One day later.In the large clearing around the central tower of the Refinery, a crowd of people faced a wooden platform that had been set up the night before.
A man holding a whip stood on top of it, dressed in white robes with sashes of black near his chest, and on his legs. Daneel knew him to be one of the lawkeepers from the surface, and even if someone without his knowledge of that place looked at the man, they would be able to guess his origin from the way he looked at all those around him as if they were naught but worthless pigs thras.h.i.+ng about in the mud.
Behind him was a woman wearing some of the most extravagant clothes that he had ever seen. Fragments of gla.s.s had been sewn into her white dress so that the reflections almost made it hard to look upon her, and her head was tressed up into a tall pile of weaving strands with a ball on the top whose shape was, strangely, reminiscent of the tower behind her.
She was middle-aged, with a heavily rouged face and thick lips. She had a birthmark beside her nose that moved every time the expression on her face changed from between disgust to anger to extreme aversion.
Daneel stood at the very back of the crowd, beside the old man who was constantly fidgeting. They hadn"t talked much after going home; Daneel had only told him that he had had no choice in the matter, and as he couldn"t handle the stress, Gerard had drunk himself to sleep.
They had woken up to someone banging on the door, and for a moment, Daneel had panicked, thinking that he had been caught despite all the precautions he had taken. Instead, it turned out to be a summons to where they were now, as the overseer of the Refinery had arrived and was going to address all those who had worked in the tower the day before.
Daneel had a faint inkling of what they were here for, and he didn"t like it one bit. He didn"t know what they were waiting for, but the answer soon became clear when a group of thirty-odd people was shepherded near the platform. Their hands were tied, and their faces were swollen as if they had been on the receiving end of quite a bit of the frustration that could be seen on the surface-dweller"s face.
The first of them was made to ascend the platform. He tried to resist, but he was shoved forward mercilessly by a different lawkeeper who had brought them here. He was caught by the one with the whip on the platform, and after he knelt, he cried, "Please! I don"t know anything! I was just doing my job! I have children! If I"m not able to work…"
"You"ll starve."
The woman walked forward and interrupted the man, her voice thick and uncaring. Taking out a fan from somewhere inside her dress, she unfolded it and began to weave it in front of her face while she turned to address the group that was looking askance at the crying man in front of them.
"They"ll starve, but that will make them want to work harder so that they can eat. Each layer was perfectly laid out, with the lives of all those who inhabit them mapped efficiently so that you can serve, and prosper. All of you know how things are in the Pit. You should feel happy that you"re here… but I found out yesterday that someone slacked off, resulting in a halt of the tower. How dare you!"
Her shout echoed among the people, and even through the empty streets of the Refinery.
"After investigation, only the platform on which the mistake happened was identified. I don"t know which of those a.s.signed to it was responsible, so I"ve decided to punish them all. Keep your eyes peeled, and burn this memory into your minds. If you ever feel like growing lax, you should remember these screams, and know what awaits you. Alternatively, if the one actually responsible steps forward, I"ll leave all these people alone and award the whippings awaiting them to just that person. I know all of your minds, though. You rats would never do such a thing. Lawkeepers, you can begin. I"ll be going."
As the two bowed, the woman left.
Daneel felt himself shaking as he saw all those who were going to pay for what he had done. He had thought about this before, too… but had seen no way around it. From the old man, he had found out that if the source was not found, the issue was normally left alone after increasing the s.h.i.+fts of everyone in the town. His every action was to benefit them, in the long run, so he had gone ahead, deciding it was a small price to pay for the age he would usher in if he was successful.
This… was the worst case.
The first lash made the entire crowd flinch.
The screams of the man echoed throughout the town, but in Daneel"s said, they seem to be magnified. He begged and begged, talking about how his family would die if he wasn"t able to work. The lawkeepers were completely heartless. Just the third whipping drew blood, red and glistening in the light falling down from the artificial sun. By the seventh whip, he fainted, but still, the way his body jerked to the side but was stopped from moving away by the second lawkeeper was something that made many turn away, unable to keep watching.
The second victim was a woman. Her high-pitched screams were different, but no less piercing. She cried for her newborn, and how she had no one else to help… but the whip flew, indifferent and cruel.
She fainted by the sixth one.
On and on, the men and women kept coming, and Daneel began to feel the whips on his back, too. He felt ears reach his eyes, and his nails drew blood on his palms.
"Don"t… don"t look. You said it was necessary."
The old man tried to help, but Daneel didn"t want to follow his advice. He even tried to tell himself that it would all be worth it, but that didn"t help. His anguish grew and grew until it almost physically hurt to keep on looking, but his eyes didn"t move an inch.
The last victim was a 12-year-old boy. The lawkeepers looked at each other then, finally, as if a shred of pity had finally appeared within them, but then, the one with the whip shrugged and began anyway.
He knew that he would never ever forget this sight. The kid could only yelp, but somehow, it seemed to be louder than what all the rest had made, together. It was so sickening that a few near him went to the side and vomited, and not for the first time, Daneel felt like taking up the offer the woman had given.
It was one of the hardest things he had had to do since waking up to stop himself. He knew that it was a trap, and that it would make the whole thing pointless… but the excuse grated on his mind more and more until he was just one step away from casting it aside. He even had to bite his tongue to distract himself from the urge to shout to the lawkeepers so that they would stop, and finally, when it was done, he almost fell to the floor, exhausted.
On the journey back to the old man"s house, the images kept flas.h.i.+ng in his mind, and the screams felt like they were coming from all around him even though it was silent. He reached his room and pried open a floorboard, finding the object that was the reason behind everything that had had just happened.
Getting on to his bed, he held it in his hand so tightly that its sharp edges drew blood, too. As he watched it cover the thing, he felt a strong urge to just fling it aside.
"No. I should use this. I should use all these feelings to reach my goal. Eyes on the prize. Eyes… on the prize."
He breathed in, but even the rush of wonderful energy did little to detract his thoughts from the fate that awaited the little kid.
So, when the tears arrived, he let them flow, and as the crystal dissipated in his hands, he got up and began to train, with just the echoes of the screams for company while he punched invisible enemies with unbearable fury.