Chapter 15: People Of The Other Side

Daylight has died and the terror brought forth by the encroaching darkness will grip their fearful hearts. Creatures of the night will roam and hunt down men. Unspeakable horrors that are buried in history will rise once again.

Sadly, someone created a lamp known as the Unilamp from his own Jirhen. Eliminating their chance at the same time. A crude imitation that soon became the object of fascination of engineers.

It was the one that many nations primarily use. From that point onward, the illumination of settlements became disturbingly high. Parks, streets, hallways, and some models are even installed in motels. Unilamps come in different sizes and shapes but the most common one that can be seen in everyday life is the lamp posts installed in streets and roads.

One variant consumes ten watts of power and illuminates a thirty-five-meter radius for three straight hours. Talk about power efficiency.

That isn't its best feature. Cheap production method enabled ensured that it can be mass-produced. Tested in every environment with a rating of nine galactic safety stars ensures that it is safe to use. And a smart chip that could switch its power source automatically when needed.

What? The power line to the main energy plant is destroyed! Then it will close that connection and use its stored solar energy.

What? The whole surplus supply of solar energy is emptied and it is still night! Then it will activate its inbuilt rotors to harness the power of the wind.

Long story short, a powerful and advanced technology that wildly populated the entire known galactic civilizations due to its availability.

It means, why would they focus their attention on an already mature lighting system when we can use it for other purposes.

It is so much widely employed that an intact, stolen one wouldn't even sell for more than 10 Nins in a junkyard or a recycling center.

But what really matters is that they have a long lifespan. Even if you left them for one hundred years, not factoring the weather conditions and external hazards, it would still activate and work.

That's why Lon couldn't understand what was happening on the adjacent street.

The black coated pillar has no signs of any wear and tear or vandalism. Yet, its large dimensions in the form of square shape reeked of an outdated design. The base has also another layer of a square, rigged box with a tint of monochrome tones and the topmost portion is a poorly made triangle frame with the same pigment.

It looked primitive compared to the slender, good-looking chiseled park lampposts that gave off a soothing and refreshing feeling when sunlight fell out.

Out of nowhere, the one standing on his line of sight when looking out the window had its light blink instantly.

Lon didn't think much of it as he continued what he was doing, writing some ideas that sprout in his head on a piece of paper. A way that greatly cooled down his burning frustration from his failure earlier this day.

Achooo!

It wasn't that he failed to stitch and control the detached arm of the corpse puppet. It was just that he suffered greatly from being pricked by a scary needle that will make children cry at first glimpse. The sneezing got severe as more time passed until night dawned. No wonder both of his hands are covered in medical dressings. Not even his pinky finger avoided the onslaught of the unpredictability of sneezing.

A little thirty seconds later, it blinked once again. The light it produces went out. Five seconds have passed for the shine to return. That passage of time is enough for Lon to notice the abnormality.

The interval between each lighting brownout became shorter and shorter. The same is said to the time it needs to restore its light power. Three sentences later, that curved glossy surface is practically blinking like a person rapidly opening and closing their eyes.

Tides of blood-red veins consumed something. It spread rapidly and less than a second later, a one-fourth covered crimson eye is formed. The distribution of color is evenly spread across the whole front. A small trace of malice and other negativity drifted from this eye.

Lon looked down and a new world opened to him. Faint outlines of people are walking on the streets. Idling, talking, and even drifting all over the place. Some are bitterly arguing with one another but he couldn't hear their voices.

He looked further away and focused his attention on the blinking post. There are some people there but like any other souls, they either drifted or phased through solid objects, disappearing from his enhanced scope of sight.

Noticing that it wasn't done by anyone, Lon canceled the usage of CE-14. He still lacks the matching strength that will enable him to wantonly use it whenever and wherever.

Although it looked a newly manufactured for an old variety, it is probably a defective product that secured this designated location. There's no further thought put on that topic as Lon closed the window, placed another lock on it beside its original lock mechanism, and pulled the thick, gloomy curtains to cover that pulsating light source. It was a distraction for his mind.

Chemically treated papers, painting brushes, basic drawing pens, and even an eyeliner pencil are all placed on the wooden, flat surface of the table. There's also the support-type decorative apparatuses like an assortment of rulers, cheap tracing alphabet rulers, and bottles of inks for decorative layouts.

To his left side is the opened black book and on his right side is the borrowed blue-striped notebook. In the middle of this is another book.

The aromatic smell of a book wafted around, fresh from the factory. Like the fascinating whiff of the first dews of spring. Lon couldn't get enough of this scent, pausing every half an hour just to satisfy his odor craving.

The hard, gratifying texture of the pages is yet to be filled with words. Using the available writing tools, Lon is writing and drawing a bunch of knowledge based on his understandings.

The context that is to be placed inside is obviously given. It will be a combination of the existing common information, some absurd ideas in his Jirhen, and a mix of practical and conceptual theories in Nana's Jirhen.

Lon has a habit of jumping aboard the plane without a parachute besides writing. This is the first phase of creating a prototype of an artifact. It is based on what he knew so far. And the things he knows so far about artifacts are references.

There is no warranty that he would pull it off. After all, in the past, there is no reassurance that splicing human genes, mixing it with other things to create the desired hybrid entity was plausible.

The chances of failure are higher than the chance of success. In the advent it failed, it would serve another purpose.

People will get their Jirhen at adulthood. That doesn't mean some individuals will not fake one. Their methods are similar to what he will be doing. Despite the technological advancements and strict screening, there are still imitations circulating the universe.

Randomness is its true nature and that makes it incredibly hard to discern from the ordinary books. Unless otherwise stated, even the wisest sages would have a hard time evaluating a Jirhen is authentic or not.

...

The vague shapes of people scattering from a certain spot are simply visible to a specific group of population. From this sea of lifeforms, this one area is devoid of any people. It is a striking contrast because no one is approaching a certain length away from the center.

In this world that lacked the breath of living things, a light kept blinking with the same rhythm. Two pairs of hands suddenly emerged from a board width of the lamppost. Then the limbs, the torso, and finally the head soon came out.

The problem is that they have no characteristics. No facial traits, no skin texture, and not even a sliver aspect that can be used as an identifier. They are just two plain shadows with the same form as humans.

These two entities didn't standstill. Both of them lifted their blank faces, looked up, and stare towards the third floor of an apartment in front of them.

In their vocabulary, patience probably ranked high in the leaderboard for they leisurely strolled towards their objective. The souls on their path unconsciously distanced away from them. Creating a pathway clear of any obstacles.

...