Book 1 — Chapter 19

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​Day: Hynjia

Date: 16

Month: Nokaokarium 

Quarturn: 1618

Location: The city of Melchior

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Ash watched as Naira dug through her backpack, searching for the small tokens she had insisted upon gifting the Phael peoples, who had escorted them home. While the two women waited with encouraging expressions, the man was engaged in another phone call. 

She felt the sigh come to her — one she tried to hide — as she didn’t want Naira to hear and misinterpret it. For truly, the sigh wasn’t the product of her impatience and wanting Naira to hurry; it was from nervousness. An emotion that always brought with it stress. For the nervousness wasn’t consistently aligned with misfortune; sometimes the source came from exciting and happy news. And while she may have had an observed sixth sense, she was certainly not Attata and could not distinguish between the two. Leaving her with an uneasy anticipation. 

Her eyes searched for something to take her mind off the apprehension. They fell upon the obvious and studied. The building, Nokahme. 

Nokahme was a typical building in this part of town. Older, in that it had seen its better days that coincided with Melchior’s better days. But it was also a three-story brick and stone building that, like much of the city and its people, was created to be resilient. 

The building, from what Wayra had told her, at first wasn’t built as a public house. It was only after Wayra’s extended family — from whom he inherited it — obtained and renovated it into the pub and residence it is today.

Wayra had further elaborated that this was done by design, to fill a market that was growing in Melchior for, unfortunately, the wrong reasons. 

In Melchior’s recent history, the loss of Hylatee headquarters and much of the high-end manufacturing employment were an economic blow to the city for a variety of reasons. One such was as Hylatee moved many of its low-end manufacturing to Melchior, the wages decreased significantly; while the housing value and market did not. 

It was a strange matter to her that housing hadn’t adjusted to the new realities of the populace. The prices had remained nearly the same as they were during Melchior’s peak. Which, because of the decline in financial resources among the populace, left people unable to afford a standard dwelling unit. A fact that further perplexed her; it seemed those that held the homes and apartments were perfectly fine with having no owners or tenants, as so many places went uninhabited. She often wondered if there were some tax loophole or subsidy that simply made it more profitable to have an abandoned structure than to actually lower the price to reflect the buying power of the people. Whatever the case, the conditions translated to single-family units becoming “hives” — a local word that was used to describe a residence that was used beyond its intended habitation. These hives were a product of people pooling their resources in order to avoid living on the street. 

Such was the case of one of the part-time workers of Nokahme, Matu, who lived in an apartment that was built for four, but was housing thirteen. This wasn’t the exception; this was the common rule. It led to cramped quarters, varying schedules, and — more importantly — absolutely no one wanting to make proper meals in a kitchen they shared with twelve other people. 

This led to the niche, and one could even say the culture, of the public house. A place where people could escape their shared and always-incommodious living to eat an inexpensive meal in either library-esque peace or a lively community setting, depending upon the environment of each pub. 

She grinned to herself, recalling how Matu had confessed he hadn’t eaten at his residence in quarturns. How his meals comprised of “morning: convenience store, mid-day: grocery ready-to-eat products, dinner: food stand or pub, and supper: pub.” It was something he showed the receipts for; even eating as such every day, it was still cheaper than moving to a place with a smaller occupancy that would afford him unrestricted kitchen access.  

But her grin faded, as not only was the reality of what people were forced to choose distressing, but even with such options available, Melchior still had the highest unhoused populace in the world. Numbered in the tens of thousands from what she understood. It was a point of note that people living like this could not sustain; and change would either come organically or by force. And it was the “by force” that raised fear in her, as such acts would always lead to tragedy — usually brought down upon the innocent and those undeserving of such devastations. 

But such was a topic she didn’t wish to contemplate on at the time, as she returned her attention to the building of Nokahme. 

