Unintended

23

It was treacherous to say the least, where there was safe footing was actually just an unsteady bunch of rocks which could tumble under anyone's boots. Even if at points this tunnel seemed to level out to the point where they could slightly jog, it still felt rather unsafe to do so; varying between a fast walk, keeping somewhat a low sense of gravity so their balance didn't get hugely knocked off, and the moments of sporadic jogging meant the end of the tunnel came into sight rather quickly.

There was no natural lighting, the shadows which could be seen from the entrance were created but fractured and broken pieces of machinery, the holographic images still flickering on screens though trying to decipher them was almost impossible. The floor had completely gone from this room, whatever it once was it really didn't appear to resemble anything anymore; it was a little easy to try and imagine the Old Ones in here, pottering around doing whatever business it was they were doing. How many worked here, or inhabited this place was a mystery, not that it mattered now.

It was hard to believe that the Zeniths had created such a tunnel to get down and into this place, Kotallo had sounded questionable asking Aloy, but his voice also had that slight lilt of astonishment. What machinery could do something like that, after all? Sure, the Oseram had ways to mine and bore into the ground, but it may not have been as precise as the circular tunnel they had all ventured down.

Of course, Aloy wasn't shocked, nothing seemed to hugely surprise her anymore as she took the lead. It wasn't that she didn't trust her two friends within new surroundings that were alien and unknown territory, but she had been here before; she knew this place as well as she could, all things considering. She didn't dwell in this ruined room for much longer than a minute, if that before turning to the caved in floor. This tunnel wasn't as perfect, almost rushed in its appearance to get through the layers of flooring and building materials to get down below. Rubble and debris littered the way, small mounds which were accompanied by sparks of blue lighting; evidently to get into this building, wires and whatnot had been cut or short circuited, causing the power which remained in this place to spark sporadically and suddenly. At least it created some light, but it was still hugely unsafe, the rusted metalwork and piping didn't add anything other than to the structural disturbances and danger which the base could provide.

This new level seemed to have more paths and rooms in comparison to what they had all walked into. One pathway was caved in though, it was possible to get to the other side by jumping and grabbing onto a bar that was jutting out of the rubble. Sparks lit the way to the other side but Aloy didn't seem interested in doing so. She gestured a hand to the other side, walking down the corridor, a door appeared to the side and it swished open with the same mechanics as those at their base, their home.

There were other mechanical noises though, those which didn't belong to this building but more of an enemy; machines had somehow managed to find their way in, like they often did. Most times it was best not to question how they all found themselves down here, but they were evidently lured somehow. Scrappers, but the more upgraded versions prowled around trying to harvest what they could. Those which were up top were happy, if that could be the word, to try and consume the remainders of the Spectre, down here though, all there seemed to be was darkness.

The room was large, definitely not a small space to fight in but an easy space to get in each other's way if they weren't careful. Aloy was already grabbing an arrow from her quiver and looking sidelong at her friends; both of which seemed to very much prefer to fight at close range than from afar, Nureka's bow was powerful, yes, but didn't have distance, and Kotallo, without stating the obvious was unable to use a bow and very much used his strength to wield either a sword or spear.

"Draw them close, you do not need to be the one to do all the work." Nureka stated, seemingly reading Aloy's mind. The drop from the platform they were on wasn't terribly far, but if landed badly an injury could definitely appear, but there was stairs beside them. Aloy, by all means, could stay up top and shoot from here, if the machines came near, it wouldn't take much to run down the stairs and engage them. Both herself and Kotallo were here to help her, help them; it was literally a mutual task of helping each other, only because Aloy was so used to being out alone, doing all sorts of tasks, didn't mean she had to do it, at least not with them.