Sevda was trying to pass by the village with quick steps on the muddy grounds, while the ashes in the atmosphere fell upon her like rain. The Uruzens, shriveled from vitamin deficiency, hunger, thirst, and stress, looked with bewilderment at this woman walking with such self-assurance. To them, Frankenstein's monster had abandoned its tower.
The clothes on every single Uruzen were made of mud. Most of these garments were either sewn from fabric waste found in the factory's junkyard or looted from Uruzens who had died previously. Sometimes, the Uruzens prayed for their sick to die as soon as possible; if they recovered, they would curse their fate and sorrow as if it were a great misfortune.
That was why Doctor Sevda, otherwise known as Number 24, was a calamity to them—a thief of their clothes. While taking patients away, Sevda had instructed her Uruzen employees to leave the clothes behind just to avoid drawing more attention, but this was sometimes ignored in times of urgency.
"Isn't that Number 24?" said one of the women. Each of their houses was made of solidified mud. This woman, while looking down from her mud window, covered her mouth with her arm to hide herself. Some of the Uruzens did not want to be seen by Sevda. They felt a great anxiety that they would be abducted by her.
"Yes... it's definitely her..." said another woman. "...the bloodsucker is out on the street."
It was truly a comical situation that those whose blood was being sucked by the corporation failed to see they were being exploited by the corporation. Instead, seeing our doctor girl—who worked heart and soul to heal her patients or reduce their deaths—as a bloodsucker was strictly the policy of the TESO corporation. It gave a bit of food and clothing to a few bigwigs and instructed them to persuade their subjects. Those bigwigs, in turn, determined the thoughts of the people.
If the Uruzens truly believed that there was a death that could be avoided, it would be a massive problem for the corporation. Most of the Uruzens working in the factory facility passed away before completing their second year. The Uruzens in the village would immediately apply for a job, waiting in line with great hunger.
But what would happen if the Uruzens learned that a long life was possible? Perhaps instead of working for the corporation, they could make long-term plans. 30 years was quite a short time to start a business, to start a family, or to step into the future. Even if it would shorten this brief time a bit more, living a good life was the only possibility. Therefore, working as a modern slave at the TESO corporation was, of course, the perfect fit.
"She sucks their souls to heal the dead!" one of the Uruzens shouted. A large part of his body was covered in fungus. His ankle must have bled a long time ago, for the top of his shattered ankle was infested with maggots. "Number 24 is cursing the street!"
"No!" said another. "Don't talk such nonsense, you ignorant man! This woman heals the dying because she doesn't want our newborn women to find clothes. She wants them to be naked! Because she dresses like she's naked herself! Look... I can see her bare body through the middle of her clothes! (Referring to our girl's shirt with a few open buttons) This... this woman is an agent sent from another planet to destroy our culture!"
The fact that the Uruzens were shouting so violently did not scare Sevda at all. These men putting on a show of masculinity could never find the courage to use force in any way. Only a few weeks ago, two or three tourists who had come to Uruzen City had wandered through the streets and forcibly possessed their women. Despite witnessing or hearing about this incident, the Uruzens had not made a sound. They had played dumb. They had pretended not to understand, not to see. They hadn't even gossiped about it or hinted at it in any way.
These tourists were sex tourists, whose numbers had increased significantly in the galaxy recently. Just as tourists traveled from planet to planet to eat, these ones traveled to have sex. 56 had found a hologram flyer in one of the tourists' pockets one day and brought it to our girl Sevda.
"The most ignorant society in the galaxy! Even more pathetic than CLAUDIS IX! Their bodies are underdeveloped and they don't know what pleasure is!"
Upon this, Sevda had grown furious and confronted the governor with clenched fists. While she hurled insults and shouted in anger, the governor of Uruzen City only listened calmly and then kicked her out of his office. This time, she had confronted the factory manager, Labiba. She spoke of how what was being done was inhumane, etc., but the manager said:
"They have consented..." he said. "...besides, we give them clothes and food. If it weren't for these tourists, they wouldn't have made it through this winter." Then, with a wide smile: "They aren't humans anyway..." However, the price written on the hologram brochure was much larger than a few clothes and a load of food. Not much of that hefty sum of money earned had ever reached the Uruzens.
This was the end of a people who had suffered a century of colonization because of the successive great mistakes of a few leaders several hundred years ago. The CLAUDIS planets had a history and claimed the legacy of Emperor Claudis, the main protagonist of their history. No matter how poor they were, they commemorated their glorious days of the past and claimed their honor and ancient rules.
Even though there were people being exploited on the CLAUDIS planets, those who exploited them were also CLAUDIS citizens. The exploitation did not stem from seeing the exploited as non-human. The exploitation was out of necessity left by poverty.
The END99141 Colony, where our girl was located, was a mining colony discovered by the Endarken corporation, sold to a family, and formed by people gradually moving from other colonies. This planet had no history or culture. This planet had no human value other than its people. It was a planet perfectly ripe for exploitation.
As she passed by the village, accelerating her steps even further, her reflex sensors kicked in and threw the woman a few steps back. The thing thrown at her head was a ball of mud. Seeing that several sections of her clothes were smeared with mud angered Sevda, but she did not show her anger to the Uruzenly waiting on the hill with his hand smeared with mud. As soon as the Uruzenly noticed the cybernetic casting a glance at him, he started running as fast as he could and got away from there. After seeing the girl's angry gaze and being frightened, the Uruzens did not throw anything again.
Sevda continued on her way. The ending of the mud road and the diminishing of the swamp were indicators that she was approaching the factory road. When she looked up, she noticed a few camera drones watching her. It had now become a habit for her to give a small hand gesture of greeting whenever she encountered those camera drones.
The dirt slope came out to a small flat area. There were no signs of security around the trucks parked one after another. Anyway, these high-tech trucks were autonomous and had self-protection mechanisms. It wasn't even possible for Uruzens to easily approach these trucks.
The area where the trucks were parked was on the back of the mountain's still-intact surface. A huge hole had been opened in the back of the mountain so that the trucks could easily reach the TESO factory inside. By climbing the slope leading to this hole, you were now considered to be within the factory boundaries. The funny thing was that this wasn't an official thing. The area the factory reported to the SWR was about 1/38th of its current area. Even knowing this, Sevda continued to walk up the slope without sacrificing any of her self-confidence.
"Please step back!" said one of the camera drones, approaching Sevda. While the camera lens grew and shrank to focus, the only thing it encountered was a middle finger.
As the metal gate of the tunnel was closing, TESO robots lined up in front of the metal gate. "Your passage beyond here is prohibited," the robots said in unison.
"According to which law or declaration?" said Sevda, but the place she wanted to go wasn't the tunnel anyway. She turned toward the mountain. There was a dirt road rising toward the top of the mountain in a zigzag fashion. To climb that inclined path, you had to use your hands a bit and climb with all your strength.
Slightly to the side of the dirt path leading to the top, she saw a red stain covering the ground. As she ran her hand over that stain, she realized it was dried blood.