He unlocked her ankles, and she drew her legs in close, suddenly chilly in the damp air, her clothes wet and her body soaked to the bone. She took a moment to feel for her equipment—all gone—and looked around to see that she was in a house, just like any other wealthy pre-Break home; the damp, squishy surface that had disgusted her so much was just a carpet, completely saturated with water, and indeed the entire building seemed suffused with extra moisture—the corners were shaggy with moss, the walls were ringed with mold stains, and even the ceiling seemed to sag and drip.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“Come take a look.” He crawled across the floor to a set of squishy stairs and led her up to a second and then a third floor. It was drier up here, though it still showed signs of water damage. The room at the top of the stairs had windows on three sides, all covered with blankets, and a hallway on the fourth led to more rooms. There was a low wall around the open stairwell, and Kira glanced over to see a long drop down to the second floor. The wooden furniture had all been broken down, stacked like firewood in the corner, and it seemed like every mattress in the house had been shoved against the walls. Kira guessed it was for insulation; it was colder here than she’d expected.
“I live up here,” said the Partial. “So did the others, before they were taken. You can peek out the windows, but be careful—move the cloth too much and they’ll see it. With a newbie in here, they’re bound to have someone watching.”
Kira walked slowly to the nearest window, putting a hand on the stiff blanket and pulling it just slightly to the side, barely wide enough to peer through the gap. There were trees outside, just below the level of the windows, and beyond that the dark black water of the lake. Tiny wavelets reflected the starlight. She couldn’t see the ground, and guessed that the lake came almost to the base of the house. The view from the other windows was the same, and when he led her to another room to look out the last side, she realized they were on an island—no roads, no bridge, just water. The front side of the house looked across to another island, maybe two hundred feet away, and the back window showed another at least three times the distance. The water between was dark and ominous, and Kira remembered the pale, gilled man bursting up from the deep. She shivered and sank to the floor.
“That’s why they don’t tie us up,” said the Partial. “No one is dumb enough to cross that water.”
“Have people tried?”
“And died.” His voice was barely a whisper in the darkness. “We figure this was some rich human’s vacation house, a mansion on a tiny little island. There’s a dock outside and everything, but of course the boat’s gone.”
“I suppose we’re lucky,” said Kira. “This island is the best prison around, whether or not there’s a house on it.” She shrugged. “At least this way we get a roof.”
“I guess so.”
She crawled to the side window and peered out again, seeing the faint white glimmer of a dock on the far shore. She couldn’t tell if it was the same one she’d been pulled from. She sat back down and looked at the Partial, a man-shaped outline in the darkness. “What’s your name?”
“Green.”
Kira nodded toward the wall and the dark black lake beyond it. “Let’s start with the obvious question: what the fat holy hell?”
Green laughed dryly. “The things that captured you are Partials, but some model we’ve never seen before.”
Kira frowned. She’d run into gilled Partials before, and Heron hadn’t known what they were either, assuming they were Morgan’s “special operatives.” “They’re not on Morgan’s side?”
Green shook his head. “I’ve been with Morgan practically since the Break, and I’ve never seen anything like them. She’s done some interesting gene mods on select Partials, heightened senses and things like that, but never gills.”
Kira remembered the short entry about the Ivies in Morgan’s files, now more sure than ever that she had no clue what they really were. “They actually live in the lake?”
“They have some kind of modified temperature regulation system in their bodies, so they can stand the cold. I think they prefer it.”
Kira frowned, trying to parse the information. “Some kind of amphibious soldier, then? The Isolation War kicked off with two different ship-to-shore assaults; maybe this was a special model, designed specifically for those battles.”
Green cocked his head to the side. “You’re not nearly as overwhelmed by this as I expected.”
“I’ve been around.”
“Apparently,” said Green. “I didn’t think humans ever left Long Island; you’re pretty far from home.”
Kira smiled. “This is nothing. What would you say if I told you this isn’t even the first time I’ve seen gilled Partials?”
“I’d ask where you saw them.”
“Chicago.”
Green whistled softly. “Now I know you’re either lying or—” He stopped abruptly. “What did you say your name was?”
“I didn’t,” said Kira. “And I don’t know if I should. Are you still with Morgan?”
“Not since I went AWOL.”
