Mahingga

Chapter 22: Trust

Ako took a deep breath and smelled the air. His skin felt dry under the sun. He'd finally had his first bath in a couple months and it felt amazing, even though the soap didn't smell like anything. Being angry was exhausting, and he hadn't been able to get a full night of rest. He'd been trying to talk to Kevick all day, hoping that he could prove whether they had the ability to locate his brother or not. Kevick was locked in a meeting room however, and refused to see him. Ako came outside in hopes of cooling off his frustration.

Outside, it was nothing like Ako had expected. They were nestled in the foothills of a mountain that rose to the east. A few short trees and some tiny bushes were the only vegetation in sight. It was strange to see a mountain that wasn't green with life. There were gray clouds in the sky and a chilly breeze through the air. The ground was just gritty rock and cracked clay. Whatever forests Kita's parents remembered seeing were perhaps of a different land.

He was leaning against a fence railing outside the Freedom Alliance's compound. The building itself was little more than a cement shack, but it had several rooms below ground. There were about ten people walking about the surrounding area, two of them tending a garden, and another one inspecting a system of water wheels that spun through a passing stream. Apparently, that was one way they were able to generate electricity here. That, and the three smaller windmills they'd constructed.

One of the stranger things that really caught Ako's attention was a collection of corralled lizards. They were as big as boars, and they had square heads and bulbous backs. They moved rather slowly on beefy, stumped legs, but he'd been informed that they were bred that way in order to be a more manageable livestock. Food. The lizards were food. Maybe theirs was the tender, slimy meat he'd had for lunch.

Kita was a few paces off with another Pawid. She'd asked how to use a gun, thinking that it might come in handy. Ako didn't want to touch the things again, and he didn't want to be close to Kita at all, so he'd avoided her the whole day. After she'd been shooting for an hour however, she came walking over to him.

Ako huffed and started walking up towards the mountain.

"Ako, wait."

Ako quickened his pace.

Kita dashed up to him and caught him by his elbow. "Come on, Ako, just talk to me."

"That's okay, Kita, I don't need to hear any more lies."

"Ako, I'm sorry!" She shouted the words. A couple people nearby glanced over at them curiously.

He stopped in his tracks and turned on her. "Sorry?" He said. Her pale green eyes stared at him with intense pleading. "I trusted you, ya know. I believed every word you said, but you couldn't bother to tell me that you actually knew what was going on here? This whole time, you just wanted to use me."

Her eyes dropped with sadness. It surprised him to see her acting like this, and he almost lost his anger, but it was still there. He strode up the mountain a little way until she was hidden from view then sat down on a boulder.

There was a lot to take in, and he didn't know how to process it all. He didn't even want to think about it. In fact, now that he had a moment of peace and quiet, it would be the perfect chance to check his Palam. He couldn't believe he'd forgotten it until now.

He pulled back his heavy sleeve and activated his Palam with a rush of excitement. It came to life just as he remembered it. A world of Mahinggan data was at his fingertips. If he had the right tools, he could build a Leymatic energy converter by himself—no problem—but he wasn't about to tell anybody that, not if it meant they'd help him get his brother. It didn't seem like he could trust anybody with that knowledge anyway. Not even Kita. It was a good thing he hadn't told her. She'd probably tell everyone else, and they'd just try to force him into building one anyway.