Undefined - The Zephyr Book 1 ? (completed)(#Wattys2016)

Chapter 33 - Syianne

33 - Syianne

Sagastus looks bony and frail in his Lightsilver suit. I can barely look at him and I feel embarrassed to be looked at as well. His eyes, both the glass one and the real one, are equally intimidating and condescending. He doesn't greet me, or talk to me, and thank goodness, I think he doesn't even look at me. I just stand there next to him, waiting for our turn to come, waiting for all this to be over with.

I spot Cello and his pairing. I try not to stare at the man standing next to him. I feel sick to my stomach thinking about what they did to him. That little taste of violence directed at me, coming from so many people at once, had prevented me from sleeping this entire week. Whenever I close my eyes, I can still feel their hate burning me, I can still feel the prickling of the knife blade against my thumb. I'm helpless against it, a weak and fragile creature. Even though all the pain and scars have almost completely vanished from my body, I feel broken beyond repair.

What helped me most this week was moving to the mansion. Surrounded by all these people, I didn't have the time or quiet to fall into despair. Every moment something is happening, things I could focus on beside my trauma. I've never been part of a lively family, but I've decided to concentrate on making our entrance to the team as smooth as I possibly can. No matter what happens from now on, being on Leolan's team is my top priority. I don't want to be alone anymore; I'm done with isolating myself.

I want to be a part of something bigger than me, I'm nothing on my own.

"May the next Plungers please proceed through the doors," calls a voice on the speaker. Our names are on the "Next Plungers" list. When the door opens, a line forms and slowly, pair by pair, we walk through and begin descending a wide spiral staircase that seems to go on for ages deeper and deeper underground. I feel dizzy and excited with every turn, the temperature plummets, and a refreshing chill penetrates through the suit. Finally, after what must have been more than 400 stairs, we pass through a large archway.

My jaw drops.

We emerge into a vast cavern. The ceiling is so high that despite the illuminating lamps it remains in darkness. I hear the screech of bats overhead, but they hide high up in the darkness out of sight and beyond the light's reach.

The entire floor is covered with hundreds of round metal hatches. Against the far wall, hundreds of rolls of thick woven metal wire are bolted to it. The wires zigzag across the floor and pass through small openings in the hatch doors. To my left and to my right, the cavern walls are covered with dozens of screens, like the screens in the control room, each one showing a different parameter of the inner workings of the Zephyr. I can tell light clarity charts from fade charts, I can tell disturbance radars from Plunger radars. I know very little of what there is to know, but I am sure that I will learn.

"Prime conditions for a Plunge," Sagastus talks to me for the first time as we step out into the cavern – the Launching Hall as it's called. There's a placement screen with all the Plunging pair names on it and the hatch number through which they will enter.

We walk to hatch E13. An Undefined girl walks up to us, she straightens her back when she sees Sagastus, then her eyes move to me and she wrinkles her forehead. While I see the question hanging on her lips, she does not ask anything. She lifts up a harness and starts buckling it on Sagastus, pulling the straps tightly until it sits smugly round his torso and between his legs like a mountaineer. She takes another of these harnesses and proceeds to buckle it on me.

"Girl, why aren't you doing your job?" Sagastus demands, making the Undefined girl freeze and look at him in fear, wondering what she is doing wrong. "This is a first-time Plunger; you need to explain to her."

She looks both relieved and tense, "r-right!" she calls, clearing her throat. "These straps will be connected to two wires. The first wire connected to the ring on your stomach will attach you to your p-pair," she hesitates when she remembers who my pair is, "and the second wire connected to the ring on your back will attach you to that wall. It's called the home-wire. It's only a precaution; in case you are unable to come up yourself we will pull you up." She lifts up the front strap for me to see that there is a small switch fixed into it. "If you're in distress and your pairing can't help, push the switch down and the wire will automatically pull you up in addition to an emergency signal that will be sent to the Control room and to us."

She busies herself with attaching all the wires to their appropriate places, passing two home wires through the hatch door before attaching them to us.

"The pairing wire stretches when you move apart, up to ten feet, and it rolls back when you move together. Please fix your headdress and place your goggles on your face." I do as I'm told, covering my face so that only my eyes and my jewel are visible through their respective openings.

She hands me a small fragile-looking headset. "This is to communicate with the Control Room. Press the button on the side to speak to the Control room, you will hear all transmission in the public channel, if you want to speak with someone else Plunging, simply input their channel number into this controller and they will be added to your private channel. Right now your private channel is set so that you can communicate with your pair; private channel communications is done without pressing the button on the side of the earphone." I adjust the headset underneath the jumpsuit's head-dress. A looping telephone wire connects to the controller which she clips to the front strap of the harness.

I begin hearing voices in my left ear, the Control room issuing standard transmissions about the conditions in various areas of the Zephyr and the Plungers answering accordingly.

"It's very important that you identify yourself by your Jewel colour and serial number before you speak in the public channel. That's also the number of your private channel. Your name in communication is U6619. If you don't have any questions, you're ready to go."

"No questions," I say, although I suddenly feel like I've forgotten everything she just told me.

"Okay!" She steps over to the hatch and turns a large steel wheel on the hatch door; it opens with a heavy suction sound. There are already a few wires inserted through the wire-opening in the door, ours included. She beckons for me to come; I carefully edge closer and look down into the hole in the ground.

The Zephyr is dark and murky, its surface looks like a black mirror, except it ripples slightly, not like water, more like jelly. "When you Plunge, tuck your chin down against your chest and hug your head with your arms until you slow down, then," she blinks at me, "j-just listen to your g-guide."

"Okay," I say.

"In you go."

"Now?" I clear my throat, of course it's now. I lift one foot from the floor and put it right down. My heart is hammering in my ears and my knees are shaking. I can't believe this is happening, there are so many things I could do wrong, a mistake here can be fatal, my life depends on this.

"Go on!" I already can't remember the face of the Undefined girl standing behind me, she smacks me on the back making me stumble slightly. I stop right on the ledge, looking into the tar-like essence of the Zephyr.

I'll count to three, and then, I'll jump. One. I tuck my head down and wrap my arms around it. Two. I bend my knees and close my eyes. Thr...

"Get in there already!" Sagastus says sharply, pushing me in.

I Plunge into the Zephyr.

Author's Note: From here on, we Plunge! I've decided to maintain the one chapter per POV so some of the following chapters may be a little on the short side due to having to switch often between POVs. I apologise for killing you slowly. Don't forget to show your love by voting and I have to say that your comments really put a huge smile on my face, even if they're short.

Anyway, see you tomorrow xoxoxox

P.S. (UNDEFINED IS RANKED #88)