FALTER

CHAPTER 51: The cavity.

Underneath the rubble, deep in the rarely visited basement of the Mission, two women stood in a dark, musty corner.

Lisa's usually fluffy hair was matted with the drippings from the ceiling, and her pants were damp from the knee down. Her lips trembled but her fingers remained steady as she calmly continued her work. Her unwavering concentration was finally broken by the sound of mumbling from behind.

There was another woman behind them, sitting on a crate a few feet away. She was old, frail and had began to talk to herself. Noticing the beam of light on the wires was wavering, she looked up at Ari.

"You sure she doesn't need the hospital?"

"Hm?" Ari stared at her mother. Lisa knew she heard her so she let the woman process for a second. "No. She needs to stay close."

Lisa knew better than to ask and went back to soldering wires together. When Imti had called her for help, she had already been halfway through the torn city. They couldn't put themselves fully back together yet, but having the Falter Mission's telephone lines back up would be crucial. This technology was archaic, however, and it was taking all of her expertise to string whatever she could back to a usable state.

"You're good with machines, yeah?"

Lisa would've rolled her eyes if it was anyone else asking but she had been trying to keep her heart rate at an acceptable pace since she saw Ari. "Yes."

"Hm... do you think you can-" She pulled her baby blue coat back, exposing the belt tied around her waist. "- put any of this back together?"

It took Lisa a second to realize she was supposed to be staring at the haphazard device and not Ari's slim waist, but when she did, she was taken aback by the sight of a mess of wires, exposed metal and a broken crystal in a scratched housing.

"I'm an engineer, not a wizard," She looked up at Ari. The woman's eyes were hidden by the shadow of her bangs. "I don't think you should be wearing that so close to your body, dude, it seems like it's a second away from exploding-"

"I know." Ari said a little forcefully. "Anyways, how are you doing down there?"

Lisa turned back to her own handiwork. Any certified electrician would've had an aneurysm at her work but it was the best she could do. She reached out with a rugged, thick glove and let her finger hover over the switch.

"Five minutes. Go back up and tell them to be ready."

Ari switched off her flashlight, leaving them only in the dim light of the single bulb in the basement. As Lisa's eyes adjusted, she realized Ari had a very sorrowful expression on her face, which was soon replaced by her usual scowl.

Lisa watched her walk away, delicately guide her mother to the stairs and begin walking upstairs when she turned back to face the other woman. "Thank you."

Five minutes later, Ari and Marci stood behind the armoured man as he leaned over the table. Ari couldn't help but admire the setup of the room they were in - there were no windows, and each inch of the wall was covered in telephones. She had never even seen one of these things, and to be surrounded by this fossil of a communication device left her in awe.