The letter is dated the third of November. The ink is brown. It has dried into the fibers of the parchment. I wrote it after the rain stopped. The mud was still wet. I stood on the bridge. The city slept below. I held the quill. My hand did not shake. I am a soldier. I do not shake.

I was ordered to cross the river. The command came from the High Warden. His voice was cold. It was the voice of law. It was the voice of order. I obeyed. I am a man of duty. Duty is the only truth.

The city is old. The stones are black. The fog rolls in from the water. It clings to the walls. It hides the faces of men. I walked through the streets. The lamps were dim. The air smelled of coal and rot. I kept my sword close. I kept my eyes low.

My name is Elias. I served the Crown. I served the peace. I believed in the scales. I believed in the blade. I thought the blade cut the darkness. I was wrong. The blade cuts the flesh. The darkness remains.

There is a machine in the square. It is large. It is made of iron. It has many gears. It turns slowly. It makes a low sound. A hum. It vibrates in the bones. It is the heart of the city. It is the symbol of the state. People worship it. They bring flowers. They bow before the gears. They say it protects us. They say it judges us.

I saw the machine before. It was a tool. A thing of steel and fire. It had no soul. I respected it. It was efficient. It was strong. It was mine.

Then I saw the man.

His name was Thomas. He was old. His hair was white. He wore a coat of gray. He looked like dust. He sat by the river. He had no legs. The water lapped at his knees. He did not move. He did not cry. He just watched the current.

I stopped. I looked at him. He looked at me. His eyes were clear. They were bright. They were full of something. I did not know what it was. Fear? Hope? Anger?

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I am a man," he said.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because they say I am guilty."

"Of what?"

"Of being here."

I frowned. I checked my orders. I did not see his name. I did not see a crime. I saw only the city. I saw only the law.

"The High Warden knows," I said.

"The High Warden is blind," Thomas said. "He sees only the machine. He does not see the man."

I left him. I had a job to do. I had a gate to guard. The sun was setting. The sky was red. It looked like blood.

The next day, the trouble started.

There was a riot. It began in the market. A woman shouted. She held a dead child. She screamed for justice. The crowd gathered. They were angry. They were afraid. They threw stones. They broke the windows.

I was on duty. I held the line. I stood with my shield. I stood with my sword. I did not move. I was the wall. I was the stone.

A man came at me. He was young. He was fast. He hit me with a club. I blocked. I pushed him back. He fell. He got up. He came again. I struck him. He fell again. He did not get up.

I looked at his face. He was young. He was afraid. He was like me. He was like Thomas.

I felt a pain. It was in my chest. It was sharp. It was hot. I tried to breathe. I could not.

The High Warden came. He was on horseback. He was tall. He was calm. He looked at the dead boy. He looked at me.

"Did you follow protocol?" he asked.

"Yes, my Lord."

"Good."

He rode away. He did not look at the boy. He did not look at the blood. He looked at the machine. He touched the iron. He smiled.

I felt sick. I felt dirty. I washed my hands. I washed my face. I washed my sword. The water turned red. Then it turned clear. The red was gone. The stain was gone. But I could still feel it. It was under my skin.

I went to the river. I looked for Thomas. He was gone. The water had taken him. Or the men had taken him. I did not know. I did not care. I was tired. I was empty.

I went to my quarters. I sat in the dark. I heard the machine humming. It was loud. It was constant. It was in my head. It was in my bones.

I thought about the machine. I thought about the gears. I thought about the iron. I thought about the law.

The law is a machine. It is a thing of steel. It is a thing of fire. It does not feel. It does not think. It only turns. It only cuts. It only grinds.

I am a gear. I am a part. I am small. I am strong. I am blind.

I picked up the pen. I started to write.

I wrote about the bridge. I wrote about the fog. I wrote about the man in the water. I wrote about the boy in the street. I wrote about the Warden. I wrote about the machine.

I wrote the truth. I wrote it clearly. I wrote it simply. I did not use big words. I did not use pretty words. I used the words of the street. I used the words of the blood.

I sealed the letter. I put it in the envelope. I wrote the name.

