The Speed of Darkness
Chapter 45 – Qualm

HE HIT THE WATER HARD.

He wasn't moving fast enough to do any serious, physical damage to his body, but it still hurt. His skin stung where it had slapped the water, but he tried to ignore it. He immediately dove down into the depths, after the object that had made him jump off the ledge in the first place. Quickly the dim light faded from his view and he was let only with the red glow of his mechanical eye to illuminate the floor of the pool of water.

It didn't take long for a glint of the steel to catch his eye. He snatched the handle of the dagger up into his flipper and then emerged from the surface of the water. He saw Private and Marlene pulling themselves out of the pool. Marlene shook her fur dry and Private rubbed some of the water out of his eyes. They looked shaken, but not hurt.

"What did you do that for, Manfredi!" Marlene called suddenly upon noticing the robotic penguin swimming to the edge of the pool. "We could have all been killed!"

Manfredi did not respond. Rather he looked down at his prize and wondered if it was worth it. He had let go of Skipper—his teammate—in exchange for preserving his weapon. He didn't like the idea of Skipper getting hurt, but he didn't like the idea of loosing the knife even more. Skipper was his ex-teammate, yes. Skipper hadn't been around the last two years, though. They had grown distant, whereas Manfredi had grown closer to the knife. It had been the only thing to keep him company during his search for Sarge. He didn't want to say that he cared for inanimate object like he would a brother, but it was the knife that had taken Johnson's life. It couldn't be lost before it took one more.

"Hello, can you hear me?" asked Marlene. She looked mad; madder than Manfredi was expecting. His jump had not been without thought; he knew his new allies would be mad. It was something he had to do, though.

"I am aware of the risks involved in my decisions," he answered. Just that easily, Marlene's look of anger faded. Manfredi tilted his head in curiosity, wondering what she was thinking about. Private wasn't so swayed.

"If you were so 'aware of the risks' you bloody well shouldn't have done it!" he spat, his flippers balled into tight fists. Manfredi turned to him, and a brief wave of fear rolled over his face. It vanished as he lowered his brow, water dripping from his beak.

"Sometimes risks are required to accomplish things," Manfredi explained, calmly. He was determined to not let Private get under his feathers again. He didn't want to snap and possibly hurt the small bird like had only a few days ago in the open of of Antarctica.

"Accomplish what, exactly? Go after some stupid kitchen knife?" Private complained, his beak turned into a deep frown.

"You witnessed this dagger end Johnson's life. It means much more to me than a common kitchen knife. It was worth the risk," explained Manfredi, but Private did not look satisfied by his statement.

"I guess you really are going to let us die to get what you want," he shot.

"There risks involved in everything we do," Manfredi said.

"Maybe so," answered Private, though he seemed to be calming down, "but there are some risks that are too great to take. One of those things are my friend's lives."

Manfredi was dumbfounded at the little bird's commitment. He was timid, small, and not intimidating, but he stood up for what he thought was right. Manfredi couldn't help but respect that. Johnson had been the exact same way.

"I..." he said, slowly, "I am sorry."

Private looked confused suddenly, like he hadn't been expecting that response. He lowered his flippers and relaxed a little. "Is'alright," he said, "Maybe we were supposed to slide down that hole, anyway. I mean, this water was pretty conveniently placed."

"Yeah, but it would be nice to be together. I wonder if Julien and the others are okay," she said.

"I certainly hope so," Private said, "but standing around here isn't going to help us find them again. Manfredi, you said you were able to meet up with Skipper and Johnson after being separated before, right?"

"That is true. The tunnels have a way of meeting up again at some point before the Sun. If we continue down this path, we should eventually cross paths with the others," Manfredi confirmed.

"It's settled, then. Like Skipper said, if we keep our cool we'll eventually get there," nodded Marlene.

With that, the three of them began walking down the corridor in front of them. The corridor here was made of the same black glass tiles and was lined with the same eerie blue torches. In the passageway this time, however, were several arches. They extended from the floor, followed the walls, and met overhead. Between each pair of arches was an odd, wooden door. It was person-sized, and was complete with a black latch.

"Where to the doors go, Manfredi?" Marlene asked.

"Johnson never really said. All I know is that somewhere, one of them leads to a library that contains all of the information about this place. We did not try many when we ventured these tunnels for the first time. It was much easier to stay on the main path."

"I wonder if that's where the illusions you were talking about are," Marlene wondered. "The ones that make you want to stay here forever. Food, and stuff."

"It is possible," pondered Manfredi.

Marlene broke off from the trio and tried one of the doors. It creaked open, and though it was dark inside, Manfredi could still make out a tiny, dark room. There was only a tiny light inside and the walls of it seemed to made of red brick.

Marlene scratched her head in thought. "That's weird," she said. "This place is made entirely of tile except for this one room. I wonder what it could be used for."

"If your theory is correct," said Manfredi, "it's showing you what makes you most comfortable."

"That doesn't make any sense," wondered the Asian otter. "Its kinda looks like the my habitat back at the zoo, but that's the last place I want to be. All I wanted to was to get out of there and go on an adventure. I mean, I got that now, but... I don't know."

"Perhaps you became so accustomed to your surroundings at the zoo that it has become your place of greatest comfort?"
"Maybe you're right. I've never been as frightened as I've gotten on this whole trip. I mean, attacking that lady means that I might get put to sleep when we get back. Then, I almost got sliced open by that rock hopper guy. I actually wouldn't mind being safe and sound in my exhibit again. We shouldn't worry about this right now, though. We've got to find Skipper."
"Let's go," said Private, who was already walking down the corridor.

