Overflow - Chapter 2.2

///Authors note: This is a direct continuation of the previous chapter. The actual chapter is too long to post in one partso I have to split it up.I recomend you read the previos chapters first, as many terms, names and situations won't make sense otherwise. Thats all. Enjoy :) /////

After waking up a few unenthusiastic hands to help move some sleeping pallets and the unconscious Reliant’s into the loading bay. Moving past the tired, grumbling workers, Reece paused at one of the sleeping pallets hastily pushed against the wall. It was the same man as earlier. His youthful face was contorted, like he was in pain or in the clutches of some horrific nightmare.

Reece wanted to test something, he leant down and began to rifle through the pockets of his Maintenance jumpsuit. They were empty.

“That boy won’t have anything of value to you. But I can see you have discovered that for yourself.” A voice sounded out behind Reece. He froze. It was the Vicar.

“His late father was a maintenance worker in his citadel, the uniform is more because young Quint had nothing else to wear. I doubt this young man knows a thing about your craft.”

“I thought so from the lack of tools.” Reece sighed and stood up. He turned to face Vicar Wilton.

“You won’t apologise for digging through my associates’ pocket? Even though I am right here, and a priest for that matter?” He chuckled. “You are a strange one… Reece was it?”

“I saw no reason too, my intentions were honest.” Reece said defensively.

Wilton sighed and sat on the end of the sleeping pallet, brushing crumbs of his robes, Reece joined him. Several other associates of the Vicar had woken up and now ate a hastily prepared meal.

“I don’t dislike you Wilton.” Reece said indifferently. “That was a crafty move you pulled on my boss back there. But the white hair, and that political manoeuvring back there, gave it away. You’re not just an ordinary priest are you?”

The aging priest bowed his head, he was smiling widely, his creases more prominent than ever. “It seems I am losing my touch, I remember when I could do twice as much and still get passed off as a Foolish priest, or better yet, a raving madman.” He chuckled lightly. “Your display had me thinking you were ignorant of us. But it is pleasing to know that the Rail has spread the Reliant Sect far across the Great Mire. So tell me Reece, how could you tell I was not any ordinary priest? For all you could know every priest might act like me.”

“Great Mire? Is that what their calling it now. I thought it was Great Black Mire.” Reece said astonished.

The priest chuckled. “It depends on how you look at it, some say the infamous mud is a dark shade of brown, and some like yourself say its black or a deep grey. I believe that is a matter of perspective.”

“Perhaps.” Reece sighed. Inwardly grinning that he had managed to change the subject.

Either he let me, or he really is losing his touch. Reece eyed the man again. He could really use Soria’s natural talent for getting information out of people. Of course he also valued the chance to brag to her about getting something out of the Vicar first.

Reece patted himself over checking everything was in its correct place, naturally it was all there. He then turned to see Wilton investigating the roof of the loading bay. The fluorescent lights had dimmed enough to not disturb the sleeping, but still be able to see.

“There are rooms like this above and below us, yes?” Wilton glanced at Reece who nodded.

The Grand Vicar let out a low whistle. “This citadel is much bigger than the one we fled from, it is much taller. The rooms much larger. It’s almost as if everything has doubled – no, tripled in size. It is unnaturally large for a rural citadel. There are much bigger ones at the cluster but they serve a different purpose.” He rubbed his hands together hungrily. “There must be a lot of people here, it must get crowded in here when the train comes.” The preacher’s eyes flashed. Reece tried to maintain his indifferent negotiating attitude, but Wilton was making him uneasy.

“Not necessarily.” Reece said.

“Oh?”

“It is the children who gather here to collect the rations for them and their families. We have kids as young as five eager to do their duty and help their parents who are otherwise preoccupied working or sleeping.” Reece explained.

Wilton frowned. “Is that so?”

“Yeah, our people are too busy to spend time idling. A big citadel has high demands after all.” Reece said proudly. “As I would know being the only person here, capable of repairing and replacing mechanical and technological parts.” Reece said flourishing his hands and gesturing to his maintenance license he kept pinned on him.

“You must work hard.” Wilton nodded, coddling to his ego. Reece noticed this and decided that like Soria, Reece would have to keep his occasional gloating to a minimum around the priest.

The two sat silently for a minute, reflecting silently. Then Reece broke the silence. “So why do you think the overflow happened?”

