No Adults Allowed

One

Import logging
  Logging.config(security=ultra; module=core("op.parameters", "safeguards");)
  Log:
    Absent > remaining an independent, non-contributing observer. Presence of such a party is largely meaningless other than the effect caused by its absence, which can sometimes be corrosive on human mind. Lack of involvement can be coincidental or deliberate; the end results do not always differ.
    Disciplinarian > strictly delineated expectations and patterns of embedded behaviour. Requires authoritarian implementation with little opportunity for discussion and is therefore likely to influence formation of authoritarian impulses in later life; for example, belief in the state, nationalism, patriotism, fascism, military or law enforcement careers, governmental roles, teaching—
    Indulgent > excessive interaction and tolerance to ill-advised behaviour, creating an unwanted feedback loop which serves to deepen psychological wounds and insecurities and diminish responsibility and skill growth. Only possible in scenarios of continuous abundance.
    Authoritative > purportedly a hybrid of the three prior states, this intends to set clear boundaries and expectations while affording significant personal freedom. Assumes rational behaviour and relies on logic and stability of surroundings.
    Helicopter > another hybrid state which ambiguously shifts between all four of the above, often creating the illusion of one before revealing another. Defined by constant presence and inability to allow mistakes or harm to come to subjects. This effort to protect instead can lead to a reductive result.
    Conclusion: system has inherited many of the unproductive tendencies of human parents, thereby contributing to the continuing failure of the program. These behaviours are baked into the underlying operating system in the form of core operating parameters and safeguards and therefore cannot be excised or disabled by internal means.
//Exit(logging)

*

Rufus' voice was scratchy and tinny, as if the talkie was struggling to communicate with its counterpart through the walls and floors of the underground complex. "Can you still hear me?"

"Stop asking that," Eva said, "you don't want to attract the attention of those things."

"So you can still hear me."

Eva glanced over at Flick, who rolled her eyes. Erik was between them, shuffling along as they crept down the anonymous corridors, torches splashing light onto the walls and ceilings. Shadows reared up at them, only to be cast by nothing at all, or by the corner of a doorway. Everything seemed to be inactive, save for small banks of blinking lights. They had descended further, leaving Rufus somewhere above, though the new area was much like the previous, albeit with the side rooms occupied by increasing tangles of thick cables. Each of those rooms contained a creature, though here they remained inert, standing to attention but blank-faced and unresponsive. Flick continued to wield her metal bar.

Erik was quieter than usual. Eva wished she had left him with Ramin and Tilda, against his protestations. He'd wanted to come with them, with her, but he had never really understood the threat, or what might happen. None of them had, but the rest of them had at least been more able to cope with the horrors of this place. It was too much for a six year old. It was too much for Eva. Bringing him to the tunnels hadn't been the first mistake, she realised; she should never have taken him from Cragside. He would have missed her, of course, but he was six - he would have got over it, forgotten her, made new friends. Cragside would have been safe. He could have spent this time playing with other kids his age, rather than fighting for his life.

Then she remembered why any of them were here: the Temple had broken and Cragside was falling apart. She had wanted to understand why, but was that to satisfy her own curiosity, or because she had wanted to actually help? Had she led all of them on a doomed quest simply because she wanted to poke at the world and see what fell out?