Chapter 1 - Part 2: Welcome to the Base Camp General Orphanage

Sanya was awoken by the busy atmosphere in the room. She did not remember when she fell asleep, but she was still in the gap left by Allen's half-mattress and the wall. Her back and shoulder hurt from lying on the hard wood all night, but it was better than any alternative she could imagine in her current position.

She had lost her memories and nearly drowned. The four children of room twelve had saved her life and selflessly given up their belongings to keep her a secret from the greedy adults. As such, she had nothing to complain about.

Kilian, Natalee, Dyanna, and Allen were getting dressed and putting on the climbing gear hanging next to their beds. Their practiced movements showed that this was a daily routine to them. Holstering their climbing picks and shovels, they prepared to leave the room together when they remembered that Sanya would not be able to come with them.

"What about her?" Natalee asked, scratching her chin and scrutinizing the green-haired girl with a thoughtful gaze.

"She can't blend in with that hair even if we somehow hide the gauntlet," Kilian shook his head and spoke with a sigh. He played with the idea of sneaking her into the dining hall for breakfast. Any other child could easily hide among the Base Camp General Orphanage's over three hundred inhabitants, but Sanya stood out too much.

"How about we let her join as an orphan?" Allen suggested, his face lighting up from the brilliance of his idea.

"That's exactly what we can't do. Weren't you listening?" Dyanna chastised their youngest and raised a hand to hit him over the head.

"Oh! That's a great idea!" to her surprise, Kilian raised his voice and pointed at Allen with a broad smile.

"It is?" she froze in her motion and stared at their oldest with an eyebrow raised.

"Think about it. She can create a cover story for herself and officially join the orphanage. Then we wouldn't need to hide her anymore," Allen explained, adjusting his shabby glasses with a superior grin. Dyanna dropped her fist on his head with an annoyed expression.

"Dyanna!" Natalee yelled, but the girl in question was wholly unapologetic.

"What about this?" Sanya raised the golden gauntlet and moved its fingers demonstratively.

"Could we cover it up with a sling and say it's a birth defect?" Kilian wondered and tilted his head with a difficult expression, "no, she would be sent to the Saint Bedell Sanatorium."

"Oh no," Natalee shuddered at the mention of that dreadful place. Named after Bedell the Saint, the first Ascendant-ranked Aspirant in history, who spent the fortunes he gained from exploring the Skypiercer for the betterment of Base Camp. Surely, he would have cried at what had become of his many welfare projects, not least the sanatorium, if he were still alive.

"I got an idea," Allen rubbed his head where Dyanna had hit him and spoke up again, "how about this..."

The child workers of the Base Camp General Orphanage left through its main gate and headed toward the Skypiercer. In one large column, they walked along the edge of the city where they would not bother the working adults and were soon joined by children from the other orphanages.

The four of room twelve had already slipped out of the column on the very first opportunity and circled back around. They returned to the orphanage building and climbed its wall with their bare hands to avoid leaving any marks. As they ascended to their room on the second floor, they were greeted by Sanya opening the window.

"Welcome back," she whispered and extended her gauntleted hand to help Kilian over the edge. She barely felt his weight despite being half a head shorter than him.

"Thank you," with these words, he immediately turned around to help Natalee up. Sanya raised an eyebrow at that; she could have easily done the same for the other children that came after him. But when she saw Kilian's rosy cheeks as he held Natalee's hand for a little longer than necessary, she understood immediately and smiled to herself.

When everybody was in the room, they commenced the strategy meeting. Sanya would knock on the Base Camp General Orphanage's doors as a child seeking shelter. Once officially admitted, she would have food and a roof over her head in exchange for work. Like all the other children, she would be sent into the Skypiercer's depths and dredge up buried fragments until she was old enough to take the Aspirant exam.

But the biggest issue was that they had to hide her golden gauntlet. To that end, Allen had come up with the idea to make it look worse than it really was. He had initially identified it as a possible variation of the Power Loader type fragment, so that was what they were turning it into now.

Natalee used the multi-colored paint all children carried on them to mark their path in the Skypiercer's labyrinthine underground to cover the gauntlet's golden surface. Meanwhile, Kilian and Allen cobbled together a shackle to be inserted between the gauntlet's opening and Sanya's wrist. After all, the matron would try to remove the Power Loader from her hand if there was no good explanation for why she could not. And then, she would discover the truth about it.

In the meantime, Dyanna reviewed the green-haired girl's story one more time: Sanya came here to Base Camp with her father from a faraway land not too long ago. He had hoped to buy a fragment to replace his daughter's left hand, which had been crushed in a machine accident back home. With this, nobody would question her sudden appearance in Base Camp. After all, the city had a constant influx of foreigners looking to buy fragments at the markets or make a fortune challenging the Skypiercer.

