Awaken Online: Inferno (Tarot #3)

by Travis Bagwell

  Air. Earth. Light. Finn ticked off the affinities among the smaller cores in the creature’s chest.

  Tendrils of yellow mana surged through the creature’s body as it activated its pneumatic systems. Although the fire mana swamped the rest of the energy cycling through its body, glowing so brightly that it almost hurt to stare at the primary fire core directly.

  Before it was taken offline, had this thing drained part of the pylon? That energy was far, far greater than the other corrupted, and Finn could feel a sudden worm of doubt coil through his mind, pushing back at the fiery mana that still surged through his limbs.

  The creature seemed to unfold itself, its body contorting and shifting, and a glowing outline formed before him. Six pseudo-mechanical limbs rotated and stretched from a barrel-like torso. Points of multi-colored light lingered in each of those limbs, indicating that this thing had incorporated several Najima into its body.

  That confirmed Julia’s guess. Before sealing it off, some of the facility’s staff must have managed to make it inside this chamber. The mana cores drifted into the creature’s chest, protected behind a thick metal casing. And atop that torso sat a familiar dome-like head containing a small light-mana core, a fan of white spearing from the dome at regular intervals as it scanned the room.

  Finn’s brow furrowed in confusion as he saw that no legs jutted from the mech’s lower half. Instead, the monstrosity seemed to be mounted in place near the back of the room, its body resting on top of some sort of table or workbench.

  Possibly immobile? That might make this a little easier.

  With a thought, Finn inspected it quickly.

  The Supervisor – Level 180

  Health – Unknown

  Mana – Unknown

  Equipment – Unknown

  Resistances – Unknown

  Skull symbols were displayed beside its name, warning that this thing – this Supervisor – was a named boss monster. They had only encountered that once before. With Sulphera. And that fight had been just a little tough…

  “Named boss mob!” Finn shouted, feeling a flare of anxiety coil in his stomach, despite the numbing burn of his mana. He quickly backed away as another fan of light speared from the Supervisor and filtered out of the gap in the blast door. “It’s mounted in place toward the back of the room. Kyyle, keep its attention on your doppelgangers.”

  The earth mage nodded, and his statues darted forward, the pair breaking apart and running along either side of the pylon chamber as they charged the Supervisor. Finn edged forward again to get eyes on the chamber. That last fan of white energy had passed through the statues, and the creature turned its attention toward these new targets, picking up on the earth mana. Finn expected it to form the same barrels as the normal security mechs or lash out with its limbs.

  Instead, he saw fire mana surge through that massive core hovering in the center of the Supervisor’s chest, the pulse so bright that Finn was forced to avert his gaze. Mana coursed through two of its mechanical arms, and they plunged forward, striking the platform it was resting upon. Crystalline threads stretched from those limbs and plunged into the surface of the counter. Fire mana flowed along those living circuits, through the table, and into the floor of the chamber, where the glowing orange energy soon scattered throughout the room. It coursed through the enhanced stone, riding along on the conduits of neurogems embedded in the facility’s walls and floor. It lit the walls of the pylon chamber, and the room was suddenly cast in an ominous orange glow in Finn’s sight.

  What the hell is this? The energy pattern was similar to what Finn had witnessed in the reception area after they brought the backup mana core online.

  And that fire mana seemed to be pooling near two emerald spheres along the ceiling…

  Then the realization struck him.

  It’s using the facility’s security systems.

  The Supervisor wasn’t just mounted on top of a table – it had integrated itself into a terminal like the one in the reception area. In a rush, Finn could see what had happened here nearly a century ago. The staff must have seen the way this thing had begun to incorporate itself into the pylon terminal and begun to drain its mana – drinking straight from the source. They would have immediately realized what this meant for the facility.

  This thing wouldn’t stop. It would keep spreading. Keep following its protocols blindly to preserve itself and defend the facility.

