Chapitre 8: [VIII] - Refuge Den
The Sun has gotten over the point, where it threw a narrow strike of shadow from the tall, concrete walls of the buildings, good enough for me to quickly pass by them, unnoticed. The weak lights of the neons and electrical screens were flashing before my eyes like shooting stars, that are bright enough to see from behind the barrier on the sky. I focused on escaping so much, I didn't notice the flow of the surrounding time, nor the other people hiding in the darkness of the alleys. The only thing that I had in my head, was to leave the streets, and find myself in my comfortable flat, near my only family.
But I knew I wouldn't rest for long, I can feel an ominous force following me in the distance. Or maybe it's just my imagination… There must be an end to everything, right? Clenching the little device in my hurting hand, I hoped nothing more happens.
I tried to pass unnoticed below every monitoring camera and avoid sensors that were near. Every huge step I took, seemed to bring me closer to the point where I'm going to lose my lungs forever, burn my dry throat with a hellish fire, and my legs fall from the distance I traveled. But as long as there is determination and hope, I won't lose myself right before the goal. I am near to giving up on it all, but also so close to my goal.
•••
I got inside the big, plain building, after closely and carefully looking around in my surroundings. Nothing suspicious for now. I entered the pin code quickly, listening to the monotonous sounds of the bell every time the button was pushed. After that, I scanned my Building Affiliation Card, and rushed in like lightning. Shutting the metal door behind me with an enormous impact, was hearable in the whole, dark hall. The dark tunnel made of concrete, leading into the unknown darkness. But for me, at the end of this darkness, was a steel staircase leading straight to the small door of my home. Hidden deep into the cold and thick walls, a place that can be barely found. The only place I felt safe in. My idyll of knowledge.
I entered the flat, hushing from exhaustion and shaking badly. Happily, I didn't meet any of my neighbors. The door were open, as if they knew I was waiting so long to pass through them. I closed them behind me precisely, and then fell down on the tiled floor of my hidden residence. A building standing by an uncrowded alley, with a secret flat buried deep into it, behind a maze of corridors. I greatly admired the architecture of this old building, and its complexity, which made me become so calm right now.
At my back, I knew it was coming. The pursue for the witness. But what the hunters probably didn't know, Is that I have something more precious than my memories, I have them all documented on a tiny device, ready to be now copied, safely hidden somewhere, and the other one delivered straight to the RR headquarters. They are going to take care of it as needed, and I know it will be safe in their hands. If I ask, they could help me too, but the one I am worried about now is not me. I need to be as quick as possible, despite being ruined, by all day running, fighting, escaping, wondering about the purpose and ways of living. I really just want to jump into a cold shower and throw myself on my hard bed. And not worry about anything. But I know…
"My heavens! Asha! What… on Earth!?" — A person on the end of the corridor appeared, yelling with a high tone. A short, skinny person, with thin white hair hanging to her arms. Wearing a long, bright shirt almost like a dress, but it was just pajamas, comfortable enough to walk in them all day at home. Holding her face with her frail hands, in disbelief.
She is my aunt Celine. My upbringer, a person who did all in her power to raise me to the point I am in right now. She acted as if she was my mother, my father, everyone I couldn't have in my life. If not her, who knows where I would be right now… She sparked in me my rebellious fire. She told me about the world that was once before, and showed me the beauties of the gorgeous past, long before the meteorite stroke into the Earth. A true benefactor to the truth I learned about, from her, and the book she has in her collection. An item she hid and protected from the eyes of the cold system, when the governors decided to commandeer everything that could remind the people of the old world, which they couldn't have anymore. But this is the story for the next time, now I have something more important to do.
Her face was so wrinkled, yet her posture seemed to be one of a young woman. Thin, pale lips were making a neutral expression. She was so old, no one really knows her age. But I know she remembers the times of the old world, she experienced it with her eyes, that are looking at me right now. The small, green eyes from beneath old, hanging skin were staring at me pitifully, waiting for a response.
"I… want something… to drink…" — The words couldn't leave my lungs, as if all the liquids have left my body. I felt dry and cracked.
