There would have been no need for anyone to warn me not to touch the wall.

It was obvious at a glance that it should not be touched. I frowned as I looked at the wall, dark red like lumps of muscle clinging together. It was even twitching.

In the middle of the writhing wall were mouths lined with teeth.

What an incredible sight.

Fortunately, the floor was relatively intact, and the wall did not attempt any special attack. It was only unpleasant to look at, nothing more.

A strange fishy stench drifted.

At least I could be thankful that my vision had returned as I followed close behind the senior.

He never slowed down, sprinting without pause.

We ran along an oddly narrow track. I felt the passage shrinking, the ceiling getting lower and thicker. Mouths fixed to the ceiling gaped and dripped saliva down onto the track.

The worst.

“This way.”

Artificial light came into view, and a screen door appeared.

Unlike the last station, all of these screen doors stood wide open. The senior quickly leapt up onto the platform. I followed just as fast.

The walls here were cleaner.

Once again it looked like the subway at dawn. An endless corridor stretched ahead, pale lights shining emptily down, our rhythmic footsteps echoing through it.

I ran after the senior for a long while—until another sound mingled with ours.

Chalang.

A clear sound.

It came from behind. Despite the senior’s earlier warning, I nearly stopped running. The instant that bell sound rang, it felt as if all other noises had been erased.

It was behind me...

But I did not stop. I had to run. Whatever was chasing us would be right on our heels. I kept moving, following the senior who never once looked back.

Chalang.

Closer.

The sound was louder than before. Once again every other sound was wiped clean. I clenched my mouth shut, struggling not to falter.

He told me not to follow the bell sound, but he did not say anything about it following us. What happens if it catches me?

Should I risk looking back?

Should I call out to him, or should I look back first? I tilted my head slightly to the right.

Chalang.

Nothing.

The corridor lay empty. The sound clearly echoed just a few steps behind us, yet the place it came from was vacant. A pale subway we had passed through. Beyond the yawning screen doors I could glimpse dark red creatures, but the corridor itself where the bell rang was empty.

Not even a fly.

The back of my neck bristled.

“Hey!”

The senior’s sharp shout snapped me out of staring at the void.

“Snap out of it!”

When had I stopped?

I had only turned my head slightly—I did not remember halting my steps. Blinking, I stared at him running toward me. I knew I had to move toward him, but strangely, my legs would not budge.

He seized my arm.

“Plenty of Badgers have been devoured by that sound.”

Dragging me along, he started running again.

Hatred and fear were tangled in his voice.

“Don’t listen to it. Focus on something else. Sing, or talk to me.”

“What do you mean devoured? There’s nothing around us.”

“I don’t know. No one’s ever seen the thing that makes it.”

That made no sense.

How could one be devoured by something without form? How could a sound exist without substance? And yet the bell rang steadily behind us.

Still, thanks to him my mind cleared again. With his grip tight on my arm, I kept pace.

I struggled not to hear the bell ringing again.

I needed to talk.

“What do you mean by devoured? Do you mean vanish?”

“No. They’re found shriveled dry, desiccated corpses.”

“What?”

“Usually they lose focus like you and chase after the sound. Like rats after the piper. If we manage to catch them and snap them out of it, they live. But the ones we can’t grab are found later—only husks.”

Now I understood why we were told never to enter the subway.

Better the two-story creatures that blasted electricity. I even missed the pig I faced under the Library of Beginnings. At least those you could strike, stab, dodge, and cut to pieces.

Chalang.

That pure, crystalline sound again.

The senior gripped my arm even tighter.

“Ask me something. Quick.”

He spoke through clenched teeth.

I did not refuse.

“How much do you know about me? What am I?”

“Not in detail. I only heard what they needed me to hear.”

“You mean my supposed former comrades, the ones who say I betrayed them?”

“Yeah.”

“What did they say?”

His eyes rolled sideways toward mine as we ran.

I met his gaze, studying the deserter again. Deep green eyes, hair so pale it was nearly white. With his beard shaved, his features looked softer.

His voice drowned out the bell.

“Bronzed skin. Bright yellow eyes. Over 180 tall. Pure white hair, long enough to reach your waist before. Clear-cut features, striking. Wearing a sword.”

“...That’s what they said?”

“Yeah. They told me to bring back the one who fit that description. Even told me roughly where. When I saw you struggling on that fungus, I knew you were the one they called the traitor.”

“How do they claim I betrayed them?”

No answer came right away.

Stairs appeared. We bounded up them. Ticket gates emerged ahead. Without hesitation he veered toward the gates opposite and led us through, then down another stairwell.

Would the bell follow even here?

The thought came just as I saw a flat, leathery lump at the bottom.

“They didn’t tell me exactly.”

Leaping over the shapeless hide, he replied.

“They only said you betrayed your own kind. That you got lost in humans and forgot who you were. So they would drag you back and kill you.”

“Why not just kill me right away?”

“They said they wouldn’t let you die easily.”

“This is insane. I don’t even remember what I did wrong.”

