Chapter 5: Implicit isn̶'̶t̶ Complicit
11.03.10 AW, 09:12, CHROMATICAN CITY // JACQUES' APARTMENT
The cool morning air drifted in through the ajar window. It wasn't all that different from the daytime air, as the only difference between night and day was the intensity of the street lamps. While the apartment wasn't the biggest, no one could claim it was too cramped. One of the wooden doors opened, leading into what appeared to have been a utility closet, now rearranged to fit an inflatable mattress. Jacques walked out, one hand buried in his hair.
Jacques walked into the living room. It was a minimally decorated space, with a few empty shelves sitting above a flat-screen TV, overlooked by a not-too-shabby couch. On the adjacent wall, near the exit door, stood an ornate cabinet, decorated with many engravings and markings in the wood, different metals embedded into the surface. Topping the cabinet was an equally ornate metal stand, incorporated directly into the cabinet's surface, equally holding and displaying Velos. Fresh scuff marks connected the feet of the furniture to a second door, opening into a cosy bedroom, with Signe walking out, moments after Jacques.
"Morning…" mumbled Jacques, turning to face the girl. "Slept well?"
"O-oh, yeah, t-totally! Fresh as ever!" she said, trying to appear a little drowsy, yawning and stretching her arms dramatically. Her hair and clothing appeared intentionally disturbed. What was also obvious was her mediocre act of just having woken up. Either she woke up much earlier, or she didn't sleep at all.
"Mm-hm. What do you want for breakfast?"
"I-I'm not hungry, thank you."
"What was that? Omelette you said?"
"N-no, I- okay, omelette is fine, thank you…"
Jacques passed the couch, grabbing the TV remote, changing to the news channel before circling the counter separating the kitchen from the living room.
The TV displayed a news presenter, her pristine metal shell glinting from the stage light, her yellow LED eyes glowing into the camera.
"…restoration efforts are underway after yesterday's Chimera infiltration, with further infrastructure damage being caused by a Devil attack. Captain Lorand Aorello was present on site. There have been no reported fatalities."
The shot changed to an on-site interview with Lorand. The damage caused by the Stone Wyrm was clearly visible in the background.
"I mean... I seriously can't take all the credit, if any at all. It weren't for my friends over here-"
The shot changed again to the presenter, still smiling into the camera.
"In other news, famous nightclub Kraterwerk suffered a major explosion-"
"I wonder who he was talking about…"
"Guess we'll never know," replied Jacques, scouring through the fridge. Or rather, looking at its barren inside. He looked into the above cupboards, each as plentiful as the fridge. "Bad news. I've got nothing."
"Don't worry, I-I'm not hungry!"
"Well, I am…"
Jacques paused, passing around for a few seconds, before heading into his former bedroom.
"What are you…?"
Signe jumped, having a hoodie thrown right onto her face.
"Put this on. We're going shopping."
She didn't hesitate, pulling the oversized piece of clothing on. Her hands barely reached outside the sleeves. And while she did that, Jacques had miraculously changed his entire outfit. He reached for two small pouches, strapping them to his belt.
On the way to the front door, Jacques snapped his fingers. Velos' mass shifted, a Drive Starter shooting out and directly into Jacques' open hand. Before closing the door, Jacques put a small radio on the cabinet. From what Signe heard before the door closed shut, it appeared to be tuned to a radio drama.
"We're taking the stairs."
"What? We're like, on the 13th floor! You can't even see the street from up here!"
"Guess what lifts use? Electricity. And you know what Vespers can do with electronics? Plus, you didn't seem to complain last night, when you climbed these same steps."
"First, you forced me to throw away my phone! Now you make me climb up and down and- Why am I even coming with you?! Why do I have to go? Wouldn't it be safer for me to stay inside?"
"Who knows how many Vespers are going screen to screen, scanning the entire city, trying to find you, as we're speaking. And if they reach my TV while I'm not there, guess what happens?"
"Isn't Velos still there? Couldn't he… y'know, attack them?"
"Vespers don't bleed, and I don't see you as someone very disposed to losing litres of blood on a whim."
"…I mean, if I had to…"
"You sure?"
