Tempus

It had been several coal deliveries since Eugo’s first encounter with Ilken, and he hadn’t seen him since. Eugo found himself torn between his obsession with coal and learning more about Ilken. 

Since meeting the young Spotless, Eugo had become obsessed with the boy. Causing a long list of questions to grow in his mind over time, foremost, who was he and what did he eat! 

This list had since reached its peak as Eugo found himself thinking of new questions as fast as he forgot them. Though eventually, the day came.

Eugo woke up feeling much less uneasy at his lack of coal, and this time gusted out the door extinguishing any nearby candles on his way. 

Halfway to the edge of the dome Eugo realised that it wasn’t an easy journey. He had forgotten about it after meeting Ilken, but his throat had dried, and his stomach had continuously stabbed him for at least three days after. 

Taking a moment for his mind, body and soul, Eugo briefly had a rest before continuing on his journey, at an admittedly slower pace.

Much of the outskirt slums were much quieter than usual, only the soft crackle of fire could be heard. It had been much louder on his first arrival which made Eugo question what could be happening. He pinned it to others doing the same as him on their day off. 

He kept walking.

After a few more minutes he reached the outskirts of the dome, this time taking more time to admire his surroundings. The patchwork metal floor extended outwards to the dome ahead, the slums behind and ruins on either side. 

The metal desert, as Eugo had aptly dubbed it, was both empty of life and full of it. Signs of old homes and contraptions Eugo couldn’t comprehend were littered around the wasteland.

Once again, a squeaky voice interrupted his appreciation of beauty “Hi Eugo!” At first, Eugo was stunned that Ilken had even come, seemingly unsure of his Spotless friend’s loyalty. 

“Eugooo, hellooo?” Ilken’s bright childish voice chimed in his ears. Which Eugo compared to nails on a metal sheet, utterly ear-bleeding.

Before answering Eugo noticed Ilken’s changed clothes, they were still white, but they looked different. Layered with frills and seemed infinitely softer than his harsh leather pants. “You wear several clothes?”

“I do indeed Eugo, most of us in the castle do actually.”

“So how do you keep them all so pristine?”

“We wash them of course, just rest them in the water baths.”

“Water, as in what you drink?”

“Well… yes but it has other uses too you know.”

Eugo thought back to his home, to a thin brass pipe that protruded over his bed. His essential supplier of water throughout the day, dripping morsels of heavenly fluid when he needed it most.

“That doesn’t seem like it would be enough water Ilken…”

Ilken almost leapt on him “You called me by my name! I thought you forgot it!”

A stunned Eugo fell backwards tripping onto the ground. A dull thud showed signs of purple faster than Ilken had ever seen. 

Ilken’s eyes stopped glowing, instead glistening as streams of precious water flowed from them. 

“I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!” Eugo saw Ilken’s face morph from sadness to fear as he ran off, tripping every few steps.

Eugo sat there for a while, a bruise wasn’t uncommon for him and this one was smaller than most. He questioned the tears from Ilken’s eyes, his sudden fear, and why he was so happy to be called by his name. 

Eugo had never enjoyed not knowing something. As a young boy, he had asked his Mum to teach him reading and advanced speaking, because he felt lonely otherwise. 

When Francis knew something Eugo didn't know, he would pester him to no end. Now having met a boy who was different to him in every way, Eugo obsessed over him.

Getting up from the ground Eugo saw Ilken disappearing in the distance, “long gone.” Eugo couldn’t help but scrunch his face as he dragged himself back home. 

He had enjoyed his second outing with Ilken… while it had lasted at least. Yet his burning soles, which seemed to get progressively more painful forced Eugo to think otherwise.

Arriving at his home Eugo conceded that visiting Ilken was probably worth a slight foot trauma. Ending his train of thought there, Eugo hoped Ilken would at least be there in a few coal cycles to come.

§

Much had passed since Ilken’s outburst and Eugo once again had a day free from coal. Making his way to the edge of the dome he continued to notice a lack of movement surrounding the area. People seemed to recluse into the steel homes, silent in the sounds of flickering flame.

The Metal Desert seemed more barren than usual; ash glided down giving the metal a grey sheen. Eugo saw Ilken laying in the middle of an ash pile, rolling around in his no longer pristine clothes. 

For a Spotless he tried his best to disassociate from his name, and by the time he stood up; aside from hair, he could almost be seen as a Scorcher. His clear porcelain eyes stared down at Eugo, questioning what to do in the moment. 

