Chapter 15 – Girl and Android

Thankfully, Arka welcomed us warmly. Luna, perched beside her, fidgeted excitedly, her earlier fear replaced by a comfortable familiarity.
It seems Arka has raised her.
But how? Surely, an android couldn’t… give birth. Adoption, then?

“Please, wait a moment,” Arka said, her voice soft, melodic. “I’ll prepare some tea.” She moved with a surprising grace for a being made of metal, her movements fluid and precise.

The walls of the hideout were lined with shelves, neatly stacked with various plants and fungi, ingredients gathered from the forest. Arka selected a handful of bluish leaves and steeped them in hot water.

“This is Clear Herb tea,” she explained. “Grown here on the seventh floor. It helps with… relaxation.”

She placed a steaming cup before each of us. “Please. Drink. It will calm your nerves.”

I lifted the cup to my lips, inhaling the subtle, herbal fragrance. The tea was a clear, pale blue, a welcome change from the recycled water we’d been rationing. I took a sip. The warmth spread through me, easing the tension in my muscles, calming the frantic beating of my heart.

“It’s lovely,” I said, surprised by the delicate flavor. “Thank you.”

Yuri took a sip, a small smile gracing her lips. “Delicious.”

“Arka,” I said, my curiosity getting the better of me, “if you don’t mind me asking… what exactly
are
you? And why are you here, in this… hideout?” I needed information, any information that might help us navigate this strange, hostile world.

Arka paused, her blue eyes gazing at us, as if searching our souls.

“I am… a creation. Built long ago, to… understand the Abyss. A tool. A part of a larger system.”

“Understand the Abyss?” Yuri echoed, tilting her head. “Is that even possible?”

“That… was my directive,” Arka said, a faint, almost imperceptible tremor running through her metallic frame. “Though I confess, I’ve yet to… succeed.”

Understand the Abyss… that sounded less like a mission, and more like a life sentence.
The Abyss was a place of chaos, of contradiction, a place that defied understanding.

“What
is
the Abyss?” I asked. “Is it… natural? Or…”

Arka shook her head. “Not natural. Created. Long ago. By… someone. For… some purpose.”

“Created? By who? And why?”

“I don’t know,” Arka said, her voice tinged with a hint of… sadness? “My creators… they didn’t leave instructions. Only a directive. To understand.”

“But you’ve been here a long time,” I pressed. “Surely you’ve learned something. Can you tell us… about the next floor? The trials? The dangers?”

“I’ve been here… since the beginning,” Arka said quietly.

Since the beginning? She hadn’t descended from above?

“You mean… you’ve only been on this floor?”

“Yes. My function… is limited to the seventh floor. I cannot… ascend. Or descend.”

“So you’ve never been to any other layer?” Yuri asked, her voice filled with surprise.

“No. This floor… is my world.”

Our hopes of gaining information about the eighth floor were dashed. Arka, our unlikely guide, was as trapped on this floor as we were.

“So you have no information about the eighth floor?” I asked, my voice tinged with disappointment.

“I know only… that passage to the next floor is opened through a… Resonance event.”

“Resonance…” I tapped my finger against my teacup, remembering the strange humming, the vibrating ground, the pulsing light. “We experienced that… when we first arrived.”

“So we’re on our own again,” Yuri sighed. “This is going to be fun.”

Luna, who had been quietly listening, tilted her head, her golden eyes wide with curiosity. “Why worry? Resonance… open… then go!”

We both stared at her, momentarily speechless.

She clapped her hands, a bright smile lighting up her face. “Just go! Arka… help! Right?”

Arka smiled at Luna, a gentle, almost maternal expression. “I will help, Luna. As much as I can. But the Resonance… it’s dangerous. Very dangerous. You must be prepared.”

“Prepared…” I muttered. “Looks like we’ll be staying here for a while, Yuri. We need to learn more about this… Resonance.”

“Agreed. We need to plan carefully. We can’t just rush into it.”

“No worry!” Luna chirped. “Arka and Luna… help!” Her innocent optimism was strangely reassuring.

But the questions, the doubts, remained.
The Resonance… what exactly was it? And could we survive it?
And the eighth floor… what new trials awaited us there?

As evening approached, the light within the chamber dimmed.

“Noah,” Yuri said, slinging a small bag over her shoulder, “Luna and I are going foraging. We’ll bring back dinner.”

