The chains rattled as the gate was lifted. R4 felt someone shift and heard a moan. Her own head ached something fierce.

“Hello?”

“Hey choom, what happened?”

R4 opened her mouth to speak, but her voice was cut off by a speaker.

“Welcome Butchers and Butches, to the slaughterhouse.” A voice announced. “In this corner, we have the little piggies. Go on piggies, give us a squeal.” The humming sound was the only warning before R4 felt the floor shoot thousands of volts through her hands and bare feet. The sound of at least a dozen contestants getting shocked was horrid and was followed by several strings of cursing. “Now that didn’t sound very pig like, let’s try again.”

The second time hurt worse. R4 quickly ran through the door, being the second one to make it out, and the first to be splattered in blood. Three saw blades spun up and dropped in a single second, tearing the man in front of her apart, blood and chrome thrown everywhere as whatever cybernetics he had in his head were reduced to scrap. The blades struck three large metal plates with a horrible racket.

“And there’s the dinner bell. Piggies better get moving or someone’s getting turned to bacon.” R4 threw herself to the side before she could be turned to bloody paste by the other contestants, one of them slipped, and something cracked as another contestant stepped on their leg in exactly the wrong way.

As the others ran R4 quietly approached the fallen man. He was heavyset, though due to muscles rather than fat, and his head had been recently and crudely shaven. Under his track singlet R4 could see several scars and bruises, signs of vat grown muscle. On his back was the number C1. As R4 turned him over she saw both of his eyes were wide open, black spheres with five red dots. 

“Come on, get up.” She palpated his leg, which made him groan, but could feel no break. “Ok, looks like it’s just bruised.” She crossed her fingers behind her back hoping. “Come on, get up.” She tried to lift the man, but was he was far too heavy. She quickly took his hand to sit him up and froze as she saw the symbol on the track singlet he wore.

Uncle Agar’s Slaughterhouse. On the chest was the face of a pig with red X’s over its eyes. R4 checked to find she wore one just like it. Aside from that and a pair of running shorts, with the pockets cut out, she had nothing. “Come on, up, get up.” Pulling C1 into a carry, for which she seemed too small to do properly, she hefted the man up.

“Ow, I think I busted my leg.” The C1. “Let me check it,” He started, before a low groan of metal echoed from behind them.

“No time, I’ll help you but we have to move.” R4 strained at the effort, yet between the two of them they managed to make it down the hall and into a room. R4 checked the room for a door, but no luck. A large section of fallen metal sat in the center of the room, and with some effort she managed to wedge that into the hallway. Two other doorways sat open, but no doors existed that could be used to block a pursuer. “Any idea which way?” R4 heard the man sink to the floor and rip open his skin. To her partial relief beneath he had an artificial leg. The central structure seemed undamaged, though an outer cage like structure was warped. “How is it?”

“Looks like the outer frame’s busted,” The man made a few gestures in the air and blinked twice. The leg flashed blue then red. “Ok, that should do it,” he stood and put weight on it. The outer frame budged a bit, but the inner section flashed green.

“Green’s good, right? Are you in pain?”

“Turned the pain sensor off, feels like my foot’s asleep but it’s better than feeling like I’ve got a nail in it. Somebody’s going to pay though, where are we?”

R4 took a moment to examine her surroundings. Concrete walls were unpainted, and in places metal supports were visible. Rather than the gray of steel they were pitch black. Pipes ran along the ceiling, but were too high for either of them to reach. The lights were tiny LED devices that released a harsh white glow, where they were working. R4 noticed a spot on the wall where the concrete had four small holes in it. “Looks like there used to be a sign here.” She pointed out. “And that’s nano-forged steel supports and abundant concrete, tier two and probably tier one, I’d say we’re in the undercity.”

“The under city? You mean where the rat men and monsters live?”

R4 gave him a confused look. “The what?”

“The rat men, that’s what the scream-sheets call them. Some kind of mutant abomination that lives in the forgotten warrens of the city.” the man shook his head. “Thought they were a myth. Just something to read about while on the rail.”

