??? ?????? ?? ???????, ekko arcane.

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IT was a sad sight to see.

The ear piercing screeches of the machines rang through their brains, bouncing off each cell, leaving them irritated. What was once the soft, heaven like luxury of childhood, was now replaced with the devilish prick of labour and survival.

They worked tiredly; some pushed the heavy crates around, and others transported the glowing purple liquid into various containers, risking their own exposure to it. The lights in their eyes dimmed, and were now filled with nothing but the glow of Shimmer.

Kazumi sharply scanned the place, eyes jumping from each of Silco's goons. She crouched behind a couple of wooden wheelbarrows, staying hidden as best as possible.

"Here, this will help you for now," she whispered, turning to the small group of seven children next to her. "Please try to ration them — i'll be back with more as soon as possible."

She felt her heart shatter when their calloused fingers and dirt covered hands grabbed the food she gave out to them, their mouths practically drooling. Even though it was plain sandwiches with some lettuce and tiny pieces of ham, it felt like a whole feast to them. They chorused a lot of quiet thank you's, and Kazumi smiled upon seeing a little bit of hope in their faces.

A girl, who looked to be around seven years old, started crying. She latched herself onto Kazumi's arm, with her right hand holding the sandwhich close to her chest, more to her heart.

"Thank you, Miss," she mumbled in a tiny voice that made the older girl just want to pick her up and take her away forever.

Kazumi rubbed her back, giving her the most comforting smile she could muster — the air down at the Sumps made it hard to breathe, and the smell could've made her pass out.

"I'll get you out of here soon, I promise," she said, looking from the little girl to all seven children. "All of you."

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

Kazumi furrowed her brows, gently putting down the little girl. She looked behind the kids who were busy eating, seeing piercing green eyes staring back at her. The boy, who looked to be in his late teen years, was a Chirean, humanoids with the appearance of bats. He was grey and had big pointed ears. They mostly populated the Sumps and worked here — though she had only seen very few of them.

Kazumi walked towards him, keeping her head low to stay hidden behind the cart. He shuffled away slightly, and when she got closer, she noticed another Chirean behind him, his arm stuck out to shield her.

She half-smiled, trying to be as friendly as possible since the extremely bad conditions down here were slightly bothering her. She didn't know how these children could survive in a place like this, let alone work here. "What's your name?"

He hesitated before answering, "Scar."

She nodded. "Cool name," she took out two more wrapped sandwiches and offered them. "Well Scar, you should know that I keep my promises. You guys shouldn't have to suffer producing an illegal street drug."

He slowly took the sandwiches, and she watched him give both of them to the girl behind him. "We need to do this to survive," he spoke simply. "You wouldn't understand. I can tell you're not from here, the conditions are affecting you heavily."