The building resided on, what she considered, an awkward corner. And while all four of its outer walls were free of shared construction, the space to the building next was barely enough for one person to squeeze down. The front of the building naturally faced the main street, while the back of the building was against a small alley that was only large enough to allow access to the underground garage, deliveries, and other services. 

The side of the building that abutted the larger of the two alleys was lined with one of her more loved features of Nokahme; as it housed a privacy fence with a front walk-gap, a large pathway that led to the side entrance, and a potentially cute edge garden. It was a path space that, when she first returned to Melchior with Wayra, endeared her with its inviting sweetness. 

“Found them!” Naira called with happiness, as she had finally discovered the items she was looking for. As she stood with a bounce, she announced with pride. “These are for you. I made them at school. Thank you for walking with us.” 

She felt the smile come to her face, as the women accepted the pins Naira had made with a great deal of enthusiasm and appreciation. Her eyes turned to the man, who paused his call and spoke to Naira as she handed him one. 

“Thank you. You’re an excellent artist.” 

Her smile brightened as the compliment made Naira bounce again with happiness, and with an adorable giggle that illustrated her shyness toward the compliment. But her attention turned to the man as he was quick to address her with an apologetic tone. 

“We’ve got a job we need to see to, straight away. Tell Wayra I said hi and will catch up with him soon.” 

She nodded, but didn’t have to opportunity to ask any followup questions, as the women and man said their goodbyes to Naira and hurried out of the back alley. As another sigh came to her; she wished she had been given a moment, as she never caught the man’s name. But she supposed with it being Wayra, he would be able to either gather or grace who he was. 

She turned on her heel and resigned herself to the moment, and she and Naira began their walk down the pathway towards the side door of Nokahme. As Naira sashayed down the path to a private song in her head, her eyes cast down toward the edge garden that was filled with dead vegetation and plants that seemed to only find homes in the most difficult of growing conditions. It was something that, when she had asked Wayra about, he admitted gardening was not a high priority. But in a sort of funny life-spoiler, he admitted that someone would come that would give the space the attention it needed. 

“Ash!” Naira called down the path toward her. “Can I go to my room?”

“Of course you can,” she responded with a lift to her voice. “It’s your room. You can come and go as you please. But make sure you change out of your uniform before you sit on your bed. Be careful on the stairs, too, please. I’ll bring you up a snack in a little bit.”

She watched as Naira clapped her hands with excitement and jumped through the door with an energy that seemed to be only afforded to the young. 

As she met the side door, and moved into the vestibule, she glanced to her right and up the stairs toward Naira’s gently pounding feet as they ascended. She would follow soon with Naira’s snack. But her express goal was to find Wayra. 

As she moved forward out of the vestibule and into the public house proper. She looked around the empty establishment and felt a light smile come to her. It was, by Melchior standards, a really nice place. Not particularly small, but not so large that it lost its coziness. The layout was fairly typical, which lent to its pleasantness as it presented the customers with a familiarity that was easy on the senses. 

A couple of meters directly out of the vestibule was the bar itself. The sit-down bar counter was the dominant feature that stretched nearly the entirety of length of the space to meet the opposite exterior wall. Though “nearly” was the key word, as the bar’s end curved and crooked to meet the interior wall that separated the main bar from the kitchen. Behind the bar, the circulation space between the back bar and the kitchen interior wall was generous, giving the opportunity for people to move back and forth without a great deal of bumping. The interior wall featured cabinets, refrigerators, and display shelves that, like the rest of the space, were lit up with warm lighting that added to the atmosphere of comfort. And the underbar was a space that offered nooks and crannies for storage and other essentials, such as ice chests and a sink that was stationed at the crook at the far end.  

The layout of the dining portion was also familiar. With booths that lined along the front wall to the front entrance. The far exterior wall featured a standing only countertop for a casual meet-and-drink that ran all the way to the hall. Said hall, which lined the exterior and kitchen interior wall, led to the public water closets and the emergency only exit. The open space was scattered with double- and quad-occupancy tables. Finally, the space featured a recessed portion that adjoined the walled vestibule and even featured a small stage. Though it was mostly used to display the chalkboard that offered meals of the day. 

