The door is closed.
Vertin: Hi, it's Vertin.
Vertin: Ms. Desert Flannel, is Ezra still with you?
After a while, the door is still closed.
Vertin: Ms. Desert Flannel?
Silence is the only answer.
Vertin: Spathodea has decided to supervise the construction herself, and Ulu is now with her at the site. I'm wondering how you are doing with Ezra.
Vertin: No response. Are they ...
Vertin: Not in the room, I knew it.
A note has been left on the desk beside the bed.
Vertin: ...?
Vertin: "Showing Ezra what the world is like. Be right back."
Vertin: "Desert Flannel."
Desert Flannel: Watch your feet and your head.
Desert Flannel: The people here never look down. That's how you get muddy shoes when you're out of here.
Desert Flannel: Here, take my hand.
Ezra: Ms. Desert Flannel, what is this place? What are we doing here?
Desert Flannel: Something that needs to be done, and something that needs to be said.
The deeper they go, the louder the cheering they hear from the crowd.
Desert Flannel: Hey! Big bloke, don't get in my way!
The big guy steps aside. A ray of light penetrates the air and pierces Ezra's eyes, and the only thing he can see is boundless white.
Ezra: Emm ... this is ...
Desert Flannel: The warm-up of the rugby game. It's not a formal game, but the audience enthusiasm is burning. I mean ... it's hard to get the ticket.
Desert Flannel: But I'm Desert Flannel, and I know people on the streets. Even when we're outside Melbourne.
Ezra: Sorry, I've never watched any games, and I don't know the rules of rugby.
Ezra: I ... I don't think I will understand any of this. Do you mind?
Desert Flannel: No, I'm cool with that, because the game is not what we are after.
Desert Flannel: You see that guy over there? That's Tom, a shining new star in the NRL, the best fullback they've ever had. He's from the Melbourne Sail Car Club.
Desert Flannel: They have a seagull as their club's mascot, with a fish and a chip in its mouth.
Ezra: Yes ...? Okay ...?
Desert Flannel: And that bloke over there. That's Kip-Karl of the Hobart Blue Lake. He's the kind of player who knows how to really tackle. They call him the Unbreakable K.
Desert Flannel: And lastly, I want you to look at that smaller guy. That's Russel. Doesn't look tough, does he? But he is the Slippery Jerboa, because, man, he is fast when he gets the ball.
Ezra: But what is this to do with us? I still don't understand ...
Desert Flannel: Ezra.
Desert Flannel: Guess how many of them are arcanists?
Commentator: Nice one! Nice one! Russel made it again! Excellent interception!
Commentator: The key score! Now the Jerboa is as slippery as butter! Run, run for it, Russel! Victory is going to the Shepherds of Melbourne!
On the green field, Russel is roaring excitedly after his goal. He draws a cross symbolizing victory on his uniform stained with dirt and grass.
Audience: Russel! Russel! Russel!
Audience: Russel! Russel! Russel! Russel!
Wave after wave, the cheer of the audience swells through the field.
Ezra, however, is pulled by a sudden force at his arm and heads out of the Stadium.
Inside a dark and long tunnel, Desert Flannel marches without hesitation.
Ezra: Mankind is known for their physical resilience and endurance, that is to say ...
Ezra: Tom and Kip-Karl are humans, while Russel, whose skills and unpredictability are his strength, is an arcanist.
Desert Flannel: Hmm. A reasonable deduction!
Desert Flannel: Physical resilience and varied skills are indeed the respective features of mankind and arcanists.
Desert Flannel: However, things are not as simple as they appear.
She stops at a door, turns the doorknob, and pushes it open.
What welcomes them is a mixed smell of sweat, dust, grass, and medicine, together with occasional curses.
Players, black and blue, are busy coming and going. Nobody has time to take care of these two trespassers.
Desert Flannel: In fact, all of them are arcanists.
Russel: ... S**t, gimme that thing. exhales
Team Manager: Here ... Be careful, don't overdose. Painkillers are addictive, you know.
Team Manager: And the newspaper is gonna interview you champions, so don't get high in front of the camera. Hey, listen ...
Russel: Emm ...
Desert Flannel: Sporting is great fun, but it can also be dangerous, especially for sports like rugby, MMA, or boxing, which involve a lot of intense physical contact.
