Finn rubbed at his chin. “Once repaired, do we have the energy to open, close, and lock the doors at will? From what we’ve seen, they’re using fire mana to shift the interior layer of metal and operate the locking mechanism.”
Brock cocked his head slightly, the stones along his neck grinding together. “Indeed, the doors utilize fire mana to function, and our supply of fire mana is nearly infinite. These are the doorways that are currently damaged.” More red highlights appeared on the map as he finished speaking, except this time, the pattern was familiar.
“Yeah, because we melted those shut on our way inside,” Julia muttered as she eyed the map with a grimace. “It also looks like we did a splendid job of locking ourselves on the far end of this section.” Finn could see the same problem. The fused doors didn’t offer them an easy path to the central section of the Forge.
“Can you go ahead and initiate the repair process?” Julia asked in a hopeful voice. “How long will that take?”
“Yes, I can initiate those repairs from here,” Brock replied. His glowing green eyes went distant for a long moment. “Estimated time to repair completion is 1 hour and 37 minutes.”
Julia frowned. “That’s a long time…”
“And how long until the corrupted manage to access those backup storage crystals?” Finn asked. The reinforced walls of the facility were tough, but they weren’t indestructible. And the corrupted were determined.
“I estimate that they will dig their way to the crystals in roughly 50 minutes.”
“Shit,” Kyyle muttered. “So, waiting around isn’t a great plan.”
Indeed, the clock was ticking, and they needed to move fast.
“What about an alternate path?” Finn asked, his eyes darting back to the map.
Another pause, and then a winding yellow trail traced its way through the section. It was hardly a straight line – doubling back on itself and taking a serpentine path – but it meant they could get to that interior blast door even if they avoided the passages they had blocked off. Unfortunately, the route also took them past quite a few of those groups of red dots – the clusters of corrupted freezing in place as the light-mana pulse finally dissipated. The system was providing them with a rough approximation of the last known position of the corrupted.
He chewed on his lip as an idea teased at the edges of his mind. Although he couldn’t take full credit – the Supervisor had used this approach once before.
“Okay… we’re running low on the other mana types, but can we create a pulse of fire mana along the walls? Essentially a high-density energy trail?” Finn asked.
“Of course,” Brock replied.
“What if we funneled the energy from the storage crystals and ran it along the walls to this far room,” Finn said, his finger tracing a path from each cluster of red dots and terminating in a room along the side of the section. The door to that chamber hadn’t yet been destroyed. “We could then close that door and lock the corrupted inside.”
“It’s possible. But I can’t keep that much fire mana contained within that chamber for long. At high concentrations, the mana starts to break down what you are referring to as the ‘neurogem’ material. That’s why the section was built with mana storage crystals embedded in the floor,” Brock explained. “We would only be able to distract the corrupted briefly before they start trying to escape. I estimate it would take them roughly 15 minutes to cut their way through the door.
“I should also note that the process of opening the blast door to the interior Forge chamber will require substantial mana and will draw most of the energy from the section,” Brock rumbled. “That will likely attract the attention of the corrupted once they escape the room on the far end of the section.”
Finn frowned. It sounded like their plan would buy them some time to get into place, but they might need to hold their position at the entrance to the interior Forge chamber until they could get the blast door open.
His eyes shot back to the turrets along the ceiling, fragments of his orbs still riddling the ruined domes. “You mentioned that some of the turrets are working, and some are damaged?” Finn asked.
“Yes,” Brock answered with a nod.
“What about in that room at the base of the fire section? And the adjacent hallways?”
A pause as the elemental’s eyes went distant again. “The turrets inside the chamber are operational, and the security measures outside the room are only lightly damaged. Repairs may take 5-10 minutes.”
“Well, go ahead and start that now,” Kyyle grunted, eyeing the map. “It sounds like we’re going to need whatever help we can get.” His brow furrowed for a moment in thought, and then he shifted his attention to Brock. “Also, can you designate the corrupted as an enemy to the facility’s defenses?”
“I can, but I will need a mana signature that can be used for targeting,” the elemental rumbled in reply.
“I can help with that!” Daniel chirped. The fire elemental swooped over to Brock and projected a series of scans, a compilation of the data he had recorded during their previous encounters, replete with mana signatures that he had lifted from Finn’s Mana Sight.
The earth elemental’s green eyes began to glow, and a thin fan of emerald energy swept across each display. He then turned back to the console, and a renewed surge of mana rippled down his arm.
“The facility’s defenses have been updated with the new energy signatures,” Brock reported only a few seconds later.
Finn chewed on the inside of his cheek, his eyes hovering on that thin yellow line that wound its way through the facility. Even if they trapped the corrupted first and used the facility’s defenses for support, this was going to be tough. If they encountered any problems with that interior blast door, they were going to end up in the same position as the facility staff – their backs to a closed door and an army of corrupted barreling toward them.
“What do you think?” he asked his teammates.
“I think it’s our best shot of getting the hell out of here,” Julia replied, meeting his eyes. “And it doesn’t sound like we have a lot of time before they destroy the storage crystals – which may lock us out of the central chamber.”
