Arc 1: The Aura Complex
Chapter 11: Now You See It
~Komali~
"Stand on the circle." Vaati instructed. Komali nervously followed and stood on the circle. Vaati pressed the button to drop Komali down the chute. Now, being a Rito, Komali wasn't scared of heights. Instinctively, he spread out his wings in order to flap back up. But, he forgot to take the bracelet on his right arm into account. As a result, his right wing was fully extended and his left arm was restricted, causing Komali to swing to the side of the chute and smack his body and head against the wall.
He awoke on the concrete floor with a stinging pain in his right side and his beak.
"Come on. Stand up." Vaati commanded. Komali, afraid of Vaati's expression of authority, followed his instructions without a second word. Komali heard his bracelet re-power up around his wrist as Vaati opened up the glass door.
He couldn't deny that he was nervous. How could he not? The labs were intimidating, and the experiments were extremely dangerous. Vaati looked like the kind of person who would lash out at him if he did anything the slightest bit wrong. After all, he was the reason why his family and friends were attacked. Just to get at him.
Vaati snapped his fingers in front of Komali. "Hello?"
Komali came back to reality as Vaati was motioning to enter the next testing room. Looking around, he noticed it was entirely empty. He didn't know what to expect, since he had neglected to listen to all of the details of Zelda's experience, Link was a bit tight-lipped for reasons unknown, and he hadn't had a chance to talk about it with Malon yet. Standing there, Vaati pressed some button to cause some kind of wooden crate to drop on the ceiling. Komali moved out the the way, right before the box fell. The sound it made as well as the fact that it didn't bounce signified that it must be extremely heavy, and would almost definitely kill him if it was dropped on his head.
He was too focused staring at the box to notice anything else happening around him.
"KOMALI!" Vaati shouted, finally grasping his attention. He jumped back in surprise.
"Have you not been listening to what I asked you to do?"
"Uhm... no."
Vaati sighed in disappointment and repeated his instructions. "Just carry the box to the hole."
He looked around. "What hole?"
"The hole that just opened right there, Komali. Use your tiny little birdbrain to observe what's actually happening! I can't be here all day! I have other tests to conduct!"
Komali recoiled and was taken aback by that remark. The tone of Vaati's voice sounded like it would cut him. Wanting to avoid further beratings, Komali decided to get started. Trying to push the box, he noticed it was extremely heavy, and that it would be near impossible for him to carry. Pushing it may be possible, but having to lift it a foot off the ground was definitely out of his strength range. Even if there were three of him, he still probably couldn't lift it. In addition to his lack of exercise, Rito aren't exactly built for heavy-duty work. Typically, they have hollower bones and have less muscle and fat in order to stay aerodynamic during flight, but it's quite a disadvantage in combat or brute strength actions. And, because of the fact that they were indoors combined with the fact that his bracelet obstructed his left wrist and wings, being a Rito was a complete disadvantage in this facility. It didn't help that he didn't see any other Rito in the facility in the almost two weeks that he'd been here. It just added to his insecurity.
Pushing the box, he finally reached the wall with the hole after maybe twenty minutes of pushing. But, he just gave up in lifting it. He just walked away.
"Try to lift it to the hole, Komali." Vaati encouraged, still with a very condescending tone. Komali rolled his eyes and returned to the box. He used all of his strength to pull upwards on the box, but ended up wasting his energy. He collapsed backwards and landed on his back.
"Alright, alright, that's enough." Vaati said. "Are you feeling alright for the next test?"
"Wh-" Komali started, between breaths. "What do you mean? Is s-something else coming?"
"No, we just want you to regain your energy before this next part."
Oh, goddesses. Something was happening in the next test. He could sense it. Komali took this into account and sat on the floor, panting for around five minutes until his breath slowed.
"Alright, let's go." Vaati opened the door to lead Komali to a new room, which was entirely empty. Looking up at the ceiling, there was nothing there except for the lab light fixtures. He waited for a bit, anticipating what would happen.
Pressing a button, Vaati stared straight into Komali's soul. Looking around and hearing some mechanical noises, he turned to a segment of the back wall which was sliding upwards. Inside waited a young man, with a baseball bat in his hand.
"Uhh... hello?" Komali shyly asked. He raised the bat above his head as Komali began to instinctively run. Running wasn't easy, as the room was rather too open to get any real distance between himself and this guy. The man chased him around, trying to club him like a piƱata.
"What're you doing?" Komali shouted, scrambling to avoid this maniac. The guy didn't say anything and continued chasing him around. Vaati, meanwhile, was just watching this transpire. He turned straight towards Vaati. "What the hell? I'm gonna die!"
