don't actually drink phosphor it's not caffeinated

The Refuge had an eerie, cold aura around it, like the vague malaise before someone fell ill. The majority of citizens avoided the darkened streets altogether, while those who had to brave the outdoors hurried past with faces buried in their scarves. Even the brightest, most resilient lights began crystallizing too fast in the chill, much to the dismay of the city’s maintenance expert. 

“I was just here, and, this is gonna be my whole day today, huh–” The Lamplighter muttered to himself. The once-lit street he was at only an hour and a half before was already starting to dry up. He looked around. He saw no one through the halflight and, with the help of a guardrail, he climbed the dimmest lamp. Sitting on one of its decorative prongs did not look comfortable by any stretch of the imagination, though he managed. He hung a still-full jar of phosphor on the other prong, and got to scrubbing the inside of the glass with an old sponge. All the dead crystals sure didn’t want to come off…

Some seemed to be dimmer than the rest. He shook away a yawn as he let his bright gaze linger for a moment more before continuing walking down the barren street. Very few people passed by, rushing to get to their destinations as soon as possible. 'I can see why!’ His tiny footsteps on weary feet scarcely made a sound. Sensitive ears soon caught wind of a scrubbing noise. The prospect of someone with more knowledge than he returned the messiah’s former vigilance. He quickened his pace, making turns in the direction of the noise.

A lot of things could’ve been going better for Lampy, all things considered. Everything on his to-do list was already set back a few days thanks to the newfound cold, and with more bots finding new and interesting ways to die, it kept growing further. The idea that he needed to be in preparation to meet the Messiah himself, and by loose extension, God was so far out of his mind he just blotted the bright yellow light of the Sun out of his vision when it approached. He was winded just trying to de-crystal one lamp, let alone the hundreds in this sector alone… His humming had turned to grumbling at some point in the process about this or that. 

Something worth noting about the lamplighter is that he only has two things going for him: First, he’s an idiot. Second, he’s determined.

An important thing not included in that list? People skills. Of any sort. 

Upon hearing a tiny voice walking up to him and asking for his attention, he… panicked. Completely froze on the spot. 

And he lost his balance on the lamp prong. He crashed down to the sidewalk below with all the grace of a brick trying to achieve its first flight. He slooooowly stood back up to his full height, adjusted his hat, and gave himself a moment to readjust to the brightness in front of him. “Did you, um, need so-.” He stopped. The realization struck him fast. He coughed and attempted to put on his better, more official voice™, though even that turned to panic fast. “Oh god, I mean, um, goodness? Gracious?? It’s, you. Big fan?? Gonna save us all or something?? Do you need anything? That is the sun, right?” 

He felt a bit bad for calling out so suddenly. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you fall, sir.” Niko grew a bit bashful as he observed the figure drawing himself up rather.. oddly. He wasn’t one to judge though. The man looked more like what God had described as /humans/ than anyone else- other than that nice boy at the diner. Plus, he was a rather tall compared to his own small frame. Oh, but he noted one thing most of all. This person seemed very, veeery tired. Like he hadn’t slept in ages! That train of thought reminded the messiah that he, too, was exhausted. ‘Oh, but there’s no way that I’m as tired as this guy..‘ 

The man looked as if he were growing more anxious by the minute. His panic made Niko’s own stomach fill with butterflies. He smiled reassuringly and bobbed his head. The movement shifted his hat a little so he reached one hand up to adjust it before returning it to the well missed warmth of the Sun. Just a moment away from its exothermic nature was regrettable. “Yep! It’s the sun!” He paused nervously before adding, “I’m gonna try my best to save everyone, yeah..” A weak laugh. “I still gotta get to The Tower, though.. It seems forever away!” Niko grew a bit concerned, averting his gaze before returning it again to take in the man’s features.

Plight stretched upwards as if he were literally pushing his anxious thoughts aside, and the aura of social fear seemed to dissipate from him. All he needed was a moment, it turned out, to pick up the pieces of his professionalism that shattered on the ground where he’d landed. Okay. It was just a kid. He’d talked to one, like, once. He even asked about work. That’s something he could talk about for hours.  He cleared his throat for the second time.  

“It’s, um, not a problem. Being up there wasn’t the most effective anyway,” he began. “Not only am I in charge of every streetlight in the city, I also repair catwalks, roofs, elevators, houses, clean up litter and on…” He stopped dead in his tracks. What day was it again? “…Weekends, I deliver mail for the coolest people in the city. It’s a lot but, someone has to do it. Might as well be me.” Smooth delivery for someone in his predicament.

Okay, so he embellished a lot. The most probable takeaway from it though, with how he stood there, frazzled and slouched over, bruise forming on his cheek, hands covered in healing acid burns and shaking like a water glass in an earthquake, was that he was either full of nonsense or insane, and should lay down sometime. 

He took his gaze away from the bright light of the Sun and back up towards the lamp, half cleaned, and then the rest of the street. Dark. And no longer his problem. He transitioned back to staring at Niko with finger guns. 

The lamplighter sifted through his multitude of pockets digging around for something, and after a solid minute of rummaging, he finally found it. He unfurled what looked like a hand-drawn map of Refuge. It was riddled with enough holes, doodles, pencil marks, etc. to prove it was well-loved. He knelt down to Niko’s height and pointed to a spot on it. “The library is here,” he motioned across a canal and to the west a bit. “And we, currently, are here…ish. That’s, um, a ways. But I know a pretty great scenic route, if you’re interested.” He folded the map back up and passed it to the child, standing up. 

He picked up his hook and reached for the hanging phosphor jar before something else struck him. “Gonna. Need a minute, my sponge is still.” He pointed up at the lamp. “Y’know.” There he went, standing on the guardrail, then clambering up the post. At least he got the thoroughly crystallized, gross sponge from the streetlight without falling onto the sidewalk again. 

“The city’s a pretty great place I’d say,” he began, walking as far around a sewer grate as he could without crossing the street. “There isn’t much crime to speak of, politics aren’t a big issue, it’s got some amazing sights. I really don’t think I could be comfortable living anywhere else. Though, that might just be familiarity talking, not reason.” He sighed. “Paying rent sucks, let alone food costs with things only being able to grow in greenhouses now, working hours are god awful, er.” He stopped mid-step, as if waiting for his mind to catch up with his walking pace. “Can I just like, say that in your presence? Is that rude? I mean, I guess if I don’t get smited in the next ten minutes or so it’s not a problem but, uh… Anyway.” He continued forward again. “Right now all the scientists and people vaguely related to the scientists, so, um, me, mostly, are in this weird state where everything’s dying real fast. People, our food sources, water sources, phosphor, the world. Y’know. Kind of everything. So everyone’s all up in a tizzy trying to fix it, but nobody can come up with any workable solutions. But then not only are they trying to save the world, they’re also trying to fix the current, pressing issues like squares, keeping the city lit up, making sure all the bots are in working order, trying to put up better.. Infa.. info.. Hm. Better ways of keeping in communication with people for emergencies. Which means sometimes triple the hours and no days off. The whole system right now is ran by one lady and she’s really cool, yeah, but she’s also terrifying.” 

A few people, bots, others, gathered around a drawbridge that was twisted into an unnatural position, like partly-folded construction paper. A loud buzz could be heard from within the crowd, all too familiar despite being out of sight. 

The messiah listened closely as the man began speaking. Most of this stuff sounded like things that Mama would talk about reading in the newspaper. Or, otherwise known as ‘adult stuff’ to a young catchild. Problems like those never occurred in his homeland.

“I can’t imagine having to run all of that! That lady must have a lot of work on her hands, huh?” He thought back to everyone he had met so far. The only thing resembling a ‘lady’ he could think of was Silver, but even then.. He wasn’t sure if she could actually be called a lady, being a robot and all? It didn’t really matter since she was still pretty nice anyway. Thinking back, he’d remembered seeing some family artifacts in her lab- maybe the other person he’d seen could be behind it all? There weren’t all that many people in this world after all. However, that didn’t make it any less worth saving in the eyes of the messiah.

…If only they could stay careful in the time it took him to say them. Something got mistranslated along the way. “Y’know how those squares, um, do…. things?They mess with the catwalks above us a lot, and sometimes they… also… eat the canal bridges. And robots. But rarely people, at least. That’s, um, nice of them.” His mind retraced his words and he looked like he’d realized he chose the wrong dialogue option in some sort of game and was looking for the back button. 

