After she had shown us the mural, Chio took us to the canteen. This turned out to be one of the voidhold’s storage areas, the space expanded by ripping out some of the bulkheads. Long tables filled the area, their surfaces scarred and stained. People sat at some of them, and the air was thick with an unfamiliar smell.

"Are you okay?" Chio asked, noticing my hesitation at the entrance. "Vessa's treatments can make you feel a bit strangr at first."

She was right. My body felt heavy yet disconnected, as if my bones had been replaced with metal. The mask Vessa had given me was helping, but I still felt exposed.

"I'm fine," I said.

Approach for assessment.

The voice hit me like a shot, drawing a little gasp. Following Chio and Larkin as they sauntered into the canteen, I searched for more signs of functionary components.

Metabolic fluctuations detected.

There, the voice was coming from a box taped to a support pillar. It looked like one of Redd’s torso segments.

Recommend caloric intake.

“Your advice is noted,” I whispered, not wanting to be distracted while in the midst of so many other people. “No further advice is needed.”

The segment fell silent.

"Let's get you something simple," Chio said, leading us toward a counter that held several large containers. The smell grew stronger, and my stomach clenched with equal parts hunger and apprehension.

"Let’s start with the basic protein blend." She opened a container and ladled something thick and steaming into a bowl. The pale, lumpy liquid moved very differently from Redd’s nutrition cubes.

After Chio and Larkin had filled their own bowls with something darker and more complex from another container, we found seats at an empty table. They began to eat, but I just stared at the contents of my bowl.

"Try it," Chio encouraged, handing me a spoon. "It's not as scary as it looks."

I removed my new veil and became instantly conscious of how many people were in the room, all eating and talking at once. On Zero, meals were silent except for Rashala’s declarations and Mother's corrections of posture or timing, neither of which required much response from me. Here, the cacophony of voices and laughter seemed to press against my bare skin.

As I put the spoon into the food, I heard a new voice in my ear, this one echoey and broken.

Stru-stru-structural integrity…

I glanced up, suddenly aware of the vast space above us. The ceiling's support struts were exposed, their joins visible where panels had been removed. A vibration ran through the floor, subtle but distinct.

"Did you feel that?" I asked.

Chio frowned, then pulled out a datapad. She studied it for a moment before muttering something under her breath.

“What is it?” Larkin leaned over, his expression growing serious as he read whatever was on the screen. "That's not good."

"Yeah, but the resonance pattern's different this time." She stood, her food forgotten. "I should check it."

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing to worry about." Chio smiled. "Just some hull areas we need to monitor. Come on Larkin, you know as much about stress as anyone else.”

“Ha!” he cried with a grin. “You can say that again.”

Approaching fai…fai…fai

The voice crackled and faded.

"We'll be back soon," Chio said. "Shade, stay here and eat your food. Maybe talk to some people?" Her smile was encouraging but distracted. "Everyone's friendly, I promise."

I watched them hurry out, deep in technical discussion. Around me, the canteen's noise continued unabated, though I noticed a few people glancing up at the ceiling with knowing looks.

Compensating. Compensating. Compensa-sa-sa...

I stared at my bowl of pale food, feeling the vibrations through the floor, wondering what Mother would say about a voidhold that shook.

No, I did not want to think of her.

I looked at the spoon. I was used to slipping Redd's nutrient cubes beneath my veil, so this was a new experience. I took a small taste of the pale mixture and was surprised: it had texture, temperature, complexity. My tongue didn't know what to do with such information.

Another tremor ran through the structure.

A few seats away, someone muttered, "Oh, not again!" Their companions rumbled with laughter.

I forced myself to take another spoonful, trying to focus on the food rather than the constant movement and noise around me. A small group came through the entrance. A child ran past my table. Two women at the next table were watching me, although they were trying to appear as if they weren't. One whispered something to the other, and both nodded.

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I kept my face carefully blank and listened to the voices rising and falling around me. I noticed things the functionaries on my voidhold would have seen to: spilled food on the floor, chairs at improper angles, people reaching across tables to share dishes. A woman had pushed her chair back, tipping it in a careful balance. A man was watching her, standing slightly apart from the others. His clothing was notably cleaner, which only served to highlight the filth on the other humans.

Mother’s appalled face flashed in front of me, and I heard her sharp remark of disgust. “Filth!”

I quickly replaced my veil and pushed the bowl away. My appetite was gone, and the food sat in my stomach like a stone, heavy and indigestible digest.

"Is this seat taken?"

I looked up to find the man in the clean clothes standing beside my table. His smile seemed kind, although there was something practised about it, like Rashala's when she wanted something.

"No," I said. "The seat is not taken."

"You won't mind if I join you, will you?" He was already pulling out the chair as he asked, angling it slightly away from the crowd,

"No," I said again. Something in me wanted to say yes, but the people closest to us had suddenly quietened, as if he was an important person. As a stranger, I had no right to tell him where to sit in his own voidhold.

I'm Lidaros," he said. He had a neat beard and a voice so soft I had to lean forward slightly to hear him. "And you look like you are finding all of this rather overwhelming."

"I'm Shade," I said. “From Voidhold Zero.”

“That is interesting,” he said with a slow nod. Another tremor ran through the structure, but his attention remained steadily on me. "I know little of Zero. Is it different there?”

