It wasn’t easy being the leader, especially when you didn’t know where you were going.

Be amazed at the incredible calm of Collapse Lender as she navigates rising tensions with rude gestures and half hearted shrugs! Marvel at how she ducks under steam vents and jumps over pipes with nimble ease! Delight in her inevitable success as she confidently guides her ragtag crew through unknown territories and back into the waiting arms of their peerless mentor!

Yeah, she wished.

“Are you sure she went this way?” Shuffling, grunts and complaints as passageways became crawlspaces, then crawlspaces became boiler rooms with jungles of pipes. The Helot was bigger on the inside then it looked, and it already looked mighty big.

“Stop, wait, not- oh, you messed up the pipe, they’re gonna have our head.” Steam hissed, someone had clipped a pipe (definitely not her, what with her nimble ease and all).

Let the steam obscure the path behind them, they would never need to double back. If she kept telling herself this, perhaps she’d start to believe it.

“Who’s gonna have our head anyway?” Stumble asked, cocking her head. “The Constants? Not gonna happen. Lemure? I heard he’s already dead.”

“You’re forgetting Montanna, I heard he’s the new 41,” Said Trip, sporting a sly grin.

“I’m not forgetting him, he’s just irrelevant,” Stumble dismissed him with a wave.

“Hey Collapse.” She bristled at her own name. She had let the others go ahead of her, in hopes that she would be forgotten, maybe even relieved of navigating duties, but no such luck. “Are you sure you know where we’re going?”

Not a clue.

But!

She was the one who handled the ship, she was the one who kept things running. They were now sans ship, but her duties remained. She had taken the lead and signed that it would take only 20 minutes to find Hailien.

That was 30 minutes ago. They had not found Hailien.

One of the benefits of your tongue getting cut out is people no longer question your silences. Not signing with your hands is far less conspicuous than taking a rather long time to answer a direct question.

When Collapse stopped what she was doing and stared at the ground, it came across as wise and considered. A brave leader weighing her options, not an incredibly nervous young woman, trying her best to think of an answer that didn’t sound like bullshit.

“I think-,” she didn’t have to finish the sign, thankfully. Another gas pipe broke, this one on its own. The smoke spilled out and drew her eyes to a large open door. A neon sign above proclaimed, “Control Room.”

Good enough for her!

Not wasting such a lucky break, Collapse enthusiastically pointed to it and ushered them forward. They couldn’t believe they had missed it.

“You knew this was here the whole time, didn’t you, you’re a sly one, C!” Plunge said.

“Gotta admit, you had me going for a bit.” Dive said.

”Collapse,” Stumble said, pushing past Trip and keeping pace. “I feel like I’ve underestimated you.”

Stumble had been the one who had continuously questioned her as they tried to find Hailien. Even Trip, their designated contrarian, was willing to give Collapse more benefit of the doubt than her. She started to sign something generic and fleeting to express all was good.

Stumble gripped Collapse’s hand, and pulled it down. Arm wrestling was a fun way to pass downtime. Collapse could beat Stumble handedly, it was a sure fire way to get her to shut up.

So why was her grip suddenly so strong?

“You don’t need to say anything, I’m sure you’re surprised. After all, I’m the nicest person you know.” There was something in Stumble’s eye, a squiggly black line that thrashed about her iris. But then she blinked and it was gone. “But I didn’t think you’d get us here, I thought we’d be wandering the halls here for eternity.”

In front of them the others were shouting excitedly, the cramped tunnel on the other side of the door was opening up to light. Stumble gripped Collapse’s shoulder as they walked.

While she wanted to get to the other end of this passage, Stumble’s grip on her shoulder felt like that was in question, like Stumble expected her to suddenly balk and run. And there was, admittedly, a part of her that felt that that would be the correct choice. Her Remark made itself known in the emptiness. The dice rolled around in her hand, it felt good to feel them.

“We’re not only gonna find Hailien there, we’re gonna find our destinies.” Stumble said, “I’ve been told by a special friend that we’re so close to getting what we’ve always deserved.”

