As they continued down the shaft, the heard the ever-present groan of the elevator above. But now it was getting louder. “It’s coming!” Arcturus said.
Ev looked up. The massive steel box was at the twentieth floor and coming down, fast. Figures. “Move it!”
They shimmied as fast as they possibly could, but it wasn’t enough. The elevator would crush them before they reached the bottom.
Fifteenth floor.
“We’ll have to drop down!” Arcturus announced.
“Are you crazy?” Ev said.
Tenth floor.
“It’s only about a floor. We can do it.” To demonstrate this, he let go of the cable and fell to the floor below. He was still standing, so he obviously hadn’t broken any legs. “Come on!”
With no other options, Ev did the same. He hit the floor hard, but his legs held up. Maya followed suit. Ev tried to catch her, but it would be more accurate to say she awkwardly fell into his shoulder, knocking him against the wall.
Fifth floor.
“Come on! We have to hurry!” Arcturus said. He and Ev pried open the doors.
The elevator was now right on top of them. They frantically dove into the corridor beyond as it touched down.
Still trying to catch his breath, Ev found himself looking up at a balding man in a lab coat. “Who are you people?”
Using the wall for support, Ev got back to his feet. “I can explain.”
“I’m calling security,” the man said.
Ev had to think quickly and come up with a clever explanation for their bizarre arrival. When none came to mind, he simply punched the guy.
The man staggered back, but didn’t go down. “Aggh! You pooslicker! You’re in big trouble now.”
His hand went towards a red button that was implanted in the wall. But before he could get to it, Arcturus clocked him with the butt of his rifle. The man went down properly this time.
“Thanks,” Ev said.
“Remember, you don’t have your god-strength here. In order to stop enemies, you’ll have to use your gun.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Can we get moving already?” Maya said. “The less time we spend down here, the better.”
Arcturus led the way. “For once, we agree.”
Ev was now able to get a good look at the environment they had broken into. Stainless steel walls and floors; recessed lighting; signs that said things like “Omega Level” and “AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.” Yes, this was a top secret facility that someone had put a lot of time and money into creating.
The various labs had large windows built into them. Per Arcturus’ instructions, the trio ducked under them as they went by. The longer they went without detection, the better. Still, Ev couldn’t help but sneak a peak into the labs. Scientists were in there working on things he couldn’t even identify. One room appeared to be devoted to the study of robotics. Since he couldn’t risk making any noise at this point, he didn’t bother asking Arcturus what all these things were.
For a while they managed to avoid detection. Then they came to an intersection where the hallway split into three directions. Suddenly, a man appeared from the left, wearing fatigues and carrying a submachine gun. He spotted them and quickly leveled his weapon at them.
Ev knew he should fire. He had killed before. And yet he couldn’t bring himself to shoot this man. Somehow, he developed a distinction between killing gods and other supernatural beings, and shooting mortals with guns. He didn’t know if this guard before them was a god or not, but within the God Dampener, he might as well have been. Shooting people seemed too…real.
Fortunately, Arcturus had no such qualms. He raised his rifle and fired. There was a deafening explosion as the rounds left the chamber, and the guard’s chest erupted with blood.
Arcturus said something then, but Ev’s ears were still ringing. Arcturus waved his arm forward, indicating they needed to make a run for it. The three of them shot forward down the corridor.
They soon arrived at a doorway. The sign above it read “BEYOND HERE – SECTOR B-2.” Just beyond the doorway lab were alcoves on both sides of the walls, followed by more labs. About thirty feet away, a squad of guards wearing full body armor and carrying rifles had gathered.
Ev and Maya ducked into the left alcove, while Arcturus took the right one. The hallway erupted in ear-crushing gunfire as security tried mowing them down. Ev pressed himself against the wall as Maya blindly returned fire. “Ev! You’ve got to help me fight back!” she yelled.
She was right, of course. Different or not, this was still a life-or-death situation, and he would never forgive himself if he got her killed by doing nothing. So he stuck his rifle out and fired. Their bullets were supposedly able to hone in on targets, but he didn’t know if they could curve around walls. If these guards were smart, they’d be hiding behind them while picking their spots.
After several minutes, the gunfire intensified. Reinforcements must have arrived. Ev looked across at Arcturus who seemed to sigh. He jammed something into his rifle and fired it at the enemy. There was a pop, followed by the biggest explosion yet. Ev felt the heat as fire filled the hallway. Arcturus fired a grenade at them. Again Ev’s ears failed. Arcturus mouthed something like, Sorry about that, but it was taking too long.
They proceeded forward, stepping over what remained of the enemy guards. The corridor was scorched and smoking.
Chapter IX
They soon came to a large well-lit room filled with plants. The sign on the wall read “HYDROPONICS.” It was humid in here.
