Innerworks

63. The crumbling cliff

AN//: More puzzle pieces, who's got their edge pieces yet?

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The Ivory rubble falls away loudly as they comb through it.

What once was the proud Dream Tower is now nothing more than various pieces stirring up dust.

"Do you really think they're here?"

She sighs exasperatedly, placing her gloved hands on her hips as she turns to her brother, "well they're not with us and I don't know what else to think! We need to find as much evidence as possible-"

Liam shakes his head. "I understand that but why do you think they're dead?"

"Yeah!" Grunts Pranks from where he was moving a large slab with Misleading Compliment, "we found all the other bodies, just not theirs. For all we know they could have gone with Remy"

Fiona bites her lip, "call it a hunch, but I don't think so and I doubt it'd be a good idea to want to wait and see- besides none of us saw them with the Personalities...who we did see though was Thomas and that's a whole other set of problems as it is"

"Fair", comments Steven, still turning over stones from his section of the rubble, "but we don't know for sure, I mean I didn't see all the Sides, we don't know who all is with them"

"That's not exactly true", cuts Liam, "we know that there was four Personalities minimum and that Remy and Thomas made a break for it when those Ink things chased them into the subconscious. They probably found somewhere safe in there to remain out of trouble for the time being"

Misleading compliment hums in agreement. "You're right, at the very least Thomas is alive and with someone...but if the Girls really weren't with Remy, wouldn't we see them by now?"

"Ok, but we all know that Dad was there", said Steven, "his polo was hard to miss."

Pranks blinked, pressing his hand under his chin. "Huh, that's true. If they did die, there would be no bodies if he sent them off."

They all paused, the mood far to tense and morbid to continue that Topic.

"So, what do we do now?" asks Steven.

Fiona exhales shakily through her nose as she bends down to keep moving the rocks as she had been doing earlier. "We search and keep searching until we find something, anything that would help-"

"I found something!" Called the Guard near them. In his hand was an ornate gold chest; it was small, flat and rectangular with beautiful patterns etched onto it.

The Box was gingerly passed to only female in the group. Carefully she opened it, "schematics?" Fiona gasped as she skimmed the files in the box. "This was what they were looking for! It's the exact location of Ericsson's machine! These files were what Remy and Roman were waiting for, remember?!"

The other Ancillaries nodded in agreement.

Do you think they were killed because of it?" Asks Steven.

"That is a possibility", Shrugs Misleading Compliment.

Fiona ignored them and instead paid attention to the Guard who had found the box. "You, soldier! What is your name?"

"My name my lady is Charles"

Fiona pauses, "Charles is it? Is Ericsson perhaps-"

"My brother? Yes, as unfortunate as that is"

The girl regarded him with a quirked brow, "if he's your brother, would you mind me asking you some questions?"

Charles paused, if for only a second and then shook his head. "Go ahead m'lady"