She didn't understand. Perhaps she never would, but Nikolai had to try and make her see, otherwise there would be no hope for her or her friend should they ever have to go on without him. When Nikolai spoke, there was no anger in his voice. He may even have summoned the ghost of a smile, thought it was hard to be certain.
"Look with your eyes, Kusanagi. See these Men as they are, not as what you think we should be. Over half of them were born in The Pit, or reborn in it, so young that they remember nothing else. If these Men wanted the strength of which you speak, they would never have come to me. They would have stayed with the other Masters, with their orders and their treats for the giving to others who do their violence for them. They followed me when I found them, because I was a Dog. I fight. That is what they understand. It is all they want from me."
Nikolai shook his head, as if to shake off the bittersweet, like water clinging to fur.
"Before any could be accepted, they had to fight me and survive. Many did not. Those that did, proved that they could keep pace with their leader, and match his strength, as he fought beside them. We do not wait for the weak. I made that point to them as I struck down those that might have been their brothers. You think they don't remember? You think they will unlearn that lesson if I ask them to wait for me? We have left that place Kusanagi, but it will never leave us.
Tomorrow we go down to the village. Take whatever we can carry, and move on. We stay, and the Wolves and Bears will fight us for this shelter, or Surface Men will catch up to us and send us back. We keep moving until we fall. That is what we do. That is all we can ever do."
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In the last hundred feet or so of descent, the sides of the elevator shaft ended, leaving only the corner pillars and the central pulley for the open car to travel down. The cavern was enormous, with walkways running along its walls, and crossing from one to another, over 20 stories high. At ordered intervals, powerful spotlights were mounted on these catwalks, throwing glistening smears of light onto the bare rock, supported by the distant twinkles of all the head-lights worn by the Inmates assigned to mine here, and the Wardens assigned to watch them. As they passed, the party could see Inmates with pickaxes, sledgehammers, and even some with satchels of explosives (those few being under Warden escort) emerging from and disappearing into the hundreds of tunnels that shot off from the central chamber. When RACDI-Alpha was first established. This massive cavern (though back them it would have been smaller) had been teeming with seams of precious minerals. Now, it was a spent husk, completely mined out. It still had its uses as a convenient terminus though, providing a point of access between the Mid-Levels, and new, still rich caverns.
Right at the very bottom, Montoya, his men, and the Executives exited. A squad that was passing by snapped off a crisp salute, which Montoya promptly returned, giving them leave to move on.
"We're almost at the end of the line Doctor." He announced, his voice echoing in the space. "Follow me please."
