Yesterday's Enemy [AoT]

FIFTY-SIX

'Power demands to be proven. What worth is in genius never spoken? Or in money never spent and cannons never fired? True power is the decision to act; to be passive is to be dead.'

-An extract from the book 'Royal Questions' written by scholar and journalist Aksel Briggs.

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FIFTY-SIX

Wall Sina, Interior, the Krüger Tunnels

The next moment, Lorelai seemed to have sequestered away her emotions, for she turned to the room and said with remarkable composure, "Hephaestus, full system sweep. I need stats on the exact number of people in the tunnels."

Sentimentality always seemed to take a backseat for Lorelai. In that, Levi could relate. Nevertheless, composure was what they needed now, considering the possibility of survivors along with the coming danger of the bombs.

"Confirmed." A low hum echoed through the walls. "I have recognised thirteen individuals within the Krüger Tunnels."

The two of them exchanged a wide-eyed look. Thirteen. They'd come here with nine people. Lorelai's expression hardened. "Identity analysis."

Could there really be survivors? She remembered the chaos of the day Havas fell. The blood. The screams. The smell of charred flesh. Lorelai didn't think she'd ever forget that first sight of titans breaching the Peaks. The idea that four people had survived in that hellscape for all these months...

"Seven Walls hailing individuals are within the mineral and wealth storage vault at this moment."

"Thomsen and his men," Levi recognised.

"One Havasian woman and one Walls man are within the personal office space of Lord Warren Krüger." It was a little unsettling how this thing knew precisely what was happening at all times within these tunnels. Incredible— but unsettling. "Four individuals of unknown origin are situated at blast door one in the northern quarter."

"Unknown origin? Trace ancestry."

"They have ancestry I cannot quantify."

"What do you mean?" Lorelai demanded. "Are they from Havas or the Walls?"

"Apologies, my lady. But, if my systems are to be believed, these four individuals hail from neither Havas nor the Walls."

Levi watched as Lorelai slumped into an armchair, her face set in confusion. "It's not possible," he asserted. "Perhaps your 'AI' has a screw loose or something."

"Erwin's theory..." Lorelai murmured. "Life beyond the walls..."

"That's a little far-fetched."

She looked up at him with a sigh. "You're right. Hephaestus, do we have anything else on these individuals?"

"Three males and one female. Aged approximately twelve years old."

"Children?" Levi repeated incredulously.

"Get me imaging."

"Apologies, surveillance equipment in the area has been tampered with," said Hephaestus.

"What about intercom? Can I talk to them?"

"Intercom communication is also unavailable."

"Shit."