Kai coughed violently as dust filled the air, mixing with the already unbearable stench. His stomach twisted, the taste of decay making him want to retch. He pulled the collar of his shirt over his nose, but it barely helped.

Through the settling debris, he saw Derniere crouched near the now-destroyed house, her back pressed against a chunk of collapsed concrete. She was holding herself tightly, arms wrapped around her body, but as the last of the rubble settled, she exhaled and slowly relaxed.

Bell poked its tiny head out from her pocket, its nose twitching as it tested the air before scrambling up to its usual perch on her shoulder.

Kai stepped toward her, offering a hand. “You okay?”

Derniere took a steadying breath before nodding. “Yeah. Just a little shaken up from the explosion.” She took his hand, and he pulled her to her feet.

Kai turned his attention to the broken wall. The impact of the walker had created a massive opening, at least twenty feet wide, with crumbling edges still shifting under their weight. Beyond it, a mound of shattered concrete and debris formed a small hill.

He and Derniere exchanged a look—this was new. Even for her, someone who had lived in the depths of the waste system for so long, this was uncharted territory.

His gaze drifted back to the waste management system, still operating despite the destruction. Conveyor belts rumbled overhead, carrying endless streams of discarded materials. He followed their movement, mapping out their path in his mind. The chute that had dropped him down here connected to massive mechanical hooks, which lifted and sorted the waste onto separate belts. Those belts stretched across the entire dumping ground, continuing far beyond where he and Derniere had ventured.

He traced their endpoint. The belts rose high into the sky, far taller than the wall itself, before dumping their loads onto the waste piles that had accumulated over what must have been centuries. The sheer scale of it was staggering. The trash hill in front of them wasn’t just some recent accumulation—it had the size and weight of a natural landscape, shaped by years of neglect.

Something about the entire setup felt off.

Kai’s thoughts wandered. Why was this here at all? Most advanced worlds with massive populations had long since abandoned the idea of local waste disposal. It was inefficient, environmentally damaging, and politically inconvenient. Most planets sent their waste off-world, launching it into deep space or breaking it down at orbital processing plants. Even lesser-developed colonies had rudimentary waste management techniques that didn’t involve dumping everything into a pit.

But here, in the supposed homeworld of humanity, the birthplace of civilization, the method was… archaic. Deliberate. As if whoever designed it hadn’t cared about preservation or progress.

He let out a dry chuckle. A theory formed in his mind.

Kai turned to Derniere. “Let’s go see what’s behind that wall.”

------------------------------

Eliana finally returned to her ship, her escape aided by the flood of people filling the streets after curfew. No matter the planet, no matter the traditions, the craving for a good drink and a lively night never stopped anyone.

She was grinning now—how could she not? The worry that had gnawed at her for hours was finally easing. She had been terrified of where Kai might be, but now she knew. He was alive. Even if he was trapped on a lower level, even if it took time to reach him, just knowing he had survived was a victory in itself.

She hurried onboard, moving quickly through the familiar corridors of the Black Swan.

As she rode the lift up to the second level, the first thing she saw was a pair of massive boots. Looking up, her gaze met the broad-shouldered figure of a man in a perfectly kept uniform. His beard was thick, his stance rigid.

Commander Grayson.

The commander’s frown deepened as he took in her disheveled appearance. His mouth opened, likely to demand an explanation.

Eliana spoke first. “Kai. He’s still alive.”

Whatever he had been about to say died on his lips. He didn’t waste a second before stepping aside and pressing a button to open the lift doors. “To the meeting room,” he said simply.

Minutes later, Eliana stood inside the brightly lit briefing room, pacing back and forth as the crew gathered.

“Calm down,” Teresa said from her seat, her voice steady and patient. “I know you’re eager to go after him, but we need a plan first.”

Eliana forced herself to stop and looked toward Teresa. The older woman had been her mentor in engineering, teaching her the inner workings of the ship. If anyone knew how to keep a level head, it was her.

