“So, you two sure you’re up for this, huh?”
Veri and Jack nodded as they ate their breakfast. The same old green slime stew with red slime coffee, was already beginning to get stale. They had harvested a very small amount of Vitarium, which was needed to create a flight module, but that was the last of it on this floor, and they only had a single handful. Veri’s Vitarium sensors were rather accurate too.
“Very well then. I don’t really have any advice to give you kids, since I’ve never been to the second floor… after they… well… good luck… and take these.”
Travis handed both of them a sturdy looking lantern and nodded at their intrigue.
“They’re fueled by Vitarium, but they don’t take much to stay active for years. You’re gonna need them down there. I’ll take you to the entrance.”
He led them both to a manmade entrance to the floor below. It almost looked like the entrance to an underground dungeon in a MMORPG.
“Well, this is it. I’ll always be here if you need me, but I don’t know how far your waki takis will reach. Just be careful, alright?”
Veri and Jack nodded as they looked at the dark entrance to the second floor. It was a cascading staircase fashioned out of the crag rock, and it was surrounded by an ever so small amount of strange purple grass on the surface. The further they walked down the thicker the purple grass became, until it opened up to the massive second floor. Despite having no direct sunlight, there were still bright ghastly plants that gave them a bit of pale light to work with. Their lanterns were rather bright as well, and the light caused countless creatures to scurry off in fear of the unknown.
“Hey, Travis. It’s safe down here.”
“Well, that’s nice to hear, Veri.”
“You’re gonna wanna see this, old man… it’s… something else…”
“Fine. I’ve been afraid to step down there… ever since… but… couldn’t hurt… to know what we’re working with.”
They waited a moment, before they could hear his loud footsteps of his combat boots echoing down the staircase. The moment he came through the small door, his eyes opened up wide, at the grand display of beauty, that was the second floor.
“My God… I’ve never seen something so… beautiful…”
His eyes darted around to the jellyfish like creatures, dancing through the sky, before they focused upon the ghastly blue glowing fauna scattered about. Even the trees seemed to shine with energy.
“Before you guys take another step though, let me get my radiation detector. I mean, can’t be too careful, right?”
“Don’t bother. I scanned them, and I saw no signs of any dangerous radiation. Whatever chemical is causing them to light up, it’s not harmful.”
“Very well. I might actually make a base down here. Just so you kids have something to come back to, when you get tired.”
“That’s a great idea, actually.”
“I’ll look for a suitable spot. You kids just go on ahead, and call me if there’s an issue.”
“Right!”
They spoke in unison and hurried off, before they were stopped by Travis’s outstretched arm.
“And… I mean… any issue, no matter how small it seems, okay?”
“No need to worry. We will.”
Travis brought his arm back in and nodded at them, before he whistled loudly. The sounds of Duster running down the stairs could be heard, before he lunged out of the door and happily danced about.
“I knew you didn’t listen to me, when I told you to stay at base, Duster.”
Duster whimpered, before he got a pat on his head from Travis.
“It’s alright, boy. I appreciate the company. Looks like you two had a tagalong too. More reason to be careful, aye?”
Jack and Veri waved goodbye, before they looked around curiously. They eventually found the devil in question, as Yum Yum jumped out of Veri’s backpack.
“He better not have eaten our rations… or his old name is coming back…”
“You’re not calling him Rations, Veri! And… we’re not eating him!”
“That was a joke.”
“Now’s not the time to be teasing me…”
Jack rubbed the back of his head as he followed behind Veri’s slow pace. They both took in the beauty of the area in complete awe, or that was the way it looked at first sight. It wasn’t much of a date though, as Veri was scanning everything in the area for any kind of danger. No matter how much she scanned though, nothing came up as dangerous, except for Yum Yum. Of course, one could argue that a 1% danger level, wasn’t actually dangerous.
“I find this…”
Veri said as she stopped dead in her tracks.
“Beautiful?”
“Odd…”
“I suppose… his friends did go missing down here… so perhaps… they inhabited the second floor? They could have cleaned up a lot of the monsters, before they went deeper?
“If that’s the case, then why… why did they not come back for their friend first?”
“That’s… a good point… Veri…”
“I’m going to be on high alert, so you’re going to have to look after Yum Yum. Do not under any circumstances, let him wonder off. Got it!?”
“Alright.”
Jack picked up Yum Yum, and despite his wounds still healing, it wasn’t very difficult to overpower him this time. Yum Yum’s bouncing, did make Jack have to exert himself though.
“Why do you always struggle so hard for me, but not Veri?”
“Yop yop!”
Yum Yum let out some happy vocalizations, as he licked Jack’s face again. He must had thought Jack was playing with and coddling him, since Veri’s grip was always so much tighter. In reality, Jack didn’t want him to roam off, so he was squeezing him as tight as he thought he had to, which wasn’t tight enough. As the minutes went by, Yum Yum only got easier and easier to hold, as he purred like a cat.
