Chapter 17 - Progress & Shadows

The third pathway took us on a couple of detours due to parts of the skyway being corrupted by squares. Eventually, it led us to an old-school diner, one that reminded me of the diners back in the 80s: black and white tiled floor, red tables placed everywhere, and a bar. A bartender was busy cleaning a glass mug as we came up to the counter.

"Oh, hi there!" he greeted.

"Hello!" Niko replied, looking around the diner, "How come...there aren't any people here? Normally cafes have tons of people!"

The bartender sighed, "Yeah, it's a really slow day…"

"It's probably because the elevator to the ground is broken, right?" I said.

"So I've been told. The city's infrastructure has been suffering a lot lately," he gazed out the window, "Skywalks and stairs breaking off left and right…Now the only reliable way of transport is that elevator..."

"Until now," I finished his thought.

He nodded, "You know, that tall guy came in here earlier saying the same thing. He asked me if I've seen a button that says 'ground' on it. He looked pretty stressed, so I wanted to cheer him up…" he softy chuckled, "I told him the only 'ground' I've seen today is coffee grounds!" His chuckle quickly trailed off, "He, um...didn't get it."

I sweatdropped, "Yeah, he seemed a bit stressed out when we met him."

"He, uh, really...takes his job to the extreme," he scratched her head, "I mean, it's an important job, but nothing is worth that amount of stress…"

"What does he even do?"

"Pretty sure it's maintenance," he shrugged, "Something to do with the lights, but I don't know the details. I usually see him around a lot, but he never seems to have time to eat a proper meal...Just kinda rushes in here, drinks a whole pot of coffee, and then rushes back out?"

I winced, "Yikes...I don't think I could imagine drinking that much coffee…"

He laughed, "You'd have to ask him for more details..." he said before glancing over my shoulder, "Oh, sorry about the trash on the floor!"

I followed his gaze to see Niko looking over an empty coffee tin that she had picked up from the ground.

"I was gonna throw it out earlier, but…" he scratched his head in embarrassment, "...then my coworkers caught on fire and I had to drop everything to help them."

Niko and I both snapped towards him in shock. He quickly waved his hands, "They're fine now though! It's a good thing fire doesn't hurt robots, huh?"

I sighed before I felt Niko tug on my jacket again. She was still holding onto the coffee tin as she looked up at me, "Alan? Could I have those scissors we found in that bathroom?"

I took off my pack and pulled them out, "Sure, but what for?"

She grabbed them and quickly started cutting around the word "ground" on the tin, "I was thinking we could make a button out of this!" She popped out the cut-up piece, "I can cut out a piece of the can and fold it into a rectangle…" She finished her folding and held up the crudely-made "button", "Just like arts and crafts!"

I chuckled, "Well, it's a good start, but I don't think it's that simple." I scratched my chin, "How are we going to get it connected to the elevator?"

She tilted her head before she pulled out the magnets in her pocket, "What about these? I could just fold them under the edges!" She did so, stuffing the magnets underneath the "button". She held it up again, the magnets shuffling slightly.

"Huh, that might actually work, but we should probably make sure those magnets don't fall out," I said.

"Then we could just get some tape from that dispenser that was on the table in the other building!" she grinned.

I smirked. She had this all easily figured out. I couldn't help but feel a little pride in that fact. I thanked the bartender and Niko and I raced back over to the previous building to find some tape.

Courtesy of the bolts on it, the tape dispenser was in the exact same spot as before. Niko set down the lightbulb and handed me the button, making sure that I was holding it correctly so that the magnets didn't fall out. She began taking long pieces of tape and wrapping it around the button until the button was almost covered by tape.

Once she finished, I examined our completed button. It was the definition of crude, but it may just work.

"Nice thinking, Niko," giving her a thumbs up, "Now we just see if this works."

We made our way back to the elevator. The man from before was still kicking the door, moaning and groaning as he did so. Niko walked up to him and showed him the button I held, "We have a button!"

He flinched back from her sudden outburst before seeing it, "Woah! How did you make this?"

"Out of a coffee can and some magnets!"

His mouth twitched as he looked it over, "...That sure is a lotta tape though…"

I shrugged, "Hey, better safe than sorry."

