The Aether Suit highlights one of the dragon’s enormous metal wings. I walk over to it and fire at it repeatedly. Soon the entire wing starts glowing red hot, then bursts into light blue data fragments. The Aether Suit absorbs them, and my broken jets start glowing as the suit reassembles the pieces.
[SYSTEM UPDATE: Jets upgrade installed.]
[SYSTEM UPDATE: Jets repaired.]
I’ve been grounded for so long I almost can’t believe it. I leap into the air and activate my jets. It feels amazing. I drop back to the ground and shift my focus to the remaining door, moving to it and shooting it open.
Once inside, I find a pair of dusty, industrial generators. Only one of them is active. I switch the inactive generator on, and listen for it to start up. The lighting in the room brightens significantly.
I backtrack using my jets, and fly to the Nav Room. Once inside, I wipe away the dust and turn the computer on.
When it’s ready, I enter the commands for the map data into the terminal. The equipment struggles to process the data, but the computer chimes once the download is complete. My suit receives the map data, but as a precaution I only send it to Mukki. There isn’t much left to this area that we haven’t already covered, except above.
I step back into the rainforest habitat and set my sights on the hole in the ceiling. I take a running leap and activate my jets. Raindrops continue falling on me until I ascend into the vertical cavern.
The temperature and humidity drop sharply as I climb. The cave stretches a long way up, and curves at the top. I land in a tall, stony tunnel that resembles the rest of the ruins. I’m surprised to find a circular lab door up here.
When I’m close to the door, I can hear Skah’s voice coming from the next room, but it’s accompanied by another voice. I shoot the door open and head inside.
I step into a rundown command center filled with dusty, sophisticated lab equipment, and find Skah and Dr. Jure, the senior engineer from the lobby, standing at a computer terminal in the center of the room. There’s a ray of purple light projecting from a giant glass exhibit embedded in the left wall.
“Well, this is unexpected,” Skah says. “I was just about to check in on you.”
“Skah, what are you up to? What’s he doing here?”
Skah scoffs. “He’s all right. He’s helping me with something.”
The engineer is working feverishly at the terminal. I move deeper into the lab to get a better view of the enormous glass tank. I step into the light.
Numerous long, thin violet colored leaves stretch out from a dense, dark purple mass in the ground. Each of the leaves features hundreds of pairs of skinny magenta tentacles sticking out of their sides, and all the tentacles have a bead of clear liquid at their end.
A palm tree-sized flower rises from the center of the mass. The five-petal, deep pink flower looks down at us with five white eyes at its center. The enormous plants stirs within its glass cage.
“Beautiful, isn’t she?” the engineer asks me.
“What kind of hybrid is this?”
“Oh, she’s no hybrid. She’s been here a long time.”
I turn away from the tank.
“The Ociel once worshipped her, and her wisdom guided them to enlightenment. Then they abandoned her. The researchers here followed her for a time, but they abandoned her as well.”
“A lot of effort was made to convert this area into a lab. Don’t you think there must have been a good reason they shut it down?” I ask.
The engineer laughs dismissively. “She has seen everything. The past. The present. The future. She is the key to humanity’s evolution,” Dr. Jure declares.
“Skah, this is insane.”
“I know,” Skah replies. “Our foolish elders gave up the chance to become unstoppable. Can you believe that?”
“Look, I don’t know what your plan is, but anything involving that thing can’t be good,” I say.
“Stand down, hunter. That’s an order,” Skah commands.
“How can you think this is a good idea? There’s no telling what that thing will do if it gets out!”
“That’s exactly what I intend to find out,” Skah says. “This is your last warning.”
The door to my right opens. Mukki steps into the room.
“Did you bring the final key?” Skah asks.
“I have it,” Mukki says, walking toward the computer.
“Good.”
“You’re in on this, too?” I ask.
“This creature has seen civilizations rise and crumble for centuries,” Mukki replies. “It evolved with the world, and contains an unimaginable wealth of knowledge just waiting to be harvested. How could I resist?”
