Sheldoe is much smaller than Chandonis. The nighttime glow illuminates a boardwalk and a few blocks sprawled around the rocky coastline. Despite it being so late, I still see people on the tall rocks jutting over the sea. Some of them are even jumping off, landing in the moonlit waters from dozens of meters up. Cliff diving?
The three of us head straight out to sea from there. As Rurin and Angelina descend to the water's surface, I look back at the jutting rocks. Then I look down. After a moment's deliberation, I stop flapping, dropping straight into a freefall.
It's an idyllic feeling, falling with nothing holding you back. Then, SPLASH! I plunge feetfirst into the water.
Hmm… not bad. Maybe Verni's onto something. But we don't need cliffs to dive like this, do we? Or maybe it's part of the experience.
As I surface, Rurin and Angelina land in the water.
"Got excited, did you?" Ru asks.
"It's not that," I reply.
"Sure, sure. What are we looking for, exactly?"
"Um… she said someone would meet us," I say, looking around. Maybe I should've scouted a bit while I was underwater.
"Mgh… flying straight out of water… not very good at it," Angelina mutters.
"You worried about sea stuff? It's true we can't fight as well underwater," I nod.
"I read somewhere that stuff with dorsal fins tend to be mean," Rurin supplies. "Sharks, goldfish, orcae, dolphins. There's probably more, but…"
"Ru and I can carry you out if push comes to shove," I suggest. "Wait, no, we'll be diving. Hum."
"Wanna just meet them halfway?" Rurin points down.
"Yes, let's," Angelina decides. Then she dives down first.
"Let's do this." Ru and I follow her.
Together we swim down into Stonebreak's subtidal zone, full of moonlit rocks and sparse wildlife. I look over at Angie, but she appears to be fine. I'll have to ask her about her breath-holding record later.
Ping, ping.
Hm? I look towards the noise. Two figures are swimming towards us, the wavering moonlight making their skin appear grey. They make that pinging noise again, then gesture to us.
They don't seem dangerous, and they aren't armed either. Maybe they're our people.
We swim over some more huge rocks that are positioned in a peculiar way, almost like they're lined up. I don't know why, but it bothers me.
The others stop as they watch me swim towards the formation. As I get closer, I realize that they aren't rocks after all, but pieces of a tall building, extending east from towards the shore. I can see the base a hundred or so meters away.
Wait… a really tall building that collapsed into the sea? Why does that sound familiar?
Melinda's face flashes into my mind.
Could it be? Is this place Sirius Tower!?
I drift closer to the tower's base. Melinda Borohon used to live here, in the penthouse… then it all fell into the sea. What was it like, living here? How many people came and went? I'm suddenly filled with longing.
Closer, closer… maybe once all this is over, we can rebuild this place.
A glint of light interrupts my reverie. I stop, confused. Then I realize I'm low on air.
I surface, shaking the water off my hair. Rurin and Angelina surface a moment later.
"What held you up, Kit? I'm pretty sure we're almost there," Rurin says.
"I'm… not sure. Maybe I was seeing things," I murmur. "Sirius Tower… no one can live there anymore, right?"
"Huh?"
I suddenly remember that I've only told Jim about it so far. "N-nothing. Let's keep going." I dive back underwater. Looking back at the tower's base, the glint is gone.
We follow the figures for a while longer, soon arriving at an undersea cave. As we enter, I find myself glad that our night vision works even in the pitch-dark undersea. Ping, ping, our guides sound off.
Soon we emerge in a large, dimly-lit air pocket. The sparse light is coming from a large, sealed door in the cavern's rock face.
"We're here," one of the guides states. "Welcome to the Submarine Mansion."
They touch something on the door, and it calmly swings open, despite looking like it hasn't been touched in years. Light fills the cavern as we walk inside.
"What the…?" It really is a mansion! We're now standing in a cushy-looking foyer that offers a view of its three floors. A staircase elegantly curves up either side, and all the doors I can see are tastefully decorated. There's even a chandelier hanging from the ceiling!
Angelina and Rurin also look dumbfounded.
"Bet you weren't expecting this, eh?" One of our guides walks up to us. Now that I can see clearly, the moonlight wasn't a factor after all – their skin really is grey. "I'm Quill. We're aquanauts."
