The Edge of Unnoticeability

Solutions bring forth efforts to try,
Efforts exist to make labor fly.
Labor, in turn, lays the self’s foundation,
Built on thoughts of pure contemplation.

---

I was drenched to the bone. My clothes clung to my skin, and every breath drove a stabbing pain into my ribs like knives. My shoulder hung dislocated, every small movement sending fiery waves of pain up my spine. My muscles were so exhausted that every inhale made my body feel like a collapsing wreck, struggling to bear its own weight. I was on the ground, crushed like an insect, flailing like a leech. Yet, deep inside, there was still a small flicker of resistance.

“W-who are y-you?”
I struggled to speak, choking and holding back an internal cough.

“A stranger.”
The woman said, beginning to remove Aeon's top.

“W-what are you doing?”
I tried pulling myself toward them with my left arm, but all I managed was spinning in place. The woman had already uncovered Aeon's wound. As her back turned to me, I noticed a chip embedded in her head.

“Your sister is badly hurt. She needs urgent treatment.”
The woman inspected Aeon carefully.

“Please, help her. I'll manage...”
Aeon was in critical condition. On top of that, I wasn’t even sure how much I’d protected her during the fall. All I knew was that she’d reflexively expelled the water from her lungs after we surfaced.

The woman abruptly left Aeon and came over to me. She crouched down, peering at me.

“You’re not much better than her. How many times have you brushed death?”

“I don’t know.”

“You kids...”
The woman sighed deeply, her frustration evident.

“You were being followed, weren’t you?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know? Didn’t you fall while being shot at in the water?”

“No, we jumped off an Astrojet.”

“W-what?!?”
The woman practically shouted, staring down at me in disbelief. “Do you have any idea how reckless that is?”

“What was I supposed to do? Just accept death?”

She was silent for a moment. I think she acknowledged that I had a point. She tilted her head up and began scanning the surroundings. I had managed to prop myself up slightly with my left hand.

“Alright, I don’t know how you pulled it off, but it doesn’t look like you’re being followed now. Are your chips offline?”

“I don’t have a chip. Aeo— I mean her chip can’t be functioning right now.”
I didn’t want her knowing too much about Aeon. I had no idea what she’d do to us or where we’d end up. All I knew was that we had no other choice.

“I don’t even know what to say, but whatever… Let’s focus on getting out of this mess first. I’ll carry her. You’ll have to walk part of the way inside.”

“Inside where?”
I asked, clueless about what she meant.

She pointed toward a wall beneath the bridge.

“There’s an old, unused sewage tunnel here. There’s a small space at the end. If we can make it there, I can use my supplies to treat your sister.”
She turned and began walking toward Aeon.

“Why are you doing this? Why would you help two strangers you don’t even know?”

The woman suddenly stopped and half-turned her head back.

“Who said this was help?”
Her tone was flat and icy. The ease with which she spoke those words chilled me to the core. Still, I said nothing.

I turned my head toward the ground, struggling to balance myself on my left hand against the wet surface.

“Are you coming?”
The woman had lifted Aeon, supporting her weight on her shoulder.

It felt like every cell in my body was weighed down, life being torn from me with each step. My brain questioned every decision I made, and I felt like a failing system on the brink of collapse.

But my sister was in danger. I couldn’t lose her. I couldn’t let her go alone. No... I don't want to be alone again.

With all the strength I could, I pushed myself against the ground with my left hand, trying to pull myself up. As I pressed my left hand harder to the ground to stand, I felt my ribs grinding against each other. Every breath brought a stabbing pain to my lungs as if a blade pierced them with each inhale. I clenched my teeth so hard to suppress a scream that I felt the pressure enough to spit a mouthful of blood. But I had to get up. Aeon was there, and I couldn’t fall.

“You’ve got some willpower, kid…”
The woman was watching me. Under the moonlight, I could see her face and build more clearly. She had a large, broad frame. Though her hood obscured her face, it was clear she was an older woman.

The real uncertainty, however, was what would happen next.

I started limping forward. The woman, standing in front of a sealed door, executed a series of gestures toward a chip, unlocking the entrance. Inside was pitch dark, with a strange, musty odor carried toward us by the wind. Our footsteps made splashing sounds against the muddy ground, and a rusty metallic smell filled the air.

“Alright, let’s see if you’ve got the strength to walk the rest of the way,” she said dismissively, holding Aeon as she stepped inside.

I had to hold on one last time. After stepping inside, I closed the door behind us.

The interior was an indescribable form of darkness. Every step felt like I was treading through an abyss eager to swallow me whole. My left hand, braced against the wall, touched damp, moss-covered stones, the cold seeping into my fingers. I don't know where I was walking, and I don't want to. My footsteps echoed, making me feel as though the ground beneath me could give way at any moment, plunging me into a dark pit. The only thing I could see was the faint blue glow of the chip embedded in the back of the woman’s neck. All I had to do was follow that light...

Meanwhile, faint noises reached us from somewhere above. Sirens and the distant sounds of vehicle tires echoed faintly into the tunnel.

We continued walking for a while, but it became increasingly difficult for me to keep my eyes open. The light began drifting further and further away. My body grew heavier with every second, struggling to move forward. My foot caught on something, and I fell to the ground. Moving in this narrow path had become nearly impossible for me.

I suppose this place was safe enough. If I rested here for a while, they would help me later, wouldn’t they?

“Don’t dawdle, we’re almost there,”
the woman’s irritated voice echoed back to me.

I opened my mouth to respond, but only a muffled groan escaped. “I’ve reached my l-limit…” I barely managed to whisper.

The stench of the ground, my soaked and slimy body, my repeatedly broken and healed ribs, and my wounds — given everything, I’d done well to get this far.

“You useless boy!”
The woman yelled at me with evident displeasure. 

I’m sorry, but this much was already too much for me.

“I’m sorry…” I just needed some rest. When had I last eaten or drunk water, anyway?

“Narya, get over here. The boy’s about to die!”
I barely heard the woman’s voice. Something about a boy and dying. Were they talking about me? Something ran down into my eyes, forcing me to shut them completely. Then again, what could be running into my eyes?

I noticed a stinging sensation on my forehead. It was split open.

At that moment, I realized once more that I was standing at the edge of death.