Each day he did the same thing. Enter the mines, mine stone and metals, finish the day. Day after day after day after day. It eventually all became a blur of time. He didn't even question it anymore.
Alie walked past tired miners and Taskmasters. Taskmasters wouldn't whip anybody -that was against the law, thankfully- but if they caught you slacking off, you'd get your paycheck cut. And since Alie lived paycheck to paycheck, well, one paycheck cut could do a lot of damage to his already terrible life.
So today, as usual, he raised his heavy pickaxe and began chipping at the stone. Occasionally he'd find small bits of metals or coal, and when he did, he'd hand them to the Taskmasters. Anyone caught stealing would be fired.
He fell into the rhythm of pickaxes hitting stone. Tink. Clink. Clank. Clink. Tang. SCRCHH. Wait- what was that?
Alie put down his pick and investigated what he'd hit. It wasn't iron, which is what he'd expected. It wasn't coal, either. Instead... it was a spall spike of some mysterious pink crystal.
Well! Crystals were rarer down here, but still discoverable. And if you turned in a good one, you'd get promoted to Taskmaster. Still not a desirable job, but he'd finally have a truly stable work if he got promoted.
So he took off his gloves (Crystals were easily scratched, he'd heard; he didn't want to ruin the worth of it!) before firmly gripping it and preparing to rip it out.
Hello, Alie.
What- what was that!? He removed his hand immediately. The crystal had spoken to him? No. It couldn't have. It must've been some other miner, playing some silly prank on him to entertain themselves. He glanced about. No one was nearby, not even a Taskmaster. They must have ran away quickly then, he thought. And to prove it, he watched the room carefully while placing his hand on the crystal again.
Hello again, Alie.
Alie jumped back. He WAS going insane. Crystals couldn't speak! He knew it! He was hearing voices or something. He was 75; he could probably be schizophrenic or something, right?
Just to test it, one more time, he felt it again.
Yes, I am speaking to you. You are not insane.
He gasped; so this meant that this was a real, talking crystal? He immediately felt the itch to know more; a feeling he hadn't felt in several decades.
"Tell-" He coughed, for he had not spoken in a long time. "Tell me more," He whispered to it.
Perhaps I can. But I require a Host.
A... Host? Wait, does that mean he'd have to give himself up-
Yes. But it will not be in vain.
Wait? Had it just read his thoughts? Well, that was a worry for later. "Nothing can be worth a human life!" He whispered back.
But this will. I promise it, Alie.
At that moment, a Taskmaster entered. As he removed his hands to begin mining again, he caught one last message from the Crystal.
Think about it, Alie.
---
The rest of the day had passed in a blur of pickaxing and thinking. He had glanced at the crystal many times, but had resisted the urge to feel it again.
But today was another day. Another day to hopefully make a living off of stone and sweat.
This day, however, he made a beeline to the Crystal again. He wasn't planning on making himself a host anytime soon; but he still wanted to know more. He could probably coax it into giving more information. How could crystals speak? Could anything speak? Was it magic? Did magic actually exist?
This day however, he passed by his friend Violet; she was one of the good Taskmanagers, who was kind and actually not that strict. "'Sup, Al." She said, nodding towards him.
"Oh. Um. Hey, Violet..." He didn't really want to talk right now, at least to her. "Um... how is it going?"
"Mighty fine! And you ol' pal?" She responded enthusiastically. How did anyone in these miserable mines have such a joyful atittude?
"Uh... I'm fine..."
Somehow, she laughed. "Alrighty then! I'll leave ya to your mining then!" She waved him off.
Allie then speedwalked back to the Crystal. Violet was nice and all but she was sometimes really exhausting.
It seems you have returned.
"Yes, I have." He whispered. "...And I'll make you a deal. I'll give you a Host, but you give me your answers first."
Really... sacrificing someone else to feed your wants now, hmmm? Quite... interesting...
"Do we have a deal?"
...Perhaps...
The Crystal didn't seem to want to speak more, so Allie left it alone for the rest if the day.
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