“The sewers?” Xaleyp asked. That was the absolute last place he would have expected Seth to say they were going. “Why the sewers?”

“They’re fully automated by low power drones. Humans never set foot down there. They’ll never even know we’re there. Plus, there are enormous cisterns that will give us plenty of room to move around.”

“What’s the plan once we get there then, sir?” Mian shifted in her seat to sit up straighter. When Xaleyp looked at the sword sitting in her lap, he had an incredible urge to reach out for it. He mentally shook his head to clear it. “Is there anything for us to use in the sewers?”

“Not much that’ll be of use to us, and not much of a plan besides stay hidden, strike hard, get out fast. We’ll have to figure it out as we go.”

“First exit coming up.” Redman pressed a few buttons on the console. “Going to take it and get us out of here.”

The car smoothly moved across the different lanes to the right. On the side of the otherwise monotonous wall was a hole. It revealed a small portion of the city from their vantage, the lights illuminating the exit. They flew through and out into the open. Block upon block was taken up by towering buildings. They reached dozens of stories into the air. Bridges made of glass and filled with plant life stretched between many of them. Some people were walking slowly through them, out for a late night stroll. Cars zoomed in every direction. In some part of the city, they could hear the sound of distant sirens. But no military. Good.

“Head for the corner of Thirty-First Avenue and Library Boulevard, captain. There’s an easy access point to the sewer there.”

“About six kilometers away, sir.”

“Fair enough. Go easy. Try not to draw any attention to us.”

“Aye, sir.”

The car descended a couple dozen meters to join a group of traffic going in the same direction as them. Being around so many people without knowing whether they were friendly or not made Xaleyp nervous. He had trusted that Seth knew what he was doing. That mistake had almost gotten them killed. And it did get all those other people killed.

But his worries never came to fruition. No one stopped them. There were no signs of danger. After a couple minutes of flying, Redman set the car down on the metal ground. All of them got out, Mian continuing to hold on to the sword. The whispers coming from it continued to linger, as if tickling the back of Xaleyp’s mind. It was slowly driving him insane. Hearing the voices but not being able to understand what they were saying, knowing that they were always there, a constant presence he couldn’t shake away, it was enough to drive him mad. But then there were moments of bliss, where he seemed to grow used to them and he couldn’t hear them. Finally, it lapsed into one of those times.

They were in front of an older looking building. It was short, barely two stories tall. Some parts were starting to rust away, others had been recently patched. Ivy ran up and down walls. No windows were visible on the front or either of the sides. The door didn’t appear to have been opened for many years. A dilapidated sign above it read, “Sewage Treatment.”

Redman parked at the side of the road, and they all got out. Mian grabbed the pack and slung it back over her shoulders and carried the sword in her hand. Seth was the first one to the door, and none of them were surprised to find the door was locked. An electronic one, able to be remotely controlled by the government. The numbers to punch in a code were lit up in the darkness, a piercing blue. Seth silently cursed. He didn’t have the time or expertise to mess with it, and it would be too obvious if they cut their way in. Mian stepped forward and smiled.

“My time to shine,” she said. Her eye started twitching quickly as she used her CAM to hack into the lock.

Xaleyp had forgotten how easily she broke the Hyperion encryption and gained access to the room assignments. That was just a few days ago, but it felt like weeks. Time felt as if it were in flux, some things happening in rapid succession before he could react, while others were in slow motion, replaying over and over in his mind like a stream stuck on repeat. There was so much that had changed, but one thing that hadn’t was how little he actually knew about Mian.

Redman watched the street to make sure no one was coming their way. A few cars passed by lazily overhead, but none bothered them. After a minute, there was a click, and the numbers on the lock went dark. Seth stepped forward and pressed a button at the side. The door hissed open without an alarm. He turned to Mian.

“Good work, girl.”

“Mian,” Xaleyp muttered under his breath. But after receiving a look from her, he didn’t say anything more.

Seth led the way into the building. A narrow beam of light from the doorway, broken up by their shadows as they moved in, shone in on the interior. It was small, damp, and dark inside. To one side of the room was a console with glowing keys and the screen turned off. Somewhere, a rat scurried to hide from the new arrivals.

“Good. No one’s been here for a while.” Set smiled as he looked around. “Just like I expected, no humans operating it.”

The door hissed shut behind them, leaving them in darkness. Xaleyp’s CAM helped him see by creating a three-dimensional model of the room and projecting it into his vision. It was a crude representation, but it worked in a pinch.

“Shit, did we forget the lights?” Seth asked the darkness.

“There should be one in one of the packs.” Redman took the pack from Mian and began blindly feeling through it. After a moment, he groaned. “I can’t believe it. Just food and water in here. Yeter had the pack with the light.”

“How did we end up with only one light and lose it?” Seth groaned in exasperation.

