifted into the air by four, maybe five men.
It was absurd. A handful of men manhandling a fifteen year old girl.
She felt sick to her stomach, her eyes wide, throat feeling choked as she processed the words.
The Pit.
She didn’t know when, but at some point she stopped fighting. At some point she passed out. She didn’t know when, but eventually she was raised into the air, arms outstretched and her head hung, eyes scanning the crowd.
And she was dropped.
And now here she was, falling, maybe to her death upon impact, and if not, then death would find her sooner or later.
Rudo’s heard snapped towards the direction of screaming. It was loud, raw, guttural, and full of fear.
And worst,
It sounded like it came from above, and that it was rapidly descending. Someone from the Sphere had been dropped. Rudo didn’t want to care, he hated everyone up in that corrupt state. Everyone, every person there deserved nothing, nothing but misery induced by his hand.
But there was this gut feeling deep in his stomach, like a worm wiggling through thick sludge.
He had to move.
He had to save them.
He hated them all, but maybe whoever it was could be useful to him in his endeavors to get back to the Sphere.
After Rudo determined the direction of the cries, he raced towards the sound, running fast and trying to keep from bumping into anyone as he ran.
As Rudo edged closer to the screams, he could feel the prickling in his throat, the pungent smell of garbage growing thicker. A polluted zone at the least- which wasn’t unexpected, but he hoped it wasn’t a No Man’s Land. He reached into his bag, trying to hold it somewhat steady during his frenzied sprinting, and he grabbed his full face mask. Rudo put on the gas mask, securing it to his head, connected the oxygen tube, and then put on the top half of the mask as he flipped his hoodie up to hide his very distinct hair. He didn’t know who was dropped, but he didn’t want to risk that person remembering him.
Chiwa’s throat felt as though it was set on fire, raw, scratched, and sore from screaming, but the pain was overtaken by the crash of her body onto the ground. It was covered in garbage, and smelled abhorrent. The sickening crack of her body against the floor would’ve made anyone sick if they heard it, but Chiwa hardly reacted as she passed out a mere few seconds after she hit the ground.
She didn’t know how long she had laid there, but she woke when she felt the ground shake beneath her. She felt her blood freeze in fear, what the hell was shaking the floor like that?
Chiwa attempted to get herself up, or attempt to get her bearings. Her arms slowly came closer to her, and she began to slowly rise and prop herself up. When she did, she looked around, trying to take in her surroundings. She didn’t die, but she knew she would if she didn’t try to get up and make out what was around her, especially after the shaking ground.
As she scanned, she heard a shriek, a loud, inhuman screeching. Chiwa felt the sudden burst of adrenaline, as she immediately felt threatened by the noise. Once she was able to stand, she started to look from the left of her all the way to the right. Her head got to the middle before she saw it.
A large creature, seemingly made of garbage, and enormous.
Its head snapped to look at her, and it roared out.
She turned on her heel to run, as she didn’t have a clue on how to even begin to form an idea on how to take it down. Chiwa didn’t like to fight, she didn’t like violence, but she wasn’t completely clueless on how to. She knew she wasn’t particularly big or strong, but it would be foolish if she didn’t know how to fight someone else at least a little. It was the nature of things where she lived, even if fighting posed the risk of arrest. Chiwa never really had to fight, maybe once or twice but those incidents were so far apart, she wasn’t sure if one of them actually happened.
But this… this monster was something else entirely, and she knows better than to try her luck with this thing. Her only option was to run, and even then, she was sure it would catch her. This would only prolong the inevitable if she couldn’t find somewhere to hide or find some way to escape.
But was it even worth it to try and live amongst the garbage?
Should she cut her losses and let herself get killed by this monster?
What if other people who were dropped survived? Did they make a community?
But… if they did, would she want to meet them, or would they tear her to shreds?
…
What if Rudo lived?
All those thoughts were quickly ended as she saw a hunk of trash hurled towards her, the beast catching up to her.
Damnit!
She couldn’t believe it, or any of this, anything that had just happened. Dropped for nothing, and destined to be hunted like prey down here. Chiwa felt the tears welling up in her eyes.
She felt the ground rumble once again, dust kicked up in the air, and she began to cough and choke on the air, not just from the debris, but the intense tingling in her throat that had worsened since the initial fall.
