13 Ques (1/2)
The energy remained in his body for five minutes, and Daneel used every second perfectly.
With the information he had right now, it was impossible to form a complete plan, but he still worked out several scenarios. It wasn't very easy, and they were all vague, but nonetheless, he felt very happy with himself when he was done.
There were many areas that he was worried about, and there were also many risks, but his sense of danger seemed to have been dulled, making him bold and courageous. After studying this feeling, he didn't know whether it was due to the very process of planning, or due to what he had absorbed.
When it left, he looked around dejectedly, as if he had been deprived of light all over again. With the energy coursing through his veins, even his vision had been sharp, allowing him to see everything with clarity, so when the darkness returned, he simply hated it.
Still, finding a pathway forward bolstered him, just as it had done before. Even though the final plan was unclear, he had figured out what he should do next, and that… involved finding the healer.
It took three entire days for him to finish the task. When he wasn't working, he had to comb through the corridors, one by one, hiding every time he heard the enforcer walking around. Even though the rules hadn't been stated explicitly, he knew that it was forbidden for slaves to enter areas that weren't related to them.
This was probably why the healer had said before that he was risking a lot to be in his cabin. From this utterance, he had found the clue that the man was probably far away, and hence, he had started his search with the corridor that was the farthest from his.
He was faced with a lot of curses and scowls, but he ignored them all, keeping his eyes on the prize. He would go into a corridor, duck into each and every cavern and only leave after confirming that the resident wasn't Reese.
In the process, he came upon slaves being intimate thrice. He hadn't even imagined that such an act would grace the Pit, but as soon as he thought this, he saw his foolishness as there was no other way in which slave children could be born.
The first time he interrupted a couple, they merely paused as if they were used to someone butting in. After seeing that it was the infamous young master, they screamed all sorts of obscenities that rang in his ears for quite a long time afterward.
They hadn't been naked, so he hadn't seen much… but still, the image had evoked his own memories. It had been followed by a physical reaction that he needed to step to the side to control, and as the slaves passed while watching him smile with embarrassment with his hands on his crotch, they cursed at him and warned that they would cut what he was holding off if he dared to force himself on anyone.
He took the other two incidents in stride after that. In the second one, the woman noticed his strong build and even invited him to join… until she saw his face, after which she lunged to try and close her hands around his throat.
After facing many such dangerous situations, his relief was palpable when he finally found the old man huddled in the corner of a certain cavern that was different from the rest.
His had storage areas that held salves and liquids of various colors. The cupboards were as rickety as the one in the room he had woken up in before, on the surface, and the stone bed also had a mattress, which was an oddity when compared to everything he had seen so far.
At first, he thought that the man was despairing over something… but then, when he took a step closer, Reese turned around and shouted, ”What the hell do you think you're doing? Can't you leave me alone even when I'm trying to move my bowels?”
As he realized what he was interrupting, Daneel scratched his head and almost turned around, but then… he stopped and stood his ground.
Folding his hands behind his back, he kept his eyes firmly on the healer and said, ”Nope. No way. I'm not going anywhere! Who knows? You might disappear if I turn my back on you… so either stop, or finish while I wait and watch.”
He didn't want to let all of his hard work go to waste, and from the way the man had vanished so perfectly for all these days, he was sure that he must be capable of more than he had estimated. He didn't want to take the risk of losing him, at all, so he acted shamelessly, but didn't feel so one bit.
Squatting on the ground, Reese cocked his head and stared at him as if he was joking, before understanding that he was serious. Grumbling beneath his breath, he pulled up his pants and rounded on Daneel.
”Do you know how difficult it is for an old man to clear out his stomach? I felt them moving after trying for an hour, and then you popped in! Well, out with it, so that I can continue!”
Daneel was unfazed by the hostility, already having gotten used to it over the course of his quest. Yet, for a moment, his mind blanked, and he said nothing.
”If it's about learning the rest of the story, I admire your dedication… but my mind is set. You need to earn it. And right now, I don't have any task to give you…”
He had almost forgotten about that little argument of theirs, but he rejoiced and latched onto the topic as soon as he heard the man, deciding to use it to his advantage.