The Fractal Countryside

"The affected area's grown by at least four feet over the last decade, decelerating. In 200 or 300 years it could reach the coastline and knock out westernmost lines of communication."

Salinae and Oushiqae stared out toward the open countryside.

To them, there was nothing amiss. A quaint cobblestone road, some low grass, a collection of village buildings dotting the rolling hills here and there. A line of telephone poles ran by the road, wires crossing over to run to the different cottages.

Yet, despite the scenic view, the group was barred entry by a massive perimeter of flags with bright yellow rope tied between the posts. Wood signs hung from the road.

"EXTREME DANGER. DO NOT PASS THISI BOARD"

All of this lie behind miles of concrete barriers and barbed wire.

The surrounding land was dirt, all grass and foliage dug out. The 'danger zone' could be seen where the dirt suddenly turned into a layer of bright green grass as though the foliage were just a cut bit of cloth laid atop the hills.

Yet the man that spoke to the pair wore a red full body suit with thick rubber boots and a gasmask over his face. Equipment hung from his belt as he spoke to the pair.

"Who was this lady you were looking for? Moyae?"

"Aye," Salinae replied. "Left for Gulto a week ago."

"Gulto's been in the radius for over forty years." The man in the suit said. "We evacuated everyone already."

"She got a letter from her sister *last week* saying to visit her in Gulto." Salinae said, folding her arms.

"But there's nobody there."

Oushiqae frowned, looking toward the idyllic countryside beyond the warning signs.

"Surely you're not going to suggest the letter sent itself."

"I'm saying there's no way there was a letter." The man replied.

"But we got the testimony from the postman that put it in her box!"

The man in the suit looked at them, baffled. He was silent, as were the women.

At last, he shook his head, reaching out to lift the yellow rope over his head.

"Look, we just got a group out the last affected village. Kusete, heard of it?" He said, beckoning them.

Salinae glanced over to Oushiqae a moment before moving to follow the man, ducking under the rope, Oushiqae close behind.

"Never. You think our missing person is with them?"

"Couldn't hurt. Far as I know there's nobody else in the zone besides us SWRG personnel."

Salinae watched as the man stepped from the dirt to the grass. She paused, watching his body seem to...shimmer before freezing in place and fading away.

The lizard gulped, taking a step forward, planting a foot on the grass.

At once, the suited man returned to view. But something else was happening.

The sky.

In the sky, Salinae could see land. A writhing spiral of it that shifted and moved in an endless, ongoing fractal of space. Roads stretched infinitely long an infinite number of time.

Salinae craned her neck, feeling dizzy, sick to her stomach, the endless spiral of curved, bent, warped land dominating the sky until it completely surrounded her.

A tug on her arm broke her from her veritgo. The man in the suit pulled her towards him.

"Easy now. You'll get used to that. Just don't look up too much." he said. Salinae nodded, trying to keep her eyes to the ground.

She looked back, seeing Oushiqae come into view, the Cow having the same dizzying experience as she did until the man helped her as well.

The immediate horizon still looked the same, though the surrounding landscape of dirt had vanished into copies of the surrounding landscape. A deep hum now resonated on the wind, one that subtly burrowed into Salinae's mind.

It was at this point Salinae noticed how...humid it had suddenly become. The grass was wet with dew even though it was the afternoon.

The man pointed to a farm house on the side of the cobblestone road.

"There, we've set up our infirmary there to process evacuees." He said.

He led the pair there, Salinae able to see a "South Western Restoration Group" banner hung over the porch, marking SWRG's use of the building.

A few more people in red protective suits exited, greeting the man.

"D01, who'd you bring?" One of them asked, using codenames.

"A pair of women from Sopetdove." The man, D01, replied. "They say a woman named Moyae came this way to enter Gulto. Received a letter from her sister to go there last week."

The other two SWRG workers looked to one another.

"I don't think there's a Moyae here...we can check."

D01 waved Salinae and Oushiqae along, the pair entering the farmhouse with the other two workers.

As soon as they entered the creaky, dusty home they could see a few Kusete evacuees laying on or sitting on field stretchers positioned in the living room.

Salinae was relieved to see they looked okay enough, though many of them seemed...dizzy. A glazed look in their eyes as they never seemed to focus on anything.

"No, no Moyae in the patient logs I'm afraid." One of the workers said, grabbing Salinae's attention at once.

"Well, where else would she have gone but here? She'd have surely taken the same route as we two." Salinae said, hands upon her hips. "Did no one see her? Did nobody here *stop* her?"

"Miss, the affected area is at least 15 miles in diameter and there's only so many of us."

"So people just come and go as they please into this..." Salinae gestured vaguely. "...mad countryside."

Oushiqae put a hand on Salinae's shoulder, trying to calm the girl's nerves before she said something untoward.

"Certainly not!" one of the workers protested.

"We have procedure in place in the event of attempted incursion." The other worker explained. "Most people coming by are deterred by the signs, but others have to be intercepted by SWRG personnel.”

Salinae blinked. Something about what was just said bugged her.

"Most...?" Salinae repeated. "How many people exactly are just stumbling across this place? We're pretty remote, not to mention the concrete barriers and barbed wire. Why on Earth are so many people getting as close as the rope?"

The workers shrugged. Oushiqae glanced back at the evacuees lounging on the stretchers around the farmhouse,

"Who knows. Curiosity, maybe?" The worker suggested.

"Did...any of the ones you intercept ever say why they were there...?" Oushiqae said quietly.

"Why...?" One of the workers paused, looking to the other.

"I only intercepted one, myself." The other said. "They mentioned a friend in one of the affected villages telling them to visit for a bachelor party."

Salinae's eyes narrowed.

"I heard another said something about a blind newspaper date with a girl from one of the affected villages." The worker said.

Salinae looked back at the evacuees silently, staring at them...their blank faces, their glazed over eyes.

Then...slowly...she turned her head toward the window. She felt dizzy, she felt sick...

...but it wasn't vertigo.

As she looked at the spiral of land dominating the sky, the trees...the mountains...as they repeated into infinity...

...they looked like teeth.

The fractal of land writhed.

Salinae heard the deep wind of the countryside.

How many had already been 'saved'? Led out of the fractal countryside? Spread across Illaminamo?

Only one thing was certain: Moyae was long, long gone.