The others passed through the light first. Even up close one couldn’t tell what lay beyond it. That wasn’t a bad sign, Collapse told herself, in fact, it was probably a good sign. More light meant more good, right?

As gently as she could, she tried to get Stumble to release her grip.

”There’s no need for that.” Stumble said, her voice detached. The black squiggle was back, looking slightly larger.

Trying to be as polite as possible about it, she pushed Stumble away and walked into the room, the brightness blinding as the sound of Stumble’s footsteps echoed after her.

The room, strangely, did not resemble a Control Room.

It resembled the innards of a large pit, but hundreds of times bigger. To look anywhere was to look at its walls. Huge and unending. Ascending high out of view, they became a rusted sky. Fine lines were etched into the wall, creating a grid pattern that added to the enormity of it. It was like the Drum in miniature, but not as comforting.

Most of the floor was empty air, only a cross shaped section of walkways outside of the small center area, a small rectangle arranged like a waiting room. It was furnished with green chairs, tacky floor tiles, and even a clock miraculously floating at the edge of the space, right where a wall would have been.

There were two people at the center, a large wiry man staring back at them, and a handsome man reading a magazine in one of the polyester chairs.

“Oh, don’t be afraid.” The kind man said, his voice made massive by the echo. He flipped through his copy of Carnifex Daily. “Come on over, you can trust us.”

“I think we can trust him” Collapse signed. The others nodded, they were all smiles.

”I’ll translate.” Stumble said to Collapse. The two approached as equal leaders, the other three staying about a length behind them. They were all in the central waiting room now.

Outside of the cross shaped walkways, there was emptiness on all sides.

“Heya!” Stumble said, very much not translating for Collapse. “You’re the guys we saw beforehand.”

The large one nodded.

“Yes, we are,” the kind one said. His voice was light and melodious. “Did you all have trouble finding the place?”

Collapse was signing frantically, wondering how the Grand they knew they would be here. Stumble saw this and grinned.

Turning back Stumble said, “Not at all, we had help from my co-captain here.” She gestured at Collapse. “My name is Stumble Pedigree by the way, I’m the boss of this group, we’re called The Fall Collective.”

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”We’re kind of a freelance advocacy group for violence liberation.” Dive said, stepping forward, “the idea that violence can exist without a hierarchy… or that those who do violence are entitled to the material effects. Trip’s teaching me about something called “Theory”.”

”I was under the impression we were an independent shipping company, is that not true?” Plunge asked, her hands very firmly in pockets.

“You know, we never agreed on the Fall Collective.” Trip said, his glasses bright in the sunlight. “I was always a proponent of the Danger Friends.”

This gave everyone pause, even the kind man seemed thrown off. “The Danger Friends?”

”Yeah.” Trip said, so confidently that Collapse was second guessing her view that it was the worst name she ever heard. “Cause we’re friends, and we’re dangerous, but also, we seek out danger. Or, really, it seems to seek out us.” He looked around, annoyed at the odd looks he was getting. “The Danger Friends. What, are we against monikers that make sense now?”

”I don’t know… the Fall Collective… it has a nice ring to it.” Stumble said dreamily. She was acting like she had only just heard the name.

”But it means nothing. I know what Collective means, it’s a group, but Fall?” He wrinkled his nose. “That’s a complete nonsense word.”

Dive was about to say something, but Trip held up a hand.

”That wasn’t actually Theory, by the way,” Trip said, pointing a finger at Dive, “Total misinterpretation of Cleaver’s words on cohesion aesthetics.”

The kind man coughed, and all attention was turned back to him.

“You’re looking for Hailien, correct?” He said.

Stumble started talking immediately, “Hmmmmm, maybe! Mostly, we’re just looking for Devon.”

Collapse tightened her fingers into fists. What was she talking about? They had just been with Devon. If Stumble was looking for her, well, she knew where she was. Back at the bar.

To her relief, the strangeness wasn’t contagious. Dive put a hand on Stumble’s shoulder. “Um, yeah, we are looking for Hailien.”

