Chapter Ten

I’d been to the Undergrid many times, but each trip seemed like I was visiting a totally different planet. Depending on where in the city you descended, you were in for a totally different experience. But no matter where you entered, it was bound to be a strange ride. So many bodies crammed into narrow tunnels and secret cubbies.

And the worst part—water on the floors, always. It leaked through the sewage system, seeped from all the broken pipes, creeped in from remains of the L.A. River. Damp. Smelly.

Dangerous.

I hated it there.

Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t actually mind the people in the Undergrid. I understood the Circuit Breakers. I also didn’t like being tracked by the government, even though I had mixed feelings on it as a business owner.

The thing is, it was super convenient, especially for casino owners. We knew who came into our businesses, how often they visited, what they do while they were there. Especially good for the high rollers—we knew what kind of drinks they preferred, what their favorite foods were, what types of experiences they might like best. Made it super easy to profit.

But I got where the Circuit Breakers were coming from. If I had a choice, I would ban the technology, but so long as it was already the law, may as well capitalize on it. These guys down here clearly had other ideas—they’d rather deal with sketchy power problems, dank water flowing through their bedrooms, and constant darkness rather than have to deal with being monitored.

That part—that I didn’t comprehend. I’d put up with almost everything if it meant being comfortable. Give me luxury or give me death.

As soon as we finished climbing down the rickety passageway, the stench of the Undergrid was overpowering. Stagnant water. Mold. Rusty metal. Chemical runoff.

Blood.

For some reason it always smelled like blood.

I gagged as the grimy, cold breeze blew through my hair.

Gavin got off the ladder first, and he lifted me the rest of the way down.

“Thanks,” I said. I’m sure he noticed how much I was wincing trying to make my way down the tunnel.

Leo was already on the ground, and Royce followed behind us.

“Who are we going to see, exactly?” I said.

“Two of the best erasers that I’ve met,” Royce said. “They’ll get you totally cloaked and off the grid.”

“This plan is insane,” I said.

“Sounds like it’s your best bet though,” Leo said. I don’t know about all the medical science parts, but I know we can pull off the cloaking bits. And for any of the surgical stuff, Royce is the best there is.”

Surgical Parts.

Oh god.

That’s right.

I touched my collarbones and swallowed.

There had to be a better way than just digging those out.

I’d just pretend like that wasn’t going to be an issue until I was told otherwise. Better not to work myself up over nothing, and Royce was in such a bad mood he might say disturbing things just to mess with me.

Stay positive.

Leo had left his sword in a sheath for the climb down, but as soon as something stirred in the darkness, he drew it out in front of him, blade ready. I peered into the tunnel, but it was only lit by a few flickering fluorescent lights dangling from the cracked cement ceiling.

“This is a bad section,” Leo said. “Stay behind me for now. Once we enter the main passage, it should be fine. I keep telling Gideon he needs to patrol this section, but he says he wants to leave it like this. Thinks it helps discourage tourists in the underground mall from making it all the way down to the Undergrid passageways.”

And that was why I wouldn’t go wandering around here without an escort. Leo was like the guide leading the boat across the River Styx. Get out of the boat alone, and you might never find your way back again.

“Who’s Gideon?” I said.

“Caramel’s wife,” Leo said. “She’s the governor of this section. I’m surprised you’ve never met her, actually.”

Oops. Seemed like that was a major oversight on my part, from the way he said it.

“I try to stay out of the Undergrid,” I said. “And you’ve never told me this is someone I needed to meet.”

“I try to mind my own business. Busy bodies aren’t appreciated on this end of town, you dig?” he said. “No matter. Caramel’s friendly. Gideon can be a hard ass until he warms up to you, but he likes Royce.”

“I’m a likeable guy,” Royce said. “See, I got connections too.”

I took a step forward and winced. Leo nodded at my legs.

“You going to be okay?” Leo said.

“I’ll survive,” I said, and Royce gave me a look that reminded me that my flippant statement wasn’t necessarily true. “Do we really need to do this now though? None of us are in good shape.”

Royce put his hands on his hips. “That depends. How much do you like breathing and being in control of your neural functions?”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine. Got it. We do it now,” I said. “By the way, thanks for taking the time, Leo. Can’t exactly expect you to wait around for us to have a nap and a nice brunch before exploring the Undergrid.”

“Anything you need. This town would fall apart without you. And that includes the Undergrid. I don’t think you’ll have any trouble with getting help from Caramel. People down here appreciate how you help shield them from the police.”

Not like I did much in the way of active assistance, but I definitely didn’t go out of my way to try and get anyone snagged by the authorities. By and large, we liked to try and take care of our own problems in Pasadena, whenever possible. I had no problem with the Undergrid people being below our city. Live and let live.

