Gale stepped through first. The corridor stretched ahead lined with more of the mannequin robots.
Examining the corridor, the marked robots with the numbers on their heads lay torn to shreds on the floor. Metal limbs torn from torsos, heads crushed as if an animal had mauled them to death. However, the unnumbered robots all remained standing completely intact, except for the black blood splattered all over their bodies.
Ollie stepped through the door, examining the situation. His eyes glanced at the unmarked and marked robots. "Makes sense. Those flesh pounds didn't have eyes. But something doesn't make sense."
"What?" Gale asked.
"They don't have eyes, but then they managed to pass through the array; hence, they were able to break through the door. If the array wasn't broken, they would've repeated the loop over and over again with no end," Ollie said. "Not having eyes, that's the first part. The next part, how did those mindless things kill them in sequence?"
"You think someone's controlling them?" Lily asked from behind.
"Has to be," Ollie said. "Something smart enough to understand the sequence and direct those flesh warriors to the right targets, or at least had to go through this through trial and error. Even then, it'd take them ages through trial and error if they didn't understand how arrays worked."
"Great, just what we need," Kyle muttered. "Techno-horror bullshit with a mastermind."
Glancing around at the corridor, at least Gale didn't feel any of the watchers. Next time he feels it, he'd rush at it immediately and just kill it before it could ask for reinforcements.
The group continued walking down the corridor that ended in the familiar no window door on a large wall. The door held the same rhombus-circle pattern with lines that shot out from the 4 points. Gale pressed his palm against it without hesitation, and the door slid open.
They stepped into a vast observation deck, wall-to-wall glass providing a panoramic view of the world outside.
"Holy shit," Kyle breathed.
The landscape stretched to the horizon, entirely covered in metal, pipes, and floating landscapes. Hexagonal grids spread out below them, covering everything in sight. Buildings rose like metal fingers reaching for the sky, connected by tubes and bridges. The entire world appeared to be one massive machine, every inch of natural terrain replaced by machinery, metal, and technology.
"They really did cover the whole planet," Ollie said.
The transit hub they stood on was sparse in comparison to the outside view. It was a simple platform. On the other end of the hub, where the glass parts were, a single hexagonal rail and a train that already waited. Its metal was sleek and patternless, showing it was more of a mechanical design than the ether nature of anything that had patterns.
Gale noticed the black fluid dripping from the train's entrance, the same substance that had poured from the flesh warriors. "They've been here too."
"Great," Clyde said. "So our ride might be crawling with those things."
"Nah bro. Probably already tried to get us in that chamber. That's just their tracks," Kyle said.
"There's a terminal," Gale pointed to a control panel to the side of the platform.
The group moved toward it cautiously. Ollie reached it first, his fingers already tapping at the screen before the others had gathered around.
"It's a control panel for the train," he said, scrolling through options. "And it has more destination options than the map in the Core Chamber showed us."
[Power Station]
[Central Navigation]
[Central Armoury]
[Maintenance Sector]
[Communications Hub]
[█████]
"What's that last one?" Rachel asked, peering over his shoulder.
"I don't know. It's redacted," Ollie said. He tapped on the blacked-out option.
"Don't!" Lily and Rachel shouted, but it was too late.
Nothing happened.
Ollie tapped it a couple of more times, but the screen remained unchanged. It was unresponsive.
Gale let out a long sigh. "Quit playing around. Let's just go to the power station."
"You sure?" Ollie asked. "The Central Navigation might be a good choice, or maybe even the armoury. It could help us fight against those flesh pounds if they got heavier calibre, or maybe even weapons we can loot to recreate back home."
"Power first," Gale said firmly. "Everything else is useless without it."
"No side quests." Kyle snorted. "Boring."
"The train's a death trap," Clyde said. "Bet you that shit is an event trigger."
"Is this another one of your game references?" Lily asked.
Clyde grinned. "Think about this. A russian subway system full of mutants. You're stuck on rails, literally, while monsters come at you from all sides. This is the exact same scenario."
"Shut up, idiots," Rachel said. She turned to Ollie. "Just press the Power Station. We don't have time for this."
Ollie hesitated, then tapped the Power Station option.
[Destination: Power Plant]
[Train will depart when all passengers have boarded.]
"I guess that's our cue," Ollie said.
The group approached the train warily. The doors stood open, revealing a dimly lit interior. Black blood streaked from where the flesh warriors came from.
"I'll go first," Gale said, stepping onto the train, and the others followed.
The first car was covered in black blood, splattered across the seats and anything that could be used for rest. The ceiling also dripped with the black blood.
