“There are many possible explanations,” the earth elemental offered. “An accident with one of the research projects being developed here. An undetected security breach. Perhaps an insurrection among the staff during the attack—”
Julia sighed, interrupting the elemental. “We get it. You don’t have to list every possible option. Speaking of which, why exactly did this talking pile of rocks come inside with us?” she asked, glancing irritably at the elemental – who appeared completely unaffected by her response.
“I’ve been wondering that as well,” Daniel muttered.
“I’m required to accompany all visitors inside the complex, including new hires for a supervisor position,” the elemental reported happily and waving at Kyyle. “Once you have gone through processing and been issued your own supervisor credentials, you will no longer require my assistance and will be free to roam the facility at will.”
Finn just stared at the elemental for a moment in confusion. Ah, it still thinks Kyyle is the new supervisor, he realized.
He’d almost forgotten that they’d lied to the elemental. However, that might come in handy. Perhaps they could go through “processing” somewhere in this section of the facility. They were going to need those supervisor credentials eventually if they were going to access the facility’s central workshop. They’d just need to remember to be careful what they said in front of the attendant.
He shared a look with Julia, and he could see the same thought reflected on her face. “He could be useful since we aren’t familiar with this place,” Finn offered. “Besides, he did help us get inside.”
“Only with the assistance of Kyyle,” the elemental rumbled helpfully.
Finn’s brow furrowed. “You know his name?”
“You have used that moniker repeatedly to refer to the earth mage,” the elemental replied. Finn squinted at the elemental. It seemed it was a bit more observant than he let on. Finn had already witnessed how quickly Daniel had evolved inside the game world. Perhaps the earth elemental was going through the same process?
Yep, we definitely need to watch what we say.
“Huh, looks like you have a new friend,” Julia offered with a grin, nudging Kyyle where he sat beside her.
The earth mage just patted the elemental’s rocky arm. “I could do worse, I suspect. We probably wouldn’t have made it inside without him,” he offered, gesturing at the glowing orange doorway behind them.
This earned him reluctant grunts from Julia and Finn. The earth elemental had helped, but it felt like they had still done most of the heavy lifting. The ache in their limbs and their still-smoldering armor was evidence of that.
The earth mage’s attention shifted to the elemental. “I suppose we ought to give you a real name. I don’t want to keep referring to you as the elemental or the attendant…” He trailed off, rubbing at his chin. “How about Rocky?”
“Kind of on the nose, don’t you think?” Finn said.
“Hmm, then how about Brock?”
“Really?” Julia demanded with a raised eyebrow.
“What? You don’t get the reference?” Kyyle grinned.
“I like it,” the elemental interjected with a rumble.
“Brock it is then!” the earth mage said, his smile widening as he heard Julia let out an exasperated sigh.
“Great, now we have two fledgling elementals following us around.” She eyed Brock suspiciously. “Let’s just hope this one doesn’t start scanning me and critiquing the shape of my nose or the width of my ankles.”
“As I mentioned before, that was for science,” Daniel grumbled from nearby, his floating orange form flickering erratically in the darkened hallway.
“So will seeing whether I can punch a fire elemental,” Julia shot back.
The AI pulsed once and then shifted closer to Finn, staying just above his shoulder.
“On a more serious note, did you manage to scan the map of the complex before we left the reception area, Daniel?” Finn asked, pivoting to glance at the AI.
“Of course.” There was an edge to Daniel’s voice.
The outline of the facility was soon projected into the air, the group now sitting in a long hallway directly adjacent to the reception area.
“Alright, plot the fastest course to the fire pylon,” Finn instructed.
A glowing yellow line soon traced a path to the disabled pylon. It looked like they would have to traverse several adjoining hallways and rooms – assuming this interior section hadn’t been damaged by whatever had attacked this place. Or whatever had caused the staff to take the power offline…
Although, given how difficult it had been to make it inside this section and the undisturbed dust that lay along the floor, Finn’s guess was that no one had accessed this place in a long, long time. If they were lucky, whatever had destroyed the main conduits and taken the pylon offline was no longer an issue.
He pushed himself upright, weaving unsteadily and leaning against the wall. His eyes shifted to the darkened hallway.
“Alright, let’s get moving.” He glanced at the clock in the corner of his vision. “We still need to bring the pylon back online and find some of these supervisor credentials so that we can access that central chamber. Then we can get the hell out of this place. Hopefully, before Silver and her pack decide to permanently barricade us in here.”
Kyyle and Julia spared a glance at each other before Kyyle looked back at the glowing – now sealed – door behind them.
“Assuming we can figure out how to get back to the reception area. Because that trick definitely isn’t going to work twice,” Julia replied quietly, worry tinging her voice. Kyyle and Finn stayed silent.
There wasn’t really anything to say.
They were all in now.
Chapter 14 - Cannibalized
The group moved forward quietly. The flickering light from Daniel’s glowing form and the lone, flaming metal sphere suspended beside Finn cast long shadows along the abandoned hall. With his Mana Sight active, he could see that a single wide hallway stretched away from the blast door they had used to enter the section in a straight line that continued for more than a hundred feet, unbroken by adjoining halls or rooms.
