Subterrania – Chapter 3: I Wake Up in Yaso
A blur of memories sweeps across my vision. I see my brother’s face. He’s crying, and it breaks my heart. Now, we are at the train platform. My brother is excited. He can hardly contain himself. He turns to run onto the train. My dad and I wave goodbye, and I feel tears running down my face. I don’t want him to go. My dad tries to console me. He tells me it’ll be alright, and I’ll see my brother later tonight.
I’m at home now. My father comes home from work looking worse for wear than I’ve ever seen him. His eyes look like they’ve sunk into his head. I ask him where my brother is, and he sits me down. He tells me what happened. My brother isn’t coming home. I call my dad a liar and run to the safety of my bedroom. My dad follows me. He tries to console me. I’m mad at him for telling me my brother would return tonight. How is this possible? My brother has to come home. He is my home.
I hear a mechanical beep.
I’m in a tunnel now. Another one I shouldn’t be in. I’m alone and crying. I can’t cry at home. Not while my dad is around. He always tries to console me. It makes me feel bad, he has enough to worry about. I hear a noise and look over to see three boys approaching. They look several years older than me. I try and wipe my eyes before they notice. As they get closer, I get scared. I get up and run. Fortunately, they don’t chase me. Still, I pretend they are. It’s a nice distraction. I find a natural fissure and climb into it.
The rock around me is jagged and sharp. I can feel it digging into my body as I wedge myself into the back part of the fissure. I can still see the main tunnel, and the boys walk by. If they know where I am, they’re doing a great job ignoring me. I wait for them to pass, then sneak out of the fissure. I watch the boys walk away. They didn’t know it, but I gave them the slip. It’s odd, but I feel a little better now.
Another mechanical beep.
I’m walking down an old road with my best friend, Angie. She is right next to me, yet I feel an intense longing to be with her. I miss her dearly. She’s telling me how her family will be moving next month. Her mom got a promotion. I’m happy for her, or I want to be happy for her. Part of me resents her for leaving me. She tells me it’ll be okay, that she’ll call every day. She promises me nothing will change; we just won’t see eachother in person.
I’m at home now. I sit in the kitchen at my father’s computer. It has been months since Angie left. She’s supposed to video call today. She doesn’t. This is the second time she’s forgotten. I try not to cry as I realize she’s forgetting about me. My father is home. I tell him I’m going to bed, then sneak out the window. A few weeks ago, I found a safer tunnel where hardly anybody goes. I head there to deal with my emotions.
Again, I hear a mechanical beep.
My body feels numb. I’ve been sleeping. I don’t open my eyes, but I’m glad to be out of my dreams. I feel a warm blanket around me and try to pull it closer. I can’t. I feel alarmed, open my eyes, and try to sit up. I’m stopped by something across my chess. I try to shake free, but it’s no use. I’m stuck. I glance to my left and see a machine with several different colored tubes extending from it. They’re leading toward me. No, they’re connected to me.
The mechanical beep sounds again. I see what’s causing it now. It’s a heart rate monitor. My thoughts feel a little fuzzy, but not enough to suppress my fear. I look to my other side and see another machine. This one looks similar to the other, but it has more computer screens and fewer tubes. I grunt as it takes immense effort to lift my head.
I can see the room around me now. It looks like a hospital, not like the ones my dad used to take me to when I got sick. This one’s nicer. Much nicer. It looks like something out of a movie. A window lets artificial sunlight into my room. It’s a nice touch. I’m not sure how to feel about my current situation. I try to remember how I got here. The last thing I remember was being blown out of the factory by a wave of heat.
I remember seeing my arm. It was hurt. Bad. I don’t feel any pain now, though. I can’t move my extremities, but they feel fine. I try to wiggle my fingers. I can feel faint movement on my left set, but my right set doesn’t respond. Next are my toes. I’m better with those; I can see the blanket wiggling by my feet. Every part of my body feels heavy. The fuzz in my mind has lessened a little, but it won’t go away entirely.
“Hello?” I call out, but my voice sounds raspy. I clear my throat. “Anybody there?” I sound a little better, but calling out takes a significant amount of my energy. I rest my head back down and close my eyes. I feel tears welling up as I process my situation. My dad must be worried sick. What about Jess? She must know I’m here, right? I feel a rush of unexpected anger. Jess. She did this to me. She sent me into that factory alone. This is all her fault. She could have come with me. She’s certainly capable enough.
The machine next to me starts to beep faster. My heart rate is rising. I try one more time to move out of my restraints. They’re too tight, or I’m too weak. I suspect it’s the latter. A small dumbbell would probably be enough to trap me right now. I’m exhausted, so very tired. I can’t sleep. At least, I don’t want to sleep. My dreams are worse than this. I rest my eyes but try to keep my mind active.