Chiwa looked around, trying to find the source of the rumbling that had gotten covered by the dust. She wasn’t about to blindly run in a direction just to run straight into the monster.
There, in the cloud of trash debris and dust, she saw a person. Or… what was probably a person, it looked human but it had on a mask- he had on a mask. Looked like a guy, but she supposed she could never be sure off of a one off glance. It was red and yellow, had a few spikes between the eyes and spikes around a small hose that connected into the bag. The bottom half was a gas mask, and it had a large hood, the bottom of the hoodie jacket sort of cropped, and big baggy pants and another bag or something behind it. On their legs were skin tight compression sleeves on their arms and legs. The gloves it wore were massive.
Almost like Rudo’s.
He jumped high into the air, gloves glowing red and black. He picked up a piece from the garbage, something like a wind chime or decoration. When he- or it, she guessed- did, it transformed into something else entirely. It not only got larger, but the chain grew larger and thicker, and the bottom part went from some pretty dangling metal that could be used for outside decoration, into a large metal spearhead.
The person whipped the chain and it extended forward with a crack, the sharp spearhead slicing part of the monster. The chain was yanked in closer, coming back towards the figure. They yanked it behind, then above themselves by raising their arm and cracking the chain like a whip, and slamming the impromptu weapon into the ground, creating a devastating shockwave in the ground, then slicing the monster in half.
Chiwa watched, half awestruck and half in horror. She felt knots in her stomach, unsure of the potential threat this new presence posed.
“Hello?” Chiwa yelled out, semi-cautious.
The figure didn’t respond. Instead, they held up a finger to bottom half of their mask, making a hushing gesture. It scanned her over, head moving up and down. She felt like the person was seeing into her soul, like cold knives had been run through her flesh and into her soul.
It stalked closer, starting hunched over and limp, but eventually straightening up as they came closer.
It was slow moving, like they were trying to be as quiet as possible.
“Who are you? What are you? Stop coming closer-“ Chiwa whisper-yelled as the person came within inches of her.
“Be quiet. I’m a person, like you. Now be quiet before you wake up other monsters. Follow me,” they said, with the softest whisper, but Chiwa could hear a slight growl in the voice, like the person was peeved.
“And why should I?” Chiwa whispered back.
“Well, if you don’t, you’ll have to face the trash beasts alone. And you won’t be able to kill them. Only certain people can. You don’t have to come with me. I don’t really care either way, but I thought it’d be decent for me to at least give you the option. So, make up your mind and follow me, or stay here in this Polluted Zone.” They continued to whisper, right up against her ear. Clearly intent on being as silent as humanly possible.
“And you need this,” The handed Chiwa a gas mask. She tilted her head in confusion as she cupped the mask in her hands. “The air is toxic. Don’t know how long you’ve been inhaling it. From the get-go, you got about a solid 15 minutes before it kills you. Put on the mask.” They finally moved away from her ear. She put the mask on, and the scratching, tingling sensation in her throat began to subside.
He began to walk, and she trailed closely behind, heeding his advice to be as quiet as possible. Chiwa cringed at every crunch, crackle, break, snap, and crinkle when she accidentally misstepped on noisy trash pieces. This guy seemed to navigate the garbage mine with ease.
They continued to walk, and the piles and mounds of trash slowly decreased in size.
After her rough estimate of 15 minutes of walking, he stopped dead in his tracks, and Chiwa nearly bumped into him.
“Put this on. It’s just a big spare shirt. If people see you in those Spherite clothes,” He scrunched down and brought himself to her eye level, looking her directly in the eyes. If it wasn’t for the mask he had on, Chiwa would’ve guessed their eyelashes would be touching. “They’ll traffic you, kill you, or torture you. Could be all three. Might not be. But I’d prefer not to take chances. The shirt is big, but it won’t cover all of the pants you have on. Hopefully no one will pay too much attention to the symbols on your pants,” He said, quietly, but not like the near inaudible whispers like before.
“Spherite? What the hell is a Spherite? And why-“ Chiwa started to ask nervously.
“You’ll be told later. Keep following me. Save your questions ‘til we get to where we gotta go,” He said with his back turned to her.
“What’s- Can… What’s your name?” She asked nervously.
His back still faced her, but his head whipped around so sharply Chiwa was surprised it didn’t break off. She could only assume there was a scowl underneath the mask.