“Sorry.” She pulled out a chair and sat, the seat swaying slightly before settling into place.

The door slid open, and Isaac strode in, dressed in all white. His long coat nearly brushed the floor, and unlike his usual neatly styled hair, today it was an unkempt mess of spikes sticking out in random directions. Despite his disheveled appearance, he wore a wide grin as he placed a tablet on the table and turned toward the large screen on the wall.

The room fell silent as the overhead lights dimmed, and the display powered on. Even Commander Grayson gave his full attention.

Isaac adjusted his glasses and began. “As most of you already know, the insignia pins I designed for the Black Swan serve as multi-tools, capable of assisting in various situations. They also include built-in GPS tracking, which functions as long as they remain connected to the orbital satellites, the Black Swan, or a working receiver …” He trailed off briefly as his eyes met Eliana’s.

She shot him a look. Get to the point.

Isaac cleared his throat and continued, “Anyway, the reason Kai’s pin hadn’t updated its location was simple—it was never in direct contact with the satellites. It wasn’t until Eliana went searching for him that her receiver picked up the signal from his pin.”

The room filled with murmurs as the realization sank in.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Robert, already in uniform with a pistol strapped to his belt, stood up abruptly. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go get him!”

“The problem,” Eliana interjected, “is that we don’t know exactly where Kai is. We only have the location of his pin.”

Robert hesitated before reluctantly sitting back down.

Isaac smirked slightly and tapped on the screen. “Actually… we might know exactly where he is.”

The murmurs died down, and all eyes locked onto him.

He pushed his glasses up and gestured toward the display. “I’ve taken a closer look at New Oliver’s waste management system, and I have to say—it’s a strange design. The structure…” He hesitated, then cleared his throat. “Basically, once someone goes down, there’s no stopping part way. The system is one-directional. Kai would have been transported all the way down on his first drop, with no way back up. The way it’s designed, climbing back up is impossible.”

He pointed to the lower section of the displayed map. “I believe Kai is trapped here—at the absolute bottom of the first level.”

Eliana nodded. It wasn’t much, but it was something. Kai was alive, and they had a lead. That was all that mattered.

Another round of discussions broke out.”

Baiyan, arms crossed, added, “And let’s be real—Kai was likely dead when the Inquisitor disposed of him. No way they would’ve just left him alive.”

“But the Inquisitor doesn’t know about Kai’s abilities, does he?” Teresa said, leaning forward. “Even Kai doesn’t fully understand them yet.”

The room fell into thoughtful silence until Commander Grayson cleared his throat. “Kai is a member of this crew. And on the Black Swan, no matter how difficult the mission is—we don’t leave anyone behind.”

Eliana’s eyes narrowed in determination. “That’s great, but how do we get down there if there’s no way back up?”

Isaac’s grin widened as he leaned back in his chair. “That,” he said, “I might just have a solution for.”

-------------------—

Kai stood atop the rubble of the collapsed wall, taking in the sight beyond. If he thought the place they were in was dark, then what was beyond the wall was the shadow of darkness itself.

It had taken both him and Derniere a while to climb up, the unstable debris shifting beneath their weight. Bell, for once, perched on his shoulder, peering ahead as if eager to be the first to witness what lay beyond.

The view was… disappointing.

Kai hadn’t known exactly what he was expecting, but after all the effort, this wasn’t it. Just like the rest of the lower levels, the space beyond was swallowed in darkness, a vast, empty void stretching ahead.

At the very least, it wasn’t filled with trash. That was something.

Derniere crossed her arms as she stared into the abyss. “What do you make of this?”

Kai exhaled, shaking his head. “Not sure yet,” he admitted. “But if I’m right, they were hiding something behind that wall. And if someone went through the trouble of keeping it a secret, I say we move forward.”

Derniere nodded and turned on her flashlight, her usual skepticism replaced with cautious agreement. Without another word, the two began carefully descending the rubble on the other side. The loose debris shifted under their weight, but they moved steadily, making sure not to slip.

