Reunion Pt. 1

The humming of this elevator was soothing. Was this the asphalt that Clarine mentioned? Unlike Milona’s elevator which sounded like it would break at any moment, this elevator traveled as if it were newly built. Maybe this is all just my mind being fogged up by the absurd amount of painkillers I’ve been put on today. After our conversation, Lars gave me a bunch of painkillers and let me rest. Now that I think about it, I’ve probably been on painkillers all day today. My mind needs a detox after all this is settled…

Hopefully, my slumber lasted for the majority of the elevator ride. My body couldn’t even bother raising my head from the bed. I looked to my sides and… were Clarine and Rocco talking? It was hard to make out. Everyone was so far away and my vision was still cloudy from just waking up. Where were Masir and Fence? Ah, whatever, I don’t really give a shit about those two anyway.

After a while, my body mustered the strength to lift itself from the bunk. I kept my leg elevated but it felt surprisingly fine. In any other circumstances, this giant bandage and cast would be necessary but I’m starting to wonder if I’m even human… There’s no pain and I can light on fire.

After today, I won’t do a single thing for at least a month… Part of me began to hope that Ylvona had those trashy cassettes that I used to watch at home. Binging some of those didn’t sound like a bad idea.

My first steps were awkward. Naturally, no pressure was put onto my reattached leg, but I’m sure it would work just fine. It's probably best not to spook anybody right now, though.

With the help of crutches that Lars placed slightly too far from my bed, I was able to move around freely. Felt better than walking on some damn gun tied to my leg, that’s for sure. Still, walking felt like a chore. It was as if my body was urging me to never move again.

Clarine noticed my state and walked over to me in a hurried fashion. “Are you okay, Bane?”

“Yeah, I feel fine. This cast is kind of annoying but I’m thankful. Lars impressed me. Well, he surpassed every one of my expectations, if we’re being honest. I didn’t think he would actually be able to reattach my leg.”

Clarine clicked her tongue. “Lars… He’s a special fella. I wouldn’t get too close to him but he has a good amount of skills. It's how he learned them in the old world that’s concerning… Just don’t hang around him any longer than you need to and you’ll be fine.”

“... How much longer until we make it to Ylvona?”

“We’re due any minute. Now that you mention it, we should get you a Hotopill. Here, give me a second,” Clarine speed-walked over to a desk and started scouring through a drawer until she found this circular red pill.

The thing seemed glossy and unlike any other medication, I’ve seen before. A Hotopill, huh? This is another thing I recognized from school but never paid enough attention to understand how it works.

Clarine grabbed one of my hands delicately without making me lose grip of my crutches. She made me open my palm and she placed the pill on it. “You know how this works, right?”

I shook my head softly.

“Jesus, bud, did Edwin not send you to school or something? Look, it’s not that complicated. You just swallow the pill and it’ll allow you to take in the oxygen from the ocean without any of the nasty carbon dioxide. As for your eyes, we should have some Gogtacts in your size, so that’s no biggie. It’s best you take this pill now though. Takes a while to, you know, digest.”

“What the hell are Gogtacts?”

Clarine was trying to hide her disappointment in me to no avail. “They’re goggle contacts. They let you see underwater and they make sure that your eyes don’t get strained by being in there for so long. As for movement, you gotta wear these shoes. Buddy, I’m going to assume you’ve never heard of these either since you’ve clearly never heard of anything. These boots are called Trackers and they’ll feel super tight when you first put them on but that’s because they’re adjusting to your body’s weight and it essentially adjusts your gravity so you can move in water how you would out of it. If you want to swim, lift both your feet off the ground at the same time and it’ll automatically shift gears.”

“With all due respect, that sounds stupidly disorienting…”

“Haha, you bet your ass it is. I’m going to have some good fun seeing you and Rocco get used to it. Now, hurry and suit up, you don’t want anybody waiting on you.”

…

It was about time this elevator trip ended. Although Ylvona has always been on my bucket list of places to vacation, I could have never imagined I’d be coming here under these circumstances…

The equipment for the most part went fine. I had to get Rocco to help me with the Gogtacts but the pill has likely already been digested and as for the Trackers, my reattached leg had to wear one a couple sizes larger to not crush the cast. It was Lars who came up with that idea, surprisingly. He seems to be one of the smarter people I’ve encountered in recent times. His ‘personality’ creeps me out but if what he’s told me about this world is true, I know he’s worth having as an ally.

The elevator doors opened and for some reason a part of my mind expected water to just flood in but of course, that wouldn’t be the case. Instead, we were met with this giant see-through tube that we had to walk through. On the other side of the tube was the ocean and if you stuck your head out far enough, you could begin to see the outskirts of Ylvona. According to my father who has been to Ylvona many times, the ocean looks the exact same as it did in the old world. The waters are still blue and most of the deep sea creatures thrive despite Y2K. Seeing these creatures swim as we walked through the tube was mesmerizing. It felt like the world was moving in slow motion as we moved against the current.

At the end of this relatively short tube was a door. Clarine turned around and took a headcount in her head. I could see her mouthing numbers to herself under her breath as her eyes went from person to person. If I had to guess, there were about twelve people here. What did they do? No idea…

We all entered the small door. Fence had a hard time getting through it. About ten feet ahead of us was another door and the room was very long horizontally speaking. The walls and floor all had this unique spongy texture. What was that all about? If I put enough pressure, the floor would start to squish. My feet got a bit jumpy and tried it a couple of times, but it’s best I don’t end up breaking this entire place apart, so it didn’t take long for me to stop.

Everyone spread out to the sides of the room and once we were all in, Fence shut the door we entered and Clarine took another headcount. Seriously? Being left behind couldn’t be that severe of an issue. Back in Milona, I know for a fact that none of the scavengers or even the Scavenger Lords would be this cautious… That’s probably what separates us from them, now that I think about it.

After the headcount, Clarine opened the door and a burst of water shot through and toppled me over like a bowling pin. Everyone else stood tall. Water filled the entire room, Rocco, and Clarine rushed to my aid.

Clarine grabbed my arm first. “Are you alright, bud? I’m sorry, I should have told you what was happening. This is my fault…”

I put my hand up in protest. “No, no, this one’s on me. I’m not quite sure what else I could’ve expected with a room like this. I’m sorry for not putting two and two together. I’m okay though, really…”

My pride was a bit tarnished in front of this silent crowd but they didn’t seem to be the judgy kind anyways. For some reason, all these people seemed like they were caught up in their own worlds instead of the one in front of them.

When the water reached up to my ears, I felt the liquid seep into my drums. It was an intensely uncomfortable experience. My hearing was gone. Clarine, still at my side, took notice of me taking my hands to my ears and she was saying something. Of course, I was clueless, but truthfully, after the discomfort settled, not having to hear anything felt kind of… nice.

Clarine grabbed my ears and jammed a couple of tubes in them. The sensation was almost euphoric and it was easy to tell that she was draining any of the water from my ears. After that process was done, one tube at a time, she delicately removed the tube and instantly forced something else into my ear. I began to hear radio frequencies on my right side. She did the same for the left side and now it just felt like I had a built-in radio inside my brain.

Voices began to scratch in and out of signal. Eventually, her voice became clear. “Are you okay, buddy? Thought we might have lost you for a second. You almost got barotrauma… oh shit, the mouthpiece!”

What mouthpiece? I looked around and nobody seemed to be wearing anything in their mouths.

“Is everything okay, Ms. Clarine?” Why did I call her that?

She seemed shocked. “H-how is this possible?! You’re speaking without a mouthpiece…”