Around halfway through the tunnel I spot a hatch leading to another tunnel going upwards. As the maintenance tunnel doesn’t seem to be leading anywhere I open the hatch and start climbing the rugged metal ladder going upwards. It was a short ladder, not much longer than the ones I climbed down to get to the waterways and soon I arrived at my destination.

Sliding the heavy metal manhole above me I enter a new area. This one is much much different than the rest as it is just exposed rock. The cavern has a semicircle shape and the ceiling is covered by a net, possibly to protect against falling rocks. There are a few lights here and there but they are just floodlights on stands.

There is what appears to be a rail for some sort of transportation and a metal grate walkway with railing on one side of the cave and on the center part. The center part contains an enormous pipe, meters in diameter, which seems to be the main purpose of the tunnels. There are also sturdy steel pylons going from the floor to the ceiling, connecting with large steel beams, which transport power cables and have floodlights attached to them. On the ceiling are also large ventilation tubes which bring air to the tunnel.

The tunnel, or should I say cavern, extends forever from what I see and in a curved line. On the other side, which leads closer to the main compound there seems to be a large concrete wall sealing off the entire cavern and which has an opening for whatever goes on the rails and doors on the ends of the grate walkways.

There doesn’t seem to be anyone in the compound part. At that time I heard something approaching from the other side of the cavern. It was a tram. I quickly run over the stairs and take cover behind the large pipe only leaving the upper part of my head visible so I can see what is happening.

The tram gets into my sight and for a moment I am blinded by the headlights. After adjusting, I can see that the tram is packed full of heavily armed and armored soldiers with X-Ops insignias on their armor. This isn’t good. There seems to be seven of them and the tram enters the compound.

After stopping, the tram doors open and one by one the troopers exit the tram. The footsteps are so heavy that the whole cavern shakes. When communicating with the nearby personnel, I can barely understand their distorted voice. It seems that they have been called immediately after the first alarms were sounded as an extermination unit.

[Ŵ̸̫e̵͑ͅ ̶̠͗h̶̢̚a̸̰͊v̷̩̀e̴̹͂ ̴̹̾ã̶̠r̷̥̉r̴̳͂í̴̬v̵͎͆e̵̿ͅd̴̝́ ̵̞̍ȁ̸͚s̶̖̄ ̷̮̚f̴̞̕a̶̺͂ś̶̤t̵̯̋ ̴̦̈a̷̻̓s̸̓ͅ ̵͚̀ẉ̵́e̴͎̾ ̵̟̈́c̸̠̈́ö̵̙́ū̴͖l̵͎̈́d̷̳̽,̶͍̉ ̴̧͑h̴̖͝a̸͕̎v̸͇̓ē̷̼ ̶̩̚ý̷̬o̸̬͌u̷̯͌ ̶͙̋a̸͗ͅp̴͙̀p̸͉͂r̵̳̕e̵͈̾h̸̦̿e̷̜̕n̴̞̕d̴̫̕e̸̫͆ď̴̪ ̴̜̔ṱ̸̃h̶̭̽ė̶ͅ ̴͔͂ì̴̙ň̷̦t̸̋ͅr̷̥͊u̴͍͂d̴̫̉ë̴͔́r̸̫̈?̴̦̓], says one of the troopers.

{No, he has successfully escaped and was last seen in the waste management area}, says one of the standard guards.

[A̵͈͛l̴̰̎r̴̭͒ĩ̸͙g̷̥̐h̴̥̉ṭ̴̍,̶̡̂ ̵͉̍ḽ̶́ë̶̩́ã̴̭v̴̞͠e̶͙͑ ̴̙̈t̴͊͜h̵͈̕è̶̟ ̸͚̏ŕ̵͇e̶̡͐s̸̙̒t̷̤̅ ̴̬͊t̶̗͘õ̴̺ ̷͍̋u̵͕͗ś̷̗ ̵̖̋a̵͇̾n̸̼̂ḋ̸͕ ̸̳͝r̸̼̐e̶̝͂p̷̭̽ŏ̴̥r̴̝͌t̶̘̾ ̴̗͋ȃ̴͔n̷̫͝y̵̫͝ ̸͈̀ŝ̶̫û̴̖s̷̯̍p̷͇̓i̶̪͐c̸̯͑į̸̇o̴̥̚ů̸̜š̵̙ ̶̢̌â̷̦c̷͖̋t̸̞̓ỉ̴͓v̶̩̇i̴̛͍t̴̪̒y̸̲͘.̷̩̀]

