Spring Upon the Solstice

XX - To: Kizuna

{ 001 }

"Alright, come on," a voice echoes down the corridor. "Quit making our job so damn difficult."

"You're not bringing me anywhere, dickheads!"

It sounds like a prisoner being transferred, but who?

"Stop fucking struggling already," the same voice groans. "Hey, man, you wanna give me a hand with this one?"

Never mind. I think I already know who it is.

With frigid fingertips and a pent-up energy gathering in my knee, I lock the door to my cell, and chase after the voices down below. Of all the prisoners that have come and gone through SL-4, the dungeon of the HERALD stronghold, nobody has had more of a spine than Kaede Hirosano. Even now, restrained to a trolley like Doctor Lecter in a straightjacket prison, her defiance never ebbs.

"Why the hell do we have to be on duty?" A new voice starts complaining; I presume it's the other guard.

"I would rather just not deal with what's happening on the solstice."

"Fuck, you right. Do you think they'll let us off?"

"Hell no!"

A muffled shout breaks through the silence, and one of the guards mutters something unintelligible as he tightens a metal strap. It's definitely Kaede, but they've already gagged her too.

Where are they going?

I chase after them, slipping through the shadows as best as I can, but they aren't gonna let me win the race to the elevator, despite being entirely unaware of my presence. Still, I can predict their destination. Only a fool would ignore the briefing room on the first sublevel, which has seen an incredible amount of foot traffic recently.

"Going up," one of the guards intones, as I hunch behind the corner. "SL-1, please."

And that confirms my suspicions.

I wait until they've ascended to take the second elevator, so I won't have the awkward experience of running into them. Thankfully, the next lift is empty. Not that it would have mattered, but it spares me the trouble of having to engineer a lie to cover my ass.

I tail the guards out of the elevator lobby, careful of the time I have remaining on the sparkwheel of Yumei's lighter. The jamming effect might follow me wherever I go, but it isn't unlimited.

For sure, now, they're headed for the briefing room.

After all, that's where all the drama happens. And considering that heavy duty security rolled in earlier to get Kaede Hirosano under control, I'd say it's a big day.

I take the shortcut to the briefing room, and slip in through the motion-sensor double doors. The room's empty, but the lights are already on and a warm cup of coffee steams at the end of the long mahogany table, so I'd say that somebody has been expecting visitors.

From my pocket, I slip out a folded piece of paper, signed with an inconspicuous pencil but wrapped with more than just a few words. Truth be told, I don't know if handing this over is a good idea. It could be hope—but it could also be something worse.

"Come on, keep it moving!"

One of the guards shoves the prisoner to the floor, and she tries to spew out a hellfire of curse words, but all that succeeds in doing is causing herself more pain. The gag automatically silences her string of f-bombs, anyways.