"Well, you're lucky the button panel works by magnetic technology…" he sighed, "Just don't ask me how it works, though. I didn't even finish high school…"

I thought it best not to push that statement, so I just handed the button over to Niko. She turned, placed the button into the panel, and gave it a push. The whirring of machinery soon came to life as the button seemed to work, calling the elevator up to us. A loud crackle dashed those hopes as a huge group of squares suddenly materialized onto the elevator door, silencing the sound of the elevator.

From the button panel, a robotic voice rang out, "[REACTIVATING ELEVATOR SERVICES...PLEASE INPUT SECURITY CODE TO CONTINUE.]"

"...What?" the man faltered, "That's...never happened before."

"The...squares?" Niko asked.

"Huh?"

"You saw them, right? They were all over the door, and-"

"Oh, nah. The square stuff happens all the time," the man replied, "I mean the whole 'security code' thing." He sighed heavily and scratched his head, "Then again, the elevator hasn't been this broken before…"

I looked over at the panel. Hmm, a code, huh?

I pulled out the film that we got from the computer. The numbers were jumbled together, but staring at it quickly highlighted the same numbers from before: "63014"

I knelt down and punched in the code. In a second, the elevator doors slowly opened.

The man huffed in surprise, "Oh! You got it! I don't know what you did, but it actually worked!" He glanced over at us, shuffling his hat around, "Good job, you two. You're both geniuses, you know that?"

I shook my head, "Well, the button was her idea," I pointed at Niko who grinned sheepishly at our praise.

"Well, you were the one that figured out the code, Alan!" she said, causing me to freeze and prepare myself for the man's reaction.

"...oh, right. The whole messiah business," he said, not at all fazed from hearing my name.

I looked at him questioningly, "You...aren't surprised about who I am? Most people we've come across usually are a little more shocked that I'm here in person."

He shrugged, "I kinda figured...since you're with the messiah and all that. Plus you being here in person doesn't seem that crazy with everything that's been happening."

His reaction caught me off guard. If he thought that, maybe other people did? It might not be so bad for people to know my name if that's the case. "I...guess that's one way to look at it," I said.

The man nodded and started making his way into the elevator, "...Anyway, ready to go?"

"We still have one more thing to take care of back in the Garden, but then we should be good to go," I answered, referring to the dirt we received from the gardener for the corn kernel.

He nodded, leaving the door open for when we got back. Niko and I headed back towards where we came and to the Garden.

The seed still sat miserably in the planter, but with the dirt we had now, that was about to change. I unloaded the dirt into the planter, burying the seed.

"Well...the seed's in the soil, but it looks a bit dry," Niko said once I finished pouring.

I pulled out the vial of water we got from the Glen, "We have this, but this definitely won't be enough…"

Niko shrugged, "I think we should still pour it and hold onto the tube, just in case we find something to help keep it watered."

"And knowing this world, there's probably some crazy thing like a water pill that keeps things moist all the time somewhere in this city."

"Probably," she giggled.

With nothing else we could do for the seed, we started to make our way back to the elevator. I took the time to admire the city skyline once again. It's been a long time since I was in a big city like this, probably almost three months ago. It didn't have as many skyscrapers as this city, but it still held the same kind of atmosphere. Minus the squares and sky bridges, of course.

A yawn from Niko pulled my attention away from the city. I smirked, "You're tired already?"

"Well, we have been running around a lot. Especially with what happened when we were coming from the Glen." She looked up at me, "Why do you think those squares chased after us anyway?"

"You thought that too, huh?" I rubbed my head, "I have no idea. Maybe we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

"Hmm…" Niko fell silent as she thought about the squares before yawning again, "...Excuse me."

"Guess we better find you another place to nap?' I asked her before I yawned, causing Niko to giggle at me.

"I'm not the only one it seems."

"Yeah, yeah…Does this mean you're gonna carry me this time?" I teased.

She simpered, "You're bigger than me! Plus I'm holding the sun!"

"Aw c'mon, I believe in you," I yawned again, "See? Sooner or later, I'm not gonna be able to walk anymore."

We both broke down into laughter as we arrived back at the elevator. There was one more pathway that we hadn't gone down, so we decided to see if there was a place there to rest.