"Umm… I was just thinking this seems a bit gaudy for a hideout," I tell him.
"Seconded. Um, not that I'm complaining," Rurin says. "How'd you get a hold of this place?"
"Y-yeah. That has to do with our keeper," the other guide mumbles. "He was special. I'm Zed, by the way."
The chandelier shifts, and another aquanaut drops to the floor in front of us. "Rad, more visitors," she says. "I'm Ana, best sneak in the aquanauts! As the recon and sabotage super scouts of the future, we're well versed in espionage and tech stuff."
"Hey, not so loud," Zed hisses. "We cut it way too close with that last sweep."
"Don't worry about that," Quill says. "As long as the door stays shut, we'll be fine."
"More people, more risks," Zed mutters.
"Nice place, right? It's self-sufficient and well-fortified," Ana tells us. "Staying here's been nice, though we did just run out of stuff to read."
I notice that aside from their grey skin, aqualungs shine silvery blue on their necks. Their fingers are long and webbed, and their bare feet are tapered and tough-looking.
"You really are biotools," I say. "Uh, not that I didn't believe you. Neocon, right?"
"Yeah," Quill nods. "The best part is, they aren't trying to keep tabs on us. Probably 'cause they think we're all dead."
Vernicia walks in. "Hey! You guys made it."
Another aeronaut follows behind, giving me a careful once over with her intense purple eyes. She must be Diantha. Her legs are wrapped in bandages.
"Greetings." The Guy walks in next, holding a hot drink. I blink a couple of times at him, then realize he isn't wearing his armor. Instead, he's sporting a comfy-looking black sweater and some grey sweatpants.
"I'm here too," a motherly-looking aquanaut says. She's the last one in. "I'm Janine. Welcome."
"We're four to a generation, too," I note. "Is that just how they do it?"
"You have generations, I knew it!" Ana punches Zed's arm. "Told you we were the odd ones out."
I look over at Vernicia. "You didn't give 'em the rundown?"
Vernicia looks away, laughing nervously. "Let's just say… we were in no condition to share any info when we got here."
Diantha rolls her eyes. "Her 'idea' was basically suicide."
"It was a gamble! And it worked, right?" Vernicia proudly raises her arms. "They won't try to track us down if they think we're dead!"
"True, we would be dead if the aquanauts hadn't found us."
"Think positive, Dia. Positive!"
Rurin rubs his neck. "Umm… I think I got the gist of it."
"Aquanauts, huh," I muse. "That makes… four groups of biotools."
Ana speaks up: "Yes, yes! Your back things are wings, right? You must be aeronauts! Quill, remember when I saw people flying over the beach last month? You didn't believe me!"
"What? no," Quill protests. "I only said there was reason for doubt. That's not the same!"
"That's basically the same!" Ana tackles him, and they start wrestling. Huh, was our journey to Titan Hill really a month ago? Or maybe it's the start of a new month and it's only been a couple of weeks? Honestly, I haven't been keeping track.
"You guys wanna chill here for a while?" Janine smiles at us. "It's super secure; we've been living here for the past… um, several years."
"Years, huh?" I look around. "With a place like this, I'd stay for years too."
"We have our keeper to thank for that. Bertram Lee," Zed whispers.
"Yes, he helped us hone our already fairly sharp minds," Janine states. "Computers, healing, logistics, electrical engineering, hacking."
"I bet they tried to get rid of us 'cause we can easily breach their systems," Zed mumbles.
Quill pushes Ana off of him and stands up. "He also had a ton of conspiracy theories and urban legends he would always tell us. I bet he's the reason Zed became the way he is."
"No regrets." Zed slithers under the sofa.
"So, uhm… just to clarify. Since you're from Neocon," I preface. "Do you know anything about the protoforms?"
"Protoforms…" Quill thinks for a second. "Weird, I don't think he ever told us about those. And he's told us a lot."
"Er, really?"
Janine nods. "There's like three libraries in here, and our memories are very good. We'd know."
"Hmm." I twirl a ponytail. "Maybe they really did go missing."
"I didn't think Hal was lying," Vernicia mutters. "But if that's the case, this puts us at another dead end."
"Oh hey, that reminds me," I say. "What's the story about that ruin nearby? Sirius Tower."
