Chapter 19: Creeping Cold.

The small drones hovered overhead. Using some manner of anti-gravity system to keep themselves aloft. Their laser pointers cutting through the relative darkness of the abandoned buildings.

One by one they searched, scanning the interiors for any sing of life. Their turrets would only fire once they’d successfully locked on to a target, as the dozens of dead minotaurs could attest.

Funny how that worked. In most novels a minotaur would be a boss-like entity. The kind that you expect to find guarding some sweet piece of loot with a big axe in hand.

Down here, they were target practice.

The drones having mowed them down in literal seconds.

To make matters worse, the number of bullets fired did not match the size of the magazines. That meant there was some kind of magic at play that teleported bullets into the chambers right before use or…

They had unlimited ammo.

Somehow.

Great.

That meant all the hard work I’d put in luring the minotaurs here was a complete waste of time.

Okay, okay so it wasn’t all bad. I was still alive and hidden. Plus, the minotaurs were a nuisance I would have had to get rid of anyway.

The getting turned into chunky salsa wasn’t a bad outcome, all things considered.

From that point of view, I hadn’t lost anything but Psy and effort. All while keeping my position secured and figuring out the enemy’s capabilities.

I focused on [Mental Map]. Taking in the surrounding area. Trying to figure out which spots would offer the most protection.

There were plenty of places to hide if you were smart enough to know what guns were and that standing in front of them was a bad idea. This whole area of the Labyrinth reminded me of the older parts of Toronto. The ones that hadn’t been repaired yet and still bore the scars of the first Rifts.

That is to say, it was a hollowed-out warzone with dilapidated buildings on both sides of the street.

Some buildings had piles of rubble at the bottom in place of a second floor while others were missing bits and pieces from the walls.

I also recognized the telltale marks that explosives left behind, despite none of the drones using grenades or other such instruments.

‘So far.’ I corrected myself.

The drones weren’t showing up on my fog and their passing didn’t fill up my map like the minotaurs had. Therefore, my usual strategy of analysing enemies while arranging unfavorable matchups wouldn’t cut it.

I flared [Precognition]. Pushing it just far enough to see the superimposed future Solomon moving without having to endure another slew of visions.

Future Solomon threw a rock at a drone and got turned into Swiss cheese within a second.

As it turned out, Buddy wasn’t bullet-proof.

Another future Solomon tripped on a rock hidden by the darkness and made enough noise to get the robot’s attention.

This version of me threw himself against a wall and allowed it to soak the bullets. The machines did not switch to explosives. Instead, they persisted in their attack. Sending a continuous volley of lead into the concrete. Wearing it down further and further until finally piercing through.

My mood soured, as I realized that the explosions must have come from another model. One that I hadn’t seen and couldn’t track.

Right. Better avoid detection.

‘Buddy, have I ever told you about my love-hate relationship with drones?’

‘No?’

‘Okay. Here it goes. I love the idea of using them against monsters and hate the idea of them being used against people. Especially when people refers to me.’

‘You’re angry then?’

‘Angry? Oh, Buddy. I am (Centipede)ing furious. I finally find some guns that aren’t being levelled against me by another survivor and of course, they’re welded to a pack of killer robots.’

‘Do you want them?’

‘Yes, Buddy. I want the guns. I want all the guns. Generally, if you find yourself trapped and kidnapped against your will, guns are a very good thing to have. I can’t even begin to count how many pre-rift horror movies would’ve ended in the first ten minutes if the protagonists had a locker full of machine guns.’

‘Then, why don’t you take them?’

‘Because they’re using the guns right now and I’m not. I am a squishy human. One that doesn’t even have a vest to stop a couple of shots. I’ll be dead as soon as I’m found. It would be different if I was an Enhancer or a Shifter. They’d be able to laugh in the face of bullets. Projectors would be able to hold out if they had the right abilities too. It might be different if I had the [Electronic Interface] ability, but I don’t. Nor do I have the points. I’m not going to take the risk.’

I took a deep breath. Taking care to avoid making too much noise.

Moving to the relative safety of the next wall once the drones had moved on to their next patrol point.

