Despite walking for several miles by this point, I felt no pain in my feet. My mind was focused solely on reaching this place. The closer I started to get, the more I was beginning to see the sheer grand scale of this... Metropolis? Yes. It was looking like some kind of city. The tall structures were leading me to believe that this was a metropolis. Could this be civilization? Was there any living beings like myself residing within? If everyone out here in this wasteland is nothing but a corpse then surely a city protected by walls would be home to living residents. I did not care for the abandoned constructs or corpses no longer. I only wanted to reach this destination of mine.

As I drew ever so closer I was greeted by a large gate-like structure. It resembled that of a metal spinal cord. It was ominous but strangely elegant. The mysterious metropolis was not too much further now. Following the path under the gate, ahead of me the fog was growing less dense. There I saw it. A split in the endless walls. Two black gated doors. The right gate was hanging open by a single hinge. Red sinewy vines poking out of the ground were wrapped around the right gate, as if it was pulled open by force. I reached my hand out to touch the vine. It felt like newly-made flesh. How peculiar. My blood-pumping chest organ began to pulsate faster as I stepped past the gate. My eyes did not deceive me. This was a metropolis. Towers and buildings went on for miles. The streets were made of sinew-laden concrete. Sidewalks of dull gray stone. Black streets enriched with the crimson pattern from the sinew made for quite a sight. I felt overwhelmed. Where to even go? To my right was a sign. The sinew vines had made their home on the left-hand corner of the sign but the text was visible. It read: 'MANUS DISTRICT.'

This was... A district? One section of this huge metropolis? I continued onward. Something I noticed was that in the middle of the street was a metallic railing installed into the ground. What was this for? I soon would discover this as I came upon a rustic apparatus leaning to the left hanging off of the railing. The apparatus was shaped like a trolley. Seats on both sides with mechanical safety rails that would lower in front of you to keep you strapped down safely. I got down onto my knees to peer under it. A thin metal sheet with teeth straight down the middle of the bottom of the trolley. This must be what keeps it on the railing. When I stood up to see the other side, I noticed two of the seats had corpses in them. Their heads lay low, safety rails down keeping them strapped in. Now that I think about it... Moving along I noticed a few corpses littering the streets. Was... Everyone here a lifeless husk too? Like those out in the wasteland? I didn't know. But now I wanted to know. And it seems that my access of this place was limited as the few doors I tried were locked. Deeper into this district I began to see larger structures compared to the ones seen upon entering this place. Some had smokestacks sticking up from their rooftops. Long narrow windows covered with metal blinders. One in particular I approached. A long tube stretched across the front from the roof all the way down into the ground. A rectangular pattern with black curved bars and pear-shaped objects with tubes extended out from underneath them decorated the front of this particular structure. Approaching the door, it looked very ornate in design. Dirty curved glass, four black bars connected to a much larger one on each door and a single circular shape in the middle bearing a strange symbol. Above the door was a dim square light. I touched the circle and the doors creaked open. Flakes of rust fell to the ground.

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Nothing stood out in the room. A glass panel separated the isolated corner from the rest of the room. A strange device sat inside but there was no way to access it. Two doors, one to my right and left. Only the right door was open so I went through there. The walls were rustic with a web-like pattern on the left-hand side. Rusted steel flanges erected from the floor into the lower half of the walls lined these hallways. The long window was shuttered obscuring any outside view. A single corpse laid out on the floor in front of the door. I observed the scene. A panel with a fleshy key slot was next to the door. I knelt down to examine the corpse. A dark brown circlet on it's head bearing the same symbol as that on the front door. Wrapped around it's right wrist was some kind of device. I tried to remove it, yanking on it and tearing the corpse's arm clean off. Red tendons and black wires dangled from the severed flesh. Huh. Sorry, stranger.

I looked closer at the device. Rounded, bottom-heavy with a slot and button in the hand space. Very industrial in design. It was hitched into the arm itself. A little switch was seen on the bottom of the device. I moved it. The device unhinged itself from the arm, drawing blood. Hooks hung from the device. I placed my hand through the device and moved the switch. Suddenly the hooks sunk into my flesh. A dim red light beamed from the slot. I pressed down on the button and a thin needle appendage emerged from the slot just under my palm with a sickly sound. What is this? Looking to the panel next to the door, I slotted the needle into the keyhole and turned my wrist. The panel pulsated and the door opened up. I then ejected the needle and pressed the button again, sheathing the needle. So this device is like a key?

Leaving the corpse and it's severed arm behind, I moved on deeper into this place. The space inside this room was massive. Looking around I saw many pods housing sacks of pulsating pale flesh held in by metal bars that differed in design from the one I emerged from, hanging on the walls above in an orderly fashion. Sets of machines with bloodstained claws. A rail in the flooring that spanned around the entire room. In the center was a platform with steel beams mended into it's muscles. A device sat atop. And hung from the ceiling was a mechanical crane arm. Across the room on the other side was a set of two tunnels and a single door.

It took me a moment to realize that I was inside a factory. What the purpose of this factory was? I wasn't so sure. But perhaps if I poked around I could uncover something. Anything. This entire place was a mystery to me. With no memories to recall, my mind was drawing blanks as to what this factory could be. Now that I had obtained this strange key... It was time I investigated here further.