Zax wasn’t sure waiting without moving was the best thing to do, but any action he could consider risked making the situation worse. He was as immobile as he could, even slowing his breath. Deep and steady. He tried peering into the tunnel, but in vain; the darkness was unyielding. The only sounds coming from the artificial waterfall behind him and the echoes around him.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the voice, vaguely feminine and deeply growling:

“You shouldn’t be here.”

A person. Speaking. I can work with that.

He forced his body and voice to relax and take on a friendly neighbour’s vibe. It was harder to be mad at someone who smiled at you.

“So you can talk! Wait, what? Is it a private property? Ah, did you rent it? Is there a special secret event?”

First, diffuse the tension and show you’re harmless.

“That would explain the awkward silence; you were thinking whether I was part of it or not. So~orry, I didn’t check beforehand. I didn’t even know water stations had things like that. Which is the point of secret events, I guess.”

Second, answer any question you could have. Tie up loose ends so on your terms.

He might be overplaying it, but he wouldn’t notice; he wasn’t an actor.

“I’ll be going now. Sorry for the interruption, and good luck with your… thing.”

Third, use the confusion to casually walk away.

He had barely turned around when the now openly female voice shouted:

“Wait!”

Zax stopped, his foot splashing in the stream. He glanced back, ready to throw the stone knife still clenched in his hand as a distraction and jump forward. The landing would be painful, but the park’s safety features were strongly dissuasive.

However, something in the voice made him hesitate. Panic. Clear as day, unmistakable, panic.

Something strange was going on, but it wasn’t what he had assumed.

“Please. Help.”

A subdued voice, without any pretence of intimidation or aggression.

Without sudden moves, Zax turned around. When nothing happened, he slowly activated his bracelet’s flashlight at low power and swept the tunnel. In his eyes was definitely not what he had expected.

It was a young woman. He couldn’t see much with the dark cloak draped over her shoulders and reaching her knees. The water hid her feet, but what he could see of her leg wasn’t human even in shape. What he did see was how filthy she was, and the shivers she was hardly holding back, and how fixedly she was staring at him, and how drawn were her features, and the deep, dark circles around her eyes.

There were so many red flags it wasn’t even laughable. A Resident – what he glanced of her leg hinted at a particularly deep mutation even if localised – lost in the dot. Filthy despite the water around. Ready to bite at the first hasty move despite asking for help. Sleep deprived, scared and worried.

Separated or together, none of those points make any sense. Zax knew getting involved was a poor idea. Common sense was screaming at him to run away even louder than before.

He didn’t.

He couldn’t.

“You look like you need a bath a bed. Bad.” He stated as factually as possible.

A small, hesitant nod.

“Do you need something else?”

No reaction. He waited, but as he was about to let it go:

“I can’t go back there.” A whisper and briefly vacant eyes.

“Zax! You okay up there? It’s getting long.”

A shout behind him startled them both. The strange girl looked left and right, looking for threats that weren’t there, slowly backing off. She reminded Zax of a frightened animal waiting for punishment; he had read about that reaction in a novel. He truly had overreacted before; that girl was definitely more dangerous than she looked, being an advanced mutant and all, but she needed help and support more than anything.

What has she been through, exactly?

“Don’t worry, she’s a friend. She will not harm you. I am going to answer her now, alright?” He made sure to keep his voice and his eyes steady, to articulate every word, and to keep his palms visible.

She didn’t answer, but she stopped walking back and her wide eyes fixated on his, unmoving and unflinching. It would have been disturbing if he hadn’t seen her shivers before.

“I’m fine. Just found something unexpected.” He half-turned to answer. “I may need your help, wait a bit longer please.”

“What? What could there possibly be up there?”

Zax ignored her and focused his light back on the girl in front of him.

“I don’t know where you come from, but I will help you. Please don’t harm us.”

