A Deal in the Darkness

“Smells a lot nicer in here than I expected,” Rumia said, as she and Amethyst walked down the tunnel. There was very little light, but Rumia’s personal glowing quality managed to make things a fair bit more visible.

“The nice thing about havin’ ya around is that you function as a natural light source. So I don’t needa use charge on the rannium.” Amethyst explained.

“Rannium?” Rumia asked.

“It’s one of the metals that inherits the same properties as a lot of the plants, though it ain’t glow on its own,” said Amethyst, before snapping her fingers in a confident pose. “But, I can make it work.”

“Ah, I see. Is that how you normally get around?”

“Yup!”

The two girls walked through the pipe, and past a large machine. It seemed to be powered by magic, and from what she could see, was purifying water to be poured through the pipe.

Behind it, was a metal gate. It seemed like this part of the pathway was also blocked off from the usual. It seemed to prevent usual entry, probably only available to those with a key to sneak through.

“I go here for the free water, don’t gotta pay anything for it for either a drink or a bath,” Amethyst explained once again. “Behind here is where things begin to get a bit more stinky though.”

“You bathe in this? Doesn’t it lead to the pond?” Rumia asked.

“I’m sure the fish can handle a lil’ muck. I can’t always be dirty, ya know?”

“Well, regardless, how are we gonna make it past the gate?”

“Magic.”

Amethyst put her hand on the gate, and the bars began to stretch like rubber. This created an easy pathway for both of them to enter.

“Woah. Are you that strong?” Rumia asked.

“Nah. As I said, it’s magic, I can mess with metals,” Amethyst said, stepping through the hole that she made. “Just, natural affinity for it.”

“Just a natural affinity?” Rumia asked, following along. “My best friend had to study a lot to learn her kinds of magic.”

“I suppose that's a way ya can do it too, but I never really needed to,” Amethyst shrugged. “You’re askin’ a lot of questions about me though. I got some to ask you too, like what exactly the hell was that beam of light?”

“...Right, the one that came when I fell. I dunno, I’m not from here,” Rumia explained.

“I could definitely tell, nobody here glows like you.”

“I was watching my friend practice magic… and we got pulled into this mess. I’m sorry about that.”

“Well, I mean, I got bigger things to worry about, y’know? I think a lot of the city does, lockdown and all. Threat to security or whatever.”

That was the story they were going with. Rumia remembered. “The lockdown is a problem for me as well. My best friend is outside of the city, and I want to be able to meet up with her soon.”

“Well, we dunno how long we’re in this haul for. So I can get the worry. Normally, I’d just say to wait it out, but ya don’t seem like the kinda gal to have that kinda time,” Amethyst said.

They continued to walk down the tunnel, with multiple other paths leading in many different directions. Rumia could only wonder where they lead to. They stopped by a metal plate in the wall.

“Here’s home,” Amethyst said. She touched the plate and it crumpled like paper, leaving open a small crack. “Had to dig a lot to make this work, but it was worth it.”

Rumia followed Amethyst inside. Unlike the sewer, where the only light came from Rumia’s own person, light seemed to spawn from flowers that were growing into the room. It provided a nice blue hue to the otherwise humble abode.

There was a rough bed, or what could be called such, and a couch.

“How’d you get that down here?” Rumia asked.

“I may have taken some things. Don’t tell anyone though,” Amethyst winked, before sitting down on the couch, relaxed. “So, ya wanted to get outside, yeah?”

“Yes. I want to meet my friend again,” Rumia nodded

“Well,” Amethyst said. “There’s a path to the walls, multiple, even. But, good luck with getting past PASCAL. She’s wired throughout those entire things, she can see everything that touches ‘em.”

“That makes things… difficult…”

“Yeah. So, if ya want to get past those walls, then ya need to take down that AI,” Amethyst said.

“Can you help with that?” Rumia asked.

“Ehhh. That’s not my business. I can give you access to these tunnels, I dunno about fighting the damn city AI.”

Rumia sighed. This was a nice bonus, but she would still need to do a lot of work by herself. If she were to shut off that AI, she would need to get a lot more information about how it all worked.

“Also, this ain’t for free,” Amethyst said. That clarification grabbed Rumia’s attention.

“What? What would you need from me?” Rumia asked.

“Uh. I ain’t got a real home, y’know. I could do with a lotta things. Food would be nice, other items, whatever. Just give me stuff that I ask for and you can use my tunnels. Not like there’s anyone else down ‘ere besides me, too dark.”

“Fine. How do we meet, then? For the deal.”

“Well, I go by the purifier for a drink and a bath every night, around your time. So if ya make some noise at the gate, I’ll be there. Probably, assuming ya don’t get caught,” Amethyst said. “Lets try the run tomorrow, bring me some food from your cafeteria.”

“...I’ll work something out,” Rumia said. She knew that getting down from her room would be a big hassle, but hopefully she could ask Anise for something to make it a lot easier.

“Thanks a bunch, partner,” Amethyst winked. “Now, maybe I should tell ya a little bit more about these tunnels.”

Amethyst pulled something out from between one of the couch mattresses, a sheet of paper. The parchment was very rough and crumpled, but it was readable in the light.

“I had to map out the entire sewer system. If ya know where to go, ya can basically get anything and go anywhere,” she said.

“Wait, then why do you need me to bring you stuff?”

“Cause I don’t wanna just steal stuff? It’s a lot more of a hassle to do it myself than have someone do it for me,” she responded. That was a fair enough response.

“So, where are the paths to the walls?” Rumia asked.

“There are like, five of ‘em. The closest one is one we just passed by on the way here. All of them are basically the same but I also haven’t done much scoutin’ myself. Don’t want PASCAL to get antsy,” Amethyst explained. “I figure if ya wanna break out, then you’ll need to prep something that’ll bust through the wall in the time when PASCAL is offline.”

“Well, if I’m supposed to get her offline. Where exactly can she be shut off?”

“Iunno,” Amethyst shrugged.

This girl wasn’t very helpful! She could at the very least try to be useful to her.

“Look, if I had to guess, probably somewhere in the center of the city. But I personally can’t be bothered to help ya sneak in there especially when it’s teeming with guards,” Amethyst clarified. “I can give ya the path, but that’s it.”

“Alright, fine, fine. What other important places are there?” Rumia said, looking at the map.

“This way leads to the guard station. When I get bored I tend to listen to a few stories the guards have. They ain’t ever check in the sewers though, prolly cause there’s no need. Marketplace ‘ere for food, I’ve been taking some extra scraps from restaurants but ya gotta vary your targets or else they’ll notice,” Amethyst said.

“Anywhere I can get general materials?” Rumia asked.

“I don’t think ya need the sewers for that. Ya prolly can just walk into the poor man’s district and find people tryna scrape by for anything,” Amethyst answered. “Though the sewers do lead there as well.”

“Well, it’s helpful if I want to go around at night. Can I take this with me?” Rumia asked.

“Sure. I have every route memorized and can prolly make a copy from my memory, I’ll be fine,” Amethyst said.

“Right.”

Rumia grabbed the map and began to head out.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then, with food.”

“Thanks a bunch,” Amethyst waved her off, as Rumia stepped back into the darkness of the sewers. She would consider today’s mission a success, and she was now one massive step closer to getting out of here.

There were still many obstacles to overcome though. The guards were going to be a major thorn in her side. But for now, she thought that things might be moving faster than she thought.

Maybe she would be able to get home soon.