With a final, shuddering surge, Kai collapsed onto one knee, desperately clinging to the metal pole of the spear for support. His vision flickered, warning icons erupting in a frantic ballet across his visual display.
One message blared out above the rest:
[CORE ENERGY CRITICALLY LOW. SYSTEMS IMMINENTLY ENTERING EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN.]
"S-system..." Kai choked out, his voice barely a whisper laden with static. "How... h-how d-o I restor- my- my c-re?" The words crackled, broken like an old transmission. Each syllable felt like a monumental effort.
A moment of static, and then the System's robotic tone in his mind offered a glimmer of hope.
[Emergency protocols activated. Energy cells storage vault located behind blast doors. For Access authorization: Xerion energy signature is required. Place hand on vault door for signature identification...]
Clinging to that flicker of hope, Kai forced himself to his feet, each step an agony against the exhaustion consuming him. His left leg twitched erratically, threatening to give out entirely.
His optical sensors flickered, flickered, the world dissolving into splotches of light and shadow. But one image held clear – those massive doors promising his only chance of survival.
With a strength born from utter desperation, he dragged himself forward, using the spear as a makeshift crutch. Reaching the doors, he leaned heavily against them, as he slammed the trembling hand, onto the door's surface making a loud clang.
As his hand made contact, a blue light sparked to life, holographic circles rippling outwards as it scanned his form.
An unfamiliar voice crackled through the silent chamber – the room's AI.
[Energy signature verified. Match found with registered signatures. Welcome, Owner. Initializing door access... lowering radiation safeguards... adjusting interior light levels...]
He didn't need explanations, as he couldn't even hear them clearly in his state. With an echoing groan, the doors slid apart, revealing a cavernous chamber bathed in a soft, ethereal glow from the ceiling.
A blast of frigid air stung Kai's overheated form. Shivering, he forced his failing body to follow the System's directions.
His eyes scanned the room, details registering only faintly amidst the encroaching darkness. Massive cylindrical structures lined the far wall, their surfaces gleaming with an otherworldly blue luminescence. Between them ran a network of pipes and glowing cables.
And in the center... a glowing blue circle shimmered on the floor.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
[Critical energy levels detected. Emergency energy transfusion is recommended. Proceed to the designated area.] , the room's AI warned.
Kai gritted his metallic teeth. Fixating on the circle mentioned by the AI, Each breath, each movement, felt like an impossible struggle...yet he kept going. Ignoring the array of strange machinery, he forced himself toward the circle, dragging his spear for meager support.
"Almost...there..." he rasped. His vision faded further, shapes blurring into an indistinct mass.
He stumbled...tripped... up the short set of stairs leading to the platform, Once, twice, his failing limbs gave out. But with the last shred of his dwindling power, fueled by a thread of desperate will.
with a final cry of exertion, he hauled himself upward. Blinded by the flashing warning lights in his eyes, he crawled the remaining distance, making a loud screeching sound between the cold floor and his metal body.
As his hand crossed the threshold of the circle, his systems finally gave out. Darkness consumed him.
His body lay inert within the circle. Yet the room didn't fall silent.
The holographic blue circles came out of the ground, as The room's AI reacted immediately.
[ Initiating emergency energy transfusion protocol. Engaging localized zero-gravity field.]
The next second with a soft 'hum', Kai's motionless form levitated, centering itself in the circle, suspended in the air.
A loud hiss filled the room as sections of the floor and ceiling shifted. Robotic arms, slender and precise extended from them, halting mere inches from Kai's slumped form.
Then, as if a hidden mechanism activated in his body, the metal plates on his back parted and shifted sidewards. And a black visceral metallic liquid flowed outwards with an unnatural fluidity...and shaped itself in four glowing sockets, cavities shaped to receive the oncoming surge of energy.
With a mechanical hum, robotic arms moved settling in position before the sockets. A blue light flickered from their center as they scanned the new openings, with a series of soft clicks, they attached.
'Click, Click, Click, Click'
The AI's voice echoed monotonously against the steady hum of the energy transfusion. "Energy levels...two percent...five percent..."
Time lost all meaning. Was it minutes, hours? It felt like an eternity as the power flowed into him. Finally, his optical sensors flickered. Lifeless eyes sparked with a soft blue glow – Kai was coming back online.
"Ughh..." he groaned, the metallic sound reverberating in the silent room. He raised a hand to his head, or where his head should be, and winced.
"What is this pain? A headache...or something else?, it just felt like I was just drifting without the end" It was unlike any physical hurt – a dull, deep throb resonating in the very essence of his being. Perhaps this was how it felt to die, energy slowly ebbing away...a relentless drift rather than a sudden extinguish.
The initial disorientation faded as his optical sensors clarified, and took in his surroundings. The room was awash in light – a blinding blue glow from the colossal energy cells lining the walls and a gentler white light that seemed to come from above.
Massive windows, shielded by black slats, offered a tantalizing glimpse of what lay beyond.
"So, this is it… the inside here… " Kai's voice trailed off, then erupted with childlike excitement, "This is beyond cool! Forget the shutdown, this place is awesome!"
His curiosity ignited, and he turned his attention to the windows. "Hey, AI! What's behind those rails?"
The room's A.I., electronic voice offered a dry explanation.
[Those are containment blinds, shielding us from the blinding light and radiation emanating from the ship's core.
Absorbing the AI's words. "Core, huh?" Kai mused, still hovering in mid-air, "So, that's the star the EvoSystem mentioned… the one that powers this entire ship. Talk about a seriously souped-up power source!"