He realized he’d still been clinging to Niko and let go of his sleeve, seeing as the chaos was far enough behind them. The distant whirring and buzzing of square particles could still be heard above the rest of the noise. “They do clear up on their own at least, though not before taking something with them… So, um, the Glen! What’s it like? With all those, um. Glen… folk.” 

Niko’s little face contorted rather noticably. ‘Rarely..?’ He knew it meant that it had to have happened before. He only hoped that nobody had been hurt in that particular incident. What could really be the cause of those things? It was beyond the messiah entirely. The thought scared him. ‘What if returning the sun doesn’t help anything?’ He shook the idea from his mind. There was no way that the robot he’d met back in the Barrens, Prophetbot, had lied to him.

His resolve only strengthened.

The messiah was quiet at first before thinking back a bit to his previous location. “The Glen? Well, uhm..” A small pause filled by the buzzing of squares in the distance, “There’s lots of phosphor filled trees and stuff- Oh, and glowy fireflies! There’s also a whole village of people that live there.” His voice softened, “I met a girl named Alula and her big brother Calamus, too. Alula was missing so Calamus had asked me to find her.. They’re both really nice. They gave me a golden feather, kinda like some odd journal I found. Oh, and the black clover pendant Silver gave me.” Digging through a pocket, Niko retrieved the golden feather. It was as bright as the sun in his other hand. “Lots of robots were there doing water tests and stuff like that.. No squares anywhere.”

The pair crossed a bridge to a side of town much better lit than the last. The haunted atmosphere continued to hang over them, perhaps stronger with the Tower directly over their heads. But, there was still more to see, and the lamplighter paid careful attention to the words Niko spoke. He perked up at a few of the names, trying to remember them. 

He lighted up significantly as he spoke. “A friend of mine has one of those phosphor tree things? Just, like, living in his apartment. He calls it his pet or something, it’s kinda weird. And I remember him saying they’re actually a type of grass which makes it double weird??? What’s up with that?” He paused and looked down at the feather. “Oh, that’s.. bright. And, uh. certainly something. And you said you had more glowing stuff?? That people just… hand to you?” 

They were reaching a much more familiar part of town – A wide street with shops on either side, a few food carts closed down. Were it a better day, there’d probably be plenty of people here idly shopping or meeting with friends. The mass of catwalk and elevator a few alleyways over proved they were getting much closer to their destination. 

Recovering rather quickly the child pieced together an answer, “Well, yeah, they just kinda.. gave me this stuff. I’m not sure of what they’re actually for, but they feel pretty important.” The manner in which he had recieved them, anyway, gave him that feeling. Those who had presented him with them seemed to have had a special attachment to it.

Niko’s brow raised in both confusion and amusement at the lamplighter’s claim of antiquity, “You don’t seem that old.. But, maybe you’ll get to go see it one day? When things are better?” He yawned before freeing up a hand by pocketing the feather. Everything was illuminated enough with the Sun and the suddenly brighter lighting anyway.

“I hope I can, honestly. Just, uh, during the daylight. Because despite being an ancient being, I’m, um, deathly afraid of the dark??? A little bit?  Sure makes my main job a bit more rewarding. And. Terrifying at the same time.” They turned a streetcorner at a perfect time for Plight to hide his deadpanned facial expression. “That being said, it’s… a limiter. Though I’m sure even though the city is this dark, it’s four times as bad anywhere else. And on the Tower? I hope there’s an elevator. Otherwise that’s a whole lot of stairs. And that many stairs just isn’t worth it.” 

Niko was actually greatful for a break from walking for the first time in a while. He hadn’t stopped since his last nap. He hopped up and sat beside the lamplighter, setting the Sun between them so it could perhaps provide some warmth to Mr.Lamplighter too. Kicking his feet idly, he stared blankly at the big city. The size should yield more of a population, but.. It was unsettling how it wasn’t bustling with bunches and bunches of different people. The only people he spotted walked fast and muttered quietly amongst themselves. He turned his eyes up to the abyss of a sky above the two. “This world..” A moment passed as the messiah gathered his words carefully.

“Everyone I’ve met has been so nice to me.”

Everything was still, even the movements of the few wanderers seemingly slowed.

“I’m going to miss everyone..”

He sat up before speaking. “I guess that’s the thing, y’know? The world… technically ended. We survived, I don’t know, ten years just, chillin’ out, basically. The days just fell into each other for so long we all forgot to start counting them. People poured their life savings into big houses and fancy projects as a means of living comfortably in the oncoming apocalypse. People went out of their way to do everything they wanted in the early days of the darkness. But then it just. Kept being dark. And then there started to be a body count, y’know? Everything just kept piling up. We lost an entire generation of scientists from the Barrens, we lost access to industrial phosphor, wood, hell, even the stone we’re sitting on is unobtainable without so much licensing and money, people just started making their own weird alternatives.  Friends would disappear just like they… fell off the disc, or something. And all that’s left are the people too tired, too traumatized, too numb to tragedy to hold onto their lives before the sun went out.” 

The lamplighter sighed. “But even despite all that, we had to hold onto hope somehow, I guess. It’s all that keeps us going. And, um, call it sappy, or optimistic, or whatever you want but,” He pulled out one of the jars at his side. The phosphor inside was a strange, half gelatinous, half slushy mess as it kept trying to form crystals but then got jostled. The remaining liquid let off a brighter light in his hands. “I think the more hope you have in something, the stronger it’s going to be. That’s what’s been keeping us here. And that’s what might be the difference between morning tomorrow or more of this half life.” 

“Soon, the sun will get put back and everything should go back to normal! You won’t have worry anymore, then, Mr.Lamplighter; nor will anybody else. There’s no way this world can just be-” He tried to search for a better word, but nothing more clear was in his vocabulary, “Gone like that.” The worry in his stomach stayed put like cement.

An eyebrow raised and the other furrowed as the child observed Mr.Lamplighter draw himself up and.. make rather noticable odd noises? Like his bones were cracking or something. It sent shivers. ‘That’s.. Probably not good.’

The lamplighter was silent for a bit, trying to think on both an answer and what Niko’d said. He half-shrugged before he started. “Well, that depends on whether or not you’re asking about the world or me. As far as the world goes, it was pretty.. phos. Pros. Prosper...?” He stopped mid-sentence, expression deadpanning. “Stuff was real good. It was.. technically perfect, from what I remember, though that... really isn’t saying much. I’m so used to this dark nonsense I can’t recall much from when we still had sunlight. I mean. Stuff like wheat and sugar didn’t need to be rationed. It was warmer. There were bugs, I think, like butterflies and bees and junk. There was a lot more people to say hi to. And like, rain? There was rain. A lot of it. But like, it was great. And some other stuff but, mostly, it just didn’t suck. If that makes any sense.” 

Now the area looked familiar...! The pair stumbled by the elevator and Plight motioned to go down a seedy looking alley. The area had a few transient square particles and, for some reason, the scent of wet rams permeated the lane like a virus. Realizing thus far they’d been taking their time, he hurried his pace just a little bit. 

He continued his tale between the alleyways. “As far as my life goes, I mean, I was a theatre kid if that tells you anything. Back then, the only thing I had to worry about was finishing college and looking cool in front of guys. Never did succeed in either of those things, but, you can’t win everything. I swear though, every time someone says they want to be like me or look up to me, I lose like, five years of life.” 

The Refuge had an eerie, cold aura around it, like the vague malaise before someone fell ill. The majority of citizens avoided the darkened streets altogether, while those who had to brave the outdoors hurried past with faces buried in their scarves. Even the brightest, most resilient lights began crystallizing too fast in the chill, much to the dismay of the city’s maintenance expert. 

“I was just here, and, this is gonna be my whole day today, huh–” The Lamplighter muttered to himself. The once-lit street he was at only an hour and a half before was already starting to dry up. He looked around. He saw no one through the halflight and, with the help of a guardrail, he climbed the dimmest lamp. Sitting on one of its decorative prongs did not look comfortable by any stretch of the imagination, though he managed. He hung a still-full jar of phosphor on the other prong, and got to scrubbing the inside of the glass with an old sponge. All the dead crystals sure didn’t want to come off…

Some seemed to be dimmer than the rest. He shook away a yawn as he let his bright gaze linger for a moment more before continuing walking down the barren street. Very few people passed by, rushing to get to their destinations as soon as possible. 'I can see why!’ His tiny footsteps on weary feet scarcely made a sound. Sensitive ears soon caught wind of a scrubbing noise. The prospect of someone with more knowledge than he returned the messiah’s former vigilance. He quickened his pace, making turns in the direction of the noise.

