Chapter 3: Fortuitous Encounters

Being a machine has advantages and disadvantages, not having to breathe is an advantage, being unable to float a disadvantage. She reflected, scared, but trying to remain calm as she was carried by the current.

She was being laded, deeper and deeper into that city, through several galleries, each one wider than the last, and all dark and with no one in sight.

I have to get out or I could end up at the bottom of the sea, she thought as tried to grab hold of a small barrel that, among other things, was also washed away by the storm waters.

With the help of the barrel, she managed to keep her head above water and see what was happening, but, although the gallery was wide and the current less turbulent, she could not see an exit point. All she could see were pipes and smaller galleries pouring more water. A vision that made her even more worried about ending up adrift at sea.

However, that concern became secondary when she heard a noisy sound getting stronger and stronger.

What sound is this? She thought trying to see what was ahead.

She was approaching an enormous waterfall formed by three galleries of equal size, the one she was in and two more, one in front and another on the left, all on the same level. It would have been a beautiful sight if she hadn't been in the current, about to fall into a deep rectangular shaft that seemed to extend both up and down as far as the eye could see.

"This is going to be bad! There has to be a way out of here!" She despaired, looking around.

Just before falling into the void between the waters, she gripped the small barrel tighter and saw that on levels above the waterfall there was light and people. For a moment, she wished that one of them could save her.

After what seemed like an eternity, she sank into the waters at the bottom of the waterfall, still clinging to the barrel, fearing that if she let go, she would never stop sinking in those dark waters. Not caring about the expenditure of energy, she tried to light it up as much as possible; to see what was around, if there was a bottom. What she saw was the bottom of the well at close range and a skeleton in armor, clinging to a small ornate chest, secured with a rather large padlock. She was so close that she could see the details of the chest and if she had tried to reach out her hand, she could have grabbed it. Then the barrel pulled her back to the surface.

If it weren't for this barrel, maybe I'd end up like a rusty carcass next to it, she thought as she was dragged through another gallery, even bigger than the previous one and went back to reducing the light it emitted to save energy, which now read thirty-two percent.

She then noticed that this gallery had, on its sides, walkways; nothing more than stone sidewalks not far above the level of the current, however before she could try to go to one of the sides she began to hear a familiar noisy approaching.

"Oh no! Not again!" She shouted seeing that, ahead, a huge crack in the side of the gallery swallowed half the flow of water. "I have to reach the side!"

 Just as she was starting to try to head to one of the sides, she heard a high-pitched meow. Coming from a side channel, a sodden gray cat was clinging with difficulty to a piece of wood that was going straight into the crevice.

Desperate to help the poor animal, she looked, in a fraction of a moment, for what she could do to save him and then in her field of vision the option "Plasma jet boost" appeared. When activated, the exhaust, which completely occupied her back and which normally served to prevent internal overheating, emitted a bluish jet. It only activated for a second, causing the energy level to drop to 30%, but it was enough to cover the few meters in an instant and reach the kitten.

Gripping him with one hand firmly, but carefully not to hurt him, while keeping the other tightly gripping the barrel. She reached the kitten, but there was nothing that she could done to prevent both of them from being swallowed by the crevice.

Falling into the void, she dropped the barrel and wrapped her body around the kitten to try to protect him. In the fall, she hit a metal pipe and almost released the animal, but managed to recover before reaching the bottom of the waterfall, which was not deep enough to prevent from colliding hard with the rock on the floor of the waterfall. However, she was so determined to save the kitten that she quickly put her feet on the ground and pushed herself to the surface and grabbed a piece of wood that was floating in the current.

She noticed then that they were passing under a long wooden bridge lit by torches and she regretted not being able to grab one of the pillars as she passed. She could only see the bridge fall behind as she struggled to keep the kitten above the water. She didn't have much time to grieve, as the all-too-familiar sound of approaching waterfall made her turn to see where she was going. However, before she could even finish turning around and thinking, she hit something.

What appeared to be a fallen wall of a house, had formed a kind of bridge, already on the edge of the fall, just above the level of the current, between the left bank and a projecting rock in the middle of that river.