She went somewhere, and came back rapidly, holding a transparent vessel with the little water drops, dripping from its edge. I didn't even say thank you, when I grabbed it violently and swallowed the contents of it to the last drop.
"You are all in blood… How…"
"Aunt, you know everything… Is there a way they can track me… all the way here? Am I safe right now?"
"Who… Who are you talking about? What happened?" — She bent towards me, catching me by my shoulders, with the worried look on her face. She examined my state, and looked over the holes in my outfit, thinking about potential wounds I may have. — "My dear… You need to be treated immediately!"
"I'm… To tired… to move…"
She quickly went to another room, looking probably for some aid and medicament. I put my shaking hand deep into my pocket, and reached for the little metal scrap in my hand, holding a ton of useful information.
But wait. Is it actually useful? Until now, I thought that everything it has recorded, all the bloody massacre, will have an impact on the people that will see it. But what actual influence will it have on them? In my opinion until now… It was that there is someone stronger than the officers, someone that can fight with them and support the innocent, abused by the system and the soldiers… There can be sparked hope for the weak ones. But… What if the effect will be the opposite?
What if people become even more scared of their life, Because there is something stronger than the power of system…
The feeling of doubt got in my mind. What if all this rush and pain was for nothing? I…
Aunt Celine came back, holding a black, shiny case in her pale hands. She noticed that I was holding something with my injured hand, that I couldn't feel pain anymore with. She put the case next to me, and opened it. The lid came off with a loud cracking noise, and inside it were many medical devices, along with some old school bandages and various liquids - medicaments. She slowly tried to take my coat off, causing me to feel pain because of the dried blood stuck to it.
"How long will I wait for your explanation? Are you in any serious danger? You've never came back in such a state? Do you want me to get you grounded for crossing the line I've been telling you never to pass?" — I could hear her voice cracking in distress, as she was investigating my left arm.
"What time is it?… How long have I been…"
She stopped applying medication, and looked at me with her cold, old green eyes, which saw many of things I don't even have the idea for. A freezing stare of a leader I've never seen before. A feeling of hostility in my own home.
"Auntie… Today I went to exchange information… But took a detour and…" — I hesitated. Those words couldn't get through my mouth.
"Speak! For the love of God!" — She shook my body violently, but I know she didn't mean any harm. She was just insanely worried about me, a person who never came home with more than a few scratches. And today, I took with myself a disaster more painful and crucial than some bruises.
"Auntie, what if I told you, I saw hundreds of people die today?"
"Wait… Did you go to the ceremony?! Don't tell me they forced you to partake in the anniversary celebrations?"
"What celebrations…?" — I looked in her eyes with confusion. Was there anything happening important today? Is that why all the streets were empty from the early morning?
"Finish your story!" — A rigorous voice of a guardian you shouldn't disobey came from her mouth.
I couldn't hold it in myself anymore. The tears burst out of my eyes, and on the one breath, I told my aunt everything I experienced today, from the mysterious black cat, leading me into the pitch-black alleyway, the injured soldier that I helped, the massacre the blue-eyes committed right before my eyes, and the pursue for an escape, while holding the little, cold device tightly in my shaky hands.
The deeper I got into the story, the more the face of my aunt was changing.
Instead of the expected, worried sorrowful face, She gave me a doubtful and dull stare. As if some terrible news came to her ears, she stared into my crying face blankly, like if all hopes of something were lost. But… why? I just need to copy the evidence and deliver it? That doesn't mean the end of the world is happening? So why is her reaction so stone like that?
"I… I need to copy this immediately, and deliver it by hand to the headquarters…" — I told her in a shivering voice.
She finished dealing with my injuries without saying anything more. Thankfully to the today's medicine, deep wounds like mine could be treated so quickly. Confused, she stared at the floor, with a grave sorrow on her face, as if her greatest nightmare came true.
After a ringing silence, she asked me quietly, pointing at the thing I was still holding, the memory device.
"Can I see… this?"
I'm really hesitant to do it, watching it all over again could bring pain and fear back to me. But I have no choice. I need to know if it's even a clear evidence, worth the stakes I took. It's my job to register and record any undesirable activities, but for as important thing I recorded now, I have the most doubts I had in my entire life. I nodded.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone