Crystalline Shelter

It had been a long time since Mary had been out of East Diamond. The air in this part of the city was... Different from what she had grown used to. It was unsettling. When she closed her eyes, she saw flashes of colors. Memories she had lost. Or were taken from her. She couldn't remember. She said nothing the train ride down; to Master Sai, she would seem more catatonic than normal, rigid, barely breathing or blinking.
The train ride from Ruby Central to South Emerald was long and dull, save the scenery passing by. Once or twice some train attendant came by with peanuts and water, but the three hour train ride, while soon coming to an end at long last, was highly tedious, mostly consisting of Mary staring idly out the window, and the occasional sounds of other passengers talking in the other cabins.

Sai glanced over to Mary after getting his latest refill on the water. Getting away from East Diamond was a smart move for the time being. Shoushan likely had contacts throughout the whole city, but he probably wasn't expecting a move like this. At least, Sai hoped that he wouldn't. For now though, his mind was on more direct matters.

"You seem extra quiet today Mary, something on your mind?" he asked casually before starting to remove the lid from his water bottle.

Mary blinked and softly flinched as she heard her name, pulled back to reality from her unstable train of thought. She turned her head slightly towards him for a moment before turning back to the window. "You said you wanted me to think on my life before Master Shoushan retrained me. It is hard to. But I think I was here before, in this part of the city." She fell silent for a long minute again before continuing. "I don't remember anything. But it smells familiar. It looks familiar. I recognize the colors." Again, she fell silent. It was a recurring theme for how she spoke; broken sentences, followed by long pauses to reorganize her thoughts. It seemed she had finished responding to Master Sai's question, though, as well over two minutes of silence passed.

"I see, I suppose that's a good thing though" Sai said as he glanced out the window. "Despite how I found you, you do seem to be improving when it comes to your thoughts. The fact that you remember anything about home alone might be a miracle. You should be grateful for what you remember now. Perhaps it'll help you find your way back one day, once we are free of Shoushan. Keep trying to remember though Mary, memories and reminders are very powerful things"

Mary shook her head and spoke, her tone somewhat different from before, more cold and monotone, similar to when Master Sai first found her. "I would not be welcome back home even if I remembered it. Home is best forgotten. It should stay that way. And memories are dangerous. They hurt more than they help." A few seconds after she spoke, she blinked several times, and softly shook her head. "I am sorry, sir. I did not mean to speak back to you, Master Sai." She looked back out the window, before softly saying, "I will try to remember."
Mary was confused. Discourse ran amok in her mind; she was to obey her master, but her master was telling her to go against everything she was supposed to follow. She was conflicted. But her purpose was to serve Master Sai, and he wanted her to remember. He seemed pleased whenever she remembered anything, and that was the only reason she was alive. So she would remember.

"You don't need to apologize to me, I'm sure that all of this is very hard and confusing for you" Sai acknowledged as he just kept an eye on Mary. "Memories are powerful things though, even the negative ones. You're free to forget or remember, but be careful about throwing things away. It isn't always the best idea. That said though, I will not give you an order on the subject"

Turning, he watched as they were starting to pull in to the nearby train station. "Gather your things Mary, we've arrived it seems"

Mary said nothing in response, but nodded. She was silently relieved he specified he wasn't giving her an order on the subject; it made things simpler.
The process of unboarding was uneventful, tickets were checked, and the platform was packed with well-off middle class families visiting retired relatives or wealthier individuals taking a "well deserved" holiday. Standing beneath an advertisement for Eddie's Eats in Ruby Central was a tall, blond haired man holding a bouquet of roses; from Sai's call with the contact earlier, he would instantly know this was the man who was supposed to take him to the safe house. Upon Sai introducing himself to the gentlemen, the man instantly sprouted a stage grin and bowed slightly. "Ah, yes, I've heard about you. We're pleased to hear you're willing to do business with Pendleton Jewelers, the gems for the discerning customer!" With that he turned on his heel and escorted Sai and Mary outside to a fancy sports car, spewing business nonsense and jargon the entire way. Once in the car, his demeanor shifted entirely. The smile dropped and he groaned loudly. "FUCK, I hate that flight attendant smile." He griped, rubbing the side of his face with one hand and starting the car with the other. "Anyways, sorry about that. People in South Emerald are skittish about crime. Have to appear normal and-or boring or people ask questions. And Mr. Pendleton isn't a fan of questions, I'm sure you understand."

