The Spire (POV)

Log 4

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"Oh? Who is she?" You ask.

You don't know why, but you lied on instinct.

"She was a friend of ours." One of them replies.

"Ah, I see. You are the ones she mentioned" You reply.

"Well, alright then."

> You wonder if these people are hostile.

You immediately begin to feel uneasy. This isn't like the first time you felt uncomfortable while inside the Spire.

> You retreat back into the spire and look for Uzume, while making sure they don't follow you.

Uzume is still in the room you left her in. She's still blushing, but she's hiding it better now

> You say "Hey Uzu, some people downstairs call themselves "The Black Hooks". Do you know them"?

"Um... I don't really know any of them." She says nervously.

"That is... interesting, to say the least." You say.

At that moment, you can hear gunfire below you.

"That's what I thought too." You quip.

"But... But... That's... So many people..." Uzume says, trying to keep herself calm.

> You tell Uzu: "Well I don't really get paid to save non-agents, but perhaps I can ignore that for a while", you try to sound badass.

Uzume doesn't respond right away, she just continues to stare at you.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry for saying that to you. Anyway, let's go." You say.

The Black Hooks are advancing. You can try to set traps, or you can face them guns blazing.

> You set traps.

You run towards the stairs, and start setting up several tripwires and such.

Suddenly, a gunshot rings out. You dodge sideward as bullets fly past you.

"Damn it!"

"Keep shooting! We need the girl!"

You grit your teeth.

> You use a smoke grenade.

You throw a smoke grenade, which causes the Black Hooks to panic.

"What's going on?!" One of them shouts.

"This place is under attack, and it's not one of us!" Another one exclaims.

> You say "Correction. I'm defending it!". You pull out a holoprojector and set it beneath you.

You make yourself appear larger than life, and shoot a couple of Black Hooks who try to gang up on you.

"Let's see how much you wanna play my game."

> You retreat back to the room where Uzu is hiding.

You retreat back to the room where Uzu is hiding.

"I'm coming! We gotta stop those bastards!" You shout.

"Yeah, let's do it!" A voice says beyond the door

> You activate the traps that you previously disabled.

Lightning shoots out of the traps, causing electricity to jump from Black Hook to Black Hook.

A few moments pass, and you hear a loud explosion followed by screams. You turn around to find that the Black Hooks have been destroyed completely.

> You loot the corpses and try to identify them.

You walk over to the bodies of the Black Hooks, and pick up their pistols.

"Huh, these ones were a bit different." You say.

"Different enough to be worth killing for?"

> You say "Maybe so, Uzu"

"Alright, alright, I got it."

"Good."

You grab the pistol from the dead Black Hooks. The gun feels heavy in your hands.

> You say "I can sell these back at the RCC! I'm betting at least 4 tokens for each pistol"

Uzu just nods, and hugs you from behind.

3rd day in the Spire. The walls glow with malicious light, but you aren't affected. Uzu meanwhile, appears to have contracted a fever-like condition. She seems to be having trouble breathing, and is coughing blood.

"Are you alright? What happened?" You ask.

"It's nothing, I'll be fine soon." Uzu replies.

> You check Uzu's eyes.

You check Uzu's eyes, and see that they're red and swollen. They've probably been damaged by the poisonous light.

You remember something like this. Back at the RCC, you learnt about Chaothium Spectography Disorder, or CSD. This was why you wore the gas mask. Uzu might have been immune to the sun, but she wasn't immune to direct exposure to Chaothium. It was possible the walls were not stone, but instead Chaothium.

"Well, we need to get out of here before the walls become more of a barrier. Let's go." You say.

"Wait... you mean..." Uzu asks.

> You say "Yep"

You both leave the room, and head down the stairs.

"Where should we go now?" Uzu asks.

"Anywhere else would be a waste of time." You reply.

The Spire would be visited another day. Uzu was affected, and you could not proceed without her. You don't know why, but you feel like you can't unlock the secret of the spire without her.

As you exit the Spire, you look back.

You feel like the Spire laughs at you. Mocking you.

You have to destroy it.

You have to.