The Catacombs

Avie and Tviblindi accompanied our group to the AMU campus after our meeting at Murphy's. Once we got there, Tviblindi whispered something to Avie, and Avie said their goodbyes, that creepy smile still on their face.

Courtesy of Tviblindi, we were supplied with additional firepower and had escape vehicles set up outside of ARC headquarters. We were also accompanied by several Martyrs, the Archive equivalent to soldiers. Frankly, I was starting to get paranoid that the whole thing was a setup and they'd turn on us, given that there were a few more of them than there were of us.
 
I won't describe the person who opened the door to the Catacombs for us, as per her request.

Other than the possibility of betrayal and death, our group entered without issue.

The Catacombs are difficult to describe. They're not really supposed to be... seen, I don't think, at least not by humans. It makes me think of the Newborn's true form back at Seattle. It was impossible to really parse.

(Maybe that was just me, though. Nobody else seems to have said anything like that, including the other members of our group.)

The closest my brain could really figure out to a descriptor for the Catacombs is that they looked like a seemingly-infinite maze of tunnels, bookshelves lining the walls. Given how cold and damp it was in there, I assumed the fact that I didn't see any books that were even slightly damaged was a result of the Catacombs' true nature, i.e., hellish and wrong.

There were... spiders there. Not quite spiders, really. They had too many legs even for spiders, and their many eyes were placed irregularly around their heads. They were white as bone, and they covered nearly everything that wasn't being walked on, crawling about on their too-many legs.

In short, they looked like what I imagine arachnophobes see when they think about spiders.

They all moved in one direction. According to the Martyrs accompanying us, that was the Archive's patron Fear the Blind Man guiding our way. We followed the bone spiders, and we made it through the Catacombs.

Eventually, we came to a massive door made of dark wood. The doorway was made of bone, or at least, I thought so at first. As I moved closer, I realized that it was actually made of countless bone spiders pressed tight against one another. I couldn't say whether they were dead or just very still, if concepts like death even apply to them.

I moved past the rest of the group to open the door. With that, we stepped out of the Catacombs and into Robin's cell.

Most of what happened immediately after that was a blur, if I'm being honest, but I remember bits and pieces: Robin hugging me, me having to pull away from her and try to explain what was going on, Jameson cutting through several of the bars with a circular saw, Samuel shooting several guards' legs out to incapacitate them, Jameson picking the lock from the inside and opening the door, all of us leaving the cell with a now-terrified Robin in tow.

We fled the cell block, but there were a number of guards stationed at different points. We tried not to hurt any of them and focus on just getting out before we were trapped, but there were points where we had to.

The problem with not killing the people who want to kill you is that they can still try to kill you.

As we ran out of the cellblock and into the meeting room, we were followed by two guards we hadn't already injured or... neutralized. One named Ivan- nice guy, brought in doughnuts once- shot Jameson in the chest twice. A Martyr named Merel shot Ivan in the head. He collapsed to the ground, blood flowing from his temple. Ivan's partner George knelt down beside him, about to... I don't know, check his vitals or something, but Merel shot him too.

I was starting to feel sick to my stomach.

But there was no time to grieve. We kept running even as we were being shot at, even as more guards were called in from other rooms, even as they killed all but four of the Martyrs. We kept running even as we fired back at the people who had once been my friends, who probably would have agreed that Robin didn't deserve to be imprisoned but just couldn't be trusted to keep a secret and had to die for it.

If you couldn't tell, I'm still processing what happened that day.

We ran out of the meeting room and into the hallway. There was a staircase leading up to a door I knew said "Staff Only" on the other side. I pushed the door open and held it as Leo, Jenn, Samuel, Merel, and the surviving Martyrs ran through.

Robin looked into my eyes as she saw what I was doing. For some reason, I thought for half a second that she would refuse to go through, but just like the rest of us, she entered the door to the upstairs hallway. Just like the rest of us, she shot and killed the guards stationed there as we made our way to the office, and from there to the reception room, even though she didn't really know why any of this was happening. Just like the rest of us, she left the building and got in one of the escape vehicles Tviblindi and his people had provided us, even though she didn't recognize anyone there but us.

