by Xander Boyce
Holding the mop high, he advanced to the edge of the stairwell. The stairs on the other side didn’t seem to have any blood on them, but as far as he could see on his set of stairs, the red streak marred the floor. He shifted his grip on the mop and looked up again. Then, moving to keep one shoulder near the wall and away from the central chasm of the stairwell, he descended.
In his brain, he mentally prepared himself for the most obvious monsters. “So far, it’s just different kinds of spiders. Probably just mutated versions of the ones that already existed in the building. So, odds are this is either a spider, a centipede, or something similar.” Drew’s habit of talking through his problems out loud was manifesting. His steps reverberated throughout the echoing chamber, a comforting sign to him, since it meant that anything creeping up on him would probably also make some noise.
One landing down and the blood trail continued. He glanced at the doors that were his typical egress but opted to continue to follow the path of blood. Rob (his partner) had been out on his lunch break when the Advent began, and the only other people that could be in this portion of the building during the Advent was one of the security guards. Either way, if there was a chance that the person was still alive, Drew owed it to them to try and help. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he didn’t at least find out what had happened to them. He continued down the stairs, a white-knuckled grip on the mop.
The next landing was a grislier tableau; a large pool of dried blood covered the floor. The doors on this level had been bashed in. They were bent and lying broken on the floor, along with hand sized chunks of chitin that looked to have been smashed away from a large beast. A dismembered hand lay among the other viscera. Hardened blue ichor caught the light and threw it in prismatic shadows across the floor, the rainbows adding a disconcerting gaiety to the morbid scene. Drew’s eyes fixated on the hand, his brain going into overload trying to suppress his instinctual reaction to run screaming.
A furred claw swiped at him from behind. A puff of yellow light flashed as mana guard’s energy was spent blocking a single blow. The shield saved his life, but the force sent him flying forward and the mop dropped from his nerveless hands. He tucked his shoulder and rolled past the broken doors, trying to open the distance between him and whatever it was that had attacked him from behind. Dazed, Drew rolled to the side and raised a finger as he tried to get a look at the thing that had attacked him.
It was hard to tell with the limited light, but whatever had attacked him had a bipedal form and looked like it would tower over most humans. He got the vague impression of thick fur that made it look even bigger than it would have otherwise. The creature compressed its lips and growled in Drew’s direction, a low and dangerous sound, its weight shifting into a combat stance. Before he could think to cast a fireball, the beast was gone, jumping back over the railing and out of his sight. Confused by the strange behavior, he turned his head to look behind him.
Now that he was on the other side of the doorway, he could see a faint, sickly looking, yellow light coming from hundreds of small orbs in the rather large atrium on this side of the landing. It took him a moment to realize why there seemed to be a gap in the otherwise densely clustered orbs. Something large blocked the orbs’ light about twenty feet further into the room. Raising a shaking hand, he pointed his finger at it, summoning the power of the xatherite. The fireball bloomed in the air between him and the creature, streaking towards its massive form. The light shed by the fireball illuminated the room to some extent. It resolved the shadowed mass into a man-sized black spider with its abdomen displaying a crimson, four-foot-tall hourglass.
The fireball spell hit the spider near where its abdomen and thorax connected. Two of the legs on its left side were burned in the blast, hindering the monster’s movement considerably. Drew pushed himself to his feet while the spider struggled to maneuver its body towards him. Its bulk and injuries prevented the normally rapid movement it used to hunt down prey. He held one hand low and flat, the other pointing at the spider, waiting for a shot at a vital spot. Minor acid dart’s damage wasn’t high, but if he could hit an eye or two with it, he might be able to keep on the spider’s injured side long enough for fireball to eat through its health pool.
