Riskometer

VIIII

    The Primary Coverts was never a pleasant place to be in. But to Ridge, it was better than the Secondaries packed with malls, restaurants, and other trite facilities. Seriously, why wasn't there a facility to pay to take a jaunt to Nevah in a securely made vehicle? A vehicle that could be a steam-powered tunnel borer. Ridge wanted to invent something of the likes, but it changed once he realized how childish it was. Besides, the "Never visit Nevah" rule was prominent. And permanent. If he could have, he would have. It could be designed with copper fittings, steam vents, and a large drill mechanism at the front powered by engines with rotating blades and a pneumatic hammer for breaking through. How perfect it could be for going on outings, especially since Haven is underground. He always knew Haven was a sphere walled place underground draped over the core of Thear, even though its placement was never identified. He figured it out himself the more he observed the walls and "sky". Now that Ridge thought of it, his childhood wish to unify Haven and Nevah would be impossible. It would be challenging to unify the Indoors and Outdoors as one world even if there was a way to excavate an opening to Haven or to Nevah and vice versa. Or somehow bring Haven up on the surface after getting rid of the basalt rocks with the Riskometer.

And about vehicles, the hearse was indeed bearing a coffin that "had Yulek's body". The automatons kept on professing that they found Yulek dead in his classroom in the morning. No one pressed on. Everyone continued mourning and following the hearse with stoic faces.

Death was a closed prospect in the closed place that was Haven. It was always covered in a sense of understanding. Everyone knew that death was important for the balance of the Havenian population. Nevertheless, it was barely brought up and still feared by Havenians. The idea of corpses lying in the safe and strict place that was Haven was unsettling. There was a time when inventors tried creating automatons to act as long-lived power cells for everyone after they die, but it was discontinued. No one knew why, and Ridge was none the wiser. He had a hypothesis that the corpses were sent to the Outdoors through chutes in coffins. If Nevah made the perfect place for anything other than tourism, it would be a depository.

The atmosphere of the Primary Coverts was, as per usual, lower than other ambiences in Haven. Sounds of murmurs and very gentle lamentations filed against it. The sky seemed more drab despite being lighted by the usual avant garde Edison bulbs and streetlights. It all felt like there was a noose above instead of the Diurnal Bridge.

Feet grated against the ground and black covered bodies trailed behind the hearse. Only Ridge was given a black cloak by a clerk. He didn't wear appropriate black clothes like the rest, not to stand out from the crowd. Rather, he found it stupid to do so for mourning a false dead man. The dead man was in his Sensing Snowglobe. The one he'd carry around with faux pride like everyone else. Unbeknownst to them, it was a weapon he claimed as the Riskometer, a tool that measured the riskiness of objects and sucked ones with high levels in.

As the hearse made its way to the Primary Coverts, Ridge couldn't help but wonder what the governors had placed inside the coffin. He knew it wasn't Yulek's body. That much he was certain of. He smirked inwardly. Sneakily, he stole a hairpin from Mavis as she had lowered her head with a dull expression. He then poked it through the hearse and felt something. That is when he knew all too well that the coffin had a dummy. It was all part of the elaborate ruse they orchestrated.

When they arrived at the tombstone with a clockwork, other automatons pressed a button to open the place of burial to let the other automatons set down the coffin. Everyone gathered around it in a knot. Shades of yellow, brown and grey illuminated from the coffin. Polly Yulek was sobbing the most.

Ridge stood by the tombstone, his boot lightly touching it. He looked down at it. The hypothesis shapes started swimming around in his vision. The vertices of those two to five dimensional shapes were pointing at the base of the tombstone. By itself, an epitaph appeared, reflecting warm light as the deceased' name, date and occupation were displayed.