by Stefan Bolz
"What are you doing here?" the man asks.
Seth is the first to get his wits back.
"Evidently there is a rat problem in Tier Six," he says.
"A what?" one of the women asks.
"Yes. I am from Rodent Control and we are investigating a power outage in these levels, caused by rats chewing through the wires. I'd be careful for the next few days," Seth says. "Some of them have been spotted inside the elevators."
The two women and the man quickly leave the elevator. The four of them enter. Max pushes the buttons for the basement level, and the elevator begins to move downward.
"Stay close together," Aries whispers. One hand is in her coveralls, holding Born-of-Night's limp body. It's still warm, she thinks, while looking at Max. He looks straight ahead. Her thought doesn't reach him.
The ride down lasts thirty-eight seconds, but in Aries’s mind it might as well have been an hour. Then the doors open and they enter the hallway.
"Which panel is it?" Aries asks.
Max shrugs his shoulders.
"Ty would have marked it. Look for a mark. A scratch or something similar."
"Here it is," Seth says, after few moments.
"That's it!" Aries sees the letters T and Y scratched into the surface. She pushes a small screwdriver under the lip of the panel. It comes loose and snaps out of its magnetic hinges. They crawl inside. Seth moves the panel back and locks it in place. A few minutes later, they reach the empty elevator shaft. Aries kneels down, gently pulls Born-of-Night out of her coveralls and holds her in the palm of her hand. She has grown again over the last few days. Her head rests on Aries’s forearm and her tail feathers reach beyond her hand. The others kneel next to her, forming a circle around the hawk.
"I don't know what to do." Aries says.
"Let me take a look," C.J. replies. "She’s breathing. That's good. See this?"
She points at the edges of her wings.
"Burn marks," Aries says.
"Must be from the electric charge," Seth says.
"What can we do?" Aries asks.
"Put your hands on her," C.J. says.
"What?" Seth asks.
"Put your hands on her. Like this." C.J. places both of her hands on the hawk's body. The others do the same.
"What now?" Seth asks.
"Close your eyes," C.J. replies.
One after the other, they close their eyes. Aries’s thoughts reach out to C.J. and Seth and Max. Then they go beyond and to the others: Ty, Amber and Jeremiah, Sam, Mila and Kiire. From there, an image appears within her mind. It is indistinct, fluid at first. Like oil paint moving on a canvas. A slab of blackened stone becomes visible. On it, eight shapes stand in a circle. First, all she can see are formless figures, but after a while the figures become more defined. All cloaked in hooded robes, they stand facing each other. The figures are made of stone. But the clearer the image gets, the more Aries becomes aware of the finely crafted details of the statues. The thin ropes around their waists, their hands folded in front of their bodies, the robes flowing down to the floor, their heads slightly bowed as if in deep reverence.
It is as if the statues are not made of stone, not carefully chiseled and carved by a master sculptor. No. It seems as if the stone itself is alive, filled with life. And when she looks at each of the figures more closely she cannot deny how familiar they seem to her—their difference in height and body shape from each other, even how they stand.
And then her eyes arrive at the statue that she knows unmistakably represents her. And what she hasn't seen before now becomes visible. On her left shoulder and looking toward her, she sees the hawk. And suddenly her mind is flooded with Born-of-Night's presence. It fills her completely. For an instant it encompasses not only her mind but the mind of the others. Aries opens her eyes. Born-of-Night shakes herself, jumps up and flies to the ladder, where she lets out a few cries.
"What was that?" Seth exclaims.
"You saw it too?" C.J. asks. Tears stream down her face. Unsuccessfully, she tries to wipe them off.
"We all saw it," Aries says.
Max nods when she looks at him. I can hear you, he thinks.
"Oh, thank God," Aries replies. "I'm so glad." She puts her arms around him, holds him.
"What does this mean?" Seth asks.
"I don't know," Aries replies.
Don't ask me. She hears Born-of-Night in her thoughts.