"You'd think from that much blood loss, they'd already be dead," Clyde said, covering his nose.
"Let's move up," Rachel said. "Find a clean car if there is one."
They moved through the train, car by car, each splattered with varying amounts of the black fluid. Some seats were torn open, stuffing pulled out like someone had been searching for something hidden inside.
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The fifth car finally showed signs of cleanliness. No black blood or torn seats. The windows were intact, and the only black blood that marked the floor were their footprints.
"This'll do," Ollie sat down in a booth. "Everyone settle in. Who knows how long this thing is going to go for?"
Lily eased herself into a seat in the booth across where Ollie sat. Gale dropped into the seat next to Ollie, his weight causing the cushion to compress with a soft hiss. Kyle and Clyde followed, taking positions on either side of them, their bodies sinking into the surprisingly comfortable seats.
"These are nice," Kyle said, bouncing slightly on the cushion. "Not what I expected from a techno world."
Across from them, Rachel slid into the booth beside Lily. A subtle wave of warmth radiated into the car, raising the almost slightly cold temps to room temperature.
"How's the arm?" Rachel asked, her voice low enough that the men couldn't hear from across the aisle, except Gale who tried to not eavesdrop with his tendrils but couldn't.
Lily flexed her left hand's fingers slightly, wincing as she did. "Been better. Been worse too. The pain's manageable."
"We could use more of the gun syringes if you want," Rachel said, eyeing the sling.
"Don't. I think my healing sigil's enough. Syringes are for emergencies. Besides, it's not my first injury on a raid," Lily said, trying to smile. "Say… what do you think is happening back on Earth while we're stuck in this rift?"
Rachel glanced out the window at the surreal technological landscape rushing past. "My grandmother's probably turned half of Canada upside down looking for me. She doesn't like it when I disappear."
"You think she's going after the Silver Lions?"
"If it were me, I wouldn't let them get away with any of this. So yeah, she's probably hunting them down one by one," Rachel said.
Lily nodded. "The Blue Witches are probably getting plenty of work then. Your grandmother always did like our style."
"Speaking of, how's Jessica doing these days? Haven't seen her since that job in Montreal."
"Surviving," Lily said. "That studio she's renting from your family is doing good business. She has a class every day with different kids now, different genres of music too."
"Good to hear. She always did have talent." Rachel smiled at the mention of Jessica's tattoo studio. "What about Marine? Last time I heard, she started taking cooking classes."
"That was because Jeanne complained that Marine never cooks in their roommate situation." Lily chuckled, expression turning sombre after. "You ever wonder if this might be it? The rift where one of us doesn't make it back?"
Rachel stared at her. "Where's this coming from?"
"Just thinking about odds," Lily said. "We've all had close calls. Maybe this is the one where the dice finally land wrong."
"Don't talk like that," Rachel said. "We'll make it out of here eventually."
The two women looked across the aisle at Kyle and Clyde, expecting some smart-ass comment. The twins remained unusually quiet, staring out the window or at the floor, lost in their own thoughts.
"What, nothing to say?" Lily asked them. "No jokes about my morbid outlook?"
Kyle glanced up, then back down at his boots. Clyde just shrugged, still watching the metal landscape slide past.
"Same as you. We're just waiting to die. Fighting to survive. What difference does it make thinking about it?" Kyle asked.
"Nobody's dying on my watch," Gale said firmly, breaking his silence.
Kyle looked up, smirking. "Well, well. Rookie's got some guts, taking that line from Glory."
"Got a speech before our deaths?" Clyde asked.
"Not trying to be a leader," Gale said. "I'm just trying my best to not let anyone die."
"That's some heavy shit for the new guy," Clyde said. "It's just…"
"Not that new anymore," Rachel interrupted.
Ollie pulled up the tablet from the storage box. Its screen glowed softly in the cabin's dimly lit interior. Tapping on the screen, he pulled up the navigation automatically connected to the train. "Says here we'll arrive in twelve hours. Time's the only thing that makes sense on this thing. Everything else is just gibberish."
"Twelve hours?" Kyle groaned. "What the fuck are we supposed to do for twelve hours?"
"Rest," Ollie dematerialized the tablet back into the storage box. "Recover. We're going to need it."
The train screeched to a stop. Gale looked out the window at what appeared to be an industrial station that looked like an oil processing site he saw in an encyclopedia once, except way more pipes that reached up to the sky.
"Well, that's our stop," Kyle pushed himself up from his seat. He stretched his arms above his head. "Gotta say, I'm disappointed. Not a single monster attack during the whole ride? That's just bad horror movie plotting."
