Chapter 4: Through the Shadows

After the brief rest stop, too brief, thought Sophia without complaining, they continued through tunnels that were no longer natural, on the contrary, richly ornamented by very skilled hands.

"These walls are so beautifully decorated," Sophia said, admiring the carved columns and intricate mosaics. "Almost make what I went through worth it."

"These tunnels are old," Crow commented, shining a closer light on one of the mosaics so Sophia could see better.

"They predate Hy-Drasil's first reign, discovered and forgotten throughout the empire age," he added, moving on.

"Do you know who made them?" Aster asked.

"If you want a name, that was long lost," Crow replied. "So little is known about them that myths and legends have emerged. That the island was inhabited by magical beings such as Elves, Gnomes and especially Dwarfs, capable of creating wonders with metals and stones."

"Would be they who created me?" Aster asked casually. "Or was I created based on something they left behind?"

Hers simple comment caused the other two to lock in place and look at her.

"I've always found these myths interesting, but I've never believed in them." Crow commented, shaking his head in denial. "Now I wonder how real they can be."

"I've always wished these myths were real," Sophia commented. "But now I've got a knot in my head."

The group agreed that it was better to leave the matter for later and continued on their way up. Passing through several tunnels, forks and stairs, many stairs.

"Crow, how do you know where to go?" Sophia questioned, sitting on the floor taking the opportunity to rest while Crow refilled the lantern with oil. "I didn't see you consult any maps."

"At every fork and tunnel entry I explored, I left discreet, coded marks close to the ground. If you don't know what it is, you don't even notice."

"Here, keep this." Crow handed her a booklet from his backpack. "If you get lost alone down here, this booklet has little maps and the meanings of the marks."

"Thanks, but won't you miss it?" Sophia thanked him, taking the booklet.

"Keep it; I made some copies for friends," he replied putting his backpack on.

"Can I have a look later, Sophia?" Aster asked curiously.

"Of Course! We can go looking together along the way," Sophia replied with a smile.

After walking for some time, they came to a wider tunnel that ended in what looked like a roaring wall of water, running from ceiling to floor and from wall to wall.

"Boiling water?" Sophia was startled when felt the heat.

"I hope you don't want to scald us, Mr. Crow." She completed, followed by a meow of protest coming from Tom on Aster's shoulder.

"Never, young lady and dear cat!" he replied, crouching beside something covered with a tarp. "I know we need a hot bath, but this one would be too hot!" He then revealed a small steam engine and turned it on.

"Here's the dry path!"

The small engine, by means of belts and pulleys, pushed a large curved metal plate on the ceiling, which, diverting the water revealed a metal bridge.

"Where does this hot water come from?" Asked Aster, as they crossed the bridge.

"From a steelworks a few levels up!" Crow shouted to be heard over the rushing water.

Arriving at the other side, Crow pulled a rope he had brought, which was attached to a lever that turned off the engine, causing the metal sheet and the rope to return, causing the waters to completely hide the bridge.

"Ingenious! How do you do it if you're going in the opposite direction?" Aster asked.

"I still haven't solved that problem," replied Crow, looking which of the three paths ahead to take. "It's not much farther from here to the house, but we have to be discreet, because we can pass strangers," he said, taking something from one of his pockets that at first looked like a pocket watch, but when he opened it, it emitted a slight bluish light and then he turned off the oil lantern.

"An elven lantern!" Sophia exclaimed, her green eyes wide.

"If only!" said Crow, with a smile showing the instrument closer. "See, it's luminescent fungus inside a watch case. I usually use this on my explorations and rarely use the lantern."

"Living in these completely dark tunnels is more than enough light for me," he explained."

"They could use that to light the tunnels instead of the torches," Aster pondered, admiring the object.

"They use it in some of the deeper tunnels and mines," Crow replied, starting to walk again. "They don't replace torches and gas lamps because the light is too dim."

"And is that a big problem?" Aster asked.

"In a good light, it's easier to see who else is walking the same path, and especially if they're armed and with what, from a safe distance," he replied.

"Makes sense," Sophia and Aster agreed at the same time.

"Ok. We'll go on in silence from here," warned Crow, at the exit of the tunnel they were in. "These tunnels are heavily used, although most residents should be asleep at this time, there's always someone wandering around here."

Sleep. I think when I get home I'll sleep for a week, Sophia thought, already longing for her comfortable bed.