“That’s…not important,” He breathed out. Not exactly the tone she was expecting to come out after that head turn almost snapped his neck clean off.
He began to continue forward, and Chiwa shimmied into the large oversized red shirt. She noticed as he fiddled with the red choker around his neck. She couldn’t quite make out the words as she followed only a few steps behind.
“Uh… Semiu…” Rudo said, stumbling over his words now that he wasn’t talking to Chiwa.
“Yes, Rudo?”
“Um… We got a situation…”
“Situation? What the hell you mean by that?”
“Like… Another Spherite situation. Found her in a Polluted Zone…” Rudo could almost hear Semiu’s fingers pinching her nose bridge.
“One, why the hell were you in a Polluted Zone? And two, I’ll let the boss know. Do you know this Spherite?” Semiu said in her usual exasperated tone.
Rudo balked and made a weak little choking noise at her first question.
“Okay- Well- I wasn’t initially… I heard screaming and I followed it and it took me to a Polluted Zone! I heard the screaming start from high up, so…” He tried to explain.
“Uh huh, right…”
“I’m telling the truth, Semiu! And… yeah. I know her. Wish I didn’t. Honestly, I don’t feel like dealing with her once we get to Cleaners HQ. She… I… Nevermind. ” Rudo said, attempting to not sound like a whiney kid with some petty reason.
“And who said she could come here? Is she a giver? If she’s not, what she gonna do here?” Semiu prodded.
“She’s… not a giver. I don’t know what she will do, but I know the boss probably wouldn’t want to let another Spherite walk around,” Rudo wasn’t entirely sure if Semiu knew exactly what the purpose of the Cleaners were. He assumed so, to some degree, since she and Corvus worked so closely, but he also didn’t want to risk it in case.
He heard Semiu sigh. Ah, so she did know. He guessed that was good to know in the future for reference.
“Yeah, you’re right. Okay. Letting Corvus know. Thanks Rudo,” She said, then hung up.
Rudo made another call.
“Hello Rudo! Are you okay? Amo is glad you called. Amo is soooo bored with this paperwork!” Rudo felt a little more relaxed at the sound of Amo’s voice.
“Hi!” He said, with a cheerful tone, or, what would be considered cheerful for Rudo. He swallowed as his next words would be a tone shift.
Amo knew about Chiwa. She knew about his life in the Sphere. Why he was dropped. Regto. The way everyone treated him. His hands.
“Rudo? Are you okay?” Amo said once Rudo had been silent a little too long for her comfort.
He felt like the moisture was sucked from his mouth.
“Uh. Maybe. Actually… Not really. I- I found someone from the Sphere.”
Rudo could sense the change in expression from Amo, even if he couldn’t see it.
“It’s… Chiwa,” He finally said. Amo was silent for a few seconds. “I’m bringing her to HQ. But I’m not sure I can’t handle anything after that. I’m… It’s already kinda a tough time even just… bringing her back,” His mouth felt like it was filled with lead. Heavy, toxic.
“Amo will be there when you get back. Amo will make sure you don’t have to see her. If Rudo doesn’t want to. Amo knows you’re uncomfortable and hurting just seeing her again. Did you let Semiu and Uncle Corvus know?” She asked.
“Yeah. I mean, they don’t know the extent of it and how we know each other. It was just a brief heads up,” he admitted.
“Then Amo will handle it. Won’t give all the details, but enough to explain why you probably shouldn’t be the one to deal with Chiwa. Don’t worry,” Amo told him, calmly.
He loved Amo so damn much.
“You don’t have to do that-“ Rudo started.
“I know. Amo wants to though. Just let Amo know when you guys are closer to HQ,” Amo assured.
“… Okay. Got it. I will. Bye Amo,” Rudo said weakly.
“Bye bye Rudo! Love you very much!” Amo exclaimed, her voice back to her energetic tone.
Rudo gave an amused exhale,
“Love you, see ya soon,” He returned, and he ended the call.
Rudo didn’t think he could ever get used to that type of kindness and consideration. Not just from Amo, but from the other Cleaners too. He thought maybe after a year or so of being on the ground, he’d adjust, become more accustomed. Maybe the rage would fade away.
That didn’t really seem to be the case though.