”And Devon. Where is Devon?” The black squiggle in Stumble’s eyes were doing laps, somehow moving from one eye to the next and back. Stumble’s own pupils remained oddly still and dilated. “We need to find her. It’s what’s important… I need to help him.”

The kind man and the large one exchanged glances. The large man was behind him, so to accomplish this the kind man turned his neck a good 180 degrees. Like a call cobra, but a very gentle and trustworthy call cobra.

Collapse poked Trip, gesturing to herself. He sighed, but translated for her.

“So yeah, my uh, my friend is getting impatient. We all are really. You seem to know what’s up. So point us in her direction and we’ll… fuck off, I guess?”

Surprisingly, the large one answered. “Easy ‘uestion,” he spat and licked his chapped lips. He had an accent that left the first letter of most of his words clipped. “‘Our friend ‘is ‘andering ‘the tunnels… ‘ame as ‘ou.”

”Why are you looking for her anyway?” The kind man said. His face on anyone else would be sinister, but on him it was fatherly, “She’s gotten lost looking for you guys, all because you were looking for her. We gave her the information, told her you were wandering, but me and Spratz here didn’t know why.”

“It was a ‘hame,” Spratz said. “‘Ou just ‘issed her actually. But ‘e’ll be back.”

”What is she looking for anyway?” The kind man asked, “she said some concerning things about the Constants.”

The kind man smiled at their silence. He turned away from them, stared at Spratz for a long moment, before turning back, his expression uncharacteristically grim. “Your faces say more than your words ever could.” He leaned in, his beautiful eyes growing conspiratorially. He gulped, and seemed legitimately nervous. “Y-Y-You’re not planning to… kill the Constants are you?”

It was Dive who broke. He grabbed at his curly hair and made the type of scream when you fucked up and you know you did. “Okay, okay! We were trying to find Hailien because she’s going to kill the Constants!” Plunge slapped him hard.

”Cohesion aesthetics, you idiot,” Trip mumbled.

The kind man approached, hands arched. He was twitching in a way that was agreeable. “Is that so? She’s off on a Constant killing spree?”

Stumble still had that dumb distant smile on her face, like she wasn’t really there. “Are we going to help him?” She said to no one, who she meant Collapse didn’t know.

“You certainly won’t be!” The kind man said. He had suddenly gotten real close to Stumble, and was staring at her twitching left eye.

He gripped her head in his manicured hands. Collapse didn’t think this was strange or cause for alarm, he was a kind man after all. “Understand this… we hate the Constants too.”

Suddenly Spratz had summoned a Remark and was charging at his kind compatriot. Collapse was about to sign “watch out”, but the kind man had already slid smoothly to the side. And too late did Collapse realize that it was not the kind man he was targeting.

With a swift kick he sent Stumble airborne, and cut her in two with a dismissive swipe of his Remark.

The others screamed, but Stumble didn’t react at all. That far off look in her face remained.

It was strange, but as Stumble’s carved body was flung off into the darkness, Collapse could have sworn she saw strings emerge from her wound.

“STUMBLE,” The gruff voice was unmistakable, but Collapse had never heard it so laced with fear. It was Hailien on the other side of the room. She must have just entered.

”And here she is, the woman of the hour!” The kind man said. Collapse was picking up quick that this man wasn’t kind at all. Looking at him now, it was like she was seeing him for the first time.

His hair not full but greasy, less blond than it was unnaturally bleached. His sharp features more like glass shards arranged precariously than anything she’d consider handsome.

”Is it a Remark, us thinking you weren’t a pleasure killer?” Trip said, he was translating for her! Her signing was involuntary, she didn’t expect anyone to even notice. Now that was a kind man! “Your glamor, your whatever. Is that your trick?”

The kind man was preoccupied. He was staring down Hailien, who had her Remark out. She had just snapped her fingers, the force so powerful Collapse swore she felt a gust of wind surge past her moments after.

Hailien walked forward, she didn’t run.

