The overhanging roof of the garage kept Nishioka out of the rain, a thankful reprieve after spending the entire trip looming over Machii to keep her dry. A flickering hazy yellow light painted the large building’s corrugated wall in strange shadows. Neither of the prisoners looked concerned about the apparent sketchiness of the electrical power, though. Peals of thunder still shook the air from time to time and the monsoon’s power refused to abate, but compared to the increasingly stressful atmosphere of the dorms, the garage was basically an oasis.

“Stay out here.” Machii fiddled with the doorknob and found it unlocked as always. No guards stood in sight, and she even glanced up to give a wink to the camera as the door creaked open. “Don’t leave this post for anything. If the Warden tries to get smart and toss us back in my cell, raise some hell. I’m not in the mood to get disturbed tonight.”

Nishioka pushed her back flat against the wall to avoid getting splattered by the rain, but bowed her head in acknowledgement. Machii disappeared into the darkness of the garage right after, leaving her bodyguard to stand alone in the rain.

The garage door slowly clicked closed behind her as she reached out to flick the lights on. All at once the wide interior of the storage space burst into view as the white light bulbs far above fizzled on one after the other. Even on emergency power the garage was navigable enough, and Machii’s eyes moved from the rows of densely packed wagons just to confirm not a soul was in sight. A few cameras sat in each corner, but given the present power issues, she doubted they were even operational.

With a flick of her wrist she pulled out a cigarette, and in one fluid motion lit it with a small disposable lighter. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Nothing but the drum of the rain and the hum of the lights filled her ears. A small smile tugged at Machii’s lips. Nice and quiet, as usual.

Like an arrow plunging into her heart came an unwelcome sound. Drip, drip, drip. Not the pleasant beating of rain on top of a metal roof, but the leaky, disgusting sound of something wet nearby splashing its contents onto the floor. Most distressing was the origin. It wasn’t coming from up above or from any of the walls.

That dripping noise was coming from the wagons. Machii took a long drag on her cigarette and held it in. The rows of iron wagons were the only way into and out of the HCC for prisoners, at least without getting their heads popped by the radio tower signals. Despite that the wagons were immobile and had to be hooked up to something to move, serving more like fancy trailer beds than actual modes of transportation. The iron barred doors on the back of each hung open, almost invitingly so, because nobody bothered to lock them. Why would you? Nothing but hard metal benches were inside, and they were searched every morning by the guards. In addition the shelves holding anything worth stealing around the garage all stood too high up to reach without a ladder. Nothing much was up there but jugs of lubricant, spare tires, and assorted tools anyway. Nobody was going to risk six months in solitary stealing a can of industrial degreaser.

Even so, those wagons without a doubt were where the dripping noises eminanted from. Machii exhaled, then began slowly walking down the garage and peeking into each one. Even before she reached the last wagon in the row her intuition sussed out what was happening.

“Just come out.” Rather than annoyed or angered, Machii’s voice sounded almost dismissive. “You’re in the last wagon, aren’t you? Hiding out from the guards? Good grief, how predictable.”

The dripping continued, then stopped abruptly. Machii still stood far enough away that she knew anyone hiding within that last wagon couldn’t ambush her, although that was an absurd thing for anyone to do in this situation. The garage only had two ways out, the door being guarded by Nishioka, and the large steel shutters that rose up and out to let the wagons out. Anyone stuck inside the garage at this point was trapped. What a terrible hiding spot!

Echoing out from the body of the wagon came a familiar, nasal-sounding voice. Machii wrinkled her nose on hearing it. Despite expecting it, she’d rather not have to deal with this given the circumstances. “I think I’ll stay in here. It’s cozy.” Gemmei’s voice shivered a bit, hinting the girl must have been quite cold. Coming in out of the monsoon could do that to a person!

Machii tapped the ash off her cigarette and waited. “You took down the tower to try and escape, didn’t you? How did you manage that?”

After another thoughtful pause, Gemmei responded, her words coming out forced as they often did when the Hakkyou was involved. “Lightning rod. Made it out of scrap I smuggled outside.”

“And how did you avoid the guards?”

“The usual way.” Gemmei almost seemed to retch her words out. “Hid in the lagoon. Been practicing for months, had a good spot picked out and everything. Wish I could have used it better.”

The only response that got out of Machii was a ‘hmph’. Her attention shifted nearby to any loose objects lying around the garage. Gemmei would probably have a weapon of some sort in case the guards found her. She briefly considered calling Nishioka in, but then decided against it. Someone needed to stay on watch. “And then when your escape failed, you scampered back in here like a coward. How fitting.”

Again Gemmei paused before speaking, but this time by choice. “Nah. I wanted to be here. I knew you’d come by and wanted to talk.”

“Oh?” Machii let out a burst of smoke, almost in a laugh. “I’m not that hard to talk to, even if you are a former pig. Did you want to confess your feelings to me? Sorry, you aren’t my type.”