“I hadn’t heard about rat men, but the under city is a matter of public record. Miles and miles of concrete and pipes that make city life on the surface possible, most of it forgotten down here. I heard there were tours but,” R4 shivered, “I think I’ve seen enough. I don’t suppose you can get a yellow brick road out of here?”

“Maybe if I had my phone, but I can’t connect to the net without it.” The man paused. “Hey R4, is that a camera?”

R4 looked where he was pointing, and sure enough there was a small disk planted into the wall with a glass dome. “Looks like it, and it’s on. Someone’s watching us.” She paused. “And that means we’re in real trouble.”

The growling sound caught both their attention. Two glowing eyes peered at them from behind the metal piece R4 had placed, before a large black paw tipped with gleaming red claws was lain upon it. With a loud groan the metal was pressed down, bent beneath the weight of the beast.

“Run.” R4 was off like a shot, C1 following as quickly as he could. R4 bolted down one of the hallways, she wasn’t thinking about which one, as the creature let out a howl and gave chase. The click click of its claws as it ran let her know it was right behind her, and the dim lights let her know there was a hallway before her. A door to her right promised salvation, yet as she opened it she froze. Two bodies suspended on hooks stared back at her, each wearing a singlet that matched her own. Blue glowing eyes stared at her as a serpentine machine rose up, its face full of barbs and points. R4 barely threw herself out of the way before the thing struck, shooting through the door and into the concrete.

“MOVE!” C1 yelled. In a move he had to have practiced he jumped and stomped on the neck of the machine with his good foot, slamming it into the floor with a CRACK. R1 turned and followed him, the strange black creature stalking slowly behind. R4 wasn’t sure if it was slow or was just playing with them, but she didn’t want to wait and find out1.

“Dang!” R4 heard a loud CLANG as C1 slammed his fist into a door. “Open up F******!” R4 noted that her censors were still working.

“No way, it’s right behind you.” Another voice yelled.

“And if I have to break this door down it’ll be after you too.” C1’s arms opened up to reveal hydraulics. They were small, but E4 had no doubt they were strong. “Now.”

“Alright, easy choom.” A third voice replied. The door opened and both slipped inside before the door slammed shut and locked. Within E4 saw three people two men one woman. Each wore a track singlet and shorts like she did, and each had their head shaved. Putting her hands to her head E4 found she too had been shaved, a quick and crude cut that left small patches of red hair and more than a few cuts. “Alright, two more survivors, we can work with this.” The man leered at R4. “And another girl, preem.” 

R4 shot the man a scathing look before noticing the other woman looked almost catatonic. She was crouched down with her hands over her head and her eyes staring into the floor as if she could see through it. “Hey, you alright?”

“No, we’re all going to die.” The woman replied before laughing. “We’re going to die, we’re going to die and they’re going to plaster it all over the dark net. The elites are going to watch us get eaten or speared or electrocuted and they’re going to laugh.” As the woman let loose a burst of giggles E4 noted she had several ports in the back of her head where electronics could plug in, though they were all empty now.”

“Is that a thing here?” R4 asked

“I thought it was a myth, but I’ve heard of it.” C1 replied. “It would certainly explain the cameras.” He pointed to one in the room, “And if we’re in the under city no one’s coming to look for us. We need to get out on our own.” A low SCREEEECH of claws on metal came from the door. “And quickly too.”

“Ok, so names and occupations. My name is,”

“F1.” C1 spoke up. “Don’t use your real name. If they’re recording we don’t want one of their fans stopping us for an autograph after.”

“F1, I’m a fixer, good with a pistol or rifle.”

“C1, I’m a trainer and gym owner. I can throw a mean punch, and I’m not bad with a shotgun.”

“S1, I’m a solo. If it has a trigger or an edge it belongs in my hands.” S1, the man who had tried to keep them out replied. “But I don’t have anything right now.” He eyed the girl and picked her up by the neck of her shirt. “I guess this is N2, web walker if the plugs in her head are anything.”

R4 turned her shirt around to check, at which C1 averted his eyes and S1 whistled. “R4, I’m from out of the city here to learn how to fix stuff. I’ve done some hunting with my folks but I’ve got nothing to work with.”

“Hey piggies, glad we could have this emotional moment, but the fans are bored so I’m opening the door.” There was a buzzing sound and the lock disengaged.

