"Ellowyn you look like you've seen a ghost."

In a way I had. In the lab I poured over notes and diagrams, detailing what S.E.B had done to real people in his quest for a working limb. He was ignorant of the inner workings of the human body, he was no master of invention, he was a butcher. All the children brought down here were marked as failures, all except one, Everett Green. His survival spelled out by the only word I was able to decipher with confidence, "Sucess!"

"I feel horribly sick," I said with a forced laugh, "I think I've been underground for too long."

"I'm sure you'll forget about it as soon as you see this," he beamed.

How was he even standing here? Blissfully unaware that he had been here before. It felt unreal, I wanted it to not be real. But it was and I had no intentions of telling him. The doctor, on the other hand, needed to hear it. We followed a false lead and it ended with a monster and a criminal. To think I had intentions of bringing that book to him as a gift.

"Here it is!" He presented with open arms.

"Everett, It's a wall."

Everett smirked and we waited for a mechanical spider to scurry by and press itself into another false outlet. This door was not a quiet click like the others but a low slow rumble that shook the items from the workbench. I wondered if the tremors could be felt by the people that lived above us. 

The far wall of the main workshop slid away and was now open to a large glass tube.  I jumped onto one of the metal bands that made up the glass tunnel that stretched out before us. 

"We're under the ocean, Everett, literally under the ocean." The water wasn't as clear as it could've been considering we were in the bay and not the open ocean. It was clear enough that I could make out the glow of New Ellington's skyline. Beneath my fingertips fish swam by, blissfully unaware of the human visitors they had in their world. The buoys above us blinked to warn ships that there was something impassable underneath the shore. I was always under the impression it was a reef. I wondered how many knew it was a tunnel from Fairburg to the mainland, probably not many.

"It's amazing" Everett mused running his real hand down the glass of the tunnel.

"I wonder how far up this goes, Government wise," I added, thinking more of the lab and less of the wonder of engineering we stood inside.

"All the way to the top" Everett answered dryly, "It would have to be considering that the two of us have walked the length of the entire island. In my non-expert opinion, Fairburg is 50% hollow." His hand met the glass, "It's an undocumented marvel that's for sure."

The pair of us stepped out on to the tracks, "How far do you think the doctor made it?"

"Walking? Not far, if he took a cart," Everett raised his eyebrows "probably all the way to New Ellington."

No sooner did we start walking we were greeted with the shriek of breaks on metal and the growing light of a cart heading down the tunnel from the other side. My heart sunk before leaping back to thrum in my ears, we weren't alone.

In unison, the two of us turned running for the office. Each step sent stabbing pain up my leg from my ankle. If it wasn't sprained before it was now. We ducked behind the row of carts, my heartbeat pounding in my ears loud enough to drown out the steps of the person on the cart.

Everett nudged me, mouthing "It's the doctor."

I peered over the edge of the cart, only to have the doctor come rushing over, arm raised and attacking. Rage flashing across his normally cool face. This was it, this was how I'd die. He slowed to a stop, his expression softening into something I'd never seen from him before, was it sadness? Anguish? No.

It was fear.

***

Everett and I knelt in the office upstairs while the doctor paced, deciding what to do with us. One would've thought we were a pair of scolded children, not two almost adults that just wanted to do the right thing.

"Here's how we make this right," He said finally, "Ellowyn and I will leave together. I have clearance so she won't be questioned. Everett you will watch until we go. When the coast is clear walk to your house and forget that this place ever existed." 

I wanted Everett to joke, anything to break the tension. Instead, he just nodded his grim expression mirroring the doctors. 

"And if it isn't too much to ask, would you mind watching over our apartments? We have business in New Ellington and I'm not certain when we will be back."

"Yes, sir."

He extended a hand and the two of us were off. I had so many questions. I wanted to protest, stand my ground, but I couldn't. I just refused to tare my eyes from Everett, as we rounded the corner.

"Officers," the doctor greeted the pair of flashlights waiting for us at the gate, "All is well."

"Glad to hear it," the shorter, rounder of the pair commented.

"I asked my girl if she would come to find me if I had been down there for too long. It's easy to lose track of time in the underground." He gave them a firm nod, gently explaining why I accompanied him.

"It's better you than me. I ain't never had to step foot in there and I don't plan to start." the thinner cop commented, his flashlight beam fixed on the office window. 

Please be safe, Everett. 

"If you gentlemen didn't need anything else from us, my bed is calling."

"'Course Doctor, you have a safe night."

As soon as we were in the confines of my apartment I felt bold enough to confront him, "I don't think S.E.B. is the Master."

The doctor didn't even raise his head to acknowledge me, "Of course he is."

I shook my head feeling a pain in my chest as I recalled the contents of the lab, "I saw what he was doing down there, what he did to Everett. He's a butcher."

"Ellowyn, I have always admired and encouraged your curiosity but this once I need to ask you to turn it off."

I snorted, "I what?" I never had an argument with him. I was obedient and well behaved, the picture-perfect child.

"I can protect you, but I cannot protect Everett. Forget what you saw." There was an edge to his voice and a steeling to his normally soft face that drained any courage I had. It was like a stranger was inhabiting his body.

