In Sector Ten, the facility's lights were still on.
Candice passed through the last mechanized bulkhead door, bracing her robotic hand against the heavy steel frame to steady herself.
Right behind her, Havelyn folded her feathered wings against her back to fit through the narrow opening.
Gunfire and explosions echoed in the distance, muffled by meters of armored walls, but the tremors of battle still traveled up through the soles of their boots.
Down in the depths, the complex's massive engines kept running without interruption.
Thick electrical cables ran along the concrete walls and disappeared through an armored door far larger than the others.
To the right, a dark corridor followed the curve of the sector, leading to the isolation cells.
To the left, a broad ramp led straight to the main transport shaft, which cut through every level above.
Candice stopped in front of the door at the end.
The indicator beside the panel glowed green: the authorization Tsukumo had granted through the system was still active.
She reached toward the console, but her fingers hesitated a few centimeters from the screen.
Havelyn noticed her hesitation.
"Is this it?"
Candice only nodded, her throat tight.
The harpy looked up, following the cables to the top of the armored door.
Then she glanced toward the corridor on the right.
"I'll search the other rooms."
"Don't leave this sector without telling me," Candice warned without turning.
"I'll let you know."
Candice pressed the control screen.
The internal locks retracted into the wall one after another with heavy metallic clunks.
The two steel panels began sliding apart, opening a sliver of white light that reached the toes of Candice's boots.
She slipped through before the doors had finished opening.
The chamber beyond was vast and tall, with support columns connecting the ceiling to a raised platform in the center.
The generators' deep drone bore down on her ears.
The connections bore dark scorch marks, newer parts had been patched over old components, and thick layers of crude welds surrounded the beams.
Rubens knelt at the center of the platform.
Even hunched like that, his head was higher than Candice's.
His massive, broad shoulders stretched what remained of a heavy cloth shirt, torn and stained with soot across the front.
Heavy metal cuffs held his forearms out to either side.
Two more steel rings immobilized his legs, while a curved metal piece encircled the base of his neck, locked directly into the structure behind him.
The skin around the iron edges was raw, cut, and inflamed.
Old, dried blood covered his chest and the bends of his elbows.
Candice took another step forward.
Rubens slowly raised his face toward the entrance.
She tried to say his name, but had to swallow before her voice would come.
"Rubens."
His eyes fixed on her.
For a long moment, the only part of that enormous body that moved was his chest, rising and falling slowly beneath the torn shirt.
"Candice?"
She nodded quickly, unable to look away from her brother's face.
Rubens strained forward, trying to get closer.
The iron cuffs stopped him with a thud, the dragging metal tearing the skin of his wrist and drawing a fresh line of blood.
He stopped moving, but never looked away.
His gaze traveled down Candice's blue hair, the dried blood clinging to the side of her face, and her left shoulder, where flesh gave way to the metal plates of her prosthesis.
"You're hurt."
Candice gave a soft snort of laughter, but the sound came out broken and shaky.
"Look at you."
She climbed the platform's steps and approached him.
She raised her right hand, hesitated for a second near her brother's face, then finally touched his cheek.
Rubens closed his eyes at the touch.
Candice brushed her thumb over his rough skin, wiping away some of the dirt and crusted blood.
She took another step closer, resting her left hand—the metal one—on his broad shoulder.
The prosthesis looked small against his enormous frame.
"I'm going to get these off."
She turned toward the control panel mounted beside the base.
The screen was unlocked.
Candice slid her fingers across the display, found the circuits connected to the arm restraints, and activated the release for the first clasp.
Nothing happened.
The locks didn't move.
She pressed the button again, harder this time.
"Candice."
"Just a moment."
A red bar on the panel showed that the charge stored in the locks was still draining.
She knew that model of mechanical lock well; she had dismantled similar parts in the workshop.
Even knowing that, impatience made her press the release again before the indicator reached the end.
"Look at me, please."
She lifted her eyes.
Rubens remained motionless between the restraint columns, waiting patiently.
"I'm here. Calm down."
