Chapter 29 Chapter Twenty Nine

Schelling spent his dark hours in a storage room in the basement of the observatory.As he opened the storeroom door, he said to himself: Sometimes cowardice pays dividends.He still felt a little wobbly at this point, but there was no doubt that he was sane.In any case, he was as sane as ever. It looked very peaceful outside.Although there were no windows in the storage room, the light from the gaps in the high walls was enough to convince him that morning had come and the sun had risen again.At this point, perhaps the madness was over and he would be safe to come out. He poked his head into the aisle, looking around cautiously.

He was first aware of the smell of smoke, the smoke of extinguished fires.The filthy, rancid smell mixed with the smoke was quite disgusting.The observatory is not just a stone building, but also has an efficient sprinkler system.It must have had an effect when the mob set fire to it. Schelling shudders at the memory of the mob.The pudgy psychologist knew he would never forget the moment when the mob swarmed the observatory.As long as he has breath, those distorted faces, those angry eyes, and those violent howls will haunt him forever.These people's fragile hearts are out of control even before the full eclipse arrives.The deepening darkness has pushed them to the brink of evil... and the skillful incitement of the Pyroists has made their prophecy come true now.So the mob came by the thousands, trying to uproot these lying, contemptuous scientists.Now they rushed in brandishing torches, clubs, brooms, and anything else that allowed them to strike, smash, smash.

Paradoxically, the emergence of the mob suddenly brought Schelling to his senses.He tried to control himself, recalling those unforgettable scenes: he and Theremon were the first to rush downstairs to block the door, and he had had enough of tormenting him.Strangely enough, he was even hopeful as he went downstairs.But then the darkness, which he first comprehended, choked him like a puff of poison, completely broke him down, and sat huddled on the stairs, shaking with panic.He thought of the journey through the "mysterious tunnel" and realized that the journey would not last just a few minutes, but hours intolerable.

At last, Theremon was out of the darkness, and Schelling regained some self-control.The two went to the top floor of the observatory together, and then there was a total solar eclipse and stars. When the first blasphemous light poured in through the gap in the roof of the observatory, although Schelling turned his head, he could not completely avoid the destructive and intense beam.Immediately, he could feel his mind start to lose control... That fragile nerve thread began to burst... Then the mob arrived, and Schelling knew it wasn't just a matter of staying sane, it was a matter of saving lives.If he wanted to survive tonight, he had no choice but to calm himself down and find a safe place.Although he is usually an independent, calm scientist.Now that the project to observe dark phenomena has gone with the wind, let others observe.He was going to hide.

So, bewildered, he headed toward the basement, toward the little storage room with its dim, comforting emergency light.Lock the door and wait for the end of the darkness. He even took a nap. It's either morning or afternoon.That was what he probably knew, but one thing was certain: the night of terror was over, and all was quiet, at least in the vicinity of the observatory.Schelling tiptoed into the hall, stopped, listened, and walked wearily upstairs. There was silence everywhere, and the dirty puddles left by sprinklers reeking of burnt smoke. He stopped in the stairwell and thoughtfully removed a fire hatchet from a bucket on the wall, wondering if it would be useful to survive again.But it wouldn't hurt to bring it along, if things outside were as messed up as he'd expected.

Now he was upstairs.Schelling pulled open the storeroom door...the same door that had slammed shut behind him the night before when he had run madly downstairs.He looked out. The sight before him made him shudder. The hall of the observatory was packed with people, all crawling on the floor and sprawling, as if some gigantic orgy had been going on all night.But these people were not drunk. Many of them lay horribly curled up like corpses, others lay flat, overlapping like discarded blankets, in piles as high as two or three people.They looked as if they were dead, or lost their last senses, and others were still alive, but sat whimpering as if beaten by frost.

Everything that was once on display in the Great Hall, the scientific instruments, the portraits of some of the great early astronomers, the elaborate astronomical charts, were torn down and burned, or torn up and trampled.Schelling also saw charred and battered remains dotted with the pile of corpses. The front door is open, and the warm sunlight can be seen outside the door. Schelling walked cautiously through the mess toward the exit. "Dr. Schelling!" cried a voice suddenly and unexpectedly. He whirled around and swung the ax so violently that he laughed at himself for his belligerence.

"Who?" "It's me, Yate." "Yamute, you remember me, don't you?" "Yamut, yes." It was a young astronomy graduate from a remote province, with a thin, ugly figure and a little shy.At this moment, Schelling saw the boy clearly, half of his body was hidden in the alcove, his dark face was covered with dust and soot, and his clothes were torn.He looked surprised, but he was unharmed.As he moved forward, in fact, the way he moved was far less amusing than usual, without his habitual spasms, wild swings of his arms, or twisting of his head.Fear can have strange reactions in people, Schelling said to himself.

