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After months of hardship, Abbas’ fortunes were finally looking up. The Modular Aquatic Population Limit Extension (MAPLE) that had recently arrived on Furnifold soil - or sea, rather - was by far the most amazing construct that Abbas had ever seen. Even foreign picturesque scenes he had seen in brochures paled in comparison. And he got to live on this awe-inspiring wonder of ingenuity.
Abbas was one of perhaps 2,000 Furnifold laborers hired to serve essential duties on the MAPLE once it got up and running. For the past two weeks, the Furnifolds had been set up in living quarters, given essential instructions on how to navigate the MAPLE complex, including where and where not they were allowed to go, and were trained on tasks essential to keep the ‘umusangwa,’ the name the Furnifolds on board call the incoming residents of the complex, satisfied. Abbas’ role was a night-shift maintenance and custodial assistant. He was called in to fix potential problems, be it spills, leakages, plugs, broken down fixtures, whatever the Syllvan overseers wanted. Abbas had a real hatred of authority figures, but, unlike the corrupt police in Boonefield, these Syllvan overseers carried loaded weapons and regarded the Furnifolds with indifference, only noticing them when it was necessary or convenient. And that was fine by Abbas. Instead of having to make himself ignored, he already was.
This was not all that was new to Abbas. Unlike in Banokubana, where everyone was envious and mistrusting of one another, there was a real comrarderie among the Furnifolds. At first, Abbas thought it would just be like Banokubana, where he would have very few people to talk to, but here, everyone was sociable; cracking jokes, making fun of the Free Syllvin guards, wondering about who the ‘umusangwa’ (a name that roughly translates to ‘guest,’ in Codexian) they would be serving would be. It helped that they were mainly Sahibu, the ethnic group native to the southern part of Furnifold. The Furnifold Patriotic Front, the Sahibu group Abbas had spent time with after he ran away from home, had a presence on the MAPLE, but it wasn’t a strong presence. Whenever its members tried to talk to the Furnifolds, the others would ignore them or forcefully change the subject. There was just too much optimism on the MAPLE to listen to the FPF talk of injustice and political upheaval.
The workers of the MAPLE were anxiously waiting for what they called ‘Arrival,’ the day the umusangwa entered the complex. They were unsure as to who the umusangwa would be. “Perhaps they are rich Kuthernburgs, or from some other nations, who want to see Furnifold, but from a distance,” was one dominant thought. Abbas harbored a fantasy of meeting a rich umusangwa who would fall in love with him and marry him, and he could have a happily ever after. In fact, most of the Furnifolds had romanticized the impending umusangwa, hoping that these umusangwa would become their benefactors and improve their lots in life. Not all the prevailing thoughts were as optimistic though. Others countered by saying that wouldn’t make sense, given the large military presence from Free Syllvin, including warships guarding the complex, and that the likely umusangwa were high-ranking secret military officials and their families, there to conduct secret government tests and drills that others were not to know about. That would make sense, as the Syllvan overseers made it absolutely clear that, when not on duty, the Furnifolds were to stay confined to a select few platforms, and that other platforms were off limits even when on duty. Abbas had explored the platforms dedicated to farming, living spaces, and shops and restaurants, where the Furnifolds were confined to, and discovered ways to get to the other platforms without being seen or stopped by the Syllvan guards. Being a maintenance and custodial worker was helpful, as no one accosted him while he was carrying around a large garbage bin and other supplies.
Regardless of who the umusangwa would be, Abbas was sure to spend time exploring the MAPLE to see how they lived, and what they were doing. There was nothing malicious in his desire, for even though the FPF had planted radical thoughts into his head, he was genuinely curious to see a life that wasn’t full of survivalist worries. Plus, one of the platforms that was off-limits off duty had a fantastic view of the skyline of the complex, as well as a clear shot to the port city of Hafre, a few thousand feet to the northeast of the complex. This would be an amazing place to take someone, Abbas thought one day, while also grimacing in pain due to the heartache of his abandoned love, Kulana. This is a new me, I ran away to get away from it all, my family, Kulana, the Kamugara, all of that is behind me now.