Our luck held as we found another room with a bed in it. Pots lined the walls, but no plants were contained within them. Aside from the light coming from the city and the lightbulb, the room was dim.

Niko walked and hopped onto the bed as I began to get comfortable on the floor. Before I could, though, she grabbed onto my sleeve, taking me by surprise.

"Niko? Is something wrong?"

"You're not sleeping on the floor again," she said with a very serious look.

I sighed, "Niko, we've been over this. I'm completely comfortable sleeping on the floor. You need it more than-'

"That doesn't mean you should," she interrupted.

"Niko..."

She shook her head and tugged on my sleeve. I kept trying to tell Niko I was going to be fine, but she wasn't having any of it. With a sigh, I relented. She wasn't going to budge on this, so I had no other option.

She scooted over to give me space as I laid down on top of the covers. Laying on the bed felt strange, to say the least. I wasn't at all used to sleeping on one. Often times, it was better not to so that I didn't get too comfortable in the event that I needed to quickly leave. Laying on the bed now, it felt like I was gonna sink into the floor.

"Are you okay, Alan?" Niko asked.

I shifted around, trying to alleviate my discomfort. Niko simply watched me shuffle around until I finally sighed and sat up, "See? You're not gonna be able to sleep when I'm like this. It'll be better if I just slept on the floor."

I started to move off the bed, but Niko stopped me once again, shaking her head, "I can deal with it."

I sighed again, "You're really adamant about me actually sleeping on the bed, huh?"

She frowned at me, "I just don't think you should be sleeping on the floor all the time…"

"Are you sure it's not just because you find me warm, even with you carrying the sun?" I joked in an attempt to lighten the mood.

She smiled, but it quickly vanished as she continued to stare at me, pleading with me to not sleep on the floor. She wasn't usually like this. Something had to be bothering her, either with me or something else, but...I think I knew what it was.

"Is there any particular reason that you'd not have me be on the floor, other than not wanting me to sleep there?" I asked, part of me already knowing the answer.

Her gaze wavered for a moment before she looked away, "Well...I've...been thinking about...a lot of things...like my home, the plant lady, and…" she glanced up at me before looking away again, "...and you...and I just would feel more comfortable if you were here...instead of on the floor."

It killed me to see her this troubled, especially if I was one of the reasons. She had been staying strong this whole journey, but it was obvious now that it all was starting to take a toll on her. I could see her eyes were beginning to glisten with tears.

"Be there for her…" I recalled Calamus's words. Now was that time for me.

Slowly, with as much sincerity as I could muster, I placed my hand on Niko's and smiled at her, "Alright, Niko. If it'll make you feel better." I reached over and wiped away her tears that had begun to fall.

She smiled back and let go, moving further underneath the covers as I laid down on top of them next to her. I was about to close my eyes before I felt Niko grab onto my arm. I peered over at her and saw she had cuddled up next to it.

I chuckled breathlessly, "You have the lightbulb, you know…"

Her eyes slowly fell as she nuzzled my arm, "You're warmer…" she whispered before falling asleep.

I could feel my face heat up from that comment before it quickly went away as my thoughts started to dwell on what Niko said, specifically about what she said about me. No doubt it was because of what I told her on that observation deck.

Was it...really wrong for me not to tell her? Especially if not telling her made her like this? Maybe she should know, given how she cares about me…

"And what good is that gonna do? You'll just make her feel worse for knowing." My old inner demon friend snarled.

She's already proven that she would listen to me. I can't say many other people would do that… I thought back.

"And then what? Once this is all over, she'll be gone. There's no point telling your sob story to a soon-to-be memory."

That's not for you to decide…

"Oh, like you know any better? You're a shattered child on the run that doesn't even belong here, much less by her side."

I flinched, looking over at Niko to make sure I didn't wake her up. That...that wasn't true...

...No, it was. I just didn't like to admit it. I'm an absolute mess who's just barely keeping it together...but that still left the burning question: Do I tell Niko or not? I wanted to, but at the same time, was that really best for her? For me?

That question bounced around inside my head as I felt my eyes begin to close, Niko still curled around my arm.

Y'know, the bed actually was pretty comfortable.