GRAVESKIES

Chapter 24

The Supreme Commander had left the Armyhouse. The celebrations subsided today, but the war was far from over. This would spell disaster.

"Sylvia, we need to talk. You said to come here when I start to see things, so here I am. I wouldn't do this if I had any other choice. You need to—"

Sylvia raised a hand, without glancing at her. She'd talked herself into an\ suite almost as large as Storyteller's. She wore a black turtleneck and jeans too snugly fitting to not be tailor-made—a casual yet classy, clearly costly outfit.

"I'm cooking, darling. Save your breakdown for after I'm done." The pet name slid off her tongue as though it burned with acid. Her hands worked fast, eyes trained on the vegetables she minced.

Ryu shuffled, pocketing her hands. "So, uhh... I should just stand here or—"

"Make yourself useful."

Ryujin helped her upon ice-cold orders, but Sylvia seemed to rather want to injure her than cook fried fish and salad. She almost chopped two of Ryujin's fingers off when slicing the flesh. She turned the electric plita? on when Ryu's hand was still on top of it. Ryujin would warn that the vegetables in Axis are pretty much just as processed as the commercialized chocolate bars, but she had a feeling Sylvia wasn't up for a debate about macronutrients.

After turning off the counter, the ambassador faced her, leaning against it. Slowly slipped off her mittens, brushing her hair back and folding her arms. "You are here to negotiate. Am I right?"

Ryujin hesitated, but nodded. She'd hoped for something more along the lines of a discussion, but after all, Sylvia had a job to do. The soldier could stand a few short-lived attempts at intimidation if it got her what she needed: the truth.

"We will not have this conversation here. Follow me."

The door clicked closed in the blink of an eye, leaving Ryujin alone in the ambassador's suite. Fuddled with confusion, she barely kept up with Sylvia's brisk strides. "Who do you think could be listening to us?"

"People like me."

Anyone who'd lived long enough in the Armyhouse could recognize the path to the basement. The underground maze of chambers, halls and bunkers that spanned under the entire establishment had been put out of use, but she supposed Sylvia had had enough time on her hands the past week to explore the building all she wanted. They had used to serve as a prison before all Districts of Akan had instated their own blocks of cells. Then they were used as punishment rooms for the fresh, unruly children of the barracks.

"We haven't spoken in a long time."

"Jeez, I wonder why." Ryujin really didn't know why. If she had slept at all last niht, perhaps she would've had the energy to prod.

After a series of snaking tunnels, Ryu followed Sylvia into a tiny amphitheater. Their steps startled thick clouds of moldy ash. The arc above the crown of her head dripped chiming tears of calcareous water. Sylvia flicked a switch; a series of cylindrical, dirty white, buzzing neon lights fizzled to life. Still dust floated like static in the air. The assassin sat down on the front row; Ryujin sat on the very opposite bench. The echo here worked in reverse; she felt the reverberations before she heard Sylvia's speech.

"I've been reporting back home lately. My superiors were immensely delighted to hear from me in a luxurious apartment at the heart of the Capital." A quick grin which didn't show in her eyes. "I hope you understand that I need a new revelation to share with them. Now tell me, what's the cause for that miserable look on your face?" Her tongue moved around the foreign language as flawlessly as ever, with an elegance Ryu envied but did not need.