Once again, after what felt like several hours in the car, I start to lose feeling in my tailbone; I literally can't move or feel it. I think enough blood flows to it because I've been able to beat Nibal in several I Spy contests. Basically, my brain receives more blood.
Something new... basically not much. Nibal talked a little about his past as a former bounty hunter. After meeting Jeffrey on a job, they ended up making a good contact to obtain information, just like what happened with the person who served us at the bar, who basically knew much more than he let on.
After a while we approached another village which, unlike the first ones, was characterized by being more rustic; it literally looked as if it had been founded from the very depths, something quite beautiful considering the brutality of the desert itself and how it can basically disorient you.
As soon as we left the walkers, we were forced to wait there for a while since it was difficult to avoid the approaching sandstorm. Those were quite uncomfortable minutes in the bar, with everyone staring, especially at me, since that whiskey they had served me didn't seem to be something common for someone from the area to drink; even for an Awakened person, it was very strong... perhaps it's this dragon form that has a high alcohol tolerance, because the most I felt was a headache in some glass, since they were still laughing at me when I kept asking for water until I said that what they were giving me was basically water for me.
Once again, we found ourselves on the road, heading towards the town indicated on the tablet. After a brief rest stop following so much time on the road, who would have thought Nibal's convertible would be so useful and spacious? Not to mention that he basically had everything prepared as if he had heard about the mission long before it was announced.
Nibal not only replied that he had done several missions for Jeffrey before and that this was just another day in his experience, that usually his missions were even further away, to which he showed me some kind of box where, according to him, he had a certain amount of space, given to him by Jeffrey himself after a time of working for him and being so useful, that it has enough space for 2 whole houses to fit in and still have room left over, he doesn't know what material it's made of, or even how Jeffrey got access to that technology, but I know the answer, awakened.....
After a while we arrived at the handmade village. Unlike the city, all the houses were almost equally advanced, with the same materials and architectural style. But if I were to compare them, I'd say these houses would easily be on the second level of the city, something like people who live well, but not so well that they throw everything out the window to replace it whenever they want just because they can.
I remember that many of my superiors and neighbors did it almost as a sport; even the poorest person in the city could do it. There were no beggars, no deaths—basically a perfect empire where everyone was equal, where innovation never stopped, and even the dumbest people had a place in charge of the most basic but essential tasks, things that nobody wanted to do, but they were paid well enough not to complain. They were even encouraged to have children…
After exploring the town for a while, we stopped at a kind of garage, where an old sheep was waiting for who I suppose was the wolf we were looking for. Well, it's a relatively small town so it must just be a coincidence, but she most likely knows our werewolf friend.
Once we arrive, we're close to the last location where the wolf was sighted, or well, maybe the last place the man Jeffrey was torturing was in his office when I woke up.
Nibal stops in front of the closed garage
Nibal: "Good morning, we're here for some supplies, do you know where the owner is?"
Born a sheep: "Not really, I also came for some, I'm looking for my son and..." - The sheep is interrupted before she can finish by Nibal. - "Whatever you want, ma'am, don't tell me your life story, see you later!"
Then Nibal starts to start the car, but a sound we both know well immediately catches his attention. He turns to look at the sheep, now with a different expression, coming from both sides. The sheep, which before seemed defenseless and weak, literally changed from one moment to the next, becoming something that... could only be described as "if I see you on the street, I'll kill you."
Born a sheep: "It was near the larger dunes; if you find it, I'll give you the other half. If the garage owner arrives before you, he won't pay you anything, even if you come with my son."
'You want to find your son, but you hire a couple of strangers to look for him for you, and even if they don't find him, you plan to pay them?... this once beautiful town is strange'
Nibal automatically gets out of the car, in a serious and decisive tone, takes the bag from the sheep's hands, changing his expression to that of a well-endowed dog, and speaks
Nibal: "We'll have it before then, don't worry, we're the best at it."
The sheep simply lay back on her cart, watching Nibal leave. Once he reached the cart, he started it and we headed in another direction, moving away from the tablet.
"what are you doing?"
Nibal: "You owe me a net"
'But didn't you already pay off your debt with what you looted from Duck's room?'
After that, we headed once to the outskirts of the village. Although Mrs. Sheep seemed trustworthy, it's not like someone who can so easily change their demeanor from one moment to the next and then basically bribe your companion isn't someone you can trust so easily, so to speak.
In that case, once we were close to the dunes, we had to stop due to "technical difficulties," in Nibal's words. Perhaps the dunes are larger than expected, although luckily we haven't encountered any. But I don't want to stretch that line any further than what we've already experienced in these almost two days of travel since we left the city of Jeffrey, or rather, those giant ruins. From the walkers, it was a couple of hours that felt like days thanks to the storm that lashed the remains. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to find anything useful there.
