I left the factory with more questions then answers. There didn't seem to be much here for me. There were dozens of these big industrial complexes scattered all over this district. Would I really find anything that I didn't see inside that place? Besides potentially uncovering other industries that this city had in store. I was at a loss. I just continued to head onward deeper into this district until something would catch my eye. I wandered the barren streets with only corpses and another abandoned jalopy to be found amidst the sinewy strands weaved through the concrete. Only the sound of wind accompanied me during my walk.

The scope of this city must have been outrageous if this was only one single district. The industrial structures seemed to sprawl on for miles. The taller buildings loomed off in the distance obscured by a lingering fog that seemed to cover the skyline. Those orange skies above only added to this dreary atmosphere I found myself in. A single organism in a sea of dead cells. Was I truly the only living thing here? I guess the monstrosities from back in that factory were living. But it looked miserable. If that were me... I would be seeking death. And there were dozens of those things just left to suffer inside the sacks of flesh encapsulating them. I looked down at the device attached to my wrist still. I decided I would give it a name. The Key. Yeah. That is it's purpose after all. But would it work elsewhere? I should find out. My eyes wandered looking for another factory to venture into. I had not wandered too far from the last one. Turning the corner on the road trying to avoid stepping on any corpses, a particular structure stood out to me. A more narrow one with five floors. Three windows on each floor except the first floor. Atop the roof was a rusted dish with a long rod about ready to break off it's hinge and crash to the ground at any second. Not so much a tower but it was different enough that I found myself intrigued. I approached it. The door had the same design as the factory. So I would enter it the same way.

A series of tall, thin lockers were on both sides of the room. A staircase just ahead ascended to the upper floors. Tubes lined the walls here as well. Two corpses side-by-side leaned against the left lockers, hands intertwined with one another. Peeking into the open lockers I only saw the occasional tool or small handled box. Nothing of interest here. The other lockers had a locking mechanism attached to them. Sadly my Key was too big to fit. Oh well. I decided to head upstairs. On the second floor, I was greeted with a door and there I saw it... A keyhole. I brought my needle out of the Key and stuck it into the hole. Turning it worked as the door opened up. So it does work here too huh? Inside the single room I spotted a series of terminals. Two to be precise. Single screens with a console attached underneath by wires and cords. The monitors hung from the walls. Each terminal had a window view too along with a chair. So what else to do but approach one of these terminals. Getting closer I noticed something odd. Coming out of the side of the terminal was a cord made of sinew accompanied by a thin needle. Now just what was this? Pressing a few buttons did nothing. Did this cord have some purpose? Surely it must. I was unsure of this but my curiosity must be satiated. The cord felt slimy in my hand. I tried to stick it inside the top of my chest but all it did was pierce the skin. Nothing. I pulled the cord out, a dribble of blood seeped from the tiny hole before sealing up on it's own. Hmm. I had an idea. I left the room to go back downstairs. I knelt down near the pair of corpses to grab a hold of one of their heads and pulled on it. The neck snapped off of the body with ease. Strings of red tendons and a single thick black wire dangled from the now-decapitated head leaking dark red blood onto the crusty floors. I brought the head with me upstairs back to the terminal. Examining it, I saw a black spot on the skull. I grabbed the fleshy cord once more, jabbing it into the head where the black spot was. The terminal lit up. A muddy yellow hue on the screen as a series of jumbled words and numbers flashed before my eyes. On the screen there were three icons with words underneath:

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

A white eye: 'Surveillance.'

A yellow square with a black border and black lines within the square: 'System.'

A black mechanical sphere: 'Files.'

There were but a few keys for me to press and I had no clue how this worked. I tried to open up the surveillance but was greeted with a black screen. I did manage to get run the system running and was greeted with a new yellow screen and a series of words and phrases I knew nothing about. Before I could even begin to read, the words started to scramble and morph into numbers and squares followed with a string of error messages;

Error. System scan malfunction. Plaguebringer Software corruption detected. Contact Maintenance for system reboot and repairs immediately. Any and all abnormalities are to be fixed per the rule of [AUTHORITY].

Well... I guess I'm stumped here. I couldn't even do anything else. To hopefully fix this little conundrum, I ejected the cord from the severed head only to jack it back in. This seemed to restart the terminal. Back at the home screen now, the only icon left to open was the files. Doing so brought up an entire list of different lines of text;

-Users

-Logs

-Reports

-Manus Operandus

Hmm, okay? I struggled to select these at first due to no knowledge of how these keys operated. Users just showed me another list but each line was just listed as 'Unit' followed with a number. Logs weren't even operating properly. Reports seemed to be locked behind a security gate. The last option however... Did bring up something;

MANUS OPERANDUS: THE AUTHORIZED RULES OF MANUS. FOR THE MACHINE TO FUNCTION THE SYSTEM MUST REMAIN OPERATIONAL AT ALL TIMES. UNITS WILL FOLLOW GUIDELINES WITH NO ARGUMENTS TO AUTHORITY. THIS DISTRICT SERVES AS THE PURE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF CARNIS MACHINA. MANUS IS THE FUEL FOR THE MACHINE. YOU WILL READ EVERYTHING BEFORE BEGINNING YOUR SERVICE TO THE MACHINE. AUTHORITY DICTATES THIS AS MANDATORY FOR PERFECT ORDER OF MANUS AND CARNIS MACHINA. YOU ARE THE LIFEBLOOD OF THE MACHINE. WITHOUT MANUS, THE MACHINE CANNOT FUNCTION. ANY REJECTION OF AUTHORITY WILL RESULT IN PERMANENT TERMINATION.

I backed away slowly without even reading on, letting go of the head that now just dangled above the floor still connected to the terminal. Just what was this place? Lifeblood? Authority? The machine? None of it made sense. Should it make sense to me? Clearly this district served a vital role in this forsaken place. Then the factory... Did have some purpose in it's grotesque and brutal nature. I... Had to go. I think I have found what I needed here. Some sense of understanding. And this city was overwhelming enough as it is.

The shadow of the building loomed over me on my way out. I wanted to push deeper. Go further into this empty city. With what I had gained here, the information was stored into my data-bank. My feet dragged along the sinew-laden concrete as I proceeded onward towards the tall towers erected high into the skies. Manus... Manus... Manus...