Candice's lips trembled.
She pressed them together, looked back at the screen, and followed the power bar until the last indicator went dark.
This time, she waited.
The first cuff opened with a deafening metallic snap. With nothing holding it up, Rubens's right arm dropped a few centimeters before he regained control of his muscles and rested his palm on the platform.
His thick fingers curled slowly around the steel edge.
Candice shut off the circuit on the other side.
Candice worked the manual clasp behind Rubens's neck.
The curved iron piece unlocked with a click, pulled away from his skin, and retracted into the structure.
Rubens turned his head from side to side, testing his newly freed neck.
Then he raised his right hand, large enough to cover Candice's entire face, and gently touched his thumb to her cheek.
Candice clasped his enormous hand in both of hers and pressed her forehead against his skin.
"Twenty years," she managed, her voice faltering.
Rubens said nothing.
"I tried."
Candice's fingers tightened around his.
The metal prosthesis gave a low mechanical whir as its components tightened.
"I tried everything."
Rubens slowly drew her closer.
Candice resisted just long enough to look at her brother's scarred, bloodied chest.
Noticing her caution, Rubens shifted his arm, making room beside his shoulder.
She leaned forward, gripped the worn fabric of his shirt with both hands, and buried her face against it.
His enormous arm closed around her back, enveloping her completely.
Candice exhaled in a strangled sob, muffling her crying against his chest.
"I couldn't get here sooner."
Rubens lowered his head until his cheek rested on top of his sister's blue hair.
"Don't apologize to me for that."
Candice tried to speak, but the knot in her throat stopped her.
She only tightened her grip on his shirt. Her shoulders kept shaking, and she let herself stay there, held in his embrace, her eyes closed and her forehead resting against her brother's chest.
Out in the sector's corridor, Havelyn pushed open the heavy door of another cell.
The small room held two iron beds fastened to the wall. One was empty, its sheets discarded on the floor.
On the other, a thin man shielded his eyes with his forearm against the bright light spilling in from the corridor.
"Can you walk?"
The man slowly lowered his arm and stared at the feathered wings on Havelyn's back before answering.
"I can."
"The passages are open. Other prisoners are getting out through the upper levels."
The man struggled to sit on the edge of the bed, resting his hands on his knees.
Havelyn waited until he was steady on his feet, then pointed toward the exit.
"I'm looking for a girl. Black hair, red eyes. Her name is Laura."
The man frowned, thought for a few seconds, and shook his head.
Havelyn thanked him with a quick nod and moved on to the next room.
Inside the main chamber, Candice pulled away from her brother's embrace and wiped the tears from her face with the back of her right hand.
Rubens kept his open palm against her back until he was certain her feet were firmly planted on the platform.
"Your legs are still restrained," she said.
He nodded, making room for her to return to the control console.
Before Candice reached the screen, a loud burst of static erupted from the communicator clipped to her chest.
"Candice!"
Gordon's voice came through in fragments.
A deafening explosion drowned out the rest of his message.
She raised her robotic hand to the device and pressed the button.
"I'm listening!"
"Did you reach him?"
Candice looked at Rubens.
Her brother was listening closely to every word coming from the speaker.
"I found him. I'm releasing the last restraints."
There was a brief silence on the other end, followed by the dwarf's heavy, labored breathing.
"All right... all right. Then get that man out of there!"
"Gordon, I need you to keep the access routes clear," Candice said firmly.
"Prisoners are coming out of the isolation sectors."
"I know! We're already picking up everyone who reaches the platform."
An energy blast cracked far too close to Gordon's microphone.
Candice held her breath for a second, until she heard his voice again.
"Just keep going, woman! SUKI AND TSUKUMO ARE DYING!!!" The channel cut out with a hiss of static.
Rubens glanced toward the chamber door, then back at his sister.
"Who's that?"
"Gordon. Our chief engineer. He worked in this facility for sixteen years."
She knelt in front of the metal restraint holding Rubens's right leg. The mechanism linked to the panel began turning, releasing the internal clasps.