I don’t know how long it has been, but I hear the door to my room open. I grunt again as I lift my head. It’s Jess. She gasps when her eyes meet mine, then turns around and leaves the room. I want to call out to her, but she’s gone before I can muster the strength. Not thirty seconds pass, and I’m swarmed by a group of strangers. I want to ask them what is happening, but I feel more drowsy than ever and can’t fight the sleep.
When I wake up again, I feel rested. The fuzz in my brain is gone, and my body doesn’t feel heavy anymore. I move to sit up but experience an odd sensation as I try to lean on my left arm. Instead of holding me, I fall sideways onto the bed. I look at my arm, and I’m shocked. It isn’t there. Instead, I have a stump just below my elbow. Jess must have heard me fall over because she turned to look at me.
“Jess?” I ask.
“Don’t freak out,” Jess says, “I’ll explain, but stay calm. The doctors said you need to take it easy.”
“Don’t freak out!” I’m angry. Jess is the last person I want to see right now. “Do you see this! I wave my stump in the air. “My arm is gone! Do you know why? Because you sent me into that stupid factory alone!” I sob as I say this last part. I can’t believe that any of this has happened. How had I been so foolish? I thought I was invincible. I’m starting to realize I’m not. That’s why Dad warned me not to go exploring. I should have listened. I could be home with him now, hugging him with both arms.
That thought breaks me. I’ll never be able to hug the same way again. I’m still angry with Jess, but allow her to approach me. She stays calm. Much calmer than I thought she would be. She sits on the edge of my bed, pulls me close, and pulls my head into her shoulder. I weep, and she holds me.
“I’m sorry,” she says, “I never imagined things could go that poorly, but let’s not talk about that now. You still need to recover.”
She holds me for a long time before I regain my composure. I’m starting to get a headache from all my crying.
“Where’s my dad? Has he come to see me?” I pull away from Jess and wipe my eyes.
“No, but he knows you’ve been in critical condition. We had to move you to a bigger city. Hollowhaven didn’t have the necessary medical supplies to take care of you. You’re in Yaso now.”
I sniff, look around for a tissue, and blow my nose. I hate crying. “Yaso? How far is that from home?”
“About twelve hours by train.”
“Train? You put me on a train?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t like trains.”
“Good thing you were drugged, then.”
I shake my head. “About that, what happened?”
“Well, for one, you didn’t destroy the factory?”
I feel a surge of defeat, “What! After all that, I-“
Jess holds up a finger to silence me. “Let me finish. You didn’t destroy the factory; you obliterated it. Not a single scrap of metal to be found. You even took a couple of the surrounding buildings with it. It was messy but extremely effective. Lucky for you, the Don owns all the buildings you destroyed.”
“What about people? Did I..” I don’t want to ask the question. I’m afraid of the answer. Jess guesses what about to ask.
“Kill anyone? No. You caused three blasts. The first one was small and destroyed most of the machines in the factory. The second one, which blew you out to the street, was bigger and nearly caused the whole building to collapse. The last man in the factory ran out right before that one. One of my runners found you and administered a stim pack. Those are normally used to help give you a surge of energy, but they can also stabilize your condition. Pain is amplified when you use a stim, and you reached your max.”
I try to search my memories, but I only vaguely remember anything after the second blast. “Then what? You put me on a train and brought me here?”
“No. The runner picked you up and took you straight to the emergency room. He got a few blocks away when a third explosion went off. Quin, everyone in town heard that blast. It sent a tremor through the city so powerful it could have been mistaken for an earthquake. If it weren’t for the boom that accompanied it, I’d have thought nothing of it and went about my day.”
“So I passed?”
Jess laughs. “You got blown up and lost your arm, and that’s all you can think of?”
“It’s not like I have an option, right. It’s keep going or be sold to the slavers, isn’t it.”
Jess smiles softly. “There are no slavers, Quin. That’s just something we say to test your loyalty and resolve. Had you chosen the slavery option, we would have shown you what we actually are and still given you the option to join us. It’s every Pygmies first test.”
“You guys are ridiculous,” I shake my head. “Does that mean I failed?”
“Technically, yes, but most people don’t pass that one. You were quicker to choose than normal, though.”
“So, if I don’t want to do this anymore?”
