The letter lies on the table. It is dated the third of November. The ink is dry. The paper is thin. You are reading it for the third time. The room is cold. The rain hits the glass. It sounds like gravel. You do not look up. You do not need to. You know what it says. You have always known what it would say. The machine has stopped. The machine is broken. And so are you.

Your hands are still. They rest on the wood. They are old hands. They are rough. They are full of scars. These scars are maps. They mark the years. They mark the work. They mark the loss. You look at them. You turn them over. The skin is tight. The knuckles are swollen. They do not move. They do not want to move. They are part of the body. The body is part of the machine. The machine is part of the city. The city is part of the law. The law is part of God. Or so they say. Or so you were told. You were told to believe. You were told to serve. You were told to obey. You obeyed. You served. You believed. And now the machine is dead.

The letter is from the Guild. It is from the Master. It is from the system. It is polite. It is final. It is kind. It is cruel. It says that your license is revoked. It says that your shop is closed. It says that your tools are confiscated. It says that your name is struck from the roll. It says that you are no longer a craftsman. It says that you are a citizen. A common citizen. A man without a trade. A man without a purpose. A man without a voice. You read the words. They are flat. They are grey. They are dust. They settle on your mind. They stick. They do not wash away.

You think of your brother. He is gone. He has been gone for ten years. He went to the east. He went to the mills. He went to the smoke. He went to the dark. He did not come back. He left a note. It was short. It was sad. It was true. He said he could not bear the weight. He said the hands were tired. He said the heart was full. He said goodbye. You did not see him again. You did not see him at all. You kept his chair. You kept his coat. You kept his silence. You filled the silence with work. You filled the days with noise. You filled the night with fear. And then the machine stopped. And the silence came back. And the silence was louder than the noise.

You stand up. Your knees crack. The room spins. You grab the table. The wood is cold. It bites your fingers. You hold on. You hold on tight. You do not let go. You look at the window. The street is wet. The lamps are on. They glow like eyes. They watch you. They see you. They know. They always know. The city is awake. The city is waiting. The city is hungry. It wants you to break. It wants you to fall. It wants you to scream. But you do not scream. You do not fall. You do not break. You are made of iron. You are made of stone. You are made of will. Or so you think. Or so you hope.

You walk to the door. The floorboards creak. They groan. They complain. They remember. They remember the steps. They remember the years. They remember the weight. They remember the fear. You open the door. The air is cold. It bites your face. It fills your lungs. It burns. It wakes you. You step out. The street is narrow. The walls are high. The bricks are dark. They are wet. They are slick. They are alive. They breathe. They move. They shift. They grow. They close in. You walk. You walk fast. You walk hard. You walk with purpose. You walk with rage. You walk with hate. You walk with love. You walk with grief. You walk with hope. You walk with despair. You walk with everything. You walk with nothing.

The Guild hall is ahead. It is tall. It is wide. It is grand. It is imposing. It is beautiful. It is ugly. It is a monster. It is a god. It is a law. It is a rule. It is a command. It is a decree. It is a verdict. It is a sentence. It is a death. You stop. You look up. The doors are closed. The gates are locked. The guards are there. They stand. They watch. They wait. They smile. They know. They always know. They know what you did. They know what you are. They know what you feel. They know what you want. They want you to submit. They want you to kneel. They want you to beg. They want you to cry. They want you to break. You do not kneel. You do not beg. You do not cry. You do not break. You stand. You stand tall. You stand firm. You stand strong. You stand proud. You stand defiant. You stand alone.

The gates open. The guards move aside. They do not stop you. They do not need to. You are not forbidden. You are not banned. You are not stopped. You are free. You are free to enter. You are free to look. You are free to see. You are free to know. You are free to die. You walk in. The hall is empty. The chairs are empty. The desks are empty. The walls are bare. The floor is clean. The air is still. The silence is deep. The silence is heavy. The silence is thick. The silence is loud. The silence is sharp. The silence is cold. The silence is dark. The silence is full. The silence is full of ghosts. The silence is full of voices. The silence is full of memories. The silence is full of pain. The silence is full of love. The silence is full of loss. The silence is full of truth.

You walk to the center. You stand in the middle. You look around. You look at the walls. You look at the floor. You look at the ceiling. You look at the air. You look at the light. You look at the dark. You look at the shadows. You look at the corners. You look at the edges. You look at the cracks. You look at the flaws. You look at the breaks. You look at the scars. You look at the marks. You look at the signs. You look at the symbols. You look at the words. You look at the names. You look at the faces. You look at the eyes. You look at the mouths. You look at the hands. You look at the feet. You look at the bodies. You look at the souls. You look at the spirits. You look at the gods. You look at the devils. You look at the angels. You look at the demons. You look at the men. You look at the women. You look at the children. You look at the old. You look at the young. You look at the dead. You look at the living. You look at the past. You look at the present. You look at the future. You look at the end. You look at the beginning. You look at the middle. You look at the whole. You look at the part. You look at the one. You look at the many. You look at the self. You look at the other. You look at the world. You look at the void. You look at the all.