I was worried about you, Aries thinks.
There's one thing I do know, the hawk replies.
What's that? Aries asks.
The circle is now complete, Born-of-Night answers. The thought lingers in her mind.
I'm guessing that's all the information you have at the moment? Aries asks.
The hawk shakes herself a few times, then continues to clean her feathers. Yes. Aries hears her. And we have a visitor.
At that moment, Tuari climbs out of the opening on the opposite side of the shaft.
"Tuari!" Aries exclaims. She kneels in front of him. "I'm so glad to see you. Tuari, these are my friends, C.J. and Seth."
"It's very nice to meet you. Gentlemen. Ladies. I'm here to lead you to Mrs. Abernethy. But I need to inform you that we are no longer where we lived before."
"Why?" Aries asks, slightly alarmed.
"We had to leave. Sam went up into the prison to see if he could find out what was happening. He came back saying that they were searching high and low and it would only be a matter of time before they found the door. So we left."
"Where did you go?" Aries asks.
"We took all the rations and went further down."
"Further down? Weren't you already at the bottom?"
"Yes. And no. We found a tunnel that went below."
"Can you show us?"
"That's why I'm here," Tuari says, in his matter-of-fact tone. He holds Aries’s gaze, and says quietly, "The whole building is looking for you."
I'm not surprised, she hears Max think.
"Then let's get out of here," Seth says.
"Will you lead us to them?" Aries asks.
"It will be my pleasure," Tuari answers.
* * *
For a while, they go back the same way they came, down the long ladder and into the large pipe that is now half-filled with water. Born-of-Night is tucked away inside Aries's coveralls. She’d decided that the hawk might still be too weak to fly for longer periods of time and, to Aries’s surprise, Born-of-Night did not oppose her. Tuari leads them past the point where they had originally entered the pipe and from there further down in the opposite direction. Eventually they reach an area that is filled with broken pieces of partially collapsed pipe. They climb over the debris and from there into what looks like a small cave. Large, broken pieces of rock stick out of the ground, and Aries realizes after a moment that the ground they are on is itself a vast field of broken rock sloping downward. The air is cool but not cold.
"We don't have to climb down for long," Tuari reassures them. The light of the candles doesn't give them more than a rough outline of the rocks they climb on. Most of it they accomplish by feeling their way downward rather than trusting their eyes. After about twenty minutes, they come to a flat area and from there move mostly over bedrock. The cave's ceiling is low but nobody has to duck. The ever-moving light of the candles illuminates the crystalline formations that look like drops of wax hanging from the ceiling.
Then the light of Tuari's candle shines on a door. "We're here," he says.
The rusty door, about six feet in diameter and built in the shape of an octagon, appears to be much older than the rest of the building. In its center are engraved symbols arranged in a circle. Max follows one of them with his fingers.
I've seen this one before, he thinks while signing to Tuari. I wonder what Amber says about those.
"Amber is all over them," Tuari answers. "She and Jeremiah have taken up a lot of wall space down there already."
Aries can't help but smile. In the face of such adversity
, they still manage to do what they need to, what they can do. Tuari bangs against the door. Four times, then three times, then two times. After a while it opens and two of the kids greet them. When they enter, Aries can see that even though they are still surrounded by natural stone, it must have been shaped by someone or something other than nature itself. The tunnel is perfectly circular in shape. The walls are smooth, almost as if polished. A slight glow emanates from the surface, softly illuminating the faces of the others.
C.J. looks pretty beat up but her spirit doesn't seem to be affected. Whatever she must have endured doesn't show in her face. In fact, it is as if Aries feels happier when she looks at her. Whether that is because she has finally found her again or because of something else, she doesn't know. Seth walks close to C.J., as if wanting to be there should she slip or need to hold on to someone. Aries realizes that up until now she hasn't really thought of him as a friend. But now that he is here, she wouldn't want it any other way.
