The harsh wind blew through Marion's thin body and he shivered. 

The mid-day sun glared down at Marion as

he looked around the dusty clearing, wrapping his arms in the thin black vest they had offered him. 

This was some kind of barren land it seemed.

After he met with that strange man, he ordered his roboxes to take him to a white cell. They had washed him; given him dry bread, porridge, and water; allowed him half an hour to rest; thrown him in a large brown aircar with wings like a helicopter; and dumped him on this God-forsaken place. 

A sigh escaped his lips as Marion forced's his new booted legs to move forward. 

When they had left him, his first instinct had been to run away and so he had sprinted forward to a random direction and kept going for an hour or so. But soon enough, realized that this barren land was not leading to anywhere. 

And so, he came to a stop, wiped a thin trail of sweat, and took a deep, deep breath to calm his frenzy mind.

There was no chance of survival in this way. If he wished to be free he must find that tower or some kind of civilization. He had heard of human colonies who hid underground and only came out at night since roboxes didn't patrol at late hours. Some sources predicted they charged themselves during that time although there was no concrete evidence of that.

But to find a colony Marion must need access to underground. Like a manhole. But this place has no system like that.

Could it be that the strange man had played with Marion and left him to die here? Was he destined to die of hunger and dehydration? It was strange that there robox guard to watch his moves nor did they plant any tracker within him. 

A flash of crushed cheese pack pricked his mind and a cold tremor passed through Marion's spine.

He shook his head and moved faster. His only sense of direction was to follow that man's words.

"Follow the sun to the west," the man elaborated further after Marion whispered his request to be more specific in direction, much to Marion's surprise and shudder. "Find a hollow shadow of a leaf. Walk in the direction it points. You will reach your destination."

Marion shook off the memory of the eery smirk that followed afterward and squinted his eyes at the glaring sun. 

The bright light blinded him, almost bringing tears to his eyes as tried to stare at it. 

Must be another sick ploy to make me suffer.

Otherwise, why would they drop him there right during the noon? 

But Marion was also persistent to get out of this hell. So he endured the burn in his eyes for a while and found the sun tilted a bit left.

That must be the way.

Marion snapped his gaze away and rubbed his stinging eyes. He blinked a couple of times to clear his blurry vision as hot tears trickled down his cheeks.

With a hiss, Marion wiped liquid weakness off his face and followed the direction to the west.

Miles upon miles seemed to drag on as Marion dragged his aching legs forward. His muscles throbbed for walking so long. 

The day blossomed into a bright orange afternoon with streaks of warm violet and gold scattered around the gray clouds. 

At this point, Marion's head pounded for straining his leg and eye muscles. Still, no hollow shadow a darn leaf. He didn't even find a single tree during the length of his stroll.

Marion's belly rumbled and his dry throat scratched, making him gulp a lump. But it didn't soothe him in the least, rather increased his ache for water.

Marion could survive a couple of days of stomach grumblings but not a dry throat. No. Back in the sewerage, there was always water. Smelly and filthy, yes, but they quenched his thirst whenever he wanted.

Here, in a land of no man, not a drop was in sight.

Marion's limping shadow prolonged behind him further as he walked forward.

Damn that guy!

Damn his sick ass!

Damn west!

Damn leaf!

Damn my fucking life!

A strangled groan escaped Marion's lips as he stumbled upon a stray rock and lurched forward.

Dust bounced around him the second he hugged the ground. A sharp pain shot through his body and Marion hissed. His faltering breath fluttered the stray dust particles as he remained in that fatal position.

His heart pounded. Head throbbed. Vision blurred. He was on the verge of welcoming another blissful darkness.

Hope it's permanent this time.

Marion's lips twitched a little as he lowered his dark lashes.

For a fleeting seond, he thought there were two different shades of gray ground.

Marion's tired brain wanted to shut down. But his curious mind gave him the last-minute strength to raise his heavy, throbbing head. He blinked and narrowed his eyes at the hard concrete.

The darker shade he had seen the whole time during his walk, formed a sharp, wide arch like a crossbow's tip. It divided the lighter shade of gray that spread beyond the darker boundary.

Strange.

Marion moved and groaned lightly as he sat up. He looked at the pointed tip of the dark gray and roamed his eyes around to find the arched length on both sides stretched far beyond his vision's reach.

And the lighter gray ground seemed endless after the dark border.

It was as if he had been walking inside a circle and finally reached the edge of its perimeter.

Circle or… Leaf?

The sudden thought struck Marion so hard, he scrambled to his feet and whirled around.

The arch. The tip. The darker shade. The leaf. The hollow shadow!

Darn! I was walking on the hollow shadow all the while searching for it. Just like a dog trying to bite its tail! How could I be so stupid?

The smug face of that advanced robox flashed before Marion's eyes and he let out a guttural scream. 

"That sick sadist! I'm gonna kill him the second I get my hands on that bastard!"

Letting out a final growl, Marion strode ahead, stomping over the pointed tip.

***

The sun hid behind the horizon long ago, allowing the moonless night to shine with its glittery dark blanket.

Marion had yet to see a soul or soulless robox as he limped forward. His power stride vanished within the first three minutes, leaving his aching legs to move solely on his willpower.

A harsh cold breeze seeped through his so-called thick vest, freezing his bones. Marion's teeth clattered in response and he wrapped his arms around him.

His droopy eyes and hazy vision were so used to the endless line of foggy horizon that the second a tall wall tore through the thick veil of smoky air, Marion halted and blinked.

He blinked hard a couple of times and vigorously rubbed his eyes just to ensure his starved stomach and woozy mind weren't playing some twisted tricks.

When the wall didn't go away even after the intense torture on his eyes, Marion's cracked lips twitched slowly into a wide smile.

He choked out at the sight of civilization that he forgot his wobbly legs and stumbled on the next step.

At this point, anything was better than the endless stretch of landscape, though.

So, it wasn't a surprise that his grin didn't falter even when dropped to the hard concrete with a resounding thud.

Marion's legs numbed the second they rested on the ground, refusing to move at all after such a day-long draining exercise. But it couldn't stop him. Not after coming this close. 

So, Marion huffed and crawled.

He huffed, crawled, stopped, and repeated.

For several times. For several long hours.

Until his trembling fingers touched the rough surface of the white wall.

And Marion collapsed. 

A soft smile graced his lips as his shaky breath fluttered the dust. His hazy mind was a raging battlefield between succumbing to sleep and dragging his body up to search the place for help.

Even if it was to ask a robox to shoot him in the head.