The Fox and The Forest (EDITING)

Vertical Velocity(2.5)

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The space around Tom should have fallen away. Should have blurred into a Monet mass of deep greens and blues but the truth was, the world Tom was falling towards was much too dark and blurred for him to distinguish a variation on the colour black.

Tom had no idea where exactly he was being dragged towards but the sound of the lake water whooshing up and over his suit confirmed his movement. He flicked on the radio switch. No-one there. The small flashlight bulbs at the end of the suit's metal fingers had flickered completely out.

Yet he was struck with a strange sense of calm, as though he floated in the eye of a storm.

He wondered if this was what death was like: a light-less journey to no-where.

Then decided that it can't have been like death, for no sooner had this thought passed Tom's mind then his suit plummeted onto the ground, rattling his bones like an ancient Chinese soothsayer.

Alone in the deep darkness, Tom flexed his limbs, checking the mechanics of the Aquarist suit were still in place. Fingers. Arms. Legs. Neck. All still functioning.

The pointer of the atmospheric pressure metre flitted from Substantial to Maintenance Required and Tom found himself glad to be less reliant on the internal atmosphere compared to the oxygen breathers. He took off his oxygen mask.

***

-  Meanwhile: 2nd Rank Purifier Station -

"Ah the replacement team. Just in time. We'll only be needing 3 of you."

"Pleased to be of service Sir," Flynn said immediately before his colleagues from the 2nd Rank station had time to speak. He climbed out of the elevator into the underground compound and saluted his superior Colonel Hastings.

"See this is the respect I require. Obedience. Loyalty. Subordination." The Colonel said to the other trainees, tongue dripping in egoism.

Flynn searched the faces of the remaining trainees as they were locking into their Aquarist suits and found no indication of Kate or Tom amongst them.

"Troublemakers again?" Flynn inquired, arms crossed and legs a regimented distance apart.

"Indeed. The blighters won't be coming back in one piece though. 'Av made sure of that."

"Good riddance," Flynn confirmed, as any Purifier should. Though his heart ached as he forced the words out of his mouth.

They can't be gone, he thought. They didn't escape The Forest Facility to loose themselves in the lakes. Not yet. Not on my watch.

"Spoke out of term they did. Spoke against their leaders! Ungrateful little pricks," the Colonel said vapidly.

Flynn bit down hard- the sharp edge of his chipped tooth drawing thick blood and setting an iron taste on his tongue.

Another, more esteemed Purifier from the 2nd rank paced towards Colonel Hastings, clipboard in hand.

"Our superior wants me to take a detailed report on the events having led up to the deaths of the trainees," they said. "He wants to make an example of what happens when you don't obey. He plans to add them to the Worker Expiration Report on the news tonight."

Flynn's superior ushered him away, not noticing his pain. "I'll check if the trainees know any extra details about the resistance," Flynn said, adhering to the order. Though he kept an ear towards the Colonel and his collegue.