  So, they had sacrificed themselves to stop it…

  The metallic spheres along the ceiling rotated in place, barrels shifting out of their surface with a clank and shriek of metal. A dense cluster of fire mana formed along the tip of each barrel before rocketing forward. A pair of massive beams struck the two statues simultaneously, blasting apart the stone in a shower of fragments. Meanwhile, Finn could see that Daniel was using the distraction to whip around the Supervisor, a thin fan of orange energy sweeping the creature’s body before he made a beeline out of the room.

  “It’s accessing and temporarily powering the facility’s systems! It brought two turrets along the ceiling online,” Finn shouted. “Kyyle, recast your doppelgangers and keep the cannons focused on them.” He saw his daughter inching toward the entrance, flames licking along the length of her armor. “Julia, keep the hell back behind the blast door until I drop my channel!”

  Even as he shouted at his daughter, Finn saw another fan of white light sweep the room, clipping Julia’s shoulder as she stood briefly in the gap. The turrets pivoted and fired again, ignoring Daniel and homing in on the dense cluster of fire mana that coated Julia’s armor. She leaped to the side, and the molten energy scored the walls and floor, leaving dark lines in their wake and melting deep furrows into the surface of the door. Julia promptly dropped the battering ram and yanked her shield and lance free.

  Finn canceled his Imbue Fire abruptly, the flames around his daughter’s armor sputtering out. Then he pulled a sphere from his bag quickly, hurling the metal orb toward the pylon chamber. He needed to take out those turrets and buy Kyyle some time to get another doppelganger online. As soon the sphere left Finn’s palm, he was casting Imbue Fire again. He swiftly ratcheted up the heat, his eyes on the two turrets on the ceiling.

  It might be able to repair the turrets like the security mechs, Finn realized. They almost certainly used the same neurogem material present in the walls and mechs. Which meant it wouldn’t be enough just to damage them. He needed to completely incapacitate the turrets and disrupt their interior circuitry to break the connection to the Supervisor.

  And he only knew of one way to accomplish that…

  Finn ratcheted up the heat on his orb until he hit heat rank level 4. He would only need to maintain that channel for an instant. Another fan of white mana swept the chamber, and the turrets swiveled toward the orb as it entered the room, twin beams of fire spearing through the air. Finn’s fingers twitched, and his orb narrowly dodged the blasts, the beams carving furrows along the interior walls. At the same time, he narrowed his molten metal into a thin lance.

  Then it struck home.

  The lance pierced cleanly through the metal casing of one of the turrets. Yet he didn’t stop there. Finn’s fingers twitched again, and the metal exploded outward in all directions, expanding inside the turret’s protective shell. He seared through the neurogem material and destroyed the interior circuits, fusing the dense metal with the crystal. The turret froze, locked in place by the metal. Finn could see that the mana channeled by the Supervisor was unable to find a connection within the metal casing.

  He was already throwing another orb and recasting Imbue Fire even as he watched the first turret. It didn’t come back online. At least, not immediately. However, Finn could see the Supervisor’s mana pooling at the edge of the green energy that marked the border of the turret. It was beginning to heat up and melt the obstructing material. But that would take time and energy. Maybe they could wear this thing down slowly, baiting it into attacking and incapacitating its defenses one-
by-one – forcing it to rebuild its turrets.

  “Give me five more seconds, and I’ll take out the second turret,” Finn shouted. “Then you can enter, Julia. Just draw its fire, and don’t expose yourself. Remember, the goal here is attrition. We just need to get this thing to burn energy.”

  During all of this, Kyyle had formed another doppelganger. The statue charged into the room, drawing the attention of the other turret as another fan of white energy swept the chamber. Finn’s superheated orb soon followed. As the turret blasted apart Kyyle’s statue in a shower of dust and rock, Finn used the opening to strike, melting through the turret’s casing before destroying its interior circuitry.

  “Okay, the defenses are offline!” Finn shouted. He could see Julia preparing to charge into the room, her shield raised, and her lance extended.