The spider raised its two front legs. Wickedly sharp blades became evident even in the dim lighting, with the front left leg notably lower than the right as it tried to compensate for the damage he had already caused it on that side of its body. The ambient light was just barely enough for Drew to get a sense of what the much larger creature was doing. When the spider had finally managed to shift to face him directly, he flicked the fingers on his left hand and an acid dart shot towards the left side of the spider’s head. Drew was hoping to disable an eye, but the darkness prevented him from being able to see if it scored any damage. One of his hands immediately began the series of seals to summon a dancing blade while his other hand was still held flat and ready. Drew edged to the right, hoping to stay on the weak side of the spider, who was beginning a slow and painful looking shuffle towards him.
Opting to close the distance with the spider’s weak side, Drew dashed forward. His cone of frost raked the arachnid’s flank, encasing the left front leg and a considerable portion of its body in ice just as it tried to slice at him with its leg. The sound of ripping cloth and the burning feeling in his arm told him that he hadn’t dodged quickly enough. He mentally cursed the heavy boots he wore that made his already slow movement speed even worse. Still, he had managed to avoid being impaled on its sharp leg
Dancing Blade flashed into being and immediately sliced towards the last good supporting leg on the spider’s left side, hacking a deep wound through the chitin and causing blue ichor to spray into Drew’s face and mouth. The nearly crippled beast took another burst of damage as an arc of electricity was emitted from his elbow, colliding with the already damaged leg. With a crack of protest, the leg gave out, sending the hundred-pound spider crashing into the ground near him.
Drew stumbled, spitting out the vile tasting ichor. The uneven ground and heavy impact combined, causing him to trip. His chin bashed against the cement floor as he crashed, rolling into several of the orbs lining the room. Fighting through the pain that seemed to fill his entire body, he stumbled to his feet again. The spider was thrashing around in the middle of the room but was unable to get close enough to him with its good legs to do any damage. Drew warily backed away, casting his long-range spells that weren’t on cooldown for the next half a minute. The third fireball he launched managed to finish the beast off. As the red glare of the spell faded, the spider twitched once, twice more, and then went still.
Casting his eyes around to see if there were any other hostiles, he put his back against the wall, keeping an eye on the door. He was waiting for the furry biped to reappear now that the spider was dealt with. His breath was coming in ragged gasps, and his good hand began to form the seals for refresh. The seconds it took to cast the yellow spell seemed like an eternity to Drew, whose head was still ringing from the hard impact of his chin against the floor. Blood trickled from the two major wounds on his temple and shoulder, mingling with his sweat and causing his uniform to stick uncomfortably to his body.
Refresh did its job. Drew felt his mind and body renew, recovering the dangerously flagging energy levels to which the fight had reduced him. However, it did nothing for his open wounds, and this didn’t seem like a place where he could tend to his injuries. Immediately after finishing refresh, he began to cast mana guard, not wanting to take another blow from the hairy beast without its protection. Dancing sword disappeared, and he pressed his hand to the wound on his shoulder, worried about bleeding too much.
Inspecting the orbs now that he wasn’t under obvious threat, he realized that they were eggs. He was standing in a nest of thousands of spider eggs. He shivered, his mind and training fighting against the shock that his body wanted to succumb. Refresh could only do so much for him; his vitality had been bolstere
d but was draining away just as quickly with his blood. He needed somewhere safe and he needed it soon. He took a step towards the stairwell. His only hope now was getting to the other watch floor, where hopefully someone was still alive. As he edged past the spider’s head, he realized that the eggs weren’t the only thing glowing in the room. An intricate crystal in the shape of an X had formed between its eyes; it glowed a soft green that seemed reassuring when compared to the sickly yellow luminescence of the eggs.
Some instinct caused him to reach down and touch the crystal. As he did, the gentle light intensified within it, filling the entire room with a brilliant emerald color before fading away. The crystal crumbled into dust and a blue screen appeared at the edge of his vision, which he ignored for now; he could worry about the messages later.
He stumbled out of the nest, picked up his torch, and made his slow and laborious way up the stairs. The palm he pressed against the wall for support left a bloody smear. His eyes were focused on the open space in the middle of the stairwell, watching for another attack.