All of this was hewed out of woods in the striking hues of vintage antique with burnt ecru highlights. And while not particularly ornate in its carvings, the wood combinations and their accentuated curves presented a subtle contrast to the raw brick and stone exterior walls. However, as if the warm lights, rich woods, and pleasant bricks weren’t enough — the space was further imbued with an inviting comfort as the interior kitchen walls and the cushioned seats were all a tawny-port color. The combination of textures and colors rendered the space homey. Such a “homey” atmosphere seemed to resonate with the customers as, like any home, it was adaptable to its needs. This gave way to an atmosphere that catered to the no-nonsense mid-day meal crowd, the more family-oriented contented dinner crowd, and the more exuberant, and sometimes feisty, supper crowd. 

It was a marvel to her, in a way, how quickly she had come to love the place. Even in moments of solitude, the ambiance connoted to her safety and welcome. 

Yet, at this moment, the emptiness was confusing. Not in the context of customers, as they had not opened for the evening yet. But everyone who should have been preparing for the evening was missing.

She walked straight behind the bar and to the swing door and entered the kitchen. The kitchen, which was like most commercial kitchens, featured industrial coolers, cooking stations, and worktables. And unfortunately, no one was to be seen. 

As she moved back into the pub proper, she walked around the bar and looked down the hall, wondering if there were issues with the public water closets. But again, no one. 

Her mind thought it was possible they were in the underground garage or connected cellar. But she decided to check there last; for she didn’t want to have to go outside nor go down the floor access ladder, as it always made her uncomfortable. 

She re-entered the vestibule and ascended the staircase toward the second floor, and the residence area of the building. 

The residence portion was interesting to her in that, as Wayra had explained, he allocated most of the extra resources to maintaining the pub itself. Leaving the residence quarters to suffer from the lack of funds. This was most perceivable in the paints, plasters, windows, and furnishings that spoke to the true nature of the space within the impoverishment of Melchior.

Though, as she ascended the staircase, she was happy this was not one of the features that would go without proper maintenance. The staircase was of the switchback variety that featured a landing that met the back exterior wall, “switching back,” and continuing upward to the final landing that laid roughly in the middle of the building. It was a feature she admired about the architecture; while it seemed a small matter, it made the stair risers’ height low and the tread wide. Making ascending and, more important to her safety aesthetic, descending, easy. 

She stepped up off the landing into the long hall and took a moment to listen. The hall stretched the entire length of the building, meeting the second stairwell on the far side that mimicked the first in its switchback nature and ascending to the third floor. The hall itself, lined on both sides with interior walls and doors, was suitable enough for two people to pass one another without issue. The walls of the hall, and all the rooms, for that matter, were colored in various hues of ecru. A safe color, she supposed, and most likely the least expensive to purchase, paint-wise. 

The hall, with its continued vintage and antique colored wood floors, featured three doors to her right, and four doors to the left. On the right, each door led to a particular room that met the exterior wall toward the back of the building. The first, Naira’s room. Then Wayra’s and her shared room. Then the first full bathroom. Directly across from the bathroom, meeting the front of the building, was Nobi’s bedroom. Next; a small but deep closet. Next to that, the double door open-frame entrance to the large commons area. And finally, Akiva’s room. 

The commons room was by far one of her favorite places in the entire building. While it was eclectically furnished, it was also incredibly cozy. Its features included ample natural light from three large windows. A large table to work and dine at. And a great deal of seating — from chairs, to couches, to chaise lounges — were deep and inviting, and would prompt her to melt into cushy happiness.

But such indulgences were not in her immediate future, as she still hadn’t found a trace of anyone. 

“Where is everyone?” she asked aloud. 

As she moved down the hall, she briefly stopped at Naira’s bedroom door and listened. She felt the smile pull at her mouth by reflex as she could hear Naira singing lightly and happily. 

