The governmental architecture in the Tartarian Empire was distinguished by its design resembling Roman temples with massive staircases.
Those stairs raised the municipal center twenty meters above ground level. Rita whispered:
"I won't be able to go any further. This place devours ghosts."
When Helena, Jaspin, and Hailey reached the door, a security officer stepped forward.
"Pets are not allowed inside."
Helena said:
"It's fine. You go in. I'll wait here with her."
"No, you have to come in with me."
From behind them, a voice called out:
"Hailey, come here."
It was Rita, who had materialized in the physical world, though she was worried about the transparency of her body.
Both Helena and Jaspin focused on Hailey's reaction. Suddenly, Hailey teleported to Rita's side. Jaspin said:
"She's gotten a little smarter."
The reception hall was crowded with people. From there, they were directed to the records department via stairs leading underground. Jaspin said:
"The building's layout is encrypted. Can you feel it?"
"Yes. My sixth sense feels like I'm walking through the air."
"That's normal. This is a government building containing licensed records and countless other secrets. I hope Rita succeeds in distracting Hailey."
After presenting their ID cards as ordered by the official, Jaspin said:
"We're looking for Sayorin Fick."
"Why?"
"We… are her friends. We came to ask about her disappearance."
"How long has she been missing?"
Jaspin paused, pretending to think, then said:
"One week."
The clerk recorded their information, stood up, and led them down a long corridor lined on both sides with thirty doors matching the number of letters in their language. Above them hung two signs: one for the deceased and one for the living.
They walked for a long time until they stopped in front of the room corresponding to her letter. Inside the three-by-three-by-three-meter room were nearly two hundred drawers of documents, each drawer extending two meters outward.
"Her name is not in the living section. Let's hope for the best…
Are you certain she lives in this city?"
"Not entirely."
…
Helena and Jaspin left the center. Jaspin said:
"I hate this. We still have five more cities."
"It's fine. Look, they're close. One of them is… umm… a small village."
Hailey was waiting downstairs with Rita, who had covered herself with a long black veil. Hailey was hiding something behind her back. When Helena approached, Hailey shyly pulled out a bouquet of underground herbs.
Helena smiled tensely and said:
"Th… thank you."
The moment Helena took the bouquet, Hailey began jumping and clapping her hands in joy, repeating:
"Helly… helly…"
Helena felt ridiculous at the wrong pronunciation of her name after all that teaching, but she played along with her happiness. Jaspin said:
"She's not in their records. We'll try this time… the nearby village of Godyferty."
Helena activated two neural cells and said:
"Let's have Hailey teleport us, even if it's in short bursts. Imagine a speed of 1 km per second."
"I want to see how you're going to make her understand that request."
"First, let's get out of the city so she doesn't teleport us inside a wall or something."
On the outskirts of the city, where the number of surrounding buildings decreased and agricultural fields began to spread around them, they placed their hands on Hailey's shoulders. Helena said:
"Hailey, teleport us to that hill."
A few silly seconds of silence passed while the smiling Hailey looked around with her usual vacant expression.
"Okay, I'll try this method."
Helena extended her sharp index fingernail and pricked Hailey's back.
For a fraction of a second, the world went dark. They plunged into a void without air pressure or sensory reality. It was one hundredth of a second accompanied by a sensation like a billion needles pricking their skin. Helena lost her balance from the sudden change in ground and fell. Hailey felt the pain, jumped, and rubbed the pricked spot. Using her sixth sense, she realized Helena was the cause and began screaming random sounds in Helena's face, repeatedly shouting "Helly" between each word.
Helena stroked her hair and said:
"I'm sorry. I won't do it again."
Hailey's body twitched, her screaming gradually faded, and it turned into a soft purring. Jaspin said:
"I didn't imagine it would be this intense. Hmm… she barely teleported ten meters… Are you going to continue experimenting?"
"The sensation is unpleasant, but we'll get used to it, right Rita?"
"I'm a ghost. I'm not affected by the lack of air pressure. Think about yourselves."
