by Jason Luthor
“Jackie?”
Hearing that voice makes me release a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding in. “Oh, God. Mike.”
The light in the room clicks on, and I’ve got him leading a parade into my room. Tommy, Dodger, Vick, Abbott. I mean, Abbott’s skin looks like a bruised orange, and his uniform’s still just soaked through with dried blood and Creep gunk, but at least he looks okay. Obviously, ‘okay’ is relative, but seriously, he looks like he’s doing better than I am.
Tommy walks up to my bed. “Dude. Dude.”
That’s an automatic laugh for me at this point. “Tommy.”
“I was seriously worried I’d have to go in after you and this guy,” he says as he punches Mike in the arm. At least it’s gentle. “We all know when it comes down to it that I’m the guy who has to save the day.”
Dodger rolls her eyes. “You’re so right, Tommy.”
“You don’t have to tell me that.”
They’ve seriously got me smiling. “So, like, thanks. I think I needed the cheering up.”
Mike kinda throws a finger in the direction of my chest. “Think the pain got to you. You passed out in the middle of the lab.”
“Well, it’s not like there was a lot going on or anything, besides the floor collapsing, the Demons, all the Creep busting through the walls . . . you know. The usual.”
“Yeah, does feel like that’s usual down here, right?” His hand runs back through that silky river of hair he has and it makes me remember that day in the library again, when we had our first real talk.
“I’m . . . glad you’re okay,” I tell him.
“Well, you’re the reason I am. You know I appreciate it.”
I nod and look over at the commander. “Thanks, sir.”
“Jackie,” he says with a nod. “I’m not completely sure why you feel the need to thank me.”
“Just, thanks? For helping us survive down here.”
Vick slaps Abbott across the back. “Do you seriously want to inflate this guy’s ego?” he asks with a laugh. “You don’t know him like I do. He’s going to be talking about how he played hero for months.”
Abbott forces himself to smile. “Always such a jokester, Vick.”
“Someone’s got to be. A guy like you takes things way too seriously. It’s hazardous to your health.”
“You may not be entirely wrong about that,” he agrees, nodding a little even if it looks like he’s straining to do it. “Jackie. I think you owe it to us to let us know what your relationship with Pygmalion was. You and Sunny appeared to have had something else going on.”
“Pygmalion?” My hand shoots to my ear, and I fumble for the listener. It’s gone, and it takes a second for me to see Abbott holding it out in his palm.
“For security purposes, I took the liberty of removing these. Understandable, since I wasn’t incredibly persuaded to let the director continue listening in on us. What I don’t know is what was going on between you and Sunny.”
“It’s really not hard to get,” I say as I exhale. Bracing for this confession is like getting ready to take a punch. “If I understand it all, Pygmalion was using Sunny as a sleeper agent, basically. Guess he knew how bad Sunny wanted off his floor. When the director realized that Mike had, uh, ‘gifts,’ he ordered the captain to take us all out. He knew if you found out there were experiments he wanted to run on Mike, stuff that would kill him, that you’d get pretty pissed.”
“He’s not wrong about that. What about your role in all this, though? Were you planning to betray me too?”
“What? No, seriously. Look. I wasn’t really a big fan of yours before we came down here. You know that. I know that. I was never going to go traitor on you though. At least, not unless you did something totally stupid, like try and hurt Mike, or give up on the mission to find ground floor.”
Abbott’s eyes squeeze until there are thin beams cutting through the slits of his eyelids. “You think that little of me? That I would hurt a fellow Scavenger if I had no reason to, or abandon a mission that is critical to the survival of our people?”
“No, really no,” I protest. “The thing is, I didn’t know you when we started. Pygmalion put it in my head that you’d, I dunno, screw everything up. I just mean he implied that you weren’t exactly someone I could trust, and at the time, I didn’t know any better. Come on, all I knew about you was what I saw the night we fought Creepy Sally. It wasn’t what you’d call a great first impression. You can kind of come off stuck-up sometimes.”
Vick snickers. “The kid’s got you there, Abbott.”
I ignore the joke. “Thing is, commander, you’re different than I thought you were. You’d never give up on one of us. Even if you had to stick your neck on the line, you’d do it. You have done it, too many times.” I toss my hands up. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were, you know, cool like that.”
“Cool like that?” he asks as his eyebrow slants toward his hairline.
“It’s just pretty much awesome that you’d do so much to save someone else.”
Abbott nods as his eyes start looking normal again. “I meant what I told you in the lab, Jackie. You did a fine job. I meant it then, and I mean it now. You’ve been willing to put yourself at risk time and again, and that’s what it means to be a Scavenger. We put our lives on the line so that others can live. No one should sign up for this job without knowing that truth.”
We all shake our heads, and it’s this super serious and way too quiet moment. Nobody wants to break the ice afterward, and we just stand there for a long time until Tommy finally raises his hand. “Uh, quick question. Who’s Pygmalion?”