“Hm.” Gemmei’s voice from within came out muffled. “I disagree. I think we’re the exact same type. You like it here because the radio signal isn’t as bad, right?”

“Gee, what a call. As if anyone enjoys having their head rattled by the Hakk.”

“And,” Gemmei shot back faster than usual, almost interrupting Machii. “You like hurting others, don’t you? I saw the way you beat Kokona. It felt good. I’m glad I got to watch it.”

Letting the cigarette dangle from her lips Machii evened out her breathing, then ran both hands through her hair to tie it back. The emotion dulling Hakkyou made it hard enough to tell what emotion might be going through someone’s mind, but not being able to see Gemmei’s face made it that much worse. The girl posed no threat to her, of course. And yet she couldn’t shake a feeling of unease. “We aren’t the same. I’ve never betrayed my loyalties, for one.” She pulled out her cigarette and flicked the nub away, keeping her eyes around her surroundings in case something unexpected happened. “I also wasn’t thrown in prison for human trafficking. I’ve read your file, you’re quite a naughty stray cat, aren’t you?” Machii began to sidestep her way towards the last wagon in the row, keeping her distance while still being able to peer inside its shadow insides. “You weren’t just MOED, you’re an ashi ne, a saboteur. I was wondering how a runt like you could cause so much trouble, but you’re trained for it, aren’t you? Demolition, booby trapping, I even read you torched a forest just to catch a target. You’re just a regular hellion, ain’t ya?”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Was.” Despite repositioning, it wasn’t clear where inside the wagon Gemmei lurked. The dripping sounds also stopped mid-conversation.

“Tell me why you’re here.” Machii reached for her lighter, but did nothing else. She kept her back to the garage wall, so there would be no surprises.

Gemmei’s response came back immediately, indicating it wasn’t the Hakkyou making her speak. “I’m going to learn how you bypass the Houzou Hakkyou, and then make you powerless. For fun.”

The statement was so brazen that it brought a confused smile to Machii’s face. She couldn’t help herself. “And how are you going to do that? Any answer I give you could just be a lie. Good luck getting out of here, Nishioka is right-”

“I’m gonna twist your arm until you squeal.” Again Gemmei’s enunciation was crystal clear and free of the tremors that usually denoted a forced answer.

Also, the interruption was very rude! Machii snapped back instantly. “Get out of the wagon and don’t move. I think the warden wants you alive, but I don’t know if I’m feeling that charitable today.”

The farthest wagon creaked as someone inside stood up. Hollow sounding footsteps on the metal floor rang out in rhythmic precession as that same someone took slow, methodical steps to the door. From the shadows emerged something straight out of a bad dream, so vile that Machii turned her nose up at the sight immediately. The girl hadn’t been kidding about hiding in the lagoon, it seemed. Her matted red hair stuck to her paler looking than usual face, and disgusting stains covered her disheveled and bunched up looking jumpsuit. Machii could even smell her from where she stood.

On top of that all, the expression across her stupid face was as calm as ever! As if she wasn’t worried about her own well being at all! “Get out and don’t make any sudden moves.” Machii’s order was direct and specific, the most effective kind. “Don’t talk either. Show me your hands. Just get down from there and stand still like a good girl.”

Raising both her palms Gemmei rose two open palms, revealing herself to be totally unarmed. Then with all the grace of a child tumbling off playground equipment, she fell forward, arms outstretched.

The entire movement looked highly suspicious and Machii learned a second later exactly why. Both Gemmei’s hands snatched out at something invisible in the dim lighting of the garage. A tremendous clattering coming from behind was all she needed to figure it out. Her head whipped around just in time to watch the top shelf of the garage collapse, as if someone undid the screws from its supports. Barely, on the edge of perception, she saw what Gemmei had done- it was a tripwire! Like a puppet’s string, the thin material ran from the shelves back to the wagon, and her vicious tugging dislodged enough support to cause it to collapse. How could she have set that up? How long had Gemmei been waiting in the garage?!

As the nuts and bolts and canisters of oil and spare tires and maybe even a kitchen sink or two tumbled down, they took out the shelf right below them in a cascading domino effect. Machii started to move backwards, but doing so would have put her closer to Gemmei, putting her in a precarious situation. No, that was a false dilemma- Gemmei might have pulled a trick, but Machii’s order would keep her from attacking. That girl was harmless!

She turned her head back around just to confirm it. Then Machii’s eyes opened wide. Gemmei wasn’t by the wagon anymore. She was moving forwards! Towards her! And in her hand- as impossible as it was to comprehend, was one of the truncheons used by the guards! Where had the brat gotten hold of that?

It was too late to change plans now. Machii plants her heel, and her expression flattened and changed. Gemmei only caught a glimpse of it before finding her charge intercepted a moment later by a perfect -a perfect- pivot by Machii. The woman spun on the ball of her foot and like a seasoned martial arts professional, smashed Gemmei’s club away with a roundhouse kick.

