There was a bubbling feeling in Athalia's chest.
Not the kind of warm and sweet bubbling you get around someone you like. It was chemical and dark.
It had started only seconds ago, right after she leaned against the wall of Sariel's house. That familiar wall…
Memories flooded her mind.
Three years ago, a young Explorer had just returned to Alavieska from his first expedition.
Only days later, his fine motor skills began to deteriorate. He was immediately taken to the Mountain Research Institute for intensive treatment.
…However, 'intensive treatment' isn't quite accurate. All the researchers could do was keep track of symptoms. No matter what they tried, they couldn't figure out the mechanism behind the boy's condition.
As time progressed, so did the symptoms. After a year, the loss of fine motor control turned into paralysis below the neck.
At this point, the boy became extremely scared of his own fate. Each time the researchers told him everything would be okay, he believed it less. Each time his two best friends held him, their touch was less reassuring.
Finally, his eyes closed, and he went into a coma…
But the researchers didn't give up. No, they had lived their days fueled by hope for this boy's recovery. A young Explorer—brimming with potential, and with a life's worth of experiences ahead of him. The team of five performed every test they could think of, working day in and day out.
And then, one night, an incident took place at the Mountain Research Institute.
The team was examining Sariel's skin that night. They had noticed tiny spots of discoloration in weeks prior and were hoping they contained a hint towards the disease's mechanism.
The researchers found that the surface of the boy's skin had suddenly gained a rough texture and was as hard as solid rock. His face and neck were covered with twisted scars. They were convinced the progression of the condition had accelerated, and gave up the idea of sleeping to continue their work.
When more staff came in the next day, they saw notes about the condition's development strewn across desks…
And strewn across the floor, five dead bodies.
The primary cause of death of all five was determined to be a mineral deficiency.
However, each researcher's corpse showed clear signs of viciously fighting with another before dying. Bite marks, deep nail scratches, and torn hair.
That boy lying on the examination table didn't have a mark on him, nor a drop of blood. He was sleeping peacefully; a gentle smile on his face…
A face without scars. His body looked as normal as ever.
Whether those strange symptoms the five scientists saw were real or not, none of them had lived to tell the tale.
Immediately after the incident, the boy was moved out of the Institute. An unused building on the edge of town was repurposed to keep him.
All sorts of rumors spread about the true nature of what happened—like how the boy ruthlessly drove the researchers to kill themselves, even after they selflessly devoted their lives to him. Nobody at the Mountain Research Institute was eager to continue searching for a cure.
There were even some who believed the boy's potential risk to Alavieska meant he should be thrown into the Chasm, but the proposal was directly vetoed by Azarias, the head of the Institute at the time.
The boy's strange condition meant he didn't require water to continue living, so he was simply left in that house. Due to the uncertainty about how his condition could affect those in close proximity, all were banned from visiting him.
Nobody laid eyes on him for over a year…
That boy's name was Sariel Casimir.
For one person in Alavieska, Sariel's predicament was an endless source of rage. That person was Athalia Darwin Bathory.
Although Athalia agreed that Sariel's condition may have played a part in the incident, she strongly believed he shouldn't be personally blamed. She hated how some people treated him like a murderer. She demanded the Institute continue searching for a cure, albeit with increased safety precautions. Nobody listened to her.
She constantly tried to break the visitation rule, but Kismet was guarding Sariel's new home in anticipation of this. She never got past him once.
After a year had passed, the restrictions informally loosened up. It was in part because the comatose Sariel hadn't harmed anyone or done anything of note, but also because everyone felt a little bad for Athalia.
…Even with the restrictions lifted, Athalia was Sariel's only regular visitor.
She didn't understand it.
Friends are supposed to care for each other.
Friends are supposed to look out for each other.
So why…
Why was she the only one with a human heart?
She hated how everyone held a grudge, but she could at least forgive them for not visiting Sariel. None of them were ever that close to him.
But Athalia hadn't been Sariel's only friend.
Sariel, Athalia, and Enza. It was always the three of them.
Athalia couldn't remember how many times she had asked Enza why she never visited.
She stopped fighting Enza over it eventually, but didn't let go of her anger. She only delayed it.
She told herself, "I don't deserve to purge this anger yet. It needs to be released at some point, but now isn't the time. I'll press this anger flat into the soles of my shoes. It will be the very ground that allows me to walk, yet undetectable to others until the time is right. If nobody else is going to save Sariel, I'll do it myself. I'll go on as many expeditions as necessary to wring out his cure from this god-forsaken Mountain. Only then, only when Sariel is free to speak, move, and live as he once did, will I release this anger. Only then will I make it clear to everyone—but especially Enza—how wrong they were to abandon him."
And since then, Athalia had prepared for her next chance at an expedition. She held onto the unpredictable nature of the Mountain for hope. Hope for a miracle…
And here she was, on that expedition she had waited for.
She was inside the confessional booth, inside Enza's mind, in a replica of Alavieska.
The third stratum was just ahead.
If a miracle were to happen, it would happen on the third stratum.
All she had to do was finish the job here…
And to do that, she had to deeply empathize with Enza.
She wasn't thrilled that Enza was her teammate when saving Sariel was her motivation, but she had to take any chance at an expedition she could get. There wasn't room to be picky about who she was paired up with.
