Ethereal Fall [Undergoing Major Editing] | #Wattys2016

Chapter Four

The next night, after a good ten-hour's worth of sleep and thirty minutes in the Recharge Chair, I arrived at my new office in the Disposal Branch building.

"ZECHARIAH" was replaced with "ASTERIA", I noticed. Just as I thought. But... Hm? I looked closer. There seemed to be another "A" etched in after my name, so it read "ASTERIA A". Did someone make a mistake? I'm going to have to report it to Elder Charmeine later.

I pushed open the door to find everything in the same place as yesterday, as Zechariah had told me. I walked around to the desk to find someone sitting in one of the couches, looking out towards the skyline of Ethereal. A familiar pair of snow-white wings, a radiant halo, and hair as golden-yellow as a crow's foot. Elder Charmeine.

"Elder Charmeine." I walked briskly and bowed before her. "How are you?"

She blinked. "Oh, Asteria! I didn't even hear you walk in!"

"My apologies, ma'am. But on another note... The smith that made the plaque on the door must've made a mistake."

"Mistake?"

"Yes, ma'am. They added another "A" after my name."

"It's now Asteria A, right?"

I nodded.

Charmeine stiffened. "Ah, then just leave it. I wouldn't want to bother the smith again."

"Yes, ma'am."

It was only then that I noticed she was holding a cup in her hand, filled with a dark, mysterious liquid. "Ma'am, what is that in the cup?"

"Oh, this?" Her lips turned upward. Again. "It's quite delicious."

"Delicious?"

"Oh, dear me," Charmeine chided herself. "Of course you wouldn't understand. It's...satisfying. It's something that Earthlings commonly drink. It's called coffee. It's quite good, I have to say." She took a sip. "Wakes you right up."

"Seems interesting, ma'am."

"Oh, would you like some?"

"Oh, no thank you. I need to get to work." I pulled back the chair at the desk and sat in front of the computer.

"You're always like this," Charmeine muttered, barely above a whisper.

"Excuse me, ma'am? Did you say something?" I asked, turning around.

"N-No! I didn't say anything! P-Please, start working. I'll stay here for a while if you need any help."

"Thank you very much, ma'am."

I turned back to the computer, turning it on. Six messages popped up. One was from Elizabeth, the manager at Archives. It seems like some of the old Stars of Memoria that were supposed to go to her were accidentally transferred to the Disposal Branch. The other was from Leo over at Stelli Hall, who was one of the few who aided the Council of Angels. He said that they were expecting about 200,000 new arrivals tonight, so expect twenty boxes each of 5,000 of crushed memories to be dropped off at the office. The other four messages were welcoming me to the position.

I quickly replied to all the messages. As I tapped away at the computer keyboard, Charmeine came over and looked over my shoulder. "You do seem to have everything under control, Asteria. You learn fast!"

"Thank you, ma'am," I answered.

She walked back to the couch and sipped her coffee.

A half hour later, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" I hollered, mirroring what Zechariah did when I knocked on his door.

A young man came in, hauling a box. "Hello, ma'am. Congratulations on being promoted. I'm Abel. I went around to all the laboratories and picked out the misplaced Stars of Memoria, per your request."

"Thank you, Abel. Place them right next to my desk. I'll message Elizabeth over at Archives and have one of her men come pick it up."

Abel bowed. "It's my pleasure."

He was about to close the door when he walked out, but I called out, "Ah, keep the door open, please!"

"Yes, ma'am."

I turned back to my computer and typed out a message for Elizabeth.

In that time, another young man walked in, carrying a box as well. "Hello, ma'am. I'm Capricorn from Laboratory 1. This is 5,000 crushed memories."

I looked up. "Thank you, Capricorn. Just place that box next to this one." The box was labelled "Lab 1: #1 of 10".

"Yes, ma'am."

As he walked out, I heard Charmeine yawn. "Okay, you definitely got the hang of this. I'll be leaving now, alright?"

"Alright, ma'am. Have a good night."

She left as flashy as always.

I opened the second box next to me. Each crushed memory was carefully stored in tiny plastic boxes. I counted them all thrice. 5,000 exactly.

Over the next few hours, more boxes of crushed memories were sent in. The messenger from Archives came and picked up the box of Stars. As I counted the memories, I messaged the workers at the Dump to come pick up some of the crushed memories.

It was finally nearing the end of the worknight. My subordinates had sent in 37 boxes of crushed memories, so I just needed three more. One from Laboratory 4 and two from Laboratory 3. Being down one co-worker must've made Lab 3's work more difficult.

One box came in, and eventually another. I waited for another hour. Then two. Where was the other box of crushed memories from Laboratory 3?

I stood up from the desk and, getting in the elevator, pressed the button for the third floor. A few moments later, the doors opened to that large white room.

"Where's your last box of memories for tonight?" I asked as I stepped out.

They were all crowding around the Memory Chute when they looked up. They immediately bowed.

"We apologize, ma'am," Esther said.

"What happened here?" I joined them at the chute and looked up into it. Nothing seemed wrong with it.

"Ma'am," Aquila spoke up. "There seems to be a malfunction in the Memory Chute. The memories stopped being dropped off in the middle of our last box."

✧

Hi everyone!

My brain has been spitting out ideas and words and plot twists like crazy. I'm now able to write two whole chapters per day, nonstop!

I finally wrote an okay-length chapter! Be ready for the next one, because that's when all the fun starts...

Until next time, please

Vote,

Comment,

and Share!