What kind of person am I that Robin didn't question any of this from me? Or does that say more about what being imprisoned for so long has done for her?

It doesn't matter. All of us are either free or dead. I didn't even know the ones who died that well.

That probably sounds cynical. I don't really care. Robin is safe, and she's with us.

She's just such a different person than she used to be. She's like us now: scared, exhausted, and ashamed. Or maybe she was always like that, and she's just lost practice at hiding it. It's hard to say.

I'll update more later. For now, I just want to get some rest.

Avie

So, Avie has a blog here and recapped their end of things here, and since they seem to have a better memory than I do... well, it's not plagiarism if it's just repeating things people said in the first place.

Now, onto the meeting itself.

 Leo, Jenn, and I were at a shady bar called Murphy's, accompanied by Samuel and Jameson, from what had once been Locke's team. Avie didn't show up somewhere from five to ten minutes past the time we'd set. I was starting to get a little bored, just staring at this weird poster of an orange toad that was hanging up. It was just about the only thing that was actually well-lit, and I sure as hell hadn't brought a phone to occupy myself in the meantime- Jenn's instilled far too much paranoia in me for that.

"Apologies for being late! I forgot how long the forest path gets sometimes," Avie said as they finally entered. I wasn't sure what I envisioned Leo's AMU contact as looking like, but "short, smiling person in a button-up shirt and nail polish" wasn't it.

"Yeah, you really need the patience of a saint around here," Leo said, nodding and motioning to a vacant chair. "So, uh..." He nervously drank some of his root beer. "So, what exactly were you thinking as to the deal? On either end, I mean."

"Well, I was thinking we could give you some Martyr backup and some guns." They called over the barkeep to order something, then went on, "In return, you give us some information about the inner workings of ARC. How does that sound?"

Jenn laughed.

Leo glanced at her, then looked back at Avie. "Works for me. I mean, they're the ones keeping Robin captive, and I only joined them in the first place because I thought they could help me. Obviously they didn't."

He looked over at me. I nodded.

He shrugged. "Guess that's a yes. Anything in particular you're wondering about?"

"There is one thing I was curious about: do you have a plan to pull this off?"

"Eh... sort of. Thing is, the people who designed ARC headquarters made sure to put the highest-security cells in the corner."

Jenn nodded. "Time-out."

Leo ignored this comment. "Point is, they're harder to reach and harder to get out of. Jenn," he said, nodding in her direction, "is bringing Samuel and Jameson. They're good fighters." He suddenly went pale. "...They may or may not have been involved in the ARC raid on Solville where we took those AMU books, actually... anyways, we're thinking between them and whoever you can provide, we should be able to fight our way there. If we can clear things out on the way to the cell, we won't need to do any more work once we've broken out Robin. As to actually getting the cell open, we're thinking of using a cordless circular saw, but that might take a while."

Avie nodded along, listening quietly. When Leo finished explaining, they took a few seconds before responding. "That sounds like a dangerous plan. Maybe talking it over with our Martyrs would be a good idea, and together you could form a plan with fewer... risks?"

Leo glanced at Jenn.

She sighed. "Yes, the fighting was mostly my idea. Yes, it was probably a bad idea."

Leo nodded. "So, the Martyrs would be at AMU, right?"

"Yes, we still have a few Martyr squads currently stationed at our campus," Avie said, nodding.

"It would seem that's the best place to head from here, in that case," I said. "Remind me, is that also where you have the gate to the anomalous location that Stetson fellow mentioned on his blog? The... Catacombs, I think it was called?"

Avie was visibly surprised that I'd finally spoken up, as well as at what I'd said. "The Catacombs? To be honest, I am not sure. I myself have not had the honor of passing through them. Were you planning on using them to reach the ARC prison?"

I shrugged. "I didn't think that would necessarily be the case, but if we are already working with the Archive, it may not be a bad idea." I paused. "I suppose you would want extra payment of some sort. I don't know what these four think of the idea, but I suppose it depends on the price you name, assuming it would even be viable."

"I see. I would have to ask around. Hopefully there's someone on campus that can help you with that."