A lot of things could’ve been going better for Lampy, all things considered. Everything on his to-do list was already set back a few days thanks to the newfound cold, and with more bots finding new and interesting ways to die, it kept growing further. The idea that he needed to be in preparation to meet the Messiah himself, and by loose extension, God was so far out of his mind he just blotted the bright yellow light of the Sun out of his vision when it approached. He was winded just trying to de-crystal one lamp, let alone the hundreds in this sector alone… His humming had turned to grumbling at some point in the process about this or that. 

Something worth noting about the lamplighter is that he only has two things going for him: First, he’s an idiot. Second, he’s determined.

An important thing not included in that list? People skills. Of any sort. 

Upon hearing a tiny voice walking up to him and asking for his attention, he… panicked. Completely froze on the spot. 

And he lost his balance on the lamp prong. He crashed down to the sidewalk below with all the grace of a brick trying to achieve its first flight. He slooooowly stood back up to his full height, adjusted his hat, and gave himself a moment to readjust to the brightness in front of him. “Did you, um, need so-.” He stopped. The realization struck him fast. He coughed and attempted to put on his better, more official voice™, though even that turned to panic fast. “Oh god, I mean, um, goodness? Gracious?? It’s, you. Big fan?? Gonna save us all or something?? Do you need anything? That is the sun, right?” 

He felt a bit bad for calling out so suddenly. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you fall, sir.” Niko grew a bit bashful as he observed the figure drawing himself up rather.. oddly. He wasn’t one to judge though. The man looked more like what God had described as /humans/ than anyone else- other than that nice boy at the diner. Plus, he was a rather tall compared to his own small frame. Oh, but he noted one thing most of all. This person seemed very, veeery tired. Like he hadn’t slept in ages! That train of thought reminded the messiah that he, too, was exhausted. ‘Oh, but there’s no way that I’m as tired as this guy..‘ 

The man looked as if he were growing more anxious by the minute. His panic made Niko’s own stomach fill with butterflies. He smiled reassuringly and bobbed his head. The movement shifted his hat a little so he reached one hand up to adjust it before returning it to the well missed warmth of the Sun. Just a moment away from its exothermic nature was regrettable. “Yep! It’s the sun!” He paused nervously before adding, “I’m gonna try my best to save everyone, yeah..” A weak laugh. “I still gotta get to The Tower, though.. It seems forever away!” Niko grew a bit concerned, averting his gaze before returning it again to take in the man’s features.

Plight stretched upwards as if he were literally pushing his anxious thoughts aside, and the aura of social fear seemed to dissipate from him. All he needed was a moment, it turned out, to pick up the pieces of his professionalism that shattered on the ground where he’d landed. Okay. It was just a kid. He’d talked to one, like, once. He even asked about work. That’s something he could talk about for hours.  He cleared his throat for the second time.  

“It’s, um, not a problem. Being up there wasn’t the most effective anyway,” he began. “Not only am I in charge of every streetlight in the city, I also repair catwalks, roofs, elevators, houses, clean up litter and on…” He stopped dead in his tracks. What day was it again? “…Weekends, I deliver mail for the coolest people in the city. It’s a lot but, someone has to do it. Might as well be me.” Smooth delivery for someone in his predicament.

Okay, so he embellished a lot. The most probable takeaway from it though, with how he stood there, frazzled and slouched over, bruise forming on his cheek, hands covered in healing acid burns and shaking like a water glass in an earthquake, was that he was either full of nonsense or insane, and should lay down sometime. 

He took his gaze away from the bright light of the Sun and back up towards the lamp, half cleaned, and then the rest of the street. Dark. And no longer his problem. He transitioned back to staring at Niko with finger guns. 

The lamplighter sifted through his multitude of pockets digging around for something, and after a solid minute of rummaging, he finally found it. He unfurled what looked like a hand-drawn map of Refuge. It was riddled with enough holes, doodles, pencil marks, etc. to prove it was well-loved. He knelt down to Niko’s height and pointed to a spot on it. “The library is here,” he motioned across a canal and to the west a bit. “And we, currently, are here…ish. That’s, um, a ways. But I know a pretty great scenic route, if you’re interested.” He folded the map back up and passed it to the child, standing up. 

He picked up his hook and reached for the hanging phosphor jar before something else struck him. “Gonna. Need a minute, my sponge is still.” He pointed up at the lamp. “Y’know.” There he went, standing on the guardrail, then clambering up the post. At least he got the thoroughly crystallized, gross sponge from the streetlight without falling onto the sidewalk again. 

“The city’s a pretty great place I’d say,” he began, walking as far around a sewer grate as he could without crossing the street. “There isn’t much crime to speak of, politics aren’t a big issue, it’s got some amazing sights. I really don’t think I could be comfortable living anywhere else. Though, that might just be familiarity talking, not reason.” He sighed. “Paying rent sucks, let alone food costs with things only being able to grow in greenhouses now, working hours are god awful, er.” He stopped mid-step, as if waiting for his mind to catch up with his walking pace. “Can I just like, say that in your presence? Is that rude? I mean, I guess if I don’t get smited in the next ten minutes or so it’s not a problem but, uh… Anyway.” He continued forward again. “Right now all the scientists and people vaguely related to the scientists, so, um, me, mostly, are in this weird state where everything’s dying real fast. People, our food sources, water sources, phosphor, the world. Y’know. Kind of everything. So everyone’s all up in a tizzy trying to fix it, but nobody can come up with any workable solutions. But then not only are they trying to save the world, they’re also trying to fix the current, pressing issues like squares, keeping the city lit up, making sure all the bots are in working order, trying to put up better.. Infa.. info.. Hm. Better ways of keeping in communication with people for emergencies. Which means sometimes triple the hours and no days off. The whole system right now is ran by one lady and she’s really cool, yeah, but she’s also terrifying.” 

A few people, bots, others, gathered around a drawbridge that was twisted into an unnatural position, like partly-folded construction paper. A loud buzz could be heard from within the crowd, all too familiar despite being out of sight. 

The messiah listened closely as the man began speaking. Most of this stuff sounded like things that Mama would talk about reading in the newspaper. Or, otherwise known as ‘adult stuff’ to a young catchild. Problems like those never occurred in his homeland.

“I can’t imagine having to run all of that! That lady must have a lot of work on her hands, huh?” He thought back to everyone he had met so far. The only thing resembling a ‘lady’ he could think of was Silver, but even then.. He wasn’t sure if she could actually be called a lady, being a robot and all? It didn’t really matter since she was still pretty nice anyway. Thinking back, he’d remembered seeing some family artifacts in her lab- maybe the other person he’d seen could be behind it all? There weren’t all that many people in this world after all. However, that didn’t make it any less worth saving in the eyes of the messiah.

…If only they could stay careful in the time it took him to say them. Something got mistranslated along the way. “Y’know how those squares, um, do…. things?They mess with the catwalks above us a lot, and sometimes they… also… eat the canal bridges. And robots. But rarely people, at least. That’s, um, nice of them.” His mind retraced his words and he looked like he’d realized he chose the wrong dialogue option in some sort of game and was looking for the back button. 

He realized he’d still been clinging to Niko and let go of his sleeve, seeing as the chaos was far enough behind them. The distant whirring and buzzing of square particles could still be heard above the rest of the noise. “They do clear up on their own at least, though not before taking something with them… So, um, the Glen! What’s it like? With all those, um. Glen… folk.” 

Niko’s little face contorted rather noticably. ‘Rarely..?’ He knew it meant that it had to have happened before. He only hoped that nobody had been hurt in that particular incident. What could really be the cause of those things? It was beyond the messiah entirely. The thought scared him. ‘What if returning the sun doesn’t help anything?’ He shook the idea from his mind. There was no way that the robot he’d met back in the Barrens, Prophetbot, had lied to him.

His resolve only strengthened.

The messiah was quiet at first before thinking back a bit to his previous location. “The Glen? Well, uhm..” A small pause filled by the buzzing of squares in the distance, “There’s lots of phosphor filled trees and stuff- Oh, and glowy fireflies! There’s also a whole village of people that live there.” His voice softened, “I met a girl named Alula and her big brother Calamus, too. Alula was missing so Calamus had asked me to find her.. They’re both really nice. They gave me a golden feather, kinda like some odd journal I found. Oh, and the black clover pendant Silver gave me.” Digging through a pocket, Niko retrieved the golden feather. It was as bright as the sun in his other hand. “Lots of robots were there doing water tests and stuff like that.. No squares anywhere.”