It would seem that they hadn’t been constructed with heat sensors or programmed to fan out when searching for targets like the drones I had worked on. Small mercies that I was very thankful for.

The prototypes me and my fellow students had submitted as our final assignment had been designed with the dual purpose of reconnaissance in hostile areas and searching for survivors in hiding or trapped under rubble. The idea had been to use a cheap, lightweight model to expedite rescue efforts instead of wasting materials attacking something that could shrug off small caliber arms fire. It had to be as cheap as possible because we expected our model to be mass produced and deployed in large numbers over a wide area in order to maximize the chances of finding living people while accounting for losses to monsters.

We’d gotten an A and some recruitment offers.

I smiled at the memory. Thinking back to the advanced technology on display here.

What could we have accomplished with anti-gravity fields and unlimited ammunition?

An idea blossomed in my mind.

What if I managed to take one of these things back with me? How much good would this do back on the surface?

I gulped. Willing myself to stay hidden instead of peeking around the corner.

‘Don’t be stupid man. You won’t do anyone any good if you’re dead. The best course of action is to escape and tell the authorities about what you saw. They’ll be able to secure the drones then. When they have someone like Thunder Fist to tank the bullets.’

I breathed out, letting the tension escape, before moving on.

I was making my way over to one of the smaller side corridors. Staying behind one wall or another for minutes anytime the machines got anywhere near me.

It had been stressful, during my first few encounters. Knowing that I couldn’t rely on [Hide] to do anything thanks to what I saw through [Precognition]. Whatever mechanism made the ability work on living monsters wasn’t registering with the drones at all. It might have been different if I’d had the interface ability, though I couldn’t say for sure.

I reached the final building before the passage entrance and took note of the distance between the two locations.

I’d done it before. I knew I could do it again. Yet the moment had to be timed perfectly.

My body rested against the nearest wall. Waiting. Waiting. Breathing in and out in order to maintain a sense of calm.

I heard the chirping noises of the drones moving further and further away. Making their way back towards the other end of the cavern.

However, something stopped me from fleeing. I was getting new signals in my fog. Drawing in the echoes of two other minds. They are frustrated, cursing inwardly as the approached.

And boy were they approaching. Faster and faster, in a vertical descent.

The ceiling in the middle of the chamber collapsed not long after. Its fall sending clouds of dust and debris flying in all directions.

My hands went to my head as I threw my body to the floor in the fetal position. Hoping against hope that nothing too big hit one of my more important parts.

I heard the distinctive sounds of rushing air. Sharp rocks impacting against the wall standing between me and the unfolding chaos.

I flinched every time the sounds rang near my skull.

A steady thump, thump, thump that sent my heart into overdrive.

Thankfully, nothing pierced through the barrier. I took the initiative to lean back against the wall once more, after the battering had stopped. Refocusing on my fog and my map to see the outlines of two human beings.

‘Wait, are they human? No, they can’t be. Humans don’t grow to that size. Unless they’re Shifters with growing powers. Yeah, that makes sense. They should be human.’

I was still debating what to do, when the first shot rang out. It was soon followed by many, many others. A cacophony of flying bullets spraying in every direction.

The two newcomers did not feel scared, nor angry. In fact, they seemed more annoyed than anything else.

I heard an explosion, then another. They were followed by the sound of stones being crunched. Not by weapons fire, but by hands.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Then one of the turrets fell silent, with the rest following in short order.

The battle, if one could call it that, lasted for roughly one minute. Maybe less. In that time, the two who’d fallen from the ceiling didn’t make so much as grunt. All while being shot several dozen times per second.

I gulped.

Faced with the realization that I wasn’t anywhere near strong enough to be thinking about saving people. These two, they were what heroes should be.

I thought about contacting them through [Message], but thought better of it. These two had done away with the robots easily enough, which meant they’d be able to deal with me just as easily.

Furthermore, there was no telling if they’d be amicable or not. Having decided that, I activated [Hide] and peeked at them from around the nearest corner.

