Extraction: Infinite Hunger

The sound of Vivian’s training cut through Ash’s sleep. His hands darted on the floor beneath him and checked his phone. It was four A.M., compared to her usual start time of eight. He didn’t know if she had pulled an all-night session or if she had started early.

Regardless, it was the start of his day, whether Vivian intended to or not.

After Ash showered, Dane was already preparing the table for them, expecting his visitors’ sheepish arrival. Sheila followed after, her normal eyes carrying just the subtle red veins of a girl who didn’t get enough sleep, and intended to make up for it throughout the day.

Once they had settled into their chairs, Dane engaged his lecture mode. "A Vein," he started, speaking confidently of the topic. "That’s what happens when a Shade takes a physical form."

It began to sound like a conversation Ash had already had.

"They aren’t humans, at least not anymore. Their Shade crystallized outward and stopped being the remnant of a person and became its own physical entity."

Ash nearly choked on his tea, though it wasn’t from what Dane said.

"Most Shades never get there. There is a reason there are only seven in existence."

Ash turned to Sheila, who already stared at him. Neither she or Ash wanted to be the one to tell Dane he was wrong.

Dane radiated bliss this early morning, turning a few pages from his record and sipping tea that only he could like. "The higher the vein number, the worse off it is for everyone. Rumors placed the Sixth’s claim around this area, though it’s largely been silent compared to the rest of the Veins around the world."

Sheila brought her head to the table, starting on her make-up sleep. Ash remained seated and at least tried to pay attention.

"The worst part about the Veins isn’t the size," Dane continued, reading straight from his notes and not looking at either student’s facial expressions. "It’s that they continuously grow stronger every time they feed. Their power isn’t locked. Whatever they’ve taken in only makes more of themselves."

Ash turned his hands around to see his palms, then back around to see his knuckles.

"How do you kill one?" Ash asked.

"That’s a great question," he said. "You don’t. You warn who is in front of them before it can get there. There are no sane people who would willingly devote themselves to hunting one or even think that one is killable."

The lodge trembled. A slow, even shudder worked through the table legs, setting Dane’s cup against its saucer with a low ring once. Then again several seconds later.

"Excuse me," Ash said, skidding his chair on the ground.

He left through the front door, and went around the back where he saw Vivian punching the open air. Through the seams, it was almost like she was splitting the very fabric of the space in front of her, the air around it hanging frozen before collapsing back into the gaps.

"Vivian," Ash said.

"What? I’m busy," she responded.

"How do you know all that stuff about the Seven Veins? Dane’s in there talking like what you told me in the library is some groundbreaking research, and you told it to me like it was common knowledge."

She punched the air again. Outside, it was even louder and more prominent than inside, where he only heard the feedback.

"Oh that?" Vivian finally stopped punching the air to turn and looked at Ash. "I asked Lucia what the strongest monsters out there for me to fight are. She gave me information on the Veins, and several students of interest as well."

"And those students?"

"Hmm..." She thought aloud. "I forgot. But there was a really smart one she warned me about that even I wouldn’t win against."

"Thanks, that helps me out a lot," Ash answered. "Also—"

Vivian returned to punching the air once she sensed the conversation had ended. Ash went back into the cabin where Dane still lectured to Sheila, who had completely fallen asleep.

"—There are two documented kinds. Stable ones are the crossings that machines and people with strong Shade sense can detect and determine where they will spawn. The others are spontaneous ones. No cause, no warning, an opening where Hollows and Half-Hollows come through."

Dane’s eyes found Ash as he took a seat, then looked at the stairwell as if another student might emerge from below at any moment.

"Finally, a third kind exists that no book covers."

That got Sheila to wake up.

"A Gate that gets opened intentionally." Dane set his cup down and closed his notes, going completely off his own memory. "A person can make a closed Gate re-open, or even from another part of the world and create almost like a warp portal."

"Do you think the spontaneous Gates and Gates that get opened are connected?" Ash asked.

Dane didn’t answer immediately, then opened his notebook and wrote down what seemed to be a full page of notes. "Fascinating," he mumbled under his breath.