"At last some luck!" she exclaimed happily and relieved as she finally climbed onto dry land.

"But it's best not to abuse it" she said heading for firmer ground, afraid the old wall wouldn't support her weight.

She found that the kitten was still alive, wet and cold, but alive.

"Now I need to find a way to warm you up."

When she said that, she was answered by a meow and then the cat jumped from her hands to her shoulders and nestled on top of the hood on her back and close to her neck.

"It's a start, but it won't be enough," she added with a light laugh.

Then she looked at where she was: it was a very deep ravine that widened in the direction of the river flow, she also noticed that she was on top of a room broken off from a house and that this was not the only fragment of buildings and houses at the bottom of that ravine. Then she noticed in a corner a wooden chest, turned on its side, ajar and with a dark fabric coming out of it.

"Kitten, you are very lucky!" She said while lifting the fabric.

"It's big! Not only will it keep you warm, but I'll be able to use it to cover myself. That way I might be able to approach someone and get information."

She received a cheerful meow in response. She had formed a plan, would gather information, and try to build herself a way to recharge.

"Now it's just a matter of deciding which direction to take," she said, finishing tucking the fabric into place like a hooded cloak over her head and shoulders.

Finally, she turned her attention to the bridge, which was made of several planks of different sizes and colors, nailed together in a chaotic fashion and lit by torches. It connected a tunnel, at ground level on the bank to its left, to a wooden staircase that first led to a platform one story high and then to more stairs, these made of metal, probably pipes, that led to another tunnel, about three stories off the ground on the right bank.

"Lighting torches are a good sign!" she watched as she pondered the best way to get to the bridge. "I think it's better to go up, I've already gone down a lot."

"Hmm... anyway I have to go to the left bank; from here I can't get to the stairs."

 "Dangerous task, as I would have to walk over the old fallen wall and jump on some rocks, with a strong current passing below and a high drop right next to it. I don't want to use the boost again, it waste too much energy."

 "Well, there's no other way. Let's go at once!"

She made sure the cat was safe inside the makeshift hood and started to run. She heard the wall under her feet creak, but in three agile jumps, she was already on the left bank.

"It was easy, frightening, but easy!" She said already looking at the tunnel on the other side of the bridge.

Then she saw two people hurrying down the metal stairs, a boy with a hood and a bulky backpack and a red-haired girl with long hair.

They seem to be running away from something. But… what?

She had the answer to her thought when two men appeared in the tunnel at the top of the stairs, dressed completely in black with hoods and iron masks, carrying, one of them a black saber and the other a crossbow.

The one with the saber quickly descended the metal stairs and then jumped the wooden ones, landing on his feet with a strong impact on the bridge, making it tremble and sway, while the other remained on top shooting arrows from the crossbow, with frightening cadence and greater accuracy. Yet, the first shot narrowly missed the boy, hitting the second on the backpack and missing the third only because the two fleeing fell with the movement of the bridge.

At that moment, the little robot did not hesitate to act and, as if by instinct, it kicked hard a stone the size of a melon, which projected in an arc and hit the one carrying the crossbow in the head, before he could fire again. She would have kicked another boulder at the man with the saber, but there wasn't another one close by of a suitable size.

Meanwhile the brute with the saber, not noticing what happened to his companion, rushed forward. The boy, already on his feet, was yelling at the girl, who was still on the ground, to run.

The boy then drew two daggers and assumed a combat position, facing the attacker, who was almost twice his size.

"I have to be quick," said the robot.

 She ran and leaping onto the bridge, activated the boost once more, opening a hole in the makeshift cover.

"Damn rat, you're going to die for getting in where you don't belong!" Shouted the pursuer, raising the saber over his head to deliver a heavy blow, taking advantage of the greater reach of the weapon.

"I'm Crow and it won't be so easy!" Answered the boy without showing fear, but taking a step back.

At that moment, the boy saw a figure pass by his side, it seemed to be someone in white armor and a black cloak, with bright blue wings on his back. Stunned, the boy saw the figure land a powerful punch on the brute, who, taken by surprise, barely managed to block with his saber. Then he saw the brute lose his balance, take three steps backwards for it and before he could recover, he was hit by a high kick, to the side of the head, sending him into the water.