"These days, he takes care of our ships," Candice continued.
"We have a proper workshop, an equipped infirmary... an entire city hidden in the mountains."
Rubens watched his sister's head as she worked.
Candice wedged the iron fingers of her prosthesis into the gap in the cuff and helped pull the steel piece away, taking care not to tear the injured skin of his leg.
"You built a city?"
"We built it," she corrected without stopping.
"I could never have done any of it alone."
The first restraint came loose with a heavy clunk. Rubens slowly drew his leg back and rested his bare foot on the metal floor.
"How many people live there?"
"Six hundred and forty-two. That was the number before we left on this mission."
Candice stared at the open clasp for a second before moving to his other leg.
Rubens didn't ask how many of those people would return alive.
"And they all came for their families," Candice said.
"For their friends. For people still imprisoned down here."
She raised her face and met his eyes.
"I came for you."
Rubens reached out with his enormous hand and brushed his fingers through her hair, moving a blue strand that had stuck to the dried blood on her face.
Candice closed her eyes at the gentle touch, but opened them immediately when the final restraint on his other leg snapped open.
The hum of the restraint motors abruptly stopped.
The sudden absence of that constant noise left the chamber so quiet that they could both clearly hear a drop of water fall from the raised platform and strike the steel floor.
Rubens let out a deep breath.
The air leaving his mouth was visibly white, freezing as it met the surrounding air.
A thin layer of ice formed instantly beneath the palm he still had resting on the steel structure.
The ice spread rapidly across the surface, reached the support columns, and climbed the empty cuffs, covering the metal in a whitish crust.
The lights on the mechanisms went out for good beneath the frost.
Candice stood.
"Slowly."
Rubens drew his left leg back and planted his bare foot on the floor.
The dense muscles of his thigh contracted beneath the worn fabric of his pants.
He remained kneeling for a moment, testing his weight and balance before beginning to lift his massive body.
Candice gripped his forearm with her robotic hand to support him.
As Rubens rose, Candice had to tilt her head farther and farther back to keep looking at his face.
His enormous frame filled the space between the columns, forcing him to turn his shoulders sideways to avoid the restraint beams.
Rubens stood fully upright.
The leg that had been restrained for years trembled under his weight. He shifted his center of gravity to the other leg and squeezed Candice's fingers for a moment, accepting her help until he could steady himself.
The cuts on his wrists were still open and bleeding.
A dark trickle ran down his hand and dripped onto the floor, freezing the instant it touched the metal.
A violent tremor shook the chamber walls.
Overhead, a heavy maintenance grate tore free of its bolts and plummeted toward them.
Rubens raised his left arm and caught the iron grating in midair before it could strike Candice.
The force of the impact reverberated through his injured shoulder.
He gritted his teeth, held the grate in one hand, and flung it aside against the wall.
"Can you walk?" Candice asked, looking at the crumpled metal on the floor.
Rubens stared at the grate, then looked back at his sister.
"I can."
Candice gave a short, shaky laugh, wiping the corners of her eyes again.
"All right."
He offered his enormous hand.
Candice took it as she descended the steps of the raised platform.
In the outer corridor, Havelyn reached the sector's last door.
The cell was open.
She went inside, looked behind the concrete partition, and pulled aside a dirty blanket piled in the corner.
There was no one there.
The harpy returned to the corridor's data terminal.
The wing's files were already open on the screen, but she went through the prisoner list again, checking every name and watching the photographs load slowly.
When she reached the end of the records, she typed Laura's name into the search.
No results found.
Havelyn kept her fingers resting on the touchscreen, staring at the glowing words without pressing anything else.
At last, she took her hand away, drew a deep breath, and headed back down the corridor.
She found the two siblings leaving the central chamber.
Rubens had to bend forward and duck his head to pass through the armored doorway.
When he saw the harpy approaching, he stopped and stepped aside to make room.
"Havelyn," Candice introduced her.
"She's the one who came down here with me."
Rubens inclined his head respectfully to the winged woman.