"No," Dane finally responded. "At this time the research suggests they are totally unrelated phenomena. The Threshold is still quite young. The world hasn’t fully learned everything about it in such a short time."

"And how would you open a Gate?" Ash looked to see Sheila giving him a death stare. "Not that I want to open one, I’m wondering if—" he stopped himself before saying anything further.

Dane neutralized the conversation by pouring out the tea that had gone cold in Ash and Sheila’s cups, and poured fresh hot tea for each of them.

"Have you ever seen someone turn into a Hollow?" Dane asked them.

Sheila gave a subtle nod. Ash followed suit.

"What I am about to say cannot leave this lodge. I believe that like opening a Gate, some people possess the ability to turn otherwise ordinary people with normal functioning Shades into a Hollow."

"Did you see this happen?" Sheila asked.

"Once," he said plainly. "It was a colleague. One moment, he was my stature, the next—" he finally lowered the hood of his coat, and lifted the hair covering his neck. A large palm-sized imprint scarred his neck where a Hollow had gripped him. Black veins threaded beneath the skin, and several blisters rose above them.

Sheila looked interested in this conversation, but Dane had gone completely quiet. He moved his seat back and collected his notes and equipment, turning to his own room and locking it shut.

"Figures," Sheila said. "Right when he finally tells us information we don’t know."

Ash exhaled loudly. "What he described reminded me of an academy professor’s story. Their research partner went missing before they knew it. What if they had turned into a Hollow while they were away? What if that’s why they never saw him again?"

"You can’t seriously believe someone can turn another person into a Hollow. That’s like something out of a child’s bedtime story to make them behave."

"You sounded interested in it yourself. Why are you—"

The sound of Ash’s phone ringing interrupted their conversation. Sheila crossed her arms and tapped her fingers against her upper arms while the 8-bit ringtone continued.

"Just answer it," she demanded.

He looked at his phone to see Azure’s name and face filling the screen. He had one bar of service, but answered the video call anyway.

From behind her face, the scenery around her began to load in blocks. She was in the kitchen wherever she had gone, the sound of students preparing ingredients and asking if their work was correct. Azure was in the middle of telling someone their knife work could be just a bit better, when Ash finally loaded on her end.

"You’ve gotten thin," she said after looking at Ash for less than a second. "Is the man feeding you, or are you feeding him?"

"The latter. Though he is dead set on giving us tea."

"It’s disgusting," Sheila said after him.

"You should eat what you make. Both of you." She swept some green ingredients off her board and onto a hot pan. The sizzling and crackle of oil filled the call. "Tell me what it’s like out there. And don’t say it’s cold."

"It’s cold," Ash responded. He looked out the window, feeling the snow-white press against him from all sides. Fighting the Boreal felt more like home than a secluded place like this. "There’s nothing really to look at. You kind of hope that a speck of black out there is something interesting. So far it’s just been a couple of Hollows that found their way here."

Her knife chopping stopped. "Have they hurt you?"

Ash knew the question she was really asking but wouldn’t say in front of other people. She hadn’t asked if he was alright. She asked if the Hollows had suffered no harm.

"No, everyone here is perfectly safe."

Azure exhaled, returning to cutting what was placed on her board. "Are you able to sleep well?"

"Yes," Ash lied.

"No you aren’t. Your eyes are incredibly red through this reception. Sheila, is he telling the truth?"

"He is," she began, then finished her sentence, "not."

Azure raised her knife and pointed it at the screen. "You sound like you did the week before midterms. Get some sleep after this."

Ash sat back and smiled. "Thanks for calling. We’ve had a rough time out here so far. I’ll try to sleep better the rest of the time here."

"Do you still have the book Evelyn gave you?"

"Yeah," Ash said. "It got a little damaged though. I tried to keep it safe as best I could."

Azure didn’t look angry. If anything, she seemed happy. "Then you do have something to keep you occupied. Draw what you see. Even in nothing there should be something beautiful out there for you to draw."

"Do you think Evelyn will mind it got damaged?"

Azure didn’t answer the question. She tilted her phone down to the pan of dumplings she was making. "There. That’s yours when you come home. I’ll make extra for Sheila too. Call me when you look less like this," she said. "I’ll be able to tell."