The frail human put his hand forward and waited for her. Welcoming, but letting her choose. He tried to smile reassuringly, but even he could tell it was too forced, so he settled for neutrally worried. Who he appeared worried for was open to interpretation. She had accidentally shown her vulnerability, and while it could be a trap, showing his true feelings would help more than harm. Worse thing she could do, she could also do if he pretended to be relaxed and confident.

It took an uncomfortably long time, but she eventually walked up to him, one step after another, cautious, watching for his every move, until finally, she reached for his hand with her arm, revealing she wasn’t covered with a cloak, but her own wings.

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Full wings without hands. Fascinated curiosity bloomed on his face when he realised.

Actual, non-decorative wings were a rare mutation he had only ever read about, and even then, they had never removed the hands! It was supposed to be impossible, as the 3G would expunge something, instead of merely replacing it with something better, if and only if the limb or organ was actively detrimental, inefficient, or at least unused, and if all the priority mutations were already completed. Her being that rich didn’t make sense and she still had too many normal human parts, so it couldn’t be the latter option, but Zax couldn’t imagine a life where hands of all things would be a hindrance over wings. The awkward way she was holding her briefcase against her chest with her free wing attested to it.

Before he could lose himself further in his musings, her wing touched his hand and he was back to reality.

“Hello. My name is Zax. What’s yours?” He approximated a handshake as best and softly he could.

“… I dunno.” Her voice was distant, her eyes fixated on their handshake.

Tears threatened to spill from her eyes. This handshake meant more to her than Zax could fathom, but he didn’t pry.

“Alright. I’ll call you Strange Girl.” He magnanimously smiled and nodded. “Are you hurt somewhere?”

“No… Strange girl?”

She didn’t know how to react, but it pulled her out of her reverie. She was still not sure he would actually help, and now he seemed to make fun of her. For better or worse, he didn’t give her time to process her confusion. Which was the point.

“That’s good.” As they were talking, he gently pulled her to the entrance of the tunnel. “Let’s get you to a warm bath and a cozy bed. How does that sound?”

“That sounds- wait, stop!”

She tugged her wing back as it was about to reach the light beaming from the entrance. If Zax hadn’t held her so softly, he would have been pulled too.

“What? what’s wrong?” Zax worriedly asked.

“I can’t get outside.”

“… why?”

“They could see me.”

“Who?”

Strange Girl lowered her eyes and pinched her lips; but she didn’t answer. Seeing his effort to distract her from her unease cancelled in an instant, he held back a sigh and tried to convince her. She had resisted, but she had yet to attack:

“Are you on the run from the Enforcers?”

She shook her head.

“No, but they have people everywhere.”

“What? Wait, do you know where you are?” Something dawned on him.

“A wet tunnel?” Was her worried reply. She didn’t understand what he was getting at.

“We’re in the dot. In a water source for a park in the entertainment area.” He stepped aside to let her see the aperture. A Resident should catch the difference between what was presently outside and whatever the Circles had even if he didn’t. “One of the few places you will ever find actual trees. There are more cameras than you can see, and you are more mutated than most locals. Whoever you are running from, they will be seen and stopped before they are a threat to you. Unless hindering them or letting you roam freely would put the Shelter itself in danger.”

Her eyes widened at the revelation, but she didn’t say anything. She glanced from him to the forest, back and forth. Zax could see her thoughts flying all over the place, but he couldn’t guess where they were going.

“Can I… stay hidden?” Her timid voice whispered. “Not appear on… public records… just in case?”

Zax’s eyebrows rose, surprised at her knowledge of the dot’s security and privacy rules. A bit worried too, if he was honest. The implications…

“That can be arranged.” He nodded. “Let’s see, we’ll need to cover you and bring you somewhere private. We can’t hide that we are bringing something that big, but we can hide what it is. Preferably in a way that wouldn’t arouse suspicions… no, one step at a time.” He shook his head and rambled further. “Where do we go? The only private places I have access to are my home and my workshop. My workshop doesn’t have bed or shower, but there should be some food pills…. How long will you need- nevermind, we can’t know yet. In any case, goodbye bath, those are only in public places. So yes, those are the options. What’s best for you?”