The strange armored figure was standing before him; the hood revealing a smooth white porcelain-looking mask, with no openings for a mouth or even holes for breathing, the eyes seemed protected by milky white glass, framed by black lines and in its forehead what appeared to be a huge and beautiful dark blue crystal, above a wide and thick matte silver tiara.

"Thanks!" The boy thanked, almost in a sigh, with eyes wide in surprise, being soon answered by a meow of a gray cat, which now put its head out of the hood, next to the face of the strange figure in armor.

Hesitantly, the robot turned her back on the two intending to go on her way when she heard:

"Come with us!"

The robot turned around and then saw the red-haired girl standing, with her hand outstretched and her face pleading, then repeat:

"Come with us! Please!"

The robot then nodded affirmatively and the three ran towards the tunnel, the opposite direction to the one she intended to go at first, but she had no doubt that the best thing was to follow those two.

"Wait! What happened to the crossbow one?" Asked the boy when realized that he was no longer the target of projectiles.

"I hit him with a big rock, I don't think it's going to cause any problems anytime soon," the robot spoke casually, surprising both of them with her delicate feminine voice.

"Good! So can we stop running?" Asked the red-haired girl showing tiredness.

"We can slow down, but there may be others behind us," replied the boy, slowing down. "Up ahead is a safe place where we can stop and rest a little".­

After a few minutes of walking through the dark tunnels lit by few torches, the boy stopped next to what appeared to be a stone plate that had visibly come loose from the ceiling and been placed aside to not obstruct the path.

"These tunnels are heavily used by smugglers, so they're well lit." Said the boy, putting his hand behind the stone.

"Although today, because of the storm and the fear of the tunnels flooding, the chances of finding any are slim, it is better to follow a path that they do not know".

Then there was a click and the boy moved the seemingly heavy slab of rock with surprising ease, revealing that it had well-hidden wheels and behind it a crack in the wall.

"Are smugglers very dangerous?" asked the red-haired girl.

"Only the ones of weapons, " replied the boy, "most of the ones of food and drinks will only try to sell you something, but in your case, the danger is that they may want to sell information to those who kidnapped you. The Fists of Thunder are on good terms with both Interior City and Wooden City merchants, as well as smugglers in general".

He grabbed the oil lantern that was hanging from his backpack, then noticed the crossbow bolt, carved into the wood with hooks he used to hang the lantern and a small iron pot.

"What a lucky!" he whispered.

"We won't have any problems here, I'm the only one who knows this path," he said, lighting up the path beyond the crevice.

After everyone passed, he closed the "door" and activated the mechanism that locked it. Unlike the well-cut tunnel lined with slabs of black basalt they had been in before, this path, although it had a flat floor, it was as if the rock had cracked away leaving a narrow path with a dark rock irregular wall on one side and a dark abyss on the other. The three stopped in a wider part and sat around the lantern.

"Now that we have time," said the boy as he put his pack aside, "while we eat something and rest a little, we can listen to the stories of how one girl from Upper City and another wearing such unusual armor ended up down here".

­The boy took a canteen and a metal box with food from his backpack and offered it to the two, with the red-haired girl accepting it.

"I'm known here in the Interior City as Crow, I'm sixteen years old, I've been exploring and mapping the tunnels, mines, and caverns of Avalon for ten years, picking up to sell whatever I find along the way, as long as it has value and has no owner".

He ended up taking off his hood with a metallic edge, which resembled a bird's beak, revealing a black hair that contrasted with his pale skin, which seemed to have never walked in the sun, and a friendly smile.

"I'm Sophia Von Gears, I'm 15 years old, I… was walking home from school carefree when I was attacked. Next thing I knew, I was in a bag being carried around, punched in the stomach and told to shut up whenever I spoke," said the red-haired girl, pausing for a moment to take a deep breath.

"I only went to see where I was when you saved me in that darkroom, Mr. Crow. Thank you very much!" She said with a smile and tears in her eyes.

