Morgana’s scream continued to ring out true as Gloria, Abbey, and Hiro raced in weapons at the ready. Suddenly Morgana’s scream ceased, and her right ear ejected from her head held in place by metal bars and wires. Then a small satellite dish emerged beeping and spinning furiously in a circle. “Intruders detected. Hostile parameters engage. HARU-KA1 engaging targets.” A synthetic female voice sounded as a speaker popped out of Morgana’s mouth. Without another word Morgana flipped into the air retracting her left hand into her arm with a mechanical whir replacing it with a short stubby nozzle then fired a large pulsating net that quickly wrapped around Abbey electrocuting her. Merlynn quickly back peddled turning her gaze briefly to Abbey to see Hiro drop to her side as she writhed on the floor. Two more shots were fired before Morgana landed atop the server like a lioness above her kill. She smirked gleefully as her nets ensnared both Gloria and Hiro. She then turned her attention back to Merlynn whose eyes were shut as she chanted softly. Morgana smiled wickedly as she turned her arm cannon to face her new target. Another shot rang out yet this time the roar that followed was the familiar bark of Gloria’s M1911. Sure, enough Merlynn cracked an eye open to see a new hole in the side of Morgana’s cheek that began to quickly repair itself. While it wasn’t enough to stop her, it didn’t need to because as Morgana resumed her focus on Merlynn, she was met with the business end of Merlynn’s staff. “You need to chill out!” Merlynn shouted as a snowy torrent of icy wind ripped from the tip of her staff slamming into Morgana knocking her off the server and encasing her with a layer of ice. “Really MOM!?” Gloria sighed writhing alongside Hiro.

“HARU-KA1 No Disassemble! No Disassemble!” Morgana screamed in terror and agony as the ice spread across her body rapidly. As Morgana continued to shout Hiro managed to worm his way closer trying to right himself. “Wait HARU-KA1...Merlynn that’s not MORGANA!” Hiro managed to finally scream now laying on his back staring at the ceiling. “Gee I would have never guessed that!” Merlynn snapped. The frigid imposter continued shouting ‘No disassemble’ more rapidly as her body began glowing red hot melting the ice rapidly releasing her from the spells grip. “It's called HARU-KA1, it's a biodroid Morgana made before she upgraded to Homunculi.” Hiro exclaimed continuing to writhe as HARU-KA1 leapt for Merlynn like a wild animal.

Without hesitation Merlynn spun her staff cracking HARU-KA1 in the left hip followed by a burst of kinetic energy. HARU-KA1 skidded across the room at a violent speed crashing though the metal wall and into the next room. Merlynn then spun herself sprinting over to the others in a single bound. Abbey grunted once then raised her voice in a quick shout as she wrapped her body in a pale blue energy field that disintegrated the net. She then knelt over Hiro repeating the process but on a smaller scale, using the tip of her finger to transfer the energy into the net that bound him. After freeing him she noticed Merlynn lifting Gloria after freeing her. “Neat trick, why didn’t you do that sooner?” Gloria grunted at Abbey, now standing upright and dusting herself off. “I wasn’t sure if it would work actually and if I used too much energy it could have been fairly explosive, so I gave it my best shot.” Abbey grinned wickedly weakly laughing. “Makes sense…wait YOU DID WHAT!?” Gloria snapped when suddenly HARU-KA1 emerged from the hole in the wall she careened into.

“Let's wrap this up first ladies, discussions later!” Merlynn shouted as she drew the Nova Flare from her coat and loaded it with one of the red gel penned shells. She then slammed it in HARU-KA1's direction firing immediately. As the hammer of the gun clicked the barrel roared in cacophonous crimson flames that melted the nearby servers like butter and charred HARU-KA1's body severely mangling its limbs as it flailed. It wasn’t long before the rooms sprinklers buckled from the heat dumping their reserves. Everything let out a hiss as it sizzled and settled including HARU-KA1 who seemed to be fused into the wall charred to almost an indiscernible husk. “We should probably get out of here.” Gloria’s words stumbled as she assessed the room. “Not without finding more about what Morgana’s plans are.” Merlynn replied as she made her way out the door back into the hallway with the earlier locked doors. She then held her staff aloft then began chanting again. After a moment she slammed the bottom of her staff against the ground sending out a wave of magic. Seconds later every door within a thirty-foot radius slammed open despite being locked or not. “Sorry not sorry, but my patience has run its course.” Merlynn spoke aloud as Abbey, Gloria, and Hiro stared at her with mouths agape. “Come on split up and search for anything that could give us a clue, and if you run into any trouble break these and I’ll come running.” Merlynn commanded handing each of them a length of chalk, she drew from her coat pocket, that hummed softly with energy. Each chose a new door then entered quickly one after the other.

Merlynn – As Merlynn forced her way into the door to the north, she found more of what she expected. Office cubicles filled with the same odds and ends they previously encountered. The room bent to the right as she continued in and found another two doors leading east and west. She pressed against the door to the east holding her breath. She listened hard only to discover nothing and then tried the handle. As the handle turned, she rolled around to peer into the door. The room was pitch-black inside and the dim light that crept in through the crack she made didn’t help much. She then drew her forty-five from her hip, holstering the Nova Flare, pushing the prior into the room and stepping in quickly, only to be met with a damp mop head to the face. Merlynn cursed in fumed breaths as she quickly realized she stepped into a janitor's closet. Cursing a bit more she fumbled against the wall finding the light switch near the door flicking it on. Her anger solidified as did her embarrassment as the bright bulb revealed the truth.

