The sounds the resonated within Kenmei's mind were nearly deafening. It was a cacophony of disorientating cries and moans, resonating off the metal walls of the hallway. It was clear that they were underwater, as the large windows along the walls showed nothing but a deep blue. Kenmei was unsure of how deep they really were, and she was unable to think as the sorrowful sounds continued. The sounds she heard were not typical of human crying, but instead reminded her more of a noise a whale makes. There were many of them, all different tones and levels of intensity, but they filled her with so much sadness she felt the urge to collapse to the floor and sob.
Seeming to notice her discomfort, Ja'far turned back to face her, stern expression on his face. "Please try to ignore it. I understand that it is an overwhelming sound, but this is something that never stops. Working with inventory, you will be in this hallway often, to count and record the creatures we currently have." Kenmei nodded, taking in a few deep breaths to calm herself. "Yes, I understand. I'm okay." Seeming satisfied with her forced confident smile, Ja'far turned and continued down the hallway.
"This hall we are in right now is the main corridor for below surface. Branching from this is smaller ones with windows that show into each creature's habitat. This is so we may observe them for signs of illness and determine when they are ready for harvesting." Ja'far gestured to one of the large windows as they passed one, though it was just out to open ocean. He continued to speak about the habitats, and while he mentioned how each was made of thick glass with small holes for water to recycle naturally, an idea came to her mind. If each habitat had a window, then surely she would be able to see Judar up close.
Taking a risk, she pulled a pen out of her purse, glancing up at Ja'far as she scribbled something onto her hand. Ja'far continued to speak, seeming completely oblivious, and Kenmei was able to get her pen back into her purse before he stopped and turned to face her. During her scribbling, they had arrived to the end of the hallway, and could only go left or right. With a gesture down the left corridor, Ja'far began to walk that direction. "From here, it goes around the entire facility and branches off to the habitats. I will just show you one branch, they are all the same, so no need to look at all of them."
Crap, that means I may not see Judar's. Kenmei clinched her purse tightly, giving a small nod. "How are they categorized? Surly they're not randomly placed." Ja'far gave a small chuckle, shaking his head. "Indeed they are not. They are organized by color, actually. We can have a max capacity of twenty-five of them at a time, and we tend to have a variety of colors, but we go off of their base… hue, if you really want to be specific." He pointed up at a sign that pointed down another hall, which was shut with a locked door. "Here is blue and purple. We only have two at the moment." Reaching the door, he held up his card and they were allowed in.
This hall was short but narrow, with six large windows, three on either side. Before Kenmei could really look around, she was startled by the lightning fast approach of a figure at the window to her left. The prisoner snarled and hissed at them, though seemed unable to really reach the window. Ja'far sighed, giving a small shake of his head. "That's a typical reaction when we come in, I suggest you get used to it. The ones that have been here a few years tend to not do it anymore, but the newer ones still react in this way. Don't worry, there's about a foot between the habitat and the window, they can't reach it through their glass." Ja'far walked closer, motioning for Kenmei to follow him. As she stood with him, she noticed something odd.
She couldn't hear anything at all. The creature was pounding at the wall of his cell, aggressively trying to get to them, but not a single noise could be heard. The wailing of the damned was gone as well, and this peaked her curiosity. "How come we cannot hear anything?"
Ja'far glanced at her before back out at the creature. "Each of these type of small observatories were made to be soundproof. This close to the creatures, our hearing could be damaged by a sound they can make underwater. It can completely knock a human into unconsciousness, actually. On land it is not so severe, but down here it can be nearly lethal." Kenmei remembered the noise that Judar had made right before he was knocked out, and she could feel her ears starting to throb just from the memory.
Still a bit fearful of the figure trying to attack them, she walked a bit closer to the window to look into his habitat. The glass that made up the walls made it seem like there were no borders at all, but the fact that there was a mock sea floor right in front of her broke the illusion. It was quite realistic, with what appeared to be multiple places to hide and different types of plant life. Ja'far explained the purpose and processes of the habitats, but Kenmei only half listened, distracted by the animalistic rage of the creature before her. It was a terrifying display, and she feared Judar would react in the same way.