Here he was, somehow both hating Chiwa, but unable to simply turn a cold shoulder to let her die to a trash beast. If it were anyone else from the Sphere, Rudo guaranteed he would’ve left them to die. He had zero interest in helping a Spherite, the only reason he wants back up there is to make them all pay anyways.
Why couldn’t he just let Chiwa go?
Rudo knew he had no interest in her anymore. Probably not since she dropped the plush he gave her, and definitely not since Rudo waited for Amo to wake up in the hospital. He hated her, his blood boiled so hot that if it wasn’t for his skin keeping everything inside, he’s certain the blood would’ve evaporated into some gross human-y blood steam. But even through the hatred, he couldn’t stand the thought of just leaving Chiwa to die. It felt wrong, so against… everything. What was even more confusing, however, was the way he dreaded the idea of having to see Chiwa everyday, of having to interact with her at all, should she choose to actually become an official member of the Cleaners….
He glanced behind him to check if Chiwa was still close behind. She was. Her head was down as she walked, shy and timid of the new, already shown to be rough world she found herself in. She seemed to be on the verge of tears, but nothing spilled from her eyes. He couldn’t tell if it was from being overwhelmed, angry, sad, or whatever else could be a possible option. Chiwa caught his check on her.
“I’m still following,” She croaked. Rudo only nodded his head in response.
He was terrified that she would recognize his voice. What if she flipped? He didn’t care if she ended up rejecting a place with the Cleaners, no, that wasn’t the concern- but it was more of what if she causes a scene- and in that scene, what if she talks about the Sphere? Not only placing a bigger target on his back, but hers as well. Rudo wanted to at least offer stability and tips for safety just as the bare minimum, but whether or not she took them was entirely up to her. If she didn’t, Rudo didn’t, and wouldn’t, care what happens after. Maybe.
He hadn’t entirely convinced himself of that just yet.
He didn’t want Chiwa’s blood on his hands. He hated her- he wants to hate her. He wants to hate her entire being… but to be the reason she got hurt…
He couldn’t have that.
He hated her.
But he couldn’t… He can’t have that.
“Um… Sir?” Chiwa squeaked, shaking Rudo out of his thoughts, “You uh… mentioned me being a Spherite. I don’t know what that is… but… if I’m a Spherite, then I think I know- knew. I knew someone, who is probably a Spherite who was dropped. About a year and some ago. Do you think it’s possible he’s down here? Sir?” She asked meekly, scared the man before her might pop off, but not scared enough to be discouraged to ask.
Rudo’s heart sank. She was talking about him. Of course she was. There’s no other option, and what was he going to say? He didn’t want to tell her now. For the same reasons he didn’t want to speak, and he doesn’t know how he’ll reveal himself should Chiwa actually join the Cleaners.
Fuck!
He didn’t think this through.
Whatever. He’s here now… so… He’s gotta roll with it.
All he did was briefly pause and give an obvious nod. He was thankful for the mask, not only to conceal his identity from her, but being able to not have to fret over what his face was saying was a relief.
The pair was almost at HQ, walking through one last town that had loud music playing, lively and energetic despite the unfortunate deck of cards handed to almost all Groundlings.
“Wow,” Chiwa cracked a weak smile for the first time since her fall, “Never heard music so… full of life and spirit. It’s amazing,” she said. It wasn’t really directed to Rudo. It was just an observational statement mostly made to herself. Maybe to fill the silence too.
After a short three minutes, they made it to Cleaner HQ.
“Oh, wow! This place looks so cool. Like it feels so… I don’t know… just… vibrant?”
Rudo was amused under his mask, as he had to agree. The place was covered in every nook and cranny in graffiti, most from Gob, some stuff from Remlin. It always reeked of spray paint and acrylic. Remlin always looked like they had just emerged from being soaked in tye-dye, covered and stained in paint.
He opened the door to see Semiu, Corvus, and Amo. Semiu was sitting at her desk. Corvus stood a little to the right of Semiu from where Rudo was looking. And Amo was lingering in a corner, not hiding, but not being front and center either. More of observing, watching from the side.
Rudo saw Corvus nod just before Rudo floated past the desk, giving an okay to extricate himself from the situation. Amo had let him know some of the details and background between Chiwa and him.