Helena held Hailey's face with both hands and said:
"When we put our hands on you like this…
[She placed her hand and Hailey looked at her.]
…teleport us over there."
Helena pointed with her finger toward the hill, but Hailey didn't look in that direction. Instead, she kept staring shyly at Helena's face. Helena also became embarrassed, but she held Hailey's chin and turned it toward her finger. Hailey imitated her and extended her own finger, but Helena lowered Hailey's arm.
"Come on, think, Hailey. You're smart."
Hailey thought about the request. She looked down with a vacant expression, her neural cells working, and her expression changed.
"I think you understood."
Everyone held their breath, preparing for the pressure shock. They placed their hands on her, and she teleported to the top of the hill.
"You did it!"
They showed her their joy, and even she began celebrating with them, teleporting randomly while repeating "Helly," a name that was starting to annoy Helena.
They all fell silent. Hailey teleported a few more times and returned.
"Don't teleport unless we tell you it's okay."
Suddenly Hailey said:
"Yes."
Helena and Jaspin looked surprised. Hailey noticed their surprise and began teleporting randomly again while celebrating.
Helena laughed at the situation and said:
"Haha, no no no… Hailey, stop."
She stopped. Jaspin said:
"It looks like she's starting to get smarter."
"See? I told you."
They gathered around Hailey again. Helena pointed to a distant place. They touched her, and she teleported them there. Jaspin said:
"What an unpleasant feeling."
Then another teleport, then another, then another…
Jaspin screamed:
"Let's stop for a bit."
She began breathing heavily, her skin flushed red.
"We need to rest between every five teleports. I mean, look at your face, Helena. It's turned red from the lack of air pressure."
"You're right."
Helena dropped her massive ass onto the grass, watching the grassy plains. In the distance, she saw the end of the grassy land in a strangely sharp edge. She said:
"Have we reached the edge of the world?"
"That's a cliff."
Helena couldn't believe it. She looked around. The horizon stretched like a straight line in every direction. Jaspin interrupted her contemplation and said:
"Come on, let's get closer."
Hailey teleported five more times to bring them near it. Helena, her face flushed red, approached the terrifying edge with heavy steps. The higher she climbed, the less she saw anything rising on the other side. Terror gripped her feet. Afraid of losing her balance, she dropped to her knees and lay on her stomach to peer over the edge.
It was a height she had never seen before — a terrifying, illogical height, as if she were watching the Earth from a satellite. Clouds fell far below. It looked like an entire piece of the world had been lifted high. The place was so elevated that the sun did not rise over it until late. According to her estimate, the height reached fifteen kilometers. It was literally a descent journey.
Here, Helena asked the obvious question:
"How are we going to get down?"
Jaspin walked to the edge and said:
"It's still terrifying, Helena. What you've seen so far is just the beginning. This is the domain of humans and small things according to their size. The place over there is the true hell of scale."
"Don't you feel dizzy from heights, Jaspin?"
"Nah. I've come to understand the size of humans in this world. Homeplanet is the size of the sun."
"You're joking."
"Can you see a view like this on planet Earth?
Mount Everest itself is just a small mountain here. And between you and me, Helena, I'm not convinced that the height of Everest is eight kilometers. It only looks like one kilometer. But here, you're literally seeing the real scale."
Jaspin extended her hand to Helena, who was lying on her stomach. She grabbed her hand and tried to pull her up.
Helena's knees buckled in place, her body swaying back and forth from dizziness as the sunset announced its arrival…
Rita materialized beside Jaspin to see the view as well.
Then Jaspin suddenly moved Helena's hand as if she wanted to throw her. Helena's body jerked backward.
"Stop it, Jaspin. This isn't funny. I'm going to throw up."
Jaspin smiled and said:
"You're right. This isn't a place for jokes. I'm sorry. Come on, I know a way down."
She stepped back with Helena. Jaspin pretended to be distracted, then suddenly shoved Helena with all her strength toward the edge. Helena's heart stopped. Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. She tried to grab Jaspin, catching the open jacket. With a quick twist of her body, her hands slipped out of the jacket, and Helena fell from the edge.