“You don’t have to. Though you wouldn’t be allowed to stay in Hollowhaven, at least, not until the Don is taken care of. He’s pretty upset with you right now. He made an attempt to kidnap your dad a few days after the incident. Don’t worry, though. We stopped it before your dad even knew it was happening. The Don can be quite cooperative when you threaten to blow up a few more of his buildings. Of course, there are plenty of underhanded tactics he can try.”
I shake my head again. “Wait, he made an attempt a few days after the incident? How long has it been?”
“Three weeks.”
She pauses and lets the information sink in. Three weeks. To me, it feels like that could have happened last night.
“Most of that time, you’ve been here. You probably wouldn’t have made it otherwise. These doctors know their stuff.”
I nod. “They must. I hardly feel like anything happened. You know, besides this.” I hold my arm up in front of me.
Jess winces. “Ya… that wasn’t ideal, but you’d snapped the bone, and your skin was burnt to a crisp. About that, though, I think I may have something that’ll make you feel a little better.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, but we’ll have to get you out of here first. Do you want to try standing up? I’ve spoken with the doctors. They want to evaluate before you leave, but if everything is in order, they’ll allow you to go.”
I shrug. “Let’s find out.” I use my good arm to push myself to the edge of the bed and swing my legs over. I see my ankles poking out from my hospital gown and rotate them. It feels fantastic to be able to move normally again. Jess offers me a hand, and I stand up. My legs are weak, and I stumble. I reach out with my left hand to instinctively balance myself by grabbing Jess’s shoulder. I struggle forward and remember that my left hand is gone. Fortunately, Jess is quick and catches me.
“This whole no-arm thing will take some getting used to,” I say, looking back at Jess.
“I don’t doubt it. Can you walk?”
I move my legs experimentally and find my footing. I take a step, and my confidence grows. It takes me several tries, but I soon amble across the room.
“Excellent,” Jess says, “it’s not perfect, but it’s good enough. Let me get the doctor. Wait here. I’ll be right back.”
Jess leaves the room after helping me sit down on the bed. It’s hard to stay mad at her when she’s around. I still feel resentment, but she’s here and helping. I’d say she cares about me if I didn’t know any better. I just can’t decide how much I care back. My time alone gives me a few minutes to think about what Jess had told me about staying with The Engineers. I laugh at myself when I think of how they lied about the whole slavery thing. Would she really just let me go if I decided to leave?
She said I couldn’t stay in Hollowhaven. What did that mean? Maybe they’d move us to a better city. Knowing the hospitality they’ve shown me so far, I bet they’d even set us up somewhere nice. I’ll have to think about it more. I love my time with Jess, and even though I’m mad at her, I’d miss her. I shrug off my worries and decide to deal with them later. I can always figure things out when I get home. For now, I want to focus on learning to walk normal again.
I hear a knock on the door, and it opens. A handsome man in scrubs leads Jess into the room. Jess is holding a strange tangle of boxes connected to poles. The doctor comes up to me and introduces himself. He seems nice, not at all like any doctor I’ve ever dealt with. Jess places her assortment of poles at the foot of my bed, and the doctor starts running through some basic examination questions with me.
When we’re done, the doctor smiles and tells me everything should be fine now but to call if I have any problems. He looks to Jess and tells her that I’m cleared to leave as long as I put on the exo, then leaves the room.
“What’s the exo?” I ask.
Jess picks up the contraption at the end of my bed. “It’s this. It slides around your legs. These boxes are motors that help you walk until you regain your strength. The motors will help you a little less each day, so you can rebuild your muscles.”
“It doesn’t look very comfortable.”
“It’s not, but it’s better than sitting all the time, trust me.” She unfolds the poles and tries to figure out how to attach them. When she finishes, she puts the exo down next to me. The device is rigid now, and I should be able to sit back into it and easily strap it on. I scoot toward the exo, but Jess stops me.
“You’ll want to change out of that gown first. Here,” she walks over to a nearby cabinet and pulls out pants, a t-shirt, and a hoodie. “I thought you might like these.” She places the clothes next to me, then turns around. “Let me know when you’re done.”
The clothes look new and fresh. I don’t think I’ve ever worn anything so lovely. My dad tried to get me good clothes but always bought them second-hand. I didn’t mind. I do now, though. New clothes are different; they’re softer, and there’s a freshness to them that I find unfamiliar. The only problem is that I’m not used to getting dressed with one arm. It takes me longer than usual, but I manage.
I let Jess know, and she helps me strap into the exo. When I stand up, it’s a strange sensation. My legs feel powerful now. Walking is a little awkward, but I start to get the hang of it after a few minutes and some instruction from Jess.
“So, where are we headed?” I ask.
“It’s a surprise.” Jess smiles at me. I don’t smile back. Curse her and her surprises. I know she won’t budge on the matter, so I decide to follow her. When we get outside, my eyes go wide.