  Just before she entered the room, Finn saw a surge of white mana collecting along the Supervisor’s dome-like head. “Wait! It’s charging something—” Finn began.

  Before he could finish speaking, the ivory energy surged down one of the Supervisor’s limbs, and the arm smashed into the ground. A massive pulse of light mana rocketed out from the impact, rippling through the crystalline wiring in the walls and floor and speeding outward in an expanding ring. The energy soon passed through the room that Finn and his teammates occupied, yet it kept going. It pushed outward in an ever-growing circle as it rippled through the facility.

  Finn followed that trail of energy with his Mana Sight. Although, the energy soon became obscured behind multiple layers of the crystal-laced walls, growing fuzzy and indistinct. His brow was furrowed in confusion. What the hell was that?

  It’s bypassing the interference in the walls, Finn realized suddenly. The fan of light must be a localized scan like the mechs. But perhaps it can ping other rooms if it directs the light mana along the neurogem material in the walls.

  He hesitated for a second at that thought.

  Which means it’s looking for something outside the pylon chamber. But what?

  The Supervisor didn’t give Finn long to ponder on that mystery. A surge of fire mana rippled through its body, collecting along another limb, which it promptly plunged into an adjacent wall. The fiery energy flowed through the neurogem wiring in a brilliant river, and Finn tensed, expecting the Supervisor to access more of the pylon chamber’s defenses.

  However, this surge of fire mana didn’t stay contained within the chamber. It flowed into the adjoining room where Finn and his teammates were positioned, the walls suddenly glowing a mottled orange and red.

  And then he saw two more familiar metal spheres along the ceiling begin to come online…

  “It’s activating turrets in here!” Finn shouted, pointing at the metal spheres. Julia immediately pivoted on her heel and began pushing back toward Kyyle and Finn, likely hoping to cover them with her shield. For his part, the earth mage immediately started forming another doppelganger to draw fire from the turrets.

  Daniel made it back to Finn then, hovering beside his shoulder. “My scan is complete, sir,” he reported.

  “Not now,” Finn barked, his attention still on the pulse of fire mana.

  The energy hadn’t stopped with the room outside the pylon chamber. The fiery mana continued to stretch outward through the section. This wasn’t an expanding ring like the light mana. It was purposeful and linear, winding a specific path through the walls and becoming dimmer with each passing second. Finn kept an eye on that energy even as he yanked another metal orb from his pack and started casting Imbue Fire again.

  “Where the hell is that mana going?” Finn murmured.

  Daniel’s form blinked once, and a map of the section appeared beside him, tracing the path of the fire mana and then extrapolating its destination based on its current trajectory. “It looks like it’s headed due west… toward the rooms where we trapped the corrupted,” Daniel reported, a sudden tension filling his voice.

  “Shit. I think you’re right,” Finn replied, staring wide-eyed at the map.

  He could suddenly feel a heavy weight settling in his stomach. He saw a flare of mana coming from that part of the section, the collection of energy so powerful that he could make out the dull glow even behind layers upon layers of crystal-laced stone. That was the sort of energy that could have been formed by a massive horde of corrupted that were just beginning to wake up.

  And that growing sense of dread was accompanied by another realization.

  If it can control the turrets, then it can probably open the doors…

  Time seemed to slow as Finn saw the two turrets above them come online.

  As his daughter barreled toward him – a dark metal juggernaut…

  As a statue of earth pulled itself from the floor…

  As the surge of mana grew in the distance…

  As Finn felt a rumble shake the floor of the facility and wailing, discordant screams echo in the distance…

  As the Supervisor sat upon its terminal, its limbs infused with mana and the fire mana core in its chest glowing like a miniature sun…

  “Oh, fuck…” Finn muttered.

  Chapter 21 - Trapped

  Finn was struggling to process what had just happened.