"There most certainly is." A man in sunglasses stepped out of the shadows and tipped his hat at the five of us.

"Who the fuck-" Jenn began, startled by his sudden appearance. She cleared her throat awkwardly as she noticed the rest of us looking at her.

"...Cimbrius Tviblindi," I said. "You are, aren't you?"

Cimbrius Tviblindi, for background, is the unofficial head of AMU staff. Officially speaking, he's a member of the board of directors, but when he speaks, the rest of them listen. I don't know if he's pulled strings to get to that point, or if it's just because of his air of importance, or what, but whatever it is, it works for him.

Avie stood up and bowed, saying, "Mr. Tviblindi. I wasn't aware you were here."

Tviblindi nodded at Avie and motioned for them to sit back down. "You are correct, Addison, I am he." He smirked. "I didn't intend to eavesdrop. However, when I heard the Catacombs being mentioned, I could not resist."

I nodded slowly. "I see. You have some sort of connection to the Catacombs, then? Not surprising, I suppose, given your involvement with Subject 16- I mean, the Blind Man."

He shook his head softly. "Not really. I merely have what some would call an unhealthy interest in the place. I do, however, know of someone who can guide you there."

"Is that so? Well, then, I suppose our next move should be contacting them." I paused. "If you don't mind my asking, what interest do you have in this? I always thought you had people like them-" I nodded at Avie- "collect information while you managed things behind the scenes. I assumed as much, at least."

"You assumed correctly. I prefer staying in the background. However, sometimes things need a... push in the right direction." He smirked again. "As for my interest in this particular thing, well, I believe Robin has some critical information we need to stop that forest. It'd be quite a shame if her rescue attempt went badly."

"That's a fair enough goal, but... I honestly assumed it was the dagger. I don't remember Seattle that clearly, everything is honestly kind of a blur, but weren't the Martyrs trying to get it to the Newborn when Robin picked it up and used it?"

"Correct. Robin was the one who struck the killing blow, however. She could know some small details everyone else overlooked. Even just the feeling she felt when the dagger went into the tower could be helpful for us to analyze."

"...I see." I wasn't convinced, but I wasn't about to push it. "Now, the person you were talking about who could give us access to the Catacombs, are they on the AMU campus, or...?"

He nodded. "They happen to be on campus right now. Would you like to go see them now?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Ah, before I forget. You did mention the possibility of extra payment. I can confirm that usage of the Catacombs will require that."

I glanced at Leo and Jenn.

"I've got nothing better to do," Jenn said, shrugging. "I'm just curious what you're asking in return."

Tviblindi grinned when he heard this. "All I ask in return is that you join our university as official staff. This might be a steep price at first glance. On the other hand, where else would you go after saving Robin?"

 

We were all silent for several moments.

Leo was the one to speak up first. "Really? I won't complain if it pays well, I suppose, but... I wasn't even a particularly good student. I tried, but I just could not get through Wordsworth." He paused. "Joking."

I muttered something under my breath at the Wordsworth comment, then said aloud, "I'm afraid I don't understand either. I understand we have inside information on ARC and on ARC findings, but is there any particular reason we couldn't do that as free agents? ...Our own safety aside, anyways..."

"You see, our university is very busy at the moment, with the world ending and all that." Tviblindi paused as he sipped from a dark glass he definitely hadn't been holding a second before. "We really need all the extra hands we can get. While we get many applicants, it's hard finding anyone with a proper understanding of our real work. Your experience at ARC gives you knowledge that is hard to find. Everyone else with your knowledge is already working for someone else or... dead." He smirked and set down his glass on a nearby table.

"Understandable," I said, feeling slightly shaken by the reminder that we were only there in the first place because of the apocalypse. "So, you give us supplies and take us to whoever it is that can access the Catacombs, and in exchange, we join you and give you whatever information you might need."

"Exactly. Don't forget we're also sending some Martyrs along with you for the extra firepower." He paused and gave Avie a nod.

Avie nodded back and stood up. "Shall we get going, then?" they asked, their smile never having left their face.

I'll recap the rest when I'm up for it. Right now, I think I'm going to have a drink. Whether Leo and Jenn join me is up to them.