by Stefan Bolz
There is silence in the room. All eyes are on Tevis. Ty nods slightly, whether out of respect for her or because he doesn't have anything to oppose, Aries doesn't know. She realizes at that moment that both of them are right, that both arguments are valid.
"When Born-of-Night told me that we needed to reach the Forgotten Floors," Aries says quietly, "it made no sense at first. It was the last place I wanted to be. There's nowhere to go from there, I thought. Everything in me said no. Everything except one thing. I knew that I needed to trust her. I don't know why, but... actually, I do know why. I trusted her because there was no other option. Coming down here, meeting all of you as a result of this, I cannot but fully trust her now. She brought us together. I listened to her even though, at that moment, it seemed to be a great risk.
"I don't know why we're all here together. And I don't know what'll happen. We might all die." She looks around the room and into the faces of the children. They deserve the truth. "But we cannot stay here for long. Someone will eventually discover the hidden hatch inside the prison and if that happens, then all this was for nothing. But right now, the only clue we have is an elevator that, in forty seconds, can bring us to the floor we need to be to get to Seth and Kiire. I don't know if they want to join us, but I have a strong feeling they might. And maybe we find C.J. somewhere. We might not, but it's worth a try."
Aries’s gaze alights on all of them in turn. —Amber and Jeremiah, Max, Sam, Tevis, Mila and the rest of the children.
"Born-of-Night told me something else," she continues. "I don't know what to make of it and, at first glance, it sounds as preposterous as her telling me to come down here. But what she said was, 'the circle is not yet complete.' I have no clue what this means and it might not mean anything at all. But what if it does?"
With her last words, her glance rests on Ty. His inner struggle is clearly visible in his face. He looks briefly at Tevis, then gets up slowly and stretches his legs.
"I didn't understand half of what you were saying there, but I'd like to see those blueprints now." Before Tevis can sign to him, Max has already laid them on the floor and opened them.
Chapter 13 — Rescue
Pulled from Mainframe S-0t4nn_nf91. Recording 7_112181_4882 1 A.R.C
- We found an open hatch on top of a freshwater tank.
- Where?
- 61st floor. Just above the prison.
- Was anyone inside?
- No.
- What is the purpose of the tank?
- It provides fresh water to the prison.
- How does it get there?
- Excuse me?
- How does the water get into the prison?
- A pipe leads from the tank into a hatch inside.
- Why would they go into the prison?
- I don't know.
- Search it. From top to bottom. Bring them to me.
- Yes.
- I will set an example for the rest of them.
S-0t9nn_nf44. //End of Recording// Recording 7_112181_4882 1 A.R.C
* * *
Aries watches as Ty's fingers trace one of the lines on the blueprint.
"You see those?" he says.
"What are they?" Aries asks.
Ty and Aries kneel on the floor next to the blueprints. Max stands beside Aries, Born-of-Night on his shoulder. Tuari, Amber, Jeremiah, and Sam sit, together with Mila and Tevis, on the other side.
"If I'm not mistaken, these openings are there so that the air can escape the elevator shaft," Ty replies. "The elevator, in moving through it, pushes air in front of it. The air needs a way to escape the shaft."
"What are you getting at?" Aries asks.
"What I'm getting at is, I don't think you should use the inside of the elevator cabin to go up. Once you're at the 202nd floor, you'll end up in a hallway somewhere. It would be too easy for anyone to see you."
"How else would we ride the elevator, if not inside?"
Ty pauses before he continues. "You have to ride the elevator on top. The cabin is large enough for you to lie flat on your stomach while it moves up. You just have to stay away from the walls."
"Otherwise..."
"Otherwise you'll lose an arm or a leg, or both. There might not be anything to hold on to and I don't know what the surface is made of. You'll have to see when you're there."
"Is there a way to control the elevator from up there?"
"No," Ty says.
"That means we would need someone to actually push the button from inside the elevator?"
"Yes."
"I'll do it," Tevis says. At the same time, Aries hears Max's voice inside her head. "That was Max," Tevis says.
"I'd rather you come with me," she says. "If that's okay with you. You know the building and I was hoping you could help me find them."
Max nods.
"Okay. Max and I are going up. Who's pushing the button?"
"I am," Ty says. "Whoever pushes the button can't leave the cabin afterward so I'll ride up with you. Once you're in the air shaft of the 202nd floor, I'll ride back down. The whole thing should take less than two minutes."
Aries feels a sting of concern for Ty. "Does it have to be you?" she says.
"Yes. I know what to do. I can figure something out if anything unexpected comes up."
Aries nods. She'd rather have him stay down here but she can see the logic in his argument. "How do we get to the elevator?"
"Tuari knows the way." Tevis says. "But you should get some rest first. Eat something and get a few hours of sleep."
"I don't think we can. We should go now," Aries replies.
Ty silently acknowledges her statement.
"Now?" Tevis says.
I'll meet you up there. Aries hears Born-of-Night in her thoughts.
How are you going to get through the prison section of the core? she thinks.
I'll find a way, Born-of-Night answers.