{Yes sir!}

I have an idea, I could hijack the tram and outrun them all for long enough to find some place to hide. There has to be something in the kilometers long cavern that they dug. It begs the question, where do they get the fresh air so deep below the surface?

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

I wait patiently for the troopers to leave and close the large blast doors behind them. There are only a few technicians, which don't seem armed, remaining in the area and I make a run for the tram. Some of them noticed me and started shouting but it was too late, I was already in the tram and turn the accelerator lever to go backwards. Thankfully, they have designed these trams to go either way at max speed.

At that moment, I notice some unusual vent like openings on some bulges on the ceiling. They seem oddly suspicious as there are a lot of oxygen masks in the cabinet in the driver’s compartment. I take notice of them for now and break all the windows so I can shoot unsuspecting foes. At that moment, an ear piercing sound echoes throughout the cavern. It is the intercom of the tram.

[We advise you to stop the tram immediately and surrender yourself to the arriving forces. Unless you comply we have our means to stop you.]

I ignore the announcement and just continue on my way. The tram goes pretty fast, maybe 60 kilometers per hour, and all those pylons just turn into a blurry wall cutting the view of the cavern in half.

At that moment, the tram stops in its place and the lights turn off. It looks like they have cut the power to the third rail and have left me stranded in the middle of the tunnel. Also, it looks like the vent like openings on the ceiling have begun to produce some kind of gas like a mist machine. It can’t be good for me if they stopped the tram just a moment prior. I take an oxygen mask from the cabinet and put it on my face.

I exit through a broken window and start making my way through the tunnel on foot. The oxygen mask should last long enough for me to get away from the unknown gas in the tram. I start walking and thankfully I have a head start because of the tram.

It wasn’t 5 minutes before I encountered a concrete platform which had a lot of crates on it. It looks like the tunnel isn’t just kilometers of rock and pipes but has some infrastructure in it. I climb on the concrete and start looking around for useful items. There aren’t any as most of the crates only contain building supplies and there aren’t any food nor medical supplies.

After exploring the platform, I continue my voyage through the tunnels. It seems like these tunnels go on forever and that the platforms, if there are any more, are distributed like cities in the surface world. It really feels like an underworld here as the dim lights from pylons do not provide as much light as Vastira provides.

I wonder where the pursuing party is currently, and if they even are pursuing me. It seems as if they can just command the tram to return remotely like the way they turned on those gas vents. Anyway, I have to stay alert in case another tram passes me. I should walk on the other side of the tunnel. I change sides and continue.

After walking for what feels like an eternity, I finally spot more concrete. It must be another platform, but I wonder if it has any supplies I need. Right now I am exhausted and thirsty and there probably isn’t a vending machine there.

Getting closer, it looks like there are two segments which are connected with a catwalk going across the pipe and the tram rail. There, the ventilation enters the right side of the tunnel into a wall. Right next to that wall is a door with EXIT written on a sign above it.

Finally, I have a way out and I won’t die in these tunnels! I take a glance at the platform and it’s just the same crates with presumably only building supplies in them. I take a run and ram the door. The door opens and I rush in. The door starts to automatically close and I continue down the corridor.

It looks like the corridors at level 07 but doesn’t have the carpet. After some time I reach a rest point where there is a sofa and a vending machine. It looks like I can replenish my energy here and continue to the exit.

After resting a bit and drinking a lot of drinks from the machine, I continue down the corridor. The corridor ends and leads to a room where there are the same metal grate stairs that were in the first few levels. This time I wonder how taller these are compared to those.

Just in case, I got more drinks from the vending machine and I start my ascent. It will take me a while, but I am positive that I will make it out. My life depends on it.