A Talk in the Dark

Caius left Rei and Calix alone, in what people might call an almost-darkness, a single lantern illuminating the cells where they sat. The two of them were in separate enclosures, so they couldn’t work together to pry open anything or knock down the bars.

“You all right?” Rei asked Calix, after hearing nothing but silence from his end.

“I’ll be fine,” Calix replied, fidgeting with his jacket sleeve. “Just concerned.”

“Do you know if there’s a way to fix the lights?”

“You could probably try and fix the circuits… I don’t know how easy that would be, though, depending on how it was broken. I’m sorry, I don’t have very much experience in this field.”

“Well, neither do I, but here we are” Rei yawned. “I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”

But Caius’s words still echoed through her mind, no matter how much she tried to think rationally. Her heart throbbed in a way that it had rarely done before, except after the incident, and then after that it never felt again. Why did keeping the lights on feel so…wrong, now?

“The lights going out will cause severe destruction and devastation… Oh, screw it all. We’re stuck here. And Boston’s on the move…” Calix let out a small laugh, running his hand through his hair. “This is not how I expected my night to go, to be honest, when I first saw you at the bar.”

“Why, what did you think was going to happen?”

“Well, I thought I’d make you your drink, we’d chat a while, and then you’d leave, and then I’d continue on making drinks.”

“And now?”

“I’ve think we’ve had too many drinks tonight.” And they both chuckled at that. “No, I think that this night seems to have been conducted by Fate, a crazy hand dealt to us that we are unable to change, a luck of the draw, if you will. It seems odd that we should end our time here, while the world goes up in flames.”

“You really must have had too much to drink,” Rei raised an eyebrow, “what with all the poetic nonsense you’re spouting. All right, then. Are you implying that Fate shall grant us a way to escape?”

“Possibly,” Calix replied. “And if we are to escape, well, the sooner the better.”

Rei stood, and began looking around her cell for any openings in the bars or vents in the wall or ceiling. What was this place used for anyways? Just for locking people up? Strange thing to have in a building like this. From the outside she had assumed that it would simply be a business skyscraper, perhaps a hotel, but now she wondered if perhaps Haze owned the whole building. She wouldn’t put it against him.

Haze… She could barely remember what he had been like. She had thought that if she had kept a clear memory of him then she would be haunted even more forever by him, all these years of her life… It had been better to pretend that he was merely a ghost she did not know too much about, and would never know too much about.

But now he was here, and surely this was repayment.

Her fingers found the edge of a metal grill in the wall. “Here’s a vent. I think I can get it open.”

“Perfect. You can escape, then.”

Using one of her metal fingers she began unscrewing the bolts keeping the grill latched to the wall. “What about you, then?”

“It’s okay. They can’t keep me here forever. But you need to get out as soon as possible.”

The grill became loose, and she wiggled it, prying the cover completely off, and it clattered to the floor. Rei stood on her tiptoes, trying to feel the inside. A small gust of wind brushed over her fingers. So she could make it to the outside this way…

“Hopefully this doesn’t lead to like a ten story drop.”

“If it does you can just climb back. Can you get up there by yourself?”

“Yeah, I can.” Rei rubbed her wounded shoulder, then took several steps back, trying to estimate the height of the vent in the darkness. “Will you be all right here by yourself?”

“Hey, I mean, my brother’s here, right? What are they gonna do, kill me?”

“I guess they would have done so already.”

“Exactly. Do you have any weapons?”

“I’ll try to see where Boston dumped our stuff, I guess.” Rei took a deep breath, praying for her hurting arm, then ran forward, launching herself in the air, and throwing her hands into the vent, trying to grab onto something, anything. The corner of the wall hit her ribs, but she managed to keep herself from slipping completely out by forcing her hands against the walls.

“You all right there?”

“Yeah. Just hit my head, is all.” Her voice echoed through the vent, and she winced, and inched forward, pulling her whole body into the small shaft. “Well, I guess…if I don’t see you again…thanks for everything.”

“Oh, you’ll see me again, don’t worry. Even if it isn’t tonight, you’ll surely see me again after this is all over.”

Rei could think of no comforting words or phrases of encouragement, so she said, “I’m not sure how the power grid is laid out…”

“You’re smart and capable. I’m sure you’ll be able to do it.”

Yes…there was Atlas, wasn’t there? And if she met up with Boston or Aries again…

“I have full confidence in you!”

“I’ll see you on the other side, then. When the lights are on and glowing.”

She couldn’t see him, but she could hear the smile in his voice as he replied, though it was rather distorted as she began making her way down the vent shaft. Whatever he said, she couldn’t hear clearly, and though she wanted to stop and ask him what it had been, she knew that they were running out of time, and that she had to get a move on now. Now, before Haze or Boston could make their next move…

The way was long and dark before her, but hadn’t it been so all night?