When Forever Ends (Part 1: A Game of Chess)

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T e n

The first room we were shown was filled with generators. It was a medium sized room with every square centimeter packed with metal parts and cables. Huge fans built into the left wall struggled to cool the area, but it was still as hot as the desert above. Thick, black cables came in through the ceiling and connected to various large cylinders.

"The machines in this room supply the power to this whole facility!" Erin had to shout to be heard over the noisy hum of the machines, which were also making the floor vibrate. "On the surface, directly above us are these things called solar panels! They take in the sun's energy and store it away for later use!"

I looked around at the buzzing machinery and could easily believe that it could create massive amounts of energy.

After letting us observe the generators doing their work for a couple of minutes, Erin ushered us out of the room and back into the dimly lit hallway. As she turned and shut the heavy metal doors, I couldn't help noticing the jagged points of metal jutting out just above the doorknob, as if someone had cut away a lock that had once been there.

Erin led us farther into the maze of twisting corridors with the ease of someone who had spent years here, until we reached our next stop. We stood just outside another pair of thick, metal doors, only these ones warned us that it was dangerous to enter. She produced a key and fitted it into a small hole at the top of the door on the right. She turned it slightly, and the doors swung inward at the same time. We all shrank back as a brilliant whiteness assaulted our eyes from within.

After our eyes adjusted to the bright light, we took a second look. It was a vast hallway, two stories tall, about twenty meters wide, and stretched on as far as we could see in both directions. It had a slight curve, so, theoretically, it went in a complete circle. The entire thing was lined with shiny, white tiles and it was lit by powerful, hidden lights.

"This is the Transit," Erin spread her arms wide, indicating the hall. "From this tunnel, you can reach just about any room in this entire facility. It also was the main way the people who built this place got around. I think that's why it's called the Transit."

As she stepped into the tunnel, we followed, then stopped while Sofie pulled the doors shut behind us. Erin led us along the hall until we reached an opening in the wall on the right. When we approached, huge glass panels hissed open swiftly to allow us access to the room beyond, then shut again after our little group was through.

The new place we had entered appeared to be a garage. On either side was a row of strange looking vehicles. They varied greatly, but all of them were vibrant colors like neon green, bright pink, and fluorescent orange and had chrome pipes jutting out of the back, as well as somewhere to sit and drive them.

"I'm not an expert on these things," Erin said, stepping over a pile of twisted metal parts on the floor, "but I can handle this baby pretty well." She stopped at a sleek looking vehicle that was lemon yellow with lime green stripes on the sides and patted the door. "Hop in!" she called, vaulting over the side and into the front seat.

"Why not just use the door?" I said, grabbing the handle and tugging. I answered my own question when the door fell off and thudded to the floor. "Sorry," I apologized, hopping over the side like everyone else and settling into the comfy leather seat next to Maya.

"S'okay," Erin assured me. "I can easily fix it."

After making sure everyone was in, Erin pressed a button on the panel at the front. The lights on the front and back of the vehicle flashed and a soft humming began. The contraption lifted off of the floor and levitated. Grabbing an I shaped wheel sticking out of the panel with one hand, she pulled back on a lever beside her with the other. The vehicle started to move forward and Erin carefully steered it out the doors we had come in and back into the Transit. Then, she stomped on a pedal on the floor and we shot forward down the tunnel.