They walked at a hurried pace, passing through several tunnels, each time bigger and brighter until they reached a really big one, with what looked like an avenue in its center, lined with lamps that burned low quality oil, leaving a bad smell in the air and creating a smoky haze on the ceiling. The houses, embedded in both walls were all painted in several bright colors. They were closed and silent with their residents probably asleep.

Only half the streetlamps were lit, but it was still the brightest tunnel they had seen so far that night.

"We've reached the first inhabited ring," Crow explained, stopping to see if anyone was passing.

"Is that where your grandfather's house is?" Sophia asked in a whisper, hoping to get some rest.

"No, we live in an isolated house a head," he answered as he watch a passing drunk, staggering and humming softly.

"At least there are no stairs from here to there," he added when he saw Sophia's face.

"Let's go!" said Crow, waving and starting to run as soon as he was sure that no one would notice them.

The group crossed the wide avenue running and Aster, who followed a little further behind, when looking around understood why Crow said ring. There was a visible slight concentric curvature in the avenue, which probably circled the entire center of the island.

They then ran into a tunnel between two houses that, unlike the others tunnels, was dark.

"Why doesn't this one have illumination?" Aster asked in a whisper.

"It's hardly ever used, so they skimp on illumination," Crow replied, slowing his pace and cautiously stepping inside the tunnel. "It leads to sewers below, and to tunnels above, where water, gas, and oil pipes pass. A place where only maintenance people go."

Aster looked back before following them into the tunnel, wanting to make sure no one followed.

"Going straight we will arrive at the house. This is the last tunnel to there."

They continued walking through the tunnel until they reached a kind of wide room, octagonal in shape, which served as a crossroads, the only point in the tunnel offering options for a path. With a wide iron pipe and other smaller pipes full of dials and valves, all descending vertically from the ceiling to the floor, right in its center. It was dark, damp, and smelly.

"We keep walking forward," he explained. "To the left are the stairs to the sewers and to the right..." he stopped talking when he saw a yellowish light coming from the stairs in the right.

He closed the lid on the small light source and quickly led the group to hide behind the pipes, between some boxes and barrels.

"Almost in home!" said a man carrying an oil lantern. "I hope all this effort yields something."

"You saw the latest briefing message, everything is according to plan," said a second man. "At morning, they'll deliver the demand and it will only depend on when Rodan gives in, maybe by night we'll already have..."

"Hey! No talking about it!" interrupted the first, looking around. "If any commoners hear about this, we could be in trouble. We cannot lose support right now."

"Yes, yes. As the Great Leader said: 'The common people should not know the methods, only the unselfish ends and the good results'," recalled the other.

"Or they won't help with their share of sacrifice," concluded the first in a morbid tone.

"Calm down, nobody walks around here at 2 a.m..."

In that, unintentionally, Sophia bumped into an empty bottle knocking it down.

"Who's there!' the men shouted, each one pulling a different heavy tool from the large bags they carried.

As soon as they started looking, they saw a gray cat, which when illuminated hissed and ran meowing towards the sewers.

After cursing the cat a lot, the two men left in a hurry and in silence, thus allowing Sophia to breathe in relief.

"I like this cat more and more!" said Crow, putting the daggers away.

Opening the small light source again, he saw Tom return and receive a pat from Sophia and Aster.

"At least we know your escape hasn't been discovered yet," concluded Crow, handing Tom a piece of dried fish.

"Were they really Thunder Fists?" Aster asked, looking around, attentive to any noise. "Can they communicate fast in these tunnels?"

"Yes, the yellow cloth bands on their arms had the symbol," Crow replied, helping Sophia to her feet. "They have a secret message system via pneumatic tubes, if they want to, in less than an hour they can notify almost every member."

"I don't doubt it! Practically every corner we passed had enough pipes to hide several of these systems," said Sophia, dusting off her skirt and noticing yet another tear in her uniform. "Not that it looks like they need to hide it."

"They've never been a violent threat before," Crow explained. "So far I've only heard of them doing protests, nothing like kidnapping or other serious crimes."

"What made them change to criminals then?" asked Aster.

"Maybe they always have been, it's just that no 'common people' ever knew," Sophia commented. "And apparently my father has something they want."

Crow was starting to worry, he knew something big was unfolding but he just didn't know what. He wanted to arrive soon and talk to his grandfather.

"We should hurry anyway," Crow said, starting to walk. "The sooner we arrive, more we can rest."

And that was enough motivation for Sophia who soon followed. Aster put Tom inside the hood and looked back, as if trying to see something and after a short moment without seeing anything strange, she turned and followed them in a hurry.

