Halankuo emerged into the city's central square. There were few people here, just like on the streets themselves, but even this made the girl worry that someone might accidentally look at her.
"It's good that I left Kyotyoryon in the park," Halankuo saw something green at the end of the street. "It's dangerous to be with her in a place like this. Maybe I should move to the village?"
Halankuo walked across the square and accidentally stumbled upon a thick stone pillar that reminded her of something familiar. The girl looked up and saw the head of a three-horned dinosaur at the end of the structure.
"This thing was in Mom's memories. I need to tell Itinit about it before I forget."
Four wide streets branched off from the central square, lined with the city's tallest gray four-story buildings. They all looked identical, and only the trees growing between the paved roads and houses provided navigational aids.
During the winter spent in Yenekit, Halankuo remembered the city again, so she quickly found the right alley of blue-green cone-shaped conifers and found herself at an oval wooden door inside the arch leading into the building.
"I hope Itinit doesn't mistake me for a doll," Halankuo touched the top of her head and grabbed a strand of hair. "I don't want to look like a pet anymore. Mom certainly wouldn't want that."
Tears welled up in her eyes. The girl wiped them away with her hand, then ran her index finger through the air.
A blue, orb-shaped energy lock appeared in front of the door, along with a character input field and a keyboard underneath.
"I remember the password," Halankuo sighed with a groan. "There's a circle and two sticks, and then..."
The symbols didn't come to mind. Halankuo could have written to Itinit, but she wanted to open this door herself...
Several hundred moments passed. Halankuo was able to remember one more symbol out of the required five.
"If this continues, I won't make the train, and Itinit will leave without me. But for that, he needs to leave here. So, I'll just stand in front of the door. Maybe it will open on its own, and I will not write in the chat."
Halankuo was right. Soon, the missing symbols appeared under the lock, and it disappeared.
The door opened. A girl with shoulder-length brown hair and dog ears peeked out.
"Is that... you?" the dog girl asked hesitantly.
"Of course it's me," Halankuo answered. "I've come to see your creator."
The dog-girl's head disappeared behind the door, after which Halankuo entered the building and found herself in a "cave" with numerous stone icicles on the ceiling and several stone tables with seats.
"The creator is there," the top of the dog girl's head emerged from behind the nearest table, her ears moving as she pointed toward the corner of the room.
"Kimchan is afraid of me. It's good she met me. Her sister didn't do this."
Halankuo carefully walked past two tables and peered under each one, then went to the place Kimchan had indicated.
The large round table with two long seats was almost empty. Only a glass of green liquid suggested a visitor was nearby.
"Ah, there's a statue with bull horns," a voice called from under the table. "Uh, uh... A cow in a mask and hat... no, I don't... uh... at the train station in Tohsonun."
Halankuo paused to try to figure out what was happening. Meanwhile, the voice continued:
"Uh... a statue in the house... ah..."
Halankuo approached the table and noticed a seat against the wall. There was a guy in a black leather jacket sitting on it, and his head with brown hair was lying on the table. His eyes were closed, but his mouth was uttering incoherent sounds that alternated into whole phrases.
"The creator is speaking to someone in a dream," Kimchan whispered from the door.
Halankuo shuddered at the eerie sound, but then realized where it was coming from. Long brown ears protruded from behind the table closest to the door.
"Don't worry, my sis isn't here," Kimchan continued from her hiding place.
Halankuo sat down at the next table and waited for her friend to finish talking.
"Mausoleum of Nature... mmm... uh..." Itinit continued to mutter. "Head..."
His speech became increasingly unintelligible and gradually turned to mooing and other sounds that imitated the language of different species of animals.
"This must be a very important conversation," Halankuo looked out the round window, which overlooked the trunk of a conifer tree and part of the street. "What if they're talking about something related to Mom's memories? It's a shame I can't eavesdrop properly."
The girl's eyes broke again. But this time she didn't wipe away her tears, because there was no one nearby to see it.
"Mom, I'll definitely find you, even if you're nowhere to be found. I'll retrieve the data from my brain, or find another memory card. I'll do whatever it takes, but I'll bring you back."
Tears filled Halankuo's eyes, blinding her to what was right next to her. The voice that had previously prompted her to do no longer spoke, and her own thoughts took its place. Her mind answered unanswered questions and attempted to solve even the most hopeless problems.
"Mom, just wait."
Halankuo lowered her head, but then felt something warm touch her cheek.
"Mom, you..."
Halankuo wiped away her tears of joy, but instead of her mother, she saw a little dog sitting on the table, her tongue hanging out and puffing.
