Day was no different to night deep down in The Ghost Lines, but Soahn always sensed when the city far above fell to a lower, drowsier thrum. Sleep rarely came easily after a long day recording with the others. Their reactions still crowded his thoughts, bits of laughter and frustration mixed in with feelings he couldn’t always separate from his own. Too tired to do anything useful but too awake to sleep, he wandered the tunnels instead, checking old relays and exploring routes he hadn’t seen before.
Tonight was different though, because Kairo was awake too.
And he was nearby.
Usually, when Kairo was around, you could hear him even if you weren’t in the same space. But sometimes — rarely — he disappeared for a while without telling anyone where he was going. Soahn was careful not to follow on those nights; everyone deserved their own quiet. If anyone understood that, it was Soahn.
Tonight, though, he heard music drifting through the tunnels.
It wasn’t Kairo’s usual chaos of clipped samples and half-built loops; this was softer. Piano, Soahn thought, although the old speakers warped it enough to make him uncertain.
Without quite meaning to, he followed it.
Further down the tunnel, pale cyan light showed through the gap beneath a half-open door. The piano was clearer here but distorted, low notes rattling the speaker while quiet clicks and hisses became part of the song. Soahn approached quietly and looked through the gap.
The battered keyboard looked like it had been there longer than most of the relay. It could be older than Rayne. A cracked circuit board jutted out near the pedal, and one speaker stuttered every time a high note rolled.
Kairo sat slouched over the keys, head bowed, his fingers moving slowly but steadily, playing like someone who’d learned properly once and forgotten half the rules since. That almost made it better.
Kairo never talked about his life before E.V.E.N. Soahn suspected he didn’t remember much of it, perhaps not even his real name. It didn’t matter; he didn’t need details. The melody moved slowly, repeatedly returning to the same handful of notes before breaking away again. Sadness wasn’t quite the right word for what Soahn felt from him, but it came close.
Listening hurt more than Soahn expected. For a moment he considered leaving, giving Kairo the privacy he’d intended to give him in the first place.
But he stayed.
He didn’t realise he was holding his breath until the song ended, fading into nothing.
When Kairo lifted his fingers from the scuffed plastic and leaned back, Soahn spotted a sticker above the lowest octave that read PLAY ME BITCH in peeling black letters. It felt out of place in that small room after what he’d just heard.
Head still lowered, Kairo’s shoulders sagged slightly beneath his oversized jacket. Exactly what he’d just unlocked in himself, Soahn wasn’t sure.
But as he quietly left, he knew it would stay with him.