You realize it then. It hits you. It strikes you. It breaks you. It fixes you. It changes you. It transforms you. It reveals you. It exposes you. It naked you. It bare you. It strip you. It clean you. It wash you. It purify you. It sanctify you. It consecrate you. It bless you. It curse you. It save you. It damn you. It free you. It bind you. It loose you. It hold you. It let go. It take you. It give you. It have you. It be you. It is you. You are the machine. You are the law. You are the rule. You are the command. You are the decree. You are the verdict. You are the sentence. You are the death. You are the life. You are the breath. You are the blood. You are the bone. You are the flesh. You are the skin. You are the hair. You are the nail. You are the eye. You are the ear. You are the nose. You are the mouth. You are the hand. You are the foot. You are the heart. You are the lung. You are the liver. You are the kidney. You are the brain. You are the nerve. You are the vein. You are the artery. You are the cell. You are the atom. You are the dust. You are the star. You are the sun. You are the moon. You are the earth. You are the sky. You are the air. You are the water. You are the fire. You are the ice. You are the stone. You are the wood. You are the metal. You are the glass. You are the paper. You are the ink. You are the word. You are the thought. You are the idea. You are the dream. You are the nightmare. You are the memory. You are the hope. You are the fear. You are the love. You are the hate. You are the joy. You are the sorrow. You are the peace. You are the war. You are the silence. You are the noise. You are the light. You are the dark. You are the truth. You are the lie. You are the good. You are the evil. You are the right. You are the wrong. You are the just. You are the unjust. You are the free. You are the slave. You are the king. You are the beggar. You are the god. You are the worm. You are the top. You are the bottom. You are the left. You are the right. You are the front. You are the back. You are the inside. You are the outside. You are the here. You are the there. You are the now. You are the then. You are the always. You are the never. You are the yes. You are the no. You are the maybe. You are the perhaps. You are the likely. You are the unlikely. You are the certain. You are the uncertain. You are the known. You are the unknown. You are the seen. You are the unseen. You are the heard. You are the unheard. You are the felt. You are the unfelt. You are the touched. You are the untouched. You are the smelled. You are the unsmelled. You are the tasted. You are the untasted. You are the lived. You are the unlived. You are the real. You are the unreal. You are the true. You are the false. You are the pure. You are the impure. You are the clean. You are the dirty. You are the holy. You are the profane. You are the sacred. You are the secular. You are the divine. You are the human. You are the animal. You are the plant. You are the mineral. You are the spirit. You are the matter. You are the form. You are the substance. You are the quality. You are the quantity. You are the essence. You are the accident. You are the cause. You are the effect. You are the beginning. You are the end. You are the middle. You are the whole. You are the part. You are the one. You are the many. You are the self. You are the other. You are the world. You are the void. You are the all.

The machine is not outside. The machine is inside. The law is not above. The law is within. The system is not beyond. The system is here. The system is you. The system is me. The system is us. The system is them. The system is all. The system is nothing. The system is everything. The system is nothing. The system is silence. The system is sound. The system is light. The system is dark. The system is life. The system is death. The system is love. The system is hate. The system is joy. The system is sorrow. The system is peace. The system is war. The system is truth. The system is lie. The system is good. The system is evil. The system is right. The system is wrong. The system is just. The system is unjust. The system is free. The system is slave. The system is king. The system is beggar. The system is god. The system is worm. The system is top. The system is bottom. The system is left. The system is right. The system is front. The system is back. The system is inside. The system is outside. The system is here. The system is there. The system is now. The system is then. The system is always. The system is never. The system is yes. The system is no. The system is maybe. The system is perhaps. The system is likely. The system is unlikely. The system is certain. The system is uncertain. The system is known. The system is unknown. The system is seen. The system is unseen. The system is heard. The system is unheard. The system is felt. The system is unfelt. The system is touched. The system is untouched. The system is smelled. The system is unsmelled. The system is tasted. The system is untasted. The system is lived. The system is unlived. The system is real. The system is unreal. The system is true. The system is false. The system is pure. The system is impure. The system is clean. The system is dirty. The system is holy. The system is profane. The system is sacred. The system is secular. The system is divine. The system is human. The system is animal. The system is plant. The system is mineral. The system is spirit. The system is matter. The system is form. The system is substance. The system is quality. The system is quantity. The system is essence. The system is accident. The system is cause. The system is effect. The system is beginning. The system is end. The system is middle. The system is whole. The system is part. The system is one. The system is many. The system is self. The system is other. The system is world. The system is void. The system is all.

You laugh. It is a dry sound. It is a sharp sound. It is a loud sound. It is a soft sound. It is a high sound. It is a low sound. It is a long sound. It is a short sound. It is a fast sound. It is a slow sound. It is a strong sound. It is a weak sound. It is a clear sound. It is a muffled sound. It is a pure sound. It is a dirty sound. It is a sweet sound. It is a bitter sound. It is a sad sound. It is a happy sound. It is a angry sound. It is a calm sound. It is a wild sound. It is a tame sound. It is a free sound. It is a bound sound. It is a loose sound. It is a tight sound. It is a open sound. It is a closed sound. It is a bright sound. It is a dark sound. It is a light sound. It is a heavy sound. It is a hot sound. It is a cold sound. It is a wet sound. It is a dry sound. It is a smooth sound. It is a rough sound. It is a hard sound. It is a soft sound. It is a sharp sound. It is a dull sound. It is a flat sound. It is a round sound. It is a straight sound. It is a curved sound. It is a simple sound. It is a complex sound. It is a easy sound. It is a hard sound. It is a quick sound. It is a slow sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a gradual sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound. It is a sudden sound.