On a street, Ísis walked with her brothers in single file, surrounded by a small woodland where the rubble and the buildings—rarely taller than three stories—mingled with trees and shrubs. They followed the worn asphalt that still resisted nature's advance, covered by the shadows of the trees, while they listened to the soft song of the birds together with the sound of leaves swaying in the wind. Yet Ísis, looking around attentively, checking between the trees and bushes, gripped her bow tightly.
I don't remember this place being so complicated… Even though she had been there several times before with her brothers, she felt something different.
Turning toward her brothers with the corner of her eye, she saw Mia, Victor, and Leon right behind her, talking animatedly about the day.
When I came with Seven, this place seemed much calmer… Facing forward again, she examined building after building with a careful gaze, until she saw, several meters ahead of them, a building that made her calm down.
There it is…
Quickening her pace, the group approached it. Passing the old entrance of the structure, which was completely blocked by a collapse, they continued walking until they reached a large hole in the wall and went inside.
They followed the stifling, dark corridors, lit only by a few beams of light that entered through the cracks. A short time later, just ahead, blocked by some roots and leafy vines, the sunlight indicated the exit.
Pushing the plants aside, Ísis cleared the way and arrived at a wide area.
They were still inside the building, but its core had collapsed, forming a great hollow in the heart of the structure. There a grapevine had covered every bit of concrete and cement with its branches, forming a dark-green blanket over the structure, with only a few yellow spots. On the ground, low grass formed a light-green carpet that covered the entire place.
Stopping near the entrance, dropping her backpack on the ground, Ísis took a deep breath. Time to work!
"Get your knives and come with me."
Approaching a yellowish fruit that was a little larger than a baseball and completely smooth, she took it. With a quick movement of the knife she separated it from the plant and turned to the others.
"Watch carefully. When you pick them, take a bit of the stem with them; otherwise they won't be worth any points. Understood?"
"Yes!!" the three answered with enthusiasm.
Looks like your excitement is still the same… Since they harvested every year, there was a small competition in this task—who would gather the greatest quantity.
"This time victory will be easy! Since Seven didn't come!" Leon shouted.
"No way, brother Leon. This year it's me and Mia who are going to win!"
With a superior look, Victor turned to his brother, quickly followed by Mia, a little shy.
"Exactly! This year it'll be us…"
"What? Why the two of you?! Weren't the two of you supposed to compete alone this year? Right, Ísis?" Worried, he looked to his sister for help.
With a slight shake of her head she answered: "No, not yet. The two of them are still new, so it'll be like this this year. But it'll be the last year they compete together."
With a defeated expression, Leon lowered his head a little.
"Damn… Every year they always get the biggest amount, even though they always take the smallest fruits…" Yet, clenching his fists, he quickly raised his head. "You know what! I'm still going to beat you guys!"
He was immediately countered by Victor.
"That's not going to happen, brother Leon. You'll come in last again."
Watching her brothers with an amused smile, Ísis continued.
"Well, as for the rules… the rules…" With a tired sigh she stopped speaking.
I don't want to have to remember them all… — Invented by Yuliya and Seven, there were countless rules to keep anyone from stealing during the competition, or even the scoring system, which was almost atomically calculated — …I've got it!
Although there were many, she knew they could be simplified into a short phrase.
"You can't steal from someone else's backpack or take something from their hand, but if it falls on the ground it's fair game. With that I think we can— what is it, Mia?" Seeing the shyly raised arm, she turned to her.
"Big sis, what are we going to do with the green ones? There are a lot of them."
"The green ones?" Furrowing her brows, Ísis began looking around.
That's true… On the vine there were many still-green fruits; they were by far the majority, with the yellow ones making up only a small minority. But it shouldn't be like this… We always harvest them at this same time of year… so why?
Leon, finding the situation strange, also looked around. "Will they… be worth the same?"
"Well…" With a hesitant look, Ísis fell silent.
They are worth more points… but I know they're useless while still green… Because they were normally quite rare, they were fiercely competed over for being worth more points than a ripe one, even though they were of no use.
But why are there so many? Seeing that, Ísis felt a tightness in her chest.
When she noticed the eager looks of her brothers, who were waiting for an answer so they could start, she gave a slight shake of her head before continuing.
"No. Pick only the ripe ones. Even if there are few, we need to go back with at least some of them. You can start…" As soon as she finished speaking, indifferent to the situation, her brothers dashed off in different directions.
Alone, letting out a sigh, Ísis began observing the green fruits around her with an anguished look.
Things were going so well…
…
Leon, moving away from the group, headed toward the farthest wall and quickly began searching among the leaves.
"Green… green… green…" Muttering, he checked the fruits one by one.
At least this makes it harder for Victor and Mia, at least a little… Although he found many, they weren't ready to be picked, even if they were the ideal size.
Happy about that, Leon still knew he was at a disadvantage compared to Mia and Victor, since they could still search in more than one place at the same time.
"What could I do to even out that advantage…" Muttering, he fixed his gaze on a small yellowish fruit.
I've got it! I have to go for the ones that are higher up. Because they're smaller, Mia and Victor always take the lower ones. I remember Seven doing the same thing!
Raising his eyes, he climbed the vine with his gaze and, with a gust of wind, saw through the dark-green foliage a strong, almost brilliant yellow.
His eyes widened and he almost let it slip. "Darn—!" But he quickly covered his mouth and checked whether his brothers had heard him. Luckily, none of them had noticed.
Turning back to the fruit, Leon was impressed.
It's so big!!
Practically hidden among the vegetation hung a large yellowish ball. Much bigger than a normal one, which rarely exceeded the size of a softball, this one looked more than twice as large.