Mukki’s betrayal cuts me deep. He takes over for Dr. Jure and works quickly at the keyboard, using his gear to transfer something into the computer.
“Nice try with the Nav Room data earlier. That was savage,” Skah says.
“Clearly, I’m outmatched here. I’ll get out of your way,” I say.
Skah laughs loudly, then his tone turns deadly. “You aren’t going anywhere.”
Mukki smirks. “Yeah, we still have to finish the mission. And…done.”
The computer emits an electronic chime. Something loud and metallic clicks behind me.
I back away from the exhibit. Dr. Jure walks into the light. A mechanism inside the walls raises the thick, heavy glass.
The plant’s long, winding leaves creep out into the room and hover near Dr. Jure. They slither around him as they stretch out in the environment.
“Magnificent. How could anyone abandon this incredible gift from Mother Nature?”
“I’m tired of living under those old fools. It’s time to take action,” Skah declares. “How does this thing work?”
The doctor smiles. “I’d love to show you.”
“Skah….”
“Shut up,” Skah snaps. “You’re about to bear witness to the birth of a new age.”
“Indeed. Step forward, and let Nature’s Gift bestow the knowledge of the world upon you,” Dr. Jure says.
Skah walks over to the open exhibit and stands before the monstrosity. It lines up one of its leaves behind him, then moves in and begins bending its tentacles tightly around Skah’s body in rapid, mechanical fashion. The large droplets of clear liquid spread out on Skah’s body as the end of each tentacle touches down on his scaly flesh.
Skah suddenly seems nervous. “You’re sure about this?”
“Absolutely,” the doctor says. “How do you feel?”
“My insides are tingling.”
“Good. That means it’s working.”
The end of the leaf folds down and covers the front of Skah’s body with dozens more of its beaded tentacles. It becomes increasingly difficult to see him as the tentacles clutch him tighter.
“…Mukki…Mukki….” Skah’s muffled voice is hard to understand.
“Is he okay?” Mukki asks.
“Of course! This is all completely normal,” Dr. Jure says.
Skah shouts in pain. “It hurts, Mukki….”
“How do we shut it down, doctor?” Mukki asks.
Dr. Jure laughs maniacally. “You idiot. It’s too late for that!”
Skah is hoisted into the air. The leaf continues coiling tightly around him, and the room fills with the sickening sound of crunching bones. The plant pulses brightly as it begins sapping the energy from Skah’s body.
“What the hell, Mukki?” I shout.
Mukki is panicking. “I promise you, this is not how this was supposed to play out!”
“Put that thing back in its cage!”
“I can’t! I’m locked out.”
“Excellent! She’s working her way back into the system,” Dr. Jure says. “Soon she’ll be back in control of the entire facility.”
“There’s only one room left on the map,” Mukki says. “It has to be the Weather Controller. Go wreck it, and we can get out of here.”
“I’m having a really di
fficult time trusting you,” I say.
One of the leaves snatches Mukki. He’s being pulled into the habitat.
I fire at the plant, quickly severing the leaves containing Skah and Mukki from the rest of its body with homing missiles. Mukki falls to the ground, struggling to rip free of the tentacles. Skah splatters on the floor into a mushy, half-digested puddle.
The plant kills off the remainder of the two leaves and detaches them. In a matter of a seconds, new leaves sprout from the mass and grow to full size, tentacles and all.
“This thing can repair itself? Mukki, what have you done?”
Dr. Jure walks freely through the chaos, toward the computer. The plant is actively avoiding him. I rush forward to cut him off.
“Tell me how to stop it. Now,” I say, pointing one of my arm cannons at his chest. My gaze darts between the plant and the doctor.
Mukki gets to his feet and breathes fire at the creature, roasting several of its leaves.
The doctor grins. The giant plant kills its burning leaves and grows even longer leaves back in seconds.
