Scientia Est Lux Lucis

or, Knowledge is enlightenment

The sound of feet slamming down on the ground broke the otherwise silent back alley, the whir of machinery following mere minutes after. There should have been harsh breathing, there should have been the slam of a body on the floor or in to a door, but when the footfall stopped so did any indication of life. Shouting could be heard, echoes bounding from wall to wall and a second round of footfall went charging past and the world died again; people turned over in their sleep, settling in to dreams of peace and the security offered by their four walls. Ignorance was bliss, or so people used to say.

One set of eyes peered out of the darkness, studying unmoved shadows with an almost paranoid air. If ignorance was bliss then knowledge was torture, regardless of what they had been taught. Knowledge did not illuminate the path before them, nor did it allow them to entirely out manuvere their opposition. Walls didn't have ears, that was the floor, but they had eyes. So many eyes, some blind in the night, others blind to all but heartbeats and body temperature. The ears in the ground carried their flight from end of the city to the other. Within this ghostly sea, they were trapped. Just outside it though, where colour and orderly chaos were kings, there was a hope. When you throw a city together under impending arrmegeddon, you don't do everything you intend to, a lesson custodians and watchers alike knew all too well. There were just two options; keep running into the net, or gamble with the hole.

But it wasn't really an option, was it? It never was.

They were nearby; they didn't need flashing red lights, or images projected on to domed glass, high above the,. This...sister unit, or so they were called, could be felt in their bones. Candentia and Vicis. They thought as one, breathed as one, moved as one. Or, they had done. That was what they had all believed for so long. No; all present knew where the personas were, all personas knew where other personas were at all times. But, it wasn't a fun game if they simply followed each other. The game was in trying to outpace each other. Let the others exhaust themselves, then move. Any idiot knew that; it was basic custodian strategy 101. That was, unless they knew something everyone else didn't. They were watchers after all, they were designed to be something more than the previous classes.

They all stood apart from each other, staring at the ceiling or down the sheer sides of buildings in to the bottomless abyss below. Drones whirred overhead, beaming millions of tiny messages over the vast distances, back to the core of their white sea. The nervous system, the beating heart of a city alive and learning knew all, saw all, heard all. There would be...disciplines for their inaction. It was unspoken knowledge and acceptance on their part. But then..their bloodline never had been known for showing much initiative, had it?

A flutter of off-white caught their attention; down, down, down in to the depths the bodies plunged. One, two, three...all the way up to five. The chase was on. But why? What unexpected move had Vicis made? Dark eyes watched them, skin drawn tight and washed of all colour twitched occasionally as the tiny dots moved about in the dark; some in uniform, others far more wild and hard to trace in their dark garb. The further away from the epicenter they moved, the harder it was to watch in person. Knowledge would have to be their light soon enough. The expanses in front of them were crumbling away as generations before them had. Knowledge alone would save them in that darkness. They weren't going to find many friends in the rat mazes and back alleys. Unless...Ah yes, that made more sense. A single thought crossed their mind as those observing from the rooftops moved, leaving their old haunt in search of somewhere closer, somehwere safer from the prying eyes of drones and listening floors. Vicis, Candentia and their masters; the power struggle would prove more entertaining to watch than any chase. However, some of them still had duties to attend to within the domes as those around would so keenly remind them all too soon. 

Still, one could dream of the day when they could see their faces again.

Author note: This is 100% filler chapter. I know, I'm sorry. It's also been forever since I updated. Once again, I am sorry. I can guarantee that there won't be updates for another month at least after this. I have multiple assignments to write, one of which is 100% of my module grade. I have multiple exams coming soon too. I'm holding down a part time job, I was dumb and picked up a mandarin module (all the better to stalk my biases with) and decided hey, why not add jiu jitsu to the mix? On a positive note, in exactly a month, I will have started my winter break from uni.