“I wanted to hear it from your own mouth too. It’s maddening. What did you do?”

Another line of screen doors came into sight. This time every one was closed, a train waiting behind them. Still gripping my arm, he rushed toward the doors.

He pressed something firmly.

Whir. The doors opened.

The train loomed before us. He wrenched open its door by hand.

We plunged into the dark interior.

“Now we’re safe, right?”

“Don’t let your guard down until the station’s behind us.”

He still did not release my ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) arm as he strode quickly through the shadowed cars.

I frowned but nodded, stepping carefully over the junk littering the floor—planks, a cabinet, a small chair—as I let him pull me along.

We reached the driver’s cab soon enough.

“Senior.”

By now, I was not even surprised that he knew how to operate the train.

At last he let go of my arm and began preparing to drive. He hummed quietly while working the console.

The panel lit up in colors against the darkness.

I studied his profile as he concentrated.

“Why did you desert?”

For a long time he said nothing.

Clunk. The train began to move, power surging into the engine.

A train that had not carried passengers in years was running down the tracks again. I stared at the rails whipping past.

Would our flight be faster, or their pursuit?

His answer came slowly.

“Long ago.”

I waited in silence for him to continue.

“Sophia once pointed a gun at Yehyeon.”

Who was Sophia?

I was not tactless enough to ask. If he gave no explanation, it meant none was needed. He was sharp. Even in a few hours I had felt his quick, bright mind.

The silence was not long.

“Her lover became a sacrifice for a mission. It was on Yehyeon’s orders, but not his fault. Too many unforeseen things happened at once. However you look at it, the order he gave then was right. If one life could save everyone, one had to be given up.”

“That’s true.”

Someone had to make that decision.

Someone had to bear that weight. Even if you could not calculate life’s worth, you had to weigh it. Yehyeon had gained power by carrying that weight.

I pitied him then—forced to drive one subordinate to death. The choice was simple, but the aftermath must have been agony.

He was a man wrapped in good intentions.

“I was among those who stopped Sophia that day.”

Weariness seeped from the senior’s voice.

“Never imagining I would be seized by the same impulse years later.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I was worse than Sophia in the end.”

He did not seem to hear me.

I watched him from the cab seat, lost in thought, until he gave a bitter laugh that seemed directed at himself.

“Sophia lowered her gun in the end, turned away, and kept serving faithfully. But I could not overcome grief and hatred. I deserted.”

“Do you hate Yehyeon?”

“I pity him and hate him. I tried not to, but it was useless.”

He buried his face in his hands.

His body curled in on itself, as if all the sorrow he had pressed down had finally settled on him.

I listened to the train clattering down the rails, waiting for him to crawl out of despair. I knew words would be useless. Something inside him had switched on. He was back in that time.

He raised his head after we passed a curving tunnel.

“What’s your name?”

...What?

He did not know my name? Even knowing I was not human, knowing I was the traitor?

In disbelief I answered.

“Hildebert Taleb. Please call me Hilde.”

“My name is Jin.”

He lifted his head and met my eyes with a faint smile.

“Jin Silver.”

“...It’s good to meet you.”

“Give a message to the Personnel Director for me.”

I did not understand.

As I blinked, Jin rose smoothly to his feet. His face showed no trace of grief now. He strode to the door of the cab and pulled it open.

I stared wide-eyed as he stepped into the next car.

Was he leaving me? Leaving me in the train while he returned to base?

Well, he had helped enough already.

Still, I wanted to know his true intent. I turned to follow.

He had already reached the end of the first car, opening the door to the next.

I shouted.

“Jin!”

“Tell Ju I’m sorry.”

He turned his head on the threshold and smiled.

A smile so sorrowful it crushed my heart.

“I couldn’t overcome it. He really tried to lift me up.” 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Kwoooom!

The train exploded.

More precisely, the rear cars exploded. A deafening blast tore the air, hot wind surging. Through the open door I saw the wreckage—shattered cars collapsing onto the tracks, bursting into flame.

Luckily, the car we stood in was intact.

But through the severed rear I could see the tracks flashing past.

And what had severed them.

Someone stood at the end of the remaining train.

Eyes burnt black.

“I’ll buy you time, Hildebert. Run.”

Jin blocked the doorway, drawing his gun.

Then he looked back at me and smiled, pure and unclouded.

“You’ll stand on humanity’s side again, won’t you?”

“Wait.”

“Their leader woke a few months ago. He came to me and said it. All they needed was to capture you.”

His faded hair whipped in the wind.

Something inside the station closed the distance, claws scraping across the second car. Gritting my teeth, I stepped forward, and Jin leapt into the second car.

His gun aimed at the doorway.

“Be Yehyeon’s winning card, Hilde.”

Bang!

The train split.

I dove, but just missed grabbing him. On my belly in the first car, I screamed his name again and again. But no reply came.

The train did not stop. Rounding a curve, what remained disappeared from sight.

My cheeks were wet.

Darkness closed in, sound fell away.

I wept in silence.