"Von Gears?" Asked Crow incredulously, offering her a handkerchief, which was accepted. "Are you related to Rodan Von Gears, the Chief Engineer of all Avalon?"

"Yes," Sophia replied, wiping her tears with the handkerchief. "He is my father."

"He is indeed important for someone try to kidnap you, but it only makes the action of the Thunder Fists more unusual".

"Why?" The girl asked surprised.

"Rodan is very well liked here in the Interior City, since he took the post, working in industries and especially in refineries has become easier and safer. Around here, they call him the Master of the Steam Engines.

Aster watched them talking and realized how little she knew about that world.

"And what about you, our saving angel?" Sophia asked, eager to know more about the second person to save her that night."Who is?"

The robot hesitated and after a moment of silence replied:

"Who I am is a difficult question, I'm not like you. I don't have a name and I don't want to scare you, but this is not armor, it's who I am," she said moving the fabric and revealing her body better.

She let the information settle for a moment and continued:

"Putting it in a few words, I am a machine capable of thinking, powered by electricity."

Then she told everything she went through until she found them, and her need to build an electric generator.

"If I wasn't seeing it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it," Sophia said with fascination.

"I can even understand the scare those two had, I mean... your big, stark white eyes really do give you a ghostly look," mused Crow, still trying to process what he'd just heard.

"Hey! Be more delicate!" Sophia intervened.

The robot was silent for a moment, making both of them fear that they had offended her, but then blue irises appeared in her eyes, which were completely white a moment before.

"This way is better?" the robot asked, cocking her head to the side.

"I can see you're going to surprise us at every turn," said Crow in astonishment.

Relieved, Sophia let out a laugh and said:

"Yes, it looks beautiful! And if you don't have a name, is it okay if, in thanks for saving me, I give you one?"

The robot nodded in the affirmative.

"Hum ... came like a comet to save us and shines like a star .... How about Aster? "

"It's a good name," Crow agreed. "Did you like it?"

"Very!" Aster replied with joy.

Then with a loud meow, the cat poked its face out of its hood.

"I think he wants a name too," Aster mused, laughing.

"Or he's hungry," Crow replied. "How about Tom the Cat?"

"Like the one in the fairy tale? Seems appropriate," Sophia agreed.

With a happy meow, he seemed to accept it and jumped into her lap.

"Now we have to decide where we're going," said Crow, getting up and offering the cat a piece of dried fish, which he happily accepted. "We have to get Sophia home safely and help Aster get electricity!"

"Spoken beautifully and confidently, but do you have any idea how you'd manage to do both?" Sophia asked, still sitting and stroking Tom's short fur.

"Especially about electricity, which, since the fall of the empire, almost a century ago, even reading and writing about it is forbidden, not only in Hy-Drasil, but in the entire civilized world, after the electrical non-proliferation agreements." she said.

"To get you home safely, I know ways," Crow replied, starting to draw on a flat part of the wall with a chalk. "And to help Aster, from what she said, I know merchants and a few smugglers who can supply her with what is need without them needing to know for what it's going to be used.

"What are you doing?" Aster asked curiously.

"A simple map of the island," Crow replied, finishing with a few more strokes.

"Now, Miss Sophia, let's get to the options on how to get you safely," Crow said, revealing the simple but well-drawn map.

"We're here." He explained, pointing to the map. "At level sixty-five, I can guide us to the Wooden City, which is very close and from there you can take the vertical subway to the Upper City, you will have to travel in it alone, since I cannot use the subway even if I could pay, but you'll be home in an hour or two".

"That if you have your documents and money to pay for the ticket," he said looking at Sophia.

"Unfortunately, everything was in my pouch, which I lost when they grabbed me," replied Sophia, "but I know that if we explain the situation to the Wooden City police, they can help and even let you accompany me home."

"You definitely don't know that port town, do you?" he said calmly as he sat down again.

Then he took a metal can decorated with roses from his backpack and handed it to Sophia.

"It's an ointment prepared with herbs, put it where you've been punched and you'll feel better."

"Thanks!" Sophia said to him.

