Sinner's Game

14 - Lowest Floor

Hendrick

Hendrick pushed forward, leading his two companions through the massive mess of black conveyor belts and red flesh. They ducked behind another huge machine, which towered tall above the crimson ground while steaming and whirring at full work.

"We're almost there. Once I give the signal, Jim starts the diversion." Hendrick lurked around a corner, looked out for any openings to proceed.

Right around the corner were multiple creatures. They were standing in front of the conveyor belts and worked with tools which they had instead of hands. Metallic creatures with mostly humanoid shape cut open mechanical animals and other creatures which were brought by the assembly lines. Some cut out organs and placed them on different production lines, sorting everything with care; others gathered blood and led it through a pipe to somewhere else.

One of the creatures, which was around their size, turned off their belt and moved towards them. It carried a mesh of red mass, probably on the way to bring it to its destination. Between its chest and stomach, there was a large, horizontal cut, which gave a small insight of what laid inside. It didn't seem to mind it in any way.

It hadn't even taken the flash of an eye until the creature had been silenced, pierced through the heart as it had moved around the corner. Hendrick had known how to strike: inside of the cut, piercing its heart. It was the only part besides the brain they couldn't repair.

Hendrick laid the humanoid machine on the ground face down. Made sure the others wouldn't get a closer look at its face.

The butterfly seems to be in my favour, he thought.

Hendrick looked at Jim, nodded towards a net of conveyor belts not too far away. Jim nodded back, started hurrying towards it. He sneaked off in a way he could stay hidden from the looks of the machines, kept his posture low as he made his way out of sight.

He turned to face Anna, said with a quiet voice, "Alright. You know what to do. I'm counting on you."

"We have one shot," she said. "I will make sure it counts." She peaked around the corner, asked, "What are they even doing? Are they sorting out parts?"

"Yea."

"How is a rabbit brain big enough for them to do tasks like that? It seems like they do complicated cuts and stuff..."

Hendrick looked at his scissor, then back at Anna, "It's not."

"I see." There was a hint of suppressed emotion in Anna's body language.

He found himself repeating the steps inside of his head once again. Every step, every move was set up for perfection, for success. He couldn't be stopped. Not anymore. He was different. Something much greater. Perfect.

"If all goes well," he said. "Then this will be over soon."

"Hope so... this place starts freaking me out."

Their conversation got interrupted by a loud bang accompanied by a siren whirring. A red light started rapidly flashing over an area not too far away.

"He really did it." A smile grew on Anna's face. It was almost a little sad how obvious it was, even though she was so solicitous to hide her thoughts.

"Didn't expect less from our Berserker," Hendrick said.