No longer was I in danger. At least that's what I had hoped. I occasionally glanced behind my shoulder to ensure nothing was chasing after me. This was fine. All of this is fine. I finally made contact with another of my kind but it was short-lived. Their words were vague and uneasy but did ultimately lead me in a new direction. A name for the crimson growth. 'The Rot.' Something about an experiment and extracting a substance? It also called me 'nameless one' which rings true. I have no name. But what if I did? Every waking moment that passes by I begin to wonder if I was really 'born' inside that pod where I awoke... Or was I someone else? I dwindle on that thought. The fatigue was really starting to wear me down. I need sleep. But not here.

This long, winding tunnel felt like it wouldn't end. The creaking of the rusty pipes echoed all around. There was minimal light from the dim ceiling electrical lamps. I was ready to collapse when I finally saw a ladder leading up to the surface. The tunnel kept going but I was desperate to find somewhere to rest easy. I began climbing the rickety ladder. Each step had it shaking. As I extended my hand up to the steel grate, the ladder fell apart. I was sent falling, cracking my back once I had hit the floor. Pieces of the ladder all fell before me with one rail landing on my chest. That hurt. A lot. So close I was to getting there. I lay on the cold, hard flooring for a moment to catch my breath. Groaning, I shoved the ladder rail off of me and stood back up. Just my luck I suppose. Guess there was nowhere else but forward.

My feet were dragging along the floor. Coming up to a corner in the tunnel I saw a doorway to my right. A small concrete block where all the tubes connected to. I approached the door and opened it up. Inside was an apparatus twice as tall as me. Various gauges, levers and dials decorated it's sheen steel surface. Various tubes all lead to this one apparatus. Judging by it's design it seemed to be operating the steam pipes in this tunnel network. A lone chair and table were the only pieces of furniture inside of this small room. The table contained a variety of tools. Wrenches. Screwdrivers and manipulators. Even a hand saw. A bunch of lone, rusted-out screws lay scattered about the table's surface as well as a single curved pipe piece with a few holes. I suppose I could rest here. It seemed safe enough. I pulled the chair up closer to the table and sat. I laid my head down on the table and started dozing off. Soon enough I would fall asleep.

A black void. No sound. No sight. Nothingness. Then a single light flicks on in the distance. I couldn't move. Something slowly crawled out of the darkness and into the beam of light. I couldn't quite make it out. The mechanical being flashed a single red eye. It began to crawl towards me. It's body was long and serpentine. It's red eye slithered closer and closer towards me. I could hear the sound of tiny mechanized legs skittering across the ground. I couldn't even close my eyes. The red eye vanished for but a brief moment...

Then it came up and gazed straight into my eyes. My reflection was staring back at me. In the faintness of the dark I barely noticed the two fangs this machine bore. They clicked together. This thing didn't speak but it was intimidating me. I was powerless to do anything. It vanished again into the darkness. Suddenly I felt my body being constricted. The steel being wrapped itself around me only to then once again glare me down with it's red eye. It titled it's head... And sank it's fangs right into me.

A burst of steam from one of the pipes squealed. My eyes shot open and I sat straight up. So it was but only a dream... I shook my head and stood up. My body felt well-rested at least. Ignoring the broken steam pipe, I made my way out of that room to proceed onward down the tunnel. Of all the places I've been here, this tunnel was the most empty and abandoned. I didn't see any corpses. Signs of the rot still lingered along the walls but it was minimal. It felt like I had been walking for hours when I really only must have traveled a few miles.

Well... What was this? A set of stairs? I was quite far from that initial ladder that had broken so this shouldn't have come as a surprise to me. I seemed to have reached the end of the tunnel as well. Finally. I began ascending the staircase leading up to a door and stepping through. I found myself inside a cluttered shack with shrouded windows. Bits and bobs of scrap littered the floors. A small machine sat on an end table hooked up to the corpse laying in a cozy position on the bed. They were clutching something close to their chest. I carefully rolled the corpse over to get a better look. It was a tablet that didn't function at all. Wouldn't turn on. Worthless. Probably just some journal they held dear in their final moment. I should get out of here to see where I've ended up.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Opening the door I was greeted by red skies and a rather unusual structure ahead of me. It was long. Expansive. Bronze arches loomed over the open roof. Cylindrical machines were attached to the long side of the building. A single set of steel doors was the only way inside. Not a window to be seen. Dozens of corpses were strewn about the grounds near the structure. It's as if they were all trying to get inside before they perished. Aside from that there was a wide array of strangely-shaped buildings crowding this place. Individual structures with varying shapes. From rectangular with flat roofs to round with arches. I wanted to see what was inside the structure before me though. So inside I went. The doors opened right up for me.