Furthermore, Athalia had successfully pressed her grudge deep enough that she was Enza's friend again. Most of the time, she truly forgot she was ever mad. She had no trouble joking around with Enza like she always had, and empathizing with her shouldn't have been any different.
But now, a tiny bump had appeared in the road.
It was this house. This fake version of Sariel's house. Enza's mind, when imagining the worst version of isolation, had recreated it.
Out of all the places, why here… I was doing just fine, keeping my mind off it.
So this is how you feel, Enza? You're scared of his fate…
Then why don't you want to help me cure him? Why don't you ever talk to me about it?
What do you really want, anyway? Why do you want to be an Explorer in the first place? Now that I think about it, you've never told me.
Athalia took a deep breath.
I can't let myself get too angry. I need to stay on task. On task…
She forced the bubbling in her chest to stop and faced the door to Sariel's house.
It's been a while since Enza entered… Whether she succeeded or failed, it should be done by now.
Athalia swung the door wide open…
Her eyes immediately landed on Enza, who stood in the corner of the room.
She wasn't wearing the white robe, nor the tattered rags. She wore a combination of both; they were roughly stitched together to form a bizarre collage of an outfit.
She was staring at the wall.
But it was like she was staring through it.
It was like there really was a window there—one that was only transparent for Enza.
Athalia was about to open her mouth to say something, but Enza spoke first.
"Do you know of Neil Armstrong?"
"…Who's that?"
"From Earth lessons. The first human to step foot on the moon."
"Oh yeah… I remember now. What about him?"
"Isn't it an amazing achievement?"
Athalia paused before replying. "Is that a trick question? Of course, it's amazing. After he returned, he must have bathed in glory until his skin turned all pruny. By reaching for the stars, he became one at home. What a life…"
"What made it a great achievement?"
"Well, it's the sheer distance… Going to another planet—I mean, moon—sounds downright mythical."
Enza smiled. "But that part wasn't Armstrong's work. All he did was step on the surface. The massive team behind him designed the rocket and did all the math. This isn't to dismiss him—being an astronaut isn't easy. But the true value of the achievement is, by nature, divided between many people. I'm sure anyone who worked on that project would have wanted the name to be associated with them.
"The unfortunate truth is, a figurehead must be chosen to represent the achievements of many. This figurehead must hold power over the onlookers. There were two men in that LM-5 landing craft. When it hit the surface, both men were mere feet away from the end of their journey. It was like it was already done. The tiniest extra distance, the only part of their journey that was to be traveled on foot… It was that last fraction of a percent that contained all the glory, and there could only be one to claim it.
"Aldrin was originally supposed to be first, too. He had to deal with being introduced as the 'second man on the moon' until he was old and gray. He wasn't happy about it."
"Enza, why are you telling me all of this?"
Enza sighed. "I'm not trying to say that I'm Aldrin and you're Armstrong, or the other way around. Neither of us is; nobody in Alavieska is. At least, not yet. None of us has truly achieved greatness."
She turned away from her imaginary window in the wall and faced Athalia.
"The fourth stratum does exist. And I can't let you reach it. At first, I wondered why. But now my head is clearer than ever. You can't reach the fourth stratum because I have to make it there first. And it won't be a group effort like it often is on the Mountain. I'll become the first Solo Explorer."
Athalia's mouth gaped open. She's gone completely insane…
"The fourth stratum? What are you talking about?"
"It's a message I received from myself, but I believe it with all of my heart. I couldn't care less where it truly came from. All I know is I have a path forward. A path upward. The path of greatest resistance and highest gain. To the top of the world.
"All of this was about isolation in the first place, right? I finally realized it. Isolation is the natural state of all that lives, including me. I can't escape it through other people. I can only escape it by pursuing something far beyond those little connections humans form with each other. Whether you came to 'Assure' me or not, it wouldn't have mattered. I've contradicted isolation by rising above it alone—through the will for achievement. In order to complete my life, I have to achieve something unprecedentedly great. And that can only be reaching the fourth stratum. It exists."
Enza stormed past Athalia, toward the door.
Athalia lashed out and grabbed Enza's wrist. She spoke through gritted teeth.
"I couldn't care less about the fourth stratum. You don't have to stop me or race me there because I'm not going. I care about what I already have. I care about Sariel. You can have fun working towards some fairy-tale achievement by yourself. You say you've overcome your fear of isolation? Don't make me laugh. From the looks of it, you had nothing to be scared of in the first place. You don't even know the true form of what you think you're scared of. Your fear has always been watered down.
"You think you can imagine yourself as Sariel, can you? Do you think you can put yourself in his shoes? You stand in front of me on two feet. Your eyes are open. Even when I first opened this door, that feral version of you could move and see and hear. Even in a dream, you were too cowardly to go all the way; too scared to deprive yourself of those precious senses like sight and touch. You think just being trapped in a room is what makes Sariel suffer? It's because he can hear me, but can't reply. It's because he's been stripped of the senses that were supposed to give him the life of a human. How much more powerless can one be?
"To allow such a miserable life to continue is crueler than death—unless a cure is possible. And I know it is. This mountain is full of miracles. But it sounds like you don't want to imagine a miracle. A miracle is meant to help others. You don't want to save anyone other than yourself."
Enza met Athalia's eyes, unfazed by her anger.
"What will you do if Sariel's cure is on the fourth stratum?"
Without giving Athalia time to think, she clapped her hands, and their reality was torn to shreds.