Mech

Chapter 15: Lost in the Labrynth

My head pounded. It was dark, damp from the leaking pipes lining the constricting tunnel, and everything hurt. There was a blinking light about twenty feet away, casting just enough of a dull, gamboge flickering that I could somewhat make out my surroundings. I couldn't quite remember how I got there, but as the ringing in my ears started to fade and my eyes adjusted to the caliginosity, I began to feel the panic I felt before I arrived in my current situation. None of the others could be seen or heard, nor had I any idea of where they were. Or where I was, for that matter.

Let's back up a bit, retrace my steps. Jason gave a cold warning to Synthia, the 'game' began. Our move, she said. What was our move?

The plan seemed simple. Get Aaliyah to the Core, have her activate the red button, break her real body out, and escape. Easier said than done. The first problem was the Core itself. Only one person, Mr.Brewhether, had ever been there. He was presumed dead now, so there goes our guide. His journal didn't supply enough information about the Core itself other than the fact that there was a dominant power source in the heart, some kind of meeting room for the Board of Directors, and Alexander Petrocoff had a workshop. None of these had descriptions of their exact locations, besides the power source in the very center. We couldn't head in blind, going straight to the heart would be a fatal move. Synthia would be waiting. There had to be another way to the Core besides charging in through the surface construction, which was undoubtably extremely hazardous. Our newest objective was to find some blueprints. If we could figure out the schematics of the Core, we could find an alternate way in. The only place these existed would be with the Utopian Guard, or in Petrocoff's workshop. Since there was no way of getting past the UG, our plan was to find that workshop. Aaliyah could access a map of the surface, but Synthia had the whole underground locked down; the information was made inaccessible.

Aaliyah, luckily, remembered how to get to the workshop because she spent so much time there. It was basically their home in the construction of Utopia. Synthia gave back too many memories I suppose, which was an advantage for us. It was deep underground amongst a labyrinth of sewers, bunkers, and underground passages for maintenance and everything else. That's where we had to be. Aaliyah could lead us through that labyrinth, so we headed for the nearest entrance. We had to backtrack a bit, towards the 1/2 border yet away from the Cause. By the time we neared the entrance to the underground, we had traveled to the complete opposite side of the circular metropolis from our original camp. Things had been going smoothly...

That's right. Synthia's first move. Aaliyah's use of the control module gave her sister our exact location. She sent a gang of Cycoffs to hunt us, lead by her four-armed pet Cycho. We had no idea they had been following us, but when we got to the entrance of the underground... Something went wrong amongst the gunfire, the group scattered..the ground collapsed...So that means..

I stood, taking a step towards the wall to retrieve my supply bag. My head. Looking up, I could see the dark hole above in which I had fallen from. My memory began to return. We had been fighting in some kind of construction zone and everything just fell apart. Mech is unstable the deeper you go. So, I'm in the underground, the labyrinth. The others must be in here somewhere. I started walking towards the blinking light ahead. The atmosphere of the tunnel was unbearably eery. I hated it. Droplets of water from the pipes above continued to drip on my already damp hair. It was insufferably humid, making it hard to breathe. I ripped my jacket off and tied it around my waist. The sweaty tan tank top was sticking uncomfortably to my skin, and my baggy cargo pants were slow roasting my legs. As I walked, I was stopped short by a blast of water from a pipe that burst in my path. Water gushed into the hallway and began to pool around me as the spray attacked my face. I slipped the first time I stood, then gained my balance and protected my backpack as I passed by the obnoxious water sprout. I pressed on. The farther I got, the more water built up beneath me and the more soggy my boots became. Every now and then the elevation would rise ever so slightly and there would be a drier section of ground with a few puddles, but it always sank back into that steamy river beneath my toes.