Edmund sat in his chair within the café opposite the Children's premises. He was gripping the armrests of the chair tightly, his fingers forming indentations in the plush material.
Just mere seconds before, everything had been going smoothly in Merrion's infiltration mission. It had looked like there would be no obstacles in her way. But then, he had to appear.
The moment his face showed up in the camera feed, Edmund sharply gasped, drawing an excess of attention to himself from the café staff. He would've recognized that man's face anywhere, but seeing his visage projected straight into his retina made it feel like that man was once again standing right before him, just like when they had last faced off against each other half a decade ago.
Anant.
Edmund (thinking): No, no, No, No, NO! Of all people, why him? What have you done, Merrion?! You're in terrible danger!
Beneath his iron grip, Edmund felt the fabric of the armrests start to give way. He quickly relaxed his grip, but even still, his hands remained tensed up. There was nothing he could do from here, not right now. He could only remain seated in this chair, observing and waiting for a signal.
---
Anant bowed deeply once more before straightening up and putting his hood back on. Merrion watched quietly as he disappeared into the central left door. Not a moment later, the other worshippers flooded out of the rear left door, this time with their robes neatly folded and held in their arms. Slowly, they left the building one by one, until all that was left was the same woman who had welcomed Merrion earlier.
Kind-looking Woman: "Oh my, you're still here, I see."
The worshipper regarded Merrion with surprise, albeit with a hint of relief to have someone so interested.
Merrion: "Oh, j-just admiring the decorations. I was speaking with the Holy Brother just now, and I – "
Kind-looking Woman: "How was he?!"
Merrion: "Tha – what?"
Merrion shrunk backwards as the woman shot her hands out to take hold of her own. When their hands made contact, Merrion could've sworn that she felt a spark of sorts course from the woman's hands into hers.
Kind-looking Woman: "The Holy Brother! You spoke with him, heard his own dulcet tones right before you! Truly, you must be blessed by the divines themselves to have experienced this on your first day here!"
Merrion (thinking): Too close! Too close!
Merrion was not used to such violations of her personal space. She tried to shrug off this overly enthusiastic worshipper. Through her earpiece, Merrion heard Jeyga mutter.
Jeyga: "Someone's coming."
Then, there was a sudden voice from the front entrance.
Deliveryman: "– excuse me? Package for the – erm – Children?"
It was a deliveryman, standing before a large box easily twice her height, with a clipboard in hand. Finally realizing that the deliveryman's gaze was directed towards the two of them, the worshipper relinquished her grasp on Merrion's hands with a bashful look on her face.
Kind-looking Woman: "Oh my, sorry for that. Please excuse me. It seems we have a delivery to attend to."
Merrion: "Oh erm – don't let me keep you, ma'am."
Merrion watched as the worshipper, now with her robe off and wearing a casual dress, walked over to the deliveryman. She watched intently as they exchanged greeting and the worshipper signed a receipt form, before the deliveryman departed, leaving the worshipper alone and struggling with the box. Merrion felt some sympathy for her and went over to offer some assistance, careful to maintain the façade of nervousness she had shown earlier.
Merrion: "C…can I help you w…with that?"
Kind-looking Woman: "My, that would be lovely indeed. Thank you kindly!"
Together, the two of them lifted the package, and slowly but surely, manoeuvred it through the central left door under the worshipper's instructions. Merrion, upon entering the door, realized that it connected to a storage room of some kind. It was filled with all kinds of boxes and packages, as well as furniture stacked in various haphazard arrangements. Some surfaces were coated with a thin layer of dust, and in the quiet of the room, Merrion heard the droning of a ventilation system. There was a sudden growling, and Merrion watched as the worshipper doubled over, clutching her stomach.
Merrion: "Ma'am? What's the matter?"
Kind-looking Woman: "Oh, nothing. I just ate too much for lunch earlier, too much spicy food. This must be punishment for my excessive behaviour…urgh, I'm sorry to leave this to you, but could you just move the package into that space over there? Once you're done, just leave and I'll lock up later! Sorry!"
Merrion: "Ma'am! Wait!"
Merrion watched as the worshipper, clutching her belly, ran out of the storeroom to answer the unrelenting call of nature. She sighed but quickly realised the opportunity available to her. After doing as the worshipper had instructed her, Merrion surveyed the room in greater detail.
Something caught Merrion's attention.
Merrion (thinking): Hadn't Anant entered this room earlier? Where was he?
She realised that there must be another entrance to this room, and at the far end of the storeroom, she found her answer. It wasn't obvious, but there was a noticeably cleaner section of wall, as well as a door to the wall's right with a padlock chained across the handle.