“What did you say this city is called again?”
“Yaso. It’s the fourth largest city in the colonies. You’ve never heard of it?”
“No, but it’s amazing. Look how big that sunlight is!” I point to a massive glowing orb that hangs over the city. It lights several skyscrapers below, and I suddenly feel tiny. I’ve heard of how the big cities get their light, even seen it in movies, but seeing it in person is a thousand times better. I’ve never seen such an enormous cavern. Some of the buildings here are so tall not even a quarter of a piece of one would fit in Hollowhaven.
Jess can’t help but laugh. “You’ve seriously never seen one before, have you? That’s wild. I grew up with an orb like that. I like it more than the intermittent sun lights in smaller towns. I imagine it’s what the sun used to look like before we all moved down here. You know there are stories of people going outside just to feel the sun’s warmth?”
“Of course, every kid has heard the stories. My dad used to tell me all about the sun. He said there are some observatories that have access to the surface, but the air is so dirty you can hardly see the sun.”
“He’s not wrong. If you decide to stick with me, I’ll take you to one someday. I’ve been a time or two, and though you can’t see the sun, it’s incredible.”
If I decide to stick with her.
Jess’s words stick to me, and I can’t let them go. She leads me onto a bus and we find a seat. I sit next to the window and stare out at the sunlight. It’s bright enough that I can’t stare for long and have to stare at the city instead. We’re heading into the city center, and the buildings feel taller than ever. I contemplate my immediate future and think about what Jess had said. Several minutes pass, and Jess taps my shoulder.
“I know you probably hate me right now,” she says, “but I really am sorry about all this. I should have started you with something more simple.”
“I don’t hate you, Jess.” Her apology feels genuine, and though I want to hate her, I feel the emotion melting away. “Truth is, I’ve loved spending my time at the bakery. I loved running errands for you, and I wanted to prove myself. Maybe I should be mad at myself. I’m the one that caused the explosion.”
“About that. I’ve been stuck wondering for weeks, what actually happened? I’ve heard the story from a few sources, but nobody knows what you actually did inside the factory.”
I tell her everything, and it takes up the remainder of our ride before I finish. We’re in the middle of the city when we get off the bus. I can’t help but look up in awe at the buildings around me. Jess has to wave her hand in front of her face to snap me out of it.
“You’ll have plenty of chance to see everything later, come one. I promise, what I’m about to show you is worth it.”
Only my curiosity pulls me away. I follow Jess down several streets until we reach the base of a towering cylindrical building. There are four regular doors and one revolving one. Jess goes through a standard door. I’ve never seen a revolving door, and I can’t help myself. An empty space comes my way, and I walk in. I giggle. I’ve always wanted to do this. I try to go around for a second time, but I see Jess waiting for me.
There’s a fancy lobby in this building with a long counter where several nicely dressed people are helping visitors as they come and go. Jess and I walk past them down a hall and push through a door. There’s a stairwell on the other side.
“Oh, stairs! You were right, totally worth it.”
Jess just shakes her head and motions me to follow her. We don’t go up the stairs. Instead, we stay on the ground floor and move to the corner of the landing. Jess pulls something from her pocket and places it on the wall. Nothing happens at first. I raise an eyebrow and try to lean around Jess to see if I’m missing something. I hear a clicking noise and a rectangular seam appears on the wall. With a smooth “schlick!” the part of the wall within the seam slides inward. Jess pushes it lightly, and it slides back a couple of feet.
“After you,” Jess says, motioning for me to enter. I go in, and she follows me. I feel myself rotating, and we don’t stop until we’ve turned 180 degrees. The entryway is blocked by the wall Jess pushed back. We’re stuck in the small space. I get the feeling this wasn’t designed for two people. The ground beneath us starts to shake, and we start dropping down. There is no visual sign of our descent, but I can feel it in my stomach. We’re dropping, and we’re dropping fast.
I feel my body squish together a little as we come to a stop. We spin 180 degrees again, and I step out. I look around and see that we’re in a small cavern. The ceiling is only about ten feet high, and the walls are about 40 feet apart. The floor has been covered in steel squares, and the perimeter is lined with various bookshelves, counters, sinks, and cabinets. In the center of the room is a metal table covered in machine parts and wires. A man wearing magnifying glasses is hunched over at the table. His eyes look funny when he looks up at us.
“Ah, I was wondering when you’d stop by,” he says.
“Afternoon, Muc. This is Quin, the girl I’ve been telling you about.”
“I see. The good news is that you weren’t mistaken. She is, in fact, missing an arm.”