“Run!” The five took off, S1 dragging N2 behind him. The door was immediately thrown open by the creature behind them, which howled in delight before charging. N2 let out a scream as the creature grabbed onto her arm and pulled. R4 turned to help, but S1 simply let go and bolted past her.

“Hold on.” N2 looked up pleadingly as the creature thrashed its head back and forth. R4 aimed a kick at the creature, but her foot hit thick fur to no effect. The creature looked up at her and growled, dragging N2 with it back the way they had come. Without warning C1 brought both fists down on the creature right on its head. The creature growled and let go, shuffling back before staring at the three.

“Thanks for the help.” R4 said, picking up N2. Her arm was bleeding pretty badly, but the strange dog creature was staring, growling, waiting for weakness. Without warning the lights began to go out. “Shoot, we’ll have to stop the bleeding later.” R4 took the lead, while C1 kept an eye on the beast behind them.

A scream echoed from up ahead. R4 hurried forwards, and needed to take a moment to understand what she saw. The floor in front of them just, stopped. F1 had an elbow on the floor trying to pull himself up, while S1 was on the other side two meters away. “Hold on.” R4 exclaimed, placing N2 on the ground to try and help him up.

“No way man, no way, what the F*** is this?” S1 exclaimed. E4 peered down and saw nothing but black. “We’re all going to die, we’re all going to,” His prediction came true as a long pointed spike shot through his chest.

“Come now chap, stiff upper lip. Not much of a solo was he?” E4 looked up at the man who had just stabbed S1 through the heart. He either wore glowing red goggles or had replaced his eyes with red sensors. He wore a black hat and trench coat, a luminous smile stretched hideously across a face provided by his glowing neon teeth. “That makes three, and I see four through seven looking my way.” He pointed to the rictus grin on his face. “Remember to smile for the camera.”

“Get me up!” F1 exclaimed, finally snapping E4 out of her shock. She gave one last tug before he managed. “This way.” He exclaimed, running down a side hallway E4 hadn’t noticed.

“Enjoy your run, I’ll be right behind you.” The smiling man called. “Remember, smile for the camera.”

E4 quickly lost track of which turns they made, but everywhere seemed to be drenched in blood. In one intersection a box had been left that fired a shotgun into the poor contestant who opened it. As some sort of sick joke a first aid kit and a get well card had been placed beside the shotgun. F1 took the shotgun, finding it had two shells remaining. In another they found two bodies drained dry of fluids with three ragged holes on the neck. Finally, they found a bit of hope.

“Hey, is that a ladder?” F1 asked, his eyes flashing green. They had just left one hallway and found a large room lit only in the center, with a single ladder leading upwards. “Hey, I think it is. That looks like a manhole cover.”

“I’m going to try to climb it.” R4 replied. “C1, keep an eye on N2.”

“It’s not there.” N2, now bandaged but still delirious from blood loss, replied. E4 was half way up before she yelled, “It’s a trap!”

E4 felt the tingling sensation just before her every joint caught aflame. For a moment she couldn’t let go of the ladder, then she couldn’t hold on. She fell back and was only saved by C1 narrowly catching her.

“Oof, yer’ heavy.” He muttered.

“Ow, that hurt.” E4 muttered. “Help me stand, we need to keep moving,” C1 did, and E4 managed to stay on her feet, but was unsteady. “Electrical wires on a metal ladder, wish I had my gloves. N2, how’d you know?”

“We’re still too deep for that to lead to the surface.” N2 replied. “I can’t reach the local net.”

“So close and yet so far…” C1 sighed. “We’ve been running for what, an hour?” F1 nodded. “Who knew the under city was so expansive?”

“I’ve heard rumors, a lot of gangs like these places because the cops don’t come down here. Yet even they don’t go too deep. Rumor has it things lives down here, something even the Dimdwell don’t mess with lightly. Like that.”

The black creature grinned at them, its red eyes glaring as its mouth opened to reveal sharp cutting teeth. It stalked forwards from what R4 had been sure was just a shadowy corner, its claws clicking on the concrete as a long tongue tipped with a drill bit slid out of its mouth.

Stolen story; please report.