Merrion suddenly heard an approaching whirring noise, resembling the noise of heavy machinery, and dove behind a nearby stack of furniture for cover. Peeking through convenient slots in the stacked items, she saw as the cleaner section of the wall turned out to be a door, which receded into the adjacent wall, revealing some kind of elevator hidden behind it. Out from this elevator walked Anant, now wearing a dirtier set of clothing and with his robes nowhere to be seen. He walked past Merrion's hiding space, looked at the package and exited the storeroom, with both the elevator door and storeroom door slamming shut behind him.
There was a click sound coming from the storeroom door, which Merrion recognized as a lock being engaged! Her eyes widened as she realized with sudden desperation that she was now trapped.
---
Edmund reclined in his plush seat with his eyes closed. The entire time that Merrion had been inside the building, he had been paying close attention to both the video and the audio, but this extreme focus had taken its toll on him. Direct projection of the video feed into his retina meant that that eye could not be used to "see" for the duration and tended to induce extreme motion sickness after extended use, as the brain struggled to cope with reconciling two completely different point-of-views regardless of how experienced the user was.
Even for Edmund, his limit had been reached, and he stayed focused on listening through the microphone that Merrion was equipped with. Things were all quiet now except for some sounds of machinery just a moment ago, which Edmund thought was odd.
Edmund opened one eye and looked towards the Children's building across the street as the double doors opened, half expecting Merrion to walk out. Instead, he watched as the man they had identified as Anant, plus another woman, presumably one of the Children, step out into the street, dressed in normal-looking attire instead of those tasteless robes from during their ceremony. The two of them stood before the double doors, seemingly talking for a while, before Anant took out some kind of – chain – and began to lock up the doors to the building!
Edmund's eyes widened.
Edmund (thinking): Shit, where's Merrion?
Quickly, he re-enabled the retinal projection, but instead of the central atrium occupied by the worshippers earlier, now all he saw through the camera was a small room occupied by piles and piles of items. Through the microphone, he could only hear the droning of a ventilation system.
Edmund: "Status report, Merrion,"
Edmund watched as the feed swung to the door and a pair of small hands gestured. Through the charades Merrion was using, Edmund could more or less understand the meaning Merrion was trying to convey.
Merrion (gesturing): Door. Locked. Over there. Another door. I. Go. Check.
---
Merrion hoped that her crude hand signals had properly conveyed what she was trying to let Edmund know. She was maintaining her silence just in case there were any worshippers still left inside. It was bad enough that she was trapped in here, and assuming that there was no way out, she might need to call Edmund to help her escape. But until she was assured that there was no other option, Merrion was determined not to cause any unnecessary commotion.
Edmund's voice suddenly came in through her earpiece.
Edmund: "Anant and another worshipper have left the building. The front doors have been locked."
Upon hearing that, Merrion sighed with relief. She stood up from her hiding spot, for as far as she could tell, there were no cameras in here as well. Merrion thought about how strange the lack of surveillance was, but ultimately felt relieved as that was to her advantage now that she was inside.
Merrion walked over to where she had seen Anant come out from earlier, from the door to an elevator hidden as a section of wall. A closer inspection revealed that whoever had designed this hidden mechanism took great care to conceal it, as the section of wall that Merrion had previously seen retracting into the rest of the wall was completely flush with the rest of the wall. There was no obvious way to distinguish where the door ended and the wall began, except for the slightly cleaner texture on the door.
The same could not be said for the obvious door sitting to the right, chained shut with a padlock. Merrion tried to jiggle the handle, and found that while it was unlocked, the chain and padlock combined to prevent any would-be entrant from opening the door. She retrieved the multitool from her purse, trying to find any function that could assist her in cutting open the chain or padlock, all to no avail. Pocket flashlight, useless. Knife, useless. Screwdriver, useless. Her only reward were red streaks of rust on her hands from the rusted padlock and chain.
Merrion (thinking): Damn.
She decided to instead inspect the remaining items inside the room. Perhaps there was something in here she could use.
Her choices were twofold. One, attempt to investigate as much of the building as she could without triggering any security devices (of which she had spotted none). Two, attempt to find and secure an exit route first, before exploring option one.
After spending a good few minutes carefully going through the cargo in the room, making sure to cover her tracks as well as possible, Merrion struck gold. In the very same box that had caused her to be stuck in this room, Merrion found something that she hadn't expected.
Merrion (thinking): How odd that this box is so much heavier than it looks, and no wonder.
Upon opening it, she found the box packed to the brim with swords, each wrapped in protective foam.
---
Watching through the video feed, Edmund scrunched his eyebrow in confusion.
Edmund (thinking): Duelling swords? So many?
Amongst the well-off in the Fleet, duelling was an entertaining pastime, one of many combat sports that could be practised in one's free time. As with all sports, duelling had its own dedicated community of enthusiasts, and Edmund had heard of the older clans being avid practitioners of the skill. On his end, Edmund had witnessed duelling in both a competitive fashion a few years prior, and in a personal capacity as well. A well-honed blade in the hands of a skilled wielder was just as dangerous as any gun, with the upside being that no blade could hope to cause a hull breach.