Kyyle snorted. “Even if it doesn’t, and we manage to wait out the repairs on the conduits to the other sections, that might just make the situation worse. For all we know, whatever bug or virus that’s afflicting the corrupted could spread…”
Julia nodded in agreement, wincing as another thought occurred to her. “And I’m not sure we have the time to wait out those repairs anyway.” She flicked her wrist and pulled up a timer, pivoting it toward Finn and Kyyle. “The clock is still running on our merry band of feral shapeshifters. I, for one, don’t want to get locked inside this place permanently.”
“If anyone wants to know what I think…” Daniel began, trailing off as they all turned to stare at him wearily. “I think it sounds like a great idea!” he amended quickly.
“Then it’s unanimous. We roll the dice,” Finn said dryly. “We can do one more ping after we try to trap the corrupted to confirm their position, and then we make a bolt for this blast door and hope we can hold off the mechs long enough to get the damn thing open.”
His teammates both nodded.
Finn turned to Brock. “Do it. Draw the corrupted to that room, wait as long as you can once the energy is inside the room, then close the door and lock it up tight.”
“Yes, sir,” Brock replied.
There was a sudden flare of fire mana along the walls, and the floor trembled slightly, the only sign that the earth elemental had initiated their plan. Minutes ticked past as the group stood there in tense silence, watching the map anxiously, although the hazy dots hadn’t updated – and wouldn’t until the next pulse of light mana.
And then…
“Task completed,” Brock rumbled. “Initiate sensor pulse?”
“Yes,” Finn replied, his fingers balled into a fist.
Please work…
Finn breathed a sigh of relief, the same sound echoed by Julia and Kyyle. Most of the red dots were now positioned in the far chamber, and the doorway had sealed. There were still a dozen or so of the mechs roaming the halls. But that number was manageable, especially if the corrupted were more focused on the storage gems than on their group.
“Okay, we need to move. Now,” Finn barked, eyeing his teammates. They were already moving, gathering up their gear and positioning themselves next to the blast door leading out of the pylon chamber.
Finn glanced at the AI. “Daniel, you get that map data?”
“Of course,” the AI replied.
“Alright, then push it to the group and highlight the path through the section. The last thing we need is to get lost.” Immediately, a thin yellow line appeared in the air, drifting toward the nearby blast door.
“Can you do anything about the door?” Kyyle called over at Brock, gesturing at the slag filling the space between the blast door and the frame.
The elemental didn’t respond. Instead, the fiery energy pulsed along the walls of the chamber before condensing around the door. As they looked on, the surface of the door heated swiftly, soon glowing a bright red. The heat didn’t seem to damage the stone and neurogem material, but it quickly began to melt the slag, causing streamers of molten metal to pool along the floor. Within only moments, the slag had melted into a puddle.
Finn rested a hand on Brock’s shoulder as the elemental moved to pull his arm from the console. “One last thing,” he said. “You need to schedule that blast door to lock behind us as soon as we leave. We can’t afford to let any of the corrupted get in here.”
“Of course,” the elemental rumbled, and his arm flashed once again. Then Brock yanked his hand from the terminal, the rocks reassembling themselves into bulky fingers as he rejoined the group near the door.
Finn adjusted his pack before moving toward his teammates. With a few swift gestures, he covered the puddle of slag with his Imbue Fire and forcefully shoved the molten metal out of the way, not wanting to risk obstructing the door and preventing it from closing behind them.
Finished, he shot a glance at his teammates. Julia held her lance and new shield in hand, and Kyyle gripped his staff firmly. “Okay, we’re going to do this at a jog,” Finn instructed. “Stay tight and don’t cast unless we absolutely have to. We don’t want to draw attention from any other corrupted that might still be lingering in the section. If we’re attacked, the goal is to subdue and slow. We just need to make it to that interior blast door. Once we’re inside that room, we can fortify our position and hold them off while we open the interior blast door.
“Everyone got it?” A pair of nods met his question.
Finn turned his eyes back to the door and took a deep breath.
“Good. Then let’s move.”
The group surged forward, squeezing through the narrow passage. As they hit the other side, they broke into a swift jog, Julia taking lead and Brock bringing up the rear – effectively sandwiching Finn, Kyyle, and Daniel between them. Finn felt a rumble through the floor and glanced over his shoulder to see the blast door leading back into the pylon chamber slide closed, soon striking the doorframe with a resounding thud.
There was no going back now…
Not that Finn had time to spare thinking about that. The group moved quickly, running down hallways that were now lit in an eerie orange glow as they followed the faint yellow line Daniel had pushed to their UI. The occasional metallic howl and scratch of claws echoed through the section, reminding them that they weren’t alone.
As they rounded a corner, they found a corrupted hovering near a crater in the floor, its claws tearing chunks of stone and crystal in a frenzy. It barely seemed to notice the group, but Julia slowed automatically.
“Don’t stop. I’ll take care of it, just keep running,” Finn grunted between gasping breaths, pulling an orb from his pack and slowing slightly, Brock gliding past him.
