Once TO confirmed that the car was gone, Vik instructed them to go further into the house.
“And unzip this bag.” They said from inside the pack TO carried, “it’s getting stuffy in here.”
Once the bag was open Vik popped out and took a long breath of air. “I don’t mind small places, but that was too squat and stuffy.” They grumbled as they settled in their new position. “Alright. Left, go down the hallway and then take another left. That’s where the garage is. We’ll take one of the service vehicles and head right to the outer ring.”
“Won’t we bump into anyone on the way?” DH asked, their voice low and urgent, “We’re in a civilian house!”
“No, that's fine. Just go on ahead, I’ll show you.”
TO and DH walked on, and as they took the first turn they saw a ServAi in the hallway. TO froze for a moment, worried that after all that trouble they’d get caught on the ServAi’s built-in camera, but thankfully no images showed up on their visor.
“I said we’re fine.” Vik said, chuckling, “There’s only ServAis working here, and I’ve shut them down. You’re good; keep going. The house security cameras are dealt with too, so don’t worry about that.”
“You’re going to have to tell me how you did all that.” DH said, “Even for me, that’s some quick work, and I’m entirely impressed!”
“Don’t be too impressed.” TO said, “I believe they had a lot more time than you think to get this sorted out.” They double checked the ID they pulled from the vehicle, and checked the dates on how long ago the child had been missing. The dates lined up with what Vik already told them, so with that information checked they said, “You’re Viktor, right? And I’m assuming this is your home?”
“Hmm? Oh, yeah.” They laughed, “Didn’t I tell you that?”
“You didn’t!” DH protested, “You grew up here? In the inner district?”
Vik gave another laugh, their ears dropping slightly. “Yeah.” They said, “Back in the day. I guess they considered me a ‘privileged’ kid. Parents lived here, so I could go to a good public school, but not a private one.” They chuckled, “Worse than that, I was a ‘gifted’ privileged kid. Parents weren’t happy when I got kicked out of school.”
“I thought you said your parents weren’t rich!” DH said, “But they have a house here-”
“A house they inherited from their parents, who inherited it from their parents. I also said they had some money, yes? Well, I guess they got more now that they don’t have to support me, right? Come on - keep going.”
They stepped around the ServAi and continued down the hallway and to another door on their left. It opened before them, and just as Vik said, they were in the garage that held a single, bulky cargo vehicle.
“They keep this one inside, because it’s not aesthetic.” Vik said as they worked on their communicator. A few minutes passed, and the cargo vehicle turned on, its rear doors opening up. “Go on, hop in. It’s automated; no need to drive.”
With some hesitation, the two got inside. The doors slid behind them.
“Take a seat.” Vik muttered as they worked, “It’ll take me a minute to set up an appointment and backdate it in the system. It’s fine though; my parents won’t be back for a while.”
Taking Vik’s suggestion, DH sat down on the floor of the van and deactivated their armor. It dissolved around them and melted back into the bracelet around their wrist. TO panicked at first, worried that they’d be seen outside of their armor, but then they remembered how Vik said they had deactivated all the cameras. They disabled their own armor and sat down next to DH.
“I hate wearing that for so long.” DH grumbled. They glanced at TO and offered them a quick smile, their ears flicking out fondly as they did. “It’s awful having to talk to you though common on that helmet. At least it doesn’t mess up what we say to one another like it does when we speak to others.”
TO reached out and took DH’s hand, squeezing it gently on the floor.
“Hey, Vik.” DH said, turning away from TO, “How do you know they’ll be gone for a while?”
“Because I know them, and I found the right bait.” Vik said. “One of mom’s superiors at work is at a little cafe in the Entertainment district. She’s always trying to suck up to them and climb her way up, so-”
“What does she do?” DH asked.
“Entertainment industry. She works on designing new digital actors and performers. Anyway, she’s always sucking up for promotions, and her superior mentioned on their social that they were at that cafe. I just made sure mom saw that. She’s taken off with dad to see her and be all ‘Oh, how nice to see you! You come here too.’” they snorted with unamused mirth. “It works too. You should see her work! A coincidental meeting, a mention of something their superior likes, a few questions…” he shook his head, “It’s gotten a good few promotions. Worked better when I was young and cute, though; Back then, she could bring me around and show me off. That got decidedly less effective when I could talk. Anyway, if she speeds - which she will- will take twenty minutes to get there. If the coworker is still there, she’ll work her magic for a good hour but otherwise she’ll come right back home. At worst, we have forty minutes.”
The transport vehicle shook as it hovered into the air and circled the small garage. It sped up, forcing TO and DH further to the back of the vehicle before it rose into the air and made its way through the city.
“There we go!” Vik said. They made themself comfy atop the bag TO brough, settling in as they continued to work on their communicator. “Now we just wait. This thing goes slow, so we’ll have a bit of a commute.”
“That’s fine.” DH said as they shifted towards TO. “At least we’re getting away right?”