“Is that some kind of cyber dog?” F1 asked as C1 stepped forwards with the shotgun. Without hesitation he fired, and the creature flinched. A strange black fluid seemed to drip off it, sizzling as it hit the concrete.

“I don’t think that thing is cyber.”

“It has something in it.” N2 spoke up. She made a gesture with her good arm, “can you distract it, I’ll try uploading a virus.”

C1 eyed the creature as it began to circle. He noticed it watching him, waiting for him to use the shotgun. Sensing a moment of hesitation the creature lunged, and at that exact moment its eyes turned off. C1 sidestepped, and the creature landed hard on the concrete. With a pull of the trigger the creature’s head was reduced to a viscous liquid and immediately began to evaporate.

“That, what is that?” C1 asked. As the creature fell the black material began to evaporate and burn with a dull sooty flame, revealing a scattering of metal and plastic where the head had been, and a black box in the chest. “Huh?” He picked up the box and found it bore the emblem of an M wrapped in a ring of leaves. “Mitian? What’s a computer deck doing inside something like that?”

“Maybe it’s a nanite construct.” F1 postulated. “I know a couple companies have been working on some more advanced nanite technology. Mitian, Mars Corporation, Gentek, and Lok-1 have all tried, I guess Mitian finally figured it out.”

“Is that who we have to thank?” All eyes went up as a section of the wall that had previously been in shadow was revealed to have a doorway. The smiling man stood there, another of the creatures evaporating off the long spine that stuck off his arm. “They were quite the surprise hit during season 2, especially since we didn’t invite them. We lost several of our own to them, but in their death they served a greater purpose.” With a gesture two hallways were revealed. “One of these leads to the surface, one of them leads deep below. I’ll give you ten seconds to decide which one you want to go, or both. I don’t mind if you split up.” He adjusted his hat. “More fun for me. Tick tock.”

“Left or right?” C1 asked.

“I’m going left.” F1 decided.

“Neither is safe.” N2 revealed. “I’ve seen this, both are trapped and have Dwellers guarding them. One leads deeper and one leads to the surface, but,”

“Tick tock,”

“Fine, C1 and I go right, you two go left, whoever makes it out burns this place to the ground.” 

E4 and N2 took off down the hallway on the left while C1 and F1 took the right hallway. It did not take long before E4 and N2 came to a dead end, a heavy door barring their way. A camera stared down upon them, and an etching marked the wall.

“And so the two B****** were abandoned by the men, as they should be.” A voice announced. “Women and children first, so the REAL men can get serious work done. Say, if you both take off your shirts I’ll give you a hint on how to open this door.”

N2 and R4 shared a look, before examining the door and diagram. The diagram showed several jagged shapes with a mess of symbols on them. The door had a keypad. R4 eyed the symbols for a while, before she noticed N2 reaching for her shirt. “Don’t.”

“Why not?” She paused. “They’re the ones who dressed us like this, it’s not like they haven’t seen us.”

R4 shivered. “I was trying NOT to think of that. Disregarding that, the code is 4333.” She quickly punched it into the keypad and it clicked. She pulled on the door, but it didn’t open. “Come on!”

“Uh uh uh, don’t think you can,” R4 heaved, her muscles bulging in the sleeveless shirt as she tore the cheap metal latch apart. “Woah, chick’s got some muscles.”

“Try chopping firewood for a New Dakota winter for 15 years, that can happen.” R4 replied. “Come on N2,” She reached down and took the shorter girl’s good hand, “We’re getting out of here.”

“Now kiss.” The voice said over the loudspeaker.

“What, no.” R4 replied. “Come on, let’s get before Smiley catches up.”

The next tunnel was long and dark, only every third light working. N2 shivered at the dark, and swallowed another pill before placing the bottle back in her shirt. R4 noticed she had tied the bottom of the shirt so the bottle wouldn’t fall through.

“How’s the arm?”

“It doesn’t hurt as bad, but I’m having trouble moving my fingers.” N2 replied. She paused. “Watch your step, dark halls like this tend to have,” R4 stepped back just before a hail of gunfire went off at knee level. “Traps.” 

“Dog Rabbit.” R4 muttered.