She moved from the door and over to the entrance of the commons area and looked around. Nope. No one was there either. 

As she continued down the hall, she peeked into her bedroom and glanced in the open bathroom door. Again, no one. 

She sighed as she ascended the steps to the third floor. As she again stopped on the landing that moved into the hall, she paused to listen. 

The third floor was one that was seemingly meant to be a near mimic of the second floor; though it had its differences. 

Like the second floor, it had a long hall that stretched the length of the building. Its hall also featured doors on the left and right that entered various rooms. To her right, a bedroom. Followed by a second, smaller commons room. Followed by two additional bedrooms. To her left, the second, smaller bathroom. Followed by another bedroom. Then lastly, the large “junk room.” 

She walked down the hall and glanced in at the open doors and listened. None produced a sign of anyone. 

As she made it to the end of the hall, she came to the last stairwell, and the oddly shaped recess that surrounded it. The stairs themselves were unlike the others; they were pseudo-spiraled and crooked in their ascent with small landings and odd straightaways that led to the adjacent bulkhead roof exit. 

It was a design that gave the recess extensive space that could be used for storage under and next to the stairs. But the unique features didn’t end there. The recess’ superficial design didn’t align with the rest of the flat-colored walls that were prominent throughout the building’s residence areas. Instead, the walls featured a collection of various scrap fluted-round wood paneling that ran vertically from floor to ceiling. The area looked like a design choice gone awry. But it was a configuration that was purposeful and very effective in its reason. 

She moved over to a portion of the paneling and held her hand to it. But before she could push, a sound on the door of the roof caught her attention and her mind switched directly to the likelihood everyone was up there. As she moved up the stairs, she felt a bit of relief as she was on the edge of worry. But it was a short-lived release; as she opened the door to the roof and found only empty chairs and coffee tables. 

As she descended the stairs into the hall, she quickened her pace. Not that she truly believed that something was wrong. But her nervousness had not dissipated. Nor had it become clear if it stemmed from bad or good news. It was this that was driving her down the last steps with a bound into the vestibule and with another look into the pub. 

She felt her breath release with a voice as her eyes directly fell upon Wayra standing behind the bar along with Akiva beside him in “her chair.” She walked in and made her way to sit at the front of the bar as she asked with a slight fuss to her voice. 

“Where have you been? I’ve been all over the building looking for you.” 

“Liar, liar,” Akiva responded in a sing-song manner and a chuckle before she continued. “Couldn’t have been all over the building, as you would’ve found us in the garage.” 

Her laugh burst forward to the accusation. Akiva was accurate in that she really hadn’t looked everywhere. But without a verbal retort, she only could stick her tongue out playfully in response. It was one that caused Akiva to laugh and stick her tongue out in return. But as her laugh to the exchange subsided, she noted Wayra wasn’t enjoying their usual teasing and sniping. She leaned forward on the bar and moved toward Wayra in a romantic capacity. As he read her body language and returned the movement with a quick kiss to the lips, the concern was cemented as she could tell he was upset. 

As she sat back, she looked at both Akiva and Wayra and asked with caution. 

“Oh no. What’s wrong?”

She felt her brow furrow even deeper as Wayra pulled several glasses from under the counter and began to make drinks. He sighed aloud and asked. 

“Did you talk to Nobi this morning before you left?”

“No,” she shook her head as she replied. “I thought I left before anyone woke up. Why do you ask?”

“Nobi bailed,” Wayra answered in a tone of sheer disappointment. 

She felt her mouth fall agape as she was stunned by the news.

Nobi had been the cook and one of the live-in employees at Nokame for quarturns. Further, he had been a more active participant in elements of Idemere. For herself, of all the people living and working at Nokahme, she hadn’t really connected with him as well as some of the others. They had been agreeable towards one another, but there hadn’t been any particularly friendly attachment. However, he had been a good friend to Wayra for quite some time. In that, she knew Wayra would be saddened by his departure. 