Luna waved excitedly. “Yuri and Luna… find yummy food!”

“Be careful,” I said. “And don’t go too far. Luna, you listen to Yuri.”

“Okay!”

They disappeared through the narrow opening, leaving me alone with Arka. The scene… it reminded me of Elise and Yuri, venturing out together, their laughter echoing in the distance.

“Those were good times,”
a voice whispered in my mind, cold, mocking.
“Too bad you ruined it all, oppa.”

Go away, Alice.

“Excuse me?” a voice said.

I blinked, realizing I’d spoken aloud. “Nothing, Arka,” I mumbled, my cheeks flushing.

Silence descended once more.

I sat there, sipping my tea, watching Arka as she moved quietly around the chamber, sorting through her collection of ingredients.

“Arka,” I said, my curiosity getting the better of me, “can I ask you something… about Luna?”

“Of course. Ask anything.”

“How did she… come to be here? What’s her story?”

Arka paused, her gaze distant, as if lost in memory.

“I found her… abandoned. A newborn. Left to die amongst the roots of a… a corrupted tree.”

“A newborn?” I echoed, my voice filled with disbelief. “Abandoned… here? In the Abyss?”

“Yes. She was… very small. Very weak. If I hadn’t found her… she wouldn’t have survived.”

Abandoned…
I remembered the stories, whispers of desperate parents leaving unwanted children in the Abyss, a horrific act of desperation in a dying world.
Luna… a victim of that same desperation. Humans… sometimes more monstrous than the Abyss itself.

“How did you… save her?”

“I used what resources I had. Nourished her. Protected her. But… the Abyss… it changed her.”

“Changed her?” I thought of Luna’s small, fur-covered form, her large ears, her preternatural senses. “The fur… the heightened senses…”

“Yes. Adaptations. Necessary for survival here. The Abyss… it doesn’t just destroy. It… creates.”

“And her name… Luna…?”

Arka’s expression softened, a hint of… warmth? …flickering in her blue eyes.

“When I found her… she was so… peaceful. Like the moonlight. So… I named her Luna.”

“Moonlight…” It suited her.

“She was small, weak. But she learned quickly. Adapted. She didn’t just survive the Abyss, Noah. She became a part of it.”

I looked at Arka, then back at the entrance of the hideout, imagining Luna, a newborn, abandoned, alone, surviving against all odds, adapting, thriving in this harsh, unforgiving world. It wasn’t just strength; it was a miracle.

“She’s… remarkable,” I said, my voice filled with respect.

“She is,” Arka agreed. “Even in the Abyss… she never lost her… light. Her optimism. That… is her greatest strength.”

“She’s more than just… a ward, isn’t she, Arka?”

Arka hesitated, then nodded slowly.

“Family. Yes. She is… family.” Her voice was soft, almost… wistful. “I was not designed to… feel. But Luna… she has taught me… much.”

“Taught you… what?”

“The value… of life. The importance… of protecting it.” Her voice was quiet, but filled with a depth of emotion that surprised me.

“She… she showed me that. Something… beyond my programming. Beyond my directive.”

I sat there, silent, absorbing the weight of her words, the depth of her… affection? For Luna. For life. It was… unexpected.

“Noah! Arka! We’re back!” Yuri’s voice echoed from the entrance, followed by Luna’s excited chatter.

“Yummy food! Luna and Yuri… bring food!”

Arka rose gracefully. “Our conversation… Luna mustn’t know,” she said, her gaze meeting mine.

“Of course.”

She moved towards the entrance, her movements fluid and silent.

Yuri and Luna greeted us with bright smiles, their arms laden with their foraging finds.

“Luna’s very excited,” Arka said, a hint of amusement in her voice.

“Arka! Look! Berries! Mushrooms!” Luna rushed towards her, holding out her treasures.

“Very good, Luna,” Arka said, gently stroking her hair.

“Yuri,” she said, turning to us, “you’ve been busy.”

“Just a little foraging,” Yuri said, grinning. “So what were you two discussing?”

“Oh, just… Abyssal things,” I said, waving a hand dismissively. “Nothing important.”

“Right. Well, let’s get this sorted and make dinner.”

Yuri and Luna began unpacking their bounty, their excitement bubbling over. I caught Arka’s eye, and she smiled, a quiet, knowing smile.