"Thank you for accompanying my sister." Havelyn looked at Candice's face, where tear tracks were still visible through the grime of battle.
"She helped me when I needed it, too."
Candice waited in silence.
Havelyn recognized the question in her eyes before she could put it into words.
"I searched every room I could reach," the harpy said quietly.
"I checked the records at the terminal."
Havelyn's hand curled into a fist at her side.
"I didn't find Laura."
Candice lowered her eyes for a second, her expression falling.
"No record in the system?"
"Nothing under her name. I asked one of the prisoners I freed, but no one can tell me where she is."
Rubens watched the conversation in silence, noticing the change in the mood between them.
"Who came looking for her?" Rubens asked.
"Two of the warriors helping us," Candice replied.
"Suki Nakamura and Tsukumo."
Rubens stopped rubbing his injured wrist.
"Suki Nakamura?"
Candice nodded.
A low laugh escaped the giant's chest, making his shoulders move.
"That girl was right."
Havelyn looked up.
"She said an idiot would come looking for her," Rubens continued, still wearing a small smile.
"Seems she knew the boy well."
"You met Laura?"
His smile faded a little when he saw how intently the harpy was waiting for his answer.
"Laura, one of Silver's disciples. Yes."
Havelyn took a step toward him, her fingers tightening around the communicator.
"Is she alive?"
"She is."
Candice looked at Havelyn.
The harpy opened her mouth, but had to take a breath before she could speak.
"We need to tell him."
"I gave that girl my word I'd get that message to that idiot," Rubens said.
"Where is he?"
Candice pointed at the ceiling.
"Holding Yashin off. They've both been fighting him since he showed up."
Rubens's expression hardened.
Tsukumo's scream over the communicator still echoed in Havelyn's memory. Her hand rose toward the button, hesitated, then dropped to her side.
"We need to get up there. Now."
"Show me the way."
Candice pointed toward the ramp on the left.
"The transport shaft runs through the sectors. The bulkhead doors are open."
Rubens started walking. His first step was heavy, but he adjusted his footing on the injured leg and continued without needing to lean on his sister.
In the corridor, a pipe came loose above the prisoner Havelyn had freed.
Rubens extended his hand without breaking stride.
Ice encased the pipe and secured it to the wall, making the man duck reflexively.
"Go on," the giant said.
"There are people waiting to help you."
Candice activated her communicator as she walked beside him.
"Gordon, Rubens is free. We're coming up."
"Then hurry! We'll keep the access route open!"
The ramp ended at the platform overlooking the shaft.
Rubens approached the edge and looked up. Rails and service bridges disappeared into the darkness above them, leaving the central space clear.
He crouched with his back to the two women.
"Climb on."
Candice looked at his bloodied wrists.
"Rubens..."
He offered his hand, holding his palm near the floor.
"I can do it."
She placed her boot on his hand and let her brother lift her onto his back.
Havelyn climbed up next, folding her wings and settling beside his other shoulder.
Ice covered Rubens's arms, spread across his chest, and formed a support beneath the women's legs.
The edges curved around their sides, protecting them without squeezing the harpy's wings.
Candice gripped the barrier with her prosthetic hand, keeping her other hand on her brother's shoulder.
"Tsukumo opened the doors," she said close to his ear.
"Without him, we wouldn't have reached you."
Rubens nodded.
"Then I have two people to find."
He stood.
The moisture around them turned to crystals, and a thick layer of ice spread over the platform beneath his feet.
"Hold on tight."
Rubens bent his knees and jumped.
The frozen base shattered under the force of his launch.
His enormous body shot up through the center of the shaft, carrying Candice and Havelyn in a burst of acceleration that pressed them against his back.
The first bridge flashed past in a blur. Ice raced along the rails, coated the supports, and spread up the walls as he gained height.
Behind the three of them, snow surged in violent waves, swallowing the platform and the entrance to Sector Ten.
Rubens rose with a blizzard at his back.
He had given his word.
And the idiot needed to hear that Laura was alive.