Cornucopia

Something thumped down in the back room.

Lily flinched.

Had those above noticed the sound?

Gabe wouldn’t have heard the voices. Lily dashed into the storeroom, waving her arms.

Her brother paused at her entry, a computer shell in one hand. A second hunk of plastic lay at his feet.

[There’s someone here!]

He blinked, then set the shell down before snatching up his rifle. Lily shut the door and leant close, pressing her ear against the wood.

Footsteps echoed from above. Many footsteps. Enough for half a dozen people, maybe. At least three or four distinct voices. All grew louder as the group obviously started down the stair.

“… saw another one, just two days ago.” The first voice was tired-sounding.

A gruff man replied. “Where?”

“Near the olympic. Collecting tiles.”

“Trader or what?” This time, a woman asked the question.

Lily signed as fast as she could, though her hands were in something of an awkward position.

“Hard to say,” the gruff voice replied. “Just keep an eye on them. I’m more concerned about the water-rats…”

And then the voices were fading, swiftly out of earshot and she could hear no more.

Lily let her hands drop as she exhaled.

[Hey, what’s happening now?]

[Sorry, sorry. I think they’re going deeper. Let’s wait a moment and check.]

Gabriel joined her, rifle back in both hands now.

The conversation she’d overheard raised far too many questions. Water-rats. Tiles. Olympic – what did that mean? They mentioned a trader too, she thought. Is that still possible?

For a city, probably.

But in spite of the message scratched into the mirror, maybe Zarima was safe enough for people? Especially if they had banded together in a large group.

Beside her, Gabriel nodded.

She inched the door open.

The shop was empty. Lily let a tiny sigh of relief escape, collecting the newspaper on the way out. Light still fell from the floor above, but a second source of illumination now rose from further below.

Together, they crossed the floor to peer over the stair’s rail.

Two floors down, lamplight was fading. But it was enough to reveal four or five figures at least, all but one wearing patched hoods. The one without a hood had fiery red hair, but that was all she could really learn about them.

And that whoever they were, they weren’t rushing. It simply seemed as though the people were moving from one place to another.

Lily crouched down behind the rail. [We could follow them. They might lead us to resources. They might even end up being willing to help us.]

[Maybe,] Gabriel said as he slid down beside her. [It’d be nice to team up with someone. Especially while we don’t have Blue or Emerald to rely on.] He lowered his hands.

[But?]

[But what if they decide to rob us instead? Or worse? I don’t have an endless supply of bullets. I don’t even want to end up in a position where I have to shoot people, for that matter.]

[Me either.]

[Want to search the upper floors while we think about what to do, then?]

[Good idea.] Together, they climbed back to the reception area.

It remained empty, but Lily kept close to her brother as they searched the floors above, just in case something else took them by surprise. For the most part, the stores offered nothing of value – though she did collect some seeds from the vines, in case they came in useful.

At one point, beside a window free from vegetation, and quite high above the streets below, Lily took a break to read more of the newspaper. Light from the slowly setting sun was enough but she still found herself squinting, concentrating hard.

Most of the articles made no sense, since they discussed events and places long-since vanished. Some of the words were even unrecognisable, even if the alphabet was correct.

But one section of an important-seeming story was clear enough that she could glean the important details:

Cornucopia Corp stock hit an all-time high after more successful trials. Cornucopia is expected to announce international trials now, focusing on arid climates. New variants of Lux Seed are claimed to rapidly aid terraforming efforts. However, some scientists have raised warnings about rare but catastrophic outcomes, if proper precautions aren’t taken. Cornucopia described such warnings as “pure hysteria”.

She’d not read or heard anything about such a corporation and their Lux Seed. Not when young, nor during her time at Haven. Other specific things, like stock being ‘high’ didn’t quite make sense, based on the context. Nor did the word ‘terraforming’ but it was not at all hard to imagine that something had gone terribly wrong in the years that followed the article.

Especially with the warnings.

And the date in the corner of every page. The paper was printed prior to the Second Collapse, after all.

Gabriel soon joined her and she shared what she’d read.

[I bet the Twins would find that interesting.]

She nodded. [Maybe it won’t be relevant once we find the Silversong. But they love history, so I probably should make sure they get a chance to read it.]

[The Silversong, huh?]

[Sudden doubts?]

[More a case of how far away that seems. We haven’t even left Zarima yet and there’s plenty to do after that.]

[I know.] She looked to the orange light outside. It had painted half the ruined city… though the word ‘ruined’ was only accurate if you were human. For plant-life and animals, all the greenery and places to nest were probably quite welcome. [We can’t give up, though.]

She signed the words firmly; it wouldn’t be right to let him know that she fought similar concerns.

[Don’t worry, I haven’t. But I am getting hungry. Let’s find a place to sleep.]

[What about the computer store where I found the paper? It actually has a door on the back room, which is more than the rest of this place, so far.]

[True. It’s also close to the ground floor if we need to run.]

Even better, since they’d be out of sight should the hooded people pass by once more. Or if someone else entirely showed up in the sky-scraper.

Not to mention the Silver Kami.

[Back we go, then.]

Her calves were aching when they eventually finished their descent and strode once more into the back room of the computer store, where they started to prepare for the night.

Night, which the message on the mirror had urged them to flee.

Can we actually trust that message? she thought.

At least the benches and cabinets in the storeroom would make decent barricades if needed.

They ate a cold meal with little conversation. When it came time to turn in, Lily arranged her pack and possessions, including the kami jars, at the foot of her bedroll and lay back.

She stared up at the darkened ceiling to wait for sleep.

At first, it was hard to stop listening, straining for any sound that could have signalled a threat – but eventually, exhaustion took over and she did drift off.

Yet when an unfamiliar sound woke her the next morning, pale light from a wide-open door revealed the absence of her kami jars.