Two weeks had now passed since the incident. In that time, the stiffness of his couch became a familiar discomfort. The alien words had taken root in his mind. They weren't simply just sounds anymore, they were tools now. Crude and clumsy tools, but still his all the same.
He finally had learned the black-haired woman's name: Kira. And the crimson-haired man's name. Kemota, pronounced "KEE-moh-ta". Progress came faster and more steady. He could no longer just name objects, he could ask for things, express need, and state truths. "I am Umino. You are Kira. He is Kemota." Eh grammar, guided by Kira's corrections, was slowly smoothing his language from a jagged rock into a smoother one.
However, the routine had changed on the dawn of the fifteenth morning. Kira nodded to Umino and greeted him, and he greeted her back. He noticed something different about her this time. Today, she didn't enter with a console, but with a folded bundle of dark, soft-looking fabric. She placed it on the table in front of him.
"Today," she said, "you will go."
Umino tilted his head before asking her, "I…go?" He understood the words, but not the meaning. Go where? The only places he knew of were this room and the chamber on his first day. Would he finally be able to see the outside world again?
Kira gestured to the bundle of clothes, then to him. "You will wear. Then, you will go with me." She then pointed firmly towards the door.
A surge of hope entered his body. He was leaving this room. The world beyond that door was a vast unknown, a terrifying one, but exciting at the same time. The clothes he was given was a simple black tunic and trousers of gray material. They fit him perfectly. They must've taken his measurements somehow, but when, he wasn't so certain.
Kemota appeared in the doorway as Umino finished dressing. His sharp eyes scanned the boy from head to toe with an unreadable expression. "Now." He said in a low voice.
"Yes!" Umino replied. Kira turned toward Umino and extended her hand outward, not to take his hand, but gestured for him to follow her. "You will walk. You will see, and you will listen."
Umino nodded, and forced himself to get up and move. He had stepped outside of this room for the first time in over two weeks. The air was…different on the outside. It was colder, and carried the faint scents of something like dried herbs.
The masked figures that he had seen before, walked past them with indifference. They barely glanced up at him as they passed by. They were too busy to do so. Their attention was on these small tablets that they seemed to be constantly editing. Kira walked beside Umino, smiling happily, while Kemota walked a few paces behind with a not so eager look on his face.
Umino's head kept on turning, taking in glances of laboratories with holographic schematics, and libraries full of books and shelves. They passed through open doorways, and the air slowly began to change. The medicinal scent faded, and was replaced by something more earthy, and damp.
They emerged onto a walkway open to the sky, and Umino's breath caught in his chest. There was a flood of sensations that crashed over him. Fresh air, and true golden yellow sunlight, that was warm on his skin for the first time in over two weeks. He looked up, blinking against the brilliant sun.
The sky was perfectly blue, and within it, hung two moons. He stumbled forward, his hands gripping the stone rail of the walkway. The city was majestic, with towers and complexes built from the same white stone, accented with warm wood. People in robes of various colors moved through walkways and spacious plazas.
And at the center of the city, a massive water-fountain erupted. It was a towering wellspring of water that shimmered in the sunlight.
Kira stepped beside him, giving him a moment to take all of this in. She raised her hands, gesturing in a wide arc, from the fountain to the towers, to the sky itself, her expression full of pride. "Welcome…to Almaran."
Umino could only nod, his vision still blurred from the radiance of the sun. He was not home. This was not his sky, not his sun, not his moon. But it was real, and it was beautiful. It was alive in a way nothing had felt since he had woken up. There was nothing but the awe-filled understanding of where he truly was.
The thought brought him to his knees. The glorious weight of the open world after weeks of sealed silence reached a breaking point. The air suddenly seemed too thin. The distant fountain deafened. The blue sky began to darken at the edges, vignetting into a tunnel of shadow. The two white moons doubled, then became unfocused.
"Umino?" Kira's voice came from far away. Umino tried to grip the stone rail tighter, but his hands were numb. A deep, cold weakness swelled up from his buckling knees. The last thing he saw was the towering geyser of the fountain. Then, nothing.
He crumpled to the ground. Kira moved with startling speed. She was there before he fell, her arms catching him under his shoulders. She eased his dead weight down, cradling his head before it could knock against the ground. Her fingers immediately went to the side of his neck, checking for the pulse that hammered too fast beneath his skin.
Kemota was at her side in a few long strides. He stood over them. "Well, that was quite the unexpected reaction."
"Be silent, and be useful." Kira told him with a rigid voice. "His body might be a bit on the weaker side. The shock was systemic, not mental."
Kemota's jaw tightened. "That's definitely not the case, but whatever." After a brief moment, he bent down. Together, they lifted him up. They carried him back from the vibrant openness of Almaran toward the quiet interior of the complex. The moment's majesty was gone.