Page 39 of Treasure of the Abyss

Nothing stirred outside; the floor illuminated by the structure’s lights was undisturbed, but a net hung, swaying in the current, from one of the detached light posts. Not a hunt, but a sign that someone — most likely Dracchus — meant to gather a party and set outsoon.

Jax gritted his teeth. The hunters usually met in the Mess, a large chamber in the main building that must’ve served as a gathering place for the humans of old. It was mostly cleared of debris and furniture, so he’d always assumed it had received its name because of its state immediately after theUprising.

He wasted no time reviewing his options; the main building was the best preserved, containing the largest amount of functioning human items. If any of the suits existed, they’d be there. He would simply have to move quietly and avoid the hallways around theMess.

Keeping out of the light as best he could, Jax swam to the main door, entered the sequence, and slipped inside. The Computer welcomed him after the water drained from the entrychamber.

There were so many rooms; where best tostart?

Jax entered the first hallway cautiously. The overhead lights flickered in places, casting strange shadows on the walkway and walls, and the metal beneath his tentacles thrummed faintly. One of the hunters who’d raised Jax once told him it was the Facility’sheartbeat.

As he advanced along the corridor, he slipped into the likeliest chambers. Many of them had been left in disarray after the Uprising, and years of disuse hadn’t been kind in the wake of such chaos. Some of the rooms held decrepit furniture — tables of varying heights and dimensions, many built directly into the walls; broken structures called chairs; containers of more shapes and sizes than Jax could count. All designed for humanbodies.

Other rooms harbored ancient machinery, humming and clanking in banged-up shells. He couldn’t guess the purpose of any of it, but if he opened the casings and examined the insides, he could describe them to Macy. Perhaps she wouldknow…

There was no time for such worries; the task at hand was already likely to keep him here far longer than he wished. He didn’t want to prolong his time away from Macy by chasing the whims of hiscuriosity.

He pushed onward, rummaging through the containers he could open, delving as deep into his memory as he could for anything that might direct him to what he sought. He recognized some of the unknown objects as tools, but couldn’t imagine what they were meantfor.

The cruel humor of the situation became clear to Jax as he moved into the next hallway and began through a new set of rooms. Macy knew exactly what he was looking for, and likely bore insight into how the old humans might have stored such items. The most efficient way to locate the device would be to have Macy here to help in thesearch.

But Jax couldn’t bring Macy to the Facility. The potential hostility with which the other kraken might greet her was unimportant beside the true issue; she wouldn’t survive the journey. He needed her here to locate the suit and mask, but he needed the suit and mask to bring herhere.

It was a strange path of thought for him; another new experience opened by Macy. Was his time with her changing him, or simply awakening things that had always beeninside?

The sound of a door closing deeper in the building echoed through the corridor. Jax darted into a side-chamber and pressed himself against the wall, heartspounding.

Voices drifted to him, too distorted by distance and reverberation for him to identify either the words or theirspeakers.

He was skulking through the halls of his home like a tiny, helpless creature in a den of predators. He’d lived most of his life without allowing fear to control him. Why was he succumbing now? Why was heafraid?

Because if the others learn about Macy, they may seek her out…but she ismine, and minealone.

It was for her protection; the others would not necessarily be persuaded toward mercy by their curiosity as he had been. Humans were the first and oldest enemies of the kraken. Without weapons, Macy was helpless — even the heat gun would be a poor defense if she were set upon by multiplefoes.

After a hurried search of the room, he forced himself back into the hall. He was driven to protect her, yes, but he knew his motivation was drawn as much from possessiveness. Jax had no desire to share her. Macy had given herself to him; the others had no right to so much as look uponher.

After searching a third hallway and discovering nothing of use, he stopped. He hadn’t expected a quick, easy search, but this was taking too long. The fluttering in his gut urged him to return toMacy.

How could he return without anything to show for the time away? Seeing disappointment on her face would crushhim.

But he’d have to shift his search to the other side of the building, soon, which would put him close to the Mess. Close to the otherkraken.

He closed his eyes and tore through his memory. What had he seen here over the years, and where? The suit and mask were meant to help humans survive underwater; if Jax were human, where would he keep suchdevices?

Near theexits.

Logical, yes, but he’d found nothing in the chambers nearest the main door save empty containers. If such equipment had once been stored there, it was moved or destroyed in the time since. There were two other such doors, but he would have to pass the Mess to reacheither.

Where else? He ran through the rooms in his mind, sorting them as best he could; there was a room for storing nothing but weaponry, many rooms meant as dwellings, rooms housing nothing but machinery…everything had a place, a purpose, even if he was unable to determine what that purposewas.

There were a few rooms that contained only ghosts, and, in a couple of them, more chairs. One chamber held nothing but screens, displaying strange symbols none of the krakenunderstood.

The PoolRoom.

He hurried through the halls toward the Pool Room; no one had ever agreed on why the humans had built it, but Jax knew now that humans could not survive underwater without the aid of special equipment. The ghosts often spoke of testing. Testing on kraken, testing on the glowing rocks…and testing on things with names that held no meaning to thekraken.

Would they have tested their diving equipment, too? If the environment outside the Facility was too extreme for humans, wouldn’t it make sense for them to have a place where they could conduct their tests free ofdanger?

---