"No… no, I wouldn't…"
"Shopping it is then. Also…" Jacques paused, grabbing the hood sitting behind Signe's neck, pulling it above her head, tugging at the strings until her face was no longer visible. "…I didn't give you the hoodie because you might get cold."
The two made their way down the seemingly endless flight of stairs, miraculously without Signe tripping. Outside, masses of people strolled about. Every other person was of a different ethnic background, a different race, a different culture, a different mother tongue, all together forming the melange that was the Chromatican City. And as long as they didn't pay attention to the nothing that lay beyond the city's edge, or to the simulated daylight, they were content. Jacques grabbed Signe's arm, making their way through the crowd and passing cars, reaching a 24-hour store, face to face with the entrance to his building.
"I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU STAYED IN A QUIET AREA!" screamed Signe, trying to make herself heard, although her normal speaking voice was more than enough.
"I DO!" screamed back Jacques, also unnecessarily, making his way into the shop.
The store itself was an average, run-of-the-mill franchised corner store. Fruit and vegetables at the entrance, meat and dairy in the back, sweets and whatnot near the exit; the standard layout. Jacques grabbed a large shopping basket, one of its wheels obviously stuck. But what he didn't do was think of where to leave it when not in use.
Signe walked forward, tripping as her foot hit the basket.
"Are you alright?" Jacques asked, helping her get up.
"…No! I can't see anything!" and she was right. Her vision was already halved as is, but now it was even more limited.
"I'd say you're better off that way. You DON'T want to see these prices!" he mocked, holding a bottle of oil, with his other hand throwing several tables of chocolate into the basket.
Seconds later, Jacques' phone started ringing. He looked at the screen, bit his tongue, then answered.
"Hello, Mrs Judit! I'm SO sorry I couldn't arrive today. You see, I've got a bad flu case, and…" he stopped, coughing into his sleeve as hard as he could, "…I have this HORRIBLE headache; it must've slipped my mind to call you in advance to tell you! I…" he stopped again, coughing even harder, pinching his nostrils. "I can give you the phone number of a colleague of mine. I can assure you he is just as good, if not better than I," he stopped once again, waiting for the lady on the other side to finish talking. "Oh yeah, that's the one I was talking about. Don't worry, he knows his stuff. Bye!"
"Who was that?"
"There's this old lady, told her I would come by today and fix her plumbing. And of her neighbours. I'll need to call them all later."
The rest of the shopping trip went by rather smoothly, with Jacques remembering to keep in mind where to leave the basket. Exiting the store, the two rushed across the street and back into the building, still taking the stairs. But the thought of reaching back home motivated them to climb, and climb they did, as the door to Jacques's apartment was right in front of—
"Heeeey, dude! How's it hanging?" emerged a man, right in front of them, seemingly out of nowhere, as the hallway was a straight line.
"Hi, Gerry. Kinda busy right now!" was Jacques' attempt at dismissing the conversation, trying to go past the man.
Blocking the hallway was a man in his early twenties. His clothes appeared un-ironed and drenched in nicotine, his hair having an ever so slight sheen of oil, his breath showing his ongoing war with the whole profession of dentistry.
"Woah, dude, I know you're always busy doing this and that, I just wanted to ask you if you…" Gerry's eyes wandered behind Jacques, seeing the hooded figure… and the few strands of light brown hair spilling out. "Oh, I see!"
"I seriously don't have the time for-"
"Dude, aren't you going to introduce me to your lady? Jacques is like, top 4 of all people I've ever met in person-"
"Okay! Signe, let's go. Nice seeing you, Ger."
"Wait, I still wanted to check if you-"
And at that moment, Gerry, unaware of the location of his feet, just as much as he is unaware of the concept of deodorant, stepped right in Signe's trajectory. The girl, still barely seeing and urged to rush forward by the uncomfortable situation, tripped, falling flat on the floor.
"I-I'm so sorry!" asked Gerry, fumbling about, unsure of how he could salvage the situation. "L-let me help you get up!"
"I-I'm fine, really, thank…" replied Signe, getting back on her feet with Gerry's help, holding her head, realising too late that she shouldn't be able to do this with her hood pulled all the way. "…you."
Gerry stood still for a second and, with an expression only readable as distraught, turned to face Jacques.
