Zeraki listened to Number 3’s request and did the only sensible thing he could think of. He took a page from Hadiza’s book and chucked a problem he didn’t want to deal with to someone else, hoping to avoid another guilt spiral.
“This is great news, my friend. Do not be troubled by the maid,” Ola said. “This is a message to the Orions—even in the safety and privacy of your bunkers, you are still within our reach.— It serves as a reminder, not a declaration of war.”
Number 3’s tense impatience visibly reduced at Ola’s assuring, firm, and confident tone.
“This is an opportunity for us, my friend,” she said. “Keep an eye on the imposter for the next 48 hours. Acquire as much knowledge about Extractor society outside of EIPO. Do not engage unless necessary.”
[Number 3: Dad, what if we find the children?] She fidgeted.
“Alright, Miss Ola. What about the Orions? What happens should we find the children?”
Ola noticed Hadiza tilting her head towards them when the children were brought up.
“I intend to market this intelligence to the Orions. The children should be in a state of well-being, but I cannot provide a definitive assurance. My understanding of Extractors is still somewhat restricted, and I am unable to ascertain where their bottom lines lie. If feasible, undertake a rescue operation. If doing so would jeopardize your personal safety, then desist and let the Orions handle it. They have the power and resources to tide through this.”
Zeraki nodded. “If the Orions hire more Extractors—”
“If? Oh no, my friend. The Orions are Pharmacy Benefit Managers; money is not an object. There is no ‘if’. They will hire Extractors. You just keep your head low and observe.”
Ola turned and looked at the workbench where Hadiza hunched over, working on mathematical operations.
“May Her Red Heart of Refuge watch over you all,” she softly said before walking over to have a chat with Tara.
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[Number 4: Her Red Heart of Refuge? What was that all about?] he asked, not once looking up from the blueprints on the table.
[Number 7: No idea. More importantly,] he turned and faced Number 3, [why were you several kilometers away from Father?]
[Number 3: Hmf! Mere mortals fail to understand the complex thoughts of higher beings.]
Number 7 sighed. [You got bored, went to play, and of course lost track of your surroundings. Why do I even bother asking?]
[Number 3: I did not go out to play! Formulating evasive techniques is a delicate art!]
‘Settle down, both of you.’ Zeraki looked at the silver sheets that covered the room in a new light. Ola had said that she intended to sanctify the entire basement, but the implications of that had never occurred to him. In there, his charms of concealment were augmented, expanding the radius in which his children could operate.
‘Number 7, find out how much further you can go with the basement’s help.’
[On it, Father.]
‘Number 3, go keep an eye on the imposter.’
[As you wish, Da—I mean, Father.] she said, keeping her back straight and arms behind her as she slowly started to drift away, looking like a mysterious immortal elder.
As Zeraki waited for the bracelet to show signs of strain, he eventually noticed a steady spike in frustration within him. This was an emotion he couldn’t identify with, and he was glad that he was back to being an observer again.
Tracing where the emotion came from, he noticed Number 4’s erratic pacing.
‘What’s wrong?’
Number 4 stopped and pinched the bridge of his nose, looking like he was catching his breath.
[I’m alright, Otousan. You already have enough on your plate.]
Zeraki remained silent and waited for him to continue. Seeing this, Number 4 sighed. [I’m just frustrated that I can’t do more for her.] He pointed at Hadiza, whose stress levels had also spiked.
‘I thought you could control sentiments as well as I can?’
[I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Otousan, but tugging on sentiments without the capacity to use words is way more of a handicap than using sign language to explain music to the deaf.]
‘Do you need me to act as a bridge?’
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Number 4 paused, looked at Zeraki, and hesitated.
‘What’s wrong?’
[Nothing, Otousan. I would be honored to have you bridge me to her.] Number 4 said as he gave a respectful bow.
An hour later, Ola left for work with a smile on her face. Zeraki took this as a sign that she appreciated having Tara around too.
On the other hand, he wasn’t having a great day. On her own, Hadiza had figured out how to make resistors, capacitors, and inductors, but that much was expected since Number 4 had easy-to-understand instructions on making those. She just needed to find an alternative method to manufacture them, which she did in record time.
The power supply, though not easy, was pretty straightforward in that she needed a transformer, rectifier, and voltage regulator, each of these components introducing new concepts and knowledge that she tried to grasp and master. They struggled to achieve a stable and efficient power supply, but Hadiza eventually got it right while explaining how everything was supposed to work to Ola.
She made do with a voice coil, magnet, and cone for the speakers; a condenser and a field-effect transistor amplifier for the microphone, while Zeraki talked with Ola about the Orions.
The frustrations began building up when she got to the audio amplifier. Analog circuit design bent the mind in unnatural ways and required a long period of accumulation to grasp. Not even her enhanced mind could keep up with the computation needed to run simulations on this while also taking in the plethora of new, advanced concepts.