Sai raised an eyebrow as he saw the blond man with the roses. He knew that this was the sign for contact, but still...it was just an odd sight that the hitman wasn't really used to. Thankfully, he didn't have to deal with it long as the gentleman was happily willing to drop the facade and act like his normal self in the car. "Mr. Pendleon seems like a smart man to enjoy that kind of behavior. Believe me, I'm not a fan of questions in my line of work either" Sai said as he glanced out the window and watched the buildings pass us by. "What can you tell us about where we're being taken?"

The blond man shrugged. "Well, it's not gonna be the nicest place you've ever slept. Our group doesn't exactly have any proper rivals or enemies, and we're nonviolent anyways, so we don't have 'safehouses'. So you're basically gonna be shacking up in a layover storage facility. The long and short of it is it used to be one of the mining tunnels, but got shut down after the gems in that part of the mountain dried up. Now it's abandoned, and thanks to some of our boys in the mining unions, doesn't exist on any maps. A few of us moved some mattresses in so you won't be sleeping on the ground, but it's not exactly a hotel." He took a turn onto a dirt road leading to the mountain. "Security's pretty light so as not to draw too much attention, but inventory is checked, double checked, and triple checked each morning, afternoon, and evening, so don't try to nick anything, because we'll know and throw you back into Mocca City with a blowhorn and a flashing sign. Apart from that, it's my job to make sure you two are kept safe, quiet, and comfy. More or less." He looked in the rearview mirror and flashed a movie star smile. "Name's Alvin, by the by. Friends call me Al."

"I assure you it's not going to be the worst place I've ever slept" Sai said before glancing over to Mary and seeing that she didn't really have anything to say as usual. "Mary and I will be fine, as long as we're safe and not actively being hunted or pursued, we could make a puddle of dirty water work for a pillow" the assassin exaggerated. For now, they just needed to keep low like the witch said. And then, they would find the right time to strike back and really injure Shoushan. This man wanted Mary so badly, Sai was going to make sure that he lost millions in profits before that happened if at all. Shoushan was going to regret his decision to try and kill Sai.

"Well thanks Al, we do appreciate what's going on here. Don't worry, nothing will go missing while we're here. We just need a place to sleep soundly, nothing more"

Alvin winked at Sai. "So long as you keep your word, Mr. Pendleton will his. We'll keep you safe from whatever ill hunts you. Well, unless that 'whatever' is the EDM. We're not that stupid." He shrugged, but kept his grin. The roads were getting rougher now, and finally they turned onto a road with a large, orange sign saying "DANGER! DO NOT ENTER!"
"Ignore that." Alvin assured them casually. "As I said, mine here is 'officially' closed. So we have to keep tourists and civvies away. Doesn't stop vandals, but they tend to stay in the main part of the city anyways." The car pulled into a parking lot, and Alvin got out, gesturing for Sai and Mary to do the same. When they did, Sai would see two men, both with pistols on their hips. One approached Sai, and the other Mary. "No firearms in the mines except authorized personnel." The one facing Sai bluntly announced. "As I'm sure you were told. Arms out, gotta check." He said. Once Sai complied, the guard quickly check Sai over for a firearm.
"Oi. Lady. You, too." The other guard said. Mary neither said nor did anything, refusing to comply with the guards commands. After a moment, she turned her head softly in Sai's direction, clearly checking with him to see if she should comply.
"C'mon, girl." Alvin encouraged. "It's just a formality."

Sai allowed himself to be checked over. The theatrics made to keep people away didn't surprise him, it was a natural way to create some defenses actually. It seemed like a good way to keep others out, especially those with weapons. Course, Sai would rather have one on hand in case someone chose to ignore that rule. But, desperate times meant they had to play by someone else's rules.