When they finally reached the bottom, Kai landed with a light thud. He took a moment to steady himself before glancing down. To his relief, the ground here wasn’t covered in trash or discarded machinery.

Just dirt that was a little damp beneath his boots, the sensation unfamiliar but oddly welcome. The soft earth was a stark contrast to the lifeless industrial sprawl behind them. It felt… natural.

Kai let out a slow breath. He could get used to this.

Bell dropped from Kai’s shoulder and scurried ahead, vanishing into the darkness.

“Bell…” Kai started, but Derniere stopped him with a light tap on his arm.

“That’s alright,” she said. “Pathfinding is fun for Bell. This is what he’s good at.”

Kai hesitated but nodded. He glanced back at the crumbled wall behind them—their only landmark. As long as it remained visible, they wouldn’t lose their way in the vast, featureless darkness ahead.

They advanced cautiously. Before long, Kai realized his enhanced vision was struggling; the darkness here was deeper than anything he had encountered before. It wasn’t just the absence of light—it felt thicker, like something unnatural clung to the air itself that was actively eating away their only source of illumination.

Then, that only source of illumination went away in an instant, putting them into total darkness.

Dernier cursed, “The light somehow died, I swear I checked up on it only a few days ago.”

Kai heard Dernier slapped her hand on the light a couple more times, and when that didn’t work, her footsteps stopped.

“Should we continue?” Derniere asked.

Kai knew the right answer was “No”, they shouldn’t continue, they should go back and fix the light then come back at a better time. Then he looked towards the darkness again, the light made so little difference that he was not sure if there would be a better time.

“Let’s continue.” He said.

Soft paddling noises echoed around them. Bell was still nearby, darting ahead before circling back. Then, with a sharp squeak, he bolted off again in a new direction.

“Follow him,” Derniere instructed. “He’s leading us somewhere.”

Kai kept moving, ears tuned to Bell’s movements. The little creature scouted ahead, sometimes darting left, sometimes right—redirecting them when their path was blocked.

Even with Bell’s guidance, Kai occasionally bumped into obstacles. He reached out, feeling the cool, hard surface of stone beneath his fingers. It was cold and hard, Kai felt it and figured it was a rock.

Kai kept walking, noting how far they had ventured from the broken wall. He glanced back, barely making out the faint glow of light filtering through the ruins. The distance between them and their only landmark was growing.

Then he felt it.

The ground beneath his boots changed. The damp, slightly wet dirt was gone, replaced by something solid. He dragged his foot across the surface, testing it. The familiar texture of smooth, paved material met his sole — a road.

They were finally onto something.

“You here?” he asked, checking for Derniere. A gloved hand pressed against his shoulder from the right.

“I’m here,” she confirmed.

They pressed forward. Kai’s stomach let out a quiet grumble. He was getting hungry. Running a quick mental clock, he estimated the time—it had to be somewhere around midday now.

Ahead, Bell’s telltale squeaks echoed in the dark. Kai followed the sound, his steps light against the paved surface. A moment later, he felt the small weight of Bell scrambling up his clothes, tiny feet gripping onto his jacket.

Then the little creature squeaked loudly. Right into his ear.

Kai flinched, tilting his head to the side. “Alright, alright—no need to yell,” he started to say, frowning. But before he could get another word out, Derniere’s grip on his shoulder tightened.

His muscles tensed. Something was wrong.

Kai shifted his focus forward.

At first, he wasn’t sure what he was looking at. Then he saw them—a pair of glowing red lights in the dark.

They were unusually bright, stark against the pitch-black void ahead.

Kai had no idea how far away they were. No sense of depth, no reference points—just those two piercing red orbs, staring back at them.

Silence settled for a brief moment, nobody spoke, the breathing sounds from Dernieres' respiratory paused.

The red glows began to move towards them.