Head inside

"A hundred men can make an encampment, but it requires a woman to make a home."

- Proverb

Striding over, she let herself in through the other door. 'Deeper into the rabbit hole I go' , she thought to herself as she stepped over the threshold and started making her way down the flight of stairs contained inside.

Dim lights on the stairs lit the descent, but she knew the way by heart anyway. This was a journey she had made enough times to have almost walked it with her eyes shut tight. That was something she had actually tried once, there was a nice little scar sitting proudly under her chin to prove just how successful that idea had been. Twenty gruelling flights later, she finally made it to the bottom. Whoever though stairs were more secure than a lift had a lot to answer for.

The last flight of steps opened up in front as she approached, and finally she was back where she had begun.

Mist'holme.

One of mankind's last real sanctuaries.

Back before the world had gone to hell, it used to be a seed vault. Designed by the leaders of the world to serve as a depository for seeds from as many different plant species as they could store, the idea was spun into the public consciousness. How often have the noblest ideas actually worked out? Think this might have been a first.

What didn't make it's way into the publics mind were the labs or the vast city that had been built covertly underneath. See, the same people that built the vault weren't stupid. They knew that if the proverbial shit ever hit the fan, they'd need those seeds to help them survive. But they also realised that those same seeds would be worthless without somewhere safe to use them. So they built this place for just that purpose. It's a shame most of them never made it there in time to reap the fruits of their labour.

Morginn had been born here. Not a metaphor, she was literally born in one of the rooms down in the medical wing, a couple of floors down from where she was standing at that moment. This was where she had grown up. And it felt damn good to be home again.

One of the things she loved about being back down here was the light. So much light. It was so beautiful. She had almost forgotten how much so after being up above for so long.

Up top, you got used to seeing the world in shades of black, grey, blue and white. They dominated the landscape. You almost started to doubt others colours even existed.

In Mist'holme, greens ruled the spectrum. The plants here had been engineered to provide natural light, and they bathed the walls in a warm green glow everywhere as she walked.

Down here, you learned at an early age that the shadows were bad, but it was only as you became older that you learned why that was. As a species, Mankind had taught themselves how to overcome that fear, that natural instinct that made them afraid. But even as adults you couldn't shut it out completely, that little part remained at the back of your brain always whispered that there was something just on the other side of the shadows, something that wanted to reach out and snatch you away into the night. That little part was right.

All the things that you used to think hid under your bed when you slept, the monsters in your closet, the Big Bad Wolf, the Boogie Monster. They were real, and they had starved for so long. Down here belonged to humanity, but the world outside, the world where you could walk and walk without walls stopping you, that world belonged to them now.

Morginn found herself making her way slowly down to the living quarters. There was no need for keys down here, every door had bio locks on them for security, a left over from Mist'holme's origins. Handy when you were drunk, but a real pain in the arse if you'd lost fingers to frostbite though.

The quarters she occupied were at the very edge of the living area, about as close to the outer wall as you could get. It was a trade off between being colder than the rest of the rooms, and hearing less noise from the other occupants fucking at all hours of the day. Privacy was something she valued very highly. Privacy and sleep. The room could be warmed easily enough, and besides, yelling at people to be quite was kind of counterproductive anyway. Not that she did that. No, she was one of those calm redheads. Honest.

Lowering her gaze to the retinal scanner by the door, her eyes watering as the laser swept over them, she placed her hand on the palm pad underneath. The seal on the door flashed green as the lock released and opened, welcoming her inside. Her room, her space, her sanctuary. It was good to be home.

Kicking off her shoes as she entered, not caring where they landed, she flopped onto the bed with a contented sigh. The knowledge she probably should have taken the time to take off her coat too tickled her mind, but instead she just lay there and relished the feeling of having something soft underneath her weary back. It felt like heaven after enduring nights of sleeping on nothing but cold concrete or hard packed earth for months. Morginn would fight tooth and nail to protect Mist'holme if she had to, but she would make her last stand protecting that bed and soft mattress.

For a few moments she just lay there and let herself savour the plushness underneath. Pure bliss. Plans to never move from this spot again started forming in her mind, but they were pushed away for now. Sleep could wait a little longer, and there people that she needed to see. As her eyes began to close, she though to herself that sleep could wait. It could...