Sevda passed in front of the village, her body drenched in blood. The hateful glares of the villagers were now replaced with fear and anxiety. The butcher must have shown his true face—his butchery—after a long time. Every Uruzen citizen was whispering, spinning conspiracy theories about the blood covering the butcher of Street 24.
Sevda continued past the village and reached Street 24. The Uruzen people she had rescued from the caves pleaded to take refuge in the village. "24 killed one of us and drove us from our home," they said.
The village felt compelled to help these people rendered homeless by 24. Had they been displaced for any other reason, the village might not have assisted. Especially if they had claimed they were evicted by Nuskul; the villagers might have refused to take in this small tribe, thinking Nuskul must have known something they didn't.
56 and 77 were sitting on a wooden pallet in front of the hospital's metal door, smoking pipes that 56 had secretly stolen from the factory. Whenever 56 put the pipe between his lips, 77 watched him with great zeal, growing excited as he waited for his turn. The same was true for 77. Tobacco was an indispensable and hard-to-reach pleasure for both friends.
Then, these two young men noticed Sevda approaching from afar, covered in blood. Sevda was a cybernetic; it was impossible for her to bleed. But despite how much Sevda tried to explain this to them, these Uruzen friends couldn't grasp it. Thus, with great panic, they started running toward Sevda, thinking she was bleeding out.
"24!" shouted 56. "Are you alright? Did something happen to you?"
"No..." Sevda said, but 77 cut her off before she could finish her sentence.
"If your wound is an emergency, give your burden to me," he said, trying to get under the woman's arm. The thing was, if Sevda were to drop her burden onto 77, he would likely end up flattened like the previous Uruzen man under its weight. "Don't move, I'll carry you."
The young girl grabbed the young man by the shoulder and said: "I'm fine. I'm serious..."
"But you're bleeding..."
"The blood isn't mine, 56."
"Ah..." said 56, looking at his friend 77 for a moment. "...did another misfortune occur?"
"Yes..."
"Are we in trouble then?" said the boy named 56, scanning the surroundings. His white uniform had been stained with mud while running toward Sevda. Sevda wanted to push the boy aside and walk on her own accord, but the children wouldn't leave her alone. She was afraid that if she tried to force herself free from their grip, she might harm them.
"Not exactly."
"What kind of misfortune happened?" 77 asked.
"Ah... It might be better if I don't tell you."
They were walking toward the hospital door when the roar of jet engines, firing to slow down a spaceship's descent, began to be heard. As Sevda glanced toward the sky, she sighed:
"No... Not now, man. Not at a time like this."
The vehicle appearing in the sky resembled an industrial transport ship more than a traditional spaceship. Its main hull was shaped like a long, rectangular prism—like a giant cargo truck without wheels. A secondary module, housing massive thrusters, had been attached to the side of this main section. The module was docked to the main hull almost like a caravan, but its size and protruding structure made it look bulky and forced, as if it were stuck on in a way that ruined the ship's overall appearance.
The engines behind this mobile module turned toward the ground as the module itself rotated. While this module lowered the ship slowly, several small engines on its left side tried to balance the ship so it wouldn't lose its equilibrium.
The windows of the spaceship were like those of a truck. As its darkened glass became transparent, an old man in the cockpit of the spaceship waved to our young girl with great enthusiasm.
As soon as the spaceship landed on the marshy ground, it splashed mud everywhere. 56 and 77 forgot about Sevda and started running toward the spaceship with great fervor.
"Ugran is back!" shouted 56.
"We must tell the others!" 77 said, running toward the hospital instead of following 56.
As the cockpit of the spaceship opened like a mouth, an old man appeared, throwing his mechanical leg over the cockpit; he had pale green skin and long, well-combed hair falling to his chest. His old-fashioned leather-strapped pilot goggles were combing his hair back like a beanie. He had a curly, white-streaked mustache and a light stubble. He mumbled something in his mouth before speaking. Then, opening his mechanical hand wide with a pride as if greeting his people, he laughed: "I'm back, you vitamin-deficient runts... You haven't grown at all, 56! Not even a centimeter!"
"Welcome back, Ugran!" shouted 56.
"Why did you come?" asked Sevda, keeping her hands on her waist.
"Ah... How rude... I've come a long way, isn't there a 'welcome back'?"
"Welcome back, but..."
"But listen to me first..." said the old man. He reached under the cockpit and pulled out a ladder. He managed to extend the ladder to the ground, albeit with difficulty. Then, he slowly descended the stabilized ladder with heavy steps. As the metal door of the hospital opened, a swarm of children ran toward him. "...come have a look. Look what I found? Come closer immediately..."
"What did you bring us, Ugran?" the children who emerged from the hospital door shouted all at once. The greedy cries of the children startled the old man, even making him jump in place.
"I didn't bring you anything! I'm so sorry!"
Before the swarm of children could descend upon him, the man went toward the bed of the transport ship. A mechanical arm emerging from the opening ceiling of the ship brought out a human-sized glass capsule. As it placed this glass capsule on the muddy ground, Sevda approached the old man with suspicious steps.
"What is this?" Sevda asked. But as she approached, she realized that what lay inside the glass container was a body. "Is he alive?"
"These must be his last breaths!"
"Children!" she shouted as the children ran toward them. The children froze in place because it was the first time they had heard Sevda's voice so thin and high-pitched. "Children, bring a stretcher robot immediately!"