The two of them were covered in half-destroyed furs. Their vestments sporting a landscape of bullet holes up and down the length of their bodies.

None of the holes carried any hint of red. Meaning the attacks hadn’t punctured the skin. No, looking closer, these two weren’t even bruised.

One of them was woman. Sporting a tangled mess of bright orange hair and piercing green eyes flecked with gold. Freckles covered her otherwise pale face, standing out even in this dim lighting. That face was incredible. Too perfect, in a way that screamed plastic surgery. Expensive plastic surgery at that.

More striking was her size. She was huge. Tall enough that she would’ve easily towered over most body-builders I was familiar with. Maybe a little over 2 metres in height.

The man next to her bore a strong resemblance. Maybe a brother or a cousin. His face was beautiful as well, resembling an idealized Greek statue carved from marble. He had the same eyes and the same hair. Only, he was somehow even bigger.

Where the woman could have still passed as a somewhat normal human, the man resembled an ogre more than anything else.

He was well over two metres, maybe 220 or 230 centimetres in total. With biceps bigger than Luigi’s waist and legs that could put elephants to shame.

There was no way this guy was a normal human.

I was considering the benefits of contacting them after putting some distance between us to see how they’d react, when I noticed the things, they were holding.

The woman held a pale bone axe in one hand and a knife in the other, while the man held a bone club in his right hand. His left, was holding on to a still bleeding human arm.

“I cannot believe you let him get away!” The woman yelled. “What if he finds the Shepherd? What if he manages to wound him? Or worse? Was all your training for nothing?”

“The robot bull got in the way.” The man growled. Tightening his grip on the severed limb and cracking its remaining bones as he did so.

“He will not get away again. I will not allow any harm to come to the Shepherd.”

“You better not! I have my eyes set on him already. A match like that is all I need to become matriarch of the clan. It’ll put us one step ahead of Glossy for good.”

The man gave her a withering stare.

“You plan is not a bad one. If we find the Shepherd and if he finds you suitable. His help will mean life and safety for our kin. Do not let your personal ambitions consume you.”

She scoffed.

“As if you don’t want to put Glossy in her place and follow father’s footsteps.”

“I do want that. More than you could know.”

She was about to say something else, when he dropped the arm and raised a hand to forestall her.

“And that is why we must be humble and dedicated. We must gain the Shepherd’s trust before attempting any political moves. Otherwise, Glossy or one of our half-siblings will take him instead. Is that what you want?”

Her face twisted in fury.

“No.”

“Good. I don’t want that either.” He sighed, looking at the discarded limb in the same way a dogwalker might look at the gifts he has to pick up and bag.

“We failed this time. Let’s endeavor to improve. Lest it happen again.”

The two started talking about something else afterwards. I didn’t care. I’d heard enough.

My feet began to move. Taking long, silent strides towards the entrance. I sprinted after the halfway mark. Knowing there was a delay between the robot’s acquisition of stimuli and them switching protocols to actively search for the source.

I was gone by the time they neared the entrance. Going down a spiralling hallway with a low ceiling covered in glowing fungi.

I returned to find the intersection as I’d left it. Covered in furry corpses.

My mind went back to my map. Going over the options I’d already crossed out.

A sigh escaped my lips after I realized there was only one other alternative if I wanted to keep ascending.

A very, very narrow passage at a slight incline. With a ceiling so low that I’d have to crouch in order to traverse it.

I bit my lip in frustration. Wondering if I should risk backtracking in hopes of finding a better route that kept going up. It would mean a six hour walk the way I’d originally come from. Not a welcome prospect but not a deal breaker by itself. The problem was that it would mean going back to where the mushroom men were. After they’d very nearly taken my head off.

The idea was so unpleasant that I discarded it almost immediately.

“Come on Sully. You’re smarter than that. The only reason you made it out was that they were half asleep the first time. Even then, they chased you down for hours. You’d stand a better chance against the machine guns.”

‘Why are you talking to yourself again Sully?’

“Never mind that, Buddy. Let’s keep moving.”

I made my way over to the tunnel. Resignation colouring my every step.