Ultimately, all her father had been able to afford was to graft a cheap Power Loader onto her wrist shortly before he died from a disease. With this backstory, surely, even the heartless matron would not deprive the young girl of a limb and her father's dying wish to gain a mere tool-grade fragment.

With a thick layer of the quick-drying paint and some grime on top for added effect, the golden gauntlet had transformed into a shabby-looking fragment. The haphazardly constructed shackle inserted into the opening clamped down on her wrist and pressed uncomfortably on her skin. With a little more paint and dirt, it looked like it dug directly into her flesh to enforce the grafted nature of the cheap Power Loader.

The four children each contributed a piece of clothing to make her look like she had been living on the streets for the past few weeks. Kilian gave her a pair of his old boots he had grown out of but hidden to hand down to Allen in the future. Natalee provided her with a jacket she had found in a heap of old clothes and mended herself. Dyanna presented her with the pair of pants that her always-absent father had bought her, which were still too large for her. And Allen put a big red scarf he secretly received from Old Tommas over her shoulders.

"We'll fix this for you," Natalee said and folded up the ragged white dress Sanya had been found in, "as best as we can."

"Thank you. For everything you have done for me," the green-haired girl was overwhelmed by the selfless aid they had given her. Even though they were orphans whose most prized possessions were clothes and tools they had to scrounge together in their little free time, they had helped her with everything they had, not expecting any compensation. After all, she had nothing, not even a name.

Clenching her gauntleted fist, she swore to repay them in the future.

"I'll tell you now. We're not doing it out of the goodness of our hearts," Dyanna declared calmly, causing Natalee and Kilian to turn to her with surprised expressions. Clearly, these two were. "That gauntlet is definitely a new discovery. And we want a part in that."

"What are you saying, Dyanna?!" Natalee grabbed her head and shook her, but the younger girl was wholly unapologetic.

"I agree. I believe it's right to help those in need. But I was also thinking of the future," to the two older children's surprise, Allen spoke honestly as well, "we will announce the discovery of that gauntlet together once we're officially Aspirants."

"I understand," Sanya nodded.

"Don't get ahead of yourselves. You're still years away from that," Kilian put his arms around Dyanna and Allen's shoulders and pulled them in, "and this is all assuming that her disguise won't be found out."

"I'm sure it will work out," pumping her gauntleted fist, Sanya gave them an encouraging smile.

"Then let's get going. We don't want the matron to discover us here together," Allen ducked away from under Kilian's arm and walked to the window to peek outside, "it's clear."

He climbed out the window without saying another word, again not using any tools to scale down the wall. Kilian tied a rope to the bedpost while Dyanna followed after Allen. Finally, Natalee stood by the window and beckoned Sanya over.

"I'm sure you don't know how to climb yet, so we'll help you down," she said while peeking outside the window. Dyanna and Allen waited below them in case Sanya fell. "Let me show you how to do it."

Natalee taught the green-haired girl how best to rappel while utilizing the increased strength in her gauntlet. She then tied another rope around her waist as a belay. It was only the second floor, but the children of Aspirants had climbing safety in their very blood.

It only took Sanya a few moments to reach the bottom safely. She felt she could have made the jump without a problem but did not want to waste the children's goodwill. Kilian and Natalee pulled back the ropes and stowed them before finally coming down themselves.

The group of five stayed low and made for the hedge on the orphanage ground's southern side. They crawled through a hole in it, doubtlessly often used by children as a means to escape at night and play in town. Staying low, they headed for the main gate on the northern side. As they rounded the first corner, Sanya suddenly froze in place, causing Dyanna to run into her back face-first.

"What's wrong?" she rubbed her nose and asked in a panic, worried that they had been found out. But Kilian and Natalee turned around to find the green-haired girl staring ahead with her mouth wide open.

The Skypiercer towered before her. Its magnificence dominated her view so thoroughly that she felt as if it was leaning in her direction. She had not seen it until now because room twelve was south-facing. The moment she laid eyes on it, the understanding dawned on her why this tower had the people of Base Camp and the world at large spellbound.

It sprouted from the earth itself, breaking through the land like a perfectly circular mountain. The tower tapered to half its base's width around the Wound, after which it continued straight upward without a hint of narrowing. From that gash, a waterfall flowed down the tower's flank into Lake Svarus, where the four children had found her. A short distance above the waterfall began the eternal clouds that surrounded the Skypiercer and obscured the view beyond. It resembled a titanic tree, but dark and foreboding rather than lush and life-giving. Only travelers coming from afar could see that it stabbed into the infinite blue above with no summit in sight.

Sanya was so overwhelmed that she forgot to breathe.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Kilian realized what the green-haired girl was going through and smiled to himself. He felt pride, as if he was showing somebody a prized possession, "even for us, who have lived here all our lives, it's a humbling sight every morning."

