Endocrine Kingdom

32. Steel

Steve looked up at the structure in front of him. It looked even bigger up close. It was made of a strange, dark, unnaturally reflective metal that looked as far from organic as possible. Yet, the base of the structure dug into the floor of the steel mill like the roots of an immense oak tree.

Steve, however, was more focused on how hot it was here. He and Vulcan were surrounded by a multitude of large industrial-sized vats. Though Steve could not see what was in them, the rippling in the air above each of the vats left little to the imagination.

Vulcan Hephaestus removed an embroidered handkerchief from his coat pocket and wiped the sweat off his forehead. "We must exercise caution," he said to Steve. "It appears that this steel mill is still somehow operational, even though it I also currently housing this unusual device. I don't believe I need to tell you that being in a close proximity to molten steel is likely to be lethal."

"You'd be right about that," Steve replied. "Avoiding the liquid metal sounds like a good idea."

The two of them began walking around the structure. It was encircled by a series of ladders and metal, grated catwalks, all connected to each other--presumably built as part of the steel mill. Steve couldn't see anything that looked like a shutdown mechanism. Fortunately, after a few moments Vulcan stopped and pointed upwards. "There," he said.

Steve looked up. Embedded on a section of the structure that wasn't visible from the entrance of the room was a panel with a large screen. Steve could also make out what looked like a keyboard below the screen. "This must be the control panel," he said. "We can probably use it to shut this thing off."

The problem was that the control panel was high up on the structure, just below the ceiling. There was a narrow catwalk right next to the control panel. Steve looked at Vulcan. "So what now?" he asked.

Vulcan approached the nearest ladder and grabbed a rung. "Simple," he answered. "We climb."

Steve nodded and followed Vulcan, who was now waiting for him on the catwalk above the ladder. "Cool," he said. "A little bit climbing and walking. Some kickass mainframe console hacking. Nothing we can't handle. This is going to be even easier than I though."

As Steve joined Vulcan at the top of the first ladder, a loud crash behind him came from out of nowhere to prove him wrong. He turned around and saw a hole in the brick wall behind him. In front of the hole were Bird, Mouse, and Sausage. The three of them were covered in dirt, bits of brick, and all manner of cuts and bruises. Steve also sensed a what he could best describe as a hyperbolic level of rage among the three of them as they all stared, unblinking, directly at him.

Steve decided to try and ease the tension. "Hey guys!" he called out. "Good to see you!" He looked at Sausage specifically. "Have you lost weight?" he asked.

Mouse raised both of her arms. She pointed at Steve with one hand and a vat with the other then screamed with a primal fury.

"YOU!"

"WILL!"

"BURN!"

Sausage growled like animal and pounded his fist on the concrete floor. A sizable crack appeared on the floor from the impact.

"Stephen," Vulcan whispered to Steve. "We need to get out of here."

Steve nodded as the two of them began running down the catwalk. There was another ladder down to the ground ahead of them, but in no time at all, Bird was there climbing up it, shrieking and looking at Steve. They turned around and saw Mouse and Sausage climbing up the ladder they had taken. Surrounded, the only other option was a ladder next to them that would take them further up.