A featureless gray expanse, stretching out as far as the eye could see, this plane was known to most as one completely devoid of life. But underneath the cold gray shell of the surface, lay the complex machinery of a great interplanar civilization.
The caverns below were absolutely enormous, they were so large that if you weren't aware that you were in a cavern, you would have no reason to think that you were. Cool breezes, powered by enormous fans, flowed through the cavern, and a warm, orange glow bathed them in light.
The light ca from enormous glass tubes that ran the length of the roofs, and smaller tubes illuminated the interior of the structures below.
In one of the lower caverns, a thin, spindly man sat in front of a square shaped device, made up of thousands of cubes threaded through rods that constantly spun, displaying different characters on each of their faces.
The thin man, skin and bones, was nervously chewing away at his lower lip, and staring intently at the spinning cubes.
"Almost, almost, almost. Yes!" The man screeched loudly, leaping up from the short stool that was placed in front of his device. This outburst resulted in strange looks from the many other individuals sat in front of similar devices, all of them equally as thin and malnourished as this man, all of them constantly staring at the devices in front of them, occasionally twisting rings on a large cylinder that was placed just in front of them, below the square shaped device.
"Oh, Master Xerev is going to be so pleased with , perhaps I'll even get an increase in my ration, or even a promotion." The man cackled to himself as he left the cavern, navigating the many criss-crossing corridors with ease, clutching a cylinder tight to his chest.
"Hey! Bottom feeder scum! You're not permitted in this quadrant!" A tall guard, hidden behind intricate plate armor, slamd the end of a staff into the thin man as he scuttled into a wide corridor.
The small man fell to the ground, writhing in pain, all the while clutching the cylinder to his chest.
"Important ssage, for Master Xerev. Most confidential, he does not like to be kept waiting." The short man wheezed out, taking short gasping breaths, he now felt a sharp pain in his chest, after being struck by the guard.
"Hey, I know you. You're that scum that's always following Xerev around, Exuga. Little ****, get out of my sight, or I'll do the world a favor and get rid of you like the little parasite you are." The guard aid a kick at Exuga's head, but by now he had already scampered away, disappearing quickly into the corridor behind the guard. The guard spat in Exuga's direction and shook his head, he never knew why Xerev allowed that little parasite within his sight.
Exuga continued to make his way towards Xerev's quarters, wincing as he drew breath, the guard must have cracked his ribs.
"I'll show him, Master Xereve will give command of my own group of soldiers soday, and I'll show all of them." Exuga muttered to himself, as he scuttled through the corridors.
The light grew brighter and brighter as he drew closer to Xerev's quarters, with more and more of the glass tubes filling the corridors.
Exuga paused for a mont, he always walked down this corridor whenever he went to see Xerev, there was a small balcony here that looked down into one of the Caverntowns of this quadrant. The first ti he had seen it, he couldn't believe his eyes. It was brightly lit, so bright that he had to squint the first ti he had co, lush vegetation grew all throughout, and people smiled and laughed as they went about their days. It was a stark contrast to the smog filled, dust choked and gri covered Caverntown he had been raised in, working in the factories as soon as he was old enough to carve stone. Exuga stared enviously at the children milling about below, he knew that this was the childhood he deserved, as surely as he knew that the aptitude tests were rigged.
They had to be, why else would soone as intelligent as him be assigned such a mindless and tedious task, it made no sense, he should have been a commander of n, a general whose strategies entered the realm of legend.
Once he had gained Xerev's favor, then his great plan could begin, then he would take his rightful place in the hierarchy.
Exuga turned away from the sight as his eyes began to moisten, he couldn't bear to keep looking at what should have been.
He walked faster and faster as he approached Xerev's quarters, as his excitent grew.
By now, the lighting tubes were so nurous that Exuga would have thought he was walking beneath a sun, had he ever experienced such a thing.
By now the guards were more nurous, but unlike the quadrant guards, they were well aware of Exuga's identity, and either didn't want to risk offending Xerev or had better things to attend to than harassing a re peasant.
Out of breath, Exuga arrived at Xerev's door, where he received a dull stare from the enormous, muscle bound woman standing in front of the door, her face criss crossed with scars. She looked him up and down before nodding and moving aside.
"Master Xerev! I bring news!" Exuga wheezed out, almost doubled over from the pain of the cracked rib. There was a dull clatter and then a chorus of high pitched voices, before Exuga heard any reply.
"Won't be a mont, my good lad." Xerev called out, and there was a slamming of drawers and a few high pitched giggles before Xerev opened the door.
"Oh, Exuga. I didn't realize it was you." Xerev's cheerful expression disappeared for the shortest mont, but returned imdiately, he hadn't expected to see Exuga for another few months at least.
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