“It’s… strangely peaceful down here. I’ve been on high alert for a while now, and I still haven’t spotted anything dangerous yet. The trees are just as peaceful as the ground is.”
“Did you happen to look up?”
Jack said that without thinking much about it, but Veri stopped in a startled daze and glanced up at the ceiling. Several massive threats were detected, and they were mostly stationary upon the ceiling of the floor, like bats. Despite her 360-degree field of detection, threats could go unnoticed, if she wasn’t paying attention to their direction. This was to avoid overstimulating her with unneeded information, as any projectile attacks would be picked up, despite their speed. For example, if someone drew a gun and fired it at the back of her head in a crowd, she could react to the incoming projectile, without any issues, just like she reacted to that volatile energy blast in the sky. In this situation though, she was at a huge disadvantage, because they were group ambush predators.
“I… slipped up… I got too comfortable…”
“What… what do you mean, Veri!?”
“Shhh… keep quiet…”
Their numbers grew quickly above them, and they were large enough to take down a fighter jet. With several more flocking in to cut off their escape, her scanners threw an alert her way, that the attack was imminent and their threat level was extreme.
“Travis, get out of here now! On the ceiling!
“What!?”
“They’re on the ceiling!”
“I’m coming to help you two! Don’t move!”
“No! You’ll only die too!”
“Veri, I’ve lived a long life down here. I want to see my family again… I really do… but if it comes down to it… you two flee, and I’ll hold them off!”
“There’s no time, old man!”
Veri turned toward the giant bat monstrosities as they swooped down at her from above. They had massive maws lined with razor sharp teeth, that could penetrate straight through her metal chest plate. This was the moment where she’d have to make a choice. It was kill or be killed, and she didn’t have the option of ending the encounter through nonviolent means. She drew her steel dagger and prepared herself to strike at full force.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
“I can fight when I have to! Jack, run for the entrance! We’re not that far yet!”
“Like hell! There’s no way I’m leaving you to die, Veri! Yum Yum! Run!”
Jack tossed Yum Yum as far as he could toward the entrance, before he turned back toward the approaching hoard of bats. His hands trembled, as he held his steel dagger up, but he was more afraid of losing Veri, than his own death.
“Come on, Jack! Keep it together! Time to grit those teeth!”
Veri turned toward Jack for just a moment, as she heard him trying to psyche himself up for a brutal life or death fight. She knew he was just as scared as she was, which caused her to burst forth into action. She plunged her dagger into one of the beast’s eyes with an insane gas vent assisted velocity, before she twisted it with unbelievable force and tore it out, sending a massive burst of air flying toward the rest of the pack. The bat dropped to the ground and whimpered, before she stomped on its head repeatedly. Purple blood splattered all over her chest plate and face, and the sight caused the other beasts to back up cautiously, before they reevaluated their number advantage. The fact that she had to expend so much force to kill it, showed her just how outmatched she was against a pack of them. Each stomp of hers, was more strength than a hundred men could muster.
The bats came at her full-force, twenty strong, and from different directions. Even with her scanner hurling threats at her ahead of time, she was taking damage due to their agility and speed. A rake of their claws, a bite against her arm, and a tackle that sent her flying, were all hurled her way. The sight of Jack being thrown back and pinned against a tree, urged her to stand up quickly, but one of the bats grabbed hold of her leg and flew up high with her.
“Damn it! If I had my flight module!”
CRACK! Veri was slammed against the ground hard after the beast flung her downward, which broke the rock beneath her. The damage to her legs was severe, but she wasn’t about to let that be the end of Jack. Blood splattered from his shoulder as it tore through him, before Jack reacted with a fierce thrust into one of its eyes. The beast spat up blood, as Jack tried hard to twist the dagger to no avail. He just wasn’t strong enough with one arm.
“Veri… I don’t think I can…”
Jack fell onto the ground, and the beast brought its claws down toward his neck. It was a 100% chance to land with a fatal outcome, in Veri’s eyes, but something brought that chance down to 0% at the last second.
“ROOOOAAAHHHH!”
Yum Yum’s body practically exploded, as the beast tore through it with ease. The minor resistance caused the beast’s claws to narrowly miss Jack’s neck and get stuck in a thick tree’s trunk instead. With its original target now stabbing it repeatedly, the beast finally fell, before it did one last death struggle upon the ground, kicking wildly.
“YUM YUM! NOOOO!”
“ROOOAAAHHH!”
Yum Yum chased after the second beast lunging at Jack from behind, while still bleeding heavily. Despite Jack imaging the act was in vain, Yum Yum actually chased it away. The large beasts being terrified of such an aggressive little creature, raised Jack’s morale, despite his wounds. He now caught onto their weakness.