“What’s this room for?” Ev yelled to be heard over the klaxon which was now blaring.
Before Arcturus could answer, more guards entered from the door at the opposite wall. The trio took cover behind sturdy containers with plants growing out of them. Once again gunfire erupted on both sides.
The guards were well-trained, but the superior weaponry wielded by Ev’s team turned the tide in their favor. Despite the enemy’s body armor, they soon succumbed to bullets that hit them with almost supernatural accuracy. It wasn’t long before Ev and company had the room all to themselves.
Afterwards, Arcturus said, “To answer your question, this room is for growing fruits and vegetables that enhance god-qualities.”
“So if I eat one of these, I can become ever stronger?” Ev was intrigued.
“They’re still working on it. They haven’t quite gotten the hang of it yet.”
Perhaps that was for the best, Ev thought; Zero Grade shouldn’t be allowed to get any stronger.
* * *
After leaving Hydroponics, they went through another narrow hallway with forks in it. Arcturus had them keep going straight until they came to what looked like a small cargo hold without any cargo. It was just a bare, metallic room with sparse lighting, though the far wall had a door with a wall panel and what looked like a computer mainframe encased in glass to the right.
Ev wanted to walk right through it, but Arcturus put up a hand to stop them. “Better let me handle this room.”
“Why? What’s in here?” Maya asked.
He removed a canister from one of the slots on his armor, set it down, and pushed the top. White smoke sprayed out of it, bathing the room and revealing a multitude
of red lines of light coming from the walls. A laser grid.
“How are we going to get past this?” Ev said.
“Like I said—leave it to me.”
Arcturus crawled under the first set of lasers, leap-frogged over the next, and continued to nimbly navigate through the rest. Ev had no idea he was that agile, and he couldn’t help but be impressed at all the things Arcturus could do.
He soon reached the far wall and removed a screwdriver. After quickly using it to remove the wall panel, he disconnected the wires, resulting in a fading hum. “The grid’s off-line now.”
Ev and Maya exchanged worried glances, wondering if it was indeed off-line; the smoke had already dissipated, so they couldn’
t tell. Ev nervously inched over to where he thought the first laser had been and—before he changed his mind—rapidly waved his hand across the empty space.
Nothing happened. “You look silly, Ev,” Arcturus said. “I told you it’s off-line.”
“You could have been wrong. We had to be sure,” Maya said. She and Ev proceeded to move towards him.
Arcturus ignored her and started rearranging wires on the panel. An earsplitting siren suddenly shattered the quiet they had been enjoying.
“What’s going on?” Ev shouted.
He explained, “I was hot-wiring the door, but I think I put the wrong wire in the wrong slot!”
“They already know we’re here!” Maya reminded them. “The guards have already been alerted! The alarm is meaningless!”
Movement in the ceiling caught Ev’s attention. “I hate to disagree with you, but...”
A tripod, easily the size of a full-grown person, but with chain guns for legs, descended. The barrels began spinning, and Ev had only a split second to push Maya out of the way as it commenced spraying death with thousands of rounds a minute.
“Get under the barrels!” Arcturus said.
They complied and discovered the deadly tripod’s blind spot. It evidently couldn’t move its barrels perpendicular to the ceiling.
The siren and firing ceased, and the room was mostly quiet save for the mechanical whirring of the tripod which still revolved in a clockwise pattern from its spot above them. “We’re safe,” Ev said, breathing a sigh of relief.
“For now, maybe,” Maya replied. “But we can’t stay under here forever. Sooner or later Zero Grade will send more guards to kill us.”
Ev replied, “But if we try to leave, that big honking chain gun thing will mow us down.”
“We still have our weapons. Maybe we can shoot it.”
But Arcturus said, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. That thing’s only a few feet above us, and it’s constructed from incredibly durable metals. If you try shooting it, the bullets will likely bounce off and hit one or more of us.”
“Well we have to do something. What do you suggest?” she said.
He pointed to the mainframe. “Our only chance is to take that out. It not only controls the facility’s computer system, but the tripod barrels above us as well.”
Ev scrutinized the glass surrounding it which was covered with indentations from where the tripod’s bullets had just struck. Based on the lack of penetration… “The glass is obviously bulletproof, and it’s…what? Fifteen feet away? At this distance we’d probably kill ourselves if we tried using explosives.”
“I’m not suggesting explosives. Look, no glass is entirely bulletproof. That glass was designed to withstand a brief barrage from those barrels, just long enough to take out any intruders. If we can get it to keep firing, eventually it will punch through the glass.”
“You’re not seriously suggesting one of us move out from here, are you?” Ev said.