"Dude… That's messed up…"
"Gerry, listen-"
"I mean… I'm no snitch. I won't rat you out to her parents. But just so you know, I don't agree with any of this."
"You… won't? Phew, for a second there I was thinking you were going to waste your chance of giving a good first impression to the only woman you talked to in the last year. I can't thank you enough, Gerry! You're the best neighbour- no, the best friend I have!"
"Really? I mean, uh, it's nothin'. You know me, always ready to stand up for others."
"Seriously, dude, you're the best. But can I give you a little advice? Try to put some blankets or something on your walls. You have no idea how thin they actually are. You can hear everything through them!"
"Good one! You're joking, right?"
Jacques didn't answer. He silently shook his head, stepping into the apartment, with Signe behind him. He slammed the door shut, letting the bags fall to the ground.
"Are they really that thin? I didn't hear anything so far," asked Signe, finally allowed to take off the oversized hoodie.
"Watch this. Velos, please?"
Jacques pulled out of the cabinet a small bottle of gasoline, pouring it carelessly on Velos' surface. After the last drop left the bottle, Velos' engine started roaring. It might not have seemed as loud in the open, but inside, the only way one could describe it was like the sound of a drill, belonging to the neighbour you might share a bedroom wall with, and who would start renovations as soon as the sun's rays first hit his window. On a Sunday. For an engine of this size, it was complete overkill.
Seconds later, the sound stopped. Jacques opened the front door, where Gerry stood, looking slightly agitated.
"Heard anything, Gerry?"
"Hear what?"
"…that's weird, I thought I heard someone sneeze."
"No, that was me. Allergies. Anyway, you were joking when talking about the walls-"
Jacques slammed the door for a second time, taking the bags into the kitchen.
"That was mean," said Signe, still holding her hands over her ears.
"You're right; I should've given you a heads-up."
"No, I mean with your neighbour! You didn't have to lie to him like that."
"…Eh, don't worry about him; he'll forget about it in a week, and by that time I'll either forget myself, or I'll stop caring about it. Want some orange juice?"
"You don't really have a lot of friends, do you?"
"You're one to talk!"
"I would prove you otherwise, but my phone is currently in the rubbish, on the other side of the city!"
"Online friends don't count."
"Well, actually, studies have- Stop trying to deflect my question!"
"I-I've got lots of friends. I'm friends with everyone! Best friends!"
"<DISAGREEMENT>"
"You shut up."
"Name one."
"What?"
"Name one best friend."
"Velos."
"Doesn't count."
"What? Why not?"
"Because you're basically roommates. It doesn't count."
"And since when is that a rule?"
"Online friends don't count. Neither do roommates."
"Well… there's, uh…" Jacques paused, taking a sip of the price-gouged juice, looking into nothing as the gears began turning, trying to scavenge for anything. Suddenly, he started choking, a thought rushing to his head, forcing itself out of the edges of his mind and back into the spotlight it once occupied. "I can't believe it didn't cross my mind sooner! There's-"
12.03.10 AW, 02:04, CHROMATICAN CITY // SPINE
Lorand stood, or rather, was held up, in a sparsely lit room, a pair of chains descending from the ceiling, wrapping around his shoulders. Sitting discarded on a nearby table was his old shell, battered and destroyed, now completely hollow. In front of this new body sat Mihaela, overlooking a metallic being, not unlike Lorand, adjusting his joints.
"This should do it. I tried to modify the shell to be as close to the original as possible. He shouldn't feel any different once he links to it."
"Any idea when that could happen?"
"None. With the state his heart is in, it's a miracle he's still alive, and even more of a miracle that you got him back to the city. Any wrong move and you would've been bringing back shards!"
The attempt at lighting up the mood fell flat, as Mihaela's expression didn't budge.
"Eh… Still, I suggest we get him to an undercity immediately. We could patch up his heart and make some more adjustments to his shell-"
"He isn't leaving the Spine until he's able to stand on his own two feet."
"Understood. I can call some of my colleagues at the workshop, see if any of them can come and fix him a little. He should regain consciousness and be able to repair himself after that."
"Please do."