The distance between opposing walls soon grew narrow, barely wide enough for a human to move through. Worse, I soon had to crouch forward as the ceiling dropped lower and lower.

With a small sigh of relief, I thanked my lucky stars that I didn’t suffer from claustrophobia.

The last thing I needed right now was more ill feelings clouding my judgement.

Particularly when I looked at the survivor count.

Even with all my efforts thus far, attrition was taking its toll, probably helped along by an unhealthy dose of famine.

Survivor Count: 528/1000

I felt bad for all the victims, I really did. Being kidnapped in the middle of the night and taken to some maze without having done anything was horrifying.

And yet….

I had done my part and I’d continued doing my part despite the constant stream of hysterical replies and rejection.

I was ready to help anyone who asked. It was they who refused to help themselves.

Part of still grimaced at the cold calculus of survival. I cherished that bit of myself; a small, untainted shred of naïve innocence.

My hands moved over the spot where the diary was stored.

I swore I’d keep those emotions within me, despite knowing it wouldn’t help.

Losing them would leave me no better than the tall man. I shivered at the thought and kept moving upwards.

Another few hours saw me and Buddy in a distinct watering hole.

Here, glowing sapphires illuminated the small stream from beneath, making it seem as though the water was in some way magical. It was then that I felt safe enough to rest and indulge in some well-deserved relaxation.

Just like that, me and Buddy celebrated my eleventh day inside the murder-maze. The occasion was marked by a protracted period of running for our freaking lives after finding a two-metre-tall shrew who didn’t take too kindly to illusions.

That bloody animal ate [Fever] soup like it was going out of style, not slowing down in the slightest despite my unrelenting assault. I could taste the anticipation it felt as it gave chase. Taking in the emotions of the beast looking forward to a tasty morsel.

Thankfully, [Hide] still worked fine and the furry missile passed me by. It didn’t realize something was off until it was almost outside my senses, by which time I’d charged up another super shot.

Which did next to nothing, leaving me and Buddy exposed once more.

Cursing under my breath, I started sprinting once again, taking whatever twists and turns took me into narrow passages. I felt it gaining ground, frustration and anger fueling its pursuit, its primitive brain busy with thinking up ways to mangle my corpse.

Seeing as that outcome might prohibit me from ever seeing daylight again, I redoubled all my efforts, throwing more and more Psy into seemingly futile resistance.

At that point, an opportunity presented itself. Just below us was a crevice in the rock, barely big enough for me to crawl into and certainly too small for the oversized rodent.

We reached it just in time, sharp claws scraping against stone outside. The shrew squeaked, a gesture that might have come across as adorable were it the right size, but which filled my gut with terror at this distance. I delved as much as I could, careful to tuck my legs into my chest afterwards and focusing on regaining Psy.

Beyond the noise and the fear, there was the deep dark lake from which my strings had surfaced. The waters were thick and oily, blotting out any undue influence with practised ease.

I allowed them to swallow me whole so as to better shield myself from fear and distraction.

There I waited and waited. Feeling the soothing motions of the tides wash away all the accumulated stress.

Level Gained: +5 Maximum Psy. +3 Ability Points.

Ability Evolving: [Meditation] 2 has grown to [Meditation] 3

Name:

Solomon Carter

Psy:

127/185

Type:

Telepath Level 27

Abilities:

[Sense Thoughts] 3 / [Message] 4 / [Mental Bolt] 4 / [Fever] 4 / [Fear] 3 / [Static Illusion] 4 / [Hide] 3 / [Faint Presence] 2 / [Mental Map] 2 / [Precognition] 4 / [Friendship] 1 / [Meditation] 3 /

Ability Points:

0

Images flooded my psyche, marching slowly so as to make themselves known. There was the community center again and the tall man and the monsters. The people wailed in despair until a stick-like digit silenced them all with a lazy motion.

That man was pacing back and forth, regarding the humans beside him as if they were but toys for him to move about and break at his pleasure. With a sidelong glance, the mother crab tore into its children. The crustacean was many things, but it was not stupid. Its own misery roared like a tornado in the small space, begging for the torture to stop. Pleading for the tall man to take it instead of its children.

