"Took you long enough," Marina grumbled the moment Kanden stepped into her lab, raising her head from an ancient microscope that had been considered high-tech two hundred years ago.

Solar lights flickered above; all in a similar state to the fixtures throughout the Caverns — old and in disrepair. Unlike the rest of the Underground, this room was different. Instead of rough-hewn walls and coarse rock ground, sterile white panels and smooth tiles covered every surface. Glass containers in every shape and size rested on tables and dingy countertops warped by time, fancy doohickies Kanden didn't know the names for rested within cabinets, and metal tools sat in drawers or within reach. Perhaps the most fascinating feature were all the monitors mounted on the walls despite having fallen into disuse like everything else in the caves.

On a normal day, Kanden would have been excited to be here. Enthusiastic to explore every nook and cranny of this exotic change of scenery. However, this was not an ordinary day, week, or month. A pessimistic man would even venture to guess this was the beginning of the end, except that time came and went the moment humanity fled underground, abandoned by the world governments who took to the skies for a better place.

At least, that's how the stories went. Facts had a tendency to get lost throughout the years, embellished by fantastical fiction until it might as well have been truth.

Kanden dropped his bag on the counter and unfastened the vial strung around his neck, careful not to break the glass as he placed it on the hard surface. Then, he found a chair and sank into it; too exhausted to reply.

When he didn't speak, Marina shoved her makeshift spectacles upward and tucked her braids behind her ears. She turned from the microscope and leaned against the counter, resting her hands on the surface as she observed Kanden with downturned lips. "What happened?"

"Ryker is sick," he replied, squeezing his eyes closed and dipping his head. Father would tell him crying was weakness. He'd accuse his son of being a woman, but Kanden couldn't help himself. The latter couldn't live without Ryker, the only person in this god-forsaken place who made him feel normal.

Marina gathered Kanden in her arms from behind and rested her cheek on his shoulder. "Oh, lo siento, pequeño. Sé lo que significa para ti."

Racking his brain for the meaning in her native tongue, Kanden struggled to translate Marina's words. It took a moment for the meaning to sink in: that she understood what Ryker meant to him, making Kanden's heart ache all the more. From his tiny chair, he curled into himself, drawing his knees into his chest and hiding his face.

"Please tell me there's something we can do." Kanden couldn't imagine an alternative where his partner didn't exist. "Everyone has been so god damned cryptic and secretive; either there's a cure or there isn't."

With a loud sigh, Marina released him and pushed herself into a counter, crossing her legs as if she were sitting on the floor. "!A la mierda! Who have you spoken to? Maybe you don't care what happens, but some of us aren't ready to die in this hell hole."

"Does it matter?" he retorted, slamming his feet onto the floor. "Every generation, someone talks about finding their way to the Overland, yet we all perish below — worthless and forgotten. The only difference is we're speeding up the process with an illness no one knows anything about."

Any light in Kanden's heart had long been stolen by the dark tunnels, leaving him to wilt in the shadows. Ryker had been his sun, lifting him on the darkest days when only cloud, ash, and debris rained above the greenhouse dome. To reach the Overland had been their shared dream; setting foot above and experiencing the outside meant nothing without him.

"Well, we won't get anywhere with that attitude," Marina huffed, hopping to her feet and perching her spectacles onto the tip of her nose. "We're not at a complete loss, and I've managed to rule out the water supply as a source."

Always working and too cheerful for her own good, Marina inspected the items Kanden brought, opening and sniffing the soil sample. Whatever she thought, she kept to herself as she poured it into a round dish before perusing the satchel. "Why did you bring food?"

Kanden twisted in his chair and draped his arm over the backrest. "Hm? Oh, Mother asked me to give it to you. I guess you two have been working—"

"Sh!" Marina smacked the back of his head, glancing at the door with fear in her dark eyes. "Always assume the walls have ears!"

"There's no one in here!" he snapped, rubbing his throbbing skull.

Marina planted her hands on each hip, glaring like she was ready to smack him again. "So? If you screw up in here, you'll do the same out there. Rule of thumb if you want to help is to remember: Nothing. Nobody. Never."

Yeah, yeah. Kanden had heard enough of that phrase to last a lifetime, yet somehow managed to survive just fine behind closed doors, especially if it involved an intimate romp that wasn't at all quiet. Or lonely.

Joining her at the counter, Kanden helped Marina organize the food samples. This time when he spoke, he reminded himself not to say too much, lest she slap him again with her skeleton hands. "Okay, so someone asked me to bring you food. She said you'd know what to do with it."

"Oh, pequeño. Ya no sabes nada."

