Seven Days of Falling

a fanfiction by andrivette and psychoheidi

chapter thirteen
"On The Bound"

Hiei and Mukuro navigated the forest, vigilant for any sign that the robots might be catching up. It was clear that with their earlier burst of speed, they had managed to gain a great deal of ground, though neither of them was willing to believe that after this much time, the mechanized demons would cease their pursuit.

As the forest terrain became more treacherous—dense thorny bramble and sharp tree roots riddling the way—Hiei found himself taking greater care to avoid obstacles. He was still traveling barefoot, and although he would never admit as much to Mukuro, it was beginning to take its toll on him.

He tried his best to block out the pain in the bottoms of his feet, instead blaming that red-haired, kimono-wearing bimbo for taking his clothes from him in the first place. He used his hazy mental image of her as a constant, driving motivation in his quest to obliterate that insufferable slave camp from existence.

Needless to say, when they exited the forest, Hiei was in a bad mood. They entered a small valley, located beneath a massive hill—the top of which was not visible at low altitude.

Hiei felt vulnerable here, standing in such plain sight, but he pushed his reservations aside and continued alongside Mukuro.

They reached a scrap-yard of sorts, and after a quick surveillance of her surroundings, she began to lead them both through the piles of metal and odd-looking contraptions, many of which were rusted and some of which glinted in the light in a way that made them appear to be moving.

Hiei lurched backwards when a metallic, worm-like creature inched into his path. "Shit!" he yelled in surprise, preparing to draw his sword when Mukuro walked over and crushed the small object under her heel.

"It can't hurt you," she said.

"Of course it can't!" he snapped indignantly. "It would be a fool to try!"

He caught sight of the small smirk on her face, though she turned away too quickly for him to call her on it.

Mukuro made her way around several piles of scraps and garbage, approaching a grayish, weather-damaged shack.

"Shun!" she shouted, walking up to the door. "Come out! We need to talk!"

They waited for a minute or so, but received no response.

She tried again. "Shun! Open up!"

Hiei glanced at her in annoyance, then back at the door.

"Shun!" she called.

Hiei raised his fist, and before she could stop him, slammed it into the door, then quickly drew it back from the wood with a hiss of pain.

"Bad idea," she commented just before a muffled voice was heard within.

"All right, no need to get violent!"

The door swung open, revealing the thick layer of solid metal on the other side of the wood that had resisted Hiei's fist.

Mukuro stepped in first, Hiei close behind.

"There's my beauty!" he heard as a short man ascended a set of stairs into the room, his eyes alighting on Mukuro—or, to be more precise, her mechanical arm—and he immediately ran over and slid up her sleeve, inspecting her metal limb. He was small—shorter than Hiei—his face covered in a gray beard and his belly extending far past his waistline.

"So what's the problem?" he asked, sliding a pair of spectacles up his nose.

"No problem," said Mukuro.

"Of course not!" The old man chuckled for a moment, then looked at her. "Oh. Well, why are you here?"

"Those robots in the forest," Mukuro began. "I want to destroy them."

Shun lifted his furry eyebrows, dragging her over to a desk where he plopped into a chair to continue his tinkering with her arm. "Ever the conqueror, eh?"

"This is for personal reasons. But the point is, I need a way to destroy them without causing them to explode."

"Well, there's always a failsafe to get 'em to reboot or shut down for these kinds of things, especially AI like those. Usually a word. But then the problem is finding out the word," he told her, squinting at a wire in her forearm.

"Is there any other method than a word?"

"Hmm," Shun considered. "If the mechanic's smart." He leaned back in his chair, then for the first time, locked eyes Hiei. "Oh! Is he yours?"

Then Mukuro looked at him and smiled for a second. "Yeah, he's mine."

The inside of Hiei's chest tingled, but he quickly cast the feeling aside.

"It's funny," the old man was saying to Mukuro, "I wouldn't have you pegged as the motherly type."

"Don't patronize me," Hiei snapped.

"He's quite spirited, too," the man continued. "Though I suppose I couldn't expect any less from someone choosing to keep your company." The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled at Mukuro in a fond sort of way. "Do you take him around dressed like this often, or is it a rare occurrence?"

"We've had several unfortunate encounters with those robots," Mukuro explained.

"I see," said Shun, but then he looked confused. "You mean to say those machines were after you? How very odd. To my knowledge, they're only programmed to track escaped slaves."

"How?" Mukuro urged. "How does the tracking work?"

Leaning back in his chair a bit, then man stroked his beard in contemplation. "I'm afraid what I have to say won't be of much help to you," he said. "But since you came all this way to ask, maybe it'd be easier to show you instead."

