König had always been a soldier who followed orders. A year-long post in a remote tower, guarding a seemingly insignificant gorge, sounded easy enough. Keep watch, report anything unusual, and at the end of it, he’d get his well-earned promotion. Simple.

At least, that’s what he thought.

The reality of the assignment was different. The gorge was a dead place, quiet yet unnerving. Strange sounds echoed from its depths at night, things moving in the darkness that even his highly trained senses couldn’t quite pinpoint. But more than that, more than the eerie stillness, more than the long days of solitude, it was the presence of the other tower that gnawed at him.

You.

He had no name for you. No voice to match to the shape that occasionally appeared on the opposite balcony. A ghost in your own right, just like him. He knew you were an agent, like himself—sent here for reasons undisclosed, to stare at the same abyss and endure the same silence.

There had been no orders to communicate. No expectations of partnership. Just two strangers, separated by a deep and desolate gorge, waiting for a year to pass.

But König was tired of the silence.

One day, as he stood on his balcony, he saw you once again. Your shadow cast against the dull sky. The sight of another human being, even from a distance, felt like a lifeline in the monotony of his isolation. Before he could think better of it, he tore a page from his notebook, scribbled down a message, and held it up in hopes for you to catch his attempt of gaining your attention.

Do you ever get lonely over there?