9: IF

Chapter 3

Cera was certainly feeling lucky today. Finding the cathedral was a breeze, and getting there was quicker than she thought. All that was left was to find a way to get inside. As much as she would like to use the easy route and just waltz right in, Cera knows she needs to be careful. After all, since part of the mission was looking for signs of life, who knows if said signs end up being dangerous.

Reaching out into her backpack, Cera pulls out a pair of binoculars and hides behind a pile of rubble so she won't be seen. Enhancing her binoculars, Cera carefully and slowly inspects the inside of the cathedral.
So far, nothing. Not a hint of movement, not a speck of soul anywhere inside. Not even on the upper floors.
"Hmm, maybe there's no one inside," Cera murmurs to herself.
However, upon closer inspection she noticed something odd about one of the broken spires. Where the broken part of the spire was allowed her to see the inside, there seem to be two strings attached to it. If she looked very closely she would've sworn that the strings were moving. Until the bucket came into view.
Either I'm going crazy, or there's someone moving that bucket to the top., Cera wondered in her mind. Using the binoculars' highest enhancement, Cera manages to spy the tallest peak of the spire. Luck must have been on her side today thanks to the clear view of said peak. What she saw launched her mind with a dozen questions:
Is that a sextant, is that a sheet tied to the spire?, is that a bed?, is that the bucket I saw earlier?, who on earth MADE all this?, HOW did they made this?, no human should have been able to climb the inside of that spire! Wait....is that a DOLL?

Despite her confusion, Cera continued to stare at her strange discovery, when the weird doll suddenly moves the sextant right at Cera's direction. It had spotted her! The brunette swiftly pulls down her binoculars and ducks down behind her hiding spot.
"Great....just great. Now they know I'm here. I need a new plan....."

Cera thinks over her options: She definitely needed to check inside, but there's the new possibility of whoever just spotted her could be hostile. She should seriously investigate the new evidence on top of the spire, but it's way high up. Climbing outside the spire would be too difficult due to it being the tallest part of the cathedral and climbing inside the spire would be too small for her to properly investigate. "Either way, getting up there would be impossible!", Cera says to herself. Suddenly, an idea emerges, "Unless..."

*********

Malaika was having the time of her life. Even though it took her longer than needed to find the library, she still couldn't help but squeal with glee when she step foot inside the still standing building. In fact, aside from the statues being destroyed and the giant broken globe in the middle of the place, none of the books seem ruined.

If Malaika had time she would have no doubt that she would spent hours coopted up reading every book she could find. But right now, her mind is focused on her plan; look for books that might have something to do with the advanced AI of the war machines. Either way, she's gonna be in here for a while.

So far, no luck. Due to the books being everywhere BUT the shelves made the search a lot harder. And it was constantly dark in the library even with the flashlights.
Malaika groans, "I'm never gonna find ANYTHING at this rate! I'll probably die from the leftover poison gas before I could find the right books!" Malaika looks again at the massive piles of books laying around her and sighs, "Who'd knew that my favorite hobby could probably be the cause of my own death." She lets out a small chuckle at her own morbid joke, but she knew not to give up. Using her flashlight, the Muslim tries once again to continue her search.

*click click*

Malaika stops at her tracks. Was that a sound she just heard? Immediately, she looks around for the source of the sound.