Tholus

Something was most certainly wrong. Eugo didn’t even have to look at the clock to know several hours had passed; he hadn’t received his coal. 

Some may have rejoiced at the thought, maybe even broken into song. Though Eugo’s song only came when he was doing what he enjoyed, shoving black beads into a fiery pit. 

His stress cultivated in transparent beads appearing on his face, and a tap of the feet. Imitating a marathon runner, Eugo felt his breath vanish.

Had someone encountered Eugo during the current moment they would have seen a man overcome his obsession with coal. It may have taken some time but Eugo was back to normal, or at least as normal as possible. 

He had found out that day, that the loss of such an integral part of his life was detrimental to his health. In particular, Eugo’s eyes now viewed coal as a gift from above. Although instead of praying, he sat and thought. 

For the first time in all of his life, he had absolutely nothing to do. Eugo found this concept to be very foreign, he couldn’t imagine a world without work. Letting his eyes roll backwards he dreamed.

§

Waking up he checked the clock outside. An incompetent Eugo realised something, “Three minutes… you’re fucking kidding.” 

There was absolutely nothing to do in his home, so the only logical option was to explore, further throughout the dome. Back with his parents, he had once ventured fairly far from home, and by that, he meant to his local town centre. 

He knew that most of the dome still presented barren unexplored land to him, full of people that he’d never met. He found it odd that someone in the dome could live a full life without ever encountering them once. Part of him wanted to change this.

Since it was Eugo’s first holiday, he decided to make a list of objectives. Most of his days consisted of coal and the odd walk, hence very little planning was needed. This was no longer the case, as for the first time ever, he would have to plan his day. 

There were a few places he wanted to visit, most notably the castle, the farms and the edge of the dome. Thankfully, he had had a large meal yesterday so Eugo presumed he would have enough energy for his walk. 

Then with a click of his tongue, he set out, wading through the low floating smog. The streets were rarely populated during his breaks, but during work time the dome was a true ghost town.

On his way, he made sure to pass by his local announcement centre to find out the reason behind his lack of coal. 

Whenever the Spotless wished to announce something, the details were plastered on the announcement wall. While messages for specific people would be sent in capsule tubes. 

Today the board read: “Dwindling coal supply has limited number of coal deliveries, those who have not received one will have a day off, food will also be unavailable for these people”. 

Though slightly disheartened by the news Eugo’s eyes glistened at the thought of exploring the rest of the dome when the time came.

The castle stood perfectly central in the dome, so large above the slums that Eugo assumed it would be a fairly short walk to get there. 

After about an hour of staring at the tall white walls that seemingly didn’t come any closer, Eugo had lost both his sanity and thigh strength. As a coal worker Eugo noted that he rarely used his shovel with his legs. 

On the other hand, the aching pain almost reminded him of his stomach, so at the least, he could still march along. Around halfway in his journey Eugo had a realisation, “Lots of effort for a break Eugo… you sure are smart.” 

He kept walking anyway.

§

About an hour later Eugo could finally see the minute grains of soot etched into the illusion of a pristine castle. Surrounding the monument was a deep trench on all sides, cascading down below far deeper than any eye could see. 

While creeping up was an opaque mud that seemed to originate below. Far above was a crimson veil, illuminated by the rising flames and ash. A castle of God lived within the depths of hell.

Eugo noticed that some of the white shifted above, almost camouflaged a young boy looked out a window. The boy stared at him with dark onyx eyes but over them flopped a mop of thick snow-white hair. A sudden jerk caused the boy to slide back inside, leaving Eugo to stare aimlessly upward. 

§

Eugo made his way to the farm, a small recession in the dome which grew all the food one would find throughout the world. As Eugo approached the farm he noticed a sudden disappearance of housing over time, as they grew sparse the further he strolled. 

The floor slowly morphed from a conglomeration of metal towards dust, an uncommon mixture of reds and oranges littered the floor ahead. He noticed his boots sink in the coloured sand, sticking to them like tiny magnets. The air grew slowly stiff and hoarse as Eugo’s throat dried in the lack of air.

Before the farm was the edge of the dome, the limits of society. Past the edge they could no longer expand, and even if they wanted, they lacked the power to do so. 

The Scorchers had been declining in people for years, as empty homes littered what were once hubs of people. Eugo saw the dome’s edge as a divine being that watched over him, it kept him safe but too safe. 

Though it may have been his first time at the edge of the dome, it was in these moments that Eugo would wonder “what’s on the other side?”

“Who knows.” The sudden voice behind him cause Eugo to almost plummet directly into the large steel wall.

“I’m Ilken” started the now named boy. White hair and clear emotionless eyes painted him as a Spotless. Surprisingly, Eugo didn’t well up with anger, sadness or another emotion someone else may have felt. 

Instead, his eyes dumbly glazed over the boy, who looked no different from the window boy he had seen earlier.

Possibly feeling the need to fill the silence, Ilken continued “I was just passing by… I hope I didn’t disrupt you or anything.”

“It’s fine.” Eugo’s short and snappy response shocked even him, perhaps the mindset of certain people had engrained itself within him. Maybe he was less indifferent to the boy than he initially thought.

The bright-eyed boy continued “Sooo, what are you doing out here, I don’t see many of you… Ummm, people very often.”

“Just call us Scorchers… we don’t have another name anyway.”

“Oh… Sounds good!” said the boy moving closer to Eugo with increasingly gleaming eyes.

“Do you Scorchers ever get bored burning coal?”

“How could we ever be bored of coal!” Eugo’s words echoed across the barren metal desert.

Eugo had made a mistake, his enthusiasm sparked even greater interest in Ilken, who just barely seemed to be holding himself from leaping on top of Eugo.

“Don’t you… have hobbies?”

“What’s a hobby?”

“Well, a hobby is anything from dancing to cooking to spinning in circles on a metal floor!” Feeling a demonstration was necessary, Ilken performed his masterful technique, looking similar to a dying cockroach attempting to walk. 

Eugo’s face grimaced at the thought but he did his best to smile at the star-eyed boy once he had finished. A few more unusual questions, explanations and otherwise later, Ilken felt satisfied as the fattened leech fell from Eugo.

“You’ll visit me, again right? I still can’t believe you do anything but burn coal all day, that seems suuuper boring!”

“Sure, if I have nothing better to do.”

“Also, what’s your name friend!”

“Eugo.”

“And I’m Ilken, nice to meet you!” Eugo ignored the fact that this was his second introduction and shook his far outstretched hand. Maybe he’d be interesting to be around from time to time, Eugo had become lonely ever since Francis left. 

Though Eugo had to confess “I won’t always be able to visit, I was lucky with a day off today.”

Slightly disheartened, Ilken nodded but seemed at least hopeful that Eugo would come again. Realising that he had spent far too long talking, Eugo decided to head home, and leave visiting the farm for another day. Wishing farewell to the peculiar Spotless, Eugo wandered back home.