Still in the vent passage, but through the new hole. A new path. Same air. Same heat. No light source except the liquid lantern on my waist. Its glow casts shadows forward and swallows the darkness behind us.
We have put enough distance between ourselves and the chains we no longer hear.
We slow. We breathe. The threat feels distant, almost forgotten but not gone.
"The thing on your hand," Ashlynn says, voice low. "They call it leechsteel. I think." she says as looks at it.
"Leechsteel?" I ask.
"An alchemical weapon used by the army. Their inhuman division. They are real."
Inhuman?
Again?
"Is the feral too? Inhuman?" I ask.
"I don't know how ferals are made. But they are inhumans too." She murmurs, almost to herself. "I always knew they existed. All of them."
She stops. Takes my left hand. Walks in silence, eyes down.
A few steps later, a ladder. Two openings. One up. One down.
"We tried going up," I say. "It cost us Riko. Down?"
Ashlynn releases my hand. "Don't mention his name. Not right now."
Her hands shake a little bit. She rests them on her chests.
I pull out the red notebook, searching for something solid.
Tauran City Prison. No informations for vent passages, not even underground floors.
I close it and slide it back into my pocket.
"I want to go down," I say, my gaze fixed toward the opening downward.
"I'm coming with you," Ashlynn say softly.
We go down. I first. Ashlynn follows.
The vent passage opens onto the third floor. Damp ground. Humid air presses against my skin, thick and heavy. The ceiling brushes my head. Sound echoes, sharp and metallic.
I smell something familiar. Clean. Sharp.
Hygiene. Hospital.
The word comes with meaning, but no memory follows.
Ashlynn lands behind me and takes position without thinking. Natural. I turn. She glances at me.
I notice a small mole under her left eye.
"Let's move," she says, tapping my shoulder.
I walk. She follows.
The passage curves and bends like a wide loop. No branches. No markers—Only the lantern. Only my nose.
Some steps later—
"Mmmmm…"
Not mine. Not Ashlynn's.
Ahead.
I raise my hand, index finger up. Ashlynn nods.
We move slowly.
A square opening appears on the right wall. Small, crawlable.
I lower myself and crawl in. Warm, moist air presses against my skin.
Inside—vertical steel bars, bolted into floor and ceiling. Not thick.
Light spills through.
From this angle, I see part of the ceiling beyond the bars.
"Mmmmmmm."
Clear now. A man struggles. Mouth covered. Shadows move.
Ting. Tang.
Bzzzt.
Someone is working on him.
I crawl back. Stand. Lean close to Ashlynn.
"We've been walking too long," I whisper. "This is probably the only way out."
"We wait," she whispers back. "Until they leave."
I nod and she nods back.
We move away from the opening.
I press my back to the wall and slide down.
Ashlynn sits beside me. Head on my shoulder.
I close my eyes.
—
I'm lying on a bed. A large room. Soft blue walls. Paintings of animals. Toys scattered on the floor, table, and wardrobe.
A woman enters. Picks me up. Hugs me. Kisses my forehead. My cheeks.
She says words I don't understand.
I laugh. Joy.
—
Guuuu…
I wake to Ashlynn's stomach.
"I'm hungry," she says.
"Then we need to find something," I answer.
We return to the opening. I crouch, listen. Silence, nothing. My head turns to Ashlynn.
She simply nods as if she already knows.
I nod back and face the opening. Crawl inside. Swing the leechsteel once. The bars shear clean. I catch them before they fall and set them aside.
We drop into the room. I land first. Ashlynn second.
Heat from chemical fumes. Lanterns along the walls.
Restraint tables face hand-powered blood extractors. Tubes run into unlabeled glass containers, symbols etched on each. Organ tools hang nearby. Worn smooth. Stacks of notebooks in a corner. Same diagrams, different handwriting.
Nothing here is improvised.
Nothing here is meant to be undone.
Ashlynn approaches a restraint table. Fingers trace the metal. Still wet. Still red.
"So this is where they extract the fuel," she mutters. Clenches her fist. Brow tight. Breathing shallow.
Then—
Clack. Clack. Clack.
Footsteps outside. Approaching.
Click.
The door opens.