Touched By An Angel

Collecting The Cores

*YOUR POV*

     I stepped out of the lift and began walked, searching for the valve panels. "Turn the little wheels," Alice had said. I wondered what exactly she meant by that. I hefted the pluger in my hands. It wasn't the lead pipe Boris had given me, but something was better than nothing. Eventually, I stumbled across a panel in the wall. It had three tubes with liquid in them, valve wheels just under them, and a big dot in the center of each tube. I assumed I needed to make the liquid in the center, so I turned the valves, realizing this was what Alice must've meant. Once the final tube's liquid was in the center, it clicked and a nearby panel opened. I noticed a familiar shape inside. A valve core. I grabbed it and shoved it in my pocket before continuing on. I did two more panels and collected the cores soon after. As I turned to go find the last one, I saw another deformed Butcher Gang member limping towards me. I gripped the plunger and swung it, knocking him back slightly. I swung again. And again. And as I swung a fourth time, he collapsed in an ink pool on the floor. I shuddered, now wary of anything and everything. Even the shadows on the walls seemed to bend and twist as I watched them. I solved the last panel and took the core. As soon as I put it in my pocket, I heard Alice's voice. "You're quite the efficient little errand girl, aren't you?" I rolled my eyes and went back to the elevator, then stepped in. It began to ascend as Alice spoke. "There was a time people knew my name. 'It's Alice Angel!', they'd say. Feels like so long ago. But those days can come back. Dreams come true, Susie. Dreams come true." Susie! So she was still alive...