Chapter 2 – The Quiet Unravelling

“Hey, did you hear?”

Darren’s voice cut through the lunchtime noise of the school canteen. Trays clattered, chairs scraped, conversations overlapped—but at their table, everything seemed to narrow toward him.

Malik looked up. “Hear what?”

Darren leaned in, lowering his voice just enough to make it feel important.

“They passed it.”

Jun frowned. “Passed what?”

“The Law,” Darren said. “The one about adult content. It’s legal now.”

For a moment, the table fell still.

Even Alexis turned from the window.

“What do you mean legal?” Jun asked.

Darren shrugged. “Regulated. Licensed. All official. But yeah… legal. That means all adult contents such as nudity and adults making love are all legal – whether it’s in magazines, videos and even online streaming!”

Malik let out a low whistle. “That was fast!”

“That’s the point,” Darren said, grinning. “Everything moves fast here.”

Alexis said nothing.

Her eyes drifted briefly back toward the sunlight outside. The city gleamed, as it always did—clean, efficient, unstoppable.

Too smooth. Too certain.

“Come on,” Darren said, nudging her lightly. “Don’t tell me you’re against it.”

“I didn’t say that,” Alexis replied.

“Then?”

She hesitated. “It just feels… sudden.”

Jun laughed. “This is Sangkelila.”

The others nodded.

Because that was what they had always been taught:

Progress doesn’t wait.
Progress doesn’t hesitate.
Progress doesn’t ask.

By the end of lunch, the tone had shifted.

Not politics anymore.

Curiosity.

Speculation.

Dares.

Three Months Earlier

The office of the Minister of Culture had always been a place of balance.

Muted tones. Orderly shelves. Every object positioned with intention.

Ben Samkoko believed in restraint.

“You’ve delayed this long enough.”

The voice across from him was calm. Measured.

Velkaris (The Minister of Lust) did not raise his voice.

“I have not delayed,” Ben replied. “I have been careful.”

“Careful,” the other repeated softly. “While the world moves forward.”

A small vial appeared on the table between them.

Clear. Still.

“What does it do?” Ben asked.

“It restores what you’ve lost,” replied Velkaris.

“What have I lost?” asked the Minister of Culture.

“I know that you have lost your vitality. Time for you to restore your it, Ben,” said Velkaris.

“How did you know about it?” asked Ben, not denying.

“I have my sources, Ben,” said Velkaris thinking about his bird Nocteris. Velkaris kept a few birds to use as his spies in Sangkelila. The birds had been trained by him to report back to him those things that he wanted to know.

The room felt warmer. Unnaturally so.

“Suppression,” the Minister said quietly, “is an illusion.”

Ben exhaled slowly.

“Controlled exposure…we need to be sure that the majority of the Sangkees (referring to Citizens of Sangkelila) are ready to accept these sort of adult contents.”

He reached for the vial. He had tried a myriad of methods to revive his vitality. They were fruitless. His wife was getting impatient.

“Ben, you’ve lost it! You’re no longer the stag that you were before!” cided his wife of Ben.

“I’ll find a way to be a stag again, Honey,” said Ben as he hugged his wife.

The balance shifted.

Within weeks, the proposal was drafted.

Within days, it was approved.

Back to the Present

The cinema stood beneath a canopy of shifting light.

VELVET HOUSE

Inside, everything felt controlled.

Cool air. Soft lighting. Neutral expressions.

When it ended, no one reacted immediately.

They stood. Adjusted. Walked out.

Outside, the city felt louder than before.

At the train station outside Velvet House they saw their girlfriends. The three young men had known them since they were in High School. The girls could not join them as they had lessons in the university during the show times.

Their girlfriends’ sweet smiles and familiar voices had brighten up them up whenever they were down.

However, overtime the feelings were just not the same compared to when they just new each other. Something had shifted. Perhaps, the sweet smiles and cheery voices were no longer fresh anymore.

Julia, Jun’s girlfriend asked, “Jun, are you alright? You look like you’re still lost in the movie

Jun answered too quickly, “Yeah, I’m ok.” She could tell he was just brushing her off.

Marie, Malik’s girlfriend asked, “Was it an exciting movie? Your hormones are pretty charged up now, I guess…(giggling away)”.

Malik avoided eye contact, “it was just a boring movie…nothing much.” He had actually wished that he could grabbed Marie and jump into a bed with her there and then!

Denise, Darren’s girlfriend asked, “how about you? I bet your hormones are pretty charged up too by now…you need a release?” She covered her mouth naturally giggling away.

Darren laughed, “Haha…Well, so what if I am now? Are we going to do something about it – Now?”

As the three girls sat together in the cafe while the boys were buying their food, they started their chat.

Julia said, “I don’t believe my guy’s reply. His head is probably still swimming in those sordid love making scenes from the movie!”

Marie added, “Yeah, Malik didn’t even look at me when replying me just now. I could tell he must have felt guilty after watching the movie…thinking of those sexy girls in the movie rather than me!”

Denise was next, “I guess Darren was still the most upfront one. At least he admitted to wanting to do it there and then!” The girls bursted out in laughter. Back of their minds they were all thinking better hold on to my guy and watch him more carefully on where he goes from now on!

Far Beyond the City – Emberveil Forest and Sangkelila Dome

The forest did not sleep.

It listened.

A herd of deer froze mid-step.

Birdsong faded into silence.