And with that, the metallic being left the room, phone in hand, leaving Mihaela behind, with Lorand's unconscious body hanging in front of her. As soon as the door closed, her demeanour shifted. Her breath, previously slow and steady, picked up pace. She took a folding chair and sat in front of the metal humanoid. Her hands were trembling; her whole body was ever so slightly shivering from exhaustion; her voice was shaky, completely unlike her former calm attitude.
"…I never knew how these types of conversations are supposed to be structured. Do I apologise first? Do I thank you, say how grateful I am? You weren't even supposed to be there. I- Why did I ask you to go there? To take those people with you?"
Mihaela looked up at Lorand, directly into his black, empty eyes, the light reflecting into the glass.
"I'm still trying to think of a reason why. I knew we were safe. I already made sure that… thing… couldn't enter the city even if he tried to. Did I panic and forget that? Not think things through? Was that it? Did I see the radar and… panic?"
Lorand's shell stood there, inactive still. Mihaela rose from her chair, pacing slowly around the room.
"You can't hear me. I'm talking to myself. Again. Exhaustion finally caught me, huh? I don't think I dozed off for the last... what was it, 52 hours? You always told me I should take it easier, don't exhaust myself, take a break from the caffeine... At least, we know that if something bad is to happen, we have you to... No, there it is! Excuses! Excuses for why I thought sending you out was a good idea. For MY mistake..."
She stopped pacing, looking directly at the discarded shell on the table.
"I... Live, please. I don't know what we'll do… what I'll do without you."
Mihaela approached Lorand once more, looking at his brand new shell, identical to his old one. But on his cheek, she noticed something; an oil smear, probably left by the technician. She reached into her pocket, pulling out a worn handkerchief.
"Can't have that on your face when you-"
Lorand's hand moved, clutching Mihaela's arm before she could touch his face. She tried to pull away, but the hand held her too tight to move, but loose enough that it didn't hurt. Each of its fingers moved erratically, each independent of the others, testing how they functioned. Mihaela calmed herself, her breath reaching its previous slow, steady rhythm.
"Lorand's awake!" she yelled.
The other metallic being rushed into the room, looking frantically at the scene.
"What?! That shouldn't be possible! His heart couldn't have linked to the shell in the state it's in. It couldn't even reactivate when I left a few minutes ago!"
"A third miracle, perhaps?"
"I- maybe it repaired itself enough that it could reawaken while it was on standby? I can't explain how-"
"Help me get out while you're at it."
"Ah, sorry, Executive! Right away."
And while Mihaela stood there, the technician trying to remove her from Lorand's grasp, despite her attempt to hide it, to return to her calm and collected demeanour… she smiled.
11.03.10, 06:32, CHROMATICAN CITY // UNDERCITY MAINTENANCE TUNNEL
The ever-present hum of static electricity filled the long corridor, darkness obscuring how long it stretched below the streets of the city, with the gust of wind being the only assurance that this large, gaping vein had an end. The lights, greedily placed along the tall ceiling and barely powerful enough to see your feet, did little to illuminate the tunnel any more than necessary.
Along the wall, breaking the continuity of the power cables running for its entire length, was a juncture, leading into a secondary, lesser tunnel. Vespers, all shades and shapes and sizes, each stranger and more colourful than the last, loitered in the area, their crystal exteriors reflecting the light that shone above them. Further behind was a figure, drenched in darkness, with whatever light touched covered in a ragged cloak.
"-that's what I'm trying to understand. How?! She- she was right there, a few steps away! You were inside the club, HOW did you screw this up so badly?!"
"Guy in front had a big mouth, and-"
"And what? You had to blow up the club? Right then, right there?! You couldn't wait two bloody minutes?!"
"Okay, I see you're frustrated, but you can't just single out the blame. We were disorganised from the start."
"Nah, sis, I'm putting all the blame on him. Raise your hand if you agree."
"What's done is done! We'll have to manage from this point onward. I took a quick look through the ruins. No signs of her."
"Explosion wasn't strong enough, regardless. She must've healed by now."
"Did any of you see her leave after the explosion?"
The Vespers looked at each other, shrugging.
"I did," spoke a voice behind them, approaching. The group turned around, seeing the same Vesper that had ambushed Jacques a few hours earlier, its limbs and fractures having healed. "Saw her leave through the secret backdoor, long before the place blew up."