"Have you been hiding here all night?" "When the stars appeared, I tried to get out of the building, but I was trapped here. Did you see Fano, Dr. Schelling?" "Your friend? No, I haven't met anyone." "We stayed together for a while, and then we were pushing and shoving, making a mess, and everything became frantic..." Yemo Te made a strange smile, "I thought they were going to burn the building down, but then came the sprinklers." He pointed to the citizens lying on the ground and said, "Do you think they are all dead?"

"Some of them were just delirious, they saw stars." "I saw it too, but only for a while," Yemot said, "just for a while." "What do they look like?" Schelling asked. "You didn't see them, Doctor? Maybe you don't remember?" "I'm in the basement, safe and comfortable." Jamot stretched his neck upwards, as if the stars were still twinkling hanging from the ceiling. "They're scary," he whispered. "I know it doesn't mean anything to you, but it's the only word I can use. I saw them for maybe two or three seconds, and I could feel them." My heart was spinning and I could feel the top of my head start to crack, so I had to look away. Because I'm not very brave, Dr. Sherin."

"Yes, me too." "But I'm glad I watched it for two or three seconds. The stars are scary, but they're also very beautiful, at least to an astronomer. They're nothing like Fano and I in the stupid experiment Stupid beams made in . We must be in the middle of huge beams, you know. There are six suns close together near us, some not as close as they are, I mean farther away, 5 to 10 light years , perhaps farther away, tens of thousands of suns form a huge celestial body that completely surrounds us, but because the suns near us are always shining, they are invisible. Just as Benny That being said, you know, Beanie's a great astronomer, and he's going to surpass Dr. Arthur one day... You don't see any of those stars?" "Just a quick glance," said Schelling, looking a little pathetic, "and then I went and hid... Look, young man, we've got to get out of this place." "I have to try to find Fano first." "If he's okay, maybe he's outside. If there's something going on, there's nothing you can do about him." "But if he's down there in the pile..." "Impossible," said Schelling. "Can't mess with those people. They're still dazed, and it's hard to tell what they'll do if they're pissed off. The safest thing to do is to get out of here, and I'm going to try to get there." Shelter. Come with me if you're sensible." "But Fano..." "Okay then," sighed Schelling, 'let's find Fano.Or Beanie, Arthur, Theremon and anyone else. " But to no avail.For about ten minutes they poked around among the dead or unconscious, semi-comatose people in the corridors of the hall without finding a single person from the university.Their faces are terribly distorted with horror and madness.Some of the touched began to squirm, foam at the mouth, and grunt in a horrific way.One grabbed Schelling's hatchet, and Schelling had to push him away with the handle.It was impossible to get to the top of the building, the stairs were clogged with dead bodies and there was broken plaster everywhere, the floors were puddles of mud, and the pungent, strong smell of smoke was unbearable. "You're right," said Yemot at last, "we'd better go." Schelling led the way outside into the sunlight.As hours passed, the golden Onas became the most popular sight in the universe.After hours of long darkness, psychologists found that the eyes were not used to so much bright light.He felt the sunlight hit him like something tangible.When I first entered the sunlight, my eyes blinked constantly, waiting for my eyes to adapt again.After a while, he was finally able to see clearly, but what he saw made him uneasy again. "It's terrible." Yamot murmured. More corpses.A group of lunatics sang songs and kept going in circles. There were charred vehicles on the side of the road, and the bushes and trees seemed to have been hacked by blind demons.In the distance, a terrible thick smoke is rising from the spire of Saro City. Chaos, chaos, chaos everywhere. "It seems that the end of the world is like this," Schelling said calmly, "We two, you and I, are survivors." He smiled wryly, "What a beautiful pair we are. My body of more than a hundred pounds, you Pretty close. Still alive. I wonder if Theremon is alive. If anyone is going to survive, he will be, but I can't bet on it. The hideout is between Saro and the Observatory, if not In case of trouble, we can expect to be there in about half an hour. Here, take this." He picked up a stout club lying next to a fallen thug and threw it at Yamot, who caught it awkwardly, staring at it as if he couldn't recognize what it was. "What should I do with it?" he asked at last. Schelling said, "If somebody bothers us, you just smack him in the head with it, like I use this ax for self-defense, if need be. It's a whole new world out of here, yeah Mutter. Come on, clear your head!"