Wilton chuckled. “You dare to ask me so soon? Is it not inconsiderate to ask a survivor of a tragedy for their experience, so soon after the event?”

Reece caught off guard stuttered. “o-oh, I’m sorry I didn’t realise. I thought it happened a while ago, after all I didn’t see the glow of flame, coming from any direction on my rounds today, nor did I see any smoke.”

“It is quite alright, let me explain.” Wilton said. “The Inferno started inside the citadel. I believe it happened yesterday afternoon. The sun dipping into the horizon would’ve masked the blaze. I am unsure about the smoke however.”

“Wait inside?” Reece said alarmed. “I thought that could only happen outside?”

“Yes I thought so too. But apparently not.” Wilton continued. “Then again all the oil we managed to pump out of the ground just ended up in a separate storage right below our feet. The oil wells had slowed and we believed we had lowered the oil lakes deep underground to a safe level. After all it seeped through to the surface rarely, if ever.”

“Impressive. I have only heard of the Cluster managing a feat like that.” Reece said. “But just relocating the oil doesn’t sound like a good idea.”

“Indeed.” Wilton said. “I believe that tanks storing the oil below us burst, mixing with the oil lakes. Then all of a sudden, years of oil burst through every possible orifice. They were like fountains of darkness, the pressure must have been immense. The sheer amount of pollution would’ve killed us but instead somewhere it caught fire. And it was only a matter of time before everything became engulfed in flame. My subordinates here survived because we had left to go prey at the base of the railway. It must’ve been the Mires guidance that led us to safety, because I believe everyone else perished in mere minutes.”

“Mires guidance? I thought you worshiped the Rail?” Reece asked.

“No, no. We do not worship, we merely thank the benefactors who created the railways and citadels long ago, and we rely on these constructs, hence the name Reliant. If you’re wondering why we reference the Mire, it is because the Mire was the one who decided not to consume these creations, unlike every construct that made up the old world.”

Reece listened to Wilton’s explanation curiously, he genuinely did not know this and was glad to have gleaned some new outside information from the Vicar. “So, do the other Sects worship the same thing as you or…”

“Yes and no, it is not so simple to explain. But at the very least each Sect worships the VacaneTech benefactors in… their own way.” The priest paused. “You don’t seem to be vary alarmed by what I said about the overflow.”

“You explained it fairly well. The underground tanks were too full, time and or too much pressure made them burst.” Noticing the Vicar’s confused look Reece continued. “I can wrap my head around things pretty quickly, just one of my many skills I suppose.” Reece than began tapping the side of his leg. “So how did you find this guy… uh?”

“Quint.”

“Yes Quint. Did he follow you to pray as well?” Reece asked.

“No, the young man was in the boat we used to get here, he was far ahead of everyone else I believe that’s why we remained mostly unscathed. It was a miracle that he noticed us, even if the Railway doesn’t burn, we were still in danger.” He paused to examine the man named Quint. “It is no small task moving quickly across the Railway, it is quite the fall.”

“Yeah tell me about it.” Reece nodded. He smiled but inside his head gears turned.

Quint, why were you so far ahead of everyone else? What where you doing? Did you know about the Overflow? Why did you save just the priests? Questions begging to be answered developed in Reece’s mind, he would have to interrogate Quint when he wakes up.

Wilton glanced approvingly at Reece “You walk the railway. That’s a sign of good faith to our Sect. We rely on the technologies left behind, therefore Scrabblers and Maintenance crewmen such as yourself are held in high regard.”

“I appreciate the sentiment.” Reece said, he was only half paying attention and seemed distant.

The priest must’ve noticed this, he chuckled. “Now it is best I go get some rest. I am getting to old to be staying up until the late hours of the night, philosophising on the mysteries and misfortunes of the Great Mire.”

Reece nodded and bid Wilton goodnight. Before he turned to leave he looked over at Quint, his black hair was matted and greasy, he looked fairly weathered as did the other Reliant’s but he did not dress like one. He didn’t seem to be in the best shape, but still Reece would not relent. At the very least Reece would wait until tomorrow.

Returning through the various poorly lit tunnels and pathways, Reece crept towards Bert’s control room. If he was going to report what he and the priest had discussed, although unlikely, it would be best if others didn’t investigate. Clueless as he may be sometime, Bert had authority in the citadel and Reece wanted to make sure he is properly informed and able to respond quickly and properly when it was required. Reece has found Merit in finding both sides of the story and wished to investigate the Priest and his entourage more, especially Quint, the Maintenance worker.