The pair crossed a bridge to a side of town much better lit than the last. The haunted atmosphere continued to hang over them, perhaps stronger with the Tower directly over their heads. But, there was still more to see, and the lamplighter paid careful attention to the words Niko spoke. He perked up at a few of the names, trying to remember them. 

He lighted up significantly as he spoke. “A friend of mine has one of those phosphor tree things? Just, like, living in his apartment. He calls it his pet or something, it’s kinda weird. And I remember him saying they’re actually a type of grass which makes it double weird??? What’s up with that?” He paused and looked down at the feather. “Oh, that’s.. bright. And, uh. certainly something. And you said you had more glowing stuff?? That people just… hand to you?” 

They were reaching a much more familiar part of town – A wide street with shops on either side, a few food carts closed down. Were it a better day, there’d probably be plenty of people here idly shopping or meeting with friends. The mass of catwalk and elevator a few alleyways over proved they were getting much closer to their destination. 

Recovering rather quickly the child pieced together an answer, “Well, yeah, they just kinda.. gave me this stuff. I’m not sure of what they’re actually for, but they feel pretty important.” The manner in which he had recieved them, anyway, gave him that feeling. Those who had presented him with them seemed to have had a special attachment to it.

Niko’s brow raised in both confusion and amusement at the lamplighter’s claim of antiquity, “You don’t seem that old.. But, maybe you’ll get to go see it one day? When things are better?” He yawned before freeing up a hand by pocketing the feather. Everything was illuminated enough with the Sun and the suddenly brighter lighting anyway.

“I hope I can, honestly. Just, uh, during the daylight. Because despite being an ancient being, I’m, um, deathly afraid of the dark??? A little bit?  Sure makes my main job a bit more rewarding. And. Terrifying at the same time.” They turned a streetcorner at a perfect time for Plight to hide his deadpanned facial expression. “That being said, it’s… a limiter. Though I’m sure even though the city is this dark, it’s four times as bad anywhere else. And on the Tower? I hope there’s an elevator. Otherwise that’s a whole lot of stairs. And that many stairs just isn’t worth it.” 

Niko was actually greatful for a break from walking for the first time in a while. He hadn’t stopped since his last nap. He hopped up and sat beside the lamplighter, setting the Sun between them so it could perhaps provide some warmth to Mr.Lamplighter too. Kicking his feet idly, he stared blankly at the big city. The size should yield more of a population, but.. It was unsettling how it wasn’t bustling with bunches and bunches of different people. The only people he spotted walked fast and muttered quietly amongst themselves. He turned his eyes up to the abyss of a sky above the two. “This world..” A moment passed as the messiah gathered his words carefully.

“Everyone I’ve met has been so nice to me.”

Everything was still, even the movements of the few wanderers seemingly slowed.

“I’m going to miss everyone..”

He sat up before speaking. “I guess that’s the thing, y’know? The world... technically ended. We survived, I don’t know, ten years just, chillin’ out, basically. The days just fell into each other for so long we all forgot to start counting them. People poured their life savings into big houses and fancy projects as a means of living comfortably in the oncoming apocalypse. People went out of their way to do everything they wanted in the early days of the darkness. But then it just. Kept being dark. And then there started to be a body count, y’know? Everything just kept piling up. We lost an entire generation of scientists from the Barrens, we lost access to industrial phosphor, wood, hell, even the stone we’re sitting on is unobtainable without so much licensing and money, people just started making their own weird alternatives.  Friends would disappear just like they... fell off the disc, or something. And all that’s left are the people too tired, too traumatized, too numb to tragedy to hold onto their lives before the sun went out.” 

The lamplighter sighed. “But even despite all that, we had to hold onto hope somehow, I guess. It’s all that keeps us going. And, um, call it sappy, or optimistic, or whatever you want but,” He pulled out one of the jars at his side. The phosphor inside was a strange, half gelatinous, half slushy mess as it kept trying to form crystals but then got jostled. The remaining liquid let off a brighter light in his hands. “I think the more hope you have in something, the stronger it’s going to be. That’s what’s been keeping us here. And that’s what might be the difference between morning tomorrow or more of this half life.” 

The Refuge had an eerie, cold aura around it, like the vague malaise before someone fell ill. The majority of citizens avoided the darkened streets altogether, while those who had to brave the outdoors hurried past with faces buried in their scarves. Even the brightest, most resilient lights began crystallizing too fast in the chill, much to the dismay of the city’s maintenance expert. 

“I was just here, and, this is gonna be my whole day today, huh–” The Lamplighter muttered to himself. The once-lit street he was at only an hour and a half before was already starting to dry up. He looked around. He saw no one through the halflight and, with the help of a guardrail, he climbed the dimmest lamp. Sitting on one of its decorative prongs did not look comfortable by any stretch of the imagination, though he managed. He hung a still-full jar of phosphor on the other prong, and got to scrubbing the inside of the glass with an old sponge. All the dead crystals sure didn’t want to come off…

Some seemed to be dimmer than the rest. He shook away a yawn as he let his bright gaze linger for a moment more before continuing walking down the barren street. Very few people passed by, rushing to get to their destinations as soon as possible. 'I can see why!’ His tiny footsteps on weary feet scarcely made a sound. Sensitive ears soon caught wind of a scrubbing noise. The prospect of someone with more knowledge than he returned the messiah’s former vigilance. He quickened his pace, making turns in the direction of the noise.

A lot of things could’ve been going better for Lampy, all things considered. Everything on his to-do list was already set back a few days thanks to the newfound cold, and with more bots finding new and interesting ways to die, it kept growing further. The idea that he needed to be in preparation to meet the Messiah himself, and by loose extension, God was so far out of his mind he just blotted the bright yellow light of the Sun out of his vision when it approached. He was winded just trying to de-crystal one lamp, let alone the hundreds in this sector alone… His humming had turned to grumbling at some point in the process about this or that. 

Something worth noting about the lamplighter is that he only has two things going for him: First, he’s an idiot. Second, he’s determined.

An important thing not included in that list? People skills. Of any sort. 

Upon hearing a tiny voice walking up to him and asking for his attention, he… panicked. Completely froze on the spot. 

And he lost his balance on the lamp prong. He crashed down to the sidewalk below with all the grace of a brick trying to achieve its first flight. He slooooowly stood back up to his full height, adjusted his hat, and gave himself a moment to readjust to the brightness in front of him. “Did you, um, need so-.” He stopped. The realization struck him fast. He coughed and attempted to put on his better, more official voice™, though even that turned to panic fast. “Oh god, I mean, um, goodness? Gracious?? It’s, you. Big fan?? Gonna save us all or something?? Do you need anything? That is the sun, right?” 

He felt a bit bad for calling out so suddenly. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you fall, sir.” Niko grew a bit bashful as he observed the figure drawing himself up rather.. oddly. He wasn’t one to judge though. The man looked more like what God had described as /humans/ than anyone else- other than that nice boy at the diner. Plus, he was a rather tall compared to his own small frame. Oh, but he noted one thing most of all. This person seemed very, veeery tired. Like he hadn’t slept in ages! That train of thought reminded the messiah that he, too, was exhausted. ‘Oh, but there’s no way that I’m as tired as this guy..‘ 

The man looked as if he were growing more anxious by the minute. His panic made Niko’s own stomach fill with butterflies. He smiled reassuringly and bobbed his head. The movement shifted his hat a little so he reached one hand up to adjust it before returning it to the well missed warmth of the Sun. Just a moment away from its exothermic nature was regrettable. “Yep! It’s the sun!” He paused nervously before adding, “I’m gonna try my best to save everyone, yeah..” A weak laugh. “I still gotta get to The Tower, though.. It seems forever away!” Niko grew a bit concerned, averting his gaze before returning it again to take in the man’s features.

Plight stretched upwards as if he were literally pushing his anxious thoughts aside, and the aura of social fear seemed to dissipate from him. All he needed was a moment, it turned out, to pick up the pieces of his professionalism that shattered on the ground where he’d landed. Okay. It was just a kid. He’d talked to one, like, once. He even asked about work. That’s something he could talk about for hours.  He cleared his throat for the second time.  

“It’s, um, not a problem. Being up there wasn’t the most effective anyway,” he began. “Not only am I in charge of every streetlight in the city, I also repair catwalks, roofs, elevators, houses, clean up litter and on…” He stopped dead in his tracks. What day was it again? “…Weekends, I deliver mail for the coolest people in the city. It’s a lot but, someone has to do it. Might as well be me.” Smooth delivery for someone in his predicament.