“Dog Rabbit? What kind of curse is that B****? You’re supposed to say F*** or G** D*****. This isn’t kid’s television. In case you haven’t noticed, WE’RE TRYING TO MURDER YOU!”

“What’s that? Can’t hear you over the profanity filter.” She laughed as the voice immediately started speaking in Morse code.

“B**** I will gut you with a straight razor!”

“What’s the matter, can’t take a bit a’ back talk? Y’all could a’ done that but ya’ went out of your way to make a coliseum.” R4 countered, smiling5. “Y’all wanted a show right? What’s a show without characters? N2, do you have any more bandages and some scissors in that first aid kit?”

N2 took out the box and rummaged around. “Here, are you making a weapon?”

“Against Smiley? Yeah, I’ve hunted bears and I know better than to try taking one on without a gun.” R4 took a length of bandage, snipped it, and wrapped one end around the scissors before tying a knot. A folding splint provided a rod, allowing her to extend the scissors further in front of herself. She held it out and found it reached just above her ankles. “Trip wire trigger. To anyone tryin’ this at home, first shame on y’all fer watchin’ this. Second, remember ta’ twist the bandages so it’ll set off any lasers.” 

“Well F you too B****. You know what, forget the traps I’m going to come down there and kill you myself. Rip Jaw, let’s get down there.”

“Time to run.”

R4 and N2 bolted, R4 holding out her make shift sensor. Twice they nearly lost a leg to a shotgun, and it was only by luck that R4 caught the glint of a light and dodged to the side that saved her from losing an arm to a hydraulic press with teeth.

“Does that thing say Mr. Chompy?” N2 asked. Sure enough the press, large enough to crush two cars placed end to end, had been painted green in a scale pattern and had an eye painted on the side. Due to the high tech paint R4 was sure it followed her as she ran past. 

To R4’s surprise no more traps struck for two more hallways. The fact each hallway led to an intersection with all but one path locked was worrying, especially when after the second they found themselves on a stairway.

“I think we made a bad choice.” N2 spoke up, looking down into the depth of the stairs. There were no guard rails, and the stairs themselves were bare concrete. A single light bulb just out of R4’s reach shone light below. From a disturbingly large crack water dripped down the center of the staircase.

“I guess there’s no place left to go.” R4 replied, taking a few steps. “Maybe there’s an access tunnel we can use.”

At that moment R4 hit a wet patch and slipped. As she fell she heard the sound of whistling air, just as a blade skimmed just above her head and landed in the wall.

“Hah, one shot my foot, let me try.” 

“Run!” R4 didn’t have to look to see how many Dimdwell there were, she just ran as fast as she could go. The stairs were narrow, and in places slick, and she fell a few times. Yet she managed to keep her feet mostly under her at least until she slammed into the wall where the stairs made a sharp turn. 

“Help!” N2 cried as she slipped, falling down and only barely managing to roll rather than land on her head. She rolled sideways the last quarter of the way down, barely managing to cover her head. Just as she stopped a blade shot from the hand of one of the Dimdwell and struck her right in the back, eliciting a loud scream.

“Hey, 10 points.”

R4 grabbed N2 and dragged her, eyes up on the scavengers. Both wore black leather jackets, one with silvery spikes one with ridges of blades. One had an over sized right eye with three sub eyes beside it. The other seemed to have replaced his mouth with some manner of metal contraption containing several blades and fangs.

“Hey Rip Jaw, watch this.” The one with the large eye and the spiked jacket called, before raising a hand at R4 and N2. His arm seemed to bloom like a flower, before a hail of darts shot forth. R4 threw N2 out of the way, catching a half dozen of the darts in her shoulder and leg. The needles were sharp but thankfully short. Then the darts started to beep. She frantically tried to pull them out, managing to get two of the barbed darts out before they all went dead. “What the F***, explosive tips not covered in standard version? What is this micro transaction BS? No I do NOT want to watch a commercial!”

R4 didn’t hesitate to push N2 to run. Traps be condemned, they were dead if they stayed. She managed to steer around an obvious pit trap, where obviously thin sheet metal covered a suspiciously large section. All the while the sound of running water echoed around her ears. A large and thick wire ran across the hall, easily avoidable. Finally R4 came to something she didn’t expect.

