"Machines of the Occultus" Excerpt. THE GRAFT OF SHADOWS (Adrian Glass 2019)

“Hey Steve, I'm down here in the basement area, can't seem to find the cabling for the optic fiber networks...”  A man says, holding, with his right hand, the microphone near the collar which is attached to his upper jacket. Dressed in work site attire, with a white safety hat and yellow vest.  He peers around one of the concrete encased walkways which leads into the main basement area of the Comlimk building, walking further down a main service area. He looks up at the horizontal pipes and cables that extend along the upper right corner of the ceiling which lead to the far end of the passageway.

 “What section are you in?”  A voice replies.  The man pauses, lifting out of his pocket a folded copy of the schematics of the sub basement areas. He leans against the right side wall of the narrow sarcophagus style walkway, pinning the map with his left hand against the algid concrete wall. Whilst looking at the structural plans of the lower levels, he tilts his head towards the attached micro phone. 

“I think...Three B, I came down from the service elevator there was only one open doorway.” 

“I am on the first level, you've gone down an extra level.”  The man looks around the narrow passageway. 

 “I don't think so, I'm sure I hit level two for the sub basement.” 

“What is at the end of the passageway?”  The other man asks, as the technician folds the map and continues walking towards what looks like a door at the far end. 

 “Another service door?” 

“Alright, I have checked the far side levels. It's all good, I'll come across to where you're located.  Level Three B could be at the end of the corridor on that level. I'll be with you in a moment.” 

“Ok” The technician says as he places his hand against the other wall of the narrow service passageway noting how cold it is to touch. “Jackson!” A man calls out as he descends down a set of steps to the unknown walkway beneath the brutalist monolith building which resides in the middle of Manhattan. 

 “Down here!” Jackson Teller yells back as he glances at the other technician, Teller's senior, Cameron Wright. Who begins to walk towards him, eying, as his colleague had down earlier, at the cabling along the right hand corner of the compressed ceiling space. 

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"Machines of the Occultus" Excerpt. THE GRAFT OF SHADOWS (Adrian Glass 2019)