"Stanley, honey, wake up." Emily shook Stanley, who was messily sprawled over the bed. "Stanley," she said louder. "Wake up."
Stanley released a long, vibrating snore as he snapped awake.
"What, what is it?" he mumbled, voice hoarse. He looked around and blinked rapidly.
"The town clock just rang nine," said Emily.
"Right." Stanley rubbed his eye with the base of his palm. "I should get going." He stood up and went to the closet.
"Aren’t you going to wash?" said Emily.
"No point in doing that. I’m going to get dirty soon anyway." Stanley removed his nightwear and tossed it on the bed. He changed into his white shirt and casual pants. He grabbed his apron as he walked out. "I’ll see you tonight," he called.
He put on his apron as he dashed past the domiciles, through the streets, to town hall. He pushed through the crowd and went through the hole, into the cave. He walked through the lake that had almost completely been filled with dirt.
Victor was sitting at the base of the tunnel. "Where were you?" he said.
"I’m sorry. I slept in," Stanley said. "You waited for me?"
"No one wanted to climb up with me. It's too much of a risk for them." Victor picked up the drill. "Get your gear on and come on up." He climbed up the tunnel and disappeared.
Stanley equipped his gear and followed after Victor. He had already begun drilling. Mounds of dirt slid down, amassing at Stanley’s feet.
"Hold on for a moment," Stanley said.
Victor set his drill down.
Stanley cleared the dirt and reached Victor then said, "Go on."
Victor continued drilling and Stanley siphoned the dirt down. As they drilled, they left a trail of plastic tubes with sharp metal points. Victor stopped and picked one of them up.
"Look at these," he said. "Long sharp point, it could stick you right in your eye."
"We should be fine," Stanley said. "Your drill will destroy most of them. I’ll push whatever passes by."
"We should tell the council. They need to know of everything that we find." Victor tried climbing down, but Stanley placed a hand on his chest.
"We can do that later," Stanley said. "These are just plastic tubes that happen to have thin metal points. They haven’t hurt us, so there’s no reason to be alarmed. "Let’s just continue drilling."
Victor blinked then turned. He raised his drill and continued upward. They climbed about thirty more ledges, all the while discovering more of the plastic tubes and leaving a trail of them. They continued until Victor stopped the drill and set it down.
"Take a look at this," he said. He reached with both hands into the dirt and pulled out a long pole. At the tip of the pole was a fan of thistles that curved at the ends. Victor tapped it with his finger. The tip punctured his glove and left a small mark.
"Do you see this?" Victor said. "Can you see what we’re coming across?"
Stanley silently gazed at the tool that Victor held.
"These are starting to look like weapons to you, right?" said Victor. "You have to realize that these things are dangerous."
Stanley remained silent.
"We’ll stop here," Victor said. He raised the tool. "We’ll show this to the others. We’ll show them everything that we’ve found. Collect as many of those tubes as you can."
Stanley slowly turned and gathered some of the plastic tubes, careful to avoid the thin, sharp points. While collecting them, he noted the markings on the sides: a pattern of long lines and smaller ones filled in between, labeled with numbers.
"Here," Victor said as he handed Stanley the drill.
Stanley slid down, drill and plastic tubes in hand. He stepped out of the tunnel and Victor emerged soon after.
The other council members had formed a dense crowd far off to one of the other tunnels.
"Hey," Victor called, "What’s going on over there?"
The crowd parted to reveal Ailey standing in the middle. He was holding a thick, wooden rod with a metal slab fashioned at the top. It fanned out to one side, forming a pointy, curved head.
"I discovered it in my tunnel," Ailey said. "It almost fell on me. I was lucky I moved away. The metal part is sharp."
"Well look what we’ve found," Victor said. He walked over and showed them the long metal pole with the fanned top. He held it next to Ailey’s tool.
"They’re similar in structure," Ailey said. "Just the heads are different."
"Different or not, they’re weapons," Victor said. "Stanley, show them the plastic tubes."
Stanley set his drill aside and laid the tubes on his hand. He approached and displayed it to the council members. Most of them gasped and others looked on quietly, but all of their expressions darkened.
Mr. Roberts stepped forward and picked one up.
"Careful with the point," Victor said.
Mr. Roberts scanned the tube from the base to the thin, metal tip. "No one was hurt?" he said.
"I’m fine," said Ailey.
"I’m fine as well," said Victor.
"These tools are dangerous," Mr. Roberts said.
"They are weapons," said Victor. "When will you understand that these are all weapons? Like the first one Stanley encountered--the stick with the pointed tip." He held his own tool before him. "But these are more intricate, more lethal."
"We will keep them in the corner here for future research." said Mr. Roberts. "And no one will go near them."
"No, we will destroy them," said Victor.
The crowd mumbled in agreement.
Mr. Roberts looked around at them. "Those who wish to preserve these tools, raise your hand." Six people, including Mr. Roberts and Mr. Albertson, raised their hands. Stanley kept his down.
"All who wish to destroy them," said Victor. The rest of the council members, including Victor and Ailey, raised their hands. Stanley didn’t.
"Are you not going to vote, Mr. Barrett?" said Mr. Roberts.
"You lost by a wide margin," said Stanley. "My vote will change nothing."
Victor beckoned for Ailey to follow and said to Stanley, "Bring those tubes."
Stanley took the tube from Mr. Roberts and took them to the corner. He tossed them down, on top of the two tools.
"Stand back," Victor said as he pulled his visor down. He started his drill and lunged at the tools, viciously tearing them. Shredded bits shot in all directions until only a hole remained.
Victor dropped his drill and set his visor aside. He walked up to Stanley and Mr. Roberts, looked them in the eyes and said, "They are all weapons." He removed his gear and left.
Stanley walked up to Mr. Roberts and opened his mouth, but Mr. Roberts said, "We’re going to continue."
Stanley nodded and shook his hand. He set his gear down and walked across the dirt filled lake, the water rising only to his ankles. He went out to town square, where the clock rang nine. Stanley walked past the square, through the streets, and past the domiciles. Emily was waiting outside.
"Honey," she said. She leaned in and kissed Stanley. She presented a pill and a cup of water.
"Oh thank you sweetie," Stanley said. He took the pill and swallowed it, then washed it down with the water. Emily ate her pills and drank her water.
"Well, how about you wash up?" she said.
"Let me just get settled before I do anything," Stanley said.
"All right," said Emily. "Would you mind if I washed then?"
"Go ahead."
"Okay," Emily said with a smile. She stepped into the shower and washed.
Stanley sat on his bed and slightly lifted the mattress. The three metal sticks glimmered under the light of the bedside lamp. He reached into his pocket and produced one of the plastic tubes that he had found. He carefully placed it beside the metal sticks and set the mattress down. He stood up, walked over to the closet, and changed into his sleepwear. He then lay on his bed and closed his eyes. Emily emerged from the shower.
"You’re not going to wash?" she said.
"No."
Emily sat down next to Stanley and placed her arm on his shoulder.
"Did something happen?" she said. "Let's talk about it. I'm here to listen."
"I would love to, but I am far too tired," Stanley said, "Maybe tomorrow."
"All right then."
As Emily changed into her sleepwear, Stanley fell into a deep slumber.
EIGHT