(Ruins Exploration, Research Facility Zillen Outpost X-22, F1)

[https://i.imgur.com/dUp1CPH.png]

When I teleported into the level, with a quick look I realized I was in the elevator.

Ping!

I heard an elevator opening sound and in the next moment, the door started opening. It happened as I was taking the assault rifle off my shoulder into my hands. In front, a couple of meters away from me, I saw the fairly spacious hallway made of dark material fork into a cross intersection. It was illuminated by the white light coming from the luminescent panels on the ceiling.

[https://i.imgur.com/xXf4GQn.png]

At the end of the hallway was a large closed door and near one of its corners was a camera. As soon as my eyes met its lens, it blinked from green to red, and an alarm sound wailed through the complex, coming from the came

Wiiaaa! Wiiaaa! Wiiaaa!

If it was the old me, I’d have stupidly stood still waiting for something to happen, but I moved without hesitation into cover. The elevator was a bit wider than the door, so I had a corner to hide behind. It is a good thing that I did so, because just as I was moving I felt shots passing through the air behind me to thud into the back of the elevator.

The door at the other end of the hallway had opened to let one of the familiar spiderbots in which immediately locked onto me and opened fire. The reason it was so quick to open fire is because unlike me who had to take stance and aim, its barrel was already pointing in the forward direction so it just had to release its salvo.

Had I stood still to see what came out the door, I would have gotten a bullet before the door finished opening, as soon as I locked eyes with its sensor.

This spiderbot was half the size of the ones outside, probably to make it easier to move around. When the door opened fully, it immediately started wheeling forward on its 4 legs, barrelling towards my position at high velocity.

Taking the experience of the outside level into account, I made sure to stock up on EMP grenades before coming in here. I take one from my arm pocket and toss it out from behind cover. As soon as I hear the grenade come close enough, on mental command, I detonate it in a blast of electricity. The spiderbot starts locking up in a shower of sparks and then deactivates, saving me from my predicament.

Wiiaaa! Wiiaaa! Wiiaaa!

At this point, I am safe for the moment, but I can’t do much else than huddle behind the corner. The blare of the alarm siren is still going strong, and if I emerged, I’d just end up getting fired upon by the enemies that are coming. And soon enough they come. From the left side of the cross intersection, beyond my vision I hear the door opening. And what I hear next are 3 spiderbots moving forward.

I immediately pick out an EMP grenade and toss it at the edge of the intersection where the robots are coming from before ducking back. The 3 bots barrel right over the grenade, and I detonate it in an electric blast. It takes them all out in a shower of sparks.

I mentally compare the effects and conclude that versus these mechanical enemies the EMP grenade is indeed far superior to the fragmentation one. No way could I take out 3 bots with a single frag grenade.

Wiiaaa! Wiiaaa! Wiiaaa!

The blare of the alarm is still going strong, so I wait behind cover for the next group to arrive. It happens quite quickly. This time from the right intersection, I hear the door opening on its end and once more 3 bots start wheeling forward at high velocity.

I chuck another EMP grenade at the edge of the intersection and detonate it as they are passing, taking them out.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Phew.

I exhale in satisfaction, my eyes brightening. At this point if the enemies follow the same pattern, it might be possible for me to actually win this. I still have a couple of more EMP grenades and can synthesize more if those are not enough.

I am waiting for the next wave.

This time from the forward end of the hallway I sense movement. First I hear a door opening in one of the rooms beyond and then the familiar wheeling sounds of the 3 bots coming in. I make out their shape vaguely by sounds and I realize as I hear them coming closer that the one in the middle has a different barrel shape than the ones I’ve felt so far. It is quite wide. I hope it is merely some large cannon.

At any rate, I do not waste time. I gripping one of the EMP grenades, I wind my arm back for a throw and then swing it. From my position behind the corner, I toss it beyond, towards the incoming enemies. Thanks to my powerful body, the throw is fast and accurate.

What happens next is unexpected. The spiderbot in the middle fires its own cannon and I immediately realize what it is. A grenade launcher. As my own grenade was in flight, it shot its own and the grenades zoomed past each other along the hallway.

As soon as it was in range of the 3 enemies, my own grenade detonated in the air to take them out.

I didn’t have time to run. As soon as the enemy's grenade landed on the floor of the elevator, I could only watch in horror as it exploded into a flurry of shrapnel. I could see it all happen in very high slow motion. This single attack utterly destroyed me.

My right arm was cut off at the upper section, and I lost my right foot completely. The shrapnel pierced my body in every area, including my abdomen. My guts spilled out from underneath me, and the blast blew me back into the side of the elevator. As I fell down it dragged a bloody stain across the dark material it is made of.

I lost my nose and part of my face. I couldn’t see through my right eye anymore as a piece was sticking into it. My blood was leaking everywhere.

Wiiaaa! Wiiaaa! Wiiaaa!

The blare of the alarm was still going strong. Completely incapacitated, I waited for the end to come. Soon enough, from the left and rights intersection simultaneously two new groups came.

Two more grenades flew into the room. The shrapnel from their detonation further disfigured me, though at that point I was close to death anyway. I fell to my side, and above I could hear two of the bots take their aim at me.

The barrage from their cannots turned my body into bloody pieces of meat. My bones and skull were crushed as well, and my brain core rolled out.

The enemies stood there, keeping watch. That is what I think happened.

At this point I didn’t receive a game over. The core was still intact after all, but having lost my body I couldn’t do anything anymore so I aborted the game myself.

To the bot's eyes, my remains desynthesized and vanished into the air.

(Ruins Exploration, Ellipsis Base)

Back at the base, I regenerated my body and core from scratch. I stepped out of the gel, and went to take a bath again to soothe my tired heart again.

Splash!

I soak my beautiful body in the warm water, close my eyes and think. I review the battles that have unfolded.

First, how could I beat the bots? My memory is pretty good, and they are bots, so assuming the waves appear with exact timing one option is to do it as if I were save loading. For example, I could throw the grenades at the bots before any of them can ever get a shot in. That could let me clear this particular level.

Alternatively, if I had to camp in a corner like now, it might be viable to get some kind of oversized shield to help protect me from the blasts. But still, imagine what would happen if I had to take sequential grenade shots like that…no, a shield would not do a good job protecting me from a barrage.

A change of attitude then? Crossing my smooth, shapely legs in the bath, I remember how the Top floor went, and what the better way of dealing with it would be.

Then I apply the same mindset to F1, and come to a conclusion. Forget fighting the bots. What if I targeted the lights instead. And not just that. I could drown out the entire level in smoke. I’d have to keep refreshing the smoke as the nanomachine fog is responsible for oxygen production as well as filtering the air from harmful substances like smoke. That having said, I’ll need some air filtering masks otherwise I’d choke myself in thick smoke.

With the bots' sight completely obscured, they would be a lot easier to pass by.

I could…

Closing my eyes, I raise my hand above water, and do a snap with my thin fingers. I feel the waves of sound reverberate around the area. I have no problem creating a 3d model of it in my mind purely off the sound. With a mask over my face, it won’t be possible to do the tongue clicking trick, but finger snaps will do just as well.

I’ll replace the assault rifle with the handgun as my main weapon. I have the silencer version already from Eloe. I’ll use it to knock out the lights and the cameras.

Instead of stocking myself up on EMP grenades, I’ll load up on smokes. I’ll be constantly refreshing my stock of it as I am on the move. It would take only 20s to make a fresh one anyway.

It is decided!

I sent a message to my other self in the Heaven’s Key to get me a gas mask. After the merge I’ll be ready to tackle F1 again. Until then let me check out the other levels.