“THEY’RE COWARDS, VERI! MAKE SOME NOISE!”
Veri reacted immediately and blasted the giant bats with an explosive amount of air from her cyborg arms. They writhed at the impact of the air pressure, but that wasn’t enough to dissuade them, as they made another pass toward her.
“HEYY! GET OUT OF HERE! NOOOOOOWWWWW!”
Veri’s voice blasted outward, enhanced by her cyborg voice box, and the creatures immediately dipped out and retreated to a faraway corner. Jack was left holding his aching eardrums, as he hadn’t had time to plug them.
“Damn… that was… so loud…”
“Rooaahh….”
Jack turned toward the direction of Yum Yum’s growling, to see that a single beast had stayed behind. It was much larger than the others, and must had been the alpha of the pack. It’s body, wingspan, claws, and teeth, were all just vastly superior to the rest. It swooped down toward Jack, and Veri was only barely able to put herself in front of him in time. She saw her death coming straight from the survival module in her eyes. A 100% chance of lethal system damage, unless she dodged.
-This is it… huh? Jack…
Veri turned to look at Jack’s horrified face one last time, before she closed her eyes accepted her death. A death that never came.
CRUNCH! The sounds of something being crushed by a powerful force, snapped her eyes open. Duster’s long saber-teeth, were deep inside of the beast’s throat from behind. It kicked and flapped its wings, but no matter how much the much larger creature struggled, it couldn’t break the dog’s firm hold. Seconds that felt like minutes passed, before the bat finally gave up the fight as its muscles reached exhaustion. SNAP! With a broken neck, its life was over.
“God… damn… I didn’t think… we’d make it… in time…”
Travis held his blood-soaked right arm, with his left arm missing entirely, all the way up to his shoulder. Despite how badly he was bleeding through his makeshift rag tourniquet, he hugged both Veri and Jack as his vision became blurry. He knew he didn’t have long until the inevitable happened, so he wanted to hand the torch to them.
“Kids… I’m glad… you’re alright… I’m leaving Duster… to you…”
“No, old man!”
“You… can do it… get out of this hole together… the one thing… I could never do…”
Travis’s body was caught by Duster, far before he hit the ground. The sad sighs and whimpers coming from Duster and Yum Yum mixed together, ate at them both, before Veri took off dashing toward the entrance.
“Duster!”
Duster growled out fiercely, before he pulled Jack and Yum Yum onto his back with his teeth, alongside Travis. He dashed up to Veri and overtook her, before doing the same to her. His intense speed tore through the crag rock stairs, and launched dirt flying through the air, before he managed to run across the water itself. Arriving at the base so quickly, gave Veri just enough time to perform first aid upon Travis, but she knew his chances of surviving were slim, without basic meds. The stitches she was able to put in him, were just the first step on saving his life.
“What… are his odds… Veri?”
Veri scanned Travis’s body and saw that he had a 80% chance of death, unless his wounds were sanitized and he was given antibiotics, but she didn’t find that information appropriate to share.
“Not good… Jack. He needs antibiotics. Those damn bats were carrying so much bacteria…”
Jack glanced down at Yum Yum as Veri stitched him up, and his little struggling kicks, told him that Yum Yum still had some fight left in him. It didn’t take long before she turned to Jack, and did the same. He grunted with each stitch, still unaware that his own chance of death was 60% in her eyes. The one she couldn’t fix up as easily, was Duster, who recoiled from her.
“You’re bleeding badly, Duster. Be a good boy, and let me stitch you up, alright?”
Duster refused at first, but the more Veri demanded, the further she got. Eventually, she was able to stitch him up, despite his whimpers.
“What about you, Veri!? You got hurt too!”
“Just my cyborg parts… I’m far more worried… about you guys…”
Veri looked down at her mangled metallic arm and punctured synthetic flesh, as bits of energy leaked out. It looked a lot worse than it was, because the vast amount of Vitarium in her body was nearly endless, when compared to human blood. Her heart’s core created it, after all, except that there was no way to harness it for modules, like physical Vitarium.
“It would take me over fifteen years to bleed dry from these wounds. Even then, we have plenty of physical Vitarium I could harness, if I had to. For you guys though, that bacteria is already doing work. On the second floor… I saw some herbs that had antibacterial properties… I’ll…”
Veri fell onto one knee, as she tried to step forward. Her right leg had taken more damage than she had thought, and the joint was having trouble moving. Her earlier running must had busted it up even worse than the initial impact had.
“Veri, I’ll go. I got injured, but I think Duster and I would be more suitable.”
“Jack… I appreciate the concern… but you can’t even tell them apart…”
Jack thought to himself for a bit, and he came to the conclusion that Veri was absolutely correct.
“Why don’t you ride on Duster, and I’ll tag along to help you retrieve them?”