"Half the police there are corrupt," he went on, "and either they'd sell you back to the Thunder Fists, or they'd demand ransom themselves, or they'd do something even worse. Half the other half would turn you over to the Fists free by being sympathetic. The rest would ignore you and send you away for not wanting to get involved. Not to mention Aster, who if they found out who she is, I don't know what anyone in that town would do."

"Next option then." she signaled for Crow to continue.

Sophia then opened her coat of thick fabric, lifted the silk shirt she wore underneath, exposing her stomach, which was already beginning to show bruises. She started to rub the ointment over her stomach, the sweet scent of roses and the immediate relief of pain making her smile.

"It's a longer way," he began to explain, turning back to the map, avoiding looking at Sophia and thus hiding his flushed face. "And we're going to have to be discreet to avoid trouble. Time is a crucial factor." He took out his pocket watch and saw that it was half mid night.

"Why is time crucial?" Aster asked.

"I want to get Sophia home before they notice she's run away. Since there's no one left to report the escape, we have a good chance, but if we take too long they'll start looking for her and its going to get really difficult."

"Then I predict that we will spending the rest of the night walking and climbing stairs without rest." Sophia commented, already with her uniform tidy.

She handed the can back to Crow, took another swig of water from the canteen, and started to eat another apple, figuring she would need some strength.

"Not so much," continued Crow. "Since the subway is ruled out, I intend to take you to the house where I live with my grandfather, there we can sleep for a few hours and eat something decent before we continue the journey.

"Hm... Do you sleep Aster?" he asked.

"No, but if I don't have anything to do, I can do something similar to save energy," she replied.

"So let's go!" Crow called, already arranging his bag. "The sooner we leave, the sooner we arrive."

"I've always complained about this uniform because it's made of thick fabric," Sophia said, handing the canteen to Crow. "Now I'm glad it's tough and keeps me warm."

And so they started walking, Crow leading with the lantern, Sophia close behind, and Aster with Tom sleeping inside the hood last. The narrow path continued to wind in a slight inclination until it ended in a vertical stair that climbed until disappearing in the darkness.

"God! How far does it go? Up to the surface?" Sophia exclaimed in astonishment.

Crow chuckled at Sophia's astonishment.

"Do we really have to go by this way?" she asked apprehensively.

"It's not that long, I promise this is the worst part," Crow replied, taking a rope and tying it around his waist and passing it to Sophia and Aster to do the same. "A guarantee." Said him.

"That if one falls, we all fall?" Sophia snapped nervously.

Then Aster put her hand on Sophia's shoulder and with a friendly look and calm voice said:

"I won't let anyone fall, trust me."

"Thanks! I will," Sophia said, calmer now, placing her hand over Aster's.

"I also tied the rope to this hook I'm attaching to the steps as we go up," Crow added, trying to encourage Sophia. "If you're ready, I'll start the climb."

"Yes, but please don't go too fast," Sophia replied.

Nodding in agreement and receiving confirmation from Aster, he clipped the lantern into his backpack and slung it over his back to begin the climb.

A hundred steps later Sophia questioned almost breathlessly:

"Didn't you... say... it wasn't... long?"

"Don't worry, we are almost there," replied Crow without any signs of tiredness. "But we can stop here for a moment if you want to catch your breath!"

"No! The sooner... this is over... the better!" Sophia replied.

"Everything okay down there, Aster?" Crow asked with a cry. "What about Tom?"

"Yes! No problem," she replied, "you can go! Tom seems to be calmly sleeping!"

"How I envy that cat." Sophia whispered so no one could hear.

They resumed the ascent and, after another hundred steps, with everyone already at the top and untied, Crow, after finished packing the rope, said:

"See? It wasn't that long nor that bad."

Sophia, sprawled on the floor trying to catch her breath, just raised her hand in a rude gesture, one she didn't think she'd ever make in her life, surprising Crow and making him laugh.

"What does that gesture mean?" Aster asked.

"I'll tell you one day, for now just forget that you saw the young lady over there do it and don't talk about to her," Crow replied, patting her on the shoulder and going ahead to check the way. "I'm sure she'll be grateful if you do."