Afterward, when he thought about it, he couldn’t remember how he’d gotten up the stairs, through the door, or the hallway beyond it. Pain and the need for safety pushed any other thoughts from his awareness.
The large metal door, like the one he left a few hours ago, filled his vision. He kicked it twice before collapsing against the wall, letting out a muffled grunt as his shoulder met the rough bricks. The last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was a brilliant white light.
Chapter Six — How long
Awareness came slowly. The dream he had been having seemed more like a nightmare than anything else. Spiders and crystals, blood and fire. One hand reached out, trying to find the warm form of Zoey sleeping next to him. Drew’s hand found hair, and he stroked it gently. He loved her curls.
“Normally, I’d ask a guy to at least buy me dinner before letting him paw at me like that.” The unfamiliar voice was female, which caused all sorts of alarms to go off in his head. Drew’s eyes shot open. Sitting next to him was a moderately tall brunette, she had an oblong face with brilliant light blue eyes. Her hair had been let down, clearly against the military regulation her uniform dictated she should be following. She looked to be in her early thirties or late twenties and was wearing a disheveled dress uniform, the insignia on her collars designating her as a 1st class petty officer with a name tag that read Sabin.
“Ensign, he’s awake,” the woman before him called out to someone beyond Drew’s field of vision. He tried to stand up, but the pounding in his head slammed him back down with a grunt. “Woah, steady there, don’t try to move just yet. You took quite the beating out there. I’m glad the Ensign was able to heal you up…but I don’t think you’re back up to ops normal quite yet.” The brunette grabbed his shoulder and helped him back down, moving the pillow behind his head to ensure he didn’t bang it on the hard floor.
Drew’s eyes closed again, and he realized that it had not been a dream. He turned his attention inward; the pain he remembered was mostly gone, but small aches and pains remained. His clothing was still stuck to him, the blood and sweat not having been washed off. With his eyes closed, he could still see the flashing blue box in the corner of his vision, but he opted not to give it any credence until he was surer of his current situation. “Lights? How?” His voice felt raw and dry. The blanket covered his hands and he began the process of casting major refresh on himself, wanting more clarity for the situation.
“Easy there shipmate, just hold up a minute and you can talk to the Ensign. She’s in charge,” the brunette said. He could feel a hand on his shoulder trying to comfort him. “Ensign Rothschild?” She made the question, with her voice tilted away from him. Drew was aware of other sounds in the room, cloth shifting, and footsteps sounding as they approached him. Major Refresh went off and he breathed a sigh of relief. His eyes opened, and he moved to sit up again, the headache no longer affecting him.
“Alright, I’m up.” The ensign came into view. She was young, early twenties at best, about what Drew would have expected from an Ensign. She looked him over, “So, Petty Officer Michalik,” her pronunciation of his name being horrible, with the emphasis on the ch rather than the second i. “You show up at the door, mostly dead, covered in blood and who knows what else. Care to tell me who you are and what’s going on?”
Drew laughed, “Ma’am, I have no clue what’s going on. I’m IT2 Michalik and I’m…no, I was the Cyber Security Operations Command mission lead. When the lights went out and the blue boxes appeared, I left the watch floor and went looking for my partner, who was on his lunch break.” Drew scratched his forehead, flaking pieces of dried blood falling onto his hand. With a grunt, he shook his hands, causing the flakes to fall onto the ground. “I ran into a six-foot spider that almost killed me, and then came here hoping you all were still here and alive.” He shrugged and looked around the room for the first time. He was sitting in a corner. The two women standing next to him weren’t the only people in the room; he could see the prone shapes of two more people sleeping in the far corner. The room was lit with several small, stone-like, white lights that were scattered around the room.
“Have you had any contact from the outside? All my lines were dead,” Drew asked the junior officer
“No, we’ve…been here for the last couple days. Same situation. All the lines are dead, the power is off, and every time we’ve ventured outside something has attacked us.” The Ensign replied.