"Then what is our business in New Ellington?" I pressed on.

"We're going to visit my parents, then, if you agree to it, I would like to formally adopt you."

I clenched my fists and my face grew hot. This was the same man who refused to be more than my legal guardian throughout my childhood. The same man who said we couldn't visit his parents because they didn't approve of his decision to join the military. 

Just as I was about to press furth Everett slunk in, exhausted and dirty. I gave him an acknowledging nod.

The doctor reached for his wallet, "For watching the house, and the cat." 

Everett took some time to respond, "Thank you." 

"And we should be off, Ellowyn." 

Outside the window, the sun was a line of yellow and red in the east. We had been up all night and there was no time for sleep. 

"Ellowyn," Everett grabbed my arm on the way out, "write me, won't you?"

"Without a doubt." And with that I was off, leaving the only place I had ever been, and the only friend I ever had, for the city on the west horizon.

***

The doctor was silent on our trip his eyes darting from person to person, ever vigilant. Fairburg and its harbor grew ever distant on our ferry ride. All the while, New Ellington's facade grew ever clearer, a city all in grey. Our ferry ride was mostly early morning commuters that made their living in New Ellington. It was, after all, one of the largest cities in the new world. 

The slow rocking of the ferry could've lulled me asleep on any other day something about the doctor's vigilance and the events of the night before kept me from completely dozing off.  

The people on the shore made an ocean of their own in shifting bodies looking to board the numerous ships that lined the docks. The doctor's hand found mine in the crowd, it reminded me of being a little girl. Only now he was closer to being my father now than he ever was. 

"James!" He called out, waving down a well-dressed man with an automobile. 

He quickly gathering up our things and ushered us into the back seat. I learned that James had been the live-in butler for the Von Heikenroter's since the doctor was a boy. He had short grey hair and a clean-shaven face, aside from that his face was young, his voice clear. I also learned that the doctor didn't tell his parents we were coming. They were away on holiday and were in for quite the surprise when they returned. 

"It has been some time, Edward." James started, turning the wheel and driving down one of the brick streets. 

"It has," He responded enthusiastically, "I would like to stop by the courthouse on our way, I'd like to formally adopt my ward before going to see my parents."

"That can be arranged."

I should have been excited to be in New Ellington, riding in an automobile for the first time but I wasn't. I could see through the facade of his enthusiasm after I seeing him frightened in the house. After he lectured Everett and me on the nondescript dangers of the underneath without room for us to retort. I had always known that I didn't really know him but he had been kind and good to me, I didn't want to question it. 

Then there was the issue of S.E.B. Was the doctor defending him? It wasn't like him. His methods civil, delicate even. We were there to heal the patient, not to maim them. 

The courthouse looked to be new construction, built in a different color of brick than the surrounding buildings. It was stately with roman columns and two stories of sparkling windows.  

The process was quick and to the point. The doctor had apparently filed the paperwork in partial on more than one occasion. The majority of the time spent in the small, cramped office was taken up by the doctor exchanging pleasantries.  

"Welcome to the world, Ellowyn von Heikenroter." He said with a smile as we met James waiting on the street, "Perhaps we can celebrate later."

I didn't know how I felt about it. I had been Ellowyn Fair forever, Von Heikenroter sounded bulked and foreign.  

The streets of New Ellington were in stark contrast with Fairburg, and that wasn't a compliment.  The buildings grew so tall and sat so close that the sky was but a sliver. Jewel tones were in, and my love of yellow wasn't going to fit in. The ladies carried parasols to ward off the sun even though under the city's legendary smog the was no sun in sight. The streets were lined with people and they never spoke. 

The Von Hickenroter house was nestled along a line of identical black stone buildings, not far from the courthouse, ideal for a pair of lawyers. The inside, while lit by gaslamp, was equally dark, though this darkness was by virtue of stained woodwork. the curtains in the front room were in velvet purple, further deadening the sunlight.

"My parents are on holiday for the next few days, or so I'm told. So we have the run of the place for now. Make yourself at home."

It was odd to think the doctor, with all his cheer, grew up in a house this dreary. I could imagine him running down the halls, triumphant with a new invention only to be shushed, his lawyer parents holed away in their offices. That was how I imagined them anyway. 

James lovingly placed my luggage in the doctor's old bedroom. It was a little less gloomy with walls painted blue and faded balloon wallpaper. His shelves were shared in equal part by medical texts and mechanical texts. 

The point was, the Von Heikenroter home was icy and left me wanting home. I didn't unpack my bags, as soon as it was time to leave I wanted to be able to grab and go. 

"Is there anything I can get you to make you feel at home, Miss Ellowyn?" James popped his head in the door. His face was warm, expression soft.

"Could you get me some stationery and stamps?"

"That can be arranged," he gave me a slight bow, "I will be taking Edward up to the university shortly. We will be returning after dinner."

I gave him a nod and listened for the sound of the pair leaving through the front door. 

If I was going to stuck here I was going to explore, so I strapped on my boots and fell into the crowded streets.