A fox stepped back from a still stream.

The wind shifted.

Carrying something unfamiliar.

Deep beneath the roots—

something breathed.

Slow. Measured.

Waiting.

Time may have passed, moved forward into the Future. However, the Forest did not forget those they had lost. They were waiting for the time to come when they claim what was stolen from them.

Sangkelila Dome rose as the ultimate vision of the Technocrats—a gargantuan, self-contained city of glass, steel, and artificial light, built to showcase a perfected future. Conceived as a “modern reflection” of nature, they had sought to recreate a controlled, futuristic version of Emberveil Forest beside the original.

But to build it, they first had to destroy what already existed.

Vast stretches of the ancient forest were cleared without hesitation—centuries-old trees felled and repurposed into the very structures that now symbolised progress. Entire plains were carved into roads and superhighways, slicing through what had once been uninterrupted wilderness.

Habitats vanished overnight.

Younglings were separated from their parents; parents searched in vain for those that would never return.

The delicate balance of Emberveil was broken—its rhythms disrupted, its silence no longer peaceful, but wounded.

Yet the forest did not disappear.

It endured.

Deep beneath the remaining canopy, where the Technocrats’ reach could not fully penetrate, something stirred.

Not movement.
Not yet.
But awareness.

A herd of deer froze mid-step.
Birdsong faded into silence.
A fox stepped back from a still stream.

The wind shifted—carrying something unfamiliar.

Not scent.
Not sound.
Presence.

Deeper still—beneath roots twisted through ancient soil—something breathed.

Slow.
Measured.
Waiting.

Within the Dome, prosperity gleamed in perfect order.

Beyond its borders, the forest watched—restless, wounded, and no longer silent.

Back in the City

Nothing collapsed all at once.

Instead—things changed quietly.

Patience thinned. People started to look for instant gratification. The adult cinemas screenings were fully sold out at show times! The video shops had insufficient copies of adult content videos for rental. The online streaming ones saw their visitors reach new heights every day!

Attention wandered.

Tenderness became inefficient.

In the Sangekelila Dome, a giant screen lit up:

BUSINESS SURVEY REPORT AFTER THE 5TH AMENDMENT TO PUBLISHED CONTENTS AC

Alexis and Scaly stood beneath it reading

For a moment—

…something called.

She turned.

Nothing there.

Only something far beyond the skyline.

Dark.

Waiting.

Elsewhere

Professor James Chan crushed the newspaper in his hand.

“This is madness.”

“Or inevitability,” Andrea replied calmly.

Chan picked up his phone.

“Call Viktor.”

“Old friend,” Chan said, voice tight. “You’ve seen the news?”

“I have,” Viktor replied.

“And?”

A pause.

“It won’t stop here.”

Chan looked out over the city.

Lights. Towers. Illusion.

“Then we stop it,” he said.

“Carefully,” Viktor replied.

Chan nodded slowly.

But something in his eyes had already changed.

As the evening shadows stretched across the gardens outside Professor Chan’s estate, Alexis noticed something unusual.

Scaly had gone quiet.

Far too quiet.

The little pangolin, usually bright-eyed and curious, stood motionless near the stone balustrade, her golden scales faintly shimmering beneath the lantern light. Her ears twitched uneasily, and her gaze remained fixed toward the distant glow of Downtown Sangkelila Dome.

Alexis knelt beside her.

“Scaly?” she whispered softly. “What’s wrong?”

Scaly turned slowly toward her.

There was sorrow in her eyes.

Not fear.

Not anger.

But grief.

The kind of grief one bore when seeing disaster before it arrived.

Alexis frowned and gently stroked the scales atop Scaly’s head.

“You’ve been acting strange ever since Professor Chan and Father were talking about Parliament… what is it?”

Scaly hesitated.

Then lowered her voice.

“The decree they speak of… the liberation of adult content…”

Alexis blinked. “Yes?”

“It is not what it seems.”

The words came heavy, trembling.

Alexis stared.

“What do you mean?”

Scaly’s claws curled tightly into the earth.

“They tell the people it is freedom… liberation… expression.”
“But beneath every smiling lie lies a poisoned fang.”

She turned toward the distant city once more, eyes narrowing.

“This is no simple loosening of law, Alexis. It is corruption disguised as progress.”

A gust of wind swept through the trees.

Scaly’s voice dropped to almost a whisper.

“Vice never enters a kingdom by force first… it enters by invitation.”

Alexis felt a cold shiver creep down her spine.

“You think someone is doing this on purpose?”

Scaly nodded grimly.

“There are darker powers moving behind the chambers of Parliament now. I can feel them.”

Her eyes dimmed with sadness.

“Every wickedness begins with small indulgences. Then comes addiction. Then moral rot. Then the fall of nations.”

Alexis swallowed hard.

“But why would anyone want that?”

Scaly turned fully toward her now.

“Because a weak-minded people are easier to control than a virtuous one.”

The words struck Alexis like thunder.

She had never heard Scaly sound so serious.

“So what do we do?”

Scaly stepped closer, urgency filling her voice.

“You must warn your father. Warn Professor Chan.”

“Tell them the spirits of corruption are already whispering into the Republic.”

Alexis stared.

“You really believe this will harm Sangkelila?”

Scaly’s eyes glistened faintly.

“If left unchecked…”

She looked toward the city’s shining towers.

“…this will only be the beginning.”