Rudo immediately wandered to Amo. He stood behind her, just placing his head on her left shoulder, letting his head loll on her shoulder and neck. He felt like collapsing. He was so drained, even though he barely did anything. Felt like it took all his willpower to keep it together. Not to crack so much that it could show beyond the mask.
It shouldn’t have been that hard. He didn’t even think it was taking so much effort.
But it felt like a wave crashed over him. Although he didn’t want an active part in the whole process, Rudo watched from the side, and knew he could answer questions should any arise about what exactly happened.
“I’m Semiu. This here,” She gestured with her palm upwards, “Is Corvus. He’s the boss of this whole thing. Figured it’d be best to start out with him here to help the process speed up. You are?” Semiu said in her cool tone.
“I’m Chiwa… What is this place? I thought the Pit- er, what I think is what the Sphere here called it- was just trash. No life, maybe except like rats or something but I didn’t expect this,” Chiwa started off, desperate to get some bearings on this new place.
“You’d be correct about the first thing, I’ll give ‘ya that much. There's people everywhere, just not in those Polluted Zones. There’s more than the places you passed on the way here. There’s even cities. This place is the Ground. Right now you’re standing in the Cleaners Head Quarters. Mind givin’ us an idea on how you ended up here?” Semiu said coolly.
“Oh, sure thing…” Chiwa responded, taking in a breath before speaking again. “I was dropped. Said my crime was conspiring to murder or something like that. I don’t know who said it, where it came from, but I can definitely say I wasn’t. But the Apostles never care or want to hear you out. So, I was dropped into the Pit, or the Ground.” Chiwa’s voice was a little unsteady, clearly still shaken by the whole ordeal but not totally distraught and hysteric.
“And where exactly did you fall?” Semiu prompted. Of course, she already knew since Rudo had informed her, but she wanted to see what this new Spherite would say.
“Oh, uh… I’m honestly not all that sure. It was just a big dump of trash, not a single building in sight. I actually thought that was how everything was going to be down here. When I hit the ground I got knocked out. Not sure for how long… But based on what he,” She paused to glance at Rudo, who was still resting his head on Amo’s shoulder, “Told me I only had about fifteen minutes to breathe in that toxic air before I died. So… I guess I was out for maybe ten minutes at the most. I woke up when I felt the ground shake, and saw a monster that was made out of trash. Then he,” she paused, again to indicate Rudo, “showed up. He killed it ‘n his hands lit up and everything. Actually. It was kinda cool,” She said to lighten the tone. She shook her head though to refocus on the task at hand. “Anyway… he gave me a mask to breathe, and basically said the beasts were triggered by noise and to follow him. We walked for a while. Once we got to the edge and I began to see real civilization, he gave me this huge shirt,” she looked down at it, “to cover my Spherite clothes. Basically he said it could endanger me.” Chiwa looked up to meet Semiu’s eyes, although she regretted that. Semiu’s gaze was quite intense. Chiwa was a little embarrassed about her rambling. “So... Uh… Now I’m here…” Chiwa finally shifted her eyes to look at the man named Corvus. His gaze was also intense, but somehow she felt safer. It was intimidating, but safe. Weird combination, but she’d rather that than the look of crazy.
She had to admit though, all their eyes were dull. Without a gleam, without a shine or sparkle. It was slightly offputting, but these people have done nothing but show good intent so far.
“And, do you know exactly what the Cleaners do?”
“No. Didn’t tell her,” Rudo chimed in. Semiu gave him a look.
“...Then why in hell did you bring her here assuming she’d say yes?” Semiu said, pinching her nose.
“Was the least I could do! What, you wanted me to leave her for dead for a trash beast or trafficker? Listen, I know I’m not the best but I’m not totally heartless! Jeez,” Rudo defended himself, thankful the mask was hiding his stressed face.
“The Cleaners are a group that fights trash beasts, those monsters you saw. Unfortunately, they aren’t limited to those polluted zones you described being in. Although, we have more positions than just fighters, and more positions even if you don’t possess a vital instrument, which we know you don’t have,” Corvus chimed in to explain briefly. He didn’t mention that Rudo had said she didn’t have a vital instrument, but he would’ve been able to tell anyways from her eyes. “Can you read, write and type?” Corvus asked, he could sense she wasn’t particularly the fighting type.
