Two days passed by swiftly. It was now Saturday evening.
Simmons had taken only the essentials from her apartment in the city and packed them into a backpack, which she was now wearing. Instead of the usual police uniform, she was wearing long black leggings with a pixel-effect pattern overlay, and a black cropped hoodie over a white vest. Her hair was still tied up, but a few of the inky strands hung down on either side of her face.
She pulled out a thin rectangular strip and pressed down on it with her finger, which caused a 3D screen to pop up from it. It gave the time, the forecast, some news headlines and a few of the notifications that she had received.
One such notification was a message from an unknown contact listed as 'Mr. Ferryman.' This person, whoever they were, had sent Simmons a message indicating where she was to go.
Within one of the city's many districts, there was a specific spot known mostly for its appeal to young, small-scale dealers; a terrace built into the side of what once was a cafe. It overlooked the highway, and also the residential and commercial areas of the central district.
There were a few arrests in the past six months, and since then there hadn't been much else to take place here.
Simmons arrived at the terrace the very same moment that sunlight faded from the world. The floor was made of a durable glass that refleced the distant city's spectacular lightshow, which Simmons herself marveled at.
"Don't think I've ever seen the city like this..." She mused with a whistle. The night sky's blackness was driven away by powerful rays of multicolored neon, making the distant city appear much larger than it actually was- and it was already quite large.
The walls of the old cafe were graffitied, and one such piece of artwork was a giant middle finger hovering over planet earth, threatening to destroy it.
Once Simmons was finished soaking in the sights, she pulled up the screen again and checked for any more messages. When she didn't see any, she thought of sending a message to 'Mr. Ferryman' to let her know she was there, but as soon as she was about to, they sent something.
It was an animated arrow, pointing upwards.
When Simmons looked up, she gasped and took a few mindless steps back. At first, she thought that there had been an open door in the sky, just appearing out of no where. However, when she looked closer, she realized that it was the door of a cloaked hoverplane. It was almost invisible in the night sky, but Simmons was much too close to the craft, so she could distinguish its shape.
A man in a black suit and face mask stood at the doorway, making a strange motion with his hands. Simmons guessed he was telling her to walk away from the railing, and she stepped back some more.
He gave her a thumb, indicating that she had done what he wanted her to do, then he tossed something out of the plane. The object was flat, and it fell quickly up until the point it was above Simmons' head, which is when it started to levitate.
Simmons stared at it in puzzlement, but following a soft click the object created a spherical field that encapsulated Simmons within. Then, after a louder click, the object itself became cloaked in bright white light, then it gave off a quick flash.
After that flash, both Simmons and the object arrived in the plane. She didn't even realize right away what had happened, but once she noticed that her environment was different, she gasped again.
"Brooke Simmons, Cenne Garland," The man extended his hand and Simmons shook it with a forced smile; she was still trying to understand what had just happened.
"I take it that was your first time using an Insta-Leap."
Simmons nodded, "That's what it's called? An Insta-Leap?"
Cenn nodded, then pressed a button on a panel near the door. With a few sparks, the door rematerialized, closing off the space. Once again, Simmons was at a loss.
"Yeah. It's a result of the New Regime Research Initiative. Anyway, let's get going. It's not my job to bring you up to speed." As Cenn spoke, he moved around in a bustle, flipping switches, adjusting levels on various screens, and also... looking for something?
Simmons wasn't sure, but Cenn appeared to be searching for something.
"I can never find my damn mask..." She heard him mutter this, and had to immediately stifle her laughter.
Cenn disappeared into a different part of the craft, separated by thick, heavy curtains. When he realized that Simmons hadn't followed, he stuck his head out from between them and blinked at her.
"Come on, then."
Bypassing the curtains, Simmons entered the cockpit and was instantly drawn to the wide spread of the windshield. She saw the city, but they were now hovering above it at an insane height. If the city wasn't so bright, she would not have been able to notice it.
There were also various holographic screens in front of Cenn's chair, and he was fiddling with them when she entered.
"We were moving all this time?"
Cenn was sat in his chair, but he turned around to look her in the eye and nod. "I know a lot of this feels new to you, but the truth is that this technology is about two decades old. There's so much stuff that they've perfected, but it remains exclusive to public servants like me and- well- like you will be. That's to help give us an edge in the war against the List."
Simmons took a seat, after which the chair buckled her in. "That's kinda awesome."
Cenn chuckled, "It kinda is, when it works. But look, I'm really just meant to get you there, not fill you in on all the details. My Warden isn't even sure you'll stick around, so the less you know till you're officially on the team, the better for you."
"Now hold on."
Simmons was about to ask why, but Cenn tapped something on a screen and the aircraft's speed increased by more than a hundred times. Simmons could feel the incredible inertia as the seat behind her pressed further and further into her back. As for the scenery, it whizzed past faster than her eyes could keep track.
Even though they were going so fast, the special properties of the plane were actually doing their job, protecting her body from the real effects such a speed would have on it.
Cenn, who was used to this, moved some stuff around on the screen before dragging an icon downward.
"This is Mister Ferryman, I repeat, M. R. Ferryman, to Tower."
A voice responded through the ship's audio device, loud and clear. It was clear that the ship and its systems were functionally optimally, meaning that this speed was not at all harmful to it.
"This is Tower, Mister Ferryman. We read you."
Cenn raised the icon up again before answering, "Approaching 'The Abyss,' requesting Ripple Effect."
"Copy. In five clicks, decelerate your craft."
"Aye."