“My arms still work fine, Jack. I’ll ride Duster down there and grab the herbs. You stay here and make sure they’re safe. If you spot any dogs nearby, tell me immediately.”
Jack hesitantly nodded his head, before he sat down beside Yum Yum and Travis, who were both sweating profusely. He himself, had begun to sweat too, which was either from shock or the bacteria ravaging his body.
“Just… be careful.”
“They won’t even see us coming.”
Duster took off toward the direction of Veri’s pointed finger, as she guided him along. Despite the earlier trauma, he seemed to be rather intelligent, and knew that this was the best way to help the others. After seeing them disappear beneath the staircase in the distance though, Jack became worried. It was a worry that grew with time, so he had decided to make small talk to bide it.
“Yum Yum… you are a beast…”
“Yop… yop…”
Yum Yum moved closer to Jack and nestled against his side as he eyed Jack with a worried look.
“Yum Yum… what’s wrong?”
“ROOOAAAHHH!”
A single saber-toothed dog glanced over at them from the shore, but despite what looked like easy prey, it was offput by how enraged Yum Yum was. Eventually, it gave up the idea of crossing the water, as it sensed more hostility in the air. It wasn’t Yum Yum’s hostility either.
“I see… it probably smelled our blood… but… why did it just run off? Is it getting the others? Hey, Veri! A dog spotted us, but it didn’t cross the shore! Veri!?”
A loud piercing howl exploded from the staircase, before Duster came flying through it like lighting. The rest of the saber-toothed dogs retreated for dear life, as he was immediately in hot pursuit of them at full speed. Despite what looked like him giving it his all though, he broke off from the chase and retreated back to Jack and the others, as soon as the rest of the pack gave up any idea of attack. His speed allowed him to rush over the water once again, before he dropped Veri off.
“Thank God…”
Veri cried out in relief as she jumped from Dusters back and began to crush up a mixture of various herbs. It didn’t take her long, before she mixed it into a boiling pot of water and mixed them up good with a wooden spoon. Using her cyborg modifications, she blasted a lot of the heat away, while stirring it, to get it down to a temperature humans could handle.
“Drink it! Hurry!”
Jack spat up copious amounts of blood, before he tried his best to swallow the extremely bitter concoction. A quick and gentle gut punch from Veri, however, caused him to swallow a lot of it, and his survival rating doubled to a 98% chance of survival.
“Drink the rest of that, Jack! Travis, can you drink?”
Not getting a response back, Veri went ahead and force-fed him the concoction directly into his stomach, with a long cyborg hose. His survival rating went up from a 20% to a 60% chance, but that still wasn’t good.
“Yum Yum?”
Veri turned toward Yum Yum and Duster, who were both drinking from the bitter concoction by choice. Both of their survival ratings rose to 100%, while Jack’s still lingered at a 98% chance, due to him not being able to bear the bitterness.
“Veri… I think I’m good…”
“Jack… you’re gonna drink… whether you want to or not…”
Veri approached Jack angrily, with her fingers bent like a predator about to latch onto its prey. Whether he drank another cup of it himself, or she had to force feed him it like she did with Travis, the end result was the same.
“I can’t Veri! It tastes like shit! I feel fine now!”
“Oh… you can… here… I’ll help you!”
Veri grabbed Jack and held him down, before she raised her cyber hose above his closed mouth. It didn’t take her long to force his lips apart, and just like that, he had no other choice but to drink. Knowing that a 2% chance, was still a chance, and not wanting to risk it. That was true love.
“Hey… Hey! NOOO!”
Veri force fed him an entire glass of it, before his survival rating raised to a 100% chance. The rest of the crushed-up herbs, she used to sanitize each of their wounds. Doing that had raised Travis’s survival rating to 80%, but there was nothing more she could do for him. It would be up to his body to heal itself now.
Jack could only lie there, his tastebuds now thoroughly ravaged, and the one to blame his own lover. Despite that, his body did feel much better.
“Was it really… worth it…?”
“Quit crying… now… how did he open this?”
Veri scanned the area and saw a fingerprint detector, built into a false wall. Taking Travis’s unconscious hand, she pressed it against the button and it opened the front door. She very carefully lifted Travis and laid him down on a spare bed, before the others entered behind her, exhausted. She manually shut the door behind them, before she turned toward Travis’s workshop.
“You gonna try to fix your arm and leg, Veri?”
“I’m equipped with that knowledge, yes. You guys get some rest for now, and I’ll tend to you when I have the time.”
Veri helped Jack onto a bed and walked into Travis’s workshop, before she got to work. The estimated time of completion, was over five straight hours of hard work, and she wasn’t going to waste a second of it. She lit the forge and got to work.
“It’s kind of hard to operate on myself… but I can do it!”
The ringing of the hammer working her heated up metal limbs rang out, but everyone else was already in a deep sleep from their exhaustion.