This place felt even more like a labyrinth then the last district. Barely enough room for two people to walk past each other on these narrow streets. And the growth only got worse as I began to traverse the maze-like corridors to get deeper into this place. The pale walls were overgrown with tendrils and sinew had already made a home for itself in the concrete. I came upon a corpse wrapped up in a clump of tendrils plastered to the street. This forced me to turn to my side so I could slide past. When I came to an intersection there was a faint skittering sound to my right. What? I turned to look but saw nothing. Just a building with the door cracked open. I needed to investigate. Further away behind me... Another skitter. I ignored it. These structures were huge in width. The path beyond this entrance was blocked from the growth. Three corpses were encased in the crimson. Looks like I wasn't going beyond this point so I headed into the building.

The interior was damp from the seeping growth leaking out sanguine liquids onto the floors. Drip. Drip. Drip. It was not the desk with a single static screen and a corpse in the chair that caught my attention... Rather it was the sacks of flesh on the walls in the lobby area. Four of them hung. Three of them seemed sealed but the fourth had hatched. Thick veins connected the sacks to the growth that throbbed. I noticed that whatever was within these sacks were wriggling inside. I'd best not touch them or get any closer for that matter. Instead I approached the double doors beyond the desk. And of course there was a console besides the door. It contained a slot for a key but it was of a slightly different shape then that of mine. I looked to the corpse in the chair for anything but had no luck. I couldn't go any further. But as I looked in that direction I noticed there was something under the desk. I slowly got closer, lowering my posture to catch a glimpse. It was dark but its shape was unlike anything I've seen. Then a low snarl belted from the thing and it jumped at me. I backed up as quickly as I could before it could pounce on me. What the hell is that?

A small creature. A lump of grimy flesh on all fours with a writhing spindly appendage coming from its posterior. It had four stumpy toes with claws. An oval-shaped head with three hollow black eyes, a tiny nose and a disfigured mouth bearing yellowed teeth mixed in with fangs. I held my hand out to it and waved if off. It snarled then scurried away. Just what did I see? I've only seen lifeless corpses up to this point all resembling this form I possess. Never anything like that. It must have come from the open sack in the lobby. Feeling uncomfortable and hitting a dead end I proceeded to get the hell out of here and return to the intersection.

Where would this path take me I wonder? The growth seemed to never end no matter where I was heading in this maze of walls. They were going so far as sprouting out over rooftops. I had to ignore it and focus. Where was I now? Another building and stairs leading into the ground. Curious, I proceeded over to the stairs and descended. The tunnel was dank and dark. Dim fizzing lights illuminated my pathway. The growth didn't seem to extend down here but what I saw was nothing short of disturbing. At least half a dozen corpses all lay on the floor just before the doors having their innards being gnawed on by two of those creatures from earlier. They didn't seem to notice me as they were occupied with their meals. And the door was closed. Wonderful. I'll be food if I bothered them so I turned straight around and left.

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

There was still that building I passed on back at the square. A metal gate cut this area off from moving forward that also contained a locking console. This isn't looking too good. I made my way into the building. This time it was a two-story structure. Inside there were steel beds connected to rectangular machines with cords, little round indicators and lights. A couple of the beds had corpses lying on them hooked up to the machines through their arm. Blood stained the floors and beds. The corpses were messy and had their chests gored out. A messy sight. I stepped on by into the neighboring room, sliding through the cracked doorway. I saw long tables with empty glass bottles and beakers. On the shelves there was unfamiliar machinery with containment chambers big enough to fit those beakers, small screens and jumbles of wires. Leaning up against the wall was a corpse but this one looked different. It looked more mechanical then flesh. Embedded on its head was a circlet bearing a red circle. It's right arm had a syringe for a hand. It's left hand did not have fingers but instead three long, rusting claws. There was also a third appendage coming out from its back that hung over its head. A light-emitting device that flickered. This certainly was a unique figure. It must be an automaton designed specifically for this place. I placed a finger on the bronze surface of its chest just for a feel. Examining it closer I could see that it's head, shoulders and abdomen contained skin but the rest was cold steel. A humanoid made by the mending of flesh and metal? This was a lot to take in... But I couldn't get distracted no matter how confused I was feeling. On a smaller table isolated from the rest of the room near the stairs lied a tablet of some sorts. I brushed the dust off of the screen. It was still on but the screen was frozen on a set of words. A documentation of some kind? I read the entry;

'Experiment 8-A progress: 93.0%'

'The regeneration capabilities of this new chemical concoction yield immense success. Patients injected with the serum can restore vital organic and tissue damage. Will send completed samples to medicinal facility once complete.'

Experiment, huh? Did that automaton write this? No, it couldn't have. I went upstairs. Pushing the door open I came into yet another disturbing sight. Three of those grotesque creatures lie dead in this office. One lay on top of the desk with an instrument thrust through it's body. Sitting in the chair behind the desk was a bloodied corpse marked with the same circlet as the automaton. Its head hung low. Various marks of bites and slashes marred its flesh. That would explain the trail of blood here at the foot of the doorway over to that chair. I tried to turn the desk console on but to no avail. It lacked any power despite there being a cord that this individual must've used to access it. Oh well.

I examined the instrument. It had a handle with a switch on the hilt. I grabbed a hold then squeezed the creature's corpse to try and pull the instrument out of its body. Success. The blade came out, staining my arm with blood. Clicking the switch concealed the blade into the bulky hilt. Clicking it again erected the blade back out. The blade was flat on the edge. To test it's sharpness I brought the blade down on the creatures head. It cut clean off, leaking blood onto the desk and pouring onto the floor. Just what was this individual doing with such an instrument? It seemed effective at dismembering limbs so maybe they were a surgeon? Regardless, I sheathed the blade and headed out. With a defensive tool at my disposal, I was getting into that door back down in the tunnel...