“Yes.”

His smile widened to a grin. “Let me guess, far less chaos.”

His calm demeanour suddenly seemed comforting

"Yes," I admitted. "Everything here is very..."

"A bit much at first?" he suggested. When I nodded, he smiled. "I remember my first weeks after the liberation. It took me time to adjust to all these voices, all this life. Sometimes it still overwhelms me." He glanced around the canteen with rueful appreciation. "Beautiful in its way, but exhausting if you're not used to it."

A burst of laughter from a nearby table made me flinch. He noticed.

"You might not believe me, but we have gardens here,” he said. “Real ones, with growing things. It's peaceful there. A quiet place in which to breathe."

I immediately thought of our Voidhold Zero garden, and relief flooded me. "I thought you couldn’t maintain a garden without functionaries."

"Aha!” He grinned. “We've learned to care for living things ourselves. I help tend them sometimes, when I need to escape all..." he waved his hand at the noisy canteen, "all of this. I don’t suppose you would like me to show them to you?"

I was supposed to wait for Chio and Larkin, but they had encouraged me to learn about this place, to talk to people. And Lidaros seemed to understand what I needed: quiet, order, a respite from the bustle of Voidhold Two.

"Yes," I said. "I would like to see the gardens."

His smile remained as he stood and offered his hand. The gesture was so familiar, so like Oren's request for me to join it, that I took it without thinking.

"Come," he said. "Let us see something beautiful."

✾

The corridors leading to the garden were different from those near the canteen. They were wider and marked with wear. Lidaros brought me through them with a casual stride that reminded me of Yeller.

When we passed an alcove, something unusual caught my eye, and I stopped. Mounted on the bulkhead was a functionary's head, its sensor eyes dark and lifeless.

"Does it disturb you?" Lidaros asked, watching my reaction.

I nodded, unable to look away.

“It’s been up there since we overthrew the functionaries.” His hand squeezed mine. “Coming up to 12 years ago.” He laughed. “I think someone slammed it into the bulkhead in a fit of rage and it just sort of stuck there.”

“Oh.”

"I was head of systems integration before the liberation," he said, his voice carrying a hint of pride. "Back when the functionaries controlled everything. Of course, that gave me certain insights during the rebellion."

"You helped fight them?" I asked, suddenly wondering if he had been something like a human-present.

He offered a slight smile. "Not directly. My role was more strategic. I understood their systems, their protocols. Knowledge that proved quite valuable." He paused at a junction, inclining his head to a passing worker who muttered a quick greeting. "And after all that happened, well, someone had to ensure things still worked around here.”

✾

The doors to the garden swung open with a rush of humid air that caught in my throat. The scent hit me next: earth and decay and growth all mixed together, wild and organic.

Nitrogen above optimal parameters. Compensating. Phosphorous depletion rate rising. Compensating.

The voice was barely a whisper, and I ignored it as I tried to absorb the vastness before me. Where Zero's garden was a delicate balance of hydroponics and careful cultivation, this was barely controlled chaos. Row upon row of racks stretched into the distance, their metal frames nearly hidden beneath leaves and vines that spilled out of their designated spaces. Each rack was bright with growth lights, showing that some plants had grown so tall they brushed against the upper walkways, their leaves casting strange shadows.

The floor was marked with dark patches where water had spilled and dried countless times. Workers moved between the rows. One woman balanced on a ladder, using shears to trim a vine. The plant's sap dripped onto her arm, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Lidaros smiled, watching my reaction. "All of this maintained by human hands." His pride seemed genuine, almost warm. "We've had to adapt, of course, and learn new ways of doing things, but we’ve done pretty well.”

A woman with orange hair approached us, wiping sweaty hands on her overalls. "Li, I need to talk to you about the nutrient balance in Section Four-"

"Log it properly," he said. "We have procedures."

"But—"

"Procedures," he repeated firmly. His free hand pressed against my shoulder, steering me toward another section.

General nutrient deficiency in rows 15 through 28.

This time I was faster in identifying the remains of the functionary. Strapped to the ends of one of the racks, it looked just like Turq…although little more than a torso with a partial head. It was still functional, and parts were twitching.

"It is useful for performing calculations," said Lidaros when he noticed the mutilated functionary. "We simply wired it up to a panel." He pointed to the space beneath it. "It gives us readouts on what needs what. Clever, right?"

"Yes," I said, as a minor tremor ran through the voidhold, making the hanging vines sway.

"You know," Lidaros said thoughtfully, "I have something that might interest you. A collection of records from before the liberation. Documents about how the voidholds were meant to work together, about their original purpose." He paused, studying my face. "Historical archives that even Chio doesn't know about."

I hesitated. The words "original purpose" reminded me of the mural, of all those voidholds arranged in their perfect constellation.

"These records," I said, "are they like the mural in the thren?"

"Yes." His smile widened slightly. "Plans, protocols, designs, everything we once thought lost. Would you like to see them?"

Warning... warning... warn…Compen....

I thought of Chio and Larkin, somewhere in the voidhold dealing with the tremors. They had encouraged me to learn, to understand this place.

"Yes," I said. "I would like to see them."

His hand tightened almost imperceptibly on mine.

"Excellent. My quarters are much quieter than this. We can study them properly there, without all these..." he gestured at the workers moving through the rows, "distractions."