Glum Kloae

Glum felt he, who couldn't squash a snail. Fo— "Absolute garbage," muttered Kloae, as he crumpled the paper and tossed it in the bin. The papers covered his dark room. Kloae enjoyed writing in the dark because he didn't have to see what he wrote.

He went to the kitchen, a few pieces of paper sticking to his feet. The day was ordinary. Until Kloae reached for the coffee cup and noticed something scribbled on the handle.

HERE - E.F.

Kloae was out the door before his coffee cup hit the ground. "How did they find me?" Kloae's mind was in a tailspin. "If they found me here... then...!" The sunlight stung his eyes as he exited the apartment, running to the nearest discard pit and diving in.

The smell was overwhelming.

Here, the citizens of Juap threw away their leftovers and other bits and bobs throughout the day. Entering the discard pit meant near-certain death for Kloae. And yet, it felt like home. Where Kloae is from, on the Twenty-Second Planet, life was forged in the discard pits. His people learned to burrow tunnels and live amongst the rubble — a natural defense against the attackers of Juap.

Kloae dug straight down. A typical discard pit would continue for miles, on some planets, even reaching the core. He knew if he could get a few meters down, he could safely swim sideways underneath the street above. Just then, he felt a robotic claw grab his ankle. Kloae screamed, "Let go of me!" But it was no use... the Juap's automated discard patrol unit had captured him.

The interrogation lasted days. The Juap's Chief Security Commander, Alo, only repeated the question, "Where is the crystal?" Kloa kept quiet. Revealing the crystal's location would mean certain death, and besides, he didn't know where it was either! But E.F. did.

"Alright, I'll tell you," said Kloae on the eleventh day of interrogation. Chief Alo's six ears perked up. "The crystal you seek is on the Twenty-Second Planet, beneath the emperor's tomb. "How can we be sure?" Chief Alo asked. "Because if I'm lying, I know what you'll do to me and my people," Kloae said. It was enough for Chief Alo and his guard. All exited the room, Kloae in cuffs, and they made their way to the zapping chamber.

In a few seconds, they all appeared on the Twenty-Second Planet. Unlike the green glow of Juap's sun, the Twenty-Second had a grey-purplish hue from an illuminated arti-orb after their sun had long since gone extinct. The arti-orb emitted its strange color to grow the empire's cash crops faster, the only use for the Twenty-Second's empty landscape as far as the Juap were concerned.

"Show us to the emperor's tomb," Chief Alo barked, as his guards gave Kloae a shove. "Right this way..." Kloae began before an eruption of sound took everyone's attention. Everyone except for Kloae. He had prepared for this moment with E.F. "If any of us have been compromised and brought to the Twenty-Second, we will create a welcome surprise."

As the guards covered their ears, Kloae once more ran to the nearest discard pit. This time, he knew if he could enter one, they would never find him. "After him!" Chief Alo yelled, watching Kloae sprint towards the pit entrance. His guards turned their weapons to capture mode and began blasting.

Kloae dodged one... got hit in the shoulder by another... but before a final blast could capture him, he had safely jumped into the pit. Immediately, he dug and was swallowed by the pile as the guards looked in from the entrance.

Though Kloae was safe in the pits, he knew he was running out of options. Now that the Juap knew where the crystal was, it was only a matter of time before they found a local and demanded to be shown the emperor's tomb. "Why didn't I just lie about that?" Kloae's mind started to spiral again, "and to think, all for a little coin!" Kloae swam to the connecting road, the path where all discard piles on the Twenty-Second could be accessed. In all their years of occupation, the Juap were never able to find it.

Kloae couldn't help but smile, passing familiar sights as he sprinted towards the direction of the tomb. He grabbed a bag of two-two-chips from a nearby vendor and threw the coin mid-stride. The crunch was immaculate.

Nearing the tomb, the stomping above him gave a clue that he was almost out of time. That's when a shadowy figure blocked his path. "Long time no see, Kloae," said the figure. It was using a vocal warper so Kloae couldn't make out who it was, but he thought the shape looked familiar. "Out of my way, I need to get to the tomb!" Kloae shouted. "You mean, because you're looking for this?" The figure said before holding up a shining crystal. "But how?" Kloae was stunned. No one knew about the crystal other than he and E.F. "Let's just say it wasn't easy... but E.F. cracked eventually. Anyways, I'm off to sell this useless lump," the figure said as it began typing in a code in its porta-zapper. He typed the code and smashed enter... then stood there.

Kloae stood and smiled.

The figure tried again. Once more. Finally, he began smashing the keys of the porta-zapper so hard that Kloae was sure it could be heard on the surface. "What the devil is going on?"

"Oh that..." Kloae said, walking towards the figure, "It's what happens when you don't know the crystal's true power." He stood next to the figure and plucked the crystal from its grasp. "You see, it can unlock more power than the Juap's entire empire, if a single word is uttered. A word that no one outside the planet Twenty-Two has ever heard of. That's why we can only sell it."

"What is this wor—" but the figure never heard it. Kloae was long gone as soon as he finished saying, GLUM!