Bastion 2 - Chapter 31

I looked around the room for the first time, noticing crates stacked up against the wall with the same crescent moon and sword emblem on the side. If they’re moving the shipment through this facility, this appeared to be a storeroom. Not good.

I made my way to the edge of the wall and scooted out a box to squeeze behind. I pulled the box above overtop me and hunkered down to reserve ma. The door to the room opened with a heavy thud and light cast over the floor. There were four pairs of footsteps—maybe three, it was hard to tell—who came in and dropped off boxes.

They made several trips, and the boxes shifted, sending tinkled vibrations like ringing glass as they set them down. The door finally shut, and a few minutes later I felt the vibrations of the submarine pulling away from the station. I took my time in carefully getting out from under my predicament—shifting several boxes with painful precision—then got to work.

I pried up one of the edges of the box, illuminating it well with ry. Inside were two dozen empty glass vials all stuffed down with hay. I scowled and sifted through the box until my limb touched something squishy. I pushed aside the hay to reveal a transparent, sealed bag of black liquid. I poked it gently and the liquid shimmered silver, then settled.

I felt Mae take several more snapshots and I moved around the room for her to do her work. The second box had a thick red substance that didn’t react when touched. The third box had an iridescent pearly liquid that seemed to thrum with energy. I grabbed a vial and pulled the hay free.

‘Mae, do you think we can use some en to osmosis that liquid from the bag?’ I asked, my heart pounding from a mixture of fear and excitement. This was hard evidence, not just still images. I could bring this and the images to Min-hwan, and then the sungchal could take real action.

“There is enough, but if we do that, there won’t be enough to melt us if we’re captured.” She warned and I gritted my teeth. Having hard evidence was not more important than preventing Mae’s device from being manipulated by the enemy.

“The sleeping man isn’t in his room,” Mae said, her voice strained.

Vibrations of footsteps rang outside the hall and my mind raced. I had to choose, fast. I stuffed the vial back in the box and pushed the lid down tight, then scuttled behind it. I used another ten percent of my ry to refresh my shadow glimmer, hopefully to obscure me from view.

The door opened and light filled the room, but my little alcove remained darkened. There were to pairs of footsteps. One of the men was limping, something I hadn’t noticed in any of the other footsteps.

The light intensified and the steps came closer to me. The guard came into view, bending over a box to pry it open. I pulled back further, flattening myself as much as I could. The lid popped open and the guard stepped back to allow the other person a view.

A masked man appeared next over the box as he surveyed the contents. His face was obscured by the swift, flowing lines of a fox, and colored with black, white, and orange. He nodded as the guard said something, and then, his head turned directly to me.

‘Open the door!’ I thought to Mae in a flurry as I dropped a smoke bomb. I galloped without haste, feeling the vibrations of my clumsy run as I made my way back through the maze of halls to the elevator. The ma counter in the corner of my vision flashed at forty percent and dropping fast.

“The other AI is trying to lock me out,” Mae said as I barreled down the hall to the exit.

‘Get it open now, or we have to self-destruct!’I warned preparing to mobilize the en. The elevator door opened a crack, then a half meter. That would be enough.

I gave two more great bounds, then pulled all my legs up, skidding on my stomach through the gap. The door came down with a snap and the elevator rose. There was a heavy thud against the floor, and then the metal glowed red hot. I leapt straight up, and pressed my legs out against the walls to anchor me.

The elevator came to a stop as the floor melted away, revealing the fox-masked man shielded with blue munje. My hands trembled as I scooted Tuko as far up the wall as I could. The molten hot metal slipped over the fox-man’s shield without leaving a mark, and he climbed up into the tube, reaching for me.

The elevator lifted into the room and I rocketed myself forward, then turned and took aim. When the man’s face appeared, I fired the electrified needle from my head barrel. The shot landed between his neck and chest. Blue zaps arced from his head to his navel and he shuddered as his knees hit the floor with a thud.

I didn’t look back again as I opened the door and skittered toward the exit. I ripped through the paper of the dojang door and tumbled onto the patio. My heart raced as I galloped across the smooth wood toward the edge and slipped over the railing.

As I rotated to drop down onto the Tu-boat, the paper doors blasted off the wall and into the bay with a massive gust that nearly pushed me from the patio. I skittered down the side as the fox-man raised a glowing gold hand.

Not good!

I dropped, releasing the edge as I watched a swirl of ma munje reach for where I once was. I hit the Tu-boat, and bounced into the water, my middle right leg broken. I grabbed the edge of the boat and pulled myself in, then cut the grappling hook free with my claw.