Okay, so he embellished a lot. The most probable takeaway from it though, with how he stood there, frazzled and slouched over, bruise forming on his cheek, hands covered in healing acid burns and shaking like a water glass in an earthquake, was that he was either full of nonsense or insane, and should lay down sometime. 

He took his gaze away from the bright light of the Sun and back up towards the lamp, half cleaned, and then the rest of the street. Dark. And no longer his problem. He transitioned back to staring at Niko with finger guns. 

The lamplighter sifted through his multitude of pockets digging around for something, and after a solid minute of rummaging, he finally found it. He unfurled what looked like a hand-drawn map of Refuge. It was riddled with enough holes, doodles, pencil marks, etc. to prove it was well-loved. He knelt down to Niko’s height and pointed to a spot on it. “The library is here,” he motioned across a canal and to the west a bit. “And we, currently, are here…ish. That’s, um, a ways. But I know a pretty great scenic route, if you’re interested.” He folded the map back up and passed it to the child, standing up. 

He picked up his hook and reached for the hanging phosphor jar before something else struck him. “Gonna. Need a minute, my sponge is still.” He pointed up at the lamp. “Y’know.” There he went, standing on the guardrail, then clambering up the post. At least he got the thoroughly crystallized, gross sponge from the streetlight without falling onto the sidewalk again. 

“The city’s a pretty great place I’d say,” he began, walking as far around a sewer grate as he could without crossing the street. “There isn’t much crime to speak of, politics aren’t a big issue, it’s got some amazing sights. I really don’t think I could be comfortable living anywhere else. Though, that might just be familiarity talking, not reason.” He sighed. “Paying rent sucks, let alone food costs with things only being able to grow in greenhouses now, working hours are god awful, er.” He stopped mid-step, as if waiting for his mind to catch up with his walking pace. “Can I just like, say that in your presence? Is that rude? I mean, I guess if I don’t get smited in the next ten minutes or so it’s not a problem but, uh… Anyway.” He continued forward again. “Right now all the scientists and people vaguely related to the scientists, so, um, me, mostly, are in this weird state where everything’s dying real fast. People, our food sources, water sources, phosphor, the world. Y’know. Kind of everything. So everyone’s all up in a tizzy trying to fix it, but nobody can come up with any workable solutions. But then not only are they trying to save the world, they’re also trying to fix the current, pressing issues like squares, keeping the city lit up, making sure all the bots are in working order, trying to put up better.. Infa.. info.. Hm. Better ways of keeping in communication with people for emergencies. Which means sometimes triple the hours and no days off. The whole system right now is ran by one lady and she’s really cool, yeah, but she’s also terrifying.” 

A few people, bots, others, gathered around a drawbridge that was twisted into an unnatural position, like partly-folded construction paper. A loud buzz could be heard from within the crowd, all too familiar despite being out of sight. 

The messiah listened closely as the man began speaking. Most of this stuff sounded like things that Mama would talk about reading in the newspaper. Or, otherwise known as ‘adult stuff’ to a young catchild. Problems like those never occurred in his homeland.

“I can’t imagine having to run all of that! That lady must have a lot of work on her hands, huh?” He thought back to everyone he had met so far. The only thing resembling a ‘lady’ he could think of was Silver, but even then.. He wasn’t sure if she could actually be called a lady, being a robot and all? It didn’t really matter since she was still pretty nice anyway. Thinking back, he’d remembered seeing some family artifacts in her lab- maybe the other person he’d seen could be behind it all? There weren’t all that many people in this world after all. However, that didn’t make it any less worth saving in the eyes of the messiah.

…If only they could stay careful in the time it took him to say them. Something got mistranslated along the way. “Y’know how those squares, um, do…. things?They mess with the catwalks above us a lot, and sometimes they… also… eat the canal bridges. And robots. But rarely people, at least. That’s, um, nice of them.” His mind retraced his words and he looked like he’d realized he chose the wrong dialogue option in some sort of game and was looking for the back button. 

He realized he’d still been clinging to Niko and let go of his sleeve, seeing as the chaos was far enough behind them. The distant whirring and buzzing of square particles could still be heard above the rest of the noise. “They do clear up on their own at least, though not before taking something with them… So, um, the Glen! What’s it like? With all those, um. Glen… folk.” 

Niko’s little face contorted rather noticably. ‘Rarely..?’ He knew it meant that it had to have happened before. He only hoped that nobody had been hurt in that particular incident. What could really be the cause of those things? It was beyond the messiah entirely. The thought scared him. ‘What if returning the sun doesn’t help anything?’ He shook the idea from his mind. There was no way that the robot he’d met back in the Barrens, Prophetbot, had lied to him.

His resolve only strengthened.

The messiah was quiet at first before thinking back a bit to his previous location. “The Glen? Well, uhm..” A small pause filled by the buzzing of squares in the distance, “There’s lots of phosphor filled trees and stuff- Oh, and glowy fireflies! There’s also a whole village of people that live there.” His voice softened, “I met a girl named Alula and her big brother Calamus, too. Alula was missing so Calamus had asked me to find her.. They’re both really nice. They gave me a golden feather, kinda like some odd journal I found. Oh, and the black clover pendant Silver gave me.” Digging through a pocket, Niko retrieved the golden feather. It was as bright as the sun in his other hand. “Lots of robots were there doing water tests and stuff like that.. No squares anywhere.”

The pair crossed a bridge to a side of town much better lit than the last. The haunted atmosphere continued to hang over them, perhaps stronger with the Tower directly over their heads. But, there was still more to see, and the lamplighter paid careful attention to the words Niko spoke. He perked up at a few of the names, trying to remember them. 

He lighted up significantly as he spoke. “A friend of mine has one of those phosphor tree things? Just, like, living in his apartment. He calls it his pet or something, it’s kinda weird. And I remember him saying they’re actually a type of grass which makes it double weird??? What’s up with that?” He paused and looked down at the feather. “Oh, that’s.. bright. And, uh. certainly something. And you said you had more glowing stuff?? That people just… hand to you?” 

They were reaching a much more familiar part of town – A wide street with shops on either side, a few food carts closed down. Were it a better day, there’d probably be plenty of people here idly shopping or meeting with friends. The mass of catwalk and elevator a few alleyways over proved they were getting much closer to their destination. 

Recovering rather quickly the child pieced together an answer, “Well, yeah, they just kinda.. gave me this stuff. I’m not sure of what they’re actually for, but they feel pretty important.” The manner in which he had recieved them, anyway, gave him that feeling. Those who had presented him with them seemed to have had a special attachment to it.

Niko’s brow raised in both confusion and amusement at the lamplighter’s claim of antiquity, “You don’t seem that old.. But, maybe you’ll get to go see it one day? When things are better?” He yawned before freeing up a hand by pocketing the feather. Everything was illuminated enough with the Sun and the suddenly brighter lighting anyway.

“I hope I can, honestly. Just, uh, during the daylight. Because despite being an ancient being, I’m, um, deathly afraid of the dark??? A little bit?  Sure makes my main job a bit more rewarding. And. Terrifying at the same time.” They turned a streetcorner at a perfect time for Plight to hide his deadpanned facial expression. “That being said, it’s... a limiter. Though I’m sure even though the city is this dark, it’s four times as bad anywhere else. And on the Tower? I hope there’s an elevator. Otherwise that’s a whole lot of stairs. And that many stairs just isn’t worth it.” 

The Refuge had an eerie, cold aura around it, like the vague malaise before someone fell ill. The majority of citizens avoided the darkened streets altogether, while those who had to brave the outdoors hurried past with faces buried in their scarves. Even the brightest, most resilient lights began crystallizing too fast in the chill, much to the dismay of the city’s maintenance expert. 

“I was just here, and, this is gonna be my whole day today, huh–” The Lamplighter muttered to himself. The once-lit street he was at only an hour and a half before was already starting to dry up. He looked around. He saw no one through the halflight and, with the help of a guardrail, he climbed the dimmest lamp. Sitting on one of its decorative prongs did not look comfortable by any stretch of the imagination, though he managed. He hung a still-full jar of phosphor on the other prong, and got to scrubbing the inside of the glass with an old sponge. All the dead crystals sure didn’t want to come off…

Some seemed to be dimmer than the rest. He shook away a yawn as he let his bright gaze linger for a moment more before continuing walking down the barren street. Very few people passed by, rushing to get to their destinations as soon as possible. 'I can see why!’ His tiny footsteps on weary feet scarcely made a sound. Sensitive ears soon caught wind of a scrubbing noise. The prospect of someone with more knowledge than he returned the messiah’s former vigilance. He quickened his pace, making turns in the direction of the noise.