Recording Thirty-Six
With my body a walking bruise for the moment, they’ve let me hole up in my room. Not that it’s been good for my sanity, I mean, there’s nothing to actually do here. Sometimes I jump when I think that dark messenger is going to pop in again, but he never does. I’ve tried to distract myself by playing on my tablet, but besides that, there’s been nothing going on. Once in a while, people stop by, but they’ve also had to worry about filling up on supplies now that things’ve calmed down. So, it’s weird when I see a silhouette in the doorway. Just judging by the large frame and long hair, I can tell it’s the commander.
“You are,” he says, “A hero.”
The words grab me by the neck, and I almost spit up. “What?”
“I remember being younger. I’m not old, but I was always very serious. I was also very privileged, perhaps even more privileged than you. On my first mission into the Deep, my commander put himself between me and a Creep tendril that would have sucked me into the wall and ended my life. I was eighteen.”
He pauses a second as he rubs at his chin. “That taught me the meaning of sacrifice. It showed me to what lengths you have to go to save the person next to you in a place like this. Even among the Scavengers, there aren’t many that are completely willing to give everything in a moment of crisis. Why not? Because, in the back of our heads, we carry a fear that this time, on this mission or doing this action, we won’t come back alive. And we very well might not. That’s the point, though. A hero is made when they take the hard path, knowing it might cost them everything. I first saw it in you when you and Tommy were making your way through that Creep congested tunnel back on Floor 30. When he was panicking, you talked him down instead of abandoning him. Nobody would have blamed you if you’d let him go. The boy was nearly in a full breakdown, after all. But you didn’t. Then, in the middle of one of the worst infestations I've ever seen, you risked being ripped clean through a wall to save Dodger. Just yesterday, you put yourself in front of a bullet for me, mere moments before you waited out the storm with Mike while he calmed down.”
“Well, to be fair, earlier that day, Pygmalion had been telling me to shoot you. So, it’s probably a good thing we had that conversation we did.”
“You wouldn’t have,” he says with a smile. Abbott turns to the side and forms a black outline against the light.
“Because you are who you are. You just don’t completely understand what that is, yet. When we are young, we are so desperate to establish who and what we are, but you can't know that without experience. Life shapes us, but there also moments, critical instants in our lives, when we get the chance to decide the type of person we want to be. You made your decision, not when you jumped in front of that bullet, but when you decided to talk with me before we went to find Mike. That was the moment that defined you. Your willingness to give others a chance.”
“That is literally the opposite of how I’ve treated people, like, my entire life.”
“I’m not surprised. That is what growth is all about. You’re not done growing and maturing, Jackie. It’s happened just while you’ve been down here, and there are still many parts of yourself that you have to master. Still, you have it inside of you. The makings of a hero. The qualities of a good friend. Nobody can take away from you what you’ve done to protect others. Now, never doubt what it is others see in you.”
And then he disappears back into the hall.
Recording Thirty-Seven
This morning, I tried not to let anyone see how bummed I was feeling. The thing is that I knew what was about to happen. Just, you know, personally speaking? I couldn’t go back to the upper floors. I hadn’t told anyone that, but I think they were suspicious. Then again, I knew what they were going to do too. I mean, there are just things you can’t stop from happening.
So, we’re all standing around while Vick and Abbott are shoveling some last minute supplies into Pocket Space windows. They’re getting ready to head back to the extraction point, even if Vick’s still in pretty bad shape from all that time in the tank. Poor dude’s, like, barely able to walk sometimes. Abbott’s a lot better, but he’s still lost a lot of blood and needs medical help. Also, he has to leave because, well, the whole fact that we have people up top waiting for us.
I know what they’re about to do, they know what I’m determined to do, but it takes Tommy to just announce it out loud. “So, you’re not coming back up.”
“I can’t.” When I say the words, I realize they’re infinitely true. “With everything we’ve learned down here and knowing what Pygmalion has planned . . . I dunno. Mike can’t go back up. I mean, we all know that. So, if we’re going to be stuck down here, I’d rather do what we came to do. We’ve still got a mission to get done, right?” I shrug. “At least, I do. I was always supposed to find a way to ground level. Leaving out all the messed up stuff he did, Pygmalion was right when he said we can’t keep doing the same things over and over. And just, if I go back now, I might never get another shot to find what’s on ground floor. I don’t know how things are going to go with the director.”
Abbott nods. “I understand your decision. You realize it is my duty to return though.”
Typically, I’d say his words hit like a bullet, but I’ve been hit by a bullet and that hurts like hell. Still, it’s painful to hear him say it. “You’re going to be okay, right?”
“I should be the one asking you that question, Jackie. It’s not right that a young woman your age should have to take on this duty.” He shifts to the side with his head leaning at the ground. “Although, none of us asked for the world we live in. It simply became our responsibility to make it a better place.”
“That’s what I’m trying to do, commander.”
He nods as he looks around. “Commander Vick and I are injured to such a degree that we have to get back. We’ll be fine making our way to the extraction point, but I have to ask you all one thing.” Everyone’s eyes widen a little because they all know what’s coming. “Will you return, or will you help Jackie fulfill the mission?”