After a moment of observing the empty habitats, and seeing the other creature as merely a flash of scales inside of a hiding spot, the left the observatory. Continuing down the hall, Kenmei watched the ceiling as they passed the signs. They did not come upon the door to the red color until they were nearly all the way around the facility, and Kenmei paused once next to it. She stared up at the sign, reading the words over and over again, as if assure her that it was indeed the area where red scales were kept. Ja'far looked back at her, curious as to why she stopped. "Miss?"
Kenmei swallowed the lump in her throat, look back down at him as tears began to blur her vision. "May I… ask a favor?" Ja'far was silent for a moment before he nodded, though the look on his face made it clear he knew what she was going to ask. Shuffling in her spot a bit, Kenmei looked towards the door. "May I go in? I just… I want to see it." With a reluctant sigh, Ja'far reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, looking at the door as if it were going to give him permission. Still, his kind nature got the best of him, and he walked towards it, holding his card up to the sensor. "I'll give you a few minutes. It's in the last one on the right."
Once the door opened, Kenmei cautiously began to walk inside, feeling her stomach lurch at the sound of the door closing behind her. She looked from left to right at the windows as she slowly made her way down the path, noticing that these kind seemed much calmer. They only glared at her, or peered at her over rocks in fear. When she reached the last window, she stopped in front of it, her entire body trembling as she kept her eyes on the floor. It was nearly impossible for her to look up, unable to imagine what she might see.
Taking in a few deep breaths with her eyes clenched tightly shut, she gathered her courage and peered out into the water. At first she didn't see anything, until her eyes landed on a figure in the far corner of the habitat. Floating there with one hand on the glass and his head hanging, Judar's back was to her, and he showed no sign of movement. The sight of his ruined back put Kenmei nearly into a state of panic, having to grip onto the wall beside her to not collapse. There was nothing left of his scales, only raw, inflamed skin.
Kenmei gave an audible gasp as his body jerked in a pained wince, his torso leaning forward as he moved his other hand and head to rest against the glass. He was in pain, and Kenmei could only assume that her father had given the orders to not treat him as kindly as the others. Her heart was breaking at the thought of what he had gone through, but she needed to get his attention. Reaching out a shaking hand, she carefully tapped on the window. Immediately, his body tensed, but he still did not look towards her.
He can hear it, but he's ignoring it. With a little more force, she knocked on the window with her knuckles instead. This time, Judar turned his head, peering at her over his shoulder. His hair was still quite short, just as they had cut it a few weeks ago, so Kenmei could see his face clearly. As he stared at her, his one visible eye wide open in shock, his hands slowly curled into fists. Before Kenmei could even blink, he was at the window, startling her so much she had to take a step back.
Pain and rage fought to take control of his expression, both of his hands flat against the glass of his habitat. Quickly, Kenmei moved back to the window, dropping her purse to allow her closer access. She was no longer able to control her tears, hardly able to stand the sight of him. He had grown thinner, as if he had been refusing to eat all this time, and his torso was covered with wounds and bruises. She was unsure if they were from when he was captured, or if he had gained them while fighting against the people here at one point. The urge to caress him, to comfort him and tell him it would be okay was overwhelming, but she knew it wasn't possible. Instead, there was only one thing she could do, and she had scribbled it on her hand.
Placing her hand against the glass of the window, she watched as Judar's glare turned to it, his expression instantly softening. He studied it closely, bringing himself in closer to see it better. Though she couldn't hear him, she watched as he narrowed his eyes and tried to mouth the words. His eyes soon flashed to her face in realization, and it was obvious that he remembered what Kenmei had taught him. A few weeks of their time together had been spent learning human letters and phrases, and Kenmei was thankful for his good memory. Judar lied his forehead on the glass as he looked at her, mouthing the words over and over as if they were his lifeline.
I'm here.