The sound of dripping water from rusty pipes sprawled all over the walls echoed in the silent alley.
At the absolute end of the alley a steel door opens, it creaking sound disrupts the silence and overwhelms the echoes of the droplets.
Moon steps unto the dark alley putting on his gas mask and took in a deep breath of the putrid air, letting out a vicious cough.
"It seems my little friend doing its job and now it's time for me to get to mine"
He steps out of the dark alley unto one of the eight main roads that led to the factory, a place were death was a constant but one of the few places were ground people could actually get legal work.
On the way, there were numerous people slumped over on the street or on the sides of buildings, their skin were pale with sunken eyes and bodies so thin one could see the outline of their skeleton.
These people had been infected by the plague and only death awaited them.
Men wearing hazard suits were scattered all over the street, dragging the infected into huge vehicles to be buried but buried was just a fancy word for to be dumped in the hole, one of the men wearing hazard suit waved at moon and moon waved back.
Moon knew they weren't bad people, just people trying to live the only way they knew how and there was no need wasting precious resources on the living dead anyway.
..... but deep down it rubbed him the wrong way, he thought that it was just an excuse to do terrible things but thinking like that would just make him a hypocrite because he was no different, It already took all he had just trying to live the way he thought was right.
And after all rebelling is for the strong not for people like moon who are just trying to survive.
Before long, moon arrived at the factory, the cursed steam it constantly released from its hundreds of funnel, poisoned the air and shrouded the entire city in white smoke
Moon stepped into the factory's dimly lit, pipe-lined corridors, where the constant hiss of steam echoed through the air, reminiscent of a whistling kettle. The hallway opened up into a vast room, where workers labored over rows of polishing stones. The stones were submerged in a boiling vat, then retrieved and cracked open to reveal radiant blue gemstones, which were tossed into a glowing pile with the others.
Moon walked over to a group of people who were busy cracking open stones, a girl with short silver hair and blue eyes handed him a hammer.
"You are late as always" she said irritated
Moon let a sigh "it's not like I like being late, it's just, I had that dream again"
She frowned "not that excuse again, how many times is that this year"
Moon tried to count with his fingers but quickly realised he didn't have enough fingers "alot"
Moon raised his arm into the air and swung the hammer down breaking open a stone.
"I'm starting to think his hopless" celene said exhausted from waking him up almost every morning.
Moon turned towards her with a smile "thanks alot, Don't know what I'd do without you"
She sighed " Nothing probably"
Kyle, a cheerful, mild mannered boy with messy blonde hair and emerald eyes spoke out "you guy's should cut him some slack"
Both of the girls turned towards him and yelled "You're always on his side"
Moon laughed "thanks alot, kyle"
Celene and Bella turned towards moon, clearly furious "wipe that grin off your face"
The stones were piling up now so Bella turned her attention towards them "Jeez, I don't know how you're always smiling"
Crack
She was right moon was always smiling but not because he was happy but because if there was a million and one reason for his friends to be sad, he wanted to be that one reason for there to be a smile on their face.
It was a responsibility other's took lightly but he knew how important it truly was.
Crack
Kyle suddenly said "well I really like moon for that, my father always said, if you can't smile, you might as well be dead"
Just then a chubby man wearing a fine leather suit and a military grade gas mask which completely filtered the toxic air produced by the factory, stepped into the room, he carried himself like some kind of nobility but that was because he was compared to the rest them, he was accompanied by two guard with swords attached to their hip.
Everyone seemed to ignore his existence not daring to look at his direction or worst, lock eyes with him but that was until he spoke
"Everyone" his word's grabbed their attention "remember, the work you do here is important, more important than your lives, it helps keep the humans in the sky, it gives you purpose and most of all I pay you so I will not tolerate indiscipline and laziness"
Everyone shouted at the top of their lungs "Yes sir"
After that the chubby man and his guards left, he would always come here once a week to remind them of their place, to remind them they weren't even considered humans.
'What an annoying bastard, I hope all the other sky people aren't like him" Kyle said
Celene laughed "what do you mean, they're all the same"
Kyle refuted "that can't be, don't you think so too moon"
Moon turned towards Kyle "maybe but even if there were sky people who care for us ground people, they must be too few and weak to do anything otherwise we wouldn't be living like this"
Kyle's face grew solemn "but even so.."
"Stop chatting and focus on your work" celene said
Moon knew that no one up there cared or at least cared enough to do anything because they needed them here, wasting their life away in a factory, fueling a system that poisons and kills them, they were just slaves without chains.
Bella suddenly said, her voice cold and stern "Did you know what we refer to as miracles, they call it magic, what we call blessings they call it awakening, what we call heaven they call it home" she paused "Kyle, it would be better for you to throw those hopes in the thrash because the only hope we are allowed to have is the one we carve ourselves".
Crack