Max smiles at her when she looks at him. Having been privy to his thoughts throughout this, she cannot think of anyone more considerate than him. Each time she needed to find a place to put her hand while climbing down or couldn't find a spot to put her foot, he was there to help her. When she slipped, he held her up. When her thoughts went to a dark corner of her mind, he reminded her of the light that was still shining, as if his sole purpose through all of this was to be by her side.
What does he have to gain in all of this? What do all the others? Freedom? Aries isn't so sure she can give it to them. Not anymore. It seems as if this journey has brought them deeper and deeper into a situation from which there might not be an escape. And her going to Tevis and asking for refuge has pulled all of them into it. Aries is aware that as glad she is that she’s found C.J. and Seth, she cannot think of a way out of this. They are all hopelessly trapped. Where can they go from here, other than further down? Eventually the Corporation will find them and will most likely corner them with no escape. We are still being hunted, she thinks. How can we stand up to someone when we are still in hiding? She knows there is no answer to this. At least not one she knows of.
While she attends to the constant flow of thoughts going through her mind, she becomes aware of what's underneath it all. Hidden below them, the fear and concern for Kiire has not left her since she saw him on one of the monitors. Throughout, she has been looking for a way they could have gotten him out. But as much as she wanted to blame herself for not trying, she knows that there was nothing they could have done.
I'm sorry I couldn't come for you also, she thinks, hoping that her sentiment would somehow give him comfort.
"We're almost there." Tuari brings her out of her thoughts.
They have been passing other tunnels branching off from this one as they make their way ever deeper into the mountain.
"The accommodations are not as luxurious as the ones we've had before," Tuari continues, "but they will have to do for now."
With that, they enter a cave. Probably about three hundred feet wide and roughly the same length. The domelike ceiling is low and as smooth and polished as the tunnels they passed through. One corner has blankets on the floor arranged for sleeping. Aries opens her coveralls and Born-of-Night jumps onto her arm.
I'm getting too big for this, Aries hears in her thoughts. Then the hawk flies onto one of the rocks.
Ty is the first one Aries sees. When he comes toward her, she sees the worry leave his face. He hugs her wordlessly. Tevis greets them, visibly moved to see them well and in one piece. When she sees C.J. she embraces her. Then she kisses her cheeks several times. "I have water back there and some privacy," she says. "Whenever you're ready."
C.J. nods. Aries can see that she's having trouble holding back her tears. The pain that has been held back for so long finally makes its way to the surface. It will take a while for it to be purged from her memory, if it will ever leave her completely. Sam and Jeremiah come toward them, together with the rest of the kids. They bring water and a plate of crackers. Aries introduces Seth and C.J. and for a while there is chatter as if meeting here, deep underground, is the most normal thing in the world. After a while, Tevis turns to Aries. "What of your friend? Kiire was his name?"
"We couldn't get him out. He was being held... in a different room and there were people there with him. We couldn't get him out without being caught ourselves. We just couldn't do anything."
"It's okay. I'm glad you made it back. We'll find a way to get him."
"I don't know how."
Mila approaches, holding something in her hand.
"I made this for you," she says, the widest smile on her face. Aries can't help but return it.
Mila hands her a leather holster. It's thick and looks like a sling of sorts.
"What's it for?" Aries asks.
"Let me show you," Mila says, and places the holster onto Aries's left shoulder. She ties one set of strings under her other arm and the other set under the same arm the holster sits on.
"There," Mila says. "Try it."
"Try it how?"
"Call your friend. Born-of-Night."
Mila raises her arm. The hawk looks up and toward them. Then she flies over and lands on Aries’s shoulder.
"I don't feel anything," Aries says.
"That was the idea," Mila answers.
They smile at each other as Mila takes her place next to her. And then Aries sees it, becomes aware of the constellation. The rest of the children have mostly retreated toward their blankets. Tevis and Ty stand slightly behind Aries, talking quietly to each other. Max stands on Aries’s left side, signing to Amber and Jeremiah, who stand next to him. Seth stands on Jeremiah's other side, talking to C.J., who stands next to Sam. Mila is on his left side.
