The bunker door groaned, reluctant as it cracked open. I stood at the threshold, feeling my pulse kick up as I took the first step into the wasteland beyond. A vast crater stretched out before me, its jagged depths swallowed by a swirling ocean of miasma, glowing faintly in the shafts of cold light slicing through the fractured dome overhead. The whole scene felt like some twisted artist’s vision of the apocalypse, harsh, brutal, but almost… beautiful in a way.
“Hello there, isn’t this a sight to wake up to?” Arvie’s sardonic voice chirped in my head. “Nothing like a little apocalypse to kickstart your day. Ready for your grand adventure?”
Adventure? Sure, that’s one way to put it. I stepped forward, feeling the ground crack beneath my boots. Every sound echoed, like the world was a bad recording of itself. My gut told me this place wasn’t just dead, it was restless.
Something flickered in the swirling fog below. Instinct took over, sharpening my senses. “Master,” Arvie’s tone shifted to caution. “I’m picking up some rather... peculiar activity down there.”
My gaze sharpened on the shifting forms. Down in the pit, two droids were locked in a deadly ballet with a pack of Nether beasts, jaws snapping, limbs thrashing, the whole fight a blur of violence. The droids were fast, precise, their energy beams slicing through the creatures like they were nothing. The beasts fought with a feral intensity, until they collapsed into the fog. As the last abomination was swallowed by the miasma, the droids turned and disappeared into the fog, leaving nothing but the memory of carnage.
“Yikes,” Arvie buzzed, clearly enjoying the show. “Ten outta ten for choreography. Maybe take a scenic route, unless you’re feeling extra brave.”
I wasn’t feeling particularly suicidal. Committed, maybe. I pressed forward, the fog wrapping around me like a snake, coiling tighter the deeper I went. Just as doubt began to creep in, the ground exploded. I hit the dirt, the heat licking at my skin even from a distance.
Overhead, three droids hovered in a loose triangle, red optics glowing like bored executioners. “Citizen, why did you not respond to our calls?”
Arvie clicked, sheepish. “Right. Your Neurolink’s a hot mess. They’ve been trying to ping you. Oops.”
I raised both hands, palms out. “Neurolink’s fried. I couldn’t respond.”
Silence. Their scanners flicked over me, like they were debating whether I was worth the ammo.
“Rise,” one ordered. “Accompany us.”
No choice but to obey. I stood, half expecting to be vaporized anyway. Instead, they closed in, silent and watchful, and led me into the abyss.
Funny thing, my lungs should’ve been melting, but it didn’t burn as much now. Maybe Arvie was right. Maybe I was changing.
We moved through the haze, the landscape a blur of decay and ruin, until we reached a door, massive, reinforced, looming like the entrance to underworld. The droids stopped, and with a rumble, the door creaked open, revealing a dark corridor leading into the heart of the city.
“This is the Regulatory Directorate,” Arvie whispered. “They used to manage the city. Now they’re more about damage control.”
Inside, the air reeked of rust and bureaucracy. My boots clanged on the floor, the sound too loud in the dead space. Guards appeared, silent, faceless, efficient. They stripped me of my satchel and rifle without a word. My gear disappeared into a locker marked with a red tag that screamed condemned.
The clang of the locker door felt final, like they’d just sealed away any chance I had left. They herded me forward. I was passed off to another set of droids, and we continued through a maze of corridors. Broken screens flickered on the walls, the only sound the distant hum of aged machinery.
The chamber they led me to had that sterile chill. Made me feel like a specimen laid out on a slab. Behind the console a stern-looking officer waited, tall for his kind, all posture and protocol. Authority etched into every line of his face. His gaze latched onto me like he thought I might bite.
“Greetings,” he said, clipped and formal. “I am officer Larek of the Directorate.” His eyes swept over me, narrowing. “You’re... an unusual sight.”
I could feel him dissecting me with his eyes, his expression hardening with suspicion. “Who are you? Your identity mesh is scrambled. Explain.” His tone implied that was a personal affront.
“I don’t know,” I replied, trying to hold onto some shred of dignity. “I woke up in the middle of the city’s collapse with no memory. Identity mesh’s probably damaged, along with my Neurolink.”
Larek didn’t seem impressed. He frowned, giving me a long look that made me wonder if his gaze could knock me over. “Your identity mesh is indeed damaged. That will make things... complicated.”
Arvie snorted. “Understatement of the parsec.”
“Just trying to figure out what’s happening,” I added. “If there’s anything I can do…”
“You can cooperate,” he cut in. “Until we determine who and what you are, you will not be granted privileges or freedom.”
He leaned back, still stone-faced but maybe, just maybe, a little less hostile. “But we’re not looking to make enemies. Cooperate, and we’ll help with your... predicament.”
He gestured to a terminal. The droids backed away, and the scans began. My skull buzzed with static as it pried into my systems.
Arvie’s voice was back, a little too gleeful. “Oh, this’ll be fun. They have no idea what they’re in for.”
Larek’s composure cracked, just a hair, as lines of data flooded the screen. “This makes no sense,” he muttered, leaning closer, squinting at the incomprehensible mess of readings. “Your stats are... erratic. Inconsistent with any known patterns. Your MIM is active, but the readings are all over the place.” He stopped, glaring at me as if I was to blame for this chaos. “Your modules are damaged, yet still functioning. This defies any logic.”
I met his gaze evenly. “I’ve told you what I know. I’m a mystery.”
That didn’t endear me to him. His glare sharpened. I blurted the first thing that might buy me time. “There are survivors, Jaraek and Reya, in a bunker not far from where your droids found me.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsZAhkpCThb
His eyes narrowed. “We registered a distress signal. Assumed it was automated. Low priority.” He turned to a nearby droid. “Dispatch a unit. Secure the bunker. Extract any living personnel.”
Small win. But Larek’s gaze was still cold, like he was only halfway convinced I wasn’t about to explode in his face. The screens flickered, tactical overlays taking over as the droids prepped for the extraction.
Arvie whispered, “Nice save. But we’re not out of the woods yet. Stay sharp.”
I nodded inwardly, but something felt off, though, I could feel it. The air in the chamber seemed to thicken, every second dragging, amplifying the nagging sense of unease clawing at the back of my mind. Then, the ground trembled beneath my feet. A low rumble that built into a sickening tremor.
Larek’s head snapped up. “What now…”
A klaxon screamed, each note a shard of ice. Lights flashed, throwing everything into high-contrast chaos.
A droid’s voice cut through the mayhem. “Director, multiple breaches detected in lower sections. Nether beasts are infiltrating the city. Cause of breach unknown. Immediate action required.”
“Damn it,” Larek barked orders at the enforcers and droids gathering around him. “Mobilize containment units. Lock down the industrial zone.”
The place became a hive of frenetic activity, droids moved with precision, relaying commands, enforcers scrambled to gear up. The urgency in the air was electric.
In the chaos, I caught sight of an officer standing apart, his movements... wrong. Jittery, like a program glitching out. His eyes darted, quick and nervous, before he turned and slipped out of the door.
“Something’s wrong,” Arvie warned. “He’s not following the script.”
Before I could react, it hit. Blinding, white-hot pain that shattered my senses and ripped through my body, vision glitching into static. I dropped. Felt cold hands grabbing me, dragging me across the metal.
Larek’s shout, distorted, echoed through the roaring in my ears. My thoughts scrambled, slipping between fragments of pain and confusion.
Just before system failure, a blurred face hovered above me, smiling with eyes cold with calculation. Then everything was gone, swallowed whole into the abyss of encroaching black.
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