Three Spheres

Chapter 103 - Theory

In the jail, Johan sighs, after finishing telling the story of his past to Keisha. Silence settles in, as the two look at each other with some discomfort. Finally, Keisha smiles and says:

_ Thanks for telling me, man. I'd imagined that you had some "plus" thing going on, but this is, like, reeeally special...! _ She threatens to laugh, but realizes that Johan is still serious _ Well, if you wanna, I can take a look at what, I mean, who is this "Tauh" dude. There must be some info in the Taxonomica about him.

Johan looks up. Behind that creepy growling face, Keisha thinks he smiles, tender, and grateful. She does her best to hold back her fear of him, of the situation, of Fortescue, of the Witches... Taking a deep breath and posing her most intimidating expression, she says:

_ I'll help you out, Jonathan, to get out of here, to save the lil' Paragon and kick those Witches' asses! But y'know me... _ She smiles _ If ya gonna work with me, you'll have to trust me 100%; exclusive dedication...

_ I already trust you, Keisha. _ Johan says, with a softer tone on his voice.

The girl blushes. That's not the answer most adults would give her when she's arrogant like this. "But Jonathan is really different, so it's fine", she thinks and quickly begins new explanations:

_ First, I'll explain the escape plan... Listen carefully: First, you're gonna have to break the magic seals over there, and that's why I brought this stinky stuff! _ She shows a pot _ I'll throw as much as I can from here, so you find a way to take the seals off.

She pauses to make sure he understood. Then, she continues:

_ To get out of the cage, you need to twist the soldering point that exists on all the gates of this manufacturer. I ain't sure where it is, but ya' should be able to find it by the texture. After leaving here, you'll arrive in a small room where the guards usually stay. You can trust that I'll find a way to keep them away for a while so you can get through with no problemos. Oh, 'course, I'll leave 'ya some clothes. You can't walk around reeking of chlorine! _ She laughs; Johan remains attentive _ After that, you go up to the kitchen through the ditch of the food elevator. Find a way to get out of there unseen and grab whatever is on the ground right in front of it. It'll be my gift to ya'. The next step is important: You'll climb the 2nd (SECOND!) window in the hallway to the right, where there will be a chair nearby. I'll leave a rope there for you to go upstairs.

She takes a new pause. Breathes in deeply, and insists:

_ On the 2nd floor, hide in the little room that I leave open, wait a while and then go to the bigger room straight ahead. It has two doors. Wait until people start going down the stairs to get out. I think you can distinguish this type of sound right? Wood for stone, I mean... _ Johan nods his head _ Nice. You'll go down to the ground floor by the side stairs and, from there, you go to a small red door that leads to the ditch. The rest is up to you: Swim away and vanish! We meet on the day marked on the gift I'll give ya'! Got it? The plan starts as soon as the noon bell rings. If anything goes wrong, I'll manage to create some distraction...

Johan stares at Keisha for a moment, not meeting her eyes. The girl knows that she will have to repeat each step a few more times until that dumbass understands that he must be stealthy and discreet. "I have to do everything, huh!", she thinks, more relaxed. Interrupting Johan's information processing, she says:

_ Man, the hole you fell into is pretty deep, y'know, right? I'll do everything I can to help you out, but we alone won't make it... I don't know how long it'll take for them to clean up your name or condemn you once and for all, but we don't have time to sit still! I've been looking for people who could help, I just don't know how... how to "invite" them to betray the Ecclesia and join a suicidal plan!