The air inside the compartment was stifling, thick with the mingling scents of oil and metal. Huia's fingers trembled as he flipped through the ledger's pages; with each flip, his gasp only grew, and the disbelief etched across his face also grew. Every single one of them was filled with columns and rows full of lines with no ink sketches in between them. It was all blank, his thoughts spiraling.
"Blank?" Adinim hissed, leaning closer, his voice low and sharp. "How is it blank?"
Huia turned the book to show him the empty pages. "I don't know. Encryption, maybe? A trick?"
A creeping realization began to dawn on Huia. Maybe what we're here for is so classified they wouldn't risk writing it down. His stomach twisted. Where did Akhaqia even get this job? Doubts swirled in his mind. his thoughts started getting more intrusive We might be a bit out of our depth, walking into something we barely understand.
"We don't have time to figure this out here, and right now we have more pressing matters," Huia murmured, clutching the ledger. We have to make sure the plan goes in accordance with how things were thought out.
In accordance, Adinim said, pondering on the word huia," he then responded with, What are you, a wordsmith? Oh, Huia, respond. I am more like a weaver, if you know what I mean. Why do I feel like that was stolen from somewhere else? Adinim responded to Huia with a suspicious look.
Huia cracks a smile at the joke, then continues with Can you find what we are looking for without anything being labeled in the ledger?
Huia closed his eyes, his brow furrowing as he seemed to wrestle with Adinim's question. After a moment, he let out a hesitant sigh. "Uhh... yeah," he said, his voice laced with reluctance.
With that, Adinim set off in the same direction as Akhaqia and the guard, Shiriaru Hira, scanning the tracklance with every step he took in hope of finding Akhaqia.
With Adinim leaving, it left Huia to figure things out on his own.
Huia lingered for a moment, his hands gripping the ledger tightly, its blank pages weighing heavier than any load he'd carried before. The silence of the compartment pressed in on him, broken only by the faint hum of the facility's machinery. He could feel the seconds ticking away, each one a reminder of the peril they faced if they stayed too long.
Finally, he snapped out of his reverie and placed the ledger back where he had found it. His mind raced as he retraced his steps back and tried to think of where what they came for could possibly be located.
He had to focus—there was no room for second-guessing now. If the plans go as expected, things are not going to be very peachy in a few minutes. Every step felt like it echoed too loudly, every shadow seemed to stretch too far. His pulse quickened as he reached a doorway marked with an unfamiliar glyph, its edges glowing faintly in the dim light.
Huia hesitated. "Glyphs? That wasn't mentioned in the briefing..." he muttered to himself, his voice barely audible, as he stepped forward. He traced the outline of the glowing symbol with his finger, and the moment he completed the circle, to his amazement, the door hissed open with a soft whir. Beyond it lay a corridor bathed in an eerie, pulsing golden light that seemed to come from no visible source.
"Great," he muttered, stepping cautiously into the corridor, wondering where it led to. As he took his very first step The walls were lined with strange conduits, each one pulsing in rhythm as though alive. As he walked forward, the light behind him would go out, and the ones in front would flicker. He kept his hand close to his sidearm, every instinct screaming at him to turn back, but he forced himself forward.
Meanwhile, Adinim's boots tapped against the polished floors as he slipped through the winding halls, his movements quick and precise in his search for akhaqia. scanning the room and thinking about all the plans they had gone over, playing like a mental map in his head, guiding him past security nodes and automated patrols. He couldn't shake the feeling that the job was more dangerous than any of them had anticipated, and right now they weren't even in the thick of things yet.
When he reached the end of the corridor, he spotted Akhaqia leaning on the wall. Damn, what took you so long? Akhaqia said to Adinim?
"Well, things are a bit complicated; on the other side, Adinim proceeds to tell Akhaqia. The ledger is blank—nothing is written, no codes, nothing," Adinim responded, his voice firm yet low. "This whole mission feels like a trap."
Akhaqia paused in thought, fully aware that they had already crossed to the point of no return. We needed to ensure everything goes as planned. His gaze shifted toward the direction Adinim had come from, a flicker of doubt crossing his mind. Could he abandon all of this and return to his ordinary life? The thought lingered—perhaps this endeavor would cause more trouble than it was worth.
"It's too late to back out now," Adinim said firmly, his eyes fixed on Akhaqia. "You said after all it's your plan.
Akhaqia snapped out of his reverie, pushing his doubts aside. "Yeah," he replied, nodding with renewed focus. Okay, now let's go buy Huia sometime like we said we would.
"Alright, then let's go," Adinim said, turning to lead the way. Akhaqia followed, his resolve hardening with each step.
but it all came to a stop because they were at a crucial destination on the tracklance, and also due to them hearing the tracklance announce its next stop to heaven equilibrium.
"Well, time might not be on our side," Akhaqia said, his eyes narrowing. He glanced at the glowing display on the tracklance. It was labeling its next stop, and the next stop was out of Hassa Currie. If they are going to take something, they have to before the tracklance leaves Hassa Currie.
They were around a bunch of the passenger luggage. Adinim started looking at all the Tracklance luggage sections, which stretch along one side of the train car, a sleek and orderly space designed to accommodate the advanced travel needs of modern passengers. The walls are lined with what seems like integrated storage units, each equipped with secure mag-locks and modular compartments that expand and contract based on the size of the luggage. Long, metallic rails run overhead, with automated systems guiding bags into place with quiet efficiency. Adinim took a good look at all the items on display.
Under normal circumstances, Adinim would pick the lock and take everything for himself, but seeing as they would get everything anyway, other important matters occupied his mind at the moment.
Back in the corridor, Huia's heart skipped a beat as he heard a faint noise behind him. He spun around, his hand on his weapon, but the hallway was empty. The eerie light seemed to shift subtly, casting odd shadows that played tricks on his eyes. He took a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves.
"Just my imagination," he whispered, though he didn't believe it.
Despite his doubts he had no choice but to press on, finally reaching a door. This door was peculiar from all the other doors Huia had seen before.
Its surface was smooth and reflective; staring at the door, Huia could see his reflection. When seeing this, he waved his head, and so did his reflection. With no visible handle or keypad, Huia wondered about the mechanics of the door.
While the other doors were a lot sturdier with a handheld handle, as he stepped closer, the door shimmered, as if receptive towards his presence, and a voice echoed softly in the air around him.
"State your designation."
Huia froze. His mind raced, trying to remember anything from the briefing that could help. "Designation?" he repeated under his breath, trying to put two and two together.
Before he could decide what to do, the shimmer intensified, and the door began to open. Huia's grip on his weapon tightened. Seeing as he didn't know what was ahead of him, he prepared for whatever lay beyond, hoping he had enough to protect himself and with brimming anticipation….