Be careful.
I will. The hawk lifts off Max's shoulder and flies through the opening into the darkness of the next room.
Do you know where to go? Aries thinks, suddenly concerned about Born-of-Night's well-being.
I will adapt.
Aries smiles at the hawk's thought.
"I'll take you to the elevator shaft," Tuari says, and walks toward the door. Max follows in line with Mila, Amber, Jeremiah, and Sam behind him.
"I guess we're going," Ty says. "So much for making plans and having a couple of hours of rest."
Tevis gives instructions to the remaining children to go back up and wait there. Then she holds on to Ty's arm as they follow the rest of them out of the room.
Tuari leads them down several more floors. The light here is sporadic, dim at most. The broken bulbs were never replaced. The walls are overgrown with dark mold, crusted and thick. Once in a while, a rat flees into the darkness, alarmed by their footsteps. At length they come to a ladder leading straight down.
"We're three stories above the ground floor," Tuari says, as he grabs onto the first rung and, with a sure step, begins to climb down the rusty ladder.
"You should go back up with them," Ty says to Tevis. "No need for you to come all the way down."
Tevis nods. "Be careful," she says.
"And you," Ty answers.
Tevis lets go of Ty's arm as he grabs onto the ladder and starts climbing down. Mila and Amber stand together with Jeremiah and Sam.
"Come back to us," Mila says quietly. She tries to smile but it doesn't quite work.
"I will," is all Aries can say, even though part of her is not so sure it's wise to promise something she might be unable to fulfill.
Max signs a farewell, which they answer with the same sign.
"We'll wait for y-y-you," Jeremiah says.
"We certainly will," Sam adds.
Amber steps forward. Her fingertips very lightly touch her own sternum, then Aries's.
"Esla Ar Foyelle," she says.
"What does it mean?" Aries asks. The words stir somet
hing in her that she can't identify.
"It means never apart," Amber replies.
Aries looks at Max, then back to the others. "Never apart," she says.
Mila, Jeremiah and Sam repeat the words. After a moment, Tevis embraces Aries.
"Just come back to us, please," she says.
Aries nods, grabs on to the ladder and climbs down. Max follows right behind her as they disappear into the blackness below.
* * *
Darkness swallows them as they make their way down the ladder. The residual light from above slowly disappears, leaving them with nothing but blackness. A foul stench permeates the air, making it hard to breathe. The rungs of the ladder are covered in a slimy film. The further they climb, the more Aries’s forearms begin to burn.
"We're almost at the bottom," Tuari says. His voice echoes, bouncing back from invisible walls. Then Aries hears a splashing sound.
A match is lit, illuminating Tuari's face. Ty steps off the ladder and into water. Aries and Max follow. Tuari lights two candles. "I'm going to go first," he says. "Ty, if you would please follow after me, then Max and Aries."
Ty exchanges a brief smile with Aries over Tuari's display of leadership.
"You got it," Ty says.
Tuari hands one candle to Max. Now Aries can see they are standing in about a foot of water inside a concrete pipe. She has to bow her head so as to not scrape it on the sharp and pointy edges of the hardened white substance that covers the pipe's surface. When Aries touches it she can feel the same slimy film on it that she found on the ladder.
"We have about three hundred feet to go," Tuari says. "Watch your heads. And watch out for rats. They won't bother you unless you step on their tail."
With that, Tuari starts moving, and Ty follows. Aries is glad that Max has the second candle so she can see him but doesn't have the light directly in her eyes.
I wish you could walk before me so I'd know right away if you fell behind, she hears Max think.
Thanks. I'll be okay, she answers. Part of her registers that she can still communicate with Max, even without Born-of-Night close by.
You're getting better at this. She hears the hawk in her thoughts.
Where are you? Aries asks.
Not far from the main air shaft.
You're going through the main shaft?
Yes.
Watch out for the blades. If you get too close you'll not be able to withstand being sucked into them.
I'll be careful.
There is a moment of silence between them. Aries becomes aware of the increasing numbness and pain in her feet as the cold water penetrates her boots.
Aries.
Yes.
None of this has happened by chance. Born-of-Night's thoughts are stark in Aries's mind.
What do you mean? Aries thinks.
You made the choice to come down here and that choice set in motion many possibilities that have not existed before.
One of them, I assume, is that we all die, Aries thinks.
That's always one of the possibilities.
Max turns to look at her.
I'll watch over you, he thinks.
Thanks, she thinks back.
And so will I. Born-of-Night's thought reaches her.
And who will be watching over you? Aries replies. We have no idea when the next cleaning cycle for the ducts will start.
I'll be fine, she hears the hawk think.
As she watches the flickering light dancing off Max's shoulders she tries to push the concern she feels out of her awareness.
"How many times have you been down here, Tuari?" Ty's words bring her back.
"This is the fourth time."
"I see that the walls are wet," Ty says.
"Yes. I noticed that the first time I was here," Tuari replies. "There were only one or two inches of water then. The second time, the pipe was half-filled. The time after that, there were about six inches."