Zeraki had spoken at length about the theoretical bits that he got from Number 4, but trying to teach what was essentially a four-year degree course in a single sitting, while he could barely keep up with both of them, was exhausting.
----------------------------------------
“…the input signal is applied to the base of the transistor—”
[Number 3: Dad, he’s taking a train to Stellar Jay District. I can’t go any further.]
“What’s wrong?” Hadiza asked after Zeraki suddenly went silent.
“Your workshop gives me a range of roughly 10 kilometers, give or take a kilometer,” he said, pointing at the silver sheets lining her walls. “I’m unable to follow our imposter any further from here.”
“Oh. Don’t mind me, big man. Go do your spy-hero thing. I have a lot to digest. Ola’s guards and I will take care of Tara.”
With her reassurance, Zeraki left the basement and, on his way out, walked past a group of uniformed guards. A black, saddled horse was also waiting for him in front of the house, with Number 3 looking smug as she followed beside him.
‘Thank you,’ Zeraki said as he heaved himself up.
The horse easily turned and galloped away from the estate. Zeraki watched the sentiments of the horse and continuously adjusted his posture to one that the horse preferred or was used to.
---
Train stations in general, Zeraki observed, worked on strict schedules that aimed to maintain the rhythm of daily life. Currently, there were three trains scheduled to leave for Stellar Jay, each fifteen minutes apart but on the same platform.
‘Number 3, do you remember which train was his?’
[…no…] she whispered dejectedly.
[Number 4: Don’t worry about it, Imouto. We’ll just get a ticket for all three trains and search them fast.]
[Not possible,] Number 7 succinctly stated, then pointed to a train on a different platform. [How do you expect to cover 12 to 18 cars within 15 minutes? Need I remind you that even though we can move through things, Father can’t?]
Zeraki looked around, and the vast number of exhausted people waiting for the trains made it abundantly clear that Number 7 had a fair point.
He walked to the end of the platform, and after confirming none of the station security personnel were close, he leaped onto the train tracks and started running in Stellar Jay’s direction.
Zeraki wondered why no one questioned what he was doing. All three of them stuck close to him and followed his lead without hesitation.
‘Aren’t you going to ask what we’re doing?’
Number 3 looked at him and gave him a bright smile. [No, Dad. Do you want to tell us?]
Zeraki felt that there was a moment he was missing here. The affection in her voice, and the fact that her depression seemingly vanished after he asked that, raised so many questions in him.
‘Ask whenever you need an explanation. This goes for all of you.’
He received an affirmative answer from all of them in one way or another.
‘Inspect the trains. Fast.’
Before anyone asked, "What trains?" a loud whistle broke through the relative silence as a train came speeding behind them.
Zeraki felt the vibrations of the earth beneath him and could tell that the train was closing in faster than he could run. He moved away from the tracks and continued sprinting parallel to it. Numbers 3, 4, and 7 immediately phased through the walls and began their search.
Zeraki’s muscles flexed as he went full throttle, sticking close to the train and using it to break the air currents from the front. This, however, did not keep him safe from the currents generated by the train that were trying to pull him in or knock him off balance. Zeraki lowered himself further and forcefully resisted any current that attempted to shift his feet’s landing points.
[Number 3: She’s not on this train!]
Zeraki was about to start disengaging when he heard a faint crunching noise. Looking up, he suddenly saw a carcass launched at him from the front of the train, approaching fast—too fast to come up with any reasonable plan and execute it.
His heart skipped a beat, then his body suddenly shifted. The world blurred into a dizzying rush of steel, dust, and noise. When his ears stopped ringing and his brain finally caught up to what was happening, he found himself horizontally pressed against the side of a container, the wind in his face, his feet pushed into the container’s grooves, and his arms holding onto the container’s latch.
Immediately after, another rush of information flowed into his brain detailing what had just happened. The sudden appearance of an obstacle caused a spike in adrenaline within him, and his fight-or-flight response was engaged. His right foot let the current from the train pull it in, yanking his entire body away from the trajectory of the carcass.
His left foot didn’t try to maintain balance and instead pushed hard against the ground, making him airborne and avoiding getting dragged beneath the train.
As the carcass flew past his face, the palms of his hands tilted along an axis and rode the air currents. This horizontally flipped his entire body, and he suddenly landed hard against the side of the train; his feet firmly embedded in the grooves and his hands grabbing onto the side latch.
Other than a few scrapes and bruises, he felt well. A bit sore, but not a single broken bone was always good news.
Zeraki took a deep breath to calm himself and once again pushed hard against the side of the container. His landing was as graceful as he could have hoped for. A single sprained ankle was a cheap price to pay for jumping off a train moving at sixty kilometers an hour.
Zeraki limped off to the next track and didn’t bother watching as the train got further and further away from him.
‘Let’s try something different.’