Descension

CHAPTER 21

Ben gazes up at the desolate block of hollow concrete looming over him: the old refinery. Apartment buildings, businesses, and schools look no different from one another.

"It's more... monotonous than I remember." Ben hesitates to comment, not wanting to offend Dannika

Joaquin chides, "Yeah. That's what happens when you put a bunch of commies in charge of architecture."

Dannika hisses at him and flicks his shoulder with the back of her hand, beginning to lecture him on the elegance of Imperial Russian design. Ben strides up to the rusted keypad and bends down to input the code. The lock clicks as it unlatches, Ben wiggling the sticky clasp apart. The door screeches as it struggles open. Ben looks over his shoulder and waves the bickering couple inside. The building's interior is completely open, glass shards on the floor being the only remains of grand windows, their frames now nothing but yawning gates to the outside. Tables and machines litter the floor, tipped over and rusted, their parts scattered far from origin. Ben's footsteps crunch as he walks inside. He allows his eyes to wander over the structure, tracing each line of piping and beam. It isn't pristine and gleaming like the facility he had known for so long, but yet, it still reminds Ben of home. He smiles ruefully, closing his eyes to contain the tears forming at the corners of his eyes.

Joaquin hums gruffly, "I'm a bit worried about it being on the edge of the ternary."

Ben sniffs and wipes his eyes before turning around, "That's a valid concern," he nods, voice tainted by a restrained sob, "...but it's what we have for now."

Dannika's brows furrow, "How are they even tracking you? You don't have a neurachip, do you?"

Ben shakes his head, "No. They could be tracking Joaquin."

Joaquin quickly counters, "I made sure that wasn't possible a long time ago."

Ben begins pacing, biting the inside of his cheek, "We used face-ID's for Omnicore... they have access to that." Ben's brows raise, and it's as if a lightbulb had flashed above his head, "Cameras. All of the Oleander Ternary is littered with them; it's mandated that every structure is equipped with at least two. That includes the NID: it's technically a part of Industrial Genesis."

Joaquin tilts his head, "So... no cameras in the Slavic Ternary?"

"They're not required." Ben replies, "So there's sure to be less."

Dannika smirks, "We like our secrets. There'll be significantly less."

Joaquin extends his arms, then lets them fall to his sides with a clap, "There. Problem solved!"

Ben purses his lips. "It's only a hypothesis."

Dannika and Joaquin give him nearly the same deadpan look.

Ben clears his throat, "Good enough. We should get settled."

The group departs from one another, Ben opting to explore the large factory, Joaquin beginning to tidy up, and Dannika getting ready to leave for supplies.

After a few days, they had created a small camp. Dannika had gathered two sleeping mats, non-perishable foods, toiletries, and a roaring barrel fire in the middle. Joaquin left frequently to run reconnaissance missions with Jaakobah's map. Ben stayed at the base, scribbling down calculations for every possible outcome of Omnicore.

Dannika sighs as she leans against Joaquin, "I'm sorry I couldn't get more. I ran out of favors," She huffs with a rueful smirk.

Joaquin shakes his head, staring into the fire, "I don't expect you to steal from your people." he wraps his arm tightly around her, pulling her closer to him.