Against the Tide - A New Elysium Story [Complete]

What Lies Beneath

Nova had taken the lead as they hurried through the deserted corridors of the facility. He knew that it was only a matter of time until somebody would notice that the trail they were following at the other end of the facility was a dead end. Or until somebody discovered the body in the infirmary. Or until they ran into one of the scandroid units the hunters had awoken and sent to patrol the perimeter.

It didn't help his focus that the emotions of the woman walking closely behind him seemed almost tangible to him. He had thought the connection would simply fade again over time, but being so close to her, he could still feel some things, albeit only vaguely. It was a distracting sensation, and he couldn't make a lot of sense of the flickering shadows that seemed to dance between them along the invisible band that connected them. He kept his ears peeled for her movement, because his next best guess was that she was probably thinking about murdering him right now.

Suddenly, she stopped dead in her tracks.

He turned around and found her standing there, shoulders hanging and face buried in her hands. She looked forlorn and even smaller than usual in his jacket. For a second, he thought that she was crying. It would have been an understandable reaction considering what had happened to her. He tentatively stepped forward, but hesitated to put a hand on her shoulder. He knew now why she didn't like to be touched.

"If you... feel tired, we can take a break here. I'll be on the lookout so you can rest," he suggested.

"This was not supposed to happen," she mumbled.

Through their weird connection, he could suddenly sense that she was feeling more embarrassed than hurt or sad right now.

"This is the worst..." she groaned.

"Yeah, this is not exactly my idea of a quality first date either," he commented drily and let his hand sink again.

It was risky to idle, but dragging her along in this state didn't seem like a particularly smart idea either. He ran a quick scan on their surroundings, to make sure that nobody was approaching them at least.

Suddenly, her gaze snapped back up and she gripped his arm with surprising force, as if she was in pain. Her hands were cold, and at her touch, a ripple went through that strange connection between them, causing him to shiver for a moment. It flickered and wavered, and then it disappeared again, leaving him with a hazy feeling. Confused, he stared down at her hand, and then back at her. Her eyes seemed empty and focused on something in the distance as she spoke.

"I cannot come with you."

He raised one eyebrow in surprise.

"That's... a pity, Pirate Queen, because the way I see it, between the two of us, I think I'm the only one with a shuttle and a transit code that will get us out of here. So unless you have some alternative plan...?"

"There is something else I need to do," she said and pulled back her hand.

Puzzled, he rubbed his arm, where her fingers had left slight imprints, and watched her as she walked back along the corridor a few meters, before she stopped in front of a wall. Then she began to trace her fingers along the edge between two of the smooth, white wall panels, as if she was looking for something.

"Ehh... are you sure that you're okay?" he asked her as he moved next to her. He scanned the wall, but didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. As far as he could tell, there was nothing but solid concrete behind it.

"I'm good. I just remembered something," she mumbled. "Knife?"

She held her hand out to him, and as he didn't react, she looked up at him expectantly.