“Not at all. Watch.” He ejected the magazine from his rifle and emptied it. He then flicked a bullet towards the mainframe. The tripod came to life and unleashed another volley of bullets, causing the glass to be further painted with cracks. He flicked a second bullet, and then a third, a fourth, and finally, the barrels ran out of ammunition.
Arcturus was the first to emerge from the shadow of the insane weapon. Ev and Maya followed, marveling at the large piles of shell casings which littered the floor. By now the glass was pure white with cracks in a horizontal line running across its midsection. With a single kick, Arcturus kicked it inward, spraying the mainframe with countless shards before unloading into it with his rifle which he had inserted a fresh magazine into. Following a shower of sparks and flame, it died.
“Now, then, I just need to get this door open.” He tried another combination of wires, and this time the door panel turned green.
It was time to conclude their business here.
* * *
The threesome stared down at the middle-aged man in a lab coat, cowering on the ground and currently pissing his pants. They were in an octagonal room with glass cases along half the walls and large screens along the other half with computer consoles underneath them: the Control Room.
“W-What do you want?” the terrified man asked. The stench from his wet crotch was strong.
“I want you to deactivate the God Dampener,” Arcturus replied.
“I can’t! The higher-ups will kill me.”
“What makes you think we won’t?” Maya said.
“Please! I’m just a mortal. I can’t disobey Zero Grade.”
Arcturus put the barrel of his rifle in the man’s temple. “We left a trail of bodies back there. You want to be the next casualty?”
The man frantically waved his hands. “OK, OK! I’ll do it!” He got up and began typing at the master terminal. “There! It’s done.”
Arcturus went over to one of the glass cases and smashed it with his fist. No blood appeared. “Yes, it’s disabled.” He reached in and pulled out what looked exactly like a
shepherd’s cane.
Ev stared at it. “Is that it?”
“Yes; the Rod of Aaron. We now have everything we need to activate the Ark.” He then turned to the terrified scientist. “Has the evacuation order been sent?”
“Y-Yes. Everyone but me should have left by now. Well, everyone still alive down here.”
“Good,” Arcturus said. “Now activate the self-destruct sequence.”
Ev suddenly realized something. “Wait. Won’t the destruction of this place bring down the buildings above? Innocent people will die.”
“Don’t worry about that. They built this place far enough underground that a few explosions aren’t enough to endanger anything on the surface. They’ll feel the reverberations, but it won’t hurt anyone.”
But the scientist protested, saying, “If this place goes, then I’ll die as well.”
“We won’t let anything happen to you,” Ev said. “I’ll clear a path to the surface, and then Maya here will carry you up.”
“You promise?”
Maya nodded, apparently not incensed that Ev had just volunteered her for this. “We promise.”
The scientist hesitated for a moment. Eventually, though, he typed in some more commands. A soothing female voice announced, “Protocol Alpha initiated. T-minus five minutes to full facility purge. Please evacuate immediately.”
Ev turned to Maya. “Guess that’s my cue. See you on the surface.”
He knelt for a moment, and then used his powerful leg muscles to hurl himself upwards. He crashed through ceiling after ceiling on his journey back to the surface.
Before long, he broke through the final obstacle and flew up into the sky. He took a moment to marvel at the beautiful city of Adlo below. While it lacked the glitz of Seraphim City and the size of Stiftung, its historical pedigree alone more than made up for it. Ev could have stayed up there for a while marveling the landscape below.
At least, until something sharp closed like a vice around his neck. “Remember me, Bannen? We’ve got business with you traitors,” said a familiar voice behind him.
* * *
Maya emerged from the hole Ev had just made. She sat the terrified scientist down, and he promptly took off running without another word. She didn’t care; she was just glad to be out of there. Now all that remained was for Arcturus to come out. She didn’t care about him, either. He was a scumbag, and the sooner they parted ways, the better.
Something shiny appeared out of the corner of her eyes, and it only took a split-second to realize it was headed right for her. She leapt into the air, narrowly avoiding it as it crashed into the ground where she had stood. It ricocheted, slicing through a traffic light before coming back to its owner across the street.
It was a shield. Circular and silver with a gold crown emblem in the center, it was lined with razor-sharp blades. The basic shape was vaguely reminiscent of CiCi’s chakrams, but the similarities
ended there. Whereas CiCi’s weapons were largely meant for self-defense, this thing had obviously been designed to kill and maim as much as possible. It took a sick mind to wield such a weapon, so when Maya laid eyes on that wielder, she wasn’t surprised.
“Hello, Maya. Fancy meeting you here,” Priscilia said.
“Somehow I doubt it’s coincidence,” she shot back. “Especially seeing as how you just tried to kill me.”
Priscilia smiled like a beast that thirsted for blood and had just stumbled upon easy prey. “Oh, it’s not. We tracked you here. We have important business with your friends.”
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