Chapter 111

After ducking into a back alley and walking for a while, the group began to see the kind of shops that were too "specialized" to keep a storefront on the main street. These were the typical dives of the underworld, peddling everything from flesh to narcotics. Since they were doing business so boldly just a stone's throw from the main thoroughfare, Taro figured that under the local Station Ordinance, such illicit wares were probably perfectly legal.

"Middle of the day and this place is absolutely hopping," Taro remarked.

The artificial lighting was still set to midday brightness, yet the crowds here were thick. Back in Delta—which was basically the pinnacle of urban life in the Galactic Empire—common sense dictated that these joints didn't truly wake up until evening. Here, however, the foot traffic was so heavy it arguably put the main Commercial District to shame.

"Hey, Teiro! Eyes front, it’s dangerous! If you get separated, do you think you can find your way home alone?"

Taiki, the Kato Tribe scout, was sprinting in the lead. Marl followed close behind, literally dragging Taro along by the hand. If I get left behind in a place like this, I’m dead, Taro thought, a cold shiver running down his spine.

"How’s the rear? They still on us?" Taiki asked, glancing over his shoulder without slowing down.

Taro risked a quick look back. In the distance, he could just make out the silhouettes of the security guards from the restaurant. "They're coming, they're coming! And uh, looks like they’re mumbling into their collars. Definitely not just talking to themselves."

"They must be calling for backup," Marl worried aloud. "Maybe running was a bad idea..."

"Regret is for people who aren't being chased," Taiki snapped. "Keep your feet moving. Humans are so damn slow."

Even if the alley was busy, it wasn't a "crowd" in the sense that they could disappear into it. It was impossible to blend in and play it cool, so their only option was a full-tilt sprint.

"Crap, this is bad! They’re coming from the front, too!"

Taiki slammed on the brakes, his claws skidding against the floor as he veered into a narrow side-crevice to the left. Taro and Marl scrambled after him, catching a glimpse of several armed guards converging on their previous position.

"Whoa, whoa, those guys are packing heat!" Taro yelled, conveniently forgetting that they were technically enemy spies. "What the hell did we even do? We just ate lunch!"

"Just shut up and run!" Marl screamed back, yanked the lagging Taro forward.

I'm seriously being outrun by a girl, Taro thought, burning with shame. That’s it. From tomorrow, I am actually going to the gym. For real this time.

"Dammit, they’re over here too! How? They’re way too fast!"

Taiki skidded to a halt and stood up on his hind legs, peering over the heads of the few pedestrians nearby. Taro collapsed onto one knee, gasping for air, his eyes darting around for an exit.

"Was the... whole town... already crawling with... guards?" Taro wheezed, pointing toward a large wire mesh grate set into the iron-clad wall of the Commercial District. "What about... that? It’s a duct, right?"

Taiki gave it a microsecond glance, reached out, and fired two precise shots from his Ray Gun into the mesh’s joints. Before the smoke could even clear, he leapt at the wall, digging his claws in and tearing the grate off with a screech of twisting metal.

"Whoa... I’ll be honest, I had my doubts about a cat-man bodyguard, but I officially take it back. That was awesome."

Taro scrambled toward the wall, propped the fallen frame up as a makeshift step, and hauled himself into the duct. Once inside, he reached back down to pull Marl up.

"Thanks," Marl panted. "But what now? A duct is going to lead to another sector, but if they cover the exit, we’re just rats in a trap."

"…Huh. Now that you mention it, yeah."

"It’s better than being cuffed out there," Taiki grunted. "Listen up, lady. I’m giving you special permission: grab my tail and don’t let go. You humans won't be able to see a damn thing in a few yards."

The duct stretched into a bottomless abyss of shadow. Sure enough, after a few minutes of crawling, the light from the entrance vanished. The only things visible were the faint, eerie red glow of Taiki’s eyes and the occasional spark of static. Soon, after a sharp turn, even the red eyes were gone.

"Man, this brings back memories of waking up on that junker spaceship," Taro muttered, his hand tightly clutching Marl's. "By the way, Mr. Taiki, what’s that clicking sound?"

A rhythmic tapping echoed through the narrow metal tunnel, seemingly originating from where Taiki was.

"Ignore it. I’m using the echoes to map the path... though we’ve got trouble. Dead end ahead. I can hear a Ventilation Fan."

Taiki’s voice was a low, calm whisper. Taro strained his ears but heard absolutely nothing but his own heavy breathing.

"There might be a branch," Marl said, her voice trembling slightly. "We have to keep going. We can’t exactly go back now."

Taro nodded in agreement, then realized that nodding in a pitch-black tube was a waste of calories since nobody could see him. Suddenly, his hand was yanked forward—Taiki was moving again.

"So, uh, what kind of Ventilation Fan are we talking about? Like a little AC filter?" Taro asked.

The air current hitting his face was growing steadily stronger, and now even he could hear the low, mechanical thrum of the machine.

"Hardly," Marl’s voice came from the dark. "Station bulkheads usually use giant, high-speed propellers. They're cheap, efficient, and lethal."

Taro’s imagination immediately conjured a picture of a giant, human-sized meat grinder.

"Bad news! No side roads! It’s a dead end!"