I could not grasp the words to comprehend what kind of establishment this place was supposed to be. Rows of chairs in front of devices on the walls with apparatuses tethered to the devices that hung over the chairs. Opposite of the chairs was a single hub comprised of a desk with several screens hanging from the walls. Most of the chairs were occupied by corpses The apparatuses were strapped to their heads. The complexity of its design was intriguing. The apparatus sat perched on top of the head. A visor of sorts over the eyes and a set of cords was jabbed into the veins of its right arm. Over at the desk a corpse lay on the ground near the seat. Only some of the many screens were on. They showed nothing but static. Was this meant for studying those in the chairs hooked up to the apparatuses? The lack of any instruments or diagnosis machines made me refuse to believe this was a clinic or anything of the sorts like what I had seen housed in the buildings of that last district. I was so confused. I tried to do something with the console on the desk but to no avail. None of the buttons were responding to my actions.

I walked over to one of the corpses. I yanked the cords out of its arm and detached the apparatus from its head. The body flopped over onto the floor. I thought that it was dead... Until it started to move. It sluggishly extended its arms out to crawl. Blood seeped from the marks left on its arm. It only moved for less than a minute before falling unconscious. I tried to move it with my foot. Nothing. Does that mean that all of these people are... Alive? Just to satiate my curiosity I repeated the process with one in a neighboring chair. The same thing happened. It struggled to try and get up but failed and fell flat onto the floor, no longer moving. I don't think I should keep doing this. I decided to leave this place but noted it in my mental database.

The density of the constructed nature of this clearly new district was quite something. The rot had spread around here too albeit at a more widespread and intense form compared to the previous districts aside from where I had left which was the source. With iron fences minimizing my options for traversal, I simply made my way inside this neighborhood through the narrow alleyway just ahead of me. A large conditioning unit blocked my right path while the rot cut off my left. There was no other way. I was about to step into the streets before I heard a chilling moan a few feet away. Remaining in the alleyway, I peered my head around the corner. I noticed a rather grotesque figure stumbling around. It more closely resembled the humanoids like myself and the many corpses I've seen. But it was different in its own way. The head leaned towards the right and hung lower. Its hands had forged claws. A hideous crimson growth had slightly bloated its torso region. It only had one normal eye while the other was obscured by the mutated growth.

I was looking at a monster. What was once a normal humanoid like me had become infested with the rot, mutating it into a deformed creature. What's worse is that there were more then one. Another stumbled out of one of the houses. I turned the opposite direction to see yet another standing by a trolley that had become overgrown by the rot, blocking off the entire street heading that direction. So my only choice was the leftmost side where two of those things roamed. Fine... I was unsure if these things would be hostile so I readied my instrument and started walking. I was cautious, avoiding any eye contact. As soon as I was in reaching distance, the thing turned around to glare me down. A closer examination showed that it's chest cavity was torn open, condensed in the rot I could see its beating heart made of pallid red tissue and gray metal with a minuscule gauge. What? This thing was clearly one of my kind but its heart contained machinery? It groaned and lurched forward, slashing at me with its claws. I tried to move out of the way but it grazed my torso. I swung at it with the instrument, cutting through some of the rot and spilling its blood. A pained groan escaped its lungs. It got aggressive and tried to swing again. I managed to dodge it and lopped one of its arms clean off. It glared down at the severed limb, seeming confused and agonized. I used the opportunity to run. Run past the other one who also let out a haunting groan but could only lankly stumble towards me. I rounded the corner of the street and ducked into a crevice between two houses. Whatever was happening here... Was truly terrifying.