“You ready to move forward?” Leo asked, still concerned about the way I was limping.

“I can carry her if she has trouble walking,” Gavin said. “She’s not very heavy.”

“I’m standing right here,” I said.

Gavin shrugged. “Just being practical.”

Leo adjusted his grip on his sword. “Alright. Follow me.”

Water splashed on my pants as we slogged through the wet concrete floors, and I didn’t dare look down to see what might be staining the fabric of my expensive suit. Better not to know. Seemed like the entire county just drained right into these pipes.

Something in the darkness hissed. And it didn’t sound like an animal.

“Ah shit,” Leo said. He dashed forward and spun, whipping his sword vertical as he dropped into a squat and plunged the blade into a shadowy figure.

The thing screamed, and Leo came down again with the blade. I heard the faint, wet sound of a sharp blade slicing through a hunk of thick meat as he pulled the sword out of the creature and it fell to the floor. Within seconds, it was over, nothing left but the dripping water softly splashing onto the concrete. Leo stood up and shook the blood off his sword, leaning over a bit to rinse it off in one of the puddles.

“What in the heck was that?” I said.

“Was that the one they’ve been looking for?” Royce said.

“Yeah. That one’s been on the loose for a few weeks. Thought it might make it to the surface and cause some trouble. Glad we found it, actually,” Leo said. He grabbed a radio off his belt and pushed a button. “Hey, got a pickup in tunnel 4, far end. It’s that one revenant.”

The radio squawked again and someone said, “Copy. Pickup within the hour.”

Leo put the radio back on his belt and turned to me. “You’ve never seen one of those?”

I looked into the darkness, but all I could make out was a crumpled shape. Probably better that way. Leave the details to the imagination.

“I still can’t really see it, and I’m pretty much okay with that,” I said.

“Revenants. Circuit Breakers that go too far, tweak too many implants, try too many experimental things, use unlicensed materials,” Leo said.

Royce bumped into me and I jumped. He put a hand on my shoulder to steady me. “Bad stuff in some of those implants. Lead. Radioactive material. Between that and the difficulty of living down in a tunnel all the time, some people go nuts.

“So you just kill them?” I said. “I’m no justice warrior, but that seems rather harsh, don't you think?”

Leo shrugged. “Maybe. But what else are you going to do? Send them up to a hospital? They’re unfixable, and they’re basically dead anyway. This is the most humane thing we can do for them.”

I shivered. Was that my fate? Paralyzed or crazy? Maybe I’d have the courtesy of Royce euthanizing me like a dog, which was marginally better than being skewered by Leo’s katana, but still. That was an upsetting thought.

Gavin touched my hand. “Just keep moving forward. We’re going to figure this thing out.”

Nice that someone was thinking about how I might be feeling. I could always count on Gavin. Royce and Leo were focused on achieving our objectives, which was great, but this whole deal was getting more disturbing by the minute.

“Any more of those things running around down here?” I said.

“Not that I know of. None that have been identified for removal, at least. Usually quadrant governors monitor people that are looking risky. Sometimes a person just snaps, but it’s usually a slower process. A long decline into madness and brain death,” Leo said.

“Isn’t there someone that regulates that stuff? Makes sure no one implants themselves with something dangerous?” I said.

Leo shook his head. “That’s not how things are run down here. If you want to be managed, you can go to the surface. Down here, you have freedom, but you have to live with the consequences of your choices.”

Suddenly, freedom seemed like it wasn’t such a hot idea. Great in theory, but the whole lead poisoning and eventual death by sword bit didn’t sound quite so appealing.

“Let’s keep moving,” Leo said. “Try not to think about it too much—it’ll only make you nervous. Royce wouldn't let anything like that happen to you.”

I looked at Royce, who gave me a big, weird grin. Also not comforting. I was stuck down in a dank tunnel with a Samurai taco truck owner and a sadistic black market surgeon, battling against neurally defunct implant zombies. I needed to think harder about my life choices.

We trekked through that tunnel for what seemed like forever, and I tried not to jump every time I heard a rat or some other creature rustling around in all the garbage and runoff that littered every inch of the floor.

“Almost there,” Leo said. “Once it forks, we’ll head to the executive tunnel, and from there, it won’t be much farther. They’re expecting us, so we shouldn’t have to wait long.”

I was so freaked out about the weird implant revenants that I forgot to worry the reason we were down here in the first place. I touched my collarbones again, hoping they had a deactivation device or something of that nature.

Digging more things out of my marrow didn’t sound like a fun way to spend the evening.

“Is it always so quiet around here?” I said. I remembered seeing more unusual characters hanging around when I’d come down to the Undergrid before.

Leo shook his head. “Gideon and Caramel probably told people to clear out of here, since you’re coming. Caramel likes to make things comfortable for guests…in her own way.”