The water beside me swelled up like a monstrous hand from the sea and splashed down on top of me. My limbs ached in contraction as my Tuko body cooled. We tumbled under water in a sickening vertigo as I held tight to the boat and strapped into it.

We surfaced sideways and bobbed as I struggled to right us. Another massive hand rose and I countered, using the last spare en munje to carve a hole through the hand. The water plunged down around us and rocked the boat upright.

I paddled with all my might, dumping as much ma munje into the effort as I could. Water flew as the paddles moved around and around, speeding us away from the dojang. I turned my head and watched the facility fade into the distance as my heart banged against my chest, slowing every second.

I swallowed hard and allowed my shoulders to pull away from my ears when something crashed down on top of Tuko. The boat went under and my vision spun around and around. He had controlled a wave in front of me that far away?

The meter in the corner of my vision read ten percent, and I slowed my movement to conserve energy. The boat drifted up to the top—upside down. It took a moment but with enough paddle wiggling, I got us upright again. I used only the front two paddles as I moved us through the water at minimum speed. I couldn’t get it all the way back to the rendezvous, and I couldn’t leave him floating out here to get swallowed up by any of the big fish in the bay, or picked up by some fisherman.

“Docks in two hundred meters northwest,” Mae said calmly, and her tenor helped ease my nerves. “That was the most intense thing to have ever happened to me.”

I chuckled. ‘More intense than almost exploding?’

“Yes, well, maybe the second most intense thing,” she corrected, then sighed. “I can’t believe we made it. Honestly, our chances were about two hundred to one when you dropped off the edge.”

‘We’re not out of this yet.’ I noted as the ma meter dropped to five percent. I could see the docks, but given our speed and the distance, I wasn’t sure we’d make it. I let us drift, the gentle waves pushing us closer and closer with every lap.

For the second problem, how was I going to fasten Tuko to the docks? I couldn’t leave him in plain sight, and I’d cut the grappling hook to get us free. We drifted within range of the docks and the solution revealed itself. There was a heap of frozen refuse pinned under the nearest overhang up against the stone wall it came from.

With painful slowness, I lifted bits of trash and nestled myself under them. I was grateful I couldn’t smell through Tuko as I snuggled in for the night, just as the ma meter hit zero. Now, to get him back home.

It was still two days before rest day, and I wasn’t certain if the whole garbage heap was frozen enough to withstand the warming of the water at the height of the day. If not, the heap could fall apart, sinking Tuko to the bottom of the bay. There wouldn’t be enough time to get there and back over the lunch break, and dinner might be too late.

“We could always skip meditation…” Mae offered, and I grimaced. Meditation had been instrumental in expanding my control over my munje, my body, and my mind. But, skipping one wouldn’t undo all of that.

“How did it go?” Hana shout-whispered from below and I leaned over to see her through the branches of the pine. There were dark circles under her eyes, and I wondered if she’d slept at all.

“Data collected, Tuko secure, though not home.” I untied myself from the tree and shimmied down. It was warmer on the ground away from the breeze and I shivered away the last of the adrenaline from our encounter.

Hana rubbed her hands together and black zo twisted into her fingers. She rubbed my shoulders and neck, sending warmth through my body that relaxed my muscles. I leaned into the touch, lowering myself for her to reach better.

“Though, I may have just kicked the zapets nest,” I remember aloud with a frown.

I explained the situation as Hana massaged my sore and tense muscles. As I described the man in the fox mask, something tickled the back of my mind. “There was something familiar about the way he moved,” I trailed off thoughtfully as Hana finished her work.

“I’m not detecting a strong connection in your memory. It must be something very old, or a fake impression,” Mae remarked.

Hana shrugged. “Maybe they’re someone we know. They were masked, so you’re going off his stature and a few gestures—which is not much.”

I nodded. “I’ll worry about that later. Now, we need to go get Tuko.”

I looked to the pink horizon. The gates would open soon enough, and we could leave for an hour or so if we skipped breakfast, too. Hana was adamant about coming with me, and I wasn’t in any state to decline her help.

We returned to our lodges to change into our uniforms for the day, and I asked Cho to save a portion of breakfast for us in my bento. He sleepily agreed, then shot upright with a start.

“We’re not meditating?” he asked, alert as ever.

I patted his shoulder reassuringly. “You can lead them this time. I’ll fill you in at lunch, but we have an errand to run.”

Cho gave a thumbs up then flopped back in bed, asleep in a second. I grabbed my coat and met Hana at the gate. The guards scrutinized us. Donuts was the excuse again—which was getting worn out by now—but they allowed us to pass.

We took off at a steady jog as the sun broke over the bay, and chilling “what if’s” ran circles in my head. What if I was putting Hana in danger? What if the fox-man was waiting for us? What if we did know him? What if…