She shook her head from her disbelief as she asked. 

“Not to doubt you, but how do you know?”

Wayra paused his attention in making the drinks as he again reached under the counter and retrieved an envelope. 

“He left a pretty detailed note. Said things were getting hyperrealistic with Idemere and he was choosing to not follow that path any further. Choosing to cut off all contact with everyone as well.” 

As he tossed the envelope to the counter with an air of anger, her voice came out in soft sympathy as she moved her hand across the bar to Wayra’s hand and held. 

“I’m so sorry to hear that. I know he was a good friend.” 

“He was.” Wayra sighed with dejection. Though his voice turned to mild annoyance as he disclosed his thoughts. “Granted, yes, I’m bothered by his parting; but I’m more irritated by me not seeing any signs of it. My graces fully failed, and that always irks me.” 

She glanced at Akiva as she snatched the envelope up and pulled from it the letter and began to read it, in what she assumed was, again. But her attention quickly returned to Wayra as he released her hand and returned to making the drinks. She wanted to comfort him in this loss. But the departure also brought a consideration with it that made her wonder if this event was the source of her nervousness. 

“I feel bad about asking this … but is this something we need to worry about?” 

As Wayra finished the drinks, his head shook as he answered. 

“I don’t believe so. He actually offered a bit of solace by addressing those concerns. He said he had been planning this for a while and would be perfectly safe in K’Sara.” 

As Wayra set the drink before her, he handed the second to Akiva who folded the letter and returned it to the envelope. As Wayra turned and walked back into the kitchen with a third glass in hand, a thought occurred to her as she asked. 

“What are we going to do without a cook?”

She looked at Akiva who made a noise behind the sip of her drink, indicating she would answer as Wayra was well into the kitchen and away from fielding the question. 

“Deo help our customers, but we’re going to have to take turns doing the cooking. I went and picked up Porter so he can cook today. We had to change the menu all around, as Porter doesn’t know how to cook much.” 

Akiva paused as she took another sip and spoke candidly. 

“I’ll be honest. I don’t know why Wayra’s all that upset. Nobi was fine, but he wasn’t back-to-back with any of us. We can’t be wasting our time with the half-hearted. Just my stance.” 

She felt the sigh come out vocally, as while she didn’t exactly disagree with Akiva’s assessment, there were other factors at play that were fueling Wayra’s disappointment. One such came to mind as she asked in a low tone. 

“And isn’t this the third person to bail in the past six months?” 

Their attention was taken as Wayra emerged from the kitchen and answered. 

“I wish it was only the third. He was the fifth to call it quits in the past six months. Granted, three of them were only here for work purposes and knew little about what we did on the side. But without sounding dramatic, we’re hemorrhaging workers and allies.” 

“Yeah, no … you’re being dramatic,” Akiva spoke in a direct pitch. “It’s like I told Porter; just separating the chaff. I mean, Ash already has filled one spot. After what she did in Udo, she’s all about the back-to-back lifestyle. No worries. Nokahme will fill up again, and then you’ll be dramatically longing for some damn peace and quiet.” 

She couldn’t help but smile as Wayra chuckled at Akiva’s description. But as suddenly another thought came to Akiva’s mind, she bounced with wide eyes, and made a sound of recollection around her glass. As she swallowed the drink, she spoke with a cackle. 

“Oh! Tell her the best part of Nobi’s motor.” 

She returned her attention to Wayra whose eyes rolled lightly as he groaned through his words. 

“Oh yeah … yeah. He took the liberty of paying himself for the work he had already done this week … and for the paid time off he would have been entitled to had he continued working.” 

“Asshole cleaned us out!” Akiva called out with a howl of laughter. 

She, however, couldn’t see the humor in this news, and her mouth fell agape for a moment before she spoke quickly for verification. 