"You..." Halankuo blinked several times, but the creature didn't disappear. "You're not my mother."
"Of course, she's just a dog disguised as a human," Itinit approached the table. "Sorry you had to wait. I was busy."
"It's okay," Halankuo looked out the window. "I was busy too."
Itinit reached for Kimchan's tail but didn't manage to grab it. The dog-girl instantly climbed off the table and onto the floor, then looked guiltily at her creator.
"Go to the main entrance and make sure Noru doesn't blow the door open," Itinit said. "When you hear or see the comet, unlock the door immediately. It might even hit this hole instead of the window."
"But, creator, little sister doesn't know where she'll end up," Kimchan bowed her head and tucked her tail between her legs.
"I hope she's lucky," Itinit looked out the window. "And if not, then I'll organize a fireball-throwing championship."
"Nooo..." Kimchan trembled and looked at her creator in fear.
"You will participate with my balls," Itinit opened his palm, revealing a blue energy ball with a spark inside. "Noru will be watching you on the screen."
Kimchan groaned loudly, causing Halankuo to burst into tears again.
"I was joking," the ball in Itinit's hand disappeared. "Actually, I'll just be busy. Go away and don't eavesdrop, or you'll get a bonus at the championship. They'll grab you by the tail and launch you into the sky."
"Hey..." Kimchan tilted her head.
"Okay, that was a joke too," Itinit sighed. "Just get out of here, and don't eavesdrop."
Kimchan ran toward the door and then hid under the farthest table. Itinit summoned two glasses of green liquid, placing one next to her friend.
"If you knew what these dogs do, you wouldn't be crying," Itinit sat down on the seat opposite the guest.
"Did you find out something?" Halankuo wiped away her tears with her hand.
"I spoke with a character."
"...in a dream," Halankuo continued mentally.
"You've probably seen statues of strange creatures?" Itinit continued.
"Yeah," Halankuo looked at the glass of juice in front of her. "It was lying in a coffin in a house in an abandoned village. It's very strange, but I was thinking about Kyotyoryon, so I quickly forgot about it."
"What? Can you repeat that?"
Itinit rose from his seat and looked at his friend.
"I don't remember much anymore," Halankuo answered. "This house was the only one left standing in the village. There was a coffin there, and in the coffin was a stone statue. Then the statue rose from the coffin, crumbled, and came to life."
"Did it have bull horns?" Itinit sat down on the seat.
"I don't remember what kind of horns, but it definitely had horns. We ran away then, so I didn't have time to get a good look at it."
"Were you with someone?"
"I can't talk about Yueret," Halankuo thought and lowered her head. "Maybe I should just lie? But I don't want to deceive my friend in such a difficult situation. Now I need to get mom back and find dad. Maybe that will help me."
"Yeah," Halankuo looked out the window. "I had a childhood friend who lived in the neighboring village. For some reason, he looks like you."
"His name isn't Yueret by any chance?"
"Yeah… Wait, how do you know?"
Halankuo looked at Itinit with fear. At that moment, her expression resembled Kimchan's grimace, causing the creator of the dog girls to smile.
"This is my nephew."
"He also has a little sister, Unana, who is cute and naive, like a pet," Itinit continued mentally. "He's lucky."
"I thought, it seemed to me that you looked alike," Halankuo looked at the glass of juice. "But there's a reason you look alike."
"It's because of my big brother," Itinit explained. "He disappeared many years ago and left two children to live in an abandoned village."
"Why? It's dangerous."
"The reasons must be very important. He asked me to look after his children, and then he disappeared."
"Where's their mother?"
"That's truly baffling. I've never seen her, but she must exist. Brother couldn't have created children in the "Mausoleum of Nature," even though he's more advanced than I am now. Characters can't grow, and I saw Yueret and Unana as little children. So they're definitely living people."
"Yeah, Yueret isn't like Kyotyoryon or your dog-girls."
"They'll be going looking for their parents soon. I still have to look after them. So I decided to go there too."
"What? Aren't you going to help me look for Dad or his information?"
"Haven't I told you about this yet?"
"No. You only talked about the statue and Yueret."
"Yeah, there's too much information in my head. It can't fit anymore. I haven't found your dad, but I have a guess."
Itinit summoned a virtual screen, then entered the images section and clicked on one. A portrait of a hooded creature with a metal carrot for a nose appeared on the screen.
"This..." Halankuo turned away from the screen toward the window, her sleekly styled hair fluttering a few times.
"No, of course, it's not your dad," Itinit smiled. "But my guess might be right."
"My mom would never have gotten involved with someone like that. She ran from dolls and everything that came with that."