"You have to fight him off yourself." Vaati replied. Komali rolled his eyes and continued scrambling. He needed something. A way to lose this person. But, all of a sudden, parts of the floor rose up, creating a maze-like structure within thel room. Komali, amazed at the technology in this facility, had no time to focus on his own thoughts. After all, there was a homicidal maniac trying to spill his blood. He was probably going to die or get injured anyway, but this was a great way to delay it.
After running around the tiny maze for a bit, the assaulter and Komali crossed paths. Looking behind him, he observed that there was a corner of the maze. The man approached him, smacking the baseball bat against his palm. The only thing that Komali could do was back up. It got to a point where Komali would be directly backed up to the wall. He was helpless. However, instead of making contact with the stone wall, Komali fell directly through it.
Huh? he thought. Looking up, the maze wall was still there. Did I just phase through the wall?
He leaned forwards and swatted the wall with his hand. It went right through the wall, he didn't even feel anything. Just then, the walls vanished. They didn't return to the ground, they just vanished.
"Hey, you!" Vaati shouted, making Komali recoil. Komali confusedly pointed to his own face.
"No, not you, Komali. I was talking to Mark."
"Uhh... yeah?" Mark replied.
"Go back."
"Bu-"
"NOW"
This 'Mark' guy dropped the bat and turned around, storming like a little kid throwing a tantrum back to the chamber he came from.
"What just happened?" Komali asked.
"That was your power." Vaati replied bluntly. "I want you to guess what you can do."
Komali was still confused. "Uhh... wall phasing?"
"Nope, try again." Vaati said. "Let me give you a hint. That maze was not part of our test."
"Eh?"
"Oh my god, you're so stupid. You can make illusions."
"Is that last part an insult...? Sounds like an insult."
"No, that's your power, you stupid pigeon. You can form illusions that aren't actually tangible."
"Oh. Okay, I guess?"
Komali decided to test it out. He imagined a lamppost standing right next to him. Straining his mind, he closed his eyes. When he opened it again, there was a lamppost standing right next to him. Trying to mess with it, he swung his hand right through the body of the lamp.
This is insane.
"Make it go away." Vaati ordered. Komali tried by clearing his thoughts of the lamppost. But, once he did, it was still there.
"I'm t-trying. I don't know what to do."
"Don't ask me what to do. I'm not the one who made it appear, and we don't fully understand everyone's powers yet either. Just do what you can."
Komali decided to focus on the lamppost that was already there. He imagined it dissipating, and strengthened that imagination to the apparition in front of him. The lamppost became kind of squiggly, and then vanished from sight.
"That's good." Vaati said. "Let's see how you can do moving objects. Try creating a moving baseball."
Komali tried to replicate the experiment that he did when he first arrived at the labs. He cupped his hands, and fully imagined a baseball in his hand. Pushing his image from his mind into his hand, he tried to throw it. But, things didn't exactly turn out that way.
Komali succeeded in making a baseball. But, the issue, was that the baseball was floating in mid-air. When Komali had formed it, he was trying to throw it. But, instead of flying, it phased right through his hand and stayed in midair.
"Alright, alright." Vaati said in response. "We can work on that next time. For now, let's test you for a major power."
"Eh? Major power?"
"Were you not paying attention to my opening speech? Geez, get it together."
Komali could tell that Vaati didn't like him very much. He just didn't know why, but he could tell it wouldn't bode well for him in the future.
"We'll test you for an elemental power, first. Just try to channel your inner energy inside yourself. Preferably towards your hands. That tends to work best for the others with elemental powers."
Komali tried to push all of his remaining energy towards his arms and hands. He tensed his shoulders and the rest of his body, but nothing happened. Vaati and Komali sat there for around five minutes.
"Well, I guess we'll move on and test yo-"
*BZZT*
Komali's bracelet somehow reacted to something, but Komali only heard the sound. Vaati fell silent. After a few minutes, Vaati reached into his pocket and pulled out some kind of transceiver.
"We need to check the subject's bracelet. Over."
A couple of redshirts entered the room and stood in front of the testing chamber. Two entered the chamber with tools such as screwdrivers, pliers, and shears. They bent down towards Komali's right wrist to take a look at it.
"Vaati, it doesn't look like there's an issu-"
A flash of light occurred as the redshirt was flung backwards, with an audible buzzing sound. The soldier laid on the ground as the other redshirt dropped his tools and rushed over. Much to Komali's relief, the first redshirt wasn't dead. Much to Komali's chagrin, he wasn't injured. He stood up and then walked out of the testing chamber. After quietly whispering to Vaati about something, the redshirts left the room.
