The ruins were decrepit and rotting around them as they ventured through the endless corridors and once great doorways. Katie and Zhalo had given a conservative estimate that the entire structure was about twenty thousand years old. So far, they had only found useless rubbish and a couple of trinkets which may be worth a few points for their task.

“Careful, you imbecile!” Katie hissed as he went to touch the surface of a new discovery.

“It’s tens of thousands of years old, any security system is going to be more than useless by now.” He bit back as he examined the material.

“How can you possibly know that? Any damage on the outside is not indicative of its bad state everywhere! For all we know it could be protected by a stasis field!” She lectured tiredly.

“The scanner said it’s all dead, both electronically and biologically.” He replied, smiling slightly.

“You should have led with that!” Katie screamed back before slightly wincing in pain.

Noticing she was still in pain, Zhalo quickly stopped his comedic face and felt slightly guilty.

“Are you sure you are going to make it?” He asked, concerned.

She waved him off and began to assist him in getting the door open.

After a few moments of struggling and hacking away, they managed to pry the ancient door open to reveal a large chamber. Even inside this inner section there was no evidence of functioning technology or even any useful materials.

“Another bust.” Zhalo sighed disappointingly which was soon echoed by Katie.

“It’s not looking good for us; we may have no choice but to return to the surface and try our luck there shortly.” Katie reminded him.

After looking around for a moment, Zhalo came to a realization.

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“This has already been looted long before we came, hasn’t it?” He asked

“That is my guess as well.” She replied.

“We have two days left, do you think we should return to the surface or double down on our discovery here?” He asked for her opinion.

“We should stay down here; I have a backup plan if things get hopeless.” She decided.

“Want to share with the class?” Zhalo asked half-jokingly

.

“No, we don’t have time, let’s check this chamber completely and then try to find something more useful.” Katie said.

After spending the better part of an hour searching the chamber only to come up empty, the dynamic duo took their search elsewhere. Checking all the other leads took a few days but eventually they managed to map out the entire base, the only initiation points earned being simply the act of surviving combined with the data and a few near worthless trinkets. Days passed as the two argued over meaningless decisions.

“It’s the last day.” Zhalo said after Katie had woken up.

“So, it is.” She replied morosely.

“Let’s head to the surface and try to salvage this terrible situation.” Zhalo suggested.

“Sounds like a plan.” Katie responded tiredly.

They headed out of the chamber they had commandeered for sleep and towards the exit. Zhalo began to feel a bit groggy and unusually tired the further they went. Zhalo put his arm against the wall for a moment to support himself as he tried to steady himself.

“One moment Katie.” He said as she stopped as well.

“Are you feeling okay, Zhalo?” She asked without any affection.

“Just. Tired.” Zhalo replied, breathing heavy as he slumped down against the ruined wall.

Unseen by Zhalo, Katie wore a grim yet determined expression as she looked down at him.

“You deserve to know.” Katie began.

“Know. What?” Zhalo interrupted as he started to gasp for air.

She took a deep breath and steadied herself before responding.

“We don’t have any chance to get the required initiation points for both of us to pass in the few hours we have left. I made the difficult decision that if we could not pass together then at least one of us should.”

Zhalo just stared at her cluelessly as he started panicking, a large burst of pain shooting up his back and throat.

“In simple terms, I poisoned you so I may succeed. It is nothing personal and is not from a place of hate. I have come too far to fail now. I shall remember you forevermore, Zhalo. Farewell.”

Katie took one last long look at Zhalo, grabbed his scanner and supplies, and then departed towards the surface.

Zhalo sat there for a moment unable to think any deeper due to the intense pain he was feeling. It took a few moments but his survival instincts fully triggered and via the power of adrenaline he brought himself to his feet and headed towards a nearby chamber.

Nearly falling over a few times on the way, Zhalo finally reached the nearest chamber and looked for anything of use that could save him. The room had a few insects that were not even worthy of note and a small pond in the corner. In the centre of the room was an ancient altar that was broken in two that was completely bolted down to the room’s floor.

Grabbing a drink from the water source no longer caring about its purity due to his shortening lease on life, Zhalo tried to think hard on his situation. No answers came up. The textbook answer for this situation would be to locate medical care or apply your own. Without any medical supplies his education had failed him for the first time.

Zhalo laid on the floor near the altar, a feeling of calmness coming along with the pain. He could feel his insides rotting and his ears began to leak blood. Zhalo began hallucinating while he entered his death throes.

He imagined a disgusting alien slime creature. He imagined it looking down on him as he bled out. He imagined it reaching towards his head.

The last thing Zhalo imagined before he passed away was a single line of English that overlaid over his vision.

[The Mana System has been installed]