The murmur of the Vespers discussing fell silent.
"Edva, you can't seriously say that she was stupid enough to use the secret backdoor."
"I know, right? That's what I said! Also, she's got a Redliner with her. Killed Marco and Toni. I escaped before I saw what happened to Carlo, but he's probably dead, too."
"Well.. sorry for your loss, but I think that's for the best."
"…Excuse me?"
"Oh, come on! Don't pretend like those guys weren't walking info-hazards! All it takes is for one to open his mouth a little too much, and BAM! Total chaos!"
"Don't you talk about them like that! All high and mighty, like it wasn't YOU WHO-"
"ENOUGH! Both of you! As long as the Redliner doesn't know- Edvapleasetellmeyoudidn'tsayanything!"
"Dude was an Operator. It appears even Ultraviolet is kept in the dark."
"Hag probably doesn't want to ruin the image of the Pale's golden child."
"Shouldn't we be relieved by that? Think of how many people work there. She tells one, one tells three, until eventually the entire city knows."
"Still, if Ultraviolet did nothing, you'd think there would be more of them, y'know?"
"That's because WE deal with these things before they become a problem!"
"We're off-topic again! Edva, what else did… you…?"
They all went silent. They turned around to face a humanoid figure walking towards them, whistling as it approached.
"Well, what do we have here? Plotting something up? I'm here too; tell me what you got," spoke the person, the yellow glow of their eyes slicing through the darkness.
"…I thought you said no Somas come through here," whispered one of the Vespers.
"…and I was right. I don't know what this one's doing here."
"Not telling me? Fine, that's fine... I could use a raise, anyway."
The person began running towards them. And from their body, another one appeared. And another, and another... A small group formed, all sprinting at full speed.
"SMOKE AND MI-"
Gunshots were heard. Each of the copies shattered like fine china. Only one remained; the original, the body tumbling towards the Vespers, dragged by the momentum across the concrete floor. A gaping hole was all that remained in the chest, with the shattered heart barely held inside the skewered shell. After a few seconds, the head rolled alongside the body.
"Thank you, Niki!"
"We love you!"
"You're the greatest, Niki."
"That Vector seemed interesting… Anyone want the body?"
"…I mean, if no one else wants it…"
"Edva's taking-"
"No, no, it's fine, if anybody else wants it-"
"Nah, go ahead!"
"Shouldn't we be talking about-"
"Right! Off-topic! Edva, what'd she look like?"
"Yeah, about that…" Edva became quiet, hitting the tips of their scissor-like fingers together, trying to think of a way to formulate the answer, bracing for impact. "How do I put this... Human... ?"
A second of silence passed, erupting afterwards into chaos.
"We're doomed!"
"T-there must be a way to-"
"A way to WHAT, genius?! It's too bloody late! He knows, he 100% knows!"
"I-I-I'm leaving! You can do whatever you want; I'm OUT! You all can stay and watch the city getting levelled for what I care!"
"And go WHERE, exactly?! You rather get murked by the Chalk outside?!"
"Stop."
The Vespers fell silent again, turning to face the figure cloaked in darkness, her voice like a blown speaker.
"Edva, you said you had to leave Carlo behind?"
"Yes… I left my guard down. Redliner got me cornered. I'm sorry."
"Don't be… If we want to find her, we need to track down the Redliner. If she had a phone, then they-"
"Right, phone! We can use it to track-"
"-they probably threw it away to lure us to a different part of the city… Did you catch any names?"
"I, ugh… think she called that guy 'Jack'… once?"
"If we hazard a guess that they're not using pseudonyms… there's only five Operators with a variation of that name."
Niki rose to her feet, the sound of straining metal accompanying her every move.
"Woo! Yeah!"
"Go, Niki!"
"We're ready when you-"
"I'm going alone. We're working against the clock until he arrives in the city, and we don't know what she's capable of in this state. It's safer if you stand back."
As she walked down the dark corridor, from her back extended a metal claw, too large compared to the size of her body, twisted shrapnel and scrap forming the nails it dragged along the walls, like scratching a blackboard with a knife, sparks illuminating her figure.
"I'll finish this."