With this, I'll win for sure! Even if he didn't pick many—since there wasn't much left to pick—having the one with the greatest size would leave his brothers with no chance.
But it's too high… At a distance a little greater than twice his height, it was practically out of reach.
Looking around for something that could help him, he saw a thick pipe stuck in the ground. Running to it, he tried to pull it free so he could reach the fruit and knock it down, but even straining, the pipe didn't move at all.
This isn't going to get me anywhere… — lifting his gaze, he searched around — and I don't see anything else that could help… I have no other choice… I'll have to climb.
Turning back to the vine, after a few tugs to test it, he felt that the plants were firm, even though he found a few dead ones among the green, and he also noticed some blocks of rubble behind them.
All good! Planting his foot on the debris, he began to climb.
While he climbed he cast quick glances at his brothers, who, oblivious to what he was doing, were focused on finding the ripe ones among the leaves.
I have to be quick! Before they notice me! Even if they couldn't take it from his hands, if it fell to the ground after he pulled it free they could pick it up and claim it.
Drawing closer, eager to grab it, he stopped in an attempt to reach it, though it was still a little farther away. Using one hand he tried to pull it, but it didn't move—both because it was firmly attached and because he couldn't wrap his hand around it.
Come on! Climbing a little higher, he released the other hand that was still holding the branches and seized the fruit with both hands, when he heard a crack as the plant came free.
Yes! But it wasn't the fruit. Huh?
Realizing he was falling, he took one hand off the fruit and grabbed the vine, but that was when he noticed that both the vine and the pile of rubble below were all collapsing.
Ísis, some distance away, holding a fruit that was still green, looked at it with a bitter expression.
I'll take at least one, as proof for— When she heard the noise of many things falling to the ground, accompanied by a slight tremor.
Turning toward the sound, she saw Leon lying on his back on the ground, surrounded by plants and large pieces of concrete that were still rolling.
"Leon!" Throwing the fruit aside, she ran toward him, joined by Mia and Victor, who had also heard the noise.
Breathing hard she approached him: "Are you—?" Startled, she took a step back when Leon suddenly moved, raising his arms that held a giant fruit.
"I've already won! I got the biggest one of all!" As if nothing had happened, he stood up with a broad smile, brushing a little of the dust that had fallen into his hair and clothes.
Turning to his brothers, who stood a little apart from him, he began to celebrate.
"Look at the si—" When he noticed something strange. "—ze?"
Although clearly surprised, even a little frightened, none of them were looking at him or at the fruit in his arms, but at something behind him.
Turning around, Leon's victorious expression vanished.
With a few stones still falling, in the section where everything had collapsed a large metallic hand was stretched forward, as if trying to grab something far away. The arm attached to it, many times larger than a normal human's, extended several meters ahead.
"…Is that a statue?" Recovering from the surprise, Victor looked at it curiously, a slight sparkle in his eyes.
"No, it doesn't seem to be… it has joints in the hand and the arm. A statue doesn't have those." Still a little disoriented by what she saw, Ísis kept her eyes fixed on that arm.
It's metal…
Observing the whole, it had dozens of cuts and dents that were only partially hidden by rust and the wear of time; yet even in that state it displayed a surprising robustness.
"…This is the arm of a machine, a very old one…"
Hearing that term, the three turned to her excitedly.
"A machine!!!"
Startled by the sudden change, she took an instinctive step back.
"Yes… a machine, or rather, just an arm of one, but still a machine. The rest of it must be buried under the rubble…" With most of it still covered, it was hard to tell its size, or even whether it was complete, but it seemed to be both covered by debris and buried in the ground.
Hearing that, Leon, Victor, and Mia, after a quick glance at the machine and then at one another, turned together toward Ísis, their eyes shining with excitement.
"Can we dig it up?!"
"What? Why?" Seeing that reaction, Ísis was perplexed.
It wasn't the first machine they had found; they had already seen pieces of them in various places, or even some small complete machines, but always broken.
"It's a giant machine! And that's only its arm!"
"Yes! Imagine if it's still working!"
"It looks really cool!"
Well… it really is big… and a little surprising… Turning back to the outstretched arm, Ísis had a mild curiosity in her gaze.
Even compared with the ones they had found so far, it was without a doubt the largest, and it seemed to be the best preserved, even marked as it was.
But we still have things to do.
"No. We can't. We still have to finish picking the fruit, because we still have a competition, remember?"
"But sis! This is way cooler!" With his attention completely fixed on the machine, Leon had already dropped the fruit he was holding onto the ground.
"Imagine if it's still working! Come on, please!"
"That's right, big sis! Please!" The three of them fixed their best pleading looks on her.
"…"
Standing still with a complicated expression, Ísis sighed heavily.
It doesn't seem like insisting will do any good… With their attention completely taken by that machine, even if she refused, they wouldn't be able to go back to picking the ripe fruit.
This is going to complicate things… This way we'll end up picking less than expected… — Yet, interrupting her thoughts, Ísis looked at the fruit around her — but does that really make a difference?
Searching the vine she couldn't find much left to pick; even if they tried hard, she didn't know whether they would manage to fill even one backpack.
"All right… you can try to dig it up…" Lowering her head, she gave in.
"Yes!" Celebrating, the three ran toward the machine and began moving the stones.
"But be quick. As soon as I finish filling one backpack, we're leaving!" Turning away, Ísis began to move away from her brothers, toward the yellow fruits.
I'll pick as much as I can, so at least we won't go back empty-handed… As she walked away, feeling a tightness in her chest, she placed a hand over her heart.