Planatae

Backtrack

Erin's no-nonsense demeanor seemed to shock the man into quiet; he stopped yelling, and closed his mouth. As the fear on his face ebbed away, it was replaced by furrowed brows and a calculating look.

"You're here... to take me away?" he asked slowly. "That's what all the alarms are about?"

"Yes," she said. "We know you've been held here as a prisoner for an... extended amount of time."

The man looked uncomfortable. "You're with the Ferrum Rete?"

Erin didn't answer immediately; she glanced towards the ends of the hallway. Lukas shared her concern. More Purists could arrive at any moment. Standing here speaking was to their detriment.

"Yes," Erin said, her words careful. "We have... an affiliation with the Rete."

"Okay... alright," the man said, but he didn't come closer. "Are you going to turn me over to them?"

"The Rete?" Erin blinked, then her eyes narrowed. "All I can promise is that you'll be safer than you are now."

Ito hesitated for a beat. He seemed to be weighing various options in his mind. Then he stepped forward, and nodded. "Alright. If you can provide me immunity, then I'll come with you."

"Sure." Her tone was dismissive. "Let's move."

But as Lukas followed the two of them as they began to backtrack their path, his mind raced. Immunity? He wasn't sure what that entailed here. Why would a prisoner need immunity? His mother had said that they were seeking someone trapped - but this man seemed like a well-to-do physician, more than anything else.

Despite his mother's authority, he felt a budding seed of suspicion grow within himself.

...

    Just as before, Erin forged ahead fearlessly, with Lukas and the doctor taking up the rear. As they passed the now-familiar cell clusters, he felt a shock of relief to see that they were all quite deserted. It seemed as though the prisoners had finally started to hustle, begun to seek out an exit.

    That flicker of hope wavered, however, when the distinctive sounds of conflict appeared at the edge of his awareness, loud enough to break through the din of the alarm. It rose in pitch as they continued towards the compound's exit; yet they still charged ahead.

    They encountered neither Purist nor prisoner until they reached that initial cell cluster that was connected to the tunnels beyond, and then, suddenly, there was movement and chaos spread before them.

Their progress came to a shuddering stop, and it was clear that getting to the exit would be no easy feat. Everywhere Lukas looked, he could see visions of struggle; Purists, armed with sparking weapons, faced off against a horde of desperate, angry people.

It wasn't the massacre he was expecting, however. The cultists had weapons, but there were only about a dozen of them; the prisoners were at least double that number. Still, the stun-guns were tearing through their numbers.

Lukas watched, petrified, as a Purist nailed a woman in the chest, sending her twitching to the ground. But they weren't expecting a man to tackle them from behind, and both figures fell in a tangle to the floor as well. A moment later, and the man rose, victorious. He turned and threw himself back into the fight, stun-gun clasped in his hand.

"They're fighting back," Erin murmured.

"They should," Ito said with sudden vehemence. "Some of these people have been here for months." But then his shoulders slumped as reality seemed to hit. "They have none of their own weapons, though. And being on the station means nearly all can't use their Factors. How are we going to get through this in one piece?"