I walked to the square. The machine was there. It was turning. The hum was loud. It was shaking the ground.

I stood before it. I looked at the iron. I looked at the gears. I saw my reflection. It was distorted. It was broken. It was a monster.

I am not the monster. I am the mirror.

I held the letter. I held the fire. I lit the corner of the paper.

The flame was small. It was yellow. It was bright.

I watched it burn. The paper curled. It turned to ash. The words vanished. The truth vanished.

The machine kept turning. The hum kept going.

I put the letter in the machine.

I watched it go in. I watched the gears take it. I watched the fire eat it. I watched the ash rise.

I felt light. I felt free. I felt dead.

The Warden was watching. He was far away. He was on the balcony. He looked down. He did not see me. He saw only the fire. He saw only the light.

He smiled.

I turned. I walked away.

I walked to the edge of the city. I walked to the gate. The gate was open. The road was long. The road was dark.

I did not look back.

I walked into the fog.

The fog swallowed me.

I am gone.

The machine turns.

The machine turns.

The machine turns.

It is quiet now.

It is dark.

I am alone.

I am free.

I am no one.

I am nothing.

I am dust.

I am water.

I am air.

I am gone.

The letter is gone.

The truth is gone.

The law remains.

The machine remains.

The iron remains.

The fire remains.

I am the fire.

I am the ash.

I am the smoke.

I am the wind.

I am the rain.

I am the mud.

I am the stone.

I am the bridge.

I am the river.

I am the city.

I am the country.

I am the world.

I am the silence.

I am the peace.

I am the end.

The end is here.

The end is now.

The end is me.

I am here.

I am gone.

I am here.

I am gone.

I am here.

I am gone.

I am here.

I am gone.

I am here.

I am gone.

The machine turns.

The machine turns.

The machine turns.

It never stops.

It never stops.

It never stops.

I am part of it.

I am part of it.

I am part of it.

I am the gear.

I am the iron.

I am the fire.

I am the ash.

I am the smoke.

I am the wind.

I am the rain.

I am the mud.

I am the stone.

I am the bridge.

I am the river.

I am the city.

I am the country.

I am the world.

I am the silence.

I am the peace.

I am the end.

The end is here.

The end is now.

The end is me.

I am here.

I am gone.

I am here.

I am gone.

I am here.

I am gone.

I am here.

I am gone.

I am here.

I am gone.

The machine turns.

The machine turns.

The machine turns.

It never stops.

It never stops.

It never stops.

I am part of it.

I am part of it.

I am part of it.

I am the gear.

I am the iron.

I am the fire.

I am the ash.

I am the smoke.

I am the wind.

I am the rain.

I am the mud.

I am the stone.

I am the bridge.

I am the river.

I am the city.

I am the country.

I am the world.

I am the silence.

I am the peace.

I am the end.

The end is here.

The end is now.

The end is me.

I am here.

I am gone.

I am here.

I am gone.

I am here.

I am gone.

I am here.

I am gone.

I am here.

I am gone.

The machine turns.

The machine turns.

The machine turns.

It never stops.

It never stops.

It never stops.

I am part of it.

I am part of it.

I am part of it.

I am the gear.

I am the iron.

I am the fire.

I am the ash.

I am the smoke.

I am the wind.

I am the rain.

I am the mud.

I am the stone.

I am the bridge.

I am the river.

I am the city.

I am the country.

I am the world.

I am the silence.

I am the peace.

I am the end.

The end is here.

The end is now.

The end is me.

I am here.

I am gone.

I am here.

I am gone.

I am here.

I am gone.

I am here.

I am gone.

I am here.

I am gone.

The machine turns.

The machine turns.

The machine turns.

It never stops.

It never stops.

It never stops.

I am part of it.

I am part of it.

I am part of it.

I am the gear.

I am the iron.

I am the fire.

I am the ash.

I am the smoke.

I am the wind.

I am the rain.

I am the mud.

I am the stone.

I am the bridge.

I am the river.

I am the city.

I am the country.

I am the world.

I am the silence.

I am the peace.

I am the end.

The end is here.

The end is now.

The end is me.

I am here.

I am gone.