The room was dark, illuminated only by the cold glow of the monitor, casting harsh shadows across Eliana’s tired face. She looked exhausted—physically and mentally. Her hair was a tangled mess, still damp from the shower. She hadn’t bothered to comb it or let it dry completely.

She didn’t care.

Her eyes remained fixed on the display. Refresh. Click. Refresh. Click. Over and over again.

Isaac had told her the system would auto-refresh if there was an update on Kai’s location, but she didn’t trust it. She had to do it herself.

Again. Maybe this time, something would change.

The city was on lockdown after the attack at the Archive. Over twenty guards were dead. Ten from the Federation, six from the Empire, three from the AEC, plus one of their android units. That should have been more than enough to handle one man. And yet… no survivors.

Worse, the official report named the prime suspects as two men who had broken into the Archive’s restricted area. Some bystander had reported them, triggering the security response that led to the firefight. No mention of an Inquisitor. No record of the scarred assassin Isaac had described.

Eliana’s only hope lay in the fact that nowhere in the reports did they mention finding Kai’s body. That meant one thing—the Inquisitor had taken him. But where? If he was still alive, she should have pinged his location by now.

The Black Swan uniform’s locator was useless. The city’s interference jammed the signal hours ago. All her hopes rested on the Black Swan pin. Isaac’s newest design had a built-in GPS, capable of transmitting as long as it had direct access to the orbital satellites.

But Kai’s signal was still frozen at the Archive. Paused. Like he had never left.

Eliana glanced out the viewport. The city outside was pitch black. Soon, the Watchers would return. And that’s when an idea took root in her mind.

At midnight, everyone had to stay indoors. No one would be watching.

---

Kai waited in silence. The humming of the machine grew louder, the vibrations settling into his bones. It was above them now. Across from him, Derniere didn’t move. Her chest barely rose and fell, her breathing shallow and controlled.

She was used to this.

Outside the small window, the world turned red.

Kai had seen that light before. The eerie red glow of the Watchers that patrolled the upper levels.

But why here?

Watchers were meant to track criminals and smugglers, people without proper clearance, people who didn’t belong. But no one was supposed to live down here.

Unless…

Kai’s mind raced. What if Derniere was right? What if there really was something beyond the trash piles? Something the government didn’t want anyone to find.

Just like before, the red searchlight passed for only a few seconds before fading away. Darkness returned.

Derniere quietly resumed cleaning the utensils, methodical and unbothered, like it was just another night for her. But for Kai, it wasn’t. He couldn’t stay here.

He knew Eliana was looking for him. He just didn’t know how she would find him down here. And while he waited, he had to do something. He had to know the truth.

Maybe the patrols outside were dangerous. Maybe the machines would hunt him down. But he wasn’t just anyone. With his heightened senses and ability to see in the dark, Kai was sure—he could avoid them.

"Kai?" Derniere said softly.

Kai raised his head, momentarily pulling away from his thoughts.

"I was going to say you should get some rest. You look tired." Her gaze drifted toward the bullet hole in his uniform. "Are you sure you're not hurt?"

Kai shook his head. "I'm okay now. It's healing pretty fast. But yeah, some rest sounds good. Don’t worry, I’ll just sleep here on the floor." He patted the worn wooden planks and gave her a reassuring smile.

"If you say so," she said, though she still looked uncertain. "It’s just that… My dad got shot in the leg by one of the robots before. It took him months just to walk again."

"Don’t worry," Kai repeated. "I’ll be fine. And thanks for letting me stay here."

Derniere nodded and walked downstairs, leaving Kai alone in the dimly lit room.

He ran his palm over the floor. It was dry, and that was good enough. He had slept in far worse conditions—after the invasion on Velmorra, when he had lost everything, the first few nights had been pure survival.

Kai lay down, shifting just enough to see the gray expanse outside the window.

A soft pattering of tiny feet reached his ears. He turned his head. Bell had crept closer, stopping just a few feet away, his small, round eyes watching Kai intently.

Kai chuckled. "Keeping an eye on me for your master? Don’t worry, I’m just going to sleep. I won’t even leave this room."

The little creature wasn’t convinced. It flopped down, curling up as if to say, I’ll be watching you.

Kai smirked and returned his gaze to the window. He couldn’t see where the next level was, just the endless gray landscape. His eyes fixated on a small stain near the edge of the window, hoping it would help lull him to sleep.

Despite his exhaustion, sleep didn’t come easy.

The silence was too unnatural, too eerie. He was used to the hum of an HVAC system, the gentle thrum of a gravity generator, even the harsh desert winds on Drakmoor.

But here? Nothing.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

He stared at the stain on the glass, locked in a silent staring contest, until his eyelids grew heavy.

Then, finally, sleep took him.

---

When he woke up, nothing had changed.

The gray wasteland outside looked the same. Bell was still there, curled up beside him, sleeping.

Kai sat up, rubbing his eyes. He didn’t feel refreshed—his body was still weak. But the worst part? He had no sense of the time passing.

Had he slept for hours?

Minutes?

Days?

He really hoped it wasn’t days.

As soon as he moved, Bell woke up too, running in small circles before stopping in front of Kai’s legs.

Kai scratched his head. "Do you know how long I’ve been out?"

Bell just stared up at him, his googly eyes twitching slightly. Not much help.

Kai sighed. He needed a watch. Or any kind of device that could display the time.

He stood up, and Bell scurried away. It was time to figure out his next move.

Kai walked down the stairs, but waiting for him at the bottom was Bell, standing in his path, unmoving. The small creature stared up at him, not budging, as if deliberately blocking his way.

