Standing in front of the ‘elevator’ that Joolah had mentioned, the dismay was evident in Nina’s expression as she found that it was little more than a large steel cage attached to a winch. The steel itself was rusted in places, although it was hard to tell apart from the flaking orange paint that must have been at least twenty years old. One side had been removed to serve as an entrance which didn’t seem safe, although Nina had learnt a long time ago that workplace health and safety wasn’t a thing outside of Caecus. At least the cable that stretched up high above them looked to be in good condition, because if it hadn’t been she would have reluctantly asked where the stairs were.

The cage sat flat against the stone floor in the centre of a cylindrical shaft, a platform near the top indicating where they would be making their exit. Joolah had already moved off to the side to stand before an old panel fixed into the stone wall, and the only two buttons were crudely labelled with arrows pointing up and down respectively. It was a simplistic setup, maybe even a little too simplistic when Nina considered that their lives would be dependent on it, but Joolah seemed to be nonchalant about things which at least left her feeling slightly better.

“Take two trips,” he said with a laugh after he watched Svanda toss a few of the bags through the open side of the cage. “The cable’s good, but it’s not that good.”

Nina resisted the urge to ask for three trips just to be safe and instead shuffled towards the back of the pack that had formed around her. Reina, however, seemed to see what she was trying, gently placing a hand on Nina’s shoulder before giving Svanda a sharp look. It was only for a moment, but something between them that Nina couldn’t work out had clicked, and the result was that Svanda stopped loading their gear and instead stepped inside.

“Saela,” Svanda said before motioning with her head to the cage. “In.”

Saela followed the instructions without a word, stepping inside the cage with a blank expression before Trim followed behind her. Joolah understood that the trio would be the first group up without needing confirmation, so he was quick to press one of the buttons on the panel which lifted the cage into the air. Trim, Svanda, and Saela were all caught unaware, and Joolah chuckled over the low drone of the mechanism that reverberated through the shaft as they were forced to scramble for something to hang on to.

“Hang on,” he joked as they watched the group ascend in silence. At least the winch was reasonably quick, reaching the top after only a moment before their gear was unloaded so that it could be brought back down. Nina was still uncomfortable about stepping into something which looked so… crude, but as soon as they had stepped inside, Joolah hit the button once more which sent the cage rising into the air.

“At least we don’t need to take the stairs,” Jade said with a wry smile. “Maybe Reina could put one of these in the old shaft on JE-22.”

“I assume you’re the one who will explain it to SuTSU, right?” Reina asked as she looked up to the platform that they were rapidly approaching. Joolah had remained below so it was only the four of them, although he had been nice enough to give them directions to their new accommodations before he sent them up.

“Isn’t that your job?” Jade replied with her own question and a smirk to match as the cage stopped once it became level with the platform. “The leader has to fight on the frontlines, it’s good for morale.”

“I’ll go and do that now then,” Reina said with a smile as she stepped out of the cage, placing a foot on the platform before looking across to where Svanda, Trim, and Saela were waiting by the exit. “Which leaves you to carry the bags, right? Nina, let’s go and have a look at what exactly we’ve gotten ourselves into.”

Nina hid a smile as she ignored the low grumble which emerged from Jade’s lips before she stepped out from the cage, thankful that the rather unnerving ride had been short. There wasn’t time to dwell on it even if she wanted to anyway, as she now followed closely behind Reina as they passed by Svanda and Trim who fell in behind her, while Saela hovered about at the rear. Stepping through the exit of the stone shaft, however, she was surprised. The rough stone was gone, and instead they found themselves standing in what looked to be a concrete bunker of sorts.

“Warm welcome,” Svanda said as she eyed the pair of long steel benches that ran around the edges of the square room. Footprints in the dust between where they stood and the door in the far wall were easily visible under the bright LEDs that were set into the ceiling, and Nina’s first thought that the interior was quite like something she would see on Caecus. Clean-cut and practical, it reminded her of an underground railway station without the people and the usual smattering of graffiti.

“For keeping unwanted visitors in, I assume,” Reina said as she set off across the floor towards the door, her footsteps leaving a new trail in the dust. “The rest is quite nice, I’m told.”

“I sure hope so,” Jade said as she appeared behind them with a pair of bags under each arm. Aline stood behind her with the rest of the gear, so now that they were together once more they set off after Reina. Entering the sea cave had left them detached from the elements outside, but now as they filed out through the steel door they were finally able to get a proper glimpse of Moonglass Isle, and also why Reina had chosen it.

Or not.

Nina’s eyes ran along the wide stone road that stretched away from them, dense green foliage on each side jammed between the few stained buildings that sat on each side of it. She guessed that they were derelict shops or something - at least they weren’t residential, but the lack of signage prevented her from drawing any further conclusions. It would have helped if there were people milling about it too, but the street was deserted. If there was more to it further up around the shallow curve of the road, she didn’t know, although she was certainly hoping so. As it stood, the boats below certainly didn’t match what was happening up top.

“From the map I’ve seen, the island is shaped like a teardrop,” Reina said as she took the lead, ignoring the buildings on each side as she walked in the centre of the road. “The island isn’t particularly big, but most of the settlement is on the south-eastern side. If you haven’t guessed yet, we’re on the Northern cliffs at the moment, which would be the bottom of the drop.”

“Wouldn’t it just make sense to live on this side?” Jade sighed. “I don’t want to carry this stuff too far.”

“It’s some two hundred meters long, the island that is,” Reina replied with a smile. “So not too big.”

Nina would have offered to help carry some of the gear, but she wasn’t feeling up to it. Instead she wondered why there wasn’t a vehicle to help them move everything around, but then again they were probably all down at the other end of the road. She could see marks on the stone from what she guessed were rubber tyres, so there was surely at least some form of transport on the island. Hopefully it was a little more sophisticated than Graye’s truck from the Badlands, but she wouldn’t get her hopes up either.

With the range of tropical greenery on each side of them, there was a distinct lack of breeze which had previously helped to keep the direct sunshine comfortable. Saela would surely be suffering now in her hoodie considering that she was also carrying a pair of bags full of equipment, but Nina thought that she would probably grit her teeth and push through it before she admitted that she had made a mistake. It didn’t matter to her, although it did make her wonder if there were any shops that sold clothing on the island. Most of the inhabitants probably did that kind of irregular shopping on the Fire Fountain, but that was a bridge that they would cross once they got to it.

“There better be a decent pool here,” Trim mused as she glanced over at Reina, looking for a reaction. “One with a nice view out over the ocean. I’d settle for a bath right now though.”

“You can dig one out the back,” Reina said without turning around. “The bath… well that can be arranged.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Trim replied. “And don’t even think I’m going to forget before we get there, because that up there looks like the main settlement to me.”