He stayed.

“Hi Ilken.” The snow haired boy’s eyes gleamed.

“What do you want to talk about today?” Then his face softened.

“You’re looking a bit dusty in those clothes.” Continued Eugo, having thawed Ilken from his icy state.

“I just finished making ash angels! Want to look?”

“Sure thing.” Eugo went to admire these ash angels, although he admittedly didn’t know how they were meant to look.

“I think they look great, what about you Eugo?”

“Uhhhh yeah sure, they look good.”

“You don’t have to lie you know.”

Slightly ashamed, Eugo inquired about ash angels as well as why one would roll around in ash. He even learnt how to hop, skip and jump across the mounds of ash, almost trampling Ilken several times in the process.

§

Sometime later Eugo brought up the topic of food.

“I think bread is better by itself!”

“But it adds too much flavour when you eat it with meat.”

“The natural taste is better by itself before meat taints it!”

“With meat comes sauce, and with sauce comes sweetness!”

This argument continued for a while. On the side of plain bread, there was Ilken who felt it should be savoured by itself, and other ingredients “taint the soft flavour of the bread!” 

On the other hand, Eugo felt “meat enhances the bread, you can’t go without it!” The two boys continued their argument longer than they probably initially realised, seconds passed faster than ever in Eugo’s life and smiled.

“What made you run away last time?”

“…I’d rather not say”

“Why did you get scared then”

“I… think it’s because of my parents, they shout a lot... The place you live in Eugo is so much more peaceful! I’ve also seen… never mind” Crossing his legs Ilken stared down at the floor. 

Eugo hadn’t realised that the Spotless could have hard lives too. He couldn’t imagine having a problem with his parents, they had taught him everything he knew.

“Tell me again some other time Ilken.”

“Ok… Will do!”

The two boys didn’t need to shake hands or sign a contract to know one would look out for the other.

Their quiet discussion was interrupted by a sudden humming, the soft purr floated its way towards them. Neither boy had any idea what could make such a noise, and both were utterly confused. 

The humming was paired with the turning gears and whistling steam, coming from the slum’s outskirts.

Then there was silence.

For a few seconds, Eugo thought he was blind, collapsing to the ground with ringing ears. Regaining his sight, he saw a build-up of smoke and flame rising out of the slums. 

Screams echoed around the dome as the slums collapsed into a gaping hole.

Time was irrelevant, Eugo’s eyes boggled at the fiery plume. A power far greater than his eyes could ever comprehend, a sudden fear mixed with morbid curiosity. 

These emotions subsequently caused Eugo’s mouth to drop, Ilken must’ve hated the sight of Eugo’s tongue since he had run off… that or the explosion.

Eugo looked around to see Ilken had already left towards the castle, waving as he sprinted away. From a distance, Eugo saw the boy’s grin fade into a weak smile, and a sprint that wobbled along with his quivering thin legs.

Eugo walked towards the smouldering hole, it encompassed the entire quiet area he had passed through earlier, now nothing was left. 

Somehow, he was alone, people had either ran or been lost in the blast, not a whisper could be heard nearby. The hole dropped infinitely done into a murky black sea of rock and stone. Eugo recognised their dusty appearance and marvelled at the gargantuan spread of coal.

It took a closer inspection for Eugo to notice the people. A woman’s body lay scorched and torn, maroon liquid outlined a shape in her lacerated stomach. 

The babe’s eyes were yet to be formed, twitching in the air a man recklessly ran into the crater. Ruptured metal-enclosed the man’s view, causing sharp slashes across his flailing arms.

He stopped at the body; with an irregular breath, he fell. No tears fell from the man’s dry cheeks. Standing the man walked to a sheet of metal.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

…

Eugo saw his head crack through the metal, the speed impaled his eye into an iron stake. The body, now limp, burnt in ashen flame.

They were people Eugo had never known. The boy’s mind drifted, what if it was somewhere else, could he have died? They were living content lives just like him, yet only a few seconds were needed to turn them to ash.

There was no sign of the cause anyway, Eugo stood once again stunned at the world. How could one’s life disappear so quickly, and why?

Lying awake that night Eugo felt his mind buzzing at Ilken’s life, the explosion and the deaths of people he never knew. There was still so much in the world to learn, and Eugo grinned at the thought of it.