“I didn’t know we were going to need one.” Redman sighed. There was an audible slap of palm hitting forehead. “Is there a switch anywhere?”

Xaleyp turned to look around. His vision had a slight delay to it as his CAM tried to keep up with the movement. Next to the door was a button, and he pressed it. The lights came on at once, bathing the room in a white glow. Cobwebs hung in the corners, and dust covered a table and two chairs. Some sort of spill stained part of the floor. At the far side was a circular door in the floor. A metal wheel as a handle jutted out from the center with spokes around the outside. Quite old-fashioned but practical.

Seth walked over and turned it with both hands. The metal creaked and groaned after not being used for months, maybe even years. After a few seconds of spinning, the hatch tipped open towards the wall behind it. A smell of mingled sanitation with excrement met their noses. There was the sound of rushing water somewhere. A ladder enabled their descent.

“Well, let’s get a move on.” Seth gestured to the hole. “We have a resistance to begin.”

“I hope we find somewhere I can get out of this dress,” Mian said as she started climbing down the ladder. “It’s a little constricting.”

“You know you can change it with a thought at anytime, right?” Xaleyp asked, following her.

“Trust me, there’s nothing quite like being able to just close your bunk and throw off all your clothes and relax.”

“Oh, what I wouldn’t give to see that,” Xaleyp said under his breath. A smile broke out on his face.

“What did Lina call you the day you met me? An ass? I’m beginning to think she was right.”

Xaleyp didn’t question how she knew what Lina had said before he went into the dormitory. After less than a minute of climbing, they reached the bottom. Dim lights were spread throughout the area, casting a dull aura throughout. A gully ran through the center of the sewers with a ledge on either side. Water, or at least what Xaleyp hoped was water, streamed down it. A few robots were skittering around, seen by not heard, as they maintained the different pipes and systems. Seth walked in front of them all and held his arms out, spinning slowly as he took it all in.

“Welcome to your new home.”

As they stood there, a chime sounded in Xaleyp’s ears. A message came through on his CAM. The sender was Lina. He started to open it but stopped himself. Once he did, she would be gone forever. Nothing more than a memory. A good one, but a memory nonetheless. If he left it there, she’d still be alive. Sort of a Schrödinger’s Lina. There would still be a chance that she was out there somewhere. With great hesitation, and a tear coming to his eye, he opened the message.

A somewhat transparent image of Lina appeared in his vision. It looked exactly like she did on the day it happened. A smile was on her face, but he could tell by looking at her eyes that she was sad. Her hands were folded behind her back, and she stared mostly at her feet, as if she were scared to look him in the eye.

She laughed as she said the words. Just hearing that pure, innocent sound was something he never thought he would experience again, and it brought a smile to his face.

She sighed and looked around, pacing in a small circle. After a moment, she came to a stop and ran her fingers through her hair. When she spoke, it was frequently broken up by heavy pauses as she tried to think of what to say. It almost sounded like she was trying to fight the urge to start crying.

She waved. The same wave as the last time he saw her. He felt his hand start to move to wave back but stopped himself. There was something about actually performing that action that seemed to solidify the fact that she was gone so much more than seeing her disappear. If he waved back, it would just reinforce the idea he would never see again. Just before she blinked out, he waved back, and he thought he could see a bigger smile come to her face. Then she was gone and replaced by a new image.

It was somewhat crude, a rough sketch rather than an actual drawing, but it was very clearly of him. All he was doing in the image was sitting on the floor, staring ahead and leaning against a wall, his knees up in front of his chest and his arms resting on top. Something about the way it was drawn seemed unfinished, as if she were interrupted in the middle of it. It made him feel somewhat at ease, as if everything would be okay. There was a caption at the bottom in Lina’s thin, slanted handwriting spelling out a single word: Worried. Was this what she was drawing and so hastily hid away when he came into the dormitory that day? Was she worried about him?

He saved both to the storage chip in his CAM, knowing full well that he would never open either of them again. A smile came to his face, and a tear rolled down his cheek. Mian, Seth, and Redman were all staring at him, wondering if he had lost his mind. The other two ignored it and walked away, but Mian moved closer to him.

“Are you alright?” Her voice was a whisper he could barely hear above the dripping of water in the distance.

Xaleyp nodded. “Lina sent me a message. She’s… really gone.”

She didn’t say anything. She just wrapped her arms around him, pulling him in tight. At first, he just stood there. His arms stayed limp at his side. Then he slowly brought his arms up and held her, not wanting to let go.

Two things were certain after getting the message from Lina. First, regardless of what she said, she would be alive if it weren’t for him. He was the one that brought her with him. He was the one that was supposed to keep her safe. He failed. It was his fault.

Second, no matter what it took, he was going to get revenge.