Smoke and Ferns

Revealing Encounters

Fern walked through the dusty desert while humming a simple tune, her destination was not a new one. In fact, this is a place she had been to multiple times. A tall canyon bathed in the red light of the fading sun stood before her. To others, this would have been ominous, but to Fern, it brought a sense of comfort.

Approaching the rock face, Fern skillfully scaled the red rocks until she reached an outcrop that served as her destination. Pulling her body onto the solid platform, Fern stood and admired the last rays of sun on the valley below. The cover of night fell before the girl moved back, into the sprawling cavern behind her.

The hollowed area was a reminder of home to the girl, the memories of her time in Yorkshire's famous cave systems coming back to the surface as the child carefully manoeuvred into the base of the cavern. With the moonlight failing to reach down below, Fern pulled off her pack and retrieved a pale green, glow-in-the-dark torch from inside. Slipping the pack back into her shoulders, the girl flicks on the light source and begins to travel down a familiar passageway.

Passing by multiple rock formations, Fern's little light cast a faint glow upon the area. It was not much, but enough for her to see clearly. Reaching the narrow segment of the passage, the girl holds the light in her mouth as she manoeuvres her body through the tight space.

Finally, she reaches the other side and stares in awe at the scene around her. Despite returning here frequently, the sight of the towering blue crystals made her gaze brighten. Flicking off her light and placing it inside her pocket, the faint blue glow from the gems around her gave off enough light to see clearly.

The girl had always kept the cavern a secret ever since she discovered it. Fern knew the greed of man would corrupt this place of harmony, so she hid it away. Fern was planning to share the secret though, her shared science project could be on the formation of gemstones. Yes, she would share this with her friend, Raf.

Suddenly, a low mechanical whirl sounded from the distance, down another passage Fern had not explored. She had never left the main cavern for fear of getting lost, as it wasn't on any map she could find. Her mental question was if the place she held dear to her was under threat, deciding to discover the answer, she moved swiftly down the dimly lit tunnel.

Keeping a vague mental list of landmarks, Fern was sure she could return to the main cavern if she wanted to. The low whirl steadily became louder and more prominent, causing Fern to worry. Was there a mining facility here? If so, then for what? The crystals had burned the girl's hand the first time she touched them, so what were these people looking for?

Artificial light flooded the exit of the passage, causing Fern to skid to a halt and duck behind the large stalagmite beside her. After a moment has passed, the young teen carefully peaked her head out from around the corner. The sight that greeted her took her breath away.

Dozens of house-tall, dark purple machines worked in front of her. All humanoid in shape, chipping away at another cluster of the odd gemstone from the other cavern. Glancing up, Fern realised that these weren't the only ones. Multiple layers of platforms had the same model of drone, some operating heavy machinery while others pushed carts filled with blue crystals.

Fern ducked back into cover to evaluate what she saw. These drones were highly advanced, Fern knew she was out of touch with the mechanical world, but even she knew that these drones could not have been publicly known. This thought led her to two conclusions. One, that they were a model in the testing phase and had yet to be revealed to the public or, these creations were not from earth.

Fern was not one for unproven theories, but if something had yet to be proven false, then the possibility of reality was always an option. Calming her nerve, the British teen risked another glance into the occupied cavern. Her eyes caught a flash of colour among the drab tone of the dark mine, but the glimpse was brief as the girl turned her attention to the drones once more.

An odd detail she noticed was an odd emblem of sorts on the torso of the machines. For whatever reason, the girl believed that she had seen something similar before. But she always has feelings like that, so she focused more on the approaching drone. Ducking behind cover once again, Fern's form stills entirely as the imposing machine nears. However, the sound of a roaring engine took the attention of both of them. Seeing the shadow vanish from the opening, Fern took her chance to steal a glimpse of the commotion.

The girl's eyes widened as a sleek, white and blue sports car rammed into the drone, sending it to the ground. Sparks flew as the two masses of metal clashed, the flashy car skidding to a stop several paces away. Fern's breath halted as the action took place in front of her, the vehicle suddenly began to shift, segments splitting off in rapid succession, growing taller by the moment.

Finally, the newcomer's form resembled that of the drones, a humanoid with the same colour scheme as the former car. Fern noticed that this one had structures that resembled wings upon their back, and the formation of the face was different as well.

 The drab drone faces were all the same, a silver base with a red-tinted slit for eyes and no other distinctive features. The new one's eyes, however, were electric blue, and a calculated smirk lay upon their features. 

Fern listen closely as more vehicles raced into the mine, her focus on the large machines in front of her. The newcomers shifted onto similar forms and charged into the other drones, a battle had commenced with Fern directly inside of it.

Just as the girl was about to retreat back into the smaller passage behind her, smaller flickers of colour caught her eye once more. Minding the clashing metallic titans, she focused more on the tiny flecks of familiar colours. A single word left her mouth in barely a whisper, "Raf?"

[[Edited]]