Kafft's Tower - The heir of "The Valley"

The Representative No. 50

A new day is dawning. Unlike the others, this night I don't remember anything I've dreamed, although I woke up with a slight pain in my neck. I suppose that even though I slept well, I had a bad posture, but the important thing is that the dreams seem to have stopped. I'd rather remember nothing than always dream about that nightmare. I decide to get out of bed, although it's true that I wouldn't mind staying in it all day. I've had a rather hectic week and need to rest or, better said, to disconnect. I go to the room's panel and make the walls turn transparent so they let in the sunlight, as I do every morning to see the blue of the sky blending with that of the sea. But my surprise comes when I see that the weather has worsened so much that it looks like the end of the world. My wonderful fantasy movie moment ends up being the setting of any horror movie.

The sea is rough, and the waves are crashing hard against the prison. The entire sky is covered with gray clouds and lightning. I step out onto the balcony, feeling the strong, icy wind on my face while drops of water fall on my body, soaking my clothes. The day seems to be promising. I take my time to breathe because from time to time, I like to look into the distance without thinking; that relaxes me. After these minutes of feeling the air on my face and the few drops of water that fall, I quickly enter the room to dress and go to work. Today begins my day as a guardian of the tower, and Glovar has agreed to teach me as quickly as possible since it's very likely that in one or two days, the tower will be out of the water to begin. It's strange that they haven't raised it yet since they have recruited the fifty representatives who will fight in it since yesterday.

Normally, the moment they have them, they raise the tower mercilessly. I suppose it's because of my recent addition to the staff that my father wants to wait a few more days. It's better this way because this gives Urk one more day of peace, and I'll have a little more advantage in figuring out how to solve this big problem. I would like to try at all costs to prevent Urk from entering the Tower and facing the five levels he must overcome to get out alive, but if that's not possible, I must find another way to help him when he's inside.

Once ready and having stopped overthinking, I head to the recruitment room to find Glovar, who will be waiting to show me the guidelines I must follow to work there, as it's not the same job I've done until now and, of course, it's not even remotely similar.

The hovercraft has taken me to the recruitment floor, and right now, I'm at the door with my nerves on edge. My hands are trembling a bit, and I have a knot in my stomach, but I gather my courage and enter the room. There is Glovar, waiting for me, standing at the entrance next to the rows of large sofas for the superiors, along with another man I've never seen in my life. I keep looking at them, and a flash comes to mind. I do know that man standing next to Glovar, but not personally—I saw him the last time General Traind arrived at the tower. He is one of the six new programmers they had hired. Now I can remember— that day went by so quickly that I couldn't notice, but now that he's in front of me, I have no doubts. His short blonde hair, his black eyes, his three-day beard brown but with a white streak on the right side of his mustache and chin. It's as if he had a bicolored beard, something unusual.

— Good morning, Leean. We were expecting you.

— Hello, good morning. My name is Leean - I reply with a smile so they don't notice my nerves.

— Hello, nice to meet you, my name is Lisam.

I noticed his gaze fixed on my eyes, and I could tell he knew perfectly well that I was terrified. I see that his expression upon seeing me was not one of pleasure. I can feel that, for some reason, this guy doesn't like me very much.

Three of my fellow guardians are in the room chatting; I don't know any of them, and we are introduced. Xadier, a guy of about 34 years old, a bit older than me, with dark hair and brown eyes. Nissa, a tall and chubby girl with curly hair. Barter, very tall and very thin, with glasses—a typical straight-A student. And we wait for the last guardian to enter the room, Fralisa, a corpulent and rough-looking woman with a mane of hair that covers half her face.