The form was so impressive Gemmei thought it came straight out of one of her favorite kung fu movies. That thought got buried under a series of profane ones as Machii instantly reset, pulled back, and did it again with the exact same fluid motion, smashing Gemmei across the face and sending the girl spiraling back towards the wagon. She hid the metal frame with a wet thud. Both the plugs she crammed into her ears popped out like candy from a pinata.

Spitting out her own profanity, Machii snapped back to reality and covered her head as she tried to dodge the raining debris. The clattering material hit the garage floor and made a huge racket as it fell, but the heaviest objects were easy enough to step away from. What a dumb plan! Gemmei was a rascal, but approaching with such a cavalier attitude was dangerous. She looked back towards the stunned Gemmei, who was struggling to stand again.

“When the hell did you plug your ears? Whatever.” Machii spat, waiting for the cacophony to die down before calling for Nishioka. “I’m done playing with you. Nishioka! Get your ass-”

The plain white lighting of the garage flickered as a bright orange-red flame jumped forth. It erupted outwards and again Machii found herself acting on instinct, retreating from the source and stumbling backwards over several fallen tires. As implausible as it seemed, the fires of hell sprang forth to claim their spawn earlier than anticipated- Gemmei was on fire! Rather, as the picture became clearer, her hand was on fire. Machii realized she dropped her lighter, and sure enough sitting right beside the collapsed Gemmei was its cheap plastic case, broken in half and empty of the small amount of fuel within it. Some kind of garbage rested in Gemmei’s clenched fist- from the smell, Machii guessed it was a chunk of tire rubber, or maybe a wad of flammable junk from the shelves.

Her arm bent back in a windup pitch. Machii couldn’t believe it, her own expression lighting up like Gemmei’s smoldering hand. There was no way the girl was going to try and throw a lighter-fueled fireball at her, was she? The audacity!

Yet Machii could feel with vivid detail exactly how dry her own jumpsuit was. Nishioka did a good job keeping her dry on the way over. Getting hit with a wad of flaming trash had absolutely no chance of setting her on fire, zero, zilch.

Even so, as Gemmei wound up and let loose the incendiary projectile, Machii dove for cover. You didn’t get to the top by taking unnecessary risks!

As she landed Machii saw the fireball sail way, way overhead, absolutely nowhere near where she had been standing. A complete whiff. Throwing a burning hot potato clearly affected Gemmei’s aim, and the sight of the poorly held together garbage scattering and burning out like a lame firework was actually quite amusing. What a joke! To think the girl had once been a soldier...

Any further thoughts got swept away as a blaring noise filled Machii’s ears and skull. Loud, piercing, incessant whining, not unlike how Gemmei normally spoke, blasted out from all sides. This wasn’t a new sound. The prison ran drills on this every month.

It was the fire alarm! The blaring siren made it impossible to even think, much less get her voice out to Nishioka. Indeed, standing just outside the door her trusted bodyguard was sweating bullets even in the chilling rain. It had been clear several minutes ago that something bad was happening inside the garage, but try as she might, the words of Machii still rattled around Nishioka’s skull. Stay put and stand guard. Her loyalty combined with the Hakkyou’s imposed compliance made disobeying basically impossible. The woman was dedicated to a fault.

Machii’s eyes swept back to Gemmei just in time. The girl disappeared beneath the nearest wagon, her thin legs kicking out and away as she slipped through. A delaying tactic? The smoky remnants of Gemmei’s fireball lay near the ceiling mounted smoke detector, indicating that had really been her target all along. Was Gemmei hoping the warden would send in guards to break up the fight? That meant Nishioka would be needed outside even more! Hissing through her teeth Machii discarded the idea altogether. Gemmei would be dealt with then and there.

From her pocket she pulled out a simple metal boxcutter, a tremendously illegal piece of contraband but one she never got in trouble for. Unfurling it to a usable length, Machii stepped over the scattered debris and approached the wagon, steadying her breath as she did so. With a deliberate satisfaction in her voice she plunged its sharp edge into the first tire of the wagon. “Here, kitty kitty!” Chuckling she moved to the second tire and gave it a few stabs as well, causing it to rapidly deflate. The entire body of the wagon began to sink. “You start a fight and then run away from it? A regular scaredy cat, huh?”

Within seconds the gap under the wagon disappeared as the tires sank completely. Squeezing herself between the space between the parked vehicles Machii quickly stabbed at every tire and popped out the other side, gleefully twirling her box cutter as she did so. The clearance between the floor and wagon’s underside shrank by the second. Gemmei would either be driven out or squished like a cockroach, both agreeable results!

Sure enough, clawing and gasping like a fish out of water, Gemmei’s moppy head of hair poked out from under the corner of the only part of the wagon yet to sink completely. And there was Machii, foot raised, waiting right at the precipice!