“Right.” TO said.
An awkward silence fell over them. Vik focused on their communicator while TO and DH just sat there, holding hands and feeling the vibration of the older vehicle as it continued on its way. As TO glanced at their mate, they saw the uneasy tilt of their ears as the older vehicle moved. DH’s fingers tightened around their own as they took a long, shuddering breath.
“So, how did you know it was Vik’s house, TO?” DH asked after a few long minutes of them trying to keep calm.
“Correction; My parents' house.” Vik said, “I don’t even get it if they die, I’m out of their will so I don’t get it. No idea who gets it now.”
“Well, you are missing.” TO said. “I looked at their file when my helmet scanned their vehicle. A missing person report went out a while ago-”
“About six years ago.” Vik said, “Just after I left home. They wouldn’t have bothered to file it, but everyone knew they had a kid, so if that kid just disappeared and they didn’t make an excuse, it’d be a little suspicious.”
“Maybe they’re looking for you.” DH offered. “If you’re their family, they can’t be that cold to you-”
“They reported me missing six years ago.” They said, “Two years after that, I went home and they were very decisive in kicking me out. So yeah. They’re not interested in me, and I’m not interested in them. There’s a reason I only go by Vik now.”
“You didn’t just shorten Viktor?” TO asked.
Vik’s ears dropped, their tail swishing side to side, “Well, yes, but that’s because I’m used to it. I never use my full name anymore.”
TO frowned, and continued scrolling through the data they had on Viktor Lumix. DH noticed, and nudged TO, giving them a quick shake of their head. Confused, TO put away the communicator. Well, they could check that later, but they didn’t understand why DH seemed to want them to stop looking. That heavy pit returned to their stomach, but it disappeared shortly after DH squeezed TO’s hand once more.
“On a change of subject.” DH said, “Even if you had access previously, it’s an interesting setup you’ve got to get in. How did you set this all up? I mean, the tunnel and everything.”
“Half of it was luck.” Vik said. “Sure, it took some skills to block all the cameras, but most everything else? Luck.”
“How so?”
“Well...” Vik’s little fingers stopped working at his communicator. “Well… I used to sneak out all the time. I always got caught not long after I left the property. Even if I disabled the cameras or took a car, I’d get caught if I tried to leave the residential district and there’s not much to do in the residential district, so why would I stick around? I had friends in the third ring - outer residential. Met them through the net. Anyway, I kept looking for ways out where I wouldn’t get caught.”
“So you made that cavern?” DH asked with a concerned twitch of their ears.
“Oh, no!” Vik laughed. “I couldn’t do that myself. The old sewage entrance was locked off back then. But there used to be a hole in the side that I discovered I could crawl through when I was about twelve. Once inside, I followed the tunnel for fun and it came to that cavern. An old cave-in made it. I suppose the maintenance tunnel probably got too close to it, or the tube did. Doesn’t matter. Anyway, eventually a panel came loose on the tube - happens all the time, auto repair fixes it most times, but I, of course, kept that from happening!” They grinned. “If you put wire in the right places, the tube thinks that the panel is just fine. Took me another year to get the courage to take the tube out. Of course, I’m small, so it was easier for me to get out of the tube undetected, and then I was free to do what I wanted for a few hours!”
“And you’re telling me that nobody bothered to fix it since?” TO asked, “It’s just stayed like this the whole time?”
“Well, no.” Vik said, “The crack in the wall next to the door was sealed off ages ago, but I had the door unlocked by then, and fixed it so I could come and go as I liked. Now, if I was going up to the tube, there’s a rope I’d normally climb, but you didn’t need it.” They glance at DH. “I still sneak in from time to time if I need something special; new tech or something. Sometimes, I’ll order something and have it sent there under Vikktoria Lumix. The misspelling is plain enough that nobody would think about it too much, but I programmed the ServAis to take those packages and put them by the maintenance door. Having access there is useful if the package isn’t too big, or needs verification of delivery.”
“And it’s useful for escape.” TO added. “You probably had authorities chasing you into that tube all the time, getting entirely confused when you just disappeared.”
“Well, this is the first time that happened!” Vik said. “I’m small, and my species is common enough here that I can get around without notice. You? Not so much.” They grinned. “That’s why we have a delightful ride all the way home, and you two can give your wings a rest.” They went back to their communicator. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to come up with a few alternative ways we can get you out of the underground and to your ship. You can go about all you want, but we just need to make sure you don’t lead anyone to us.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?” DH asked, sitting up a little.
“Nah, anything I’m looking for won’t be on normal maps.” Vik said, “Oh, but if you can schedule a refuel for your ship, that’d be good?”
“I can do that.” TO said as they took out their communicator. With one hand, they sent off the necessary messages while DH leaned against them, watching the two of them work. DH could have ordered the fuel, of course, but somehow, TO wanted to do it themself.
Or rather, they didn’t want DH to help Vik.