“Wait, wait. What do you mean he took money for the paid time off? Those entitlements are subject to either signed release, or you have to continue employment for at least one week after. You can’t end your employment with the paid time off, I thought.” 

“You can’t,” Akiva responded through her continued chuckles. “I mean technically you can … but since paid time off is government-subsidized, you either must have returned employment for two weeks, or you must have government approval to end your employment with your paid time off; which almost never happens.” 

She turned her attention back to Wayra as he pulled the glass up to his mouth and offered before he took a drink. 

“What she said.” 

“So wait … he just took all the money we had?” she asked with a voice that illustrated her sinking stomach.

“Yep!” Akiva confirmed with a chirp. 

“Yeah. Apparently, he decided to forgo the formalities and took what he figured was owed to him,” Wayra added. “He took every last relit and scrip. The bad part is, I technically could get my money reimbursed since these times off are, like Akiva pointed out, government-subsidized. However, I can’t in this case, as I would need him to fill out paperwork to submit since it’s the end of employment. And I will not fake those documents, as I need to keep this place on the straight and level … can’t give anyone any reason to look deeper into what goes on here.” 

“Oh dear Deo,” was the only words that she could share as she finally understood why Wayra had made everyone drinks. She took a sip of hers as another question came to mind. 

“So, what are we going to do about supplies for the bar? How are we even going to eat?” 

“Don’t tell me you’re squeamish about eating customer leftovers,” Akiva considered aloud with a chuckle. “You just have to cut off the parts they took the bites off of.” 

She felt her eyes widen as she looked at Wayra, who took a deep breath that rose his shoulders up and down in what she could only describe as acquiescence. 

“We’re truthfully very well stocked when it comes to beverages,” Wayra explained. “Food, however, is an honest problem. At least for the next several days to a week, depending upon how well we do over the course of it. Our resources will have to go solely toward the customers, and we’ll have to hope there are leftovers in the kitchen … or we will honestly have to just suck it up and hope people leave a bit left.”

As Akiva again laughed with vigor at the predicament, it prompted her to laugh in disbelief as she asked with a raise to her voice. 

“Dear Deo! How are you enjoying this? You, with your power-plant-like metabolism, are going to be the worst off with this food scarcity.” 

“Because it is hilarious. I can’t help y’all don’t have the capacity to see the parable in this. Plus, it’s not really all that serious. It’s temporary. And coming from someone who has a background in biological sciences … I can say with almost full certainty that we’re unlikely to encounter any germs that we aren’t already exposed to on the regular.”

“And I’m going to say with full certainty I’m not willing to take that chance with Naira,” she declared as she stood from the barstool. 

“Where you going?” Wayra asked with a concerned look on his face. 

“I’m going to make Naira a proper snack. Then I’m going to head over to my parents’ house and do some cupboard shopping,” she responded with a firm reply. 

“Oh! Mama and Papa Ero?” Akiva asked with a bubbly, questioning pitch. “Can I go?” 

She felt the grin come to her as she looked at Wayra, who gestured with his hand to shoo her away as he spoke. 

“Yes. Please … for the love of Deo. Let me be depressed for a while in peace.” 

“Yay!” Akiva shouted as she bounced from her chair, but quickly changed her tone as she instructed. “Give me 15 minutes to burn this alcohol off and I’ll drive you up there.” 

As Akiva moved from behind the bar and up the stairs to prepare for their outing, Ash moved herself behind the bar and headed toward the kitchen to get Naira’s snack. But before she could make it to the door, Wayra grabbed her forearm gently and brought her into an embrace. It was one that not only did she return with a firm squeeze of her own; but one to which she sincerely focused her mind on caring and encouragement in hopes Wayra would grace those emotions toward him. 

She felt the smile pull at her lips as she could feel Wayra’s muscles soften from their tension with each passing breath. It was something he affirmed as he spoke in a soft tone. 

“Hurry back. Not just because we’ll need you here before we open … but I need a good deal more of my soothing and healing Ash.”​​​