A lot of things could’ve been going better for Lampy, all things considered. Everything on his to-do list was already set back a few days thanks to the newfound cold, and with more bots finding new and interesting ways to die, it kept growing further. The idea that he needed to be in preparation to meet the Messiah himself, and by loose extension, God was so far out of his mind he just blotted the bright yellow light of the Sun out of his vision when it approached. He was winded just trying to de-crystal one lamp, let alone the hundreds in this sector alone… His humming had turned to grumbling at some point in the process about this or that. 

Something worth noting about the lamplighter is that he only has two things going for him: First, he’s an idiot. Second, he’s determined.

An important thing not included in that list? People skills. Of any sort. 

Upon hearing a tiny voice walking up to him and asking for his attention, he… panicked. Completely froze on the spot. 

And he lost his balance on the lamp prong. He crashed down to the sidewalk below with all the grace of a brick trying to achieve its first flight. He slooooowly stood back up to his full height, adjusted his hat, and gave himself a moment to readjust to the brightness in front of him. “Did you, um, need so-.” He stopped. The realization struck him fast. He coughed and attempted to put on his better, more official voice™, though even that turned to panic fast. “Oh god, I mean, um, goodness? Gracious?? It’s, you. Big fan?? Gonna save us all or something?? Do you need anything? That is the sun, right?” 

He felt a bit bad for calling out so suddenly. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you fall, sir.” Niko grew a bit bashful as he observed the figure drawing himself up rather.. oddly. He wasn’t one to judge though. The man looked more like what God had described as /humans/ than anyone else- other than that nice boy at the diner. Plus, he was a rather tall compared to his own small frame. Oh, but he noted one thing most of all. This person seemed very, veeery tired. Like he hadn’t slept in ages! That train of thought reminded the messiah that he, too, was exhausted. ‘Oh, but there’s no way that I’m as tired as this guy..‘ 

The man looked as if he were growing more anxious by the minute. His panic made Niko’s own stomach fill with butterflies. He smiled reassuringly and bobbed his head. The movement shifted his hat a little so he reached one hand up to adjust it before returning it to the well missed warmth of the Sun. Just a moment away from its exothermic nature was regrettable. “Yep! It’s the sun!” He paused nervously before adding, “I’m gonna try my best to save everyone, yeah..” A weak laugh. “I still gotta get to The Tower, though.. It seems forever away!” Niko grew a bit concerned, averting his gaze before returning it again to take in the man’s features.

Plight stretched upwards as if he were literally pushing his anxious thoughts aside, and the aura of social fear seemed to dissipate from him. All he needed was a moment, it turned out, to pick up the pieces of his professionalism that shattered on the ground where he’d landed. Okay. It was just a kid. He’d talked to one, like, once. He even asked about work. That’s something he could talk about for hours.  He cleared his throat for the second time.  

“It’s, um, not a problem. Being up there wasn’t the most effective anyway,” he began. “Not only am I in charge of every streetlight in the city, I also repair catwalks, roofs, elevators, houses, clean up litter and on…” He stopped dead in his tracks. What day was it again? “…Weekends, I deliver mail for the coolest people in the city. It’s a lot but, someone has to do it. Might as well be me.” Smooth delivery for someone in his predicament.

Okay, so he embellished a lot. The most probable takeaway from it though, with how he stood there, frazzled and slouched over, bruise forming on his cheek, hands covered in healing acid burns and shaking like a water glass in an earthquake, was that he was either full of nonsense or insane, and should lay down sometime. 

He took his gaze away from the bright light of the Sun and back up towards the lamp, half cleaned, and then the rest of the street. Dark. And no longer his problem. He transitioned back to staring at Niko with finger guns. 

The lamplighter sifted through his multitude of pockets digging around for something, and after a solid minute of rummaging, he finally found it. He unfurled what looked like a hand-drawn map of Refuge. It was riddled with enough holes, doodles, pencil marks, etc. to prove it was well-loved. He knelt down to Niko’s height and pointed to a spot on it. “The library is here,” he motioned across a canal and to the west a bit. “And we, currently, are here…ish. That’s, um, a ways. But I know a pretty great scenic route, if you’re interested.” He folded the map back up and passed it to the child, standing up. 

He picked up his hook and reached for the hanging phosphor jar before something else struck him. “Gonna. Need a minute, my sponge is still.” He pointed up at the lamp. “Y’know.” There he went, standing on the guardrail, then clambering up the post. At least he got the thoroughly crystallized, gross sponge from the streetlight without falling onto the sidewalk again. 

“The city’s a pretty great place I’d say,” he began, walking as far around a sewer grate as he could without crossing the street. “There isn’t much crime to speak of, politics aren’t a big issue, it’s got some amazing sights. I really don’t think I could be comfortable living anywhere else. Though, that might just be familiarity talking, not reason.” He sighed. “Paying rent sucks, let alone food costs with things only being able to grow in greenhouses now, working hours are god awful, er.” He stopped mid-step, as if waiting for his mind to catch up with his walking pace. “Can I just like, say that in your presence? Is that rude? I mean, I guess if I don’t get smited in the next ten minutes or so it’s not a problem but, uh… Anyway.” He continued forward again. “Right now all the scientists and people vaguely related to the scientists, so, um, me, mostly, are in this weird state where everything’s dying real fast. People, our food sources, water sources, phosphor, the world. Y’know. Kind of everything. So everyone’s all up in a tizzy trying to fix it, but nobody can come up with any workable solutions. But then not only are they trying to save the world, they’re also trying to fix the current, pressing issues like squares, keeping the city lit up, making sure all the bots are in working order, trying to put up better.. Infa.. info.. Hm. Better ways of keeping in communication with people for emergencies. Which means sometimes triple the hours and no days off. The whole system right now is ran by one lady and she’s really cool, yeah, but she’s also terrifying.” 

A few people, bots, others, gathered around a drawbridge that was twisted into an unnatural position, like partly-folded construction paper. A loud buzz could be heard from within the crowd, all too familiar despite being out of sight. 

The messiah listened closely as the man began speaking. Most of this stuff sounded like things that Mama would talk about reading in the newspaper. Or, otherwise known as ‘adult stuff’ to a young catchild. Problems like those never occurred in his homeland.

“I can’t imagine having to run all of that! That lady must have a lot of work on her hands, huh?” He thought back to everyone he had met so far. The only thing resembling a ‘lady’ he could think of was Silver, but even then.. He wasn’t sure if she could actually be called a lady, being a robot and all? It didn’t really matter since she was still pretty nice anyway. Thinking back, he’d remembered seeing some family artifacts in her lab- maybe the other person he’d seen could be behind it all? There weren’t all that many people in this world after all. However, that didn’t make it any less worth saving in the eyes of the messiah.

…If only they could stay careful in the time it took him to say them. Something got mistranslated along the way. “Y’know how those squares, um, do…. things?They mess with the catwalks above us a lot, and sometimes they… also… eat the canal bridges. And robots. But rarely people, at least. That’s, um, nice of them.” His mind retraced his words and he looked like he’d realized he chose the wrong dialogue option in some sort of game and was looking for the back button. 

He realized he’d still been clinging to Niko and let go of his sleeve, seeing as the chaos was far enough behind them. The distant whirring and buzzing of square particles could still be heard above the rest of the noise. “They do clear up on their own at least, though not before taking something with them… So, um, the Glen! What’s it like? With all those, um. Glen… folk.” 

Niko’s little face contorted rather noticably. 'Rarely..?’ He knew it meant that it had to have happened before. He only hoped that nobody had been hurt in that particular incident. What could really be the cause of those things? It was beyond the messiah entirely. The thought scared him. 'What if returning the sun doesn’t help anything?’ He shook the idea from his mind. There was no way that the robot he’d met back in the Barrens, Prophetbot, had lied to him.

His resolve only strengthened.

The messiah was quiet at first before thinking back a bit to his previous location. “The Glen? Well, uhm..” A small pause filled by the buzzing of squares in the distance, “There’s lots of phosphor filled trees and stuff- Oh, and glowy fireflies! There’s also a whole village of people that live there.” His voice softened, “I met a girl named Alula and her big brother Calamus, too. Alula was missing so Calamus had asked me to find her.. They’re both really nice. They gave me a golden feather, kinda like some odd journal I found. Oh, and the black clover pendant Silver gave me.” Digging through a pocket, Niko retrieved the golden feather. It was as bright as the sun in his other hand. “Lots of robots were there doing water tests and stuff like that.. No squares anywhere.”