“Yes, that's my trick, not much use now” He turned to Plunge, still in shock, and bought out his Remark, a bejeweled knife, “Hold this for me.”

The Remark went straight through Plunge’s head.

Collapse would never hear another question from her, no more snarky observations. She was pushed off the side by a casual kick.

It felt especially cruel after Stumble. They should have a limit, a limit to how many friends one could lose in one day.

”You bastard!” Trip said, continuing to speak for her. His Remark was a seared edged rapier, and he used it with force, trying to skewer the man, who was now laughing.

The man dodged out of the way. He gripped the railing that he had pushed Plunge over, and released, running in a dead sprint towards Hailien. “The kids are all yours, Spratz!” He yelled back.

Spratz was hit by Dive’s Remark, a fishing rod made out of bone. The reel unspooled and wound and wound around Spratz. She was about to roll her dice and join in.

But then she heard the sound of a sword swing. She turned back, expecting to see the “kind” man cut in half.

Instead, it was Trip and the kind man sandwiched together.

They had both been pierced through by Hailien’s Remark.

Trip’s face was one of betrayal. The kind man’s face was wide open and filling with blood.

Hailien… Hailien turned casually and gave Collapse a simple nod.

It made it clear this had been no accident.

Right as Collapse was about to run, Hailien snapped.

The effect of her attack was reversed. Hailien was now at the other end of the room, right where she was when she first snapped. Trip and the kind man were still together, Trip in the front. They were both taking the moment to comprehend what had happened.

Trip knew Hailien’s trick, so he at least was aware of what had just occurred, Collapse figured. But there’s a large difference between knowing and experience. He was still in a haze, and Hailien was running forward again, this time snapping her finger when she was only feet from them.

Acting quickly, she signed to Trip, “Duck.”

The kind man’s last moment was spent staring at her, probably trying to parse what her frantic hand motions was supposed to mean.

The stab was repeated, this time just for the one who deserved it.

He didn’t make a sound when it happened. Hailien raised him up, his speared midsection sliding down to the base of her sword. Like one gets rid of an insect, she lowered her sword off the side of the railing and shook it until gravity did the work. The man slid down into darkness.

Collapse ran to the railing and looked down. She saw a tunnel that ended, not in darkness, but in a smoky blue light. She saw the man’s corpse disappear, then reappear as a silhouette within the light.

He was so tiny down there, a speck with nothing but the shape discernible. And then, the blue swallowed him. She allowed herself to breathe again, and moved away slowly from the railing.

”I got the big guy!” Collapse jumped and backpedaled. It was just Dive, looking at her confused. He hadn’t seen what had happened to Trip, thank the Grand. (Or, fuck the Grand? Personally, she had more reason to hate them than anything)

He gestured to where Spratz was tied up. The giant had become surprisingly docile, his head held down as if in shame.

”Hey, you okay? What happened with… nevermind, I’m just glad… I’m not glad actually. I… I don’t know.” Dive looked past her and squinted. “What's up with Trip?”

Trip was walking towards them, his face a mixture of grief and betrayal. He mouthed a “thanks” to Collapse before moving past them, back the way they came.

“Lets get the fuck out of here,” he said.

With a shrug, Dive followed him, urging Spratz up. “I guess you’re our prisoner.” His nose crinkled in thought. “I wonder how much your boss will pay to, uh, to see you freed.”

”Boss?” Spratz said, suddenly full of life. “‘Oos ‘dat?”

”You know, uh… 30? That's your boss, right?” He wasn’t exactly selling the confidence the hostage taker role demanded.

Spratz laughed and laughed. “E's not my boss. E’s not my boss at all!!”

Dive muttered something too weak willed to matter, and then the two were off behind Trip. She went to follow.

A large hand stopped her. It gripped her shoulder hard. She wanted the touch to feel comforting, but it made her body go cold. It reminded her of Stumble’s death grip.

”It’s alright.” Hailien said, her breath was hot on Collapse’s back. Like a wild animal about to strike. “We won. We’ll mourn later.”

The blood seeped through her clothing, and she could feel it stain her skin.