“Oh, yeah. I can. Uh, but I’m not sure I’d be any good at paperwork stuff or math… or staying still” Chiwa assumed that's what most desk jobs involved. Not like she really knew though. She really hoped these people didn’t have high hopes for her, she didn’t want to agree to something she couldn’t do and disappoint.
Corvus smiled a soft smile, warm and reassuring.
“Still. If you agree, we still have a spot that works and seems to fit. You can be a transcriber, like our supporter, Tomme,” He suggested.
“So, whaddya’ say, Spherite? Wanna join or not?” Semiu asked with a smile, like she already knew the answer. (She did, and she was always right.)
Chiwa looked around, like she wasn’t sure if she was allowed to say yes.
“Yeah… yeah, I do…” She said, semi-awkward, not knowing what to do now.
“Alright then, we’ll get’cha a room, and I’ll show you the supporters, the team you’ll be assigned to. Follow me,” Corvus said. Chiwa was relieved it was him she was going to be following, everyone else was so intimidating and scared her a little. Especially whoever the silent girl was that the masked cleaner was leaning on. Her gaze was eerie, and melancholy, Chiwa was slightly unsettled by her total silence. Maybe she knew they were coming and had to be there for a reason unspoken. She seemed kinda eerie, but Chiwa wanted to be friends with her regardless, who cared if she was just a little odd? If anything, Chiwa knows she’s the odd one out here on the Ground.
She followed Corvus down the hallways, the concrete covered in paint of all colors, some of the pieces faded, some clearly brand new and bright. It was so full of life, so joyful. Nothing was like this in the Sphere. It was either all bright white and sterile, sickeningly monochrome and soulless, just like the people. Or, it was dirty, dingy, worn down, hopeless, depression in physical form. But these pieces, the cities she passed on the way to the Cleaners HQ, felt like a happy middle ground. The HQ felt like freedom, even if she’d only been here for maybe half an hour at most. She wondered what everything else was like, the food, the clothes. So far everyone she’d seen had piercings somewhere in… well, everywhere. Semiu was the only one who didn’t (at least not where she could see). Corvus had some on his ears, on the outer cusp at the top of his ear, about three. Or maybe it was just a big piece. The girl who stood in silence had some on her legs, Chiwa didn’t even know that was possible. How did she wear pants? Maybe she didn’t. Sacrifice pants for piercings? Or maybe she just liked skirts… Chiwa usually just wore skirts, so she gets it… maybe. On the way back, most people had piercings. She couldn’t tell if the boy (man?) who brought her back had any, his face being covered by the mask and hoodie.
“Uh… Sir? Is everywhere like this?” Chiwa asked.
“Hm? Like what? Oh, and no need to call me that… Just Corvus or Boss or is fine. Sir makes me feel kinda old. Well. Older, I guess.” He asked, confused on what she was actually asking.
“Like… Bright? I don’t really know, I guess. In the Sphere, it was either grossly white and clean to all hell or just depressing. Both depressing on opposite ends, two extremes I guess…”
“Oh. Well, I gotta be honest, I don’t really know. I only say that because I’m not actually sure on what really matches what you’re describing. I’ve never imagined the Sphere to look like what you’re describing,” He shrugged. Corvus paused his movement, and turned to look at Chiwa. “Also, don’t be scared to look us in the eye. We don’t bite-” he paused, “Well. Most of us,” he amended. Rudo or Guita might. “Anyway, here’s your room. It really ain’t a lot in here, but with time I’m sure you’ll make it your own. The rest of the support team will be here in a few to meet ya. Tomorrow you get the day just to adjust, get your head straight and process whatever it is you gotta process. After tomorrow, your training will start. Self defense and basic offense. It’s not expected that you fight, but, it's good to have under your belt regardless so that way you won’t be totally at the disposal of a trash beast… Or raider. Unfortunately, with you bein’ a Spherite n’ all, with the design on your pants, I’m certain someone has probably got you on their radar. So, you’ll have some combat training. Again, it’s not really part of your job. The other supporters are to make sure nothing happens to the recorder, but just in case, it's good to be prepared. So until the others get here to meet with ya and give you more detail on your position, you can hang out here. Any questions? Don’t be afraid to ask, we all work as a team here. You’ll get used to it,” he finished his big info dump, giving Chiwa a warm smile.
“No, I guess that covered mostly anything…” She said meekly.