Desert Flannel: And the arcanists, who are good at healing, will naturally become the best athletes of all.
Desert Flannel: … 15 minutes, that's all they take. Most of the arcane treatments take only 15 minutes to heal the patient. And before that happens, the athletes would just take painkillers to help themselves get through the game.
Desert Flannel: And after that 15 minutes, they are refreshed and healthy, like those athlete dolls you'd find in the souvenir store.
Desert Flannel: They can slide, impact like a maniac, and don't have to worry about missing any important sporting sessions if injured.
Ezra: This is an advantage?
Desert Flannel: That's right, an unbelievable advantage. But ... are they really as good as they look?
Desert Flannel: Their glory comes with a price. Ligament damage and the irreversible tears keep recurring ...
Desert Flannel: But there is still an elephant in the room. It paces around, making noises which are unfit for the place, like this conversation we're having in the locker room.
Desert Flannel: But on the sports field, where the blood boils, power and strength are the only things that matter. Nobody has the time to stop and ask what we are doing here, just like they don't have the time to notice the elephant.
Ezra: ...
Desert Flannel: Ten years ago, Margret of Broken Hill was invincible on the court.
Desert Flannel: In August last year, she died on the last day of winter.
Ezra: Did she die of recurrent injuries? It's very likely that arcanist athletes who repeatedly get injured and heal themselves would get hurt on the same body part in the future. Their body will become fragile. They might even twist their ankle from walking. Sometimes even break a bone or two.
Desert Flannel: No. She died from an overdose.
Ezra: ...!
Desert Flannel: She needed a horrific amount of painkillers to ease her pain, so much that her body was overwhelmed.
Ezra: This, this is cruel!
Ezra: We have to report this to the Foundation and solve it once and for all. The athletes could have played in a safer way if given help.
It's rare to see the boy being so unsure and nervous. An astonished look takes over his pretty girlish face.
Desert Flannel ponders and looks at him.
Desert Flannel: But what if I tell you the arcanists also don't have a choice?
Desert Flannel: For humans who have the talent for sports, they can win the medals with their physical strengths.
Ezra: So, arcanists have to make the most of their advantages to keep abreast with their competitors?
She silently nods.
Ezra: ...
Ezra: I, I had no idea.
Desert Flannel: I'm sorry, truly.
Desert Flannel once again puts her hand on his shoulder and pulls the boy into her arms in a sisterly embrace.
Desert Flannel: I didn't mean to make you feel guilty, nor did I deliberately put you in pain. But Ezra, I was once one of them. I used to live on the prize money.
Desert Flannel: I'm only telling the truth. It is happening every day, every moment, and every second. Drug addiction, premature senility, and irreversible physical damage ... This is almost a destined end for every arcanist athlete.
Desert Flannel: And nobody is held accountable for this, not the clubs, or the hosts of the games. Drug abuse is a personal behavior, that's it.
Desert Flannel: Those people who are passionate about sports and don't wanna lead a life without them ... I have no idea how they would make a living or handle a quiet life, so I know they don't have much of a choice.
Desert Flannel: The sport industry of humans is generous. They offer equal chances to human and arcanist athletes. But it's also cruel, and the athletes are like the girls in Cinderella story who wish their feet would fit the glass slippers.
Desert Flannel: They have no choice but to cut off part of their heels to earn the glory.
Ezra: This ... this isn't fair. These sports and rules are not appropriate for arcanists. They, they have been treated unjustly. They aren't taken seriously and respected as athletes ...
Ezra: Is ... is Spathodea ... one of them ...?
Ezra: That's why she was ... so furious ...
???: So the rumor that they are turning against each other is true!
Makower: Camera, this way. This is the human representative of the event ...
Ezra: ...! You, you are that paparaz- ...?
Makower: This is not how a polite kid would address others, Mr. Ezra.
Makower: I'm just a concerned journalist who run into you while reporting a rugby game.
Desert Flannel: Watch your mouth, mister! This is harassment!
She covers Ezra and rapidly moves backward, but behind them are still clicking cameras.
Ezra: We are cornered ...!
Desert Flannel: Then we will break his camera and let him know the price of being a long-tongued liar!
