The Emergency Lift was functional.
She didn't know what would have happened if the Lift had been broken. Jupiter thought maybe at the most extreme she and Grey could have hidden in the space. Maybe for a few days depending on what class of Keeper was being sent to the Planetary Core. It all depended on if this was the first reaction to a breach or a team sent by Balem himself. If the first, the Keepers would be T and S class- technically workers to check the system and security detail personal to check for intruders. Worth perhaps two districts, more than likely one because Balem kept the Earth very short-staffed. If the later... Jupiter knew that Balem wouldn't stop at Keepers. A breach of the Planetary Core of someone's holding was serious and embarrassing for one of Balem's position. Lord, primary of House Abrasax. Especially if the purge protocol wasn't enough to fool Balem. It basically said that the system had been affected by a solar flare, but it wouldn't hold up to a lot of scrutinies.
And she could not see someone who had been raised as Seraphi's main heir being stupid enough to leave anything to chance.
But Jupiter couldn't focus on that. She needed to get out with Grey. It was their best bet of keeping Balem and his brother and sister being unaware of her existence. She slammed the DNA lock, trying to ignore the growing tension to Grey's lean frame. Like Jupiter had feared, the Emergency Lift wasn't in the best condition. Balem hadn't known of this Lift, and it wasn't on any plans with the official documents in Seraphi's Holdings. Unless he did a complete inventory of the planet itself, he would not have known of the Lift. Considering the waste of the remains of the Mind of the Earth, Balem had done his best to bury the Earth. Even to his deterrent. So it was completely off the radar to anyone that would be looking for them. But that also meant that there had been no one to direct anyone to maintain the Lift. Two hundred years without maintenance was little in the time-span of how Entitled tech usually worked.
But the main system of the Emergency Lift had been connected to the Mind of the Earth.
And Balem had implemented software that Jupiter hadn't detected.
So as the Lift took off, both she and Grey waited in bated breath, anxiousness, and dread seeping down their spines. Every rattle of the Lift sounded like a breakdown, or that the machines keeping it within the Emergency Lift network were about to launch them in a crashing descent that they wouldn't survive unless they had excellent luck and timing. Or even S-Classed Keepers locking into their location. Grey had moved Jupiter to rest on their hip, their hands clutching her tightly to their chest, her face pressed into the crook of their neck with her arms tight around it, her good leg was hooked around Grey's torso, while her cast leg hung awkwardly out. Grey stood in the middle of the Lift's small space, directly underneath the emergency hatch, ready to leap upwards if the Lift failed them.
"Where does this exist?"
Jupiter thought for a moment, brows furrowed, eyes squeezed shut as she tried to remember. Seraphi's memories were simply giving her an image of open, wide space. Water, bright and blue, tumbling on high sanded dunes.
"Somewhere with water."
Grey shifted on the spot. Their grip on Jupiter tightened, and they didn't say another word. Jupiter could say anything else either.