They hadn’t made it far, but already Finn had an uneasy feeling. However, it wasn’t the creepy shadows or ominous silence that had a frown tugging at Finn’s lips and his brow pinched tight – or that caused a worried knot to writhe and twist in his stomach.
“What the hell happened in here?” Kyyle whispered, coming to a stop. His fingers traced long grooves that had been scored into the walls. It looked like someone – or something – had been scratching at the stone, creating dozens of shallow craters in the rock. Yet they didn’t look like they had been formed by human hands. They looked more primal… more desperate – frantic scratches carved along the inside of a magical coffin.
Almost like something had been trying to burrow out of these halls…
Finn shook his head. That couldn’t be it, could it? More likely, whoever had attacked this place had managed to make it deeper into the complex somehow. Or maybe another group of explorers unaffiliated with the guilds? Silver seemed to indicate that others had tried to search the Forge. There were also signs of scorch marks from the mechs’ weapons and the occasional crater lining the floor or walls.
“These burns look like they were caused by the security mechs,” Finn said, gesturing at the dark lines along the walls and floor. “Maybe there was a battle here? Maybe someone made it inside the fire section somehow – the original attackers or explorers?” he offered, although that explanation didn’t feel quite right.
He spared a glance at Brock, where he floated nearby. The earth elemental seemed unaffected by the many piles of inert rocks they had passed – evidence that other attendants had been disabled. “I thought you said this section hadn’t been breached?”
“According to the logs available before the fire section went dark and the reception area lost power, that was the cas
e,” the earth elemental replied, unperturbed by the judgment in Finn’s tone. “The records showed that the blast door hadn’t been opened.” A brief pause. “This section would have contained at least a hundred staff members and their living quarters. Perhaps they’re responsible for the damage?”
“Except we haven’t seen any human remains,” Julia added. “That punches a hole in the ‘battle’ theory. With damage this extensive, at least a few people would likely have died.”
“Or some of the staff survived the fight and moved their dead?” Kyyle suggested, glancing back at Julia. She gave a reluctant grunt of acknowledgment, clutching her lance a little tighter as she eyed the shadowy hallway ahead of them.
“Well, it’s clear that something took the fire pylon offline. Given the security measures in this facility and the way the main conduits have been disabled, it seems safe to assume it was intentional,” Finn said, earning him nods from his companions.
“Fantastic,” Kyyle murmured. “So, our working theory is that someone or something magically made it inside this section while the power was out in the reception area—”
“Your deduction seems improbable,” Brock interjected, the boulders that comprised his body crunching together in disapproval. “To disable power to this section, the staff would have needed to both shut down the fire pylon and cut the main conduits to the other sections within the span of a few minutes. As we have discussed, the walls of the facility are mana conductive, and the facility was designed to prioritize restoring power if a section went offline. Any delay would have allowed the facility to repair the damage quite quickly.”
“So, you’re suggesting what exactly? That the staff did this themselves?” Kyyle asked hesitantly.
“Indeed. It is improbable that an attacker would have sufficient knowledge of the facility to take out the power themselves. And, as I said before, the logs do not indicate that the blast door behind us had been opened before the power went offline. Based on these factors, the most probable explanation is that the staff disabled the power themselves.”
Finn could feel that knot in his stomach twist as Brock spoke. He slowed and turned to the earth elemental, a frown tugging at his lips. If Brock was right, then the staff must have had a pretty damn good reason to take out the power – especially since that would have effectively locked them inside the fire mana section. He could feel that knot of worry twist and jerk in the pit of his stomach.
“That would have been incredibly helpful to know back in reception,” Finn said, staring firmly at the earth elemental. “You know… before we trapped ourselves in here.”
“You didn’t ask,” Brock rumbled in reply, no emotion coloring his response.
“He never does,” Daniel interjected. “But he’ll still keep blaming the elementals… I’m starting to think he might be a magical bigot.”
“Uh-huh. Go on. Keep it up with the smart-ass remarks,” Finn retorted, glaring at Daniel. “We can always replace you with this pile of rubble. He at least has working arms and some useful knowledge of this place.” Daniel’s glowing form immediately dimmed.
“Okay, so the staff probably cut the power to this section intentionally. But why? Why take this section offline?” Julia asked, echoing Finn’s own realization. She shook her head as she stared at the indentations along the wall. “It just doesn’t make any sense—”
She abruptly stopped speaking as a harsh grinding sound came from up ahead, breaking the eerie silence that lingered in the abandoned hall. With a few quick gestures from Finn, the group moved into formation, Julia taking point, Finn in the middle, and Kyyle pulling up the rear. Finn quickly canceled his Imbue Fire and snatched his orb from the air. Days spent down in the Abyss had their instincts and coordination honed sharp, and the movements were almost automatic. They froze in place, stilling their breathing and listening for any sign of activity up ahead.
Finn scanned the hall with his Mana Sight. However, he only picked up the ambient green energy of the walls and floor. Since his enhanced sight wasn’t limited by the available light in the hallway, he could see that there was an opening up ahead – the first that they had encountered since entering the fire section. The interference from the crystal-laced walls made it difficult for him to see inside, but he got a vague impression of a small room.