C.J. is the first to notice. "Look around you," she says. The conversations fade until all is quiet. And then the others notice it as well. They look at one another inside the circle.
"You s-s-saw it t-t-too?" Jeremiah asks into the silence.
"Yes," Aries replies.
Sam nods as well. So do Amber and Mila.
We all saw it, Max thinks, while he signs it to the others.
"The circle is now complete," Aries says.
"Come again?" Ty says.
"It's something Born-of-Night told me... Mila, do you have a piece of charcoal I could borrow?"
Mila reaches into her pocket and takes out a small piece of black coal. Aries wordlessly steps into the center. She kneels down and draws the number 8 onto the flat surface of the rock. Then she steps back into the circle.
"This is the symbol for eternity," Amber says.
"I s-s-see the number eight," Jeremiah replies.
"Yes, you do. Because you’re looking at it vertically," Amber says. "For you, it's standing up. For me it's lying on its side. Horizontally.
"Eight companions," Tevis says.
"You're right," Ty answers.
"What do you mean?" Aries asks.
"When I was little," Tevis continues. "This was the name of a nursery rhyme my great grandmother recited to me. I must have been two or three years old. I don't think I ever heard it after. I've forgotten most of it."
"I haven't," Ty says. "My mother wasn't born inside the building but in the city, during the time when it was still thriving. The high-rises hadn't even been started yet. They lived on the outskirts of town, near the border. My mother told me the story of one day when an old man came to her. He said he had worked in the mines for the last fifty years. He told her that he had found a plate of stone that had engravings in it. When he discovered the plate and pulled it out of the rock, the cave he was in collapsed. It took twenty-two days to free him. The people in the town back then thought he would surely be dead. But he was alive and well and mostly without a scratch. The plate was lost, as he had to leave it in the cave when he was rescued. But he remembered every word that was written on it."
"What did it say?" Aries asks.
Ty looks around and into the f
aces of the others. Then he begins:
"Eight companions stand together, none of them alone.
Eight for freedom, eight for honor, one to take them home.
Let it ring, their time has come. Let them hold together, one.
Let their voices be like thunder, let their kinship guide their hearts.
May they never be asunder, may they never be apart.
For they hold our fates forever, in their hands both young and strong.
Eight companions stand together, our freedom has been won."
The words echo through the cave. Aries can't fully grasp it, but there is something underlying them that she understands, that she can feel deep inside is the truth. She looks into the faces of the other seven and at that moment she gets a glimpse, no more than the tiniest inclination, of something far bigger than all of them. And it is at this precise moment she realizes, for the first time since setting out on her journey to the Forgotten Floors, that this—all of this—is merely the beginning.
Three
011 010 000 1010 0101 0001 010111 0101 0 0 10 10 10010100010 01010 010 101001001 010 010 010110 01 00001010100000110011010010011010 1001 10100 100001 1 010 10000 1111010 010100 000111 001 01011 0101 0101 0001000 0101 01001 last known location: elevator camera S*LL1-238 / 7 111 11000 000 1001 0111 00 11 1 0001101 01 - partial image, identity confirmed: belerus, claudia jean, id#: 4746-A7.0-203-009195.332 1 010100001 1010111 1 100001 10011 lockdwn buildng I authrzd. 1101011 100 1001 11001100 classification blue++: immed and presnt threat to corp sec 0011 1001 00101010 000111 001001 high valu targt. 1 1 11 0001 10001 1000 11000110 1011010 100011 00 1110100 001001 010101 010111 011000 010 0001101 01011101010 lethal force authorized. no confirm. nec. 0101001 01001 0101 010 010 010 010 000010101110 010 0001010 01010000101 111001 001101 010000 101110010100 001 001 001 0101110 0 000 10 011 010 0111 010 010 100010 101 01 1011