Sai allowed himself to be searched before he glanced over to Mary. He gave a quick nod to Mary, telling her that it was alright for her to comply with the man's requests.

Once Sai nodded at her, Mary went back to looking ahead and raised her arms enough for the guard to check her over. Once the guards finished checking the pair over, they nodded and returned to their posts. Alvin grinned again and gestured for them to follow.
The two went into the tunnels, lit with buzzing yellow wall lamps and smelling of soot and damp rock. As they walked, Mary ran her hand along the coarse wall, a rare shift from her normal, robotic movements.
"It's not too far in here. Just deep enough that someone who doesn't know the way will get lost. A maze will always keep you safer than any fortress possibly could." Alvin chirped happily. "As I said, we've got a pair of mattresses down here for you, as well as some reading material. I'll stop by each day to check on you, bring you some food and the like, and a copy of the daily news." As he spoke, the group entered a more furnished area, what seemed to be what used to be the bunks for the miners, or perhaps a large storage room. Currently, it held only two small mattresses in a corner of the room, a few various empty crates, another crate full of various books, and two plastic chairs. There was a constant dripping sound, and one corner of the room had a small puddle of water, constantly fed by a drip from the ceiling. Alvin pointed to a door leading out the back of the room. "Bathroom's that way. I'll be back in about two hours with some grub. Got any preferences?" He asked. Once Sai responded, he nodded and left with a wave.
Mary walked over to the puddle, seeming drawn by the dripping sound. She stared at the water for a moment before slipping her shoes off and stepping forward so only her toes were in the puddle. "Cold..." She muttered aloud.

"We'll be fine with whatever's convenient, we're not staying here for too long. If you really need a preference, I could go for some burgers or teriyaki; but like I said, not a big deal" Sai said before heading over to one of the chairs and taking a seat. With all the money he had been making for the witch, it seemed like a serious step down to be in a place like this. At the very least it would be safe until they could decide how to strike back at Shoushan. Safety was the priority. Sai believed in his own skills along with Mary's, but he wasn't a fool. He couldn't fight an entire army by himself. Plans and patience were needed here.

After Alvin left, he glanced over to Mary and watched her dip her toes in the puddle. It was a strange action for her to take, one that he hadn't prompted in anyway. "Do you like the water generally?"

Mary moved her toes in the water, watching how they made ripples before answering. "I don't think so. I don't remember swimming ever. But I like the cold. It's..." She paused, trying to think of the words. "It's different. Everything was the same when I was in the Chair. I like this water. It's different. It's new." She blinked, remembering something for a brief moment before the memory hid itself again. "Almost new. I think."
After another minute of silence, she stepped away from the puddle and moved to one of the mattresses, sitting cross-legged on it, trying to think. Thinking was hard for her, but she was getting better at it. Slowly. "I liked reading books. Some of them at least. Mr. Alvin said there were some here in the crate." She turned her head to look at Master Sai and blinked. A dangerous thought entered her mind; she knew her place was lower than her Master's, but Master Sai had told her before to think for herself. "Can... Can you read something for me?" The words croaked out of her mouth, fighting against all of her programming and retraining, but they somehow felt... right. She wasn't sure how or why; she had asked something of her Master, which was completely forbidden, but Master Sai seemed to subvert many expectations of what Master Shoushan had instilled.

Water was new? That was a strange thing to hear anyone say. The more that Sai tried to learn about Mary, it seemed like he just ended up starting over again and again. He had to find some way to break through to her, a means to really help her figure things out again. As Sai had thought before, a puppet might be fun for some people, but Sai was not one of those people. What he really needed was a partner.

Hearing her request though, now that was something Sai could work with. She wanted him to read to her. Sai wanted to ask if she couldn't read herself, or if she liked being read to. Sai knew enough though that sometimes pushing made Mary just fall back once again. Instead, he just gave a nod before picking up an actual novel, something with a bit of depth. "Chapter 1..." he began.