“Room ahead. Righthand side. No visibility,” he said in a hushed voice, keeping his words brief.
His daughter nodded and raised her shield, keeping her lance retracted and gripped firmly in her right hand. She stepped forward with cautious steps, staying on the balls of her feet to reduce the clank of her metal armor against the stone floor. Even so, it felt like she was shouting out a warning with each step. Finn and Kyyle kept just a few feet behind her, ready to back her up if they encountered any trouble.
Finn’s mind was racing. If they were forced to fight, there wouldn’t be anywhere to retreat. There was only this section of hallway, which dead-ended into the sealed blast door they had used to enter the section. And pressing forward was risky. They didn’t know what they might find in this place.
Which meant, if it came to a conflict, they needed to end it quickly.
As they neared the opening, Julia took up a position directly adjacent to the door while Finn and Kyyle stayed farther back along the wall. Finn could see that the door to the chamber was partially opened and unpowered, no telltale glow of mana coursing through the walls of this section. It was designed similarly to the blast door, sliding horizontally into the adjacent wall, but this door was neither as wide nor as thick. His enhanced vision also picked out smaller versions of the deadbolts used on the blast door: the green columns embedded in the stone and corresponding holes lingering along the doorframe.
It seems they designed each room to be sealed off in the case of an emergency.
Except for this one – it definitely wasn’t sealed shut.
Finn kept a metal orb clutched firmly in his hand as he crept forward, attempting to get an unobstructed view – avoiding the interference from the facility’s walls. As he edged around the corner of the doorway, he spotted rather mundane-looking furniture comprised of stone, the objects welded directly into the wall of the facility. Decayed, wooden remains of what might have once been a chair littered the floor. Maybe some sort of security post at the entrance to this section?
Screech.
The noise came from a haphazard pile of dark-green mana in the center of the chamber. The jumble of metal reminded Finn of the security mech, but this one looked more damaged – deformed even. A single metallic limb jutted from that pile and clawed at the stone floor in a rhythmic motion.
Screech.
More marks were scratched in the surface nearby, creating a rough pit in the ground. The mech had to have been at this for some time to have caused so much damage. Maybe it was broken? The energy was fuzzy in Finn’s sight, but he detected a faint glow of orange and red embedded in the green surface – a trace of energy lingering in its mana cores.
He cocked his head. How did it still have power? Shouldn’t that energy have decayed over time? Or maybe it had repurposed the attendants like they had witnessed back in the reception area?
Finn peered closer and saw that a multi-colored hue ran along one of the creature’s limbs – a glowing spot of rainbow energy that looked eerily familiar.
It almost looked like—
He didn’t get to finish that thought.
All at once, a flash of white energy jutted from the damaged mech, fanning out in a beam so quickly that Finn wasn’t able to move out of the way in time. As that energy crossed Finn’s body, the mech jerked, as though it sensed the intruders in the hall. It lifted its gangly metallic head toward the doorway, the movement lurching and uncoordinated. Mana flared along its body, the mana cores in its chest glowing brightly, and the strange multi-colored energy along its limb swirled as a reddish hue overtook the other colors.
The creature unfolded itself, the pile shifting and snapping with the scree
ch of metal grinding against metal. Within only seconds, the mech had shambled to its feet, lurching toward the door with awkward steps. But Julia was waiting. She slammed the thing with her shield, sending it hurtling into the far wall of the small chamber. It smashed against the rock with a crunch and a shower of sparks and then lay unmoving on the floor.
Giving up on discretion, Finn motioned at Daniel to venture inside, his flaming body soon lighting the enclosure and revealing the thing that lay against the far wall.
“What the actual fuck,” Julia muttered.
Finn could sympathize with that statement, his mouth hanging open as he inspected the creature with Short-Sighted. It was roughly humanoid, with four limbs and a makeshift head. It looked like the security mech they had encountered in the reception area… except this one was malformed. Where the security mech had been built with clean lines and uniform materials, this one’s limbs were twisted at strange angles, and its body seemed to have been stitched together with a haphazard assortment of parts.
A sickening sensation settled in Finn’s stomach as his gaze swept to the mech’s arm.
Patches of pale flesh were visible between the metallic plates and wiring, ruined skin embedded with crystalline wires and circuits. More skin was visible throughout its torso and legs, but those were only small fragments. Switching back to his Mana Sight, Finn suddenly understood why that point of multi-colored light had looked so disturbingly familiar.
That was a Najima in the mech’s arm…
Oh shit, Finn thought to himself.
It was human. Or, at least, it might have once been human.
Now it was a terrible amalgamation of flesh and metal.
As he watched, the creature twitched. Then it jerked again. That twisted arm clawed at the nearby stone wall, sending off a shower of sparks as the creature used the leverage to yank itself back upright. The twisted combination of metal, flesh, and crystal began stitching itself back together with a flash of mana. It soon turned its metallic head toward the group once more, eyeing them with an almost palpable hunger.
Awaken Online: Inferno (Tarot #3) Page 15