1:2:4 Underground (Part 1)

Chilled. The air that whipped around them as they were dragged into the undercity was cold. It wasn’t unpleasant but it was enough to warrant a light jacket. It helped. Their constitution was already improving but they were desperately close to vomiting.
“Not much further now.” Tolan’s voice echoed through The Conglomeration; the main area had the same circumference as Celreagaire with the outer walls of the cave following exactly the walls of the city but the centre was hollow. Its capacity came from its depth. The settlement clung to the cave walls with a thin path allowing the locals to travel up and down The Conglomeration. It was a corkscrew from the top to an unknown bottom. Bridges criss-crossed the void allowing for faster routes between some of the levels of the settlement but their presence was seemingly random.
“I’m really fine.” Lore spoke through gritted teeth but their attempts were in vain. Thankfully they missed themselves and their compatriots as their dinner made a surprise reappearance. They spoke between splutters. “Actually… I feel much better now.” For the first time since their symptoms sudden onset, they had miraculously lessened.
“I’ll be the judge of that.” Tolan directed Lore through a doorway in the cave wall. “Get sat down.”
They had been expecting the rugged cave walls to continue into the room but they were unceremoniously replaced by grey laminate and white tiled walls. The whole room was sterile, even the air had a clingy cleanliness to it. An examination chair sat at the centre of the room. Off to one side, a stool on wheels and an over encumbered desk. Lore was tempted by the stool, wanting to sit on it as a joke but they knew it probably wouldn’t be seen that way so they decided to take the chair they were supposed to sit in. Tolan lowered themselves onto the stool and removed a tablet from the mess of papers.
“You comfortable?” Tolan tapped at their tablet. A helmet dropped from the ceiling attached by a thick, braided cable. Tolan stood and nestled the helmet onto Lore’s head. “Just going to take a quick scan to make sure things are all good then on to business.” They nodded at Lore. They returned to their stool. “Right then, here we go.” The device whirred as the scan began. An arm extended from the section of the helmet above the bridge of their nose, from it, a beam emanated; its blue light flickered across their eyes before moving down and scanning their mouth and neck. The arm retreated and with that, the noises stopped. “All done. Let’s have a look.” Tolan swiped across on the tablet, showing the first scan. “Well, your vision is slightly off, we should think about some corrective lenses for that.” They swiped again. Their eyes widened in amazement. They double checked the scan. “It’s astonishing you were able to see straight, let alone walk.” They showed Lore, then Char and Destiny the scan. “A scan of someone with a headache would usually show some pale reds here, here and here,” Tolan pointed to three points on Lore’s rainbow brain. “But never dark reds like this. Same goes for your visual, aural and olfactory centres, the orange, green and blue sections. Everything’s gone into overdrive. And don’t even get me started on whatever the hel that is.” They pointed to a region of the brain that was illuminated by a bright purple glow. “That’s not standard.” Tolan let out a jet of air. “I honestly don’t know what to do with you apart from prescribe bedrest and more painkillers.”
Lore took a look at their Breacher. To their surprise, little space nap had been seventeen hours ago. “I think we could all.” They stopped themselves. “I think Char and I could use a nap.” Destiny flashed a smile. “You wouldn’t happen to have anywhere spare?”
“It’s the middle of the day, I’m fine. This is one of my practices anyway. I’m the only human doctor here at the moment so, I often pass out before I can get home. There’s a bed in the next room. I’ll just get Pip out of your way then it’s all yours.” Tolan vanished into the other room giving Lore a chance to look at the scan for themselves. They weren’t a neurosurgeon but thanks to the cubes they had a basic understanding of the human brain and knew that something was definitely wrong with the image before them; the purple clusters were isolated over what appeared to be the warped sections of the brain that concerned the perception and recollection of time. “All ready for you.” Tolan poked their head out of the door, beckoning them in.

It was a less than modest room; most of it taken up by the mattress and what little floorspace there was, was currently occupied by Pip and their drawings. For a child of their age, and with the resources they had, the drawings were remarkably detailed. At the top of their pile, a drawing of what appeared to be the interior of a ship featuring a person wreathed in electric blue flames.
“That’s really good.” Lore held out their hand to get a closer look at the picture. “May I?” Pip handed it to them.
Pip shrugged. “They just sort of happen.” They rifled through their pages. “No, no, no, no…Here it is.” They picture they handed to Lore was of a planet. At its poles, two towering spikes and around its equator, countless more. Wrapping around the planet, two ribbons; one of purple, one of gold and studding those ribbons, a series of small planets. “That’s for you.”
“Thank you.” Lore tried not to sound patronising as they folded the picture into their inside jacket pocket. “Keep it nice and safe.”