Cenn's head cocked to the left, and his eyes focused on a specific set of readings. The moment the numbers dropped to a certain point, he tapped on a large red icon, and the craft started slowing.
"Exiting Mach 10,"
Once again, Simmons could no longer feel the movement of the plane. When her eyes readjusted, she noticed that they were flying above the ocean; water was the only thing she could see. Once they came to a complete stop, the voice from the Tower spoke again.
"Stand by for Ripple Effect."
Cenn slowly lowered the craft and Simmons saw the ocean getting closer and closer. Once he was within a few hundred feet, he stopped their descent and waited.
Before their eyes, a designated area of the ocean became excited, frothing and creating bigger waves. Something was agitating the water, and soon enough the ocean started to give way. A giant, cylindrical steel object emerged from the water, seemingly out of nowhere.
Simmons looked with wide eyes as the very tip of that cylinder opened up, and Cenn then continued their descent into that opening, which was large enough for dozens of similar aircraft to enter at once.
"De-cloaking," the person said once the craft entered, and an array of red, blue and green lasers passed over every inch of the plane, deactivating the cloaking tech. Looking through the windscreen, Simmons could see various panels lining the walls; they were slowly moving down that cylinder, going deeper and deeper underwater.
On the outside, the cylinder itself was returning to the depths. It was over 30,000 feet long, and was connected to an even larger structure below. The cylinder itself seemed to have multiple extending layers, allowing it to reach even further than it would on its own.
Now it was being retracted, so those layers were quickly disappearing from sight. As for the larger structure, it closely resembled a prism or pyramid, but there were also a number of flat surfaces placed at random points. The entire thing was covered in glowing green nodes, like wires running all around it.
Hundreds of those giant cylinders connected to this structure, a testament to its sheer size, and they were all either expanding or contracting to reach different parts of the ocean.
Bright lantern-shaped lights filled the sea floor and illuminated the entirety of the structure.
Simmons and Cenn were still on the way down within their cylindrical elevator when Cenn turned around in his seat. "I'm not supposed to do this, but I don't think you'll get another chance anytime soon. When I just got here I was already enlisted, so I got to see it on my very first day."
Simmons blinked, "See what?"
Cenn didn't immediately answer, and instead brought up another, smaller screen. When he tapped on a few of the displayed icons, the walls of the cylinder began to morph, and the panels glowed before becoming transparent. The underwater world around them was revealed, and Cenn rotated the hoverplane to give Simmons a clear view of that giant prism.
"This is one of the twelve generators that, together, produce the ability-dampening energy field. It also acts as the Hub for the 12th Branch."
Simmons was compelled to get out of her seat and take an even closer look, undoing the seatbelt despite the minor warning screen that popped up. She pressed her face against the glass and soaked it all in.
"The ship has its own anti-field, but once we get there you'll start feeling the effects," Cenn explained.
"How big of a field can it create on its own?"
Cenn seemed to rattle his brain a bit as he shook his head, then said, "I think just one of them creates a field over an area of about one million square kilometers, that way it reaches far enough underground as well."
Simmons mouth was agape, but no sound came out. She was simply awed.
"And that's just one of them? How big is this prison?"
Cenn snickered, "Personally, I've never left the 12th Branch, so I can only guess. If they're all the same size as this one, though, then I'd say this prison is as large as a continent, at least. Maybe one day you'll see for yourself if that's true."
Simmons nodded absentmindedly, still gawking at scenery.
"Alright, take a seat. Sightseeing's over."
Once Simmons was strapped into her chair again, Cenn increased their speed of descent until they caught up with the very end of the cylinder. One it had retracted all the way, the bottom end opened up and allowed them to enter the hub.
Simmons did not expect to see what she saw. Firstly, once they entered the hub, they were no longer underwater. To add to that, there was nothing here but a giant hole in the earth, large enough to swallow entire islands.
Cenn maneuvered their craft into the dark pit, and pretty soon they were encased in total darkness. Aside from the lights on the craft itself, and the others that were also entering and exiting the pit, there was nothing else that could be seen.
She saw hundreds- or perhaps thousands- of aircrafts entering and exiting the hole, going down or coming up from it. There seemed to be no end.
"There's a bunch of stuff that needs to happen so this place can remain functional, aside from just maintenance. It's amazing that the New Regime can afford to keep something like this running."
"Anyway," Cenn turned around again, about to scratch his nose when he felt the fabric of the mask. "Oh!"
Simmons and him shared a laugh, but he quickly cleared his throat when he recovered his train of thought.
"Right. When we get down there, you'll accompany a senior officer to the Warden's office. That's where all your questions will be answered, and you'll begin your training."
Simmons nodded, but as she was doing so something caught her, outside in the dark. It appeared to be a type of aircraft but, judging by the lights on it, it was far larger than any of the others.
"What is that?" Cenn followed her gaze and saw it, then he gasped.
"I didn't hear about this... That's one of the Cruisers for Detainment and Transport. Looks like the new model." Cenn whistled as he tried to get a closer look, but it was much too dark in the pit.
"They're bringing prisoners in right now?"
Cenn nodded, "Sure looks that way. Those Cruisers were only ever used for high-tier Listers, but this new model's never been used. Should be interesting when we get to the landing zone."
Simmons' eyes were focused on the vague outline of that ship. For some reason, she felt as though there was far more to it than met the eye. Her mind tingled with a sense of urgency, like she would feel whenever she was in danger of being attacked, but there was no change.
There was only the dark, and that lingering sense of dread.