>>5375370--- CRADLETON'S BIOMASS VAULT ---
"This is the vault where you store the biomass for the settlement right?" asked Solomon as they descended down the winding staircase.
"That's correct."
"So why the long trek?"
"It was the only place we could safely store it on short notice after the riot."
"Huh." Yan blinked at the sight. "There's two piles."
"The one on the left is the biomass pile from the Hunger riot event. The one on the right is the stockpile that the town uses."
"That's right." replied Andersen, pulling his wife into a security hug and began gently stroking her head. A tender gesture that yielded no resistance from the Matron.
"How many were involved in the Hunger riot?"
"One hundred and five, including ourselves." answered Jun, the seemingly rote statistic rattled off by the Matron was spoken with a tinge of heavy guilt. "Eighty-five daughters had to be put down."
"Has anyone eaten out of the pile made from the casualties of the hunger riot since the event?"
The Matron shook his head. "The survivors of the Hunger riot refused to eat from it."
"What about the newcomers? Have they eaten from the pile?" asked Yan, narrowing his eyes.
"They refused as well. Word of mouth travels quick in this place." replied Jun with another shake.
"And what about that meat merchant?"
"She took her share from the smaller biomass pile as well."
"So everyone ate from the smaller pile but not the pile consisting of the dead that resulted from the Hunger riot." Solomon mused, with a hand on his chin. "So who's supplying the meat from the smaller pile?"
"That would be me." said the manager. "The smaller pile everyone eats from is actually biomass carved from my own body."
Solomon and Yan turned turned as one to give a disturbed look at the monster-turned man, the Oni's gaze firmly fixed on the titanic entombed cadaver on the wall.
"I reckon the lower half of my body is about is gone. Both legs and my pelvis." he sighed, shaking his head. "Won't be able to fully grow them back until I start eating again, But even then, I can't eat people willy nilly. Not when I'm trying to uphold a promise."
"Are you okay?" asked Solomon.
The oni gave them a tired smile. "I'll get by." he replied. "I'll get by..."
"Well then, looks like we can consider ourselves lucky. A perfectly preserved pile of all the dead to account for." said Yan, reaching into his coat and pulling out a crest shaped relic depicting a predator's jaws flanked by wings carved into the crest's face.
A clawed arm is held out in front of Yan as runes carved themselves into the calcite and glowed. And from the ground, grew a headstone of blackened bone. Neuromancy and Skintalking danced in duet under the guidance of Vitruvian Modularity.
"In the name of the Imperial Arbiter..." Yan intoned as he knelt down and placed the crest against the headstone. "I command the land to reveal their secrets."
(to be continued...)
