Pilate would have had a better time holding his breath if he wasn't so tired, not to mention frustrated. The zebra had spent the last several hours sneaking his way from one building to the next, taking a bridge connected between a pair of Blue Nova spires at what Simon helped him discover was the twenty-fifth story. It was not a smooth transition; two-thirds of the journey was spent hiding in alcoves along the main corridors, avoiding the eyesight of guards and salvage workers rushing to the sight of the zeppelin crash in the office complex.
With a groan, Pilate crouched against the locked door to a utility closet. He craned his ear against the frame, feeling the twitch of Simon's bushy tail against his shoulder.
With each pulse of O.A.S.I.S. through the squirrel's buffer, he sensed a pair of guards situated in front of the door to his destination, located several yards down the immediate hallway. The stallions' muffled voices came to him with half the clarity as their bodies were illuminated by his manasphere, but he concentrated in order to make out their conversation as well as we could.
"...—for another hour, at least..."
"You've got to be kidding... —I'm starving! When will... —that is why we're keeping him, right? Otherwise, he's worthless, compared to the other two."
"... —not up to us. The pressure's on Fatch. Nightshade will... —if he doesn't get to the bottom... —not like ...—to our knees already with setbacks."
"When's Seclorum expecting Nightshade to... —him and his armada?"
"That's just it. Fatch can't be expected... —with the power source, or else... —left cold in the field, surrounded by Xonans and... —to the machine level."
"Brrrr. It chills me just thinking about it."
"But... —the possibilities! Unlimited... —better than coal or even mana!"
"What in Spark's name could be better than mana?"
"... —why you're just a grunt."
"Doesn't that...?"
"Oh shut up."
"Hahahahaha... Whoops..."
"What... —being paged?
"Yeah. ...—us to take him from the commisary."
"Ugh. Is this what our jobs have been reduced to?"
"You'd rather... —the zeppelin?"
"Hell no. But anything beats babysitting these two. Let's jet."
"After you."
Pilate held his breath. He sensed the two guards marching towards an elevator. They waited for the car, murmuring further towards each other. They were too far away for him to hear anything. Once they descended, he counted thirty mental seconds, then opened the door. Poking his head out, he allowed the O.A.S.I.S. sphere to fly high.
"Pssst. Simon. Give it the gas."
A chattering voice enthusiastically replied. Pilate felt a pulse of information ripping through his metal plate. He "saw" in every direction at once, and in that very splash he sensed the door where the guards had been standing for the past hour. Rushing over, he waited for another pulse before concentrating on the mechanisms.
"Hmmm... how quaint..."
The thing was rigged like a bank safe, with at least three spinning locks fastened to its structure.
"Whatever... or whoever is in here, they sure don't want them receiving any visitors."
Concentrating, Pilate gestured towards the rodent on his shoulder once more. Another pulse: he felt two bodies in the room, along with several tables full of metal scrap, a standing board of sorts, three lonely cots, a lavatory, and a thin sheet stretched out against the far end of the compartment.
"Hold on a second..." Pilate's metal brow furrowed. "That's no normal wall..."
He waited on Simon to give him another "glance." This time, he concentrated on the wall, on its thinness, on its smooth texture.
"That's not a wall," he muttered. "It's a window." He rubbed his chin in thought. "Which means..."
Pricking his ears about, he heard nothing, save for the pitch of his and Simon's breaths. Shuffling, he bounded towards the next room and tried the lock. It opened easily, and he slithered his way inside. The air there was warm, and he sensed Simon shading his furry face.
"I'm guessing the sun's up," Pilate said, closing the door behind him and creeping forward with an even pace. "And I'm also guessing there's a window here all the same." He stretched his hoof forward and felt the cool kiss of glass. Running it along the surface, he found the frame, then felt it with O.A.S.I.S. With the aid of Simon, he discovered a latch. He struggled with it, but it wouldn't budge. "Blast it, come on..." Using his teeth, the zebra blindly unlocked the window. He pushed it open. A heavy gust of wind flew into the room. Pilate heard tables knocking over and scraps of paper flying towards the far corners of the place. "Whoah! Whew... that's certainly a wake-up call."
Gulping, Pilate squatted down before the window and snaked his forelimb out like the trunk of an elephant. He felt around the outside of the window, reaching a far as he could without putting himself in danger.
"Great... no ledge," he grumbled. "Well, I'm not sure what I was even thinking." He sighed, then pivoted about towards the center of the wind-swept room. "I seriously doubt there's a way to get to the two through the wall—"
Just then, Simon started chattering madly.
Pilate flinched. "Huh? What?! What is it?"
Simon tugged and tugged on the zebra's fetlocks.
"I... I'm sorry, friend. I think the communication divide is just far too great at this point."