"Alright, Komali. Focus your energy."
"Aren't you going to fix my bracele-"
"Your bracelet is fine. Just focus."
Komali, still clueless, decided to do what Vaati said. He focused and channeled his energy while he closed his eyes. He focused on the distress he went here.
Opening his eyes, he was sparking. Looking at his hands and the rest of his body, it was discharging sparks which were appearing and disappearing all over his bare skin. He also noticed that while the sparks were emitting light, it was only enough to make his body visible.
"What?" He asked, staring at his sparking hands. Now, he wasn't frightened. He already registered the shock of his illusion ability, so this was just an added bonus.
"Alright." Vaati replied, ignoring his question. "Try firing an electricity beam or something like that."
Komali got into a fighting stance and positioned his body towards the furthest wall. Trying to channel the energy that was manifesting in his body towards his hands, he aimed his hands and tried to eject the electricity.
It didn't work. He tried again, and nothing.
"Okay, okay, we can cut it here for today. I don't want you overworking yourself and getting injured."
Vaati pressed a button, which re-activated his bracelet. His body stopped sparking as he felt the exhaustion.
"Now, go back to your room and rest up."
Vaati opened the door for Komali, and pushed him out into the hallway. He didn't expect the rudeness that came from Vaati, but he wasn't surprised. He was a prisoner, after all. Now, since the time in the labs was over, Komali put everything that happened behind him. Checking the time, 3:30, he definitely missed Zelda's meeting. There was no doubt that everyone had gone their separate ways, but Komali had to check in with at least one of them in order to understand what had happened and prepare for anything important. He rushed back to his room, yet Link was not there. He fumbled with the telephone for a few minutes in order to call Malon and Zelda's room.
*BEEP* 'Ello? Zelda speaking.
"Hey, Z-zelda, can you meet me at the lounge in five minutes? I want you to t-tell me about what we discussed."
"Who is this?"
"It's Komali. I'm out of the labs now."
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. I'll debrief you at dinnertime. Just relax until then."
*BEEP*
Komali put the phone back down on the table and lied down on his bed for a few minutes. Had Zelda really come up with an escape plan? Could they really leave this place?
Regardless of what happened, he still had two and a half hours to kill and wasn't eager to spend it just lying on his bed. Leaving his room, he decided to head the arcade to blow off some steam and pass the time. Over the past two weeks, he had grown somewhat comfortable to the facility and it didn't seem that new to him anymore. The walls started to feel less cold and distant and more familiar. It had seemed less like a prison, and more like a plausible society. That didn't mean that he didn't hate it. He'd take any opportunity to escape.
The arcade was Komali's favorite place in the facility for obvious reasons. They had several things, like old-timey coin games (but were completely free), ping-pong tables, pool tables, air hockey, and modern console games. This was the only room that Komali had saw that was almost always jam packed besides the dining hall and dorm hall. He waited a couple of minutes in line in order to play a game of Mario Party, waiting for the current people to finish the game. When they left, Komali sat down and chose his character, waiting for three other people to join him. Soon, a Twili girl arrived and picked up the second controller.
"Hey." Komali greeted.
"I'm going to kick your ass." she replied.
"Uhh... okay? What's your name?"
"Midna."
Komali racked his brain for a few seconds. He knew for a fact that he had heard that name before, but he couldn't recall where. Was she one of his old school classmates?
"Are you one- you know what, never mind. I'm Komali."
"Komali.. Hey, aren't you the one that was in the truck with me?"
"Oh, that's where I know you from. Yeah, that was me. Link too."
"Regardless if you're the first person I met in this hellhole, I'm going to beat you."
Komali shook his head in anticipation as a Kokiri and Hylian arrived to play with him. As he looked up, he stared at them to try to see what kind of player they were. But, that's when he noticed. Although the Kokiri was a few face, one he hadn't seen before, he for certain noticed who the Hylian was.
Groose.
He shivered and kept quiet, consistently shifting glances towards him. Groose didn't seem to remember him, but he was still nervous.
After a few hours of playing the long match, Midna had won with six stars, Komali behind in second with five stars, Groose in third with three, and the Kokiri behind with one.
"The fuck?" Groose shouted. "How did I not win? You must've cheated!"
"Chill out, dude." the Kokiri replied. Groose pushed him out of the way and pointed straight at Komali and Midna. "I demand a rematch!"
"L-look, dude, I-i really want to, but I have somewhere to be." Komali stammered, trying not to piss him off.