“None of the data you extracted warned you about this?” I ask Mukki.
“Not in detail. They only referenced that they shut down and sealed ‘Nature’s Gift.’ I have no idea how to stop this thing.”
The plant’s leaves creep farther into the room.
“You have three seconds to tell me how to fix this,” I say to the doctor, pressing my cannon into his chest.
The plant swipes one of its leaves at me. I dash away. The doctor runs for the computer and inputs a command. An automated voice speaks over the lab’s comm system.
“Warning: All containment units have been unlocked. Repeat: All containment units have been unlocked.”
Sprinklers activate inside of the exhibit.
“What the hell did you just do?” I demand.
“Opened the cages,” the doctor says. “And killed us all.”
“He’s not going to help us, Ilana!” Mukki says.
I switch to my fist and smash Dr. Jure’s face in. He goes down.
The plant sprouts several new leaves.
“We’re running short on options here, Mukki,” I say.
I step back as the giant plant reaches even farther into the room. Mukki and I are forced to opposite sides of the room.
“Even if this thing’s a million years old, it’s still a plant. Tearing it out of the ground might do it. We have to find a way to uproot it,” Mukki says over the comm.
“Interesting theory. But it’s absorbing everything we throw at it. We’ll need to get closer,” I say.
“We’ve only shot the leaves so far. What happens if we target the flower?”
“Let’s try it. Do you have a shot? I can’t even see the flower anymore.”
“I’m looking for one,” Mukki says. “Okay. Help me cut through the leaves. Ready?”
“Ready.”
Mukki breathes fire and torches more leaves. He moves closer to the center of the room as the giant plant kills off its damaged limbs.
Meanwhile, I fire homing missiles and charge shots at the leaves.
Mukki takes aim at the deep pink flower’s center and shoots homing missiles at it. The plant cries out, whipping its remaining leaves at us wildly.
“Keep it up! It really didn’t like that,” Mukki says over the tumult.
I take to the air and target the flower, replenishing my weapons supply with the floating energy from the dead leaves.
A leaf slaps against my left leg and its tentacles rapidly descend upon me. The suit begins taking damage from the sticky acidic beads, and the leaf is trying to pull me out of the sky. I fire a charge shot at the flower, and the leaf binds my leg harder.
Dozens more tentacled leaves lash out at Mukki and I. Everything’s happening so quickly, it’s hard to keep up. The leaf continues tightening around my leg as it pulls at me. The pain is immense.
[WARNING: Critical damage sustained.]
The sticky acid is trying to eat through my armor. It’s only a matter of time.
A second leaf latches onto my left arm. My jets fight to keep me airborne as the tentacles wrap tight around my arm cannon.
I’m barely managing to ward off the incoming leaves. My leg armor groans. The force is too much.
[WARNING: Left Stabilizer malfunction. Stabilizer offline.]
Tears blur my vision as the crushing brute force of the leaf begins severing my armor. My stomach drops at the mental image of losing a limb. The pain in my arm and leg is the worst I’ve ever felt. I can barely concentrate enough to aim.
[WARNING: Arm Cannon malfunction. Left cannon offline.]
[DANGER: Armor breach.]
Every moment is blinding torment. The leaves pull decisively, twisting and stretching my armor until it’s ripped from my arm and leg. The suit bleeds from its wounds, and I watch as the leaves drag the pieces away and coil around them.
I can breathe again, but I’m afraid to look. My limbs feel as though they’ve been set on fire. I quickly glance over and see that, damaged as they may be, everything is still attached.
I finally see an opening and fire homing missiles at the flower. Mukki flies into the exhibit and breathes fire all over the giant flower.
I rush into the exhibit, shooting through more leaves and dodging around others while water rains down on the area. I charge my cannon while closing in on the behemoth plant, then fly in close and land on the mass in the ground. Mukki circles the exhibit, torching the continuous onslaught of leaves.