The squirrel barked, then stood still. Pilate heard several electrical sparks snapping. Then O.A.S.I.S. went into overdrive. Instead of a single pulse, the zebra felt a lengthy, continuous stream of data filtering through his head. While he felt this, he could sense the rodent telekinetically lifting several objects in the room at once, then lowering them. Just as the sensory field faded, Simon pointed out the window, then at the zebra.
Pilate followed the gesture, tilting towards the source of the high winds. He stood in a space of blank thought, then felt his jaw dropping. "Oh goodness, no..."
Simon kicked him.
"Gah!" He stumbled and sighed. "Nnngh... Nancy Jane, I do hope you love your beloved as much as I love mine." Trying to shake loose the shivers, he allowed Simon to mount his shoulders as he approached the window. "You can levitate a body and open windows at the same time, right?"
The squirrely marely barked twice in sequence.
"I don't find that very reassuring..."
Things are going full Shinra, aren't they?
Also, I can't help but visualize Pilate's mana-vision like the cellphone radar from The Dark Knight.
this can only end badly.
honeytiger is alwys confused after reading new chapters...
I'm sorry, the squirrel is barking. I think that's the sign that it's time to stop giving a f**BUY SOME APPLES*
I can honestly say, without any possibility of doubt, that I have no idea what is going on.
Well, it it wasn't completely obvious before this point, Simon is definitely no ordinary squirrel...
Zebra on a ledge.
More mysteries have arrived! Just what were those Enforcers talking about?
2634784 RD is new Cloud Strife.
I visualize it the same way.
So, let me get this straight: A blind zebra with a magical device attached to his head is about to fly into a skyscraper window to help two prisoners with the help of a telekinetic squirrel...
I love this story.
Is Pilate about to be piloted by Simon?
2636106
He can be my body guard, I can be his long-lost pal.
Well, I guess we should have known they would capture Floydien alive. Looking back, he's way too precious to kill. I am curious who the other two might be. Have they captured Belle and Phoenix already? Maybe Floyds created some kind of Zebra decoy? Something else entirely? Chuck Testa? Probably it's two other test subjects. Ma'am Nancy might just be a person after all. Ooohh, this is exciting! Can ya feel it, boys?
And BAM, there we go, maybe it's not an obelisk, but the complex has a connection to the world machine at least. I suppose it figures, too.
Ceterum censeo Searinem delendam esse, winded down like dying clockwork.
Partially obscured conversations. They are evil, evil things.
Pilate's got some serious balls. Doubt I'd trust a squirrel, even a magical intelligent one, to that degree. Serious striped balls on that one indeed.
2636737 You know what they say about zebras...
2636703
... How did I not see this?
Hmmm, interesting. Dash is the power source, no doubt, but I thought she was left in a field by Ledomare village, not left cold in a field by a Xonan village. . . . Plus it begs the question of how Nightshade grunts would know of Dash.
2636753
While Nightshade is probably aware of the machine, and likely have access to it, in context I thought that they might have been referring to the events at Blue Shelf. :shrug:
Well. We know why Belle's tome likes this place.
2634808 KMCA is pained by your bright text
And I caught up again.
2636965 I don't think Dash is the power source, to be honest, here. I'm betting it's something we haven't seen yet.
This is going to be fantastic. I really hope Simon's got the juice to lift Pilate to the next room, it would be disappointing for him to make it this far to have a 24 story tumble.
Well that takes the phrase "Leap of Faith" to a whole 'nother level. Recommended accompanying music:
I believe I can flyyyy,
I believe I can touch the skyyyyy
Don't think, just do it right away,
grab my squirrel and fly away...
...And now I want to watch Space Jam.
Here's to hoping Simon has the mana to back his boast, or there's about to be a stripey splotch in the middle of Nightshade's perfectly presented speech.
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
So those guards were talking about some sort of new power source. Could it be the crystal ponies? Unfortunately, it probably is. However, that would be a good way to bring Dash and Crimson over to Blue Nova to meet up with Pilate, Belle, and co. Also, I guess that we now know that Nancy Jane is a living thing. We'll meet her soon enough. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
What's the new power source? Also, the suspense is killing me!
-SPirit
Simon, you better be one damn good magic squirrel.
Huh, Machine Level again eh? The already treaclely plot thickens further...
I have faith in you, Pilate! You won't splatter against the ground like a bug against a windshield!
5759520 he managed to survive that once he'll be fine.
Pilate has a habit of falling great heights without dying. Let's see if he can do it intentionally.
Squirrel based flight, what could possibly go wrong?
Well, a couple small steps for a Zebra, one giant leap for Zebra-kind.
05/13/2017 15:40 UTC
8160467
Do you like space, Pilate?
Simon's a really powerful squirrel.
Wait...why are you asking tha-- oh...pilate don't tell me you're gonna-- Welp, Here We Go!