in the ataraxis of aftermath

fabrica harbor

"A factory? Why?" Naoko mumbled, propping herself up on the bow of Keyla's little dinghy.

"Well, you asked me something a while ago, and I want to answer it! But it'll work better if you can actually see what I mean," The other girl laughed.

That didn't make much sense, but Naoko went with it Keyla never seemed to make much sense at all, at least in the beginning.

They moored the boat on the staircase, a small, rickety thing that slithered up the outside of the building. It was a gunmetal gray, solid and unflinching. Large smokestacks plumed into the sky, but they weren't producing anything. The factory just sat, empty, untouchable.

They climbed up the stairs and made it to a small door which Keyla shoulderchecked into submission.

Inside smelled of rust and dirt. Naoko wrinkled her nose, taking her mask out of her pocket and pulling it on. Keyla followed suit, silently.

She had been silent a lot recently. Naoko wondered if she was okay.

Naoko held back and let Keyla lead the way. She walked behind her, glad she was not the one in charge of sorting through the variable labyrinth of corridors and staircases.

Finally, they arrived to what appeared to be a large storage room. Huge barrels were lined up against the wall. Smaller plastic jars were stacked over on the other side of the room. Judging by the empty spaces in the rows, quite a few jars were missing.

"So," Keyla clapped her hands together, chuckling nervously. "A while ago. You asked me how my dinghy doesn't fall apart in the water! Well, it's all because I made a discovery!"

"A discovery?" Naoko raised her eyebrows.

"Well, yeah!" The other girl scratched at the back of her neck. "It's... this stuff!"

"What stuff?"

Keyla gestured at the barrels and jars around them.

"There are more in here too. There are also tanks outside," Keyla was speaking quickly, nervously.

"What is it?" Naoko asked, trying to slow Keyla down.

"It's like," The other girl waved her hands, frowning. "It's like this goopy... jelly... stuff. It can..."

Naoko waited patiently. Eventually Keyla took a deep breath and tried again.

"It can repel... the water."

There was a whooshing silence. Naoko took a step back, her vision shaking.

"I don't know how," Keyla kept going, spurred into panicked action at the sight of her. "It just... does. Anything you cover with this stuff, like, the water.... it just... avoids it. It's amazing, actually. I'm not sure if it expires so I recoat everything just in case but yeah! It works? Really well? It doesn't even damage your skin? I mean, maybe it does, but I didn't feel like anything really happened. I guess I can't say that for sure but I mean, as long as I'm still alive and kicking that's proof enough, right? I mean, maybe not. Maybe I'll die slowly or something! Who knows!"

Keyla started laughing, loud and long and uncomfortable. Even once she quieted down, it took her a while until she met Naoko's eyes.

"I'm sorry! Please don't cry!" Keyla pleaded, fidgeting with her hands as if she didn't quite know what to do with them.

And Naoko, to her surprise, realized that tears were tracking down her face. She wiped at them with her palms.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," She whispered, fruitlessly swiping at her cheeks. "I don't know why- I can't-"

"Hey, no, it's okay, please, don't-, ah," Keyla waved her hands frantically before giving in and wrapping them around Naoko. "Please don't cry, I'm really sorry, I should've told you sooner, I'm really sorry."

Naoko could only shake her head. No, she wasn't angry, no, she wasn't sure why she was crying, no, she didn't really know what was happening, but she did know one thing.

She wanted to stay like this, for just a few minutes longer.