Nibal: "Very well, I'll go left, you go right, then we'll meet in the center and see what we find, even if it's easy money, I don't think I'll find that boy anywhere."
So I looked around to analyze things a bit and see if I could find anything useful, but the storm is approaching. Perhaps, like with the fallen walkers, we'll have to wait a while before we can leave, if we even find the boy the sheep was looking for or the wolf.
Likewise, we were in this together, so it should be quick, if I knew where to look as well as he did.
Looking a little further, some new ruins rise above the dunes, nothing else, the silhouette of Nibal looking to the sides looking for a place to continue, in the center where we are supposed to meet further ahead, lies a clearing with some trees, which however, the clearing had a small lake
So I head towards the ruins to examine them. Perhaps the child had been playing among these ruins, as I did when I was a child, among the few real trees that remained in the world. The others were a little more "safe," but none were truly trees at that point.
Among these ruins, the air of death abounds, not only because there are more statues of the awakened here, I think even many more than I have seen in other places
Furthermore, the ruins are larger and more complete than the others; it could easily qualify as a city, but for some reason it was completely abandoned. A large number of people could easily have been here instead of building the town a little further down.
Another time passes and some towers appear to rise among the largest of the hard ones, upon which a series of statues were in formation... one might say standard, several others were in strange positions on the ground, as if they had sat upon something that no longer exists
A little further and I manage to see one of these in what appears to be a sharing scene, so I climb the dunes to be almost at the level of the towers and that's when I see everything
The invasion, a large number of statues, fallen walkers, and even ships similar to the one that crashed in Jeffrey's city, only these seem to have some kind of field protecting them, but unlike Jeffrey's, these are completely deactivated, as well as complete, however, their number is stupidly large, there are so many that I can't stop seeing them until the horizon
And needless to say, the number of vehicles and personnel is simply so vast that I can count them in the hundreds of thousands. Inside the towers, some controllers remain in the same position. The strange thing of all is that they are all human.
On our way here, we came across some first-generation awakened beings still frozen, but according to Nibal, these are more complete than the current ones born, who possess many more characteristics and variations. Those awakened beings literally looked like beasts, not humans. Even I have more human traits than the others.
After searching the walls for a while, I still don't see the boy, until a strange smell, different from sand, appears, so I follow it and again, a trail appears and I hear him
A child's voice: "Then gentlemen, stand up! General Andrew commands it!" - A child's voice, however, from a distance, already slightly visible, I manage to see what appears to be a wolf cub... that sheep is truly a rascal
Child's voice: "Code 4 gentlemen, pew pew" - he makes some gestures in the air and starts running around the soldiers, one of them even has a party hat and another, despite his posture, is lying in a different position
'This child must be strong; I don't think it would be so easy to make a statue of an adult at that age.'
I gradually get closer, entering some buildings to see that inside there are still several soldiers in different poses, and those in strange positions too, even more frequently
'How long should this base last?'
I'm now at a door, yes, a door literally separates us
Boy: "Fine, Mr. Joshua, if you won't do it, leave it to me! Because I am Captain Manzeno, my men will not risk their lives, I myself will give my life for the empire! Ugh!" - The boy makes some noises with his mouth and then falls into the arms of one of the statues. - "Ohhh, brave me, don't let my amazing body captivate your sad gaze, I will return."
Looking a little longer at the boy, I take him by surprise as he regains his composure after such an Oscar-worthy performance...
'What is an Oscar?'
It's time
Boy: "Let me go, stranger! Or General Andrew will let you know!" He looks at one of the statues, waiting for some action from the so-called 'general,' but of course nothing happens. "Oh... right, it's not his time." Then he kicks me, and unexpectedly, I end up letting go.
"I'm not here to hurt you!"
Boy: "Strange kid catches boy out of nowhere, tell me about it!"
'has a point'
So I start chasing him, running between buildings, using different statues to my advantage to slow him down. Although I can catch him quickly, I have sand everywhere... if I even have any, to say the least.
So, knowing more about the terrain, I lose sight of it, but what I begin to believe is its essence (or its smell) is not, which I follow to another different tower, a smaller one with several things pointing in different directions
Once inside, I hear it again.
Boy: "You should have seen him, William, he was big, like the soldier you told me about, the one who couldn't do anything, he looked like a dragon, just like you!"
Unknown voice: "Stop talking nonsense, did you get the part I told you about?"
says another voice, but I don't smell anything else in the place