A large pool of water sat in the center of the tunnel. Glowing strands of what she assumed were sea weed grew from the bottom. Placing a foot in the water she realized it was at least 30 degrees Celsius.

“N2, can you swim?” R4 asked.

“No, and that water can’t be safe.”

“I’m sure not plannin’ to drink it, but those metal heads are probably too heavy to swim. We might be able to make it.” R4 dove in, kicking her way through the water. She tried not to think about why the water was so warm, and how many rads she was likely soaking in. N2 seemed to struggle with the water, but R4 had grown up swimming in lakes and rivers, this pool was no issue.

A gentle tug on her leg was the first sign of an issue. R4 looked down to see something on her leg. At first she thought it was a leech, which wasn’t an uncommon thing to deal with in certain pools. The numbing sensation, however, was. R4 twisted around to see a cloud of blood leaking from her leg, and half a dozen small dark shapes swimming from the weeds. She quickly kicked her leg, trying to get whatever was on her off, before taking off towards the other side of the pool. Pulling herself free of the water she whipped around to rip the leech off her leg, yet her hand did not find a squishy leach but something hard and chitinous. She ripped it free, and found herself face to face with a small isopod. The creature raised a long bladed claw and waved.

“What the,” R4 threw the thing, before noticing the creeping chill seeping up her legs. More of the isopods were trying to crawl up her, though a few of them had stopped and their gray shells were beginning to turn red with her blood. “HEY! Off!” The isopods stopped for a moment and waved their claws at her before dropping off and scuttling off towards the water. R4 watched them go. “Huh, can’t believe that worked.

“R4?”

“Over here, watch out, there’s some kind of blood suckin’ bug in the water. Stay away from the grass, I think they hide in there.

“What? No way, I’m not going in there. There could be brain eating amoeba in there.”

“There’s homicidal cyborgs over there.” R4 shouted in response. “It’s 2077 and we’re in Nu'Grav. You can fix sick, you can’t fix dead.”

“And that brings us to our sponsor. This snuff film brought to you by NeuMed.” She heard the announcer speak, his voice coming from a hidden speaker. “Whether you cut yourself at work, or you cut someone else during a snuff film, NeuMed is there. Their new Quickclot closes wounds quickly and easily.” R4 heard N2 let out a scream. “Whether you cut yourself at work, or you cut someone else at work,” She heard the roar of a saw, followed by a scream, “Just apply a quick jab of Quickclot and the wound closes right up. Great for when you cut just a little too deep during a shoot. Just look at how her stump just stops bleeding. Plus, with the new stay awake formula, you can’t go into shock. Great for if you don’t have a Fastax trauma card or you don’t want to wait until your victim wakes up to continue the show. Use promo code BrutalMurder for 20% off your next checkup. NeuMed, you can fix sick, you can’t fix dead.” A voice announced over a hidden speaker. There was a clink as a small plastic canister dropped at R4’s feet before popping open to reveal what looked to her like an Epi-pen. She picked it up to see it was marked NeuMed Instant Clot.

“N2, are you there?” R4 called.

“Run!” N2 called back. There was another grinding sound followed by a scream.

“She’s right here, why don’t you come back and lend her a hand?” The announcer called back. “Hey, since you were nice enough to do a promo for us I’ll give you five minutes to get back here and save her, or to run. Your choice.”

R4 turned and ran. She didn’t have to think hard about it, she had no weapons and only a single stick of a medicine she thought stopped bleeding, if it was even legitimate. Her opponents were armed, and there were two of them. With tears in her eyes she ran, leaving N2 to her fate. Had she not been crying she might have seen the tripwire, and she might have been able to evade the swinging pipe that took her legs out from under her. Had she not already been in distress she might have been able to push herself up and keep going. Had she not been crying the one isopod she had missed might have sated itself on her blood before dropping off and returning to its pool.

Yet tears are delicious to these isopods, especially tears full of stress hormones. The little isopod quickly consumed its fill, then seeing its target was currently indisposed, it went after the source.

Tears are delicious to ravager isopods.

Yet they much prefer eyes.