Sean raises his glow stick to his face and makes a bird call Matilda is unfamiliar with. From across the room, one of the guards answers.
“You wear a hat, buddy?”
Reflexively, Matilda strains her gaze in the torchlit dimness to the black beanie on Sean’s head.
“All our hats are black, my friend. I have a couple of Tor’s buddies with me. He should be waiting for them.”
One guard trains his rifle on the newcomers while the other reaches for a nearby communicator. Matilda can’t hear what he says, nor the response from the other end.
“It checks out, Joe. Let ’em pass.”
They follow Sean past the guard post and through corridors that spiderweb out into a huge network of subsections and facilities. Matilda tries to keep track of the turns in case she and James need to make it back to the entrance on their own, but quickly sees the futility in the attempt.
Within minutes, Sean leads them into a command center filled with personnel, computer stations, weapon racks, and supplies. Matilda glances at what appears to be a digital map of the base but cannot fully apprehend what she is seeing.
“This place can’t be this big. How could the Enclave miss it?”
Her comments garner some turned heads in the room, but Sean laughs.
“That’s the beauty of the Dark. We use a tech called Blink Shift. We exist in a much smaller space outside than we do inside the structure. So, we can outrun the Enclave without setting up and tearing down everything.”
She shakes her head. “Wait, what the fuck?”
Sean laughs again and shrugs.
“Welcome to the Dark, kiddo. Shit doesn’t have to make sense. It just needs to work.”
Matilda turns to James, but she finds the Taciturn scanning the room.
“Of course Tor would set up in the sewers. God, he’s just as crazy as ever.”
Sean smiles at this assessment.
“Speaking of, it looks like the old man isn’t here.”
Sean grabs the arm of a passing technician.
“Hey Evan, you know where the big man is? I have two people that want to see him.”
The man glances at the Scry and Taciturn.
“Last I heard, he was in his office. I’d start there.”
Sean clasps his hands together.
“Looks like you’re not done with me yet.”
Exiting the command center, Matilda asks James, “It seemed like you knew something back there. I don’t get it. Where the hell are we?”
James shrugs.
“It’s hard to say. Nobody really knows. One of the reasons the Enclave has had such a hard time crushing Tor’s group is that it’s never in the same place for long. It technically resides in the Deep, but constantly moves around. Blink Shift was experimental software that Tor had been developing before. Think of the first part as a normal box. On the outside, it’s the size of, well, a normal box; but on the inside, it’s the size of…”
James gestures to everything around them. “The second part is the wandering portal aspect. Every six hours, the box moves to a new location. Or maybe it’s the entrance that moves. To be honest, I never really figured that part out.”
Matilda latches onto something James said.
“You said he was working on this ‘before.’ So, he was one of your old Fall Water Lake buddies?”
James’ hand flexes while he comes up with an answer.
“Yes and no. I knew him when I was at Fall Water, but Tor never worked there. He got an offer easily enough, but when they met him, he was deemed ‘too much of a liability.’ Don’t’ get me wrong, he was brilliant – but the company thought his societal views were too toxic, too revolutionary. So, Tom Simmons revoked his offer.”
Matilda chuckles.
“Ouch. Guess that explains why he has it in for Simmons so much.”
James frowns, inspecting the huge complex.
“Tor is one of the few people to actually hack his way into the Cyberside. Part of me feels he did it just to prove he could. The other part of me thinks he did it just to make sure he could irritate Simmons.”
They pass crate-filled loading areas, a mess hall, and several barracks. Before long, each new segment of the complex begins to look the same to Matilda.
“Tell me about this Sacramento thing you mentioned. I want to know the details before we head into this.”
The three stop to make way for a passing squad of soldiers in the corridors. After the soldiers pass, James continues.
“Tor wanted to secure some presence in Babylon. So he started a splinter group to disrupt Donovan’s operations. It ended up being a bad bet, as someone tipped off Donovan’s goons. They barely got set up before Company troops raided them. It ended in a bloodbath. Thankfully, I was in the area, and got Tor and what was left of his squad out.”
Matilda rubs her hands together.
“And now it’s time for him to return the favor.”
Sean stops in front of an office with a large metal door.
“Well, this is it. You’re on your own from here on out. It was a pleasure.”
He bows and tips his hat to the duo. Matilda chuckles. “Hey, thanks for everything. Hopefully, we’ll see you around.”
Sean gives her a wink as he heads back down the corridor, leaving her and James standing in front of the metal door. A security camera turns to focus on them. James waves at the camera.
“Hey, Alex.”
Matilda whispers to James.
“Alex, huh? I figured his name wasn’t really ‘Tor’.”
The camera tracks their movements, and an energetic voice crackles from the speaker box.
“Welcome to the Onikuma, James. You two have made quite a buzz tramping around the Cyberside. I was hoping you’d be coming around my way.”
Matilda hears a click and the door slides open. She enters the room and finds it to be a mixture between a military commander’s office and a gentleman’s club. Paintings hang on the walls next to marked coordinate maps of Metropolis. A weapons rack stands next to a robustly stocked liquor cabinet. Sitting in a leather chair, with his feet up on the desk, is the Onikuma leader known as Tor.
Wearing olive green cargo pants, combat boots, and a black Led Zeppelin t-shirt, he places a hand-rolled cigarette on the edge of his ashtray. A man in his early forties, his wide smile reveals rows of pearl-white teeth. From the smile alone, Matilda begins to understand how this man has drawn so many to his cause. He radiates charisma, practically vibrates the air with it.
“I’m sure you’re both exhausted. Take a seat and let me get you something to drink.”
Matilda slips into one of the comfortable chairs while Tor grabs a bottle of red wine from his well-stocked cabinet and collects some glasses.
“Please make yourself at home,” he says, with his back turned to them. “There’s some cigarettes on the table, James, if that’s still your thing.”
Tor places the glasses on his desk and works to open the bottle of wine.
“Deep down, I know it’s only a digital substitute for the real thing, but nothing beats a Sonoma red.”
Her pours the crimson liquid into their glasses and sinks into his armchair. He raises his glass.
“Now, let’s talk about what I can do to help you two.”
Matilda and James reach for their glasses.
“It’s been too long, Tor,” James says.
The Onikuma leader brings the wine to his nose and breathes in deeply.
“I appreciate you sticking to the charade, James, but in here, you can call me Alex.”
Alex tastes the wine, closing his eyes, and soaks in the flavor.
“And yes, it’s been way too long. With what you’ve been doing, we have much to discuss.” Alex turns his attention to Matilda and raises his wine glass again.