Yarrow

lll - Out on a Limb

I can't say I haven't thought about it myself — the possibility of there being a whole civilisation out there. I've just never bothered looking for the proof. But maybe Gedeon did. Did he turn us in just to see for ourselves? Or is there more to his theory?
"Look at these photos," Gedeon pronounces as he pulls out several papers. They all have photographs, some in colour and some not — they are glued to the pages. He slides them across the table for me to examine. The first photograph is in black and white; it's old, and it shows three men, who appear to be officers, walking through the main gate of Durslo. First, officers never cross the wall unless they're escorting during a banishment. But then I see what makes this picture so unusual — almost creepy. There's a tree outside the wall and it casts a shadow which you can clearly see. It doesn't seem suspicious unless you look very closely. There's a figure, a person, in the tree. You can just barely see their foot and part of their leg lost in the branches. They aren't wearing any shoes. The picture is very old.
"What, so you think there's people out there? Am I seeing this right? Is that actually a person in the tree?" I press asI set the photo down and grab another. Gedeon simply nods.

The second picture is in colour. It's another city — there's not a tree in sight and the buildings are all made of tin, except for the governmental houses and offices which are constructed from the uniform cobblestone. There's a queue of military vehicles driving forward on a dirt road — the land all around them is made up of endless sand dunes all the way to the horizon. The wall isn't to be seen. Was this taken outside of the wall?
"Where was this taken?" I ask sternly. Gedeon has me intrigued, but I'm still infuriated by what he did.

"It's across the wall right? Are they sending our military out there? Why?"
Bellamy interjects, "Yarrow," he says. I stop rambling my questions and Gedeon speaks.
"I believe it was taken in the metropolis."
His voice is calm but serious. The metropolis is in the centre of Selum; the other cities surround it in a clock-like fashion.

"How would you know that, though?"
"Yarrow," Gedeon begins, "Have you ever heard about the other cities in Selum? What about the metropolis?"

    I think about his question and the answer is no — I haven't learnt anything about the other cities. And certainly not the metropolis. All I know is the placement of Selum. I know where the other cities are, we learn that in school — though we don't learn just how many cities there are — and other than that, I'm clueless.
    "No."
    "Well I've done some digging. There's 24 other cities. There's no record on their names, though. In fact, every city is labeled by its number. Durslo is 24. It starts from 1, and increases clockwise around Selum. No where in the records I found were we labeled as Durslo," Gedeon explains as I interrupt,
"So... like a clock."
It's not a question, but more of a statement. And judging by Gedeon's reaction — that funny face people make when they've realised something important, I can assume he hadn't thought of it.

"What else have you got?" I Inquire.
Okay, look at this," he says as he hands me a few documents.
I read over them and a few things stand out:

There are many ratios all in a neat column. At the top, it starts with "24:1" and the numbers on the left side decrease by one all the way down until it's at 1 — while the numbers on the right side increase one all the way down until it's at 24.
    At the very bottom of the first paper, below the column of ratios, there's one last ratio. "0:24".

    "I couldn't quite figure out what all that meant, but I thought you could. You're so observant," Gedeon admits.

    I look back at the paper and just stare at the numbers for a few moments. The ratios... are they really ratios? Do they stand for something? 24:1 all the way through 1:24. There's 24 cities in Selum... like a clock. But what's the connection? What does the clock stand for? Time... with a clock, the arrows move around the circle in a loop. That's it! The ratios, when looked at as individual numbers simply separated by colons, go in a loop. Like time. Like clockwork. But why?

    "See how it starts at 24 on the left and ends at 1? And on the right, the numbers begin at 1 and end at 24. It repeats. If you look at it like it were a circle, it would repeat. Like a clock," I explain, giving a demonstration by tracing my fingers up and down the right and left columns.
"But what does time have to do with anything?" Gedeon presses.
"Well... what does it not?"
"Why do you think they label the cities with numbers?" I continue.
"I was going to ask you that," he admits.
"Well think of it like this. By naming this city Durslo, and not exposing that we're really just a silly number, they're giving us "freedom". They're trying their best to make it seem like we have rights and the freedom to make our own decisions — but really, they own us. If you do a single thing that Cunning doesn't like, you're gone. No second chances, just... banishment," I expound.

"I still don't understand what any of this has to do with time."
"We don't have much information here. If there really is something going on in the Metropolis, and if the numbers and the cities really do represent clockwork, then we'll need more time and evidence to understand all of this."
Gedeon quietly agrees as I look over the rest of the documents. And then I see something that stops everything I'm doing. My name, Yarrow Caverly, in bold print at the bottom of one of the sheets. Along with my picture. Above that is information on my parents.

My mother and father both perished a few months ago when the trade house caught fire. Nearly everyone in the building died.
    The trade house was an old barn which the citizens in Durslo had converted into a kind of marketplace. And until it burnt down, it was largely where we got our food, herbs, and other necessities. In fact, the market just outside the square wasn't even there until the incident. It was simply empty land.

But this document shows something I'm not sure I wanted to see. As I read further along, I see that the fire was not an accident. The metropolis killed my parents.
    "Where did you find these?" I ask, horrified, and unable to speak clearly.
    "I found the pictures a while back... before the trade house burnt down. I was volunteering and I was emptying the bins in what I think used to be the feed room. I saw the pictures stashed above me on a shelf, so I took em'."

    I stutter, "Is this why you turned us in?"
    "Yes, and it's also why I turned myself in," Gedeon confirms. His statement is surprising to me.
    Bellamy catches my attention by nudging my hand — which is laid out in front of me on the table top.
"He's coming with us, Yarrow."
So we're doing this. We're unravelling our past.

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Short chapter, but it's getting there 4 sure:) thanks so much for reading! Hope you've enjoyed it so far.