Sanctuary of the Wanderer

Chapter 4

It had been for him little more than a whim, a futile act out of an impetus to exhaust all possibilities, regardless of the impossible.

Armitage applied his force to one of the walls, and to his pleasure and incredulity, found that the impossible delivered. The wall of the cube moved, expanding the surface area allotted to the two prisoners as easily as though he were moving a dividing panel upon wheels, nearly causing Hux to fall over from the surprising shift.

"They move!" Dameron exclaimed in amazement, hardly able to believe his eyes, the man's delight equal to that of Hux. Grinning broadly at the sign of hope, he joined the general in pushing the wall away from the center, however, the moment he touched it, the material once again became as immobile as concrete. Hux turned to him sharply with a scowl, as though he would at any moment strike him, regarding the pilot as one who tears up a winning lottery ticket.

"Imbecile" he waved his hand signalling the other to stay back, hoping that it was not too late to reverse the mistake.

Dameron obeyed, if only for the sake of renewing their hopes and watching Hux feign to be who knows exactly. Turning his attention back to the metallic wall, General Hux attempted to continue his experiment without the assistance of meddlers, uncertain whether it would be to any avail after Poe's untimely interference.

To his relief, the wall was still yielding, having return to its former mobile state – once those who exerted pressure upon it returned their numbers to one. Hux observed that it seemed to pulse at his touch, as though a sentient shiver ran through it, a sensation both strange and unnerving. Yet it did not stop him from his endeavour. Indeed, he could not help but smile with petty pleasure that the creators of the cube had deemed it fitting to allow him certain rights over the square footage of his confines, and not to the pilot, although the reasons for this presumed decision remained obscure to him.

He began to mediate on this question while making for them a very narrow passageway of a cell, moved by little more than a vague notion that at some point the end of the expansion would be reached to reveal a door, some means of escape – anything other than emptiness.

These thoughts were interrupted by a shouting coming from somewhere in the distance, not behind him as he had expected, but to the right of him – where there was another great expanse. So intent he had been on his own experiment that he had failed to notice how the cell was not a hallway but a large prism, long and wide enough to house a battlecrusier.

It was not long before he could see the panting form of Dameron sprinting back to what had once been the center of their cell. The general debated whether or not to continue with his side of the room or accept the futility of the task which the pilot was likely on his way to report to him, after having taken the attempt far enough that it was some time before the two of them met again.

Retracing his steps over the great distance which was made between them, Poe at last reached the general, pausing for a moment to regain his breath before he spoke, his face drenched in sweat, not without some pleasure at being able to stretch his limbs – while at the same time being of use to their common cause.

"It's no good, I mean we can make this the size of a small country but what of it?" he gestured to the surrounding empty space. " I suppose it's something – at least we tested one so-called hypothesis as well as any man can, short of running a marathon. Then again, who knows, we could keep trying once I rest for a bit. I'm worn out and dying for water" Poe wiped his brow, his chest still heaving. "At least this new development is something to work with."

"There must be a reason for this," Hux turned away from him to think, he looked to the ground, pacing slightly as he verbalized his nascent speculations, more for his own sake than for a desire for the other's input.

"You may be right, but what more can we do?" Poe, who had been sitting on the floor stood up suddenly.

Hux had no answer to give the man, nor himself for the matter.

"Wait here," Armitage told him, walking towards the wall panel which he had been pushing.

"What – did you find something?" Poe's features expressed a sharp interest to disobey him, "it felt like I was running for hours. It's just more of the same...isn't it?" Poe could see even from where he stood that there was no visible object on the horizon when he gazed in the direction beyond Hux, yet was all the while despondent to fully admit to himself that their efforts and glimmer of hope was all for naught. "I suppose we could try going further, I just –"

"I said wait here," Hux repeated.

"Why? Where are you going?" Dameron's brow furrowed at what he felt was needless effrontery by the general, who refused to look past their two factions even temporarily until they found some means of escape. "Fine, suit yourself," Poe tried to appear indifferent to the other's small-mindedness but could not help but feel some disappointment that the other did not trust with him, for such had been his interpretation as he watched him walk on into the distance.

After a few moments, Dameron likewise turned to walk in the direction of the wall panel that he thought of as "his", trudging on in contemplation. He tried to amuse himself with the thought of telling Hux that if the general was of no help but as food, then so be it – leading to other tangents of thoughts which he did not much wish to entertain.

Meanwhile, General Hux's usually forbearing temper had grown irritated from being deprived of his bodily needs. Even the vastly expanded confides which housed him offered no visible sign of providing them with water or sustenance; he knew not when the last time was that he had either. He estimated that less than a day had passed since he awoke, although there was no way of keeping time. Surely it could not have been long because, while he was certainly exhausted and slight of frame, his body did not bear the signs of being near the point of starvation.