Ch 7. Underground forms

Waking up and being greeted by soreness of her body reminded Eury how easily her muscles can  flatten in thin plates. The company that "hired" her since she old enough to recognize a few letters had ways to smooth such times with special pills that relaxed the brawn; with a nasty side-effect of withdrawal if you missed taking it for just a single day.

Sammy trembled himself to sleep, while his mind played back bits of the earlier day. After he got the free time to ruminate on his run from his former captors, he felt moments of shakes at random moments. Sometimes he even needed minutes to remember where and when he was. 

Eury tried to not wake him up and clenched her teeth, for every taken step sent a jolt up her legs; Luckily, there was a hallway that gave her enough time to get used to the feeling, deciding to check out the tower that hosted them. “I wonder if Diaz is still around”, she unwillingly asked herself, and felt a different kind of shiver. Quickly, something else had to occupy her mind. “Alright, so since now I’m responsible for two people, I need to find something to work. Hmmm…maybe my first idea was a bit rushed, I admit. I even forgot about the density limitation procedure, can’t go around having kids willy-nilly without approvals. Plus the raids....Yeah, no. ”

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 avoid getting shanked, 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 overthinking it. I think that going over it with those two is my best option .” Once the thoughts were set in stone, she called for a house meeting a few hours laters, and to her surprise and a bit of delight, found out that Diaz was still there, hammering with the old man high up the tower.

Diaz- “ Morning. Or afternoon I guess. 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 give it a try someday; you know, like how the flying rats are doing it.”

Diaz- “ What are yo; Ther-there are flying rats?”

Eury- “ Yeah? You never heard of or saw one?”, she yelped back, a bit unsure if he was kidding or was being coy. “If I were to guess based on how easily he enunciates his sarcasm, the former. Huh...it's actually 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.

Zuwa-" Maybe. If so, they're probably at the top, where we can't get to anymore."

 Diaz- “ …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 with fangs and sharp claws”, 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 mess with them. They are creatures that only fight back, so if you leave them alone then won't mind you.”

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 wide-eyed and forgetting how to blink. “ 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 do like to make-up storie-"

Diaz- "Lies."

Eury-" - so I can understand why you might have thought that.” She felt a bit embarrassed, thinking that he was chiding her. Then the boy let his arms down and rested them on his hips. 

Diaz- “ Ha, you did caught me and the officer of guard during the interrogation. It’s kinda nifty how you pulled that, got some talent for it.” 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- “ Euryale, back to 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 in 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 wanted to make the two squirm for the follow up. Neither, though, squirmed up to it.

Zuwa- “ Fine. Goddam fast learners. So, if there’s one thing missing down here are translators of the upper level. Forms, rules, etiquette are one of the reasons why half of the rejected 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, scratch 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 quickly 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 here by himself?”

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

The young worker felt some sympathy for 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. “, he then shook her hand.

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 ‘captors’. Soon enough, a crowd formed around it.