As Marlene trotted away from the mysterious room, Manfredi witnessed a strange figure peak his head around the corner. It was a semi-translucent lemur, one that Manfredi was sure he had seen before. It glanced at Marlene walking away before lowering its head and walking back into the room. The door then slowly closed itself. Manfredi wondered if the room had actually been showing Marlene what she wanted, as he was sure that had been a representation of Julien.

It phased him not, though, and he caught up to the other two. He knew that they did not need to waste times looking in the rooms right now as Skipper was probably already making progress towards the Sun. They needed to meet up somewhere.

When he approached Marlene again he asked, "Why did your anger fade earlier when I mentioned risks?"

Marlene turned to the robotic penguin, her face showing surprise. "What you said made me think," she responded after a few moments.

Seeing Manfredi's interested expression, she continued. "You know that I have a trouble when I get into open areas, like leaving the zoo, right? Well, to be honest, after I went insane in front of Skipper and the others on our first trip out of the zoo, I never really left again. I got so sick and tired of only being in my habitat and in the zoo that all I wanted was to leave and go on adventure. I hardly considered the risks that might be involved with that."
Manfredi nodded. Though the otter didn't understand why, he understood. "You know, I felt the same way at one point."

"Really?" she wondered.

"Yes. Years ago, I was tired of being in the penguin city. It was safe, but it was boring. That is what caused me to join the Penguin Army when my target came to my town to recruit. I wanted to go out and experience the world. I wanted some sort of adventure, just like you."

Marlene blinked, enveloped my Manfredi's words. The robotic penguin wondered if she was surprised that there was such a similarity between the two of them. He continued speaking.

"I did not think about the risks that were involved. I did not think that there would be a chance that the army I was joining might attack my very hometown. I hardly even thought about my unhatched child. I merely assumed I would be back before it came into the world, but I was mistaken."

"So you enlisted," said Marlene.

"Yes. I regret it every day. Maybe if I never would have joined up with my target, nothing bad would have ever happened. That is something you should keep in mind when you make life changing decisions."

"All I wanted was to go on adventure," responded the otter. "I never thought that it would result in me attacking that lady. Or getting my head cut off. Worse could have happened, I suppose."

"Think about where you would be today if you wouldn't have came after us," said the cyborg.

"I would probably be in my habitat worried for your guys. Or regretting not coming with."

"And where would we be?"
"Private would probably be... dead...if I wouldn't have shown up on the dock when I did," she realized.

"So you see, maybe you did make the right decision by coming out. You also lured your lemur friend to come after you, and he has proven to be a great ally in the past. Without you two, maybe we would have never came this far."

"You could be right," Marlene responded, "or maybe you guys would have rescued Kowalski on the dock and none of this stuff would even be happening."

"What could have been," Manfredi stated, "is a phrase I have been struggling with since the deaths of everyone near to me. I cannot say for sure what would have wound up if your decisions had been different, but they cannot be changed now."

Marlene looked disgruntled for a moment. "That's an interesting phrase to hear out of you."

"Why is that?" Manfredi asked.

"Its like you're telling me to accept what I've chosen to do, regardless of how the results came out. You refuse to accept what has happened as a result of your decisions, though."

"Perhaps you are correct," affirmed the robotic penguin. He looked at the dagger in his flipper, twisting it in the dim light. "However, my decisions have resulted in the deaths of everyone close to me. I have ignored all signs that the risks were too great, and made the wrong choices."

"Maybe you didn't," offered Marlene suddenly. "You just said if I hadn't have left the zoo, Private might not be with us today. Maybe you made the right choice, too."

Manfredi was not sure where the otter was taking him with her words, but he found peace in them anyway. He felt as though this was a conversation he should have found someone to have with a long time ago, like it would have helped him keep his thoughts straight. Maybe then those nightmares would not have plagued him, the visions in the night, the brief lapses of insanity.

"You joined the Penguin Army looking for adventure. Sarge was going after the Sun regardless of if you joined or not. He was going to eventually come and plow through the Penguin City. At least by joining you were aware of his plans and did everything in your power to stop it from happening."

Suddenly, the hope Manfredi had thought he found in Marlene's words was taken away. She was wrong. His choices had been the direct cause of his loved ones' deaths. "My target did not know about the Penguin City until I told him. When I found out about his plans, I had no choice but to rebel. By rebelling, I made him hate me. With his hatred in me and his knowledge of my home, his choice was obvious."

Marlene's previous confidence had been wiped by Manfredi's conclusion. It was like there was no hope in the robot's words and they both new it. Manfredi knew his decisions had been poor, poor enough to cost him the lives of his loved ones.

"Well..." the otter stuttered, attempting to find some semblance of hope for Manfredi. Manfredi was finished talking about his choices, though, and waved a dismissive flipper.

"The last thing I need to do is end my target's life. Maybe that will pay for my bad choices."

Marlene opened her mouth to say something more, but was interrupted by Private. Manfredi had almost entirely forgotten about the small bird in front of them.

"Quiet," he shushed, "I can hear something."

They stopped walking to quiet their footsteps and Manfredi strained his ears to hear any sort of tiny noise. It was very quiet, almost silent in the temple, but only the near non-existent sound of the air moving around him met his ears. It wasn't for a few more seconds that something else greeted him.

"How can something so small contain the energy to fuel an entire military base of operations?" the voice said. It seemed very far away, and Manfredi didn't recognize it.

"Kowalski!" Private and Marlene exclaimed at the exact same time.

~Author's Note: Day 2. This chapter was more difficult to write than the last, probably because there was far less action! Either way, check back tomorrow night for more!