"In English?" Kanden asked, certain he didn't want to know what she just said. It didn't sound nice.

Her shoulders shook as she chuckled. "It's a polite way of saying you don't know squat."

Rude!

Marina took the food to another table where a series of tools sat, speaking as she rummaged through a plastic box, smudged by time and dank surroundings. "If you want to be trusted in our circle, you have to learn to speak in code."

Finding a serrated knife, she waved it as she spoke, making Kanden jump. "I'm going to say this one time since Ivarra can't speak freely in front of Bastion. There are people who want to keep this quiet. Obviously, with the population getting sick, there is a call to 'investigate', but any deep analysis is met with a convenient death."

Seemingly oblivious, she sliced the fruits and vegetables into perfect squares, taking care to wipe the blade in a soaked cloth each time she switched to another sample. When she finished cutting, Marina gathered another set of dishes and placed the squares inside. Then, she organized several glass thinga-ma-jigs over a burning red coil, dropping what looked like different colors of powder into the different liquids.

Kanden took an extra step back in case the concoctions exploded.

Adjusting her spectacles, Marina picked up the conversation where they left off, as if she hadn't just left Kanden hanging in suspense. "I'm a scientist. Ivarra is a healer. Naturally, we want answers, but my mentor found himself in a rather horrid accident. But did we see the body? Nope! They put me in charge and told me to keep my mouth shut, so that's what I did. I don't ask questions or poke my nose where it don't belong."

Who was being the loudmouth now? Just a minute ago, Marina would have — and did — smack him for it.

"Uh, Marina?" he interjected, retreating another step just in case.

Slapping her palm on the countertop, she swiveled toward him and tilted her head, oblivious to the violence she'd just inflicted on all that food. Gods have mercy on any poor bastard to cross her; Bastion included. "Hm?"

"What's the point to all this?" he asked, flapping his arms. "You lost me while you were still cutting veggies."

Kanden never had been good at reading between the lines or following long strings of dialogue. He needed direct and simple conversation, something he often found himself derided for.

The sparkle her eyes ignited whenever she got excited dulled, and her lips puckered into a pout, as if she'd forgotten her present company. Seeming to gather her thoughts, she smoothed her gray tunic. "Sorry. Long story short, people are dying for asking questions. I don't know what the Council is covering, especially since Ivarra doesn't appear to be privy to that information; but this ain't no virus."

"Are you sure?" Kanden asked, trying to determine whether she'd come to that conclusion based on conjecture or actual science.

She nodded before extinguishing the flames. Stirring a ceramic rod in the mixtures, Marina watched the cloudy substance swirl and change color before uttering a soft curse in her native language. "Well, I've ruled out poison. Each chemical I add reacts the way it should without a foreign agent present. The same went for the water."

"But that's good, right?" Kanden would hope people didn't die a violent, internal death at someone's hands. That would be unthinkable, even in this hellhole of an existence. The death penalty was harsh, but swift, making it preferable to whatever afflicted the Undergrounders.

Marina leaned against the counter with a sigh, folding her arms over her chest. "I guess. I keep thinking it's not behaving like a virus. Ivarra must suspect the same thing, or she wouldn't have me investigate everything." Pacing, she tapped her chin and muttered to herself; once again, forgetting about Kanden's zillions of questions.

After a moment, she halted and said, "I need more samples."

"Of what?"

Her roundabout way of thinking was frustrating, and this was no exception as the beginnings of a migraine pulsed behind Kanden's eyes.

"Anything," she said with a shrug, as if the answer were obvious.

Oh, gee, thanks for being specific.

She lifted her finger. "Oh! Okay, um, literally anything. If someone gets sick, bring me their food and note which house they're from. Different rock samples from the Cavarn edges to rule out possible radiation. Stool samples might be worth studying..."

Oh, hell no! Scrambling for his satchel on the table, Kanden clumsily slung it over his shoulder, tripping on his way to the door. No need to get himself roped into shoveling literal shit. "You know what? I'll get started on those food samples."

Fleeing into the corridor to leave that strange woman to her experiments, Kanden shuddered once he was a safe distance away.

Mother and Marina were right: questions caused nothing but trouble.

They could have their conspiracies. From now on, Kanden vowed to do his work and complete his search without getting himself in trouble through endless curiosity.

Glossary

"Oh, lo siento, pequeño. Sé lo que significa para ti." — "Oh, I'm sorry, little one. I know what he means to you."

¡A la mierda! — A bad word. That's all y'all need to know. ;)

"Oh, pequeño. Ya no sabes nada." — "Oh, little one. You don't know anything."