Ito Ai: A New Dawn

Chapter 32: Enclosed Space

Ai paid no attention to Mai's disgust and went about her work. After she settled the eyes, she went and grabbed a geiger counter before walking over to the entrance of the bunker and climbing the ladder. On the side wall was a smallholder where she slid the geiger counter into and then turned it on. She could hear the drops pelting the ground outside. She was happy that this house was built on a hill. The basement floor had a slope to it that allowed water to flow to the drain in the floor that led to the street. This was one of the reasons why she built the bunker in the basement. It was not only to conceal it but because of how the floor sloped in a way that drained water. 

After settling the geiger counter, Ai went and grabbed one of the engineering books she scavenged from the library and sat down on the couch next to Mai who was reading a book on medicine. The whole bunker was quiet except for every few hours Mai and Ai would take turns circulating the air. 

As the days passed and the rain continued to fall, Ai and Mai's daily lives consisted of nothing but learning their respective trades, sleeping, and eating. For the first few days, they finished up the perishables so that they wouldn't spoil. After that, though their meals quickly became small as they were trying to conserve food. Even though they had enough to eat heartily for a few years they still decided it would be best to try to stretch it as long as possible. They would also spend three hours each day working out and sparing. They of course moved everything around the bunker in order to do this. 

The days turned into weeks and the rain continued to fall. Although not heavy it still fell from the sky. This was making Ai somewhat worried since the concentration of radiation was slowly building up in the ground and surrounding area. Ai was not the only one starting to worry, Mai was also beginning to fear that they might end up being stuck down in the bunker forever. 

"Ai how much longer do you think it will continue to rain?" Mai asked for the one-thousandths time. This question was beginning to get on Ai's nerves, in response she only glared at Mai not answering her question. This glare was cold and filled with killing intent causing Mai to instantly close her mouth and lower her head, not daring to look Ai in the face. 

Ai continued about her business as she dutifully pulled the first type machina apart piece by piece. She was making sure not to damage any of the parts since she might need them later on. Mai picked up another medical book and turned to a page that had a diagram of an eye and looked at the eye in the jar comparing the two. 

Letting out a sigh, Ai turned and looked back at Mai and said in a low voice: "Sorry..." 

Ai knew that Mai was just as nervous as she was and the confinement of the space was really starting to weigh down on their mental states. She had no outlet for her anger, frustration, and worry about their current situation. This was making her temper which was never good, to begin with, come forth and be aimed at Mai when it was not Mai's fault.

Mai looked up after hearing Ai's apology and smiled. "It's fine. I know I have been asking the same thing over and over. I'm just... worried..." 

Ai leaned back and stretched her arms before leaning over and placing her head on Mai's shoulder. "I am the same. I am worried as well. The readings at the hatch are showing signs of radiation around the edge. Although it is still within safety standards for humans. But if things continue as is, things might turn out worse. Being stuck inside this bunker is really hard on our minds as well. Like just now I snapped and glared at you. This is a sign that we are slowly being affected by the closed-in space. In order to refresh our minds, we will need to move our bodies more. Let's do a few more hours of working out from now on." 

"I will follow whatever... " Mia did not get to finish her sentence when Ai pressed her finger to her lips and said: "Listen..."

The bunker was dead silent. There was no sound whatsoever. "I think the rain stopped." Ai's eyes lit up. She quickly got up and walked over to the entrance of the bunker and stopped to listen closely. After confirming that she did not hear a sound Ai knew that it had stopped raining. 

"Ai?" Mai walked over and looked at Ai with a questioning look.

"It seems to have stopped but we can not go out just yet. We will wait two more days. For now, let's just continue our daily routine. Hopefully, we can find some water that we can use to bathe in that is not too contaminated." Ai felt so dirty. They couldn't use the water they had since it was for drinking and could not be used to clean themselves off with. So the two of them had not bathed in weeks leaving them both feeling very dirty and disgusting.

"Umm Ai, can we also get a live specimen?" Mai asked. She had come to a point with all her studying that she needed to start practicing what she was learning or she would never be able to help replace Ai's eye for her.

"Yeah, we can find someone. Anyone will do. But preferably someone who deserves to be tortured. It's not like we got any numbing agents to keep them from feeling pain. It may seem a little on the horror story side of things but if we are successful we will be able to do much more than just replace an eye later on." Ai said, agreeing to Mai's request. "Are you sure you will be able to handle it?" 

"Mmm After staring at the eyes that are decaying in the jars, I think I have become immune to these things..." Mai replied with a frowned smile. She never thought in her entire life she would be experimenting on a human body in order to learn a trade skill. Not to mention it would not even be a dead body but a live one.

"Mmm, the things in the jar are a bit different compared to the real thing. The sight of something grotesque is not what makes a person sick really. It is the smell that really makes one feel sick. But over time you will get used to it. To be honest, I really do not wish to do such things but such is life now. We can't go to school and learn these things so the only way to figure it out is to learn by trial and error. And the only way to do that is to have something to practice on." Ai, let out a sigh. She felt like she was about to commit sins upon her own race, but what could she do. In order to build a cybernetic eye for herself and have Mai put it in, would require delicate work and the know-how in order to do such a thing. 

"It's fine. As long as I can help recover your eyesight I am willing to get used to it and do anything. Even if it means being thought of as a monster." Mai said with a determined look on hr face.

***

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