“Cool. And, don’t be surprised if someone throws you a welcome party. Everyone loves a reason to party here. So, you might wanna prep yourself for that.” He gave a little warning.
“Oh, okay. Oh. I guess I have a question- but I guess you might not know… Do you think another Spherite could be down here? I knew someone… he uh… got tossed down here too. What are the chances he is down here and alive?” She said, somewhat hopeful but ready to be disappointed.
She felt a little scared when she saw the look in his eyes shift. To what, she wasn’t exactly sure. But it felt like all the others. Intense, suspicious. She took a step backwards as Corvus’s dark silvery eyes became cautious and focused, his smile gone, a neutral face now looking at her.
“Not zero. It’s tough for a Spherite to go undetected. Do not tell anyone outside the Cleaners that you are a Spherite, or you’ll be tracked down if you aren’t already. But, don’t worry about that for now. You’re safe in the Cleaners HQ,” he turned around and walked from the door, face going back to that friendly smile as if he didn’t just flip on a dime.
Chiwa turned around to look at her room. It reminded her of the one she had back in the Sphere. A big, plain room. But there were small differences that made it feel more secure, more home-like. The ground was concrete opposed to dirt, there was a window, a lamp on the windowsill. The walls weren’t old stone or tin sheets, they too were concrete. Grey, colorless, but the potential to make it her own space filled her with excitement. She didn’t know what the pay would be here, but surely she could save enough and slowly collect things to make it her own room. Well, another. The room she had in the Sphere would never see her again. Neither would her mother. Not that she cared too much. Something inside Chiwa felt guilty about how much she already preferred the Ground, even if the people so far have been intimidating. Even so, thus far she’s been shown unparalleled kindness. She didn’t forget about the people who would be after her, but that comes with any part of society. There would always be bad people. What mattered was the amount of good. And everyone she’d met so far was cold, but extended kindness and refuge. It was depressing. Automatically these strangers outnumbered the amount of good people she knew in the Sphere.
Which was one.
But even then, did she trust that?
She wanted to, especially after experiencing what Rudo went through first hand. There's no explanation. Just cruelty. Assumptions, and a conclusion without any evidence. But… He had blood on him. He did have those dull eyes. But these kind people also have the same dull, somewhat hopeless and lifeless look…
Chiwa stood in the middle of her room, imagining what she could transform it into, the art, the plushes, the colors she could throw onto the walls. Make it safe, comfortable, bright, and a home.
“Knock knock!” Said a woman’s voice, kind and full of inviting warmth. Chiwa quickly turned around to spot the woman, with two men standing beside her. “Hey Chiwa! Heard about ya! I’m Tomme! The other transcriber for the supporters! This is Gris,” She pointed to a blond man with stubble and icy blue eyes, “And this,” She nodded to the side, towards the boy, “is Follo!” A lankier guy with jet black hair. “Gris is sorta the boss of the Supporters group- but we technically don’t have a team leader, but we listen to him anyways,” She laughed. “But, for your job, I’m your teacher- or mentor, since I’m the only other person with this job. But don’t worry, I’m not really the serious type,” Tomme said, scratching the back of her head shyly. “You’ll probably be hanging around us the most, but just because you go on jobs with us doesn’t mean you’re only limited to talking to us. I’ll be teaching you what you should record, the most important stuff to prioritize writing if there’s a lot going on, some shorthand tricks, abbreviations, stuff like that. I won’t be teaching you how to fight though. I can, but I don’t think I’m cut out for teaching how to fight,” She looked to the side away from Chiwa, “It feels mean…” “In any case, I’ll also just be helping you adjust to Ground life. How things work, what stuff if, things like that.”
Chiwa already liked Tomme. She noticed Gris and Tomme had that usual sparkle in their eyes, like the light bounced off them with joy. Follo’s were dull. Was there a pattern to it?
“Cool!” Chiwa smiled big, feeling relief that the person in charge of her was so inviting and bubbly, and not too intimidating. “So… Now what? Corvus said I get tomorrow to adjust, but I don’t… I don’t really know what to do now.” Chiwa admitted. She watched Tomme’s smile grow as she looked at Gris and Follo.
“You come with us, silly! Just hang out. Let’s show ya around. And get something to eat if you want.” Gris shook his head at Tomme’s antics.
“Sounds great,” Chiwa gleamed, happy with this quickly found community, overjoyed.