Sanctuary

Chapter Twenty Seven - Nami

**This chapter contains scenes of violence  and character death that may be disturbing to some readers.**

Nami needed to get back into Zed's workspace, but she wasn't sure how to do it.

The question echoed through her as she floated on her back in the pool, listening to the dull lap of the water and watching the reflected lights dance on the ceiling above her. Glass orbs set into the walls of the pool glittered blue, full of bioluminescent moss. They gave the place a serene glow.

How was she going to break into a secret computer filled floor that was clearly protected by a fingerprint scanner in a secret area of the elevator panel? She remembered the spot he pressed well enough, but she had no idea how to pull a fingerprint. And even if she did know how to pull one, Zed wore gloves more often than not. She wasn't sure where she would get a fingerprint from. Unless she could pull it from the elevator panel itself. If it hadn't been cleaned yet, at least. She couldn't remember all of the cleaning schedules, as frequent as they were. At any rate, it wouldn't matter if Nami didn't know how to lift a fingerprint in the first place.

Nami paddled over to the edge so she could lean her arms across the glittering mosaic floor. The pool lapped behind her, in an ever-gentle ebb and flow. She had wanted to teach Senna how to swim, but they had never gotten the chance. Nami wasn't sure if they ever would, not because she thought she'd never see her daughter again, but because she was sure she'd leave Zed when she did. She'd take Senna and the two of them would go back to the Rim where they'd be happy—and there were no pools on the Rim.

Nami pushed herself up out of the water, though her thoughts were still swimming. She was still working on toweling the water from her hair as she passed through the door and into the hall. One of the cleaning crew was there in the hall, mopping an area of the floor with a slow disinterest. Nami wrapped the towel around her body and almost passed the employee completely before she realized that something was wrong. The woman's face and hair were covered by the standard uniform, but the bit of skin around her eyes that showed was covered in dirt and scrapes. Nami paused, giving those eyes a closer look.

"You catch on quick," a familiar voice said.

"Wrench!?" Nami hissed.

"Shhhhh..."

"How did you get in here?"

"A little hacking, Senna's fingerprints, a borrowed uniform. Can we maybe not talk about this in the hall? I'm sort of a wanted criminal, long story."

"Senna's fingerprints?"

"Not in the hallway?" Wrench repeated and Nami sighed and gestured for Wrench to follow her.

"We'll use Senna's room."

Nami's eyes scanned over the cameras as they made their way to the elevator. She scanned over all the others in the hallway to Senna's room, wondering if whoever was watching them would think it odd that Nami was walking with what looked to be one of the maids. The 'help' was supposed to be invisible or at least unobtrusive. It wasn't common practice to mingle with them.

"They're on loop," Wrench explained, though Nami wasn't entirely sure what she was explaining.

"What?"

"The cameras. You seemed worried. They're on loop, but that won't fool the security team for long."

"How did you loop all of the cameras? You can't have handled every one of them."

"I handled it at the hub that leads to the security room, not at the cameras. No offense, but I don't think you'd understand any more than that."

"Honestly Wrench I find myself offended."