What confused Edmund most of all, was why the Children would just have so many duelling swords delivered straight to their building. While he thought it over, Edmund watched as Merrion retrieved one of the swords, unwrapping it gently and stuffing the wrap in a different box in the room.
---
Merrion held the sword in her left hand. This blade was expertly balanced, feeling perfectly weighted in her grip. She thought back to her younger days, when her father had first taught her about duelling and let her use a sword for the first time. She regretted not learning further, but it couldn't have been helped, not after that incident. Regardless, sword in hand, Merrion went over to the chained door, and took aim at the rusty chain and padlock. If she could get the angle just right, she might be able to damage the padlock just enough to force it open. Merrion took aim and swung the blade, cracking open the padlock with a single well-placed strike.
A tinge of glee erupted in Merrion's heart as she quickly put down the sword. With great care, she undid the chain, placing it beside the door and placing the shattered remnants of the padlock next to it. Merrion wrapped the sword back up and returned it to the box from which she had taken it and opened the door slowly.
A slow wind blew out from the opened door, behind which was a cage ladder that extended down into a deep inky blackness. Knowing that Edmund was probably still watching, she signalled to him again through the video feed.
Merrion (gesturing): Going. Down. There.
Edmund: "It's too risky. Better for us to return tomorrow or to break in together tonight."
Merrion heard Edmund's voice come in. She smiled to herself. He was always protecting her, and she knew. But now it was her turn to show him what she was capable of. They didn't have that talk in his apartment for nothing. Merrion was determined to not be a burden – no, to actively contribute to the investigation. Here and now, there was an opportunity for her to do what only she could do.
Merrion replied with a voice just loud enough for Edmund to hear through the microphone in her glasses.
Merrion: "There's no time. Wish me luck."
Ignoring the protests of Edmund coming in through her earpiece, Merrion enabled the flashlight function in her multitool. Gripping the tool between her teeth, she entered the concealed ladder, closed the door behind her and plunged into the darkness one rung at a time. After a few minutes, she lost count of how many rungs down she had gone down by. Progress had been slow, as Merrion had taken care to ensure that the next rung down was able to support her weight, before going down. This ladder appeared to go down a maintenance tunnel of some kind as after a while, Merrion saw cabling and piping wrapping around the outside of the ladder's cage.
Eventually, Merrion's descent ended as she reached the bottom of the ladder. Behind her was a corridor of some kind, wide enough for three men to walk down, side-by-side. She looked to her right and saw an elevator door, presumably connected to the one hidden in the storeroom above. The flooring in this corridor was covered in dust, and with a closer look, she spotted tracks of some kind. Lines and shoe prints were clearly marked in the dust, with some clearly more recent than others.
Merrion (thinking): Looks like something was brought down here recently.
She slowly crept down the corridor, turning down the brightness of her multitool to the bare minimum to preserve her night vision.
After a while, she came to a four-way intersection. Inky blackness stretched forth in all directions, and Merrion felt a chill go down her spine. Merrion crouched down to inspect the tracks, finding that they curved left and disappeared down the corridor to her left. As she continued to follow the tracks, Merrion felt as if the floor was sloping down and curving to the left ever so slightly. Suddenly, there was a light in the distance, and as Merrion approached, she saw light pouring out from the gap between a door and the floor. The silence of her trek down the corridor was slowly replaced with the dull hum of machinery echoing in the confined space.
Determined to explore further, Merrion quickly entered the space, closing the door behind her. She gasped, realising that the door opened out to a large room of some kind. There were boxes similar to the ones she had seen in the storeroom earlier stacked neatly in this room in large piles. If they were anything like the box she had looted the sword from earlier, Merrion thought, she could barely imagine what was contained in the myriad boxes in this room. Most prominently, in the center of the room, was a large door in the floor. The word <
One object in the room caught Merrion's eye. Slowly, she crept along the shadows at the edge of the room, squeezing past stacks of boxes until she could discern more about that object. As she neared it, she realized that it looked strikingly similar to the cryocaskets she and Edmund had seen in the morgue in the Mahoney.
Merrion felt her chest tighten as she considered the possibility that this was the missing cryocasket that they were looking for.
Merrion (thinking): Is this it?
Regardless, even if this were the body, how would she be able to retrieve it by herself? She would need to return to the Children's building and ask Edmund to assist her in breaking out or return to the dark corridors and somehow find an escape route from here that didn't involve breaching the Children's property.
None of that would matter, however, as Merrion felt something jab her through the thin fabric of her shirt. She shrieked in pain as all the muscles in her body contracted at once and she fell to the ground, hitting her head on the way down. As the darkness slowly crept up into her consciousness, she heard footsteps, and a revoltingly familiar voice along with the rattling of chains.
???: "Hey there, lil' fidder girl."
There was a burst of pain, and Merrion fell unconscious.