From the darkness that was left behind came a faint metallic sound and a flying white bulk followed them silently through the darkness, far away enough not to be noticed.

When they reached the end of the dark tunnel and a tightly locked iron door, both Sophia and Aster were surprised by the large open space, lit by streetlights and filled with piles of scrap metal, which was revealed when Crow unlocked the door with an intricate key and opened the way for them.

"What is this huge place?" Sophia asked in a mixture of astonishment and fascination.

"The greatest of the ancient great halls," Crow replied, finishing locking the door.

"The highest part of the ceiling is a hundred feet high, and the next wall on the other side is a thousand feet away, second only in size to the great dwarves mine and the central district of the Interior City."

"And it all belongs to my family," he concluded, leading the group through the piles of scrap metal.

"These piles of metal, did you put them all together?" asked Aster.

"No, I don't collect garbage, there used to be a metal recycling plant here" he explained, laughing. "That scrap metal came by boat through this channel," he said, pointing to the wide channel that ran under the bridge they were now crossing. "The plant exploded six years ago, they never rebuilt it and the piles were left."

A sad expression appeared on Crow's face for a moment and he continued walking in silence.

"It's amazing how much water runs all over this underground" Aster commented looking at a huge duct that poured water in large volumes into the canal.

"That's largely due to the island's temperature control system," Sophia replied. "To avoid problems with thermal expansion and contraction, which would make the island fall apart, they created a hydraulic system for heat exchange between the hot parts, such as the industrial sector, and the cold parts, keeping the temperature of the rock relatively constant whether it is summer or winter."

"This also prevents the industrial sector from becoming too hot to work." Said Crow.

"So there are huge water pumps?" Aster questioned even more curious.

"Oh Yes! And many!" Crow replied. "The biggest ones are those at the desalination station, which draws cold water from the sea to cool the refinery sector and the steel industries and then makes it drinkable to sends it from sea level to the top of the island."

They arrived at a beautiful house on a raised stone base, into which three large ducts penetrated to the underground.

"We received ownership of this space plus a monthly payment in exchange for monitoring the duct lines that pass through here. A dozen pressure gauges to check every couple of months," Crow revealed at the bottom of the stairs.

"And lots of pipes to inspect for rust, including those." he pointed at the various pipes and gigantic ducts crisscrossing the air several feet off the ground.

"Once a year I have to walk among them."

"Good that you're not afraid of heights," Sophia commented.

"Not anymore..." Crow answered, using a bell on the door. "Grandpa, it's me, I'm back!"

"Already back?" came a firm voice from inside the house. "But why wake me up at ten past two in the morning? Lost your door key or just want to disturb my sleep?"

"An unforeseen happened," Crow replied.

Upon opening the door and facing the group, the old man just said:

"Come in, make yourself comfortable, I'm Ivan Bravefeather."

He was a lean but strong man, with neatly trimmed white hair and beard with an elegant bearing. Aside from the white hair and a few wrinkles, he didn't look old at all.

"I'm going to make tea and biscuits, I can see it's going to be a long story." he said and was answered with two thanks and a meow. "Even a cat? Okay, I'll find something for you too."

Aster and Sophia sat together on a sofa, while Crow sat on a chair at the kitchen table to sum up everything, while Ivan heated the tea water.

"I'm proud of you boy," said Ivan, calmly at the end of the story and taking the tea and biscuits, while Crow served Tom a bowl of water and another of chopped dried fish.

"So the noble ladies are a robot and Rodan's daughter."

"Robot?" Questioned Sophia helping herself to the tea and taking a biscuit. "Is that what Aster is?"

"Yes, I heard the description of what a robot is when I researched the history of this island," Ivan replied. "But I always thought it was just a made-up story."

"What story?" asked Aster, curious if that would reveal anything about herself.

"One of a man who lived during the fall of the empire," said Ivan, sitting down in an armchair. "He was an inventor, a scientist. He created an electrical box that always played different songs, selling them to everyone. It was just before the Electric Purge that he appeared in Upper City. With a metal humanoid, that obeyed orders."

Aster and Sophia listened intently, even for Crow this was a new story.

"According to I was told, that man said that it was a semiautonomous robot and that he would soon sell it to everyone, but would I say that the robot in the story was not as beautiful as Aster and did not do anything other than walk and carry heavy things.

"A simpler version," Sophia commented.