As Reece continued to creep through the halls, he realised the excessive sneaking, was unnecessary. There were very few shift workers and even then they would be spread far and thin. The night watch could move around without thinking to hide their presence. The citadel never truly sleeps, and its denizens were accustomed to that. So why was Reece so intent on skulking through the corridors and darkened halls, peeking around corners, and acting like something watched form every shadow? Because it was fun!

Reece rounded a corner, still muffling his steps with cloth and making himself as unnoticeable a possible. Turns out he was right to do so, Maria was leaning against the doorframe to the control room. Seeing her he hunkered back down behind a wall and listened in.

You got this Bert you old bastard! Reece cheered silently.

“–No I’m telling you Bert.” Maria said. She sounded frustrated. Which wasn’t uncommon but considering her tone, suggested this was far more important than her usual bitterness. “None of them had scorch marks, not on their clothes and not on their skin either, none, nothing.”

Reece heard Bert grunt. He did that often, especially when he was either sick of a conversation topic or just annoyed in general. “That doesn’t mean we have to go about jumping to conclusions.” Bert grumbled, muffling his voice so it wouldn’t echo around the halls. “Wilton was telling me, that they managed to get away before the Overflows flames reached them.”

“And you believed that!?” She held her head in her hands and let out a long drawn out sigh. “I don’t trust that Vicar and neither should you. Look, I’ve seen an overflow. I fled cidadel-89, three hours before the overflow engulfed the place in an eruption of flame. I had family, friends that were incinerated in that place. I had a good head start but I still remember the blazing heat. It came in waves, each one considerably hotter. My clothes then got singed and ash fell from the sky. And that smell, the smell of burning crude oil is something I will never forget. Those survivors didn’t have a hint of that horrid stench on them.”

Reece frowned, thinking back to when he was talking with the Vicar, he realised she was more or less right. Whenever refugees from overflows stopped by on their way to the Cluster, they tended to have a certain stench about them. Disregarding the burn marks and ash stains, the stench of toxic smoke tended to stay about longer. Reece frowned. Weren’t the Overflows becoming too common? How many rural citadels were left? Questions for another time, now what mattered most was Reporting to Bert, and eavesdropping on this conversation.

Maria reached into her pocket on the front of her overalls, she pulled out a small clipping of what looked like a small plant. The roots were a greyish colour and the stems shot up with wide leaves on the end, the leaves were speckled with a grey spots, which were surprisingly not decay but part of the natural plant. Perhaps to seem like it was poisoned by the Mire.

“This is Culthards root, it works like an anaesthetic.” Maria said, revealing the plant in the light. “It can completely knock you out if used right. Vicar Wilton’s associates, the medic checked them over, and their sleep pattern was too unnatural and deep to be sleeping as malnourished and weak as they were. So maybe if-”

“Enough!” Bert snapped. “Maria this is ridiculous. I understand your concern, but Reliant or not, these are your fellow humans. This citadel has no space for distrust and… what was it?”

“Deceit?”

“Thanks.” Bert said hesitated, before collecting his thoughts. “Now I don’t want to hear another word from you about this. When you came to us I welcomed you with open arms. The same goes for Soria, Hartec, and the Kae family. I could’ve left you all to rot. I hate to say it but it’s the truth. I showed you graciousness, tell me why I should doubt these priests and their word?”

Maria remained silent.

Reece decided it would be best if he didn’t report on his little chat with the Vicar, at least for now. His boss had made an excellent point, it wouldn’t be fair to not help them. Bert was a good man, If just little naïve and impulsive. Honestly, Reece wasn’t sure if his input really mattered, at this point if Bert went back on what he just said to Maria, it would surely damage his pride.

“Maria.” Bert said suddenly, drawing Reece’s attention back to them. “I understand that you’re worried. And I’m glad that you worry for the citadel as a whole.”

Maria was still yet to speak. Reece dared a peek around the corner and saw her outline in the dim light of the control room. Her face was downcast. Yeah I get. Reece thought. I’d feel guilty if I was in your shoes.

Bert sighed and after a few more words he bid Maria goodnight and sent her on her way. Reece slunk back as far as he could into the shadows, she passed by without seeing him or acknowledging him. Reece was unsure which of the two it could be.

“Eavesdropping is a bad habit Reece.” Bert said abruptly. “It better not stick around. Is that clear?”