City of Fire and Ink

First Jumper: Seojun and the dying monkey

We spent the next few hours beating up Thorns and intercepting their shipments. By the time we were done, our clothes were bloodied and our bodies ready to collapse from exhaustion. But Ha Kun wasn't finished with us.

He drove the truck down south. Southern Pardahna was an area I rarely visited, so I couldn't tell you anything about where we were. Ha Kun pulled us into an industrial neighborhood, with warehouses several stories high and a block long on either side. Armed guards surrounded the place and made Ha Kun provide ID before he was allowed inside.

We clambered out of the truck, but didn't make close to the door before Ha Kun stopped us. "Listen up. You're about to enter one of our holding facilities. The only reason you're being let inside is because you're with me. Most people don't have clearance to this. We're going to drop these off with our chemists and see if they can figure out what makes Tigris so special yeah?"

"When will we get clearance?" Maisie asked.

"Whenever we decide you're trustworthy. I'd say give it a month." Note to self, appear trustworthy. I needed all the information I could get and quickly.

"Oh and don't touch anything. We may not be Inferni, but there are some damn lethal mixes in there,"

We followed him into the building. The ceiling was so far up I had to squint to see it. Metal basins of bubbling liquids filled the gigantic space. Each cauldron was stamped with a warning skull. The acrid tang of burning chemicals entered my nostrils and I fought the urge to sneeze. 

Ha Kun stopped in the middle of the room and pried up one of the floor tiles to reveal a hole. The bottom wasn't visible. "We're going through there?" Owen looked slightly nauseous at the thought.

"Afraid of heights Chin?"

The answer was obviously yes, but Owen shook his head. "No sir. But how are we going to get the boxes down there?"

Ha Kun dropped on his stomach and felt around inside the hole. Attached to the inside of the wall was a metal net. We placed the boxes in the net. I felt incredibly awkward doing this in the middle of a warehouse in broad daylight, surrounded by other Lourdes doing very scary, sciencey looking things, but I didn't say a word.

After the boxes were loaded in, Ha Kun pulled some lever and they disappeared into the hole. "Who's up first?" 

We all eyed him incredulously. Somehow I hadn't been expecting the safe houses to contain what was essentially an obstacle course. I couldn't even see what was in the hole, but this entire scenario was beginning to remind me a little too much of a scary, potentially death inducing, grown up playground. I guess that the Lourdes wanted to confuse everybody by making the layout of their safe houses complicated? 

None of us felt like volunteering. We stood silently, watch Ha Kun grow more and more annoyed until. "I'll go," I volunteered. Today was full of me being impulsive so I figured, why not?

It's a trap!!!!!

No it's not. He wouldn't have stashed the Tigris there if it were a trap.

But you have no clue what's down there?!?

I have to follow orders otherwise this whole plan falls apart.

Ughh fine. I hate this plan.

I turned back to the other Lourdes. Orion raised an eyebrow than nodded approvingly. "See you on the other side." I took a deep breath and jumped.

I don't know what I was expecting. But for the few seconds that I fell, I screamed like a dying monkey. I couldn't see anything in the darkness until lights on either side of me began lighting up, illuminating the shaft that I was falling down. A sudden slam of my body into something knocked the wind out of me. It curved around me, the metal bruising into my skin. It was uncomfortable to be sure, but as I wiggled my arms and legs, I could tell that all I would leave here with would be a few bruises.