The pair crossed a bridge to a side of town much better lit than the last. The haunted atmosphere continued to hang over them, perhaps stronger with the Tower directly over their heads. But, there was still more to see, and the lamplighter paid careful attention to the words Niko spoke. He perked up at a few of the names, trying to remember them. 

He lighted up significantly as he spoke. “A friend of mine has one of those phosphor tree things? Just, like, living in his apartment. He calls it his pet or something, it’s kinda weird. And I remember him saying they’re actually a type of grass which makes it double weird??? What’s up with that?” He paused and looked down at the feather. “Oh, that’s.. bright. And, uh. certainly something. And you said you had more glowing stuff?? That people just... hand to you?” 

They were reaching a much more familiar part of town -- A wide street with shops on either side, a few food carts closed down. Were it a better day, there’d probably be plenty of people here idly shopping or meeting with friends. The mass of catwalk and elevator a few alleyways over proved they were getting much closer to their destination. 

The Refuge had an eerie, cold aura around it, like the vague malaise before someone fell ill. The majority of citizens avoided the darkened streets altogether, while those who had to brave the outdoors hurried past with faces buried in their scarves. Even the brightest, most resilient lights began crystallizing too fast in the chill, much to the dismay of the city’s maintenance expert. 

“I was just here, and, this is gonna be my whole day today, huh–” The Lamplighter muttered to himself. The once-lit street he was at only an hour and a half before was already starting to dry up. He looked around. He saw no one through the halflight and, with the help of a guardrail, he climbed the dimmest lamp. Sitting on one of its decorative prongs did not look comfortable by any stretch of the imagination, though he managed. He hung a still-full jar of phosphor on the other prong, and got to scrubbing the inside of the glass with an old sponge. All the dead crystals sure didn’t want to come off…

Some seemed to be dimmer than the rest. He shook away a yawn as he let his bright gaze linger for a moment more before continuing walking down the barren street. Very few people passed by, rushing to get to their destinations as soon as possible. 'I can see why!’ His tiny footsteps on weary feet scarcely made a sound. Sensitive ears soon caught wind of a scrubbing noise. The prospect of someone with more knowledge than he returned the messiah’s former vigilance. He quickened his pace, making turns in the direction of the noise.

A lot of things could’ve been going better for Lampy, all things considered. Everything on his to-do list was already set back a few days thanks to the newfound cold, and with more bots finding new and interesting ways to die, it kept growing further. The idea that he needed to be in preparation to meet the Messiah himself, and by loose extension, God was so far out of his mind he just blotted the bright yellow light of the Sun out of his vision when it approached. He was winded just trying to de-crystal one lamp, let alone the hundreds in this sector alone… His humming had turned to grumbling at some point in the process about this or that. 

Something worth noting about the lamplighter is that he only has two things going for him: First, he’s an idiot. Second, he’s determined.

An important thing not included in that list? People skills. Of any sort. 

Upon hearing a tiny voice walking up to him and asking for his attention, he… panicked. Completely froze on the spot. 

And he lost his balance on the lamp prong. He crashed down to the sidewalk below with all the grace of a brick trying to achieve its first flight. He slooooowly stood back up to his full height, adjusted his hat, and gave himself a moment to readjust to the brightness in front of him. “Did you, um, need so-.” He stopped. The realization struck him fast. He coughed and attempted to put on his better, more official voice™, though even that turned to panic fast. “Oh god, I mean, um, goodness? Gracious?? It’s, you. Big fan?? Gonna save us all or something?? Do you need anything? That is the sun, right?” 

He felt a bit bad for calling out so suddenly. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you fall, sir.” Niko grew a bit bashful as he observed the figure drawing himself up rather.. oddly. He wasn’t one to judge though. The man looked more like what God had described as /humans/ than anyone else- other than that nice boy at the diner. Plus, he was a rather tall compared to his own small frame. Oh, but he noted one thing most of all. This person seemed very, veeery tired. Like he hadn’t slept in ages! That train of thought reminded the messiah that he, too, was exhausted. ‘Oh, but there’s no way that I’m as tired as this guy..‘ 

The man looked as if he were growing more anxious by the minute. His panic made Niko’s own stomach fill with butterflies. He smiled reassuringly and bobbed his head. The movement shifted his hat a little so he reached one hand up to adjust it before returning it to the well missed warmth of the Sun. Just a moment away from its exothermic nature was regrettable. “Yep! It’s the sun!” He paused nervously before adding, “I’m gonna try my best to save everyone, yeah..” A weak laugh. “I still gotta get to The Tower, though.. It seems forever away!” Niko grew a bit concerned, averting his gaze before returning it again to take in the man’s features.

Plight stretched upwards as if he were literally pushing his anxious thoughts aside, and the aura of social fear seemed to dissipate from him. All he needed was a moment, it turned out, to pick up the pieces of his professionalism that shattered on the ground where he’d landed. Okay. It was just a kid. He’d talked to one, like, once. He even asked about work. That’s something he could talk about for hours.  He cleared his throat for the second time.  

“It’s, um, not a problem. Being up there wasn’t the most effective anyway,” he began. “Not only am I in charge of every streetlight in the city, I also repair catwalks, roofs, elevators, houses, clean up litter and on…” He stopped dead in his tracks. What day was it again? “…Weekends, I deliver mail for the coolest people in the city. It’s a lot but, someone has to do it. Might as well be me.” Smooth delivery for someone in his predicament.

Okay, so he embellished a lot. The most probable takeaway from it though, with how he stood there, frazzled and slouched over, bruise forming on his cheek, hands covered in healing acid burns and shaking like a water glass in an earthquake, was that he was either full of nonsense or insane, and should lay down sometime. 

He took his gaze away from the bright light of the Sun and back up towards the lamp, half cleaned, and then the rest of the street. Dark. And no longer his problem. He transitioned back to staring at Niko with finger guns. 

The lamplighter sifted through his multitude of pockets digging around for something, and after a solid minute of rummaging, he finally found it. He unfurled what looked like a hand-drawn map of Refuge. It was riddled with enough holes, doodles, pencil marks, etc. to prove it was well-loved. He knelt down to Niko’s height and pointed to a spot on it. “The library is here,” he motioned across a canal and to the west a bit. “And we, currently, are here…ish. That’s, um, a ways. But I know a pretty great scenic route, if you’re interested.” He folded the map back up and passed it to the child, standing up. 

He picked up his hook and reached for the hanging phosphor jar before something else struck him. “Gonna. Need a minute, my sponge is still.” He pointed up at the lamp. “Y’know.” There he went, standing on the guardrail, then clambering up the post. At least he got the thoroughly crystallized, gross sponge from the streetlight without falling onto the sidewalk again. 

“The city’s a pretty great place I’d say,” he began, walking as far around a sewer grate as he could without crossing the street. “There isn’t much crime to speak of, politics aren’t a big issue, it’s got some amazing sights. I really don’t think I could be comfortable living anywhere else. Though, that might just be familiarity talking, not reason.” He sighed. “Paying rent sucks, let alone food costs with things only being able to grow in greenhouses now, working hours are god awful, er.” He stopped mid-step, as if waiting for his mind to catch up with his walking pace. “Can I just like, say that in your presence? Is that rude? I mean, I guess if I don’t get smited in the next ten minutes or so it’s not a problem but, uh… Anyway.” He continued forward again. “Right now all the scientists and people vaguely related to the scientists, so, um, me, mostly, are in this weird state where everything’s dying real fast. People, our food sources, water sources, phosphor, the world. Y’know. Kind of everything. So everyone’s all up in a tizzy trying to fix it, but nobody can come up with any workable solutions. But then not only are they trying to save the world, they’re also trying to fix the current, pressing issues like squares, keeping the city lit up, making sure all the bots are in working order, trying to put up better.. Infa.. info.. Hm. Better ways of keeping in communication with people for emergencies. Which means sometimes triple the hours and no days off. The whole system right now is ran by one lady and she’s really cool, yeah, but she’s also terrifying.” 

A few people, bots, others, gathered around a drawbridge that was twisted into an unnatural position, like partly-folded construction paper. A loud buzz could be heard from within the crowd, all too familiar despite being out of sight. 

The messiah listened closely as the man began speaking. Most of this stuff sounded like things that Mama would talk about reading in the newspaper. Or, otherwise known as 'adult stuff’ to a young catchild. Problems like those never occurred in his homeland.

“I can’t imagine having to run all of that! That lady must have a lot of work on her hands, huh?” He thought back to everyone he had met so far. The only thing resembling a 'lady’ he could think of was Silver, but even then.. He wasn’t sure if she could actually be called a lady, being a robot and all? It didn’t really matter since she was still pretty nice anyway. Thinking back, he’d remembered seeing some family artifacts in her lab- maybe the other person he’d seen could be behind it all? There weren’t all that many people in this world after all. However, that didn’t make it any less worth saving in the eyes of the messiah.

...If only they could stay careful in the time it took him to say them. Something got mistranslated along the way. “Y’know how those squares, um, do.... things?They mess with the catwalks above us a lot, and sometimes they... also... eat the canal bridges. And robots. But rarely people, at least. That’s, um, nice of them.” His mind retraced his words and he looked like he’d realized he chose the wrong dialogue option in some sort of game and was looking for the back button. 

He realized he’d still been clinging to Niko and let go of his sleeve, seeing as the chaos was far enough behind them. The distant whirring and buzzing of square particles could still be heard above the rest of the noise. “They do clear up on their own at least, though not before taking something with them... So, um, the Glen! What’s it like? With all those, um. Glen... folk.” 

The Refuge had an eerie, cold aura around it, like the vague malaise before someone fell ill. The majority of citizens avoided the darkened streets altogether, while those who had to brave the outdoors hurried past with faces buried in their scarves. Even the brightest, most resilient lights began crystallizing too fast in the chill, much to the dismay of the city’s maintenance expert. 

“I was just here, and, this is gonna be my whole day today, huh–” The Lamplighter muttered to himself. The once-lit street he was at only an hour and a half before was already starting to dry up. He looked around. He saw no one through the halflight and, with the help of a guardrail, he climbed the dimmest lamp. Sitting on one of its decorative prongs did not look comfortable by any stretch of the imagination, though he managed. He hung a still-full jar of phosphor on the other prong, and got to scrubbing the inside of the glass with an old sponge. All the dead crystals sure didn’t want to come off…

Some seemed to be dimmer than the rest. He shook away a yawn as he let his bright gaze linger for a moment more before continuing walking down the barren street. Very few people passed by, rushing to get to their destinations as soon as possible. 'I can see why!’ His tiny footsteps on weary feet scarcely made a sound. Sensitive ears soon caught wind of a scrubbing noise. The prospect of someone with more knowledge than he returned the messiah’s former vigilance. He quickened his pace, making turns in the direction of the noise.

A lot of things could’ve been going better for Lampy, all things considered. Everything on his to-do list was already set back a few days thanks to the newfound cold, and with more bots finding new and interesting ways to die, it kept growing further. The idea that he needed to be in preparation to meet the Messiah himself, and by loose extension, God was so far out of his mind he just blotted the bright yellow light of the Sun out of his vision when it approached. He was winded just trying to de-crystal one lamp, let alone the hundreds in this sector alone… His humming had turned to grumbling at some point in the process about this or that. 

Something worth noting about the lamplighter is that he only has two things going for him: First, he’s an idiot. Second, he’s determined.

An important thing not included in that list? People skills. Of any sort. 

Upon hearing a tiny voice walking up to him and asking for his attention, he… panicked. Completely froze on the spot. 

And he lost his balance on the lamp prong. He crashed down to the sidewalk below with all the grace of a brick trying to achieve its first flight. He slooooowly stood back up to his full height, adjusted his hat, and gave himself a moment to readjust to the brightness in front of him. “Did you, um, need so-.” He stopped. The realization struck him fast. He coughed and attempted to put on his better, more official voice™, though even that turned to panic fast. “Oh god, I mean, um, goodness? Gracious?? It’s, you. Big fan?? Gonna save us all or something?? Do you need anything? That is the sun, right?” 

He felt a bit bad for calling out so suddenly. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you fall, sir.” Niko grew a bit bashful as he observed the figure drawing himself up rather.. oddly. He wasn’t one to judge though. The man looked more like what God had described as /humans/ than anyone else- other than that nice boy at the diner. Plus, he was a rather tall compared to his own small frame. Oh, but he noted one thing most of all. This person seemed very, veeery tired. Like he hadn’t slept in ages! That train of thought reminded the messiah that he, too, was exhausted. ‘Oh, but there’s no way that I’m as tired as this guy..‘ 

The man looked as if he were growing more anxious by the minute. His panic made Niko’s own stomach fill with butterflies. He smiled reassuringly and bobbed his head. The movement shifted his hat a little so he reached one hand up to adjust it before returning it to the well missed warmth of the Sun. Just a moment away from its exothermic nature was regrettable. “Yep! It’s the sun!” He paused nervously before adding, “I’m gonna try my best to save everyone, yeah..” A weak laugh. “I still gotta get to The Tower, though.. It seems forever away!” Niko grew a bit concerned, averting his gaze before returning it again to take in the man’s features.

Plight stretched upwards as if he were literally pushing his anxious thoughts aside, and the aura of social fear seemed to dissipate from him. All he needed was a moment, it turned out, to pick up the pieces of his professionalism that shattered on the ground where he’d landed. Okay. It was just a kid. He’d talked to one, like, once. He even asked about work. That’s something he could talk about for hours.  He cleared his throat for the second time.  

“It’s, um, not a problem. Being up there wasn’t the most effective anyway,” he began. “Not only am I in charge of every streetlight in the city, I also repair catwalks, roofs, elevators, houses, clean up litter and on…” He stopped dead in his tracks. What day was it again? “…Weekends, I deliver mail for the coolest people in the city. It’s a lot but, someone has to do it. Might as well be me.” Smooth delivery for someone in his predicament.

Okay, so he embellished a lot. The most probable takeaway from it though, with how he stood there, frazzled and slouched over, bruise forming on his cheek, hands covered in healing acid burns and shaking like a water glass in an earthquake, was that he was either full of nonsense or insane, and should lay down sometime. 

He took his gaze away from the bright light of the Sun and back up towards the lamp, half cleaned, and then the rest of the street. Dark. And no longer his problem. He transitioned back to staring at Niko with finger guns. 

The lamplighter sifted through his multitude of pockets digging around for something, and after a solid minute of rummaging, he finally found it. He unfurled what looked like a hand-drawn map of Refuge. It was riddled with enough holes, doodles, pencil marks, etc. to prove it was well-loved. He knelt down to Niko’s height and pointed to a spot on it. “The library is here,” he motioned across a canal and to the west a bit. “And we, currently, are here…ish. That’s, um, a ways. But I know a pretty great scenic route, if you’re interested.” He folded the map back up and passed it to the child, standing up. 

He picked up his hook and reached for the hanging phosphor jar before something else struck him. “Gonna. Need a minute, my sponge is still.” He pointed up at the lamp. “Y’know.” There he went, standing on the guardrail, then clambering up the post. At least he got the thoroughly crystallized, gross sponge from the streetlight without falling onto the sidewalk again. 

“The city’s a pretty great place I’d say,” he began, walking as far around a sewer grate as he could without crossing the street. “There isn’t much crime to speak of, politics aren’t a big issue, it’s got some amazing sights. I really don’t think I could be comfortable living anywhere else. Though, that might just be familiarity talking, not reason.” He sighed. “Paying rent sucks, let alone food costs with things only being able to grow in greenhouses now, working hours are god awful, er.” He stopped mid-step, as if waiting for his mind to catch up with his walking pace. “Can I just like, say that in your presence? Is that rude? I mean, I guess if I don’t get smited in the next ten minutes or so it’s not a problem but, uh... Anyway.” He continued forward again. “Right now all the scientists and people vaguely related to the scientists, so, um, me, mostly, are in this weird state where everything’s dying real fast. People, our food sources, water sources, phosphor, the world. Y’know. Kind of everything. So everyone’s all up in a tizzy trying to fix it, but nobody can come up with any workable solutions. But then not only are they trying to save the world, they’re also trying to fix the current, pressing issues like squares, keeping the city lit up, making sure all the bots are in working order, trying to put up better.. Infa.. info.. Hm. Better ways of keeping in communication with people for emergencies. Which means sometimes triple the hours and no days off. The whole system right now is ran by one lady and she’s really cool, yeah, but she’s also terrifying.” 

A few people, bots, others, gathered around a drawbridge that was twisted into an unnatural position, like partly-folded construction paper. A loud buzz could be heard from within the crowd, all too familiar despite being out of sight.