Subterra Heart

Chapter 6: Connor Rocha

That night, Connor lay awake for a long time, mulling over the day's events. For the first time in days, he felt completely normal, but that wouldn't last if money remained tight. And he still had rent to deal with. Now, however, Lenny was offering a way out.

Connor rolled over to face his door. His night-vision was better than most, and in the darkness, he could easily make out the few objects that populated his small apartment. Directly in front of him stood a narrow rack where two of his uniforms hung. Next to his bed was his night-stand, where he kept his medpak and hearth-box. 

It was getting cold in his apartment, so he sat up and rummaged through the pockets of his third uniform which he'd left on the bed until he found his lighter. He opened up the hearth-box and lit it, watching as blue flames slowly crept across the jelly-like kuar inside. Hearth-boxes were useful and cheap. Cut down on the power needed for lights and heating. Fresh kuar – or kuar worm shit – glowed blue too, but this stuff too old for that. Connor's dad had given him this hearth-box as a gift a year ago, and it was still nearly half-full. The hearth-box's blue light flickered across Connor's boots and daypack by the door and the kitchenette that was built into the wall. Aside from that, all that Connor owned was a rickety old chair, his cot, and a few personal knick-knacks that he'd stowed away on built-in shelves. It wasn't any surprise that Lenny was able to figure out his living situation with ease. Connor had a good job – his meds just cost too much. And now Lenny was offering to completely cover both him and his dad.

But Connor didn't trust Lenny. Hadn't since he was thirteen. Lenny had been five years his senior, sent to the Greens to stay with Connor's family during a brief apprenticeship at that time. On the last night of his stay, Lenny had talked Connor into visiting the forest that bordered the Reservoir after dark. Most didn't set foot in that place after the lights dimmed, but Connor had been a stupid teen. He'd never been one to believe in ghost tales.

Connor usually tried not to think of that night. There'd been a small, metal door at the edge of the forest. A dark tunnel. A well. A shriveled man, tied up and hissing. He'd had pale, greying skin, with dust floating out of deep, dry gashes. His eyes were black. Lenny had left Connor in there all night as a joke. Connor could remember his own screams as he'd tried to get out, but Lenny'd bolted the door on him.

For days after that event, Connor had refused to speak. He'd locked himself in his room, terrified. That man in the tunnel had bloodrot – he'd been sure of it. Lenny had made him swear not to tell anyone. He'd never gotten sick. He couldn't get sick. Or sicker, at least. So who would have believed him anyways?

That had been just one in a long line of incidences – most dealing with the world outside of Heart. Lenny was obsessed with the tunnels of Par-12. He had been for years, ever since his nanny started telling him tall tales about how Rourke Cynwrig was still alive and well, watching over Heart from the tunnels. That had been when Lenny was still just a kid though. 

From those stories, Lenny had gotten some twisted idea of a fountain of youth that lay just outside Heart's reach. Now, he was asking Connor to leave the city for a bit of exploring. The deal was to just poke around for a little bit and look for evidence that Rourke was somehow, impossibly, still alive. And then, Connor and his dad could both get themselves a lifetime supply of parlin, free of charge. 

Connor had known about Lenny's obsession for a while, and Lenny had asked him to do plenty of other stupid shit like this before. This wasn't even the first time he'd asked Connor to check out the tunnels, and Lenny had been pissed when Connor last refused to do it two years ago. It wasn't normal for Connor to be quite this tight on kreds though. At this rate, it'd be stupid to refuse again with his medication's price hikes. 

So yeah, Connor would have to accept it. He realized that as he looked around his barren room. As things were, he'd be fine for a bit longer, but if price hikes for parlin continued, he'd be stuck between a rock and a hard place. It's not like he could just pick up and leave the Greens. He needed his meds. Connor's parents weren't having an easy run of it either, from what he knew. They didn't talk much about money, but neither of their jobs made much more than his mechanic's salary. Even so, he still didn't plan on moving back in with them. Things were just less tense if he was able to live on his own. He could at least do this for his dad. It'd just be a few hours of poking around the tunnels outside Heart. Then, Connor could come right back and tell Lenny to go ahead and eat termite shit. Easy.

Or maybe not. Connor was starting to get a sneaking suspicion that he wasn't the only Rochagorosis patient that'd gotten this offer. It could be easy to get people to do stupid things when you've got the right leverage. 

Bastard Lenny should have just given him the parlin for free anyways. After all, weren't they family?