Pip engulfed Lore in a tight embrace. Lore gave them a pat on the shoulder. “Nice meeting you.” They said as they skipped off, smile beaming across their face.
“They seemed weird.” Char rubbed the back of her neck.
“I don’t know, I kind of liked them.” Lore unfolded the picture to give Char a look. “Talented artist too.”
“Still…” She turned the picture upside down before returning it the right way up. “The gravitational stress on those micro planets wouldn’t allow them to stay like that, let alone form like that.”
“I suppose but still, it’s a nice drawing.” Lore looked to the bed then to the floor before returning the picture to their pocket. “I’ll take the floor if you want the bed?”
“I think we’re both grown up enough to share a bed.” Char scoffed.
“I was referring to the size but ok…” Lore set their coat down.
“It’ll be big enough.” Char put her coat with Lore’s before removing her trousers. Instinctively, Lore turned to face the wall. “You don’t have to do that you know.” Lore kept facing the wall for a moment before turning in time to dodge Char’s bra as it came flying towards them. “Sorry.” She sidled onto the bed in just her top and pants then pulled the cover over herself. “Your turn.”
Lore unfastened their belt and gently lowered it with their trousers to around their ankles. They returned it to their waist after they realised they hadn’t taken their boots off. After removing their boots, they removed their trousers. Despite the care they had taken, their belt still made a significant thud as it hit the tiled floor. They hesitated before removing their shirt and breast armour then they slipped out of their socks. At the foot of the bed, they stood in their boxers and sports bra. Under the room’s lighting, Their warm feet adhered to the cold tile in an far too familiar feeling as they made their way into the bed. Char patted the vacant side. Apart from their feet being stuck to the floor, their near nudity put them in a strange situation. They felt awkward standing at the foot of the bed but their option to remedy that was to join Char under the sheets of a rather narrow bed. After what felt like an eternity but was in actuality mere seconds, Lore decided to join Char under the duvet. The mattress was as unforgiving as the floor had been but at least the bare portions of their body weren’t sticking to it. It was comfortably warm though.
“Seems you and Tolan have similar taste in beds.” Char turned to face Lore. “Still, it’s just for one night.”
“Light on or off?” Lore hovered their hand over the switch.
“Off?” Char smiled. “Yeah. Off.” Lore flicked the switch. They turned back to face Char only to double take the bulb above. “Bioluminescence.” Lore looked at her amazed as she poked her finger into her implant. “What, Silus never show you this?”
“We never shared a bed.” Lore said completely seriously.
“You two never got stuck in a dark place and needed a light?” Lore shook her head.
“I suppose you only fought on the plains but this trick, this trick got us our homeland back.” Char spoke proudly as she fingered the port, wincing as she did. “Tingles. Like a static shock.” She paused for a moment. Golden light lit their faces equalising their skin tones. “Want a go?”
“Wouldn’t that be like pushing a splinter into your side?”
“That is exactly what you’d be doing.” She sounded so nonchalant. “I remember being more used to it. I remember this helping.”
“Ok.” Lore gently circled the implant with their index finger before lowering it towards the splintered Tempora crystal.
“Woah!” There was a flash of blue light and an electric crackle which was soon replaced with the expected golden glow but at thrice the usual brightness. “Ouch. That’s never happened before.”
There was a moment of silence between them as they just laid and enjoyed the intimacy of the setting. Looking at each other, illuminated by the golden glow. The vulnerability of it all scared Lore somewhat but with Char barely a centimetre away, those concerns seemed less important. “This is nice.” Lore’s default silence breaker summed up both of their feelings at the time. Char inched closer, narrowing the already narrow gap before resting an arm around Lore.
“It is.” They both had the same thoughts rushing through their heads. They had an idea about what came next and, to a degree, both of them were ready for it but at the same time, neither of them had ever done it. “I can go back if you want?” The light was beginning to dull.
Lore hesitated. “It’s fine.” Lore adjusted themselves to allow Char to get more comfortable. Lore looked to her and she looked at them. “Night.” Lore laid a gentle kiss on her forehead; their lips were so soft and their touch so delicate that Char wasn’t even sure it had happened.
She reciprocated the gesture, matching the intensity and but not the force. Her attempt was not unpleasant but was slightly more confident. “Night.” She smiled as she pulled away slightly, her golden glow became more prominent.
Remarkably, they both slept through the night. The inky blackness of sleep claimed them both and kept them from the late afternoon to the morning of the next day. Char was returned to the land of the waking about half an hour before Lore. She sat and watched them as they twitched and wriggled in their sleep. She just laid there, smiling; she didn’t know why but it made her feel comfortable, made her feel safe. It was nice.