Taiki stopped. Marl stopped. Taro almost face-planted into Marl's back. The roar of the rotating blades was deafening now, and the wind pressure was so intense it felt like it might blow them backward.

"Can’t you just blast it with your gun, Mr. Taiki?! Aim for the axle!" Taro yelled over the roar.

"IT'S REINFORCED STEEL, YOU IDIOT! NOT A CHANCE!"

"WAIT!" Marl screamed. "IF WE CAN GET JUST A SECOND OF LIGHT! BISHOP IS DOWN, BUT IF WE CAN GET A DIRECT LINK TO THE TERMINAL, I MIGHT BE ABLE TO OVERRIDE IT!"

Taro was about to ask how she planned to do that when he remembered they had a secret weapon.

[FUFUFU. IT APPEARS THE TIME HAS FINALLY COME FOR THE GENIUS AI KOUME-SAMA TO SHINE, MISS MARL. LEAVE IT TO ME. A MERE DUCT SYSTEM CAN BE BREACHED IN SECONDS.]

Koume’s voice rang out from Marl’s hip. Because of her "special" nature, she’d been under strict orders to keep her mouth shut in public to avoid unwanted attention.

"Right. I’m going to fire one shot at the ceiling," Taiki announced. "It'll be bright for a split second. Everyone hit the deck so we don't cast shadows!"

The moment they dropped, Taiki fired the Ray Gun. The flash was blindingly brief—to Taro, it was just a white streak that seared his retinas.

"That wasn't even a second! Did you see anything?!"

[YES, IT IS QUITE ALRIGHT, MR. TEIRO. I HAVE MAPPED THE STRUCTURE. THERE IS A CONTROL INTERFACE NEARBY. IF YOU WOULD BE SO KIND AS TO CARRY ME TO IT? I MUST SAY, I FEEL A BURNING RAGE TOWARD WHOEVER DESIGNED A CYLINDRICAL FLOOR. I CANNOT EVEN ROLL TO THE EDGE ON MY OWN.]

A small lamp began to flicker in the dark. Taro crawled toward the light, bumping into Marl along the way. His hand brushed against something soft. Whoa. Okay, forget it, focus. I can savor the floral scent and the mental image of Marl's face later.

[............ACCESS COMPLETE. IF YOU BRING YOUR HEADS CLOSE TO ME, YOU CAN CONNECT TO BISHOP. THE DUCT CONTROLLER IS A HUFFMAN D-442 SYSTEM. MISS MARL, ARE YOU FAMILIAR?]

"Naturally!" Marl chirped, pressing her head close to Koume’s casing.

"It’s a standard system used all over the galaxy. Anyone with a degree in mechanical engineering knows it... Ah, there’s a lockout. Teiro, help! You can crack this in a heartbeat, right?"

"On it!" Taro dove toward the faint glow of Koume's lamp.

"Oh, hey, BISHOP is back. Hold on... and... got it. Lock’s open."

"Your speed is as terrifying as ever," Marl muttered. "Wait, it’s got Multi-stage Security. Stay on the line and keep bypassing. I’ll walk you through the layers."

"You got it, boss... Mmm, floral scent. Without the lights, my imagination is running wild. Having Marl’s face this close is—"

"I’m going to kick you into the blades!"

"Don't threaten me after you’ve already started swinging!"

After cracking three more layers of security, the mechanical roar finally began to wind down. The terrifying gale died into a gentle breeze as the blades coasted to a stop.

"Move it! I’ve set it to a timed reboot. It’ll start spinning again in two minutes!"

The trio scrambled through the gaps in the massive propeller blades. Just as Taro let out a breath of relief, the Ventilation Fan groaned back to life behind them, spinning up with a menacing hum.

"I managed to snag an Air Conditioning Map while we were inside," Taro said. "Looks like there’s only one exit this way. Think they’re waiting for us?"

"I doubt it," Marl said. "They wouldn't expect us to be able to shut down the ventilation system."

"I agree," Taiki added. "But if they are there, we'll just have to break through by force."

[ACTUALLY, MR. TAIKI, IT SHOULD BE FINE. I HAVE RECEIVED AN UPDATE FROM MR. ALAN. SECURITY FORCES ARE CURRENTLY CONCENTRATED AROUND THE DUCT ENTRANCE IN THE COMMERCIAL DISTRICT. IT SEEMS FIRING YOUR GUN AT THE GRATE WORKED IN OUR FAVOR; THEY ASSUME WE ARE STILL HOLED UP THERE AND ARE GATHERING REINFORCEMENTS TO FLUSH US OUT.]

The group let out a collective sigh. "You're a devilish hacker, aren't you?" Taiki remarked, and Taro couldn't help but agree. Diving into an enemy station's security grid like it was a playground was unheard of.

"Look! The exit!"

After what felt like hours of crawling through the void, a tiny pinprick of white light appeared. Taro put on a burst of speed, desperate to escape the cramped metal tube, with Taiki and Marl hot on his heels.

But as they neared the light and their eyes began to adjust, a dark mass suddenly stepped into the frame. The silhouette blocked the exit, a black shadow against the blinding light.

As Taro and the others skidded to a panicked halt, the figure spoke in a dry, clipped tone.

"Good work."