Three Day Storm
#7: Stacking the Odds
X X X
The Lightning Emperor did not like small, enclosed spaces, nor had he ever. He had grown up in the Limitless Fortress, a place that was full of nooks and crannies that always led to the wide open spaces where he could see the sky.
As such, he was not fond of the elevator that he and his escort - the young Ren - were travelling in. Ginji could occupy himself with worrying about the woman in front of them but he had no such luxury, because his was not a mind easily distracted. When at last the elevator slowed down and the doors finally opened, the Emperor prepared himself for the danger that was certainly ahead.
With a quiet word to Ginji, he took full control of the situation. The transition was painless: this close to the core of the Fortress, he was far stronger in willpower and Ginji was far weaker.
His boots clicked against paved stone as he followed Ren out into a strange foyer. The walls were draped by luxurious dark green curtains, a plush carpet of the same colour running from the elevator across to grand double doors, their panels grooved with an intricate and three-dimensional rainforest scene. Every ten metres or so was a stand with candles, creating a steady glow in this place that felt like it had no air.
The Emperor scanned for immediate threats, the occasional short of electricity flickering across his body. He could feel that Ginji wanted to investigate the carvings and almost granted his wish, until Ren took the lead.
She stepped forward and put a hand on the door and the grating noise of wood against stone echoed through the hall as the doors came to life, slowly opening until there was enough room for a person to slip through. Ren disappeared through the crack as soon as it was wide enough for her petite figure to fit through. The room beyond was not lit, but the Emperor could smell moist dirt and rain. Neither he nor Ginji were fooled, though.
This was what the Limitless Fortress was good at: making you believe what wasn't true, to give someone else the advantage.
The Emperor clenched his fists, and made the decision to follow Ren. Stepping into the dark space, his eyes struggled to adjust quickly. He could not identify the voice who greeted him.
"Ah, the Lightning Emperor. The Brain Trust has awaited you."
X X X
The room was lit but only dimly, and kept that way on purpose. Makubex sat in the middle of his scattered machines, a keyboard resting in his lap as he worked with one that sat on the floor. All around him the monitors flickered with the information he had called up onto them, taking the form of statistics, maps, data reports. The screen which held his attention the most at that moment was his surveillance system: that tight grid of a thousand cameras that enabled him to see all over Lower Town.
With a couple of expert taps he enlarged one of the many surveillance screens. The screen filled with the scene of a flooded alleyway and the three men picking their way through it.
He had been tracking them on and off since they left Gen's, listening idly to Ban's grumblings and Shido's snippy retorts. From the snatches of conversation that he'd gathered, they were heading for the Beltline. It was an interesting development, but one that admittedly made the young leader nervous.
Once they were outside of Lower Town's territory, he would not be able to help them. The Beltline belonged solely to the Gods, and he was not yet strong enough in heart or mind to contest that.
From a screen off to the left, something red began to flash in the corner. Spotting it from the corner of his eye Makubex said, "What is it, Sakura?"
The young woman moved forward from where she'd been standing behind him, crouching as she fulfilled the request. There was the soft tap of delicate hands against the keyboard and a whirr of the corresponding processor coming to life as it procured details.
"Sakura?" he prompted.
"- The west entrance to the Beltline is malfunctioning," she said.
Makubex snapped his attention to the young woman, grimacing under the visor he still wore. "That's not a malfunction," the young man said darkly, "Sakura, please find your brother for me."
She stood with a nod and left to do so. He began to type furiously. Tapping into the same information that Sakura had been looking at a moment ago, Makubex found what he had already suspected. Someone was shutting off the access into the Beltline, using the Archive's power.
If they succeeded, Ban and the others would not be able to finish their mission.
He was ruler of the Lower Town. It would not happen that way. His fingers flying across the keys, Makubex quickly decided that it would be too much to force the west entrance back open and keep the other three operational. He would have to settle on just keeping one gate stable long enough for his friends to get through.
After that it would be out of his hands and up to them to get to Babylon City.
He could hear Juubei approaching from behind, but Makubex did not cease his work. "Juubei," he said, as his screen flashed to say that the North gate had collapsed, "Someone is trying to stop our friends from getting into the Beltline and it is something I cannot allow to happen. Will you help me prevent it?"
"Of course."
Makubex was pleased. "Thankyou, Juubei," he replied, watching the man's reflection in the screen he was facing. "I want you to tell them what has happened. I would not expect you to let Kazuki go into such danger without you, so please also go with them through the Beltline."
Whilst Makubex could not fully understand what it was like to have a desire to protect two different worlds, he could appreciate it. The immense amount of duty that Juubei felt to both Limitless Fortress and his partner was something that Makubex had vowed to never stand in the way of again.
"I will, Makubex," the stoic man replied. His reflection vanished as he turned away.
Makubex listened to the tap of retreating footsteps until the room became silent – except for the noise of the machines grinding away at their master's command.
X X X
"I definitely should have brought a map," Ban grumbled as he sloshed down a flooded alleyway, kicking the water everywhere as he went. Kazuki and Shido were wading along behind him, probably moving with a little more care about where they put their feet and how much of a splash they made. Ban had no doubt that the three of them made a peculiar picture.
"Maps of the Fortress still aren't that reliable," Shido pointed out from the very back of the line.
Ban snorted. "Is that because you won't read them, monkey trainer?"
"I'm not the one who got us lost in the first place."
For that Ban had no immediate answer, the man gritting his teeth as he searched for some kind of evidence that he knew where they were going. He spotted, at last, a store that he recognised clearly from the last visit. He turned around to face his companions, pointing victoriously. "Ahah! We're not lost -"
But Kazuki had come to a stop and so had Shido, both of them paused mid-step and looking as though they were listening carefully. Ban frowned - then heard it too.
"Someone's coming," he muttered, even though it was news that the other two were already aware of. At the end of the alley they had just come down, a tall figure appeared.
Kazuki's bells seemed to echo his surprise as he tilted his head. "Juubei?"
The voice was all the other man needed, breaking into a jog as he followed it down the alley and towards them.
As he got closer, Ban moved back before he got splashed by the foul water. "Didn't we leave you with computer boy?" he asked, sticking both hands in his pockets.
The blind man came to a stop before he could kick spray all over them - and oddly enough, he was just the slightest bit out of breath. Ban could tell that he'd been running most of the way here. That wasn't a good thing.
Juubei's words proved him right shortly thereafter. "We haven't got much time," he told them, negating any introductions or preamble.
"Why - what happened, Juubei?" Kazuki asked.
"Access to the Beltline is being cut off."
"What?" In retrospect, Ban wasn't sure that he liked how well his voice went with Shido's when they spoke at the same time.
Juubei nodded solemnly, stepping past Shido and Kazuki. He stopped in alignment with Ban, though he faced in the opposite direction. "Makubex will keep the Southern gate open for as long as he can, but we have to go now."
"Damnit," Ban swore, turning away. Without looking to the others, he broke into a light run. Not too much after that, he heard the patter of feet as they fell in behind him.
Now, every minute counted. To get to the Beltline in time was pressure that they didn't need. That wasn't even going into the news that someone was actively trying to keep them away. It all translated to 'very bad and very complex', which Ban didn't have the appetite for.
Together, the four fighters bolted for their only chance, praying that Makubex could hold onto it until they got there.
X X X
To be continued.