Finally, the day had come. The Arrival. They had been told by the Syllvan overseers that the umusangwa would be arriving by large cargo ships over the course of a week, and that there would be close to thirty-thousand of them. “No fancy cruise ships for the umusangwa, see? They are not rich!” Joked some of the more cynical Furnifolds. Abbas would not be deterred by that thought. “Maybe they are coming on cargo ships because they need to bring along their supplies, and cruise ships wouldn’t do it,” countered Abbas in frustrations. He was up on a balcony overlooking one of the entrances from the pier of the MAPLE to the main platform. The overseers told the Furnifolds to dress up and make sure they looked nice before the guests arrived, and to stand waiting to take whatever supplies they were handed to their stations. So, Abbas was dressed up in his native Sahibu garb, a long tan shirt that was loosely fit, and cargo pants. He wore a kufiya to offer some protection from the sun, and to keep his lengthening hair out of his face. If these umusangwa are rich foreigners, they would be delighted with the native look of the Sahibu, he thought, wondering if he was an attraction for the umusangwa to ogle at as much as he was a custodian. He forgot about these thoughts as the first ship came into the port.
He watched the ship get tied-up by the deckhands, and saw figures begin to leave the ship. The deckhands were at first enthusiastic to see who was exiting the ship, but, as they caught a look of those exiting, their body language seemed to lose the excitement. Abbas was confused, he was too far away to see who the umusangwa were; the only thing he noticed was that they all seemed to be wearing strange pointed headgear. Unable to see from his perch on the balcony, he got off and headed downstairs to the ground level, where he could get up close to these umusangwa. There was a crowd of the Furnifold workers, welcoming the umusangwa and awaiting their instructions, and everyone was excitedly chatting, unaware of the reaction of the deckhands to the umusangwa farther down on the platform. The umusangwa were headed their way, and the hushed chatting turned into a roar as people became more and more excited. But, just like the deckhands, their roar dimmed back to quiet murmuring as they got a look at the umusangwa, until it became deadly silent. Abbas knew they were walking by him, but he could not see past the larger bodies in front of him. He jumped up, tried to squeeze through the crowd, to know avail. He found a small opening, and tried to nudge his way through, but tripped and fell onto the street. He heard a gasp from the crowd, and he felt a hand grab his to help him up. The hand felt furry, like the person was wearing a mitten. Abbas looked at the hand, but couldn’t see any mitten, and let go of it, murmuring, “thanks.”
He looked up, and saw who helped him up. An umusangwa. An umusangwa with fur covering its face, large ears pointed straight up on the side of its head, a snout, and a tail swishing behind it. But, it was also human-like, with a human physique, thumbs, and wearing clothes. Abbas was startled, and realized why the others were startled too. This umusangwa was not the only one like this, and he was surrounded by concerned umusangwa that looked the same. The one who had offered its hand looked at him unusually, apprehensive as to what Abbas was going to do next. Abbas got up quickly, startling the umusangwa, who he surmised was female, at least, looked like a female. He stared back at them, got his wits about him, and mumbled an apology, saying the line he rehearsed in Codexian, “Welcome, guests, to the MAPLE,” and quickly turned back, fleeing into the crowd of similarly shocked Furnifolds.
Not only did Abbas surmise that these umusangwa were Vulpine, the sentient fox species of the northeast Yasteria, but these were not likely rich umusangwa. They were wearing essentially rags for clothes, and the possessions they carried were very scant. Abbas remembered the newcomers in Banokubana, refugees from another nation, but those refugees were humans. These umusangwa were dressed as if they were refugees, but were they? Abbas knew that the Furnifolds would have a lot to talk about when they were off duty tonight. But right now, Abbas could only feel envy and jealousy, holdover thoughts from his time in Banokubana and following the FPF. “We have to serve these things? What nonsense, why do they get access to this beautiful complex, but we must wait on them? I do not want to clean up after them.” Abbas said to the first Furnifoldian he saw. Suddenly a loud voice erupted behind him. A Syllvan soldier, hands on his automatic weapon, gestured at him and said, “You there, what are you doing? You should be helping these residents, or umusangwa, whatever you people call them. Get busy.” Abbas nodded quickly, shut up, and walked to his station, passing by other Furnifolds and seeing their faces with marked confusion, anger, frustration, or depression. They carried the crates of food, tools and construction materials, and cases of other items, and the MAPLE complex was full of activity, for the umusangwa had arrived. [edit_reason]corrected demonym[/edit_reason]