"Cheers."
At Jan’s proposal, Kael and Mylon clinked their champagne glasses. The crystal resonated with a pure, clear ring.
The atmosphere in the Omega Lounge was more convivial than ever. Having embraced Adin’s warning as an 'alluring risk,' they were buzzing with anticipation for the new venture about to launch.
Thud, thud.
It was then. A dull, heavy thudding sound echoed against the transparent floor-to-ceiling windows.
At first, I thought they were raindrops.
But they didn't flow down.
Instead, they clung to the glass like black ink or waste oil—sticky and viscous—beginning to smear and blot out Ivory’s spectacular night view.
I felt it instinctively. This was no mere weather phenomenon.
Ageless bodies, infinite time, boredom, and desire...
All the 'Time Residue' that had been floating above Ivory had reached its saturation point. It had condensed into a filthy, heavy rain.
Rumble—
At that moment, I felt a subtle yet heavy vibration beneath my feet.
The red liquid in the wine glasses on the table tilted to one side. Round ice cubes went rolling away.
"Is it an earthquake?"
The VIPs rose from their seats in a stir.
But Jan remained leaned back in his chair, watching the rolling ice with intrigue before speaking.
"Calm yourselves. It’s just the system at work."
"The system?"
"You’re familiar with the laws of entropy," Jan said, pointing a finger at the black stains clinging to the window.
"Within a closed system, disorder constantly increases. In other words, if left alone, even this perfect city is bound to rot and turn turbid."
He continued, his voice cold.
"For Ivory to maintain this eternal, bright, and clean 'Order,' we must discard the 'Heavy Time Waste' that is inevitably generated in the process.
That is why this city periodically tilts its ground by about 3 degrees."
'The Tilt.'
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
It was the most massive and efficient drainage system, utilizing gravity itself.
I approached the window. The moment I looked down, I caught my breath.
It was a cruel spectacle.
All the 'Black Rain' accumulated on Ivory’s roads, roofs, and waterways was surging fiercely in one direction, riding the artificial 3-degree incline.
The white, pristine city was washing away the filth from its body.
There was only one destination for that black torrent: the drain gaping open at the lowest point of this gargantuan city—Ebony.
As the rain stopped and the windows were washed clean, Ivory radiated an even more transparent and dazzling light, as if by magic.
Having excreted its residue, the city looked refreshed. The VIPs marveled at the sight and refilled their glasses.
But I knew.
I knew exactly where all those heavy hours they had spat out were being dumped.
.
.
Meanwhile, in Ebony.
Thump, thump, thump.
It wasn't the sound of rain. It was the sound of heavy lumps of lead falling from the sky, smashing through roofs.
The 'Time Waste' flowing down from Ivory struck Ebony like a waterfall.
This land, devoid of a single speck of light, was instantly becoming a massive well submerged in black water.
[ Dr. O’s Clinic ]
"Ugh... Gasp, huff...!"
Nar, lying on the examination table, went into a seizure.
She clawed at the air, unable to breathe. Her veins bulged as if ready to burst, and her eyes rolled back, losing focus.
"Stay with me! You mustn't stop breathing!"
Dr. O hurriedly grabbed her arm and placed an oxygen mask over her face.
But it wasn't oxygen coming from the mask; it was a gas diluted with a trace amount of Solet that Adin had left behind.
Nar’s symptoms were unmistakable: 'The Time Bends.'
Her body, which had lived its entire life in Ivory’s 'light and fast time,' could not withstand the sudden 'heavy and slow time pressure' of Ebony crashing down upon her.
Bubbles of light time dissolved in her blood were expanding due to the immense external pressure difference. It was crushing her vessels and nerves.
Just as a deep-sea diver’s body breaks under rapid pressure changes, Nar was suffering the agony of a crushed soul, weighted down by the heavy hours discarded by others.
"You have to endure," Dr. O muttered, glaring at the ceiling.
"You must vomit out all the splendor and lightness you enjoyed up there; only then can you breathe at this bottom."
Up there, they would be breathing fresh air after finishing their cleaning.
But as the price for that cleanliness, the patients here had to inhale the depression and pain discarded by others deep into their lungs.
.
.
Back at the Omega Lounge.
The rain had completely stopped.
Ivory’s nightscape glittered like jewels, while far below, Ebony remained submerged in pitch-black darkness, invisible.
It was a perfect separation. A perfect discharge.
Jan muttered with satisfaction as he looked out the window.
"Look. The water is high now. The depth has become quite profound."
He turned to me and smirked.
"It’s finally in the perfect state for a dive."
The moment I saw his smile, a massive puzzle clicked into place.
A shudder of realization surged down my spine.
'Ah...'
Until now, I thought Ebony was merely a marginalized land where light couldn't reach.
But I was wrong.
Ebony wasn't just 'abandoned.' It was meticulously 'manufactured.'
To maintain Ivory’s eternal light, they needed a trash can for the darkness.
The reason they could enjoy ageless, disease-free hours was that they flushed the weight of all those rotting times into the sewer known as Ebony.
It wasn't our own inherent sorrow.
It was the 'Karma of others' that they had excreted and pawned off, stagnant and putrefying.
And now, they claimed they would enjoy the pleasure of 'diving' into the very cesspool they created.
They intended to feel alive by watching us flounder in the filth they discarded.
This was more than exploitation; it was a deception.
I clenched my fists. The pain of my nails digging into my palms was vivid.
There was no longer any meaning in dialogue or persuasion.
Unless I overturned this tilted board—The Tilt—itself, the black rain pouring from above would never stop.
Vote, Follow, and Comment! Your support means the world to me.