  The Supervisor had set the corrupted free. Even worse than that, Finn could still see a glowing line of fire mana arcing through the walls toward the east. Under normal circumstances, the mech-human hybrids might have had difficulty detecting the group with the interference from the facility’s crystal-laced walls. Except the Supervisor had left a trail of magical breadcrumbs leading them straight to this room.

  They only had a few minutes, maybe less.

  And that likely wasn’t a coincidence.

  This move spoke of cunning intelligence.

  Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

  Finn was suddenly sent hurtling backward, a ray of molten energy rocketing through the gap he had just occupied as though in slow motion. The heat surrounding the beam caused the air to ripple and twist. He barely managed to catch his balance, falling into a crouch and his bladed arm dragging along the ground and sending up a shower of sparks as he tried to steady himself. Julia stood above him, her shield raised and facing the two turrets that had just come online.

  “Focus!” his daughter shouted over her shoulder. “We need a plan. Now!”

  She was right. With a twitch of his fingers, Finn sent a freshly enchanted metal sphere rocketing toward the turret. Although, this time, he didn’t have the luxury of finesse. He just needed to buy them some time. He quickly smashed the turret apart, the metal exploding outward from the force of the blow, but the sphere didn’t stop. He kept it moving forward, racing it toward the second turret.

  A fan of white light swept from the remaining turret, and it promptly rotated toward Finn’s orb.

  It’s choosing the targets with the most mana… Or maybe prioritizing fire mana? Finn wondered.

  His fingers twitched, and the metallic orb jerked to the side, attempting to avoid the incoming beam. But the turret seemed to anticipate the move, firing again. The beam landed dead center this time, melting down the sphere and sending the slag hurtling off course and into the nearby wall. It struck with a resounding boom that vibrated the floor and sent a shower of dust raining from the walls and ceiling, forming a miniature crater in the mixture of stone and crystal.

  Finn’s eyes shifted to the Supervisor in the adjoining room.

  It was getting faster. Smarter. Anticipating their attacks now. The longer they kept fighting, the harder this was going to become…

  Assuming they lived through the incoming horde of corrupted, of course.

  Even now, Finn could see a cloud of multi-colored mana approaching, the energy fuzzy and indistinct. He was already trying to work through the math, calculating the time since Kyyle’s test of his doppelgangers. Roughly 30 minutes. The corrupted shouldn’t be fully recharged. But they likely had enough juice to make it here and take out their small group. His eyes shifted to the glowing wall
s around them, the Supervisor’s mana coursing through the surface. And that assumed the Supervisor couldn’t use its own energy to help replenish the corrupted.

  “We have company incoming!” Finn shouted back at Julia.

  He saw his daughter’s helm pivot to glance at him over her shoulder. He couldn’t see her expression with his Mana Sight active, but he could imagine the look of surprise and fear that likely swept across her face. “What’s our move then?” she demanded, a sharp edge to her voice.

  Finn just shook his head. His thoughts were racing. He could see that Kyyle’s doppelgangers had come back online, and the earth mage had sent the statues barreling directly toward the Supervisor. He was likely hoping to distract it. Not a terrible plan.

  Brock still stood near the blast door, his bulky form merely hovering in place, and his glowing green eyes watched the battle vacantly. He hadn’t been given an order after he had pulled the blast door open. Even now, the gap was only a couple of feet wide.

  Which left Finn staring at the pylon chamber.

  And the glowing six-armed monstrosity that lingered inside.

  He knew what they had to do.

  “We need to get inside the pylon room!” Finn shouted at Julia, trying to be heard over the mechanical wailing that now echoed down the nearby hallway.

  Another beam lanced through the air, aimed at Finn. Julia blocked the attack with her shield, the molten energy carving a shallow line across the surface of the metal. It wouldn’t hold up to that abuse forever.

  “Are you crazy?” she shouted back.

  “It’s our only option. We can’t fight a battle on two fronts. We get inside, use Brock to force the door closed, and then I seal it. We have to take out the Supervisor! And we don’t have much time!” Another piercing, mechanical wail punctuated his point.