My charge shot severs the stem, and the charred, five-eyed pink flower falls to the ground as green blood splatters against my suit. I continue firing at the dark, brain-like purple mass until it splits open in a pool of green blood. The leaves fall limp, and the largest pile of energy I’ve ever seen spawns over the plant. The Aether Suit absorbs enough to max out its energy levels, but remains broken.
Mukki lands in the nearby mud. The exhibit is covered in plant blood and hundreds of long, burning and shriveled leaves.
I take aim with my remaining cannon. “Explain. Now.”
“It’s not what it seems,” Mukki says. “The elders suspected Skah was working with the humans. They asked Nova and I to see what he was up to, and it turns out they were right about everything.”
“Everything, meaning what?”
“He betrayed us all. Half of the research I recovered were things he gave them,” Mukki says. “Skah’s known about this weapon for a while now, but the details about what it does were lost on both sides. He just knew it was here, and wanted to use it to overthrow the elders. This was his chance to get his hands on it, and that’s why I warned you.”
“How did you figure it out?” I ask.
“I’ve been gathering evidence on him at the elders’ request. My conclusive proof came earlier, when I hacked a security camera and heard him discussing everything with Dr. Jure. He was one of Skah’s contacts.”
“Why didn’t you stop once you knew what he was doing?”
“I had to get him to trust me, and make it convincing,” Mukki says.
“By unleashing this thing? You’re smarter than that. There has to be more to it.”
“I had no clue it would lead to any of this. Honest.”
I lower my cannon. “I want you to know that right now, I still don’t trust you.”
“Once we finish up here, I’ll give you everything. You can look through the data and draw your own conclusions.”
Mukki and I make our way out of the exhibit. Dr. Jure is sprawled out on the floor, unconscious. My suit continues displaying new error messages.
I shoot open the door to the final room and find the Weather Controller Unit inside.
“I’ll handle this one,” Mukki says.
We walk around to the back of the unit, and Mukki tears off its metal plate. He maxes out the unit’s emergency control levels, and the machine starts to overload.
Mukki taps his wrist console, syncs the over
loaded Weather Controller Units to it, and activates the countdown timer. The timer appears on my HUD.
[Time: 9:58]
Loud alarms trigger and sirens blare.
“Time to go!” Mukki shouts over the noise.
“Warning: This facility has been compromised. Self-destruct mechanism engaged. Evacuate immediately. This is not a drill,” the automated voice speaks over the lab’s comm system.
The message repeats as Mukki and I rush out of the room.
Something attaches to my face. My visor cracks as I’m blasted backward by an explosion.
“You killed her! You monsters!” Dr. Jure screams. He’s carrying breaching explosives.
Mukki’s on the ground as well, covered in smoke.
“I knew we forgot something,” Mukki says, coughing.
“She was a god! And you killed her!” Dr. Jure says, throwing several more explosives at us. I shoot at him, but he ducks behind the lab equipment. Mukki and I take to the air as the floor explodes, shaking the room violently.
[WARNING: Catastrophic damage sustained.]
[DANGER: Life Support Systems critical.]
[WARNING: Low energy. Matter required.]
[SYSTEM UPDATE: System shutdown imminent.]
I can feel my jets weakening. I hurry over to the center of the room and land.
[ALERT: Suit components detected.]
Off to my left, my cracked visor highlights Skah’s remains. His body may be a slush pile, but his armor is intact.
“Cover me,” I say over the comm.
“You got it.”
I run over to Skah’s armor and start shooting it repeatedly. Dr. Jure pops up and looks confused.
“Stop that!” he says, throwing another explosive at me. A wave of fire blasts the device and it explodes mid-air.
Skah’s armor starts glowing red hot. It explodes into light blue data fragments that swarm my broken suit, covering it entirely. My suit glows bright blue as the data is reassembled. Once the suit finishes absorbing the data, I receive several notifications on my HUD.
A Plague of Dragons (A Dragon Anthology) Page 44