"Do you have any idea what causes the changes in the water table?"
"I don't. But we won't be in here for long. We should be halfway through the pipe already."
They walk quietly for a while until, about ten minutes later, Tuari stops. He lifts his candle up, illuminating a smaller shaft perpendicular to this one. A rusty ladder leads up into the darkness.
"We have about forty feet to climb. From there, we can access a vertical duct that leads to the bottom of the elevator shaft." Tuari signs to Max, who nods and places his candle on a small ledge below the ladder. Tuari blows out his candle, grabs on to the ladder, and starts to climb. Ty follows. After him, Max starts climbing. Aries waits a few seconds, her eyes unable to pierce the darkness beyond the reach of the light. She watches Max turn into a shadow above her and then grabs onto the first rung of the ladder.
After about a minute of climbing, her legs begin to shake. A little while later, her hands can't completely close around the ladder anymore. Twice already she’s had to use the inside of her elbow to hold on to the rungs. Cold sweat starts to run down her spine. Her mouth dries up and she can feel her heart beat inside her chest. I'm having a panic attack, she thinks.
When she looks down, she sees the candle twenty-five feet below her. A small, flickering spark in the darkness. At the same time, she begins to hear a sound inside her. She realizes that it doesn't come from outside; she identifies it as the same sound she and Ty heard when they’d been close to the main air shaft. It's the sound of the massive fan blades. It gets louder and louder, ending in a crescendo of noise.
Born-of-Night, she thinks, when her grip around one of the rungs opens and she slips. At the same time she hears Max's cry in her thoughts. With unexpected speed, he reaches down, grabs her arm, and holds her.
I got you, she hears. Hook your arms into one of the rungs and hold on. It can't be that much further.
Aries grabs the ladder, hooks her arms around it. Born-of-Night, she thinks. Are you okay?
The wind is too strong, the hawk answers. I can't get close enough to the shaft. I'll have to wait until it slows down.
About ten feet above her, she sees Tuari's face, illuminated by a match. "Almost there," he says, as he lights his candle.
She grabs onto the next rung, pulls herself up. She sees Ty climbing into the opening. Then Max reaches it. When he is halfway in, he turns around, stretches out his hand and as she reaches the top, he pulls her into the vertical shaft. She slumps on her back. The pain in her hands is excruciating. Max takes one of them within his own, gently stretching her fingers. She lets it happen while looking up at him. She thinks about how it must be for him not to hear anything, to be completely shut off from his surroundings that way.
I can hear you, he thinks with a smile on his face. His dirt-smudged face is in stark contrast to his teeth and eyes. His hands feel at once strong and gentle. Part of her realizes that nobody has touched her like this since her mother.
"We're almost at the elevator shaft," Tuari says. At the same time he signs to Max, who lets go of Aries’s hands and signs back. Aries understands what he tells Tuari: When Aries is with us, you don't have to sign to me. I can understand what you say through her.
"Okay," Tuari says, as if it's the most normal thing in the world. "We won't know where in the building the elevator is until we're inside the shaft. Be careful. There are only three feet between the floor and the bottom of the elevator once it's all the way down. Don't stand up under any circumstances. Otherwise, it'll crush you."
They reach the elevator shaft only a few minutes later.
"I hope you're not easily scared," Tuari says, when they climb into the shaft.
The floor here is concrete, covered in a fine layer of dust. Beginning at about three feet above the concrete slab, the walls of the round tube are covered by stainless steel, not unlike the main vent shaft. The tube reaches so far up that she can't make out where it ends or if it ends at all. There are no visible tracks or any kind of guidance system for the elevator cabin. To the left, a narro
w space is cut into the wall, just large enough for a ladder that is mounted into it, reaching up to a small opening about twenty feet above.
"Once the elevator is down, you and Max can climb up over there and jump on top," Tuari says to Aries. "Ty, we can go through here to reach the hallway." Tuari points at an opening opposite the one they came in through.
"I should feel it when you jump onto the cabin," Ty says to Aries. "Stay as far away from the walls as you can. Once we're on the 202nd floor, I'll try to give you as much time as possible to get into the air shaft."
"Okay," Aries replies.
Ty kisses her forehead. "You have your chip?" he asks.
Aries grabs her necklace from under her coveralls. "Yes. You?"
Ty nods. "See you when you get back." He gets up and moves to the air duct on the opposite side, where Tuari waits.
"I hope this works," Aries hears herself say. She can't help the fear that creeps into her throat.
The elevator is coming down, Max thinks after a while. We should lie down.
When they lie on their backs, Aries can feel only a slight vibration accompanied by pressure on her body at first. Then she sees something far up in the tube. A shadow coming closer, moving toward her. The hissing sound of escaping air increases. Now she can see the cabin, probably still at least thirty floors above them, as it drops toward them.
"It's dropping too fast," she says. "Isn't it falling too fast?
And then it is as if the cabin falls straight down and onto them. Aries can't help but let out a scream as the cabin slows down and stops only three feet away from them. She realizes then that she is squeezing Max's hand.