“Days?” Drew asked, confused, “How long was I out?” He moved to stand up, the 1st class helping him, and he smiled at her in thanks.
“An hour or so... We haven’t had much sleep, and healing you took a lot out of me,” the ensign responded and Drew frowned. He hadn’t ever really felt tired after casting spells. Then again, after pretty much every fight he had cast major refresh, which would theoretically have removed all the negative effects of the casting.
“That…doesn’t make sense, it’s only been a couple hours since the voice said ‘begin’ and all this craziness started.”
Sabin shook her head, “No, IT2, it’s been a couple days. Why don’t you tell us what you remember, and we’ll figure out what happened?” She gestured to the polished cherry wood table where the higher-ups of the coast guard had their daily briefings and the very nice seats that surrounded it.
“Alright. So, me and Rob were on night watch together this week, Rob… that is IT2 Omondi was on his lunch break, and suddenly the voice said ‘Begin’ and the blue boxes appeared. They told me my stats and then gave me some xatherite for being close to a central nexus or something. Then I went through the tutorial, which only lasted a handful of minutes.”
“Wait, tutorial?” Ensign Rothschild interrupted him, “What tutorial?”
“Uh, the Aevis lady appeared in front of me and gave me a rundown on the whole Human Protectorate, slotting xatherite, linked skills, and all that stuff. Not a ton of information, to be honest.” Drew looked between the two women, taking in their blank glances. “I mean, I guess it said I was selected for it, so I guess it isn’t ubiquitous. Guess I got lucky there. But anyway, then I slotted a bunch of xatherites and lost consciousness for a bit, no idea how long.”
“Two questions; What is the Human Protectorate? And exactly how many xatherite did you slot? Caballos is the only one that lost consciousness after he slotted all five of his at once, and even then, that was only for a few minutes.”
“All five? I did six that first time--three intermediates, and a couple of commons and basics. Wait, you guys only got five? That means you have like…50 nodes? The tutorial said I had more than average, but I didn’t think it would be that much higher.” Drew looked between the two women as they stared at him with slightly agape mouths.
“Three intermediates? The first time? I have 37 slots, Katie and Mitch are in the mid 40’s, and Juan has 55. How many did you get?” Ensign Rothschild asked him.
“Uh, 73,” Drew said a little
embarrassed.
“Holy shit-dogs!” Sabin exclaimed. Rothschild shot her a glare for her language as she considered the ramifications of his words.
“And the Human Protectorate?” Rothschild prodded.
“Oh uh, they own Earth and like 8,000 more planets, and they installed the mana accumulators and, uh, humans here. Earth has been split dimensionally--is that a word?--a couple times, this is Earth-3 but all the Earths are a military training facility and we’re effectively shanghaied into their Navy,” Drew answered, just now realizing how crazy that all sounded as he watched Rothschild and Sabin’s faces.
“I’m sorry, what? I already signed one dotted line to join the military. I’m not okay with being force conscripted into another.” Sabin’s voice had a hard edge.
“Hey, my contract is up in a year; so, I get that, but I don’t really see it affecting us much. They want us trained first, and unless they have a way to modify the collective memory of humankind and created a massive fake human history, I get the feeling that this whole thing has taken thousands of years. I don’t imagine those of us here now will have to go out to space.”
“Did you say food?” Rothschild asked, clearly changing the subject.
“Yeah, I guess I left it at the top of the stairs when I began to follow the blood trail.”
Rothschild asked, “Blood trail? You didn’t mention a blood trail.”
“Sorry, hadn’t gotten to it yet. Where was I? Oh yeah, it was super dark.” Drew looked around the room, “Where did you guys get all the light by the way? I had to make a torch out of a mop and shoe polish.”
“Ahh, one of my xatherite is major glowrock. I’ve been casting it as soon as the cooldown comes off.” Sabin seemed somewhat mollified by Drew’s words and the more pressing matters at hand. She picked up one of the rocks off the table and tossed it to Drew, who caught it and turned it over in his hands, amazed at how simple their solution was.