The empty streets served merely as a pathway towards our destined location. Apparently there was a transportation system here that led to Cerebras: The capital of Carnis Machina. And here I was thinking the Spire was the epitaph of all encompassing significance. Well... I wouldn't be wrong though entirely. The Mastermind is a being that claims it's this city's god. Why it would reside here rather then the capital? It's purpose is the all-seeing eye of the machine. Everything is so vague. There is so much I have yet to understand. But no matter. I had a mission to accomplish.

I noticed as we got closer to this monorail, the elevation of the city here was gradually climbing higher. Nothing stood out too much on our walk. Abandoned buildings and lots that once were teeming with life I'm sure. The lack of corpses was still a surprise. Aside from that residential building I had slept in, there were no bodies littering the streets here. Soon enough we arrived at the monorail station. A large structure with benches lining the walls, screens showing nothing but static, and of course the rail system. Two railways stretched out beyond the vast sandy valley below and over to a sanctioned off district separate from the rest of the city. From what I could see through the dust and fog, Cerebras had but a few grand structures. And the foundation was... floating in the sky? The Doctor tapped my shoulder and motioned for me to move forward. The mechanical tram was simple in design; Basically a giant gray steel box with faded windows and a doorway. I nodded and complied. I stepped through the doorway and entered the tram. No seats. Only handles hung from steel bars dangled. The doors shut behind me. I turned to see the Doctor waving at me before turning heel and leaving. So I was alone once again.

Walking down the aisle, I made my way to the front cabin of the tram. A control panel lay before me but it was simplistic. A small screen next to a couple buttons, a slot with a key inside and a handle. I turned the key and could hear the tram begin to hum with power. The screen flashed on displaying the word: Cerebras. I grabbed the handle and pushed it. The tram began to move forward slowly. I watched on to see the district become closer and more clearer through my muddied vision. I must be ready for the unexpected. For what is to come.

Just what kind of place is this really? Unlike the condensed streets, isolated factories and buildings as far as the eye can see; Cerebras was much more easier to comprehend as a location. I was able to get a better understanding of these massive structures. Overtaking the east side was this rectangular building with wide oval windows across all of its five stories, a flat roof, two sets of doors and seemed the most plain in design. On the west side was the more industrial structure complete with smokestacks on both ends, large windows covered by shutters on the inside, a single entrance and several complex pipelines running anywhere from the front to the side, the roof to the ground and even one side over to the opposite. At the center, north to be precise, was the most grand and ornate structure I had ever seen...

Stretching far enough to cover several city blocks, the east and west sides were but a couple stories high. The edges of the rooftops were round and the opposite inner ends connected to make up curves leading to the towering centerpiece of the structure. Where the top few floors were, front and center on display was an aging, bronze mechanical contraption. A mass of gears within the center with two arms adorned with pointed tips, one smaller than the other, were pointed at different places on the contraption. A series of twelve cryptic symbols surrounded the contraption. The small arm was pointing at the very bottom, while the other was pointing to the right-hand corner. A three-lined pattern traveled along the edge of the curving roof. The exterior walls contained meticulously crafted patterns etched into the very foundation. The entire structure was designed like a work of art.

Now that I had arrived here I could now see that behind the grand structure, obscured by the dense haze was a massive, long and cylindrical airship just floating in place. The tram stopped at the station. A droning horn blared to signal my arrival. I left the cabin and stepped off the train. The exterior of this place seemed... Fine. Just as the district where the Spire resided was. No signs of conflict, death or the Rot could be seen. I was so confused. As curious as I was to explore these other structures; My destination clearly must be the grand structure. It's sheer size exerted significance and dominance.

As I approached and came to the ornate doors embedded with gilded stroke patterns, they wouldn't open. The device off to the side was not illuminated nor were there any lights on inside any of these buildings. Was there no power? Slotting my Key into the device warranted no result. Well shit. I looked over to the industrial structure and made way for there. My mind assumed that if there was a power source, it was going to be inside of there. I also got a glance over to the rather dull building and it too, did not seem to have power.

