Chapter 12 - Abandonment

A sharp pain in his neck woke Tetsuo abruptly from his slumber. Carefully, he moved to a seated position on the edge of his new miserly bed, careful not to rest his legs against the unsanded frame. He rubbed his eyes and looked outside to see the moon was beginning to set, but the Eastern wall towering beside his house blocked what could have been a glorious sunrise. He sighed before pushing a bit of Ars through a small Ficium lantern, lighting a small candle within that illuminated the room. 

Swiftly, he changed his undergarments, and donned a tunic with some draws he tightened around his waist with a leather belt. He fastened the layered armor bearing Alvania’s signature crest depicting a Chimrea, and slid on a bandolier across his body. Ensuring he had everything he needed for a day of doing standard patrols, he evaluated himself in the reflection of the dirty window. He could see the results of regular training with Alon formed in an unfamiliar robustness around his shoulders, but the new habitation continued to leave him with bags under his eyes every morning.

After finishing his morning routine, Tetsuo exited the building, careful not to let the clattering of his belts wake the others. He began to stroll through the streets watching his surroundings. While it’s rare for a knight to be attacked, he had become familiar with the sort of desperation that Terranera could breed. With a population of mostly Earthens, and a few outcast Alvanians, the town was a far cry from the clean, livid capital he had spent his first month in.

He followed his usual path, using local landmarks to situate himself.

Turn left near the toilet… head down the alley with the truck… ignore the man watching TV.

These odd imitations of Earth were littered around Tervena, as a result of Earthens attempting to recreate commodities of their past in Alvania. Given how they had arrived without any opportunity to plan, most failed to understand how these items worked, incapable of reverse engineering them. With this and their memories of Earth becoming more distant the longer they spent here, most of these ‘re-inventions’ served more as sculptures of a world once known.

Tetsuo hurried past the man staring at the ‘TV’, watching the unchanging surface of the stone brick. The sun began to peak out above the eastern wall, illuminating the knights quarters that towered above Tervena. Its medieval-like stone tower contrasted sharply against the dirty wooden houses it supervised. At its entrance Tetsuo saw Wilbur assisting an Earthen woman, warming her a cup of water with an open flame he produced from his hand. Tetsuo smiled and waved at him and he gave him a quick nod before returning his attention to the woman. Tetsuo entered the quarters to find it empty, as it usually is. He slouched onto a couch and attempted to rest his eyes for at least a brief moment.

“Good morning, Tetsuo!”

Tetsuo slowly opened his eyes and saw Wilbur’s usual eager expression looking at him expectantly. Tetsuo murmured out, “morning” before closing his eyes again.

“Are you ready for today?”

“Yeah, just give me a moment, I didn’t sleep too well.”

“Alright, just give me the word once you’re ready.”

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“My best guess is that it's supposed to be a radio. In the past, we’d use them to talk to each other over long distances. Come to think of it, you guys don’t really have anything like that.”

“Alvania rarely relies on other regions aside from Remes, and the kingdom is small enough that a messenger service can handle delivering most necessary messages.”

“I see…”

Wilbur wrote what Tetsuo had described onto his map and they continued along their planned route. They approached a wooden slab which seemed to support itself on sheets of rusted metal.

“I um, don’t have any ideas for this one. How old is it?”

“It’s been here for about ten years now.”

“I’m sorry, I’ve got nothing.”

“Very well…”

Wilbur scribbled a question mark onto the map, and wrote the estimated age of the object. Although he was a bit intense at times, Tetsuo had grown to appreciate Wilbur’s fascination with Earth. Most Earthen technologies were considered redundant, since Ars can usually just be used to achieve the same results with less know-how. Since Earthens only occupied a very small minority in the kingdom, their inability to use Ars isn’t really taken all that seriously. 

As a knight, Tetsuo felt privileged to have access to a large assortment of Ficium tools, but the regular citizens only had access to the most primitive types. Being able to kindle small fires, or draw moisture from the air are trivial for most Alvanians, but for an Earthen it’s treated as a privilege they’ve been allowed via Ficium. While he and Wilbur tried to do the best for the people living here, other knights would offer to patrol Tervena to skirt their duties, seeing as the kingdom hardly cared for the happenings of Tervena.

“And this?”

Tetsuo and Wilbur stopped in front of a large metal box. Its hinges had rust forming, but the panel at the front could still be pulled down to view the interior. Inside of it was another metal plate laid out horizontally above the remains of blackened ashes. A metal chain was attached to the back of the box and was wrapped around a large pole behind it.

“I think this was supposed to be an oven. They’re similar to the ones in the city, but on Earth they were powered by electricity and wiring rather than an exposed fire. It seems like whoever made this gave up on powering it.”

Wilbur scribbled down Tetsuo’s response onto the map. “We’ve documented about sixty percent of Tervena’s abandoned inventions. Do you think it’ll be enough?”

Tetsuo pondered it. “I think it’s gotta be right? It’s undisputable at this point.”

“Alright, I’ll talk with Eleanor to get you a proper meeting then.”

“Good.” An unfamiliar arrogance filled his gut. The first step in Tetsuo’s plan to get home was in place.