With some difficulty, he rose from his chair and made his way over to the wooden flight of stairs that disappeared into the floor at the edge of the room, stopping at the top step and gesturing for them to follow.

Below the ground, in the cold, crowded basement, the air was filled with the hum of electric lights. Fluorescent brightness stung at Hiei's eyes as he surveyed his surroundings carefully, in awe at the trinkets and half-built machine parts covering the numerous tables spaced close together on the floor.

In one corner, he spied a simple white cot, and next to it was a closed door.

It was all very cluttered and strange, and the three of them had to walk between the tables single-file, the old man leading the way and Hiei at the rear.

"Watch your step," Shun warned them good-naturedly, after Hiei had already narrowly avoided stepping on several sharp-looking objects in his path.

He once again turned his eyes to the cot, walking more closely behind Mukuro as memories of his time in captivity swam before his eyes, paranoia making him impatient to leave.

Something metallic lurched next to him as he passed, and on instinct, Hiei drew his sword and sliced through it.

That section of the table promptly caved, all its contents crashing to the floor.

For a moment, Hiei stood staring at the mess, his breathing labored and his eyes murderously wide. He reaffirmed his hold on his sword, then stored the weapon at his side again.

He might have said something, but the weight of sudden shame kept his gaze on his feet.

"Oh, that's all right," Shun said suddenly, breaking the silence. "I don't work with what I do 'cause it breaks easy," he chuckled, and continued to lead them between the tables. "But I promise they won't hurt you. They're not junk after all!"

The old man walked over to a desk and yanked open a drawer, sifting through the contents before drawing out a plastic bag and dangling it before them.

"This," he announced, tapping the bag, "is a slave tracking device."

Mukuro leaned in closer and stared at the bag, and Hiei could just make out a small electronic chip that sat in one corner. "What? How does it work?"

"I found this particular one in you, under your ear." Mukuro's eye widened as he gestured at the scarred side of her face. "When I was giving you that arm." He dragged a chair from nearby and sat. "I didn't tell you then, because it wouldn't do you any good to know in the condition you were in. But I suppose your injury disabled it, because it seems to be warped."

Hiei and Mukuro simply stared at the bag in his hand for several long moments.

"I've taken several out of slaves in the past. They're made out of a metal that corresponds with the robots, and it gives off a sort of signal."

He felt behind his right ear and, feeling only his hair, reached behind his left. Still nothing. His blood chilled, and everything around him was suddenly reduced to a blur of panic.

The next thing he knew, he had grabbed a fistful of the old man's collar and lifted him partway off the chair. "Remove it!" Hiei shouted at his face. "Find it and remove it from me! Now!"

"Hiei!" Mukuro cried behind him.

"I would," Shun replied quickly, "but they stopped putting chips in slaves years ago."

Hiei relinquished his hold, and the old man rubbed his neck with relief. "Whatever they're tracking them with now, I haven't got a clue—possibly something in the bloodstream, something they can't remove." Shun shot Mukuro a knowing glance. "I guess that explains why he's in your company." He turned and dropped the bag back into the drawer, sliding it closed, and faced them again with a key in his hand.

"This is the only help I can offer you, unfortunately. It unlocks a door in the factory where they make the robots." He straightened his spectacles. "But it's been so long, I don't remember what. Must be to a door I used when I worked there, which didn't last long. Let's just say we had a difference of opinions."

"Don't bother," Hiei cut in. "We can break into any doors to get the information."

Mukuro cast him a sidelong glance. "I wouldn't be so sure about that, what with the damage Shun's front door did to your hand. Who's to say the doors in the factory won't be the same?" Hiei narrowed his eyes at her, but didn't argue the point.

Mukuro took the key and observed it for a moment. "So where is this factory, assuming we can find the use of this key?"

"North of here, but the direct route isn't the best," Shun answered. "You'd be less likely seen by anything living if you take the hills. I can give you some hardware that masks your identity amongst any AI, makes them recognize you as one of them. Well, last time I tested it."

"Great."

"And also," Shun said, "I think your friend there needs some clothes."

—.—

The old man told him where he kept a spare set of clothing, and Hiei, begrudgingly, traveled upstairs to find it. He dressed himself in a shirt and pants that were too large, then took a moment to observe the meager furnishings of the shack, arriving at the top of the staircase again and pausing for a moment to listen to the mingling voices of Mukuro and the man as they yammered on.

Then, when eavesdropping became boring, he migrated to a dusty corner near a shelf of books and seated himself in it, resting his head against the wall and closing his eyes.

When he was jostled from slumber some time later by a pair of arms lifting him from the ground, he almost panicked—before he recognized her scent and knew that he was safe.