"To hell you do!" Groose shouted, now attracting the attention of virtually everyone in the arcade.
"Okay, dude, look here." Midna replied. "You lost. Fair and square. Now, just deal with it. You're acting like a nine-year old. You can't solve all of your problems by throwing a tantrum. Now, put your smelly breath back into your disgusting mouth and get out of my sight."
Jeez. That was a little far, but Komali couldn't stay and watch the aftermath. He quickly darted out of the room as he heard several screaming matches from behind the closed door. Rushing to the mines, he almost fell down the ladder. Pushing aside the gravel, he saw the outline of his friends.
"Sup?" Link asked. "What's the matter? Did you run here?"
"Y-yeah. I did." He replied. "Ran into Groose in the arcade. Luckily, Midna was there, so she kind of took the fall for me. I'm pretty sure they're either still screaming at each other or ripping each other's guts out by now."
"I'd expect that." Link replied. "Those two are... quite the ruckus."
Zelda walked up to Komali and began telling him about the plan.
"Alright. So, first off, pay attention to Malon over there." she said. Komali did, and noticed the strange black gloves she was wearing.
"Is it about the gloves?" Komali replied. Zelda nodded. "She managed to break her bracelet. She has fire powers, and she can use that to aid in our escape."
Komali nodded.
"Here's our plan."
Zelda handed Komali a sheet of paper that had all the steps of the plan listed on it.
Step 1: Each person collect supplies
Zelda: Water
Link: Clothes
Komali: Survival Tools
Malon: Food
Step 2: Wait until noon Sunday.
Step 3: Gather at the Department Store
Step 4: Place rubber tubing around inside of bracelet
Step 5: Malon heats and rips off a vent cover
Step 6: Travel through the vents until we reach the labs
Step 7: Run until we find the exit
Step 8: Fight if we have to!
Step 9: Find nearest civilization
"Why do we have to travel though the vents if we can just walk into the labs? Also, why will we wait until specifically Sunday?" Komali asked.
"They're holding a competition for the complex, and Vaati'll be distracted. Vaati announced that the labs will be closed during the competition, which means that there will likely be less people in there assuming we actually get inside. It's also likely that the exit is within the labs as well, as I saw no other unmarked doorway that wasn't some other facility besides what was in the labs."
"By the way," Malon started, turning to Komali. "What can you do?"
"What do you mean?"
"You've been to the labs, right? What can you do?"
"Oh, I can make illusions as well as emit electricity. But, I'm not quite good at either. I need focus."
Malon nodded and turned to Link. "What about you?"
Link wiped his eyes. "Oh, don't worry about me. It won't be that helpful."
"Come on, just say it, Link." Zelda encouraged. "I'm sure it'll be useful to some extent."
"No, just leave me alone." Link demanded. Komali was taken aback by how defensive Link had become.
"You know what, fine." Zelda gave up. "Just follow my plan. Sunday is in two days. Everyone, work as hard as you can to build up enough credits to buy what we need."
Link and Komali nodded. Meanwhile, Malon sat down. Komali figured that since her bracelet was busted, she didn't have any way to make or spend any of the credits that she had. Heck, she couldn't even open most doors. But, there was nothing that Komali could do about it now.
Komali was in the department store with Malon, searching for anything useful.
"Thanks for tagging along, Malon." Komali said.
"No problemo. I already have all the food ready, and I really have nothing to do or nowhere to go."
Komali searched around the tool section for anything that he thought may be useful. He tried looking for camping gear earlier, but there was none given that no one would have any use of it within the facility. There also weren't any blatant weapons, such as knives, hammers, or guns, anywhere in the store. So far, Komali had some parachute cord, a first-aid kit, and a flashlight in his backpack.
"That'll be useful." Komali said, grabbing a couple boxes of matches off the shelf. "Malon, do you have any idea of what else will be useful?"
"Water canteens?" Malon replied. "And maybe those drops that you put in water to purify it? What is it called? Eye of dyne?"
"You mean iodine."
"Yeah."
Komali searched around the miscellaneous section of the store and found a bottle of iodine. He shoved it into his backpack without a second thought.
"Oh. Compass would be helpful."
After a couple minutes of scrambling, Komali had believed that he had grabbed everything of importance. In his bag, he had a flashlight, parachute cord, first-aid kit, matches, candles, iodine, compass, a whistle, umbrellas, canteens, baby wipes, a blanket, and a couple of Ziplock bags.
"I think this is everything." he said, finally scanning his merchandise. "We should have a knife or something, but I guess we could raid the factory or kitchen later."
Malon patted the back of her head. "God, we better not screw this up."