"It really is," finally, Sanya broke the moment and muttered. There was no way she could have forgotten this sight, so Allen's theory must have been true: She came from inside the Skypiercer and had never seen it from the outside.

"We need to keep going. We can't stay away from work for too long, or the dredge leader is going to come back to report on us," Allen announced, bringing everybody back to reality.

"I'm sure Mistress Patch told him to keep an eye on us after last night," Dyanna agreed with a grim look.

"Yeah, let's go," Sanya nodded, and the five children returned to their task.

"You wish to find shelter here?" Mistress Patch stood in the orphanage's main entrance and looked down her nose at Sanya through her silver-rimmed glasses. The tall matron's presence exerted immense pressure on the green-haired girl, who was scared that her golden gauntlet would be found out immediately.

But that very real fear was what gave her fake story credibility. She was a young girl in a foreign land all by herself, knocking on an orphanage's door to find help. Even Mistress Patch could not see through her made-up past and believed her story. After all, it was a common occurrence here in Base Camp.

The four children of room twelve watched the situation from inside the hedge. Their butts were sticking out on the other side, wiggling from anxiety. It would have made for a strange appearance to all who passed by, but luckily, the Base Camp General Orphanage was on the edge of town, so few outsiders ever came here.

"What about that Power Loader? Can you take it off?" moving on from Sanya's reason for seeking shelter, Mistress Patch fixated her cold gaze on her fragment. While she had accepted the story of the little girl's father trying to fix her arm, she could not overlook an orphan keeping a fragment to herself, no matter how insignificant its monetary worth was.

"N-No, it's bolted to my arm," Sanya's fear of discovery made her stutter. But to the matron, it only looked like she was afraid of her.

"Show me," changing her approach, Mistress Patch squatted down to speak to the girl from a less imposing height. Taking the gauntlet into her hand, she immediately felt its rough surface and furrowed her brow. Indeed, this fragment was of shoddy quality. Then, she tried taking it off but noticed that it did not budge, only eliciting a pained noise from the little girl.

Pulling Sanya closer, the matron peeked into the gauntlet's opening and grimaced. It indeed looked like the bolts were digging right into the girl's forearm. Although the shackle hid the gruesome parts, the purple discolorations around it were telltale signs of a poor graft. If she was unlucky, her arm could get infected and require further amputation. Such haphazard grafting operations used to be banned in Base Camp, but the authorities long since turned a blind eye to them because they allowed high-ranking Aspirants to reach greater heights.

But Mistress Patch did not say a word regarding Sanya's arm. After all, if she required an amputation below the elbow due to an infection, the fragment could go over to the orphanage.

"How is its power?" the matron asked with an eyebrow raised in skepticism. Already, Sanya was no longer of interest to her as a person, and she had eyes only for her fragment. Forgotten was her question about her hair color; she waved it off as a foreign custom in her mind. Instead, all she cared about was the Power Loader. If it was broken, she would reject the girl from these halls. "Does it still work?"

"Y-Yes, it still works! I can show you!" Sanya argued in a desperate tone, then looked around, searching for something she could use to demonstrate it. A large earthen flowerpot with a wilted plant next to the orphanage's door entered her view, and she used her gauntlet to grab the pot's rim. To Mistress Patch's utter surprise, the little girl lifted it single-handedly as if it weighed nothing.

The hedge near the gate shook, but luckily, the matron did not notice it. Her gaze was glued to the ease with which Sanya operated her fragment. Even adults needed time to adjust their strength when using a Power Loader and would often break things. However, her grip on the pot was as delicate as a human's fingers.

A greedy glint appeared in her eyes, and she already began picturing the work this girl could do in her mind. Surely, she would be able to dredge up more treasures than any other child in the orphanage. And quite literally single-handedly at that. It would be a greater boon than taking it from her and selling it for the little money that fragment would be worth on the market.

"Very well. You are accepted. Welcome to the Base Camp General Orphanage, Sanya," Mistress Patch stood up and announced almost ceremoniously. She had a fake smile plastered across her lips that did not extend to her greed-filled eyes. It was painfully obvious to Sanya, but she understood that this woman was not representative of the people living in Base Camp.

After all, even under a matron like this, the children of room twelve were helpful and upstanding people. "Follow me. I shall introduce you to the headmaster. You will familiarize yourself with the facilities today. Tomorrow, you shall head out to work with the other children."

With these words, Mistress Patch turned around on the spot and walked through the door, expecting Sanya to do as she was told. The green-haired girl looked back, searching for the four children hiding in the hedge. Four hands slid forward from between the leaves and raised their thumbs to her success before disappearing again. With a smile and a nod in their direction, she turned around and entered her new home.