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Steel walls free of the usual grime from the city. Stacks almost reaching the same heights as the tallest of towers. Complex pipelines resembling a twisted assortment of tendrils. The device on this door was still lit up but it was orange rather then red. Regardless, I stuck the Key into the slot and turned. The orange light glowed bright and the door opened up. I stepped inside. The interior consisted of several steel platforms and bridges. Pipes and tubes running all around. Staircases ascending to the upper floors. It was a giant maze inside of here. The worst part of it... Was that from the iron grates on the floors, the Rot had overgrown inside of this facility. The familiar red tendrils and vines spread throughout like a disease inside the body. A couple of dismembered corpses lied with their insides strewn across the floor. I proceeded onward with caution. From above where I stood, footsteps. Just a floor above, the steel platform creaked. I stopped to look around.

A long, thin arm protracting extensive sharp claws from the fingertips grabbed the railing. Then another arm followed suit, grabbing the underside of the ledge. Two long, thin legs arched over the railing and leaning there looking down at me was one of my own kind. A... cyborg. But it's limbs were abhorrently long, as was it's neck and torso. It titled its head ever so slightly to the left as it gazed right at me with those soulless white eyes. I remained still. It didn't seem hostile. Then it held onto the railing by its feet, twisting its torso and hanging there to get a closer look at me. I was unsure what to do. It continued to gaze at me... Then the skin on the lower half of its face began to stretch and split apart, revealing a gnarled mouth lined with fangs and let out a horrendous growl. It grabbed my by the throat and started squeezing. My oxygen flow was starting to dwindle as the creature clenched onto me. I struggled to move my arms but managed to grab my instrument. Protracting the blade out, I swiped at its wrist to sever the hand. I watched it fall to the floor. The creature howled in agony and climbed back up onto the platform and crawled away from me. What the hell was that thing? I need to hurry up and find out how to get the power on.

Unfortunately none of the terminals down here were working. With the dim lighting too this place must've been running on emergency power. I cut through some red strands in front of the staircase and began climbing up. The growth here was insane. I had to cut through other strands and tendrils making my trek difficult here. Besides the creaking of my footsteps, some floors higher I was hearing faint echoes of other footsteps. There was definitely more then one of those 'things' here... I could hear them. The second floor had nothing of note. As I went for the second stairs, a loud creaking followed with the sudden appearance of another malformed cyborg that had jumped down from above landed right in front of me. This one had both of its hands. A different one. The skin on its face stretched to growl at me. I stepped aside as it swiped at me. I attempted to slash the blade at it but it arched its back and contorted its body backwards to miss. The long limbs definitely made it difficult to calculate for an attack. It lunged at me, pinning me to the cold hard floor. It dug its claws into my shoulders and howled right in my face. Blood was seeping from my wounds now. I managed to bring my arm up and dismember one of its arms. It backed up and howled, grabbing the bleeding stump. I got back up and shoved the blade straight into its gut and brought it down, splitting its lower torso apart. It groveled as its guts spilled out and it fell down into a pool of its own blood.

I ascended higher. Passing by spreading growth coating terminals, desks, tables, pipes and steel support beams. While climbing to the fifth floor I was grabbed from behind and thrown down back to the foot of the stairs. Ouch. Another creature jumped over the ledge and landed on the stairs. It growled at me and jumped right onto my blade, piercing straight through its chest. It grabbed my head, trying to squeeze. Hesitating, I twisted and stirred the blade as to scramble its insides. The grip on my head loosened and soon the thing fell unconscious as blood streamed down its body. Its limbs went limp. I used my free hand and my foot to push the creature off of me, the bloodstained blade sliding out taking with it a bit of intestinal tubing with it. I stepped over the corpse and continued up. This was it. The top floor.

In the middle of this floor's area was a giant machine. Red lights on the console flickered. Wires connected to the top of the machine spread out like a web across the entirety of the ceiling and down to the lower floors. This must be the generator. The source of power here. Several gored corpses were scattered about this particular floor. I walked up to the machine to examine the console. Brute forcing it, I managed to press the right set of buttons after several attempts. The tiny screen initially displaying a red error message flashed to green. Suddenly the whirring of gears and pumping of steam erupted all throughout the facility. The lights grew brighter. Power was restored. Time to get the hell out. Footsteps clambering against the metal were fast encroaching. I started running for the stairs when another creature crawling up them greeted me. An instant loud clang from behind. I turned around to see another dangling from the tubes of the generator, a stump where its right hand used to be. There were now two of these creatures here and no way out...