Zed pokes his head up. "Is that its name?"
"Yeah. This is gonna sound crazy, but… do people still live in it?"
Vernicia pokes my head. "Ground control to Kit," she says. "It's sunk! Probably flooded. Definitely empty."
"I'm serious! A light came on in the tower," I insist. "You think maybe it's still occupied somehow?"
"Yeah, you aren't crazy. We check up on that place every now and then," Quill explains. "Lights come on periodically, and we even see movement from time to time. But we haven't found a way inside, so we have no way of making sure."
"Too bad our jet drill broke," Ana yawns, walking up the stairs.
"Maybe I'll check it out later, then…" I twirl a ponytail, considering the possibilities. Then something else comes to mind. "Ru, you still got the computer?"
"Wah! The computer!" Rurin opens his soaked bag. "Oh, hey. Everything's still dry. I didn't know it was watertight."
"Pex's bag was, too," I recall, opening the laptop. "Ah, crap. I forgot everything is encrypted."
Zed perks up. "Encrypted?"
"Oh, yeah." The Guy leans down next to me. "I said I was gonna crack these but never got around to it. Now's as good a time as any, I suppose."
I glare up at him. "You are? No tricks?"
"You should know we're allies now," he sighs. "Unless you wanna take a crack at it? Perhaps you know your way around a digital barrier."
"Hmph. I could easily get the aquanauts on it." I cross my arms.
"I volunteer," Zed raises his hand.
"No, no, I've gotta honor my promise," the Guy maintains, then throws me a pointed look. "I clearly have to prove myself here."
I groan, then relent with a sigh. "I guess if you're stuck here with all of us, you won't try anything funny."
"Hey, he's cool," Rurin tells me. "He's already helped us out a lot."
"Hm… if you say so." I hand over the laptop.
"I wonder if Hal got out okay," Vernicia mumbles.
"Who's Hal?" I ask.
"The fireman that tipped us off," she absently answers. She seems distracted.
I look around for Diantha, but she's disappeared. Rurin has also wandered off with Angelina somewhere, so I decide to bother the Guy some more. He's sitting at a desk, quickly typing command prompts into the laptop.
"Yoohoo, Guy." I hang on his shoulders.
"What now? I've barely started," he replies.
"Do you have an arms license?"
"Yeah. R-class," he replies. "Battle armor is military-grade equipment."
"What happened to it?"
"My arms license?" He glances down at himself. "Oh! My armor. I had to take it off."
I pull up his pants leg. "Liar. You just wore clothes over it," I tell him.
"Look closer. I'm not lying," he replies. "Some parts of me are metal, is all. My armor was much bulkier, if you recall."
"Hmm… like prosthetics?" I tap on his leg – plink, plink. "Or is it some kind of under armor?"
"I think it was something about fusion. I don't know any details beyond that. Though maybe I could find those details in this data I'm trying to crack." He gives me a pointed look.
"Whatever, Guy." I turn to leave.
"Marc," he mutters. Then I shut the door.
I kick off my sandals and sink my toes into the foyer's cushy carpet. It's almost as soft as the bed I had in the Seaburgs, but not quite. I lay down on it, spreading out my wings.
Running diagnostics. Status: this floor is extremely sleepable. Maybe this is what a penthouse is like.
Current altitude… strange, I can't tell. I could tell in the Seaburgs, why not here?
Well, whatever. I have to get out of here.
Rurin walks back in, then notices my body. "Kit's been conking out pretty quickly lately, hasn't she?"
"I don't blame her," Vernicia yawns. "It's been quite a time for all of us… maybe I'll call it a night as well."
As my comrades settle in to sleep, I drift through the solid rock the mansion is built into, soon emerging in the deep, moonlit sea.
(Sirius Tower is… that way,) I recall, moving through the waters. Soon the collapsed ruins come into view, grey and forlorn.
As I approach the base, I see it – light! I mean, the aquanauts already validated my claim, but it's nice to also have visual confirmation.
I move closer to the part of the structure where the light shone… then I stop.
(What the…) I move around, trying to feel what's wrong. I've never been stopped in ghost mode before. Whatever it is, it won't let me get closer to the tower's base. At least from here I can tell there are windows… is this what Quill meant when he said they couldn't find a way inside?
SWFF!