In her own way? Did I want to know what the heck that meant? Well, how dangerous could someone named Caramel be anyway? Nothing to worry about, right?

As we neared the end of the main tunnel, things cleared out. The lights weren’t hanging from the ceiling, broken and flickering, the water on the floor started drying up, and there was less trash laying around. Nice. I appreciated cleanliness. I wouldn’t tolerate disorder in my casinos.

“This way,” Leo said, and we veered to the left, the tunnel widening and brightening further. The concrete itself was lighter, less stained, better maintained.

The tunnel dead-ended into a big, heavy, circular door that looked like it was made from an old bank vault. Leo walked right up to it and knocked. A small panel opened at eye-height and someone peered out through the gap.

“Leo—are you here with our guests?” a woman said over an intercom. Her high-pitched voice echoed through the tunnels, and I closed an eye, wincing, hoping the effect was just from a bad speaker system.

“Yes indeed. May we come in?” he said.

“Are there any more revenants out there? I heard you killed that one we’ve been looking for,” she said.

“None that I’ve seen,” he said. I saw his hand clench around the sword hilt instinctively.

Gavin’s hands went in his pockets. As flashy as he dressed, Gavin liked to be more stealthy with his weapons than Leo. Knives. Tiny ones. Gavin always had them around, and they did quick, devastating damage. With gun control being so strict and effective in the county, it was an invaluable skill.

“Okay, I’ll tell Gideon you’re here. Just a minute, please,” she said. The eye slit slid shut again.

I shook my head, trying to clear the ringing from my ears. “Might want to tell her to turn that intercom system down or tune it better or something,” I said.

Leo put a finger to his lips and pointed around in a circle.

Oh. The place was wired for sound and probably video too. How stupid of me. Ironic, too, I thought. They were down here to avoid being monitored by the government, and yet they were still monitoring each other. I mean, it was logical considering how dangerous some of these sections were, but still. Weren’t they going to extraordinary lengths for privacy? Not my battle to fight, I guess. All I wanted to do was get back to Jin Tower, where everything looked great, smelled great, tasted great, and made total sense.

A few minutes later, she came back on and said, “Come on in!”

The door shuddered open slowly, the heavy metal grinding on the concrete. Leo trudged forward, but my feet were rooted to the floor, and Royce ran into me.

He came around my side. “You okay?” he said, clearly worried about another mesh failure.

I blinked, wiggled my shoulders. “Yeah. I’m great. And stuff. Fine. Great.”

He whirled me around so that I was facing him, and he grabbed my forearms, looking in my eyes. “Cognitive dysfunction would be a new symptom for you,” he said.

I shook him off and rolled my eyes. “My brain is fine. Sort of. That’s not the problem. I’m just.” I couldn’t finish that thought and hoped he would fill in the blanks for himself without saying it out loud.

He looked confused and worried, then it seemed to register with him, and I had the good sense to feel embarrassed.

“Oh,” he said, like he didn’t think real fear was an emotion I was capable of.

Truthfully, I didn’t have it on my list of typical emotions either. Something about today was getting to me, and I didn’t like it one bit.

“I’ll be okay,” I said. “I just need a second.”

“Um, sure, yeah. But. We don’t want to keep them waiting. They’re busy. Lots to manage down here,” he said.

Now I knew how to make him uncomfortable, so that was something.

“Poke your head in there and just tell me everything looks okay. Lie to me, if you have to,” I said.

He looked at me for a second, and then nodded. “Okay.” He leaned around the big door, looking back and forth a few times before leaning back again.

“Tell me it’s not some torture studio. I can’t deal with any more of that,” I said.

“It looks totally pleasant, I promise,” he said.

Right. He had to be lying. Pleasant? Down here? I didn’t think so. But I appreciated the fibbing.

“Tell me nothing bad is going to happen in there.”

He looked me in the eye and said, “In there? No. It will be fine.”

The way he said it, there was a definite subtext. It would be fine here, but what about elsewhere?

That made me even more nervous, but enough was enough. I couldn’t stand there trembling in the doorway like an absolute coward. Cowards do not run major corporations, and I’m not a person to run away in the face of danger. I’d let the Chaebol thing rattle me, but I had to deal with it, get past it, even if it meant more pain.

Gavin backed out into the hallway again. “Jin? Everything alright? You need help?” He held out his hand, and I took it.

“I’m okay. Just thinking,” I said.

He put his arm around my shoulders. “I won’t let anything harm you. You know that.”

He had a point. I knew Gavin would die before he let someone purposely hurt me. I also knew that he’d do anything to make sure that I lived, even if that included some extremely uncomfortable experiences, but I had to believe that it would all be worth it in the end.

“Let’s go,” I said.

Royce followed behind, and we entered the vault.