The tall man snarled and said something.

Something.

Vile.

The people recoiled in disgust. Mom and Dad recoiled in disgust.

I wept.

I awoke some hours later, fully topped off. Filled with that alien weariness I’d so often experienced lately.

Another blast met the shrew, which had apparently been hissing and clawing fruitlessly at the walls this entire time.

Three more strikes had the desired effect and its abused neurons had the decency to die like any other monster. Unfortunate for me, it had the sheer audacity to expire whilst blocking our only means of egress.

Thusly, I was in for another nap so that Buddy could digest away undisturbed. A rest that was cut short by another sudden shiver and I brought my hands over to my visor by reflex.

“Buddy. Do you have everything you need?”

‘Yes! I love being with you Sully!’

“Good to hear. In that case, would you mind turning up the heat again? I think I might be sick.”

‘I’m already making you as warm as I can. The outside is too cold.’

“Really? I haven’t felt any big changes.”

‘That’s because I’ve been helping silly! Here, I’ll open up your visor so you can feel it.’

At once, the see-through membrane opened. It was then that I began to fully appreciate how much Buddy had been doing without my notice and how very lucky I was to find him when I did.

The stagnant air was definitely below 0 degrees Celsius. Maybe even reaching the negative 20s.

“Jeez! Shut it! Shut it! Buddy!”

The visor closed once more, leaving my teeth clattering and the rest of my body recoiling with the aftershock.

“When? When did it get this bad?”

‘The temperature dropped to below freezing yesterday. It’s gotten worse the more we climb.’

“How!? None of the watering holes were frozen over!?”

‘I think the water there was heated.’

“There is no freaking way whoever trapped us down here would go to all that effort. Why spare us the drinking water after going this far to mess with us?”

‘I don’t know. I’m just a suit.’

I had to make an effort to calm myself down. Buddy was one of my few lifelines and I trusted him almost as much as I trusted myself at this point. Getting angry at him over this query wouldn’t solve anything.

Now, I consider myself a fairly learned individual. Enough to know that I can’t be an expert on everything and that some details are going to escape my notice. That said, I was pretty sure warm air travelled upwards and that I should not have to risk transforming into a bright red popsicle by trying to escape.

Unless I was underneath some out of the way frozen tundra and all the survivors and monsters had made it to this point thanks to underground thermal vents. That might go some way to explaining the water being heated too. However, that didn’t make sense either, as I was fairly certain those didn’t spew out breathable air.

Both humans and monsters should have suffocated long ago if that was the case.

“There’s something weird going on.” I said, feeling like the biggest dunce in the world after the words were out.

After the kidnapping, the whole Telepath ordeal, the robots and the mutants, the cold shouldn’t have surprised me.

Just another means of tormenting all the hapless victims trapped down here with me. Nothing more, nothing less.

Gritting my teeth, I resolved to keep moving. This hindrance wouldn’t be in place if there wasn’t anything important above us. We were close. We must be, if the architect wanted to keep us out.

“Buddy, is there any way you could leave the fur alone? I want to take it with us.”

‘What!? Why!? Are you cheating on me!? With some stinky pelt! Sully, how could you!?’

“No! No. I’m not… I’m…” I took a few deep breaths to calm myself. “I would never cheat on you Buddy. You know that. I merely thought that you could use the help. I’m very cold right now and I think it would be easier for you, for us, if you draped the fur coat over you. To keep more of the heat in.”

‘That’s not fair! I was doing a great job until now!’

“I know Buddy. I know. But at this rate, we might die from the cold. Please. For me.”

The symbiote grumbled a few protests and sulked for a few more minutes before agreeing.

‘I only do it because you asked.’

“I’ll never forget that, Buddy.”

‘So don’t let the other symbiotes know or they’ll make fun of me.’

“Buddy, the other symbiotes can go jump off a cliff for all I care. You’re doing an amazing job. No one else could be half as great as you.”

Soft purring answered me, confirming my choice of words to have been correct.

Re-invigorated and newly clothed, we kept moving.