Ch 7. Underground forms

The first thing that Eury felt after waking up was the soreness of her body flattened her muscles to thin plates. The firm that hired her helped smoothen such times with special pills that relaxed the brawn, but missing taking it for just a single day made people wish they were in an accident.

Sammy trembled himself to sleep, while his mind played back some of the earlier day. After he got the free time to ruminate on the past days, it finally hit how close he was to be returned to box-like rooms of the sect.

Eury tried to not wake him up and clenched her teeth, for every taken step sent a jolt up her legs; still, she decided to check out the tower they were in for a while. “I wonder if Diaz is still around”, she unwillingly asked herself, and turned red a moment later. Quickly, something had to occupy her mind with other things beside him. “Alright, so since now I’m responsible for two people, I need to find something to work. Hmmm…my first proposal was a bit rushed, I admit. I even forgot about the density limitation procedure, can’t go around having kids willy-nilly without the proper papers.”

The girl started to pace the hallway, pondering about what people even did in the under level. If she were to believe the rumors, probably she would have to learn how to dodge knives, turn to cannibalism and how to plunder. Easy peasy. Short, attainable goals, as her training pamphlets always screamed at her.

Eury- “ Ahhhh, dammit. I’m getting nowhere like this. I think that going over it with those two is my best option .” Just like that, she called for a house meeting, and to her surprise and a bit of delight, found out that Diaz was still there, hammering with the old man higher up the tower.

Diaz- “ Oh my, so ceiling walkers don’t sleep upside-down from the roof?”

The girl snickered, amused by the thought of doing something like that. “ I might try it someday, you know, like how the flying rats are doing it.”

Diaz- “ Ther-there are flying rats?”

Eury- “ Yeah? You never saw one?”, she yelped back, a bit unsure if he was kidding or was genuine. “If I were to guess based on how easily he enunciates his sarcasm, the former. He’s kinda cute and refreshing with how easy it is to read him.” The girl then pointed to a white spot in the open space between each floor. “ That’s flying rat shit. You got some in this tower, you know?”

Diaz- “ Zuwa, is that true?”, to which the old man shrugged. “ …Ok. Are they dangerous?”, he asked the girl, a bit frightened by what she might say.

Eury smirked, ready to mess a bit with him. “Yes, real beasts those guys”, she yelled out loud in order for her vibrations to make the worker’s blood chill. But then she felt a tinge of guilt, especially seeing him squirm a bit. “...But only if you try to mess with them. Those are creatures that only fight back, so if you leave them alone then you can co-exist.”

The boy whistled in relief, and a moment later, both he and Zuwa were climbing down to talk with the girl.

Diaz- “ Alright. So, what did you call us for?”

…

A pair of fingers fidgeted during the seconds of silence while Eury gained the courage to bring up her next option. “ Soo…how difficult is it to become a criminal?”

Cross-armed, Diaz looked at her and was simply stunned. “ No”, he quipped back, bewildered by the question. “ Why, explain wh- why you thought about that.”

Eury- “ So, as I said, I was a Junior Greeter in my, ugh, previous job; basically I had to chat and keep the dwe- base levelers busy while they waited in line for their documents to be approved.”

Diaz- “ You know, at first I thought you were just making that up, but considering how many are going up there to work, it sounds about right.”

Eury- “ Well, I am a bit of a story teller, so I can understand why you might have thought that.” She felt a bit embarrassed, thinking that he was chiding her.

Diaz- “ Ha, it caught me off guard during the interrogation. It’s kinda nifty how you pulled that, you surprised me.” The boy was full of smiles, slowly forgetting what the starting point was.

Eury- “ Yeah, I am, aren’t I? Well, after that trick you pulled with the turbine, I had to show off my skills as well. Didn’t want you to think I was some mediocre ceiling walker.”

Diaz- “ Never, I woul-”, but a gruff cough interrupted their chat.

Zuwa- “ Euryce, about you being a criminal?”

Eury-” Wha- oh right. My bad.” Apparently, half of the people traveling to the upside were doing extra-overtime shifts, by being smugglers as well. Or thiefs on demand, corporate goon squads or any type of job that wasn’t a schedule sheet. “ And they kept talking while I helped them finding the correct forms, or what law was outdated-”

-”Aha!”, cried the old man while snapping his fingers. “ I got it”, he added and made the two squirm for the follow up. Neither, though, followed up.

Zuwa- “ Fine. Godddam fast learners. So, if there’s one thing missing down here are translators of the upper level. Forms, rules, etiquettes are one of the reasons why some don’t manage to land a gig up there. A proper one.”

Diaz- “ Oh, wow, I never thought about that.” The boy's forehead was being scrubbed off all wrinkles for how much he was scrubbing it. “ I know where we can start”, to which the girl’s eyes glowed like fireflies, but quickly dimmed when Diaz realized that he was on call today.

Diaz- “ Is it ok if Zuwa shows you-”, to which the girl replied a bit flustered.

Eury- “ It’s perfect, I didn’t care anyway we-”, but then she realized her mistake, and took a deep breath. “ No, delete that. Huh, I would have liked to go with you, but I get it. Ok.’

Diaz- “ Yeah, I understand…Now, where’s that little scamp?”

Eury- “ Who? Sammy? Why do you- No!” She stood up, ready to bare her fangs now. “ You were serious about that apprenticeship stuff? And you want to do it today?”

Diaz- “ Yeah? Why, you want to leave him by himself here?”

Eury- “ I was planning on taking him with me. Keep an eye on him.”

The young worker felt some sympathy with her worries, and became a bit stumped on how to make understand his point of view. She was a stranger and Zuwa was an old man; if they had to make a run for it, not having a depressed child to carry-run made their work much easier.

Instead of arguing, he let out a tired sigh and looked Eury straight in the eyes. Both were a bit flustered by the directness, but quickly got over it. “ I promise you that Sammy will be safe with me. Here is how I see things: I had more than a couple of chances to bail on both of you back there, and even leave you on your own once we got down here-”

Eury- “ Well, you kind of thought about it. “

Diaz- “ Notthepoint…But I think I did my best to show you that I can be, at the very least, thought of as an ally to both of you.”

The girl’s nose flared a bit, with there being one thing that kind off bugged her about the whole thing.

-” Why? I’ll believe you, if you can tell me why you stuck your neck like that for us.”

Diaz- “...Would you believe me if I told you I just went with the flow?”

Her eyes squinted so much, you might have thought they tried to get squished into a pulp.

Diaz- “...Sammy’s the same age as some of the kids in my blockhouse. Kids I’m helping out with getting some decent apprenticeships. And that’s where I’m taking him as well. I wanted him to have a normal-ish day. Getting dragged around to talk with people about regulations doesn’t sound that exciting for his age, you know?”

To his surprise, the girl extended her right hand to him. “ Just swear that you’ll keep him safe”, she asked of Diaz, who was more than happy to comply.

Diaz- “ I won’t disappoint, you’ll see. “

Eury- “...Ugh…I’ll leave it like that, not gonna say anything that might jinx this day.”

On a bulletin board for jobs and gigs, a new announcement was just posted. A reward for information or ‘rescue’ for a young child, and extra credit for the disposal of his ‘capturers’. Soon enough, a crowd formed around it.