“Er…” From her confused expression, he had lost her somewhere on the way.

“Where do you want to go? My home or my workshop? My workshop is bigger and closer, but it’s in a public space and it’s not equipped for housing. I can make a bed, and there are food pills, but only a hand sanitiser for hygiene. And I’ll have to open the shop to avoid suspicions, which means traffic and more potential witnesses. My home is smaller and further away, but it’s in the residential area. There are only families with children around, and no one will get in without authorisation. It’ll be spacious enough with three people, there’s everything a living space need, but we’ll have to work out sleeping arrangements.”

“Hmm.” A pensive expression followed a surprised one.

“Ah, or we go straight to the entrance.”

“Hm?”

“We could go to the dot’s entrance, to get you to the First Circle. You would be a lot less conspicuous there, but I won’t be able to help passed the-”

“No!”

“-border... okay, not an option. Which one then?”

She opened and closed her mouth a few times, but no answer came out. Aran ended up proposing:

“Why not the Enforcers? The Main Computer is great at weeding out the sellouts, it should be safe.”

“That would work, but she’s wait-” He belatedly frowned and turned around.

The tailed girl was behind the tunnel entrance, tightly hugging the tree trunk. His eyebrows rose, then frowned again.

“How long have you been there? Are you okay? You look like a baby koala with social anxiety who left the pouch for the first time.”

“Since you gave her a name. Congratulation, it’s a girl.” She chuckled at her own joke, but her tail was still all straight and puffed out. “But don’t change the subject, the Enforcers could help her better than we could.”

Who is changing the subject here?

“I don’t know how much you heard, but she said ‘I can’t go back’ and ‘They have people everywhere’. I don’t know the details, but she has paranoia issues and serious reasons for that. I thought it would be best to get her in a welcoming environment to wind down, and look for a less temporary help later.”

“That makes sense.” She nodded as much has her position let her, her cheek brushing the bark.

Turning back to the winged girl, Zax kept the conversation going:

“Well, since the topic is on the table, what do you think of asking the Enforcers for help?” She tensed like a spring. “Thought so. Anyways, this is Aran. Aran, Strange Girl. Hm, Strange Girl, do you mind if she comes in here, it’s awkward speaking with her that far.”

Seeing the tailed girl who was clumsily embracing a tree like she had no idea how she got there or how to get down, Strange Girl acquiesced. She felt bad for her and didn’t want to keep her in that state.

She had to step further in the tunnel, and Zax had to jump out to unclench his friend, guide her step by step in how to jump and land, reassure her about safety and her own abilities, but they eventually met on same side. Despite her inexperience, Aran wasn’t afraid of heights.

“Not what I had in mind when I proposed to teach you parkour, but it worked. Better stay closer to the ground next time though.” Zax stated from his prone position on his back.

He hadn’t bothered getting back up after catching Aran, who wordlessly agreed as she rose from her living cushion. All along, Strange Girl hadn’t made a sound. Maybe she had been worried they would just leave her?

“What now?” Aran asked as she caught her breath.

“Right. Did you decide, Strange Girl?” Zax sat and turned.

They couldn’t see her anymore, his bracelet arm previously busy, that was quickly solved. She was indeed still present, though further back than expected.

“Let’s just bring her home, less long-term risk, more staying power, and her situation is clearly more complicated than we know.” Aran voiced her opinion.

“I agree, it should be the wisest option, but it has to be her choice. To get her agency back and take her fate in her own hands or something. The shop has its pros too: less short-term risk, traffic will not arouse suspicions and I can more easily build many things there.”

“That’s a strange way of thinking, but it fits you somehow.” The tailed girl nodded, not seeing anything wrong with the reasoning.

As one, they turned to the strange girl they had settled to help, waiting for her decision.