*
After completely missing the battle with Guardian, she had finally awoken, noticeably confused. Her first sight was of Maloch’s damaged figure, and her second –Guardian’s lifeless body- was no better. It had taken little time to bring her up to speed, and she was now standing by the exit, ready to leave.
As Barsch approached, Alza turned to meet him, and for a brief moment, he could have sworn that he saw worry in her violet eyes. It was getting harder to tell what she was thinking, although it had never been particularly easy. From her sudden coldness during their escape, to her strange actions during their talk, Barsch was about ready to give up on ever understanding her.
“Hey, how are you feeling?” Barsch tried to keep his tone jovial.
“I have regained the energy that I had lost. I see that you have been busy while I slept.” In stark contrast to his tone, Alza’s voice was flat and devoid of emotion.
“Yeah, I’m fine too,” Barsch said, mostly to himself, before continuing, “So, um, how exactly did you make that fire back there? It’s kind of been on my mind ever since...”
“It was nothing. I merely thought about bringing the flame into existence, and then willed it into reality. For someone of my calibre, it was child’s play.”
“Child’s play that sent you into a coma for half an hour...” Out loud, however, Barsch said, “Wow, that’s um…useful? So, uh... who taught you how to do that?”
Alza looked at him with a gaze that could have melted steel. Her composure told him that he had asked the wrong question, so he quickly followed up with, “Actually, I’m probably better off not knowing. Well... um, if you are all right, then I guess I should go and see how Kingston is doing...”
“Go wherever you wish.” Her tone was still icy, but it had returned to being the ‘I don’t care about what you do’ iciness, as opposed to her recent ‘I am ignoring your entire existence’ chill. It was a small difference, but it meant a lot to him.
Standing by his words, Barsch left her to her own devices, and returned to Kingston’s side. The old man was kneeling by Maloch, his withered hand placed gently on the re-mech’s shoulder. As Barsch approached, he heard the last few words of the conversation which had taken place in his absence. They were, “Thank you for protecting him.”
“Ah, Barsch m’boy! How are you feeling?” There was no trace of his former seriousness, and Barsch did not dare answer truthfully, lest he bring it back.
“I’m fine... a little banged up, but fine nonetheless. And you?”
“Ha ha! I’ve always been sturdier than most. Now, do you have anything else you would like to do, or can we finally leave this dreadful place?” The hermit’s tone was still merry, but there was also a hint of pleading in his voice. Barsch could understand where it might come from: he too longed to leave the dangerous station far behind.
“I’m ready to leave any time, but sooner would be better than later. Wait... what about Guardian’s final lock-down protocol? Wouldn’t it have been completed by now?”
“Not to worry, friend Barsch. I have already disabled the lock-down. I see that you are confused, so I will explain further. You see, when Guardian took possession of the... thing lying over there, he unintentionally created a physical link between this body and his mainframe. Once I accessed his processing core, it was a simple matter to shut-down the lock-down programs and reset the system. When Guardian eventually awakens, the last few days will be a blur, which will be attributed to a fault in his memory systems.”
“That’s a relief, and at least the inhabitants won’t suffer because of us.” It was all he could say to the re-mech, who had both saved his life, and the lives of everyone in the station. And then, with Kingston’s words still riding in his mind, he added, “Are you okay to move? I mean, we can wait for a while if you need some more time...”
“I have recovered enough energy to engage my mobility systems. Judging by the map we found earlier, we should be very close to the entrance to the cave system.”
“Well, if everyone is ready, then I guess there’s no use in waiting around.” With Kingston leading them, they left the room, all eager to be long gone by the time Guardian recovered. Only Barsch looked back at the fallen re-mech, flanked on both sides by the mechanical servants it had robbed and disfigured. Finally, his gaze fell on the remnants of the scarlet security droid. It had been a casualty of war, but that did not excuse its fate. With sadness in his heart, Barsch said, “I’m sorry we could not save you...”
Moments later, he had caught up to the others, who were walking at a steady pace down another corridor. However, this one, unlike the others, showed clear signs of disuse. Its walls were cracked and missing several sections, allowing the underlying rock to show through. The floor underfoot was similar in appearance, with pot-holes in abundance. It got worse as they walked, with more and more rock showing through, and the floor becoming little more than a thin layer of dust and dirt over granite.
“There.”
Barsch followed Kingston’s pointed finger to a boarded up section at the end of the corridor. It looked old, older than the station that had been built around it. Kingston reached it first, and noting its strange look, announced, “This was probably a mine before they built the station. It makes sense, less digging since half the place was already excavated.”
For a moment Kingston went silent, before continuing, “Barsch, did you know that Genesis 13 was built atop a War Bunker? It was apparently commissioned by an influential businessman as a safe location in which he could wait out the war with his family. Too bad he died just before it was finished...” Kingston realised that no-one was listening to him, so he wisely decided to stop talking.
“Here, give me a hand with this.” The former hermit said as he started pulling off the boards. Barsch quickly moved to help him, while Alza and Maloch looked on. The planks were decades old and almost completely worn through, so they provided little challenge to the duo. In no time at all, the boards were gone, revealing a small wooden door built into the rock. It was sealed with an ancient padlock, but, in the intervening years, it had become more rust than metal, and it too was quickly disposed of.
For a moment, Kingston stopped. He thought back, to when Barsch had been injured while trying to save his life, and their desperate flight to find shelter for him. It had seemed so simple back then: find the station, heal Barsch, and then get out. How had it all gone wrong since then? Why had they had to endure such hardships when they were merely trying to leave? Was it-
“Um, Kingston?” Barsch’s voice was soft, but worried.
“Ah! Sorry, my mind was going for a little walk... Now, how about we get out of this infernal place. Shouldn’t be too hard to find a path to the surface once we’re in the caves. And from there, we should be back on track in no time.”
With hope once again soaring in his heart, Kingston reached forward and grasped the door’s equally rusted handle. With some force to dislodge the accumulated gunk, he managed to thrust open the portal.
“Heavens help us...” he said, as what he saw destroyed all traces of his short-lived hope.
Awakening Page 183