Clyde smacked his brother's shoulder. "Don't jinx us, dumbass."
"What? I'm just saying," Kyle said, "there's always a train sequence. The monsters breaking through the windows, crawling on the ceiling. It's basic shit."
Ollie materialized his deagle from the storage box. "Maybe they're waiting for us to lower our guard and ambush. Classic setup."
"Shut up. Don't add to their stupidity." Rachel elbowed Ollie. "Not everything's a game or a movie."
The group moved toward the exit. Gale took point, his eyes scanning the platform beyond the doors. The train had delivered them to what looked like a massive processing facility. Huge metal pipes crisscrossed overhead, connecting to cylindrical tanks that towered all the way to the sky. Steam hissed from valves, creating a white fog that clung to specific sections of the tankers.
"That's a lot of pipes," Clyde said.
The platform was largely clean. No black blood could be found anywhere. No signs of combat either.
Just in case, Gale let out Breath of the Void's tendrils. But at the 100 meter mark, it grew harder and harder to push through.
[Interference detected.]
[Breath of the Void Maximum Range: 100 metres]
Gale mouthed to himself, Guide what the hell.
[Voidal interference frequency detected. Destroy source in order to regain functionality above 100 metres.]
Great. 100 metres was barely anything. It felt like he was even more blind compared to the already existing interference from the corruption that he's been dealing with since entering the rift.
"Power plant, huh?" Kyle nudged a small piece of metal with his boot. "Looks more like an oil refinery."
Ollie craned his neck up. "It's processing something, that's for sure. But what powers what in this place is beyond me."
"Let's head for the centre," Rachel said. "That's usually where the control systems are located."
The group set off down the main walkway, footsteps clanging against the metal grating. Steam billowed around their legs as they passed between two massive tanks, their surfaces covered in the same circuit patterns they'd seen throughout the inner residential area.
That was when Gale felt it first. The familiar crawling and stinging sensation at the back of his neck. He stopped abruptly, causing Clyde to bump into him.
"What gives?" Clyde asked.
"What is it?" Rachel asked.
Without answering, Gale pivoted and dashed toward a tangle of smaller pipes to their left. His hand shot out. Weber materialized mid swing. Something skittered on the pipes.
A clean slash through the pipes, Weber cut something metal and fleshy. An audible high pitched squeal rang out, followed by the sound of something splattering on the metal floor and a tiny clang.
"Got it," Gale said, looking at what he had hit by his feet.
The others gathered around the eyeball. Regular size, and regular eyeball, apart from the fact it was grafted onto tiny spider legs. The fleshy part had been cut in half while the tiny legs were intact.
"What the fuck is that?" Kyle leaned in for a closer look.
"It's what I saw in the residential area," Gale said. "The watchers. They've been tracking us this whole time."
Ollie crouched next to him, staring at it. "So you were right. The eyeballs things really do exist."
"I never doubted you," Rachel said, forcing a smile while giving Gale's shoulder a quick squeeze.
"It's definitely organic," Ollie said, using his telekinesis to turn the eyeball over. The back of it was covered in more metal, with what looked like a transmitter embedded in the flesh. "But heavily modified, like those flesh warriors."
Lily peered over Ollie's shoulder. "That's the creepiest thing I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot of creepy shit."
"Is it... broadcasting?" Clyde asked.
"It's dead. Shouldn't be," Gale said.
"Good. We don't need more of those flesh pounds showing up," Kyle said.
Ollie stood, dusting off his pants. "Let's keep moving. The control centre should be close."
They continued down the walkway, more alert now that the presence of the watchers had been confirmed. As they walked into a clearing of the facility, a dome shaped structure surrounded by a ring of tankers that scratched the sky stood in front of them.
Ollie pulled out his tablet as they approached. "Let me check the map, see if we can pinpoint the main control room."
He tapped the screen, but instead of the familiar map display, only static filled the screen.
"What the hell?" Ollie tapped it again twice.
"Problem?" Lily asked.
"It's just showing static," Ollie said, turning the tablet to show the others.
"Try turning it off and on again," Lily said.
Ollie gave her a flat look but complied, holding down the power button until the screen went dark, then pressing it again to restart the device.
The tablet powered up, the loading screen appearing briefly before static filled the display once more.
"Shit," Ollie muttered. "Looks like we're on our own."
"We'll have to find the control centre the old-fashioned way," Rachel said. "Look for signs, access points, anything that might indicate a central operations area."