“Oh, you noticed?” Jess says. “Maybe you can do something about that.”
“Indeed I can.” Muc takes off his glasses and approaches us. He looks me up and down, then leans in to get a closer look at my arm. “Yes, this should work quite nicely. I’m excited to try it.” He reaches his hand out to shake mine. “I’m Muc, nice to meet you.” I shake his hand.
“Quin,” I say, “and what are you guys talking about? It’s not like you can give me a new hand.”
“Course not,” Muc says, “we’re going to do something even better!”
“That’s debatable,” Jess says, “but it’ll be much better than no arm.”
Muc moves toward one of the cabinets on the right side of the room. He reaches inside and pulls out a shiny metal arm. My interest is piqued. If this is going where I think it’s going, Jess is right. Muc might even be right.
“Is that what I think it is?” I say in awe.
“That depends. Do you think it’s a cyber limb?” Muc asks.
I nod.
“Then yes. Come, have a seat.”
I eagerly accept the invitation. Everyone has heard of cyber limbs, but I’ve never met anyone who has seen one, let alone been this close to one. They’re supposed to be some of the most advanced machines ever made. The problem is that the resources required to make them are almost impossible to find. Only a few are made every year. They almost always go to the elite. This situation feels impossible.
“How in the world did you get one of these?”
“Made it,” Muc says simply as if it’s no big deal at all. He places the cyber limb over my stump and twists it so it’s snug.
I laugh. “You did not. You can’t just make one of these.” My laughter is cut short as I realize I’m the only one laughing.
“For anyone else, you’d be right,” Jess says, “but Muc is… special.”
“Don’t take my word for it, though,” Muc says, “try to come up with a better explanation. There isn’t one. Just look how perfectly tailored the limb is. Besides, there are no cyber limbs in all the colonies that can hold a candle to this one. It’s my greatest work yet. I’ve been working on it for years. I had to make some pretty big changes over the last few weeks, but it’s still the best cyber limb ever made. I’d bet my life on it.”
“If it’s so amazing, why are you giving it to me?”
Muc laughs. “There’s a reason I’ve had so much time to work on this. I had a prototype ready months ago, but nobody would let me cut their arm off to try it out.”
“Why didn’t you put it on yourself?” I ask.
Muc laughs again and looks over at Jess. “Clever girl. I see why you chose her.” He looks at my arm and twists a metal nob near the wrist. “I’m a craftsman. An artist, really. Much of my work requires a delicate touch.” He sits up straight and holds his hands out in front of him. “There’s not a machine alive that can beat these beauties.”
I want to laugh, but I see that he is serious, and I do my best to hide what I’m thinking.
“Alright, ready? This is going to hurt.” Muc says.
I look at him with wide eyes. “Hurt? What who said anything about-” I feel a piercing pain where my nub is and scream in pain. The cyber limb starts to buzz, and a faint blue glow shines from within the metal. I clench my jaw and try to pull the limb off with my free hand.
“Restrain her!” Muc says, “I’ll be over soon, dear, hang in there. It’ll be worth it, I promise.”
I feel Jess grab me and keep me in place. The pain gradually starts to lessen a few seconds later until it goes away completely. Jess relaxes and steps back. The moment she lets go of me, I slap Muc across the face, and he stumbles back.
“What the heck was that!” I yell. He could have at least warned me first. I stand up, walk over to him, and point in his face. “You can’t just do that to a person!” I put my hands on my head and pull at my hair as I turn around to face Jess. “And you! You let him do it!” I hear Muc laughing loudly behind me. Whatever it is he’s laughing at, Jess seems to notice it as well. She’s trying to hold back her laughter. I can see it in her cheeks. What is wrong with these people!
“I can’t believe this! You two are awful! This is awful! I’m so not-“
“Quin!” Jess shouts over me, and I ignore her.
“Quiet, you don’t get to talk now. Not after everything you-“
“Quin!” Jess shouts again. “Would you just calm down a moment and look at your hands!”
I want to ignore her, but I can’t help but take a glance. Suddenly, I realized that Muc and Jess weren’t laughing at me. They’re laughing because the cyber arm works! I put my new hand out in front of me and wiggle my fingers. The feeling is surreal. It’s indescribable. I feel the mechanical fingers, but not in the way I feel with my good hand. There’s a sensitivity to them unlike anything I’ve ever felt. My anger evaporates. I’m still not happy I lost my arm, but oh man am I going to love this.
This is the final chapter that I’ll be posting on my website. If you like what you’ve read so far, please feel free to read my other chapters on royalroad.com. Click here to be taken to my page.