"Then why don't you remember dad?"
"Exactly," Halankuo thought. "I don't remember what Dad looked like. I just know he was there, but I don't remember what he did."
"Your dad could have been a doll your mom made."
"Did mom do that?" Halankuo stared wide-eyed at the glass of conifer needle juice in front of her, making her look like a doll.
"It's just a guess," Itinit closed the screen. "It could all be different."
Halankuo grabbed the glass with her hand and tried to lift it, but she couldn't because she was shaking so much.
"It seems I shouldn't have told you about this," Itinit continued. "It's not certain."
"No," Halankuo let go of the glass. "I barely knew my mother, so I don't know if it's true or not."
"We can check it out. We have a train soon, remember?"
"What, a train? Yeah, right, we have to go to the station."
"Kimchan will take us."
"She's hidden well," the creator of dog girls smiled. "But even so, I know how to get her."
"Kimchan, you want to see your sis, right?" Itinit asked loudly.
A fireball shot out from around the far corner, transforming into a dog-girl in the air.
"Where's my sis?" Kimchan looked around and began sniffing the air erratically.
"She's not here yet," Itinit began looking around too. "But if you do one thing, she'll appear."
"Of course I will! Do you need to burn something?"
Itinit whispered a short phrase into the character's ear. Kimchan's expression immediately became frightened, as usual.
"Theeere they aaare..." the girl dog looked at the floor. "They'll notice me..."
"You could turn into a comet," Itinit suggested. "Just don't fall right into the station."
"Uh..."
Kimchan looked up at her creator cautiously, as if asking his permission.
"That means you agree," Itinit patted his pet on the head. "If you fall near the station and don't burn the forest, you'll see your sis."
"But, Creator, you said I just needed to take you to the station, and then I'd see my sis."
"Then I deceived you a little, but only a little. Don't pay attention."
Kimchan lowered her head and groaned softly. Itinit took the character's hands, clasped them together, and then raised and lowered them a few times.
"Don't worry. I won't lie this time."
"What about my sis?" Kimchan looked at her creator. "She'll fly back and won't find me. She'll growl."
"She'll growl at me. I know what to do. So don't be afraid. Just take us to the station."
While Itinit spoke to her pet, Halankuo looked out the window and imagined the voice in her head speaking to her. Her eyes "wept" again, but this time it was only a few small drops.
"I didn't think the tears would end," Halankuo looked at the table and grabbed the glass of juice again.
The girl raised the glass to her lips, but didn't have time to take a sip. Itinit approached the table.
"I spoke with Kimchan, and she agreed."
Halankuo started drinking the juice, but then she saw a brown tail from behind her friend and almost choked.
"Kimchan, if you hide, I'll lock you in the refrigerator," Itinit said. "There's only conifer needle juice in there right now."
A dog ear with brown hair appeared from behind the creator's body, then an arm and a leg. Soon, the dog-girl was ready to fly.
Itinit led Halankuo and Kimchan to a thick stone column behind the bar, and then summoned an interface screen resembling a door lock.
"Is that an elevator?" Halankuo guessed.
"Yeah," Itinit entered a few characters from the keyboard below into the text field. "It leads to the roof. From there, we'll fly off to avoid attracting attention."
After entering the password, the screen disappeared. A section of the column wall slid aside, revealing a passage into an empty space the size of a shower stall.
"We won't all fit in here," Halankuo noted.
"Yeah, so we'll have to go one at a time," Itinit covered his mouth. "But that's okay. The building is small, and the elevator is secret, so no one uses it except me and sometimes Kimchan, when she needs to fly somewhere unnoticed."
Halankuo stepped into the elevator and immediately looked up. A faint white light was shining from the end of the column, illuminating the entire enclosed space.
"Is there an exit to the roof? If I get stuck, I can use my aura to get up."
Fortunately, she didn't have to use her aura. The elevator wall closed, and then some force pushed Halankuo upward. The light became so bright that she had to close her eyes and shield them with her palms.
The jolt lasted only a few moments, after which she heard the faint rumble of the elevator "door" opening. Halankuo carefully opened her eyes and saw clear sky between the walls of the column.
"Am I already... on the roof?"
Halankuo stepped out of the elevator and found herself on an observation deck with wooden, partially rotted railings along the edges.
The multicolored roofs of the houses, which formed several blocks, quickly ended, and beyond them, in any direction, stretched black-green mountains covered with mixed forests that had not yet fully "awakened."
"Is this... Yenekit? It's so small..."
That's how Halankuo first learned she lived in a town so small it could be seen from the roof of any building.