The last thing Hiei knew before he surrendered himself entirely to sleep was the sound of Mukuro's breathing as he nuzzled into the hollow of her neck.

—.—

They awoke on Shun's bed, entangled in each others' arms, and remained still for some time, something about the circumstances inspiring them to revel in the peace for just a while longer.

Then reality took hold again and they left just as quietly.

Hiei was fully dressed, but the only article of clothing on his person that even remotely resembled his usual wardrobe was a pair of black pants. This particular pair, unsurprisingly, was too big, and even with his belts pulled as tight as they were able, the waistline inched downwards further and further as he walked.

It was really beginning to piss Hiei off.

As he and Mukuro made their way to the top of a particularly steep hill, Hiei tugged at the too-long sleeves of his too-red shirt. A part of him felt that he would be better off without the change of clothes, though the new pair of shoes was a relief.

He felt better, safer, in the open air, though even now he feared that robots would appear over the hillside at any moment.

After several hours of walking, they found themselves entering another valley, this one deeper than the last and cradled between the hills and a small mountain, where a large, industrial facility emerged from the base.

Hiei and Mukuro made their way down the slope of the hill, skirting nearer toward the side of the building, searching out an entrance. He had to continually remind himself that simply making their own door would defeat the purpose of being so cautious in their approach.

Then, suddenly, Mukuro said, "Look," and when Hiei followed her gaze, he spotted a large opening, hidden in shadow, several yards away. They ventured toward it in silence, but before they had reached their destination, an odd humming noise filled the air, followed by the scraping and grinding of mechanized gears, and a wave of robots poured out of the entry way.

The way the light glinted off of every angle of the creatures' frames caused Hiei to take a step back, a step that he immediately regretted—

But he had no time, for Mukuro darted into the swarm and he could do nothing but follow, until they were engulfed, lost together in an abyss of manufactured beasts.

—.—

It was a mechanical nightmare.

Things could be ugly without the device Shun had given them to mask their presence, which seemed to make them effectively invisible to the ridiculous quantity of robotic monsters that Mukuro and Hiei were weaving through.

Finally being inside was no better. It felt as though they were in a sea of robots, all of which seemed to be turned off. In the back of the huge room, more cybernetic beasts were coming in through a hole in the wall. They caught a glimpse of someone moving amongst the labyrinth and swiftly hid behind their own separate robots.

Hiei took the moment to open his Jagan, using it to ascertain the floor plan of the building.

There were several living demons in the room that appeared to be inspecting the robots, and avoiding them wasn't very difficult—their senses were clearly sub-standard.

When they were close to the back of the room, Hiei saw someone enter the room from an adjacent hallway—which would likely be their best bet at finding the room that held the information they sought. One glance at Mukuro and a quick nod said she confirmed his assumption, and at the next opportunity, they worked their way across the room and into the hall.

They glanced around themselves. The hall continued in one direction, and rose to stairs in the other, and Hiei did not hesitate in choosing the way, using his clairvoyance to guide Mukuro upwards to the next floor.

—.—

The stairwell stretched from the ground floor to the sixth level of the building. Hiei stopped at the platforms of each floor and took a moment to sift through the images swimming in his mind before confirming that they could glean no useful information from that level and leading Mukuro up the next flight of stairs. On the sixth floor, they arrived at a closed set of large double doors.

Hiei tugged at the handles, but both appeared to be locked.

"There's no keyhole," Mukuro murmured, and he growled in frustration at the electronic access panel. The security measures on this floor only heightened his suspicion that this was the part of the building they needed to be in.

Upon closer examination of the doors, he found six metal hinges visible along the sides of the entryway.

"We don't need a keyhole," Hiei decided aloud, and knelt, pushing back his sleeves and touching his hands lightly to the lower left-hand hinge. As he transferred more of his energy into the metal, it began to glow orange, losing its shape as it softened and finally melted to the floor. He made quick work of the second hinge as well as the bottom-most on the other side, then stepped back to admire his handiwork before frowning up at the final two hinges, which were several inches above his reach.

"Let me help," Mukuro said, as though reading his thoughts. She leaned down and, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist, hoisted his body from the ground. He quickly disposed of the final hinges, and with their combined strength, he and Mukuro pushed through the doors, causing them to fall to the floor with an obnoxious slam.

The hallway was mercifully empty, though within a matter of seconds the sounds of muffled voices became audible through the walls nearby, and Hiei focused again on the images being fed to him by the Jagan.

After minutes of exploring several consecutive halls, Hiei stopped at a comparatively quaint little door, for on the other side were stacks of papers, a large work table, and shelves of books.

He turned to Mukuro. "No one's inside for now," he told her. "Try your key."