"Yes," agreed Ivan, "but even so it was something impossible with the technology from the time or from today. That is why I never believed. Another curious thing that just came to my mind is that there were fictional stories about not only electrical robots, but mechanical ones as well. I still remember reading some in my youth, but today is the first time in years that I remember that word again and by your reaction it seems that nobody knows it anymore nowadays.

"I've read a lot of science fiction books, but none have ever mentioned a humanoid machine," Sophia confirmed.

"But who was this man? What happened?" Aster asked, barely containing her curiosity.

"Unfortunately, what I've said is all I know," Ivan apologized.

"But that's one more thing I learn about myself," Aster replied. "And for that I thank you!"

"Changing the subject," said Crow, placing his cup of tea on the table. "Any idea what the Fists' objective is? It would be good if Mr. Rodan found out to notify the authorities."

"Without knowing what they want for ransom, there's no way to find out." Ivan said thoughtfully, taking a sip of tea. "But after you left to explore, I heard they were seen using sticks that produced small bolts of lightning. I foresee tumultuous times."

Ivan then noticed that Sophia was beginning to be overcome by exhaustion and said:

"But that discussion can wait. Come Miss Von Gears, I'll show you where you can have a hot bath while I prepare the bed in the spare room. I'll lend you a clean towel and also something suitable to wear to bed."

"Thank you very much!" Sophia answered and then turned to Aster. "Could you stay by my side while I sleep? I would feel calmer and safer."

"Of course!" Aster replied, accompanying the two.

"Oh! Yes! Miss Aster, if you don't mind, could you leave your cloak with me?" asked Ivan. "I'll fix and make you a better disguise so you can walk safely."

Aster accepted and handed over the fabric.

Crow stayed where he was, finishing his cookies. Therefore, he went up to his alchemical workshop-laboratory, wanting to prepare himself for what was to come.

"You too must rest, boy!" said Ivan, in a serene voice, when he saw him pass by.

"And I will!" he replied going up to the third floor. "I'm just going to prepare a few things for the last stretch, which is no shorter than the first, or safer.

"But it could also be a little easier," Ivan replied, bringing him to a halt. "Luck seems to favor you."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Tomorrow is the day those two stop by," Ivan replied with a smile when he saw the boy's face.

"True, it's time for them to stop by! But, do you think they will help if we tell them everything?" asked Crow, going back downstairs.

"We'd better not talk about Aster," Ivan said, looking over his shoulder and seeing her sitting in a chair, intent on reading a book. "But I'm sure they'll give you a ride to the Central District Grand Market, as well as help you take one of the commercial elevators to the subway level."

"We'd gain a lot of time and Sophia wouldn't suffer as much," Crow mused, going back upstairs.

"And the poor girl could sleep a little longer" completed Ivan, already alone in the corridor.

Sophia then came out of the bathroom ready for bed with her uniform draped over her arm. She felt much better; especially as she realized that, the bruises on her stomach were gone. She made a mental note to thank Crow again for the medicine; everything would have been harder with bruises on her stomach.

"If you want, I can wash these clothes," said Ivan, pointing to the uniform. "I will prepare a garment more suitable for your journey."

"Then it's not need to wash." Sophia replied with a yawn. "Probably this uniform will be thrown out and a new one bought."

"In that case, can I use it to make a disguise suit for Aster?"

"If it's useful. I do not see a problem," she replied, handing him the worn uniform.

Then Ivan took the uniform together with Aster's fabric and went down wishing good night.

Sophia entered the room and noticed Aster reading a book about the war between Great Prussia and the Slavic Empire.

"Reading about war? Sophia questioned with a long yawn.

"History of the world," Aster replied, putting the book aside. "I want to understand the world around me.

"Just don't take what any book has written as absolute truth," Sophia warned. "What is written will always be influenced by the author's worldview, for better or for worse. That book was written by a Prussian soldier, a front-line survivor," she said, throwing herself facedown on the bed. "It would be a different text if written by a general or a Slav."

Sophia then blacked out like that, finally being able to rest. Aster got up from the chair and settled her friend on the bed, covering her with the sheet and, after turning off the oil lamps, she sat down again. Reflecting on what Sophia had told, reassessed what she had read.

Then she went into power saving mode, she had twenty-seven percent left. Closing her eyes with the black lids (created to keep her eyes clear and with which she unconsciously used to express emotions). However, she remained attentive to the sounds in her surroundings.

After taking a quick shower, Crow passed by the door of their room, checked that they were fine and looked at one of the clocks on the wall, it was three in the morning.

Three hours of sleep, after all that running around, he thought as he set the alarm clock and went to bed.

"Better than nothing."