It gets so quiet you can hear everyone breathing. Mike’s the first to ignore the silence. Not like I can go back, so I’m staying on with her. I’d do it anyway, though. Everyone knows that. It’s Jackie, right? She’s cool as hell. I’d never let her go alone.”
Vick smiles. “I always knew you had your head on straight, Mike. I wish you hadn’t freaked out in the Deep, but I’m not sure any of us could’ve predicted what you were capable of.”
“You’re good in my book, commander. I’m sorry things got out of control.”
“You’re not getting me. The fact that you can make things go so out of control is why you have to keep yourself under control from here on out. Things just get worse the further down you go, and there’s not a person alive who’s been beneath Floor 60. If you think you’re about to break, then just remember who’s by your side. Her life’s in your hands just the same as your life’s in hers.”
“Yes, sir.”
Tommy chuckles. “Well, it’d be a shame if I let Mikey here get the one up on me,” he says, wiping at his jaw. “I got your back, Jacko.”
It doesn’t surprise me but, at the same time, it does. Tommy’s been such a huge pain in my butt so many times, but somehow that made him into one of my best friends. “Thanks, Tommy. It means a lot, you know?”
He turns away with a grin, but I can see his cheeks burning. “Yeah, well.”
That’s when Dodger interrupts. “Well, there’s absolutely no way you’re going without me.”
Tommy’s grin drops a little, and he looks over at her. “Dodger, come on. You know it’s going to be dangerous.”
“Yeah. So what? Uh, did I not just finish coming down here into the Deep Creep with everyone? I mean, I know I’m not the best shot, but everyone needs a tech head to work with computers. Unless you think any of you can handle those without me.”
Dodger. God. She’s got more energy than I can understand. I guess I’ve learned to appreciate it though, so I welcome her aboard. “Well, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say I’m pretty good with them, just maybe not as good as you. You’re kind of a committed computer nerd. Besides, I don’t want to be running around in the Deep with just these two dorks.”
“I know, right?”
Tommy looks insulted. “Hey now . . .”
I flash my eyes his way. “If she wants to come, you don’t get to tell her no, Tommy. She’s already been this far, so I think she can deal with whatever. “
He looks at me, and I can see his eyes flaring for a second. Finally, he looks back at her with a half-sigh, half-growl. I can’t tell if he’s upset or worried. “Fine. I’ve got your back. You’ve got mine.”
She cocks her head at him. “Tommy. Obviously.”
The commander clears his throat and we all spin on our heels to face him. “In all honesty, I expected the return to the excavation point to be one that Vick and I took alone. You all have bonded so well with one another in the weeks since we began training. However, I would be at fault if I did not adequately prepare you for what is to come. The floors beneath us are infested to such a high degree that you will have to be on the lookout at all times. Remember to keep your emotions in check and to help one another stay calm if you must. Scavenge, but don’t make risky attempts at opening Pocket Space windows if the Creep is too intense. And it will be. Of course, you’ve all shown you’re survivors and these are mostly details you know from your training.”
I dip my head for a second in a kind of bow. “So, what are you going to do when you get back, commander? What’s Pygmalion going to do to you?”
He scoffs. “That bureaucrat can’t do anything to me. His relationship to the council is tentative, given the level of distrust between them, and while he has influence over the Scavengers and Security, there’s no way he could come at me. Not when Vick and I are returning together. Combined, the two of us have more clout over the martial arm of the Tower than he could dream of. There may be some conflict, but . . .” Abbott sighs. “But we’ll deal with it. Even at the cost of life, if it’s something that must be done. I’m slowly starting to realize that times are changing. I would guess they had to, at some point.”
He looks like he’s about to turn away when he gives me one more look. “I want you to know, I’m going to look after your father and mo
ther, Jackie. I’ll guard them from any retaliation Pygmalion might attempt. Also, I’ll let them know what you’re doing down here, trying to find a way for us all to survive.”
The mention of them is enough to force my eyes to water. It’s not like I ever forget them. Even as terrible as things have been, I always remember them. Every day. That’s why I have to keep going. If I don’t, there might not be a future for them. Or anyone. I think . . . I know I can change that. “Thank you, sir.”
“May you all be safe,” he says one last time before he turns around. “Until Tower’s end.”
“Until Tower’s end,” we all agree.
Vick points his finger at us like a gun and pulls the trigger. “Go kick some ass, kids.”
He leaves us with a laugh, but then we’re watching the two of them disappearing down the hall. We stand around, and I’m not really sure what we’re waiting for. It’s like, the most anticlimactic moment ever. And then we just start walking away. As we’re shuffling back down the hall, Dodger comes over to me and pulls me to the side.
“Hey, uh, Jackie.”
“Yeah? What’s up?”
She looks uncomfortable, and her voice is real low. “A while back, the commander asked me to go through some records. Remember that first pair of bodies we found?”
“Sure. In the lab.” I know what she’s talking about. I remember trying to eavesdrop on their convo when I was leaving. “So, what’s going on?”
“Well, I never actually stopped working on the records, right? And, so, now I’m done.”
“Okay?”
“I just think I should give them to someone. You’re leading us now, right?”