He hurled his orb forward, his fingers twining through the gestures of Imbue Fire. The sphere was soon awash in flames, and it rocketed forward, flattening as it sped through the air and beginning to spin up to speed as Finn formed a makeshift sawblade. The metal carved cleanly through the mech’s legs, and its torso fell to the ground with a clash of metal striking stone. Finally noticing the group, it tried to scramble toward them, clawing its way awkwardly along the ground. Yet they were already sprinting past, dodging around the creature’s feeble attempts to snatch at their clothing and armor. Finn knew it would repair its damaged limbs, but that was a problem for later.
They rounded another corner and then sprinted down a hallway that opened into a much larger room.
Several corrupted were tearing at one of the walls, exposing glowing crystalline wiring. As Finn watched, they reached out their claws more gently, tendrils of the neurogem material drifting out toward the exposed conduits in the walls. He could see fire mana coursing out of the wall and through the now-closed circuit, swiftly refilling the fiery mana cores in each mech’s chest.
The group didn’t slow, continuing their headlong charge. A fan of white light speared through the room as they passed, crossing their bodies. The mech-human hybrids shifted in place, turning dome-like heads toward the team’s position. As they detected the mana in the elementals and the two mages, they let out discordant wails. Their metallic legs clanked against the floor as they rushed after the group – the mana in the walls now forgotten.
“Uh, we have a problem,” Kyyle gasped over his shoulder.
“I’ve got it. Just keep going,” Finn grunted back, his legs still pumping.
He eyed the door ahead, and his fingers twitched as he channeled his mana.
Fire rippled across the door and concentrated on the metal embedded beneath the stone and crystal. With a jerk of his wrist, he started to close that door. Their group pushed themselves harder, and Julia and Kyyle made it through with Finn bringing up the tail. The door was closing faster now, but he couldn’t afford to slow it down. The howls of the corrupted were getting closer now. In the last few feet, Finn dropped into a slide, narrowly passing through the doorway before the portal slammed shut, striking the adjacent wall so hard that it caused a shower of dust to cascade from the stone.
They could still hear the corrupted scrabbling at the doorway behind them.
“Fuck, there are still plenty of these things in here,” Kyyle gasped out as they paused for a moment, and Julia hauled Finn back to his feet.
Finn just grunted noncommittally in reply. “Daniel. Map,” he barked.
An image appeared in his peripheral vision, showing the section’s layout. They were almost there. “Come on,” Finn said, forcing his reluctant legs back into a trot. His stamina was on its last legs, and he couldn’t take much more of this.
They passed through two more rooms, sprinted down a narrow hallway, and then rounded a corner. The hall abruptly opened into a massive room, and the group skidded to a halt. On the far end of the chamber rested an enormous blast door, at least as large as the entrance to the pylon chamber. Except this one was firmly closed. Finn could see that the locking mechanism was engaged – even if the image was a bit hazy with the interference from the gems embedded in the walls.
“Brock, get this thing open,” Finn breathed.
The elemental drifted up to the doorway, his hand shifting and slamming home along a groove beside the blast door. “This may take a moment,” the elemental said.
Finn saw fire mana surge along the walls. The energy cascaded through the neurogem conduits, casting the entire room in a hazy orange flow. A robotic voice echoed through the facility. “Central Forge Chamber protocols initiated. Please stand by while the wards are charged.”
“What the hell does that—” Finn began but was cut off as he saw the fire mana continue to pool around th
e door, the energy glowing so brightly now that he was having trouble looking at the doorway directly.
How is this possible? I thought the neurogem couldn’t maintain a high concentration charge, he thought to himself, recalling Brock’s last explanation.
Then he saw that the energy was pooling along several nodes clustered around the door and stretching outward in a ring around that central room. Even with the interference from the walls of the facility, he could see hazy blue, green, red, black, and white clouds forming along the other sides of that interior room.
Just how much energy did it take to open this door?
And why did they need to charge wards?
But he didn’t have time to focus on those questions. He could hear howls echoing down the entrance hallway, and the turrets along the ceiling of the chamber rotated in place, the barrels coming to point at that narrow opening. Unfortunately, there was no door to close here. They were fighting relatively out in the open, their only advantage being the natural chokepoint of the hallway leading into the chamber.
“Alright, we’ll need to hold this position,” Finn barked.
Kyyle nodded, and spirals of emerald energy soon wound around his staff. A wall of earth began to form along the room’s opening. Once that was in place, he formed another. Then another. Hoping to block off the opening and buy them a few more precious seconds before the corrupted managed to breach the room.
Julia moved into position behind that wall, pulling her lance free from her waist and raising her new shield, her expression hidden behind her dark metal helm.
For his part, Finn cast a thin shield of Molten Armor down each arm and set several dark orbs on the ground in front of him. He didn’t have time to forge a new blade for his left arm, and he couldn’t risk a hastily crafted weapon splitting off in the middle of a fight, but he wanted to be prepared to light up a few more orbs. Then he began casting Imbue Fire on his daughter, preparing to reinforce her armor and provide her with a bit more power behind each swing. Flames soon sprang up around her armor, coating her entire body in fire and her skin burning away into searing coils of flame that curled around the metal panels.
Awaken Online: Inferno (Tarot #3) Page 29