Kai frowned. "Uh… excuse me?" He was about to step past Bell when Derniere’s voice called out from somewhere on the first floor.

"Just a minute."

Kai stopped, waiting. A moment later, he heard footsteps approaching, light but steady. Bell finally moved aside, scurrying away as Derniere stepped into view.

She was fully suited up again—overalls, helmet, a gas mask hung below her chain, and her trusty rifle in hand—everything sealed tightly together. She looked at Kai and gave him a thumbs-up.

Kai smirked and returned the gesture.

"How long have I been out?" he asked, scratching his hair groggily.

"It’s about six in the morning," Derniere replied. "So you got a solid six hours."

Kai nodded, rolling his shoulders. His body still felt off, but at least now he had a rough idea of the time.

"How do you even tell time down here?" he asked, genuinely curious.

Derniere tilted her head slightly, as if the question amused her. "Just a hunch," she said. "You learn to guess when there’s no natural way to tell. The only real marker is that the Watchers patrol the land at midnight."

Kai took that in, processing it. No clocks. No sun. No sky. Just the rhythm of machines dictating the flow of time. He had always taken basic timekeeping for granted, but down here, it was something people had to develop instinctively.

Derniere passed Kai a small bag, it was made out of rough fabrics, Kai guessed it was home made.

They stepped out into the ruins of the city again. Walking through these streets felt like stepping into a time machine. He had to remind himself that all of this had been built when technology wasn’t as advanced as it was today. The streets, especially, felt cramped, much smaller than what he was used to.

As they walked, Derniere kept glancing at him as if he were insane. He wasn’t wearing any protection—no helmet, no mask. And the first thing he did upon stepping outside was taking a deep breath.

"You know," Kai said, stretching his arms, "the air here smells stale, but it’s actually not that bad compared to some of the places I’ve been."

Derniere shook her head. "The air here might be breathable, but the closer you get to the trash piles, the worse it gets—and the more toxic."

Kai nodded. He had smelled that air yesterday, and it had been awful. If there was any wind down here, the entire sector would probably reek of rotting garbage and chemical decay.

They moved through the streets. The tight alleyways pressed in on Kai, making him uncomfortable. A lot of the buildings still had wooden sliding doors, something he had never seen in person before. As they walked, he kept an eye out for signs—anything that might tell him more about where they were.

Then, he saw something.

The faded remnants of text on a rusted old sign, barely readable after years of exposure to humidity and decay. The letters were unfamiliar.

Kai narrowed his eyes. This was proof.

There was a reason the government built all these levels, a reason they buried this city beneath layers of steel and concrete. He just needed to figure out what.

Derniere noticed him staring at the sign and slowed down. "What’s wrong, Kai?"

"The text here," Kai said, stepping closer. "It's not in English."

Derniere glanced at it and shrugged. "That’s because it’s Japanese." She said it so casually, like it was just another fact. "A lot of the people who lived here used this language. Actually…" She hesitated. "I think my mom was half-Japanese. She used to tell me what these words meant, but I’ve forgotten most of them."

Kai froze. His eyes widened.

Derniere frowned. "Something wrong?"

"Yes," Kai said, turning to her. "There’s something very wrong about this place."

She tilted her head slightly, looking confused.

Kai exhaled and looked her in the eye. "I should have told you this earlier, but… as far as I know, the rest of humanity only speaks one language. And that’s English."

"What's wrong with that?" Derniere asked, tilting her head.

Kai turned to her, his expression serious. "It means someone doesn’t want people outside to know about this place. Someone has been trying to rewrite history."

Derniere was silent for a moment, processing his words. Then, slowly, she nodded. "I see…"

They continued walking, weaving through the abandoned city until the ruins gave way to a more open, flat area. The buildings were less dense here, replaced by winding pathways and long benches scattered around the space.

Derniere suddenly smiled, her excitement breaking through the tension. She turned toward Kai and spread her arms.

"Welcome to my mushroom farm." Derniere said with a grin.

Kai looked around at what had once been a park. Now, it was little more than a graveyard of dead trees. Some had been chopped down, leaving only sad, rotting stumps behind, while others stood as skeletal remains, their branches long gone.

Derniere walked toward one of the stumps, and Kai followed.

It was only then that he noticed them—tiny mushrooms growing around the base of the tree remains. Derniere crouched down, digging one out of the dirt with her hands.

Kai did the same, pressing his fingers into the soil. The dirt was moist, cool to the touch. The mushroom wasn’t particularly big, so he simply grasped its body and yanked it free. Holding it in his palm, he turned it over, feeling the texture—not quite a vegetable, not quite meat.

How does she survive eating only this?

Derniere must have noticed his curiosity because she spoke without looking up. "These aren’t just any mushrooms. They’re genetically modified to contain all the nutrients we need to survive."

Kai raised an eyebrow. "But don’t you get bored eating the same thing every day?"

Derniere shook her head. "Not really. There are a lot of ways to cook them," she said. "Besides, why eat so many different types of food when you can just eat one? Seems like a waste of time and energy."

Kai nodded slowly. She wasn’t eating for pleasure—she was eating for survival.

By the time they returned to the house, Kai mentally estimated three hours had passed—making it around nine in the morning.

Derniere slid open the door and flipped the light switch.

Nothing.

She frowned and tried again. Still nothing.

Her expression darkened as she checked the light fixture, then let out a sharp curse.

Kai looked at her. "What’s wrong?"

Derniere exhaled. "The power is out. We have no electricity anymore."