“Glad no one was around to see that.” She thought to herself as she proceeded to exit the closet. Upon leaving her coat snagged on the mop bucket that asshole mop was in and pulled the bucket forward. Merlynn started to fume again as she worked her coat free and kicked the bucket back into the closet. It slammed with a loud clatter followed by a familiar clink of metal hitting the floor. Merlynn quickly looked around checking to see if her anger betrayed her location but found no immediate threat against her. Turning back to the closet she again moved the bucket aside discovering a key ring with three different keys on it. She quickly pocketed the keys hoping that, if need be, they would come in handy, if not she settled with the idea that someone could be without a house key afterwards. Then again, she wasn’t even sure if anyone worked at this facility. Merlynn continued processing her thoughts as she tried the door to the west this time. It turned out to be locked in fact. Merlynn smiled in relief immediately trying the keys she found. By the second key true relief swept over Merlynn as the door easily unlocked. She returned the keys to her pocket with a pleased smile then continued through the door.

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Once through she heard the immediate clank of a metal catwalk beneath her as well as a chilly breeze beating against her. Before her stretched a dimly lit catwalk hovered over an inky neon green mist. She squinted hard trying to peer into the mist but could only tell that whatever was down there the mist seemed to be generating from it. She thought about casting a spell to enhance her vision but thought against it wanting to conserve as much mana as she could in the event things went sideways. She did, however, reach down and remove her boots holding them both in one hand. The cold steel of the catwalk seeped through her socks as she made her way across. She felt herself clever as she was really not the sneaky type but here, she was creeping across a catwalk in her socks knowing that if there were any more surprises like HARU-KA1 she would at least have less of a chance to draw attention to herself. Finally, halfway across she debated putting her boots back on and just staying on high alert when the mist below made an audible click and whir as machines began firing up. Above her rail lights clicked on one after the other revealing some kind of track that circled around the room and out through separate doors that all opened at once. Merlynn made a mad dash to the end of the catwalk as more machines came to life stirring the misty green air with loud clangs and pneumatics compressing. She fastened her boots back on as more lights turned on this time on the walls illuminating the rest of the upper portion of the catwalk area.

Merlynn turned on her heel after finishing her knots then descended a concrete set of stairs leading into the mist. The mist grew thicker feeling cold and clung to her bare skin. Despite how disgusting it felt the mist bore no scent aside from a stale machine exhaust. As she landed on the ground floor, she noticed several white oval machines humming with a pale energy. Approaching the odd shaped devices, she felt the temperature drop severely the closer she got. Upon inspection the devices sat on a metal base that emitted the mist through a small vent, which Merlynn assumed was for temperature regulation. She then pressed a hand on the oval machine confirming her suspicions quickly withdrawing her hand to warm it up, leaving a faint imprint that quickly frosted back over. From the top of each ‘Egg’ ,as Merlynn was now referring to them in her thought process, jutted three tubes each of which cycled various colors of green liquid.

Before Merlynn could investigate more, she heard a new noise as something rolled on the track above her then settled looming beyond the mist. This was immediately followed by an audible ding such the likes of a kitchen timer and the ‘Egg’ in front of Merlynn ceased producing mist and the tubes ejected from the top. The machine then hissed and rotated in place slowly as a large claw descended into the mist clutching the ‘Egg’ in its grasp. Never one to skip a good opportunity Merlynn grabbed hold of the claw and clung to it as it lifted her and the ‘Egg’ carrying them across the room and into a new one that housed the next step of the process. Merlynn clung to the claw tightly as new light gave way to a host of other manufacturing machines that each seemed to be processing the ‘Eggs’ in a different manner.

The track the claw ran along was not alone as Merlynn quickly noticed several more claws each holding something different from crates and pallets to more ‘Eggs’ some of which were empty. “So, what’s in the damn Eggs then!?” Merlynn thought aloud pushing against her already bearing suspicions. She knew from what she gathered from Hiro earlier that Morgana was creating an army and if HARU-KA1 was her trial run she feared that the ‘Eggs’ would hatch something far worse. Merlynn pressed into her will whispering swift words then blinking hard. Upon opening her eyes, they glowed with energy giving her vastly greater vision which she used to scan every ‘Egg’ She could till she found what she was looking for.

As the claw reached its destination Merlynn leapt across to another claw holding onto a crate when she saw it. Several yards away and a floor below her another ‘Egg’ was in its final stages. She watched as the ‘Egg’ opened expelling a white frosted mist then a humanoid body with long pink hair slumped down to its knees. It rose uneasily at first but quickly stabilized itself. Merlynn adjusted on the crate trying to get a better view of it when her boot smashed through the crate causing the claw to snap closed crushing the crate and its contents to pieces that unceremoniously clattered to the ground below. Merlynn slid down the claw rapidly as she fervently tried clutching to anything. Her descent stopped with her now dangling at bottom of the claw her knuckled grip blistering white. “Toil and Trouble!” Merlynn cursed aloud as she strained to steady herself. Her spell now dissipated, she rapidly searched for something close she could land on and at the very least not run into. The path ahead that the claw followed was clear of anything tall enough to give Merlynn trouble or aid but judging by the track and its layout Merlynn followed it as far ahead as she could when she saw a glimmer of hope. Cardboard boxes of different sizes ran along a sloped conveyor belt that fed into a sorting chamber. The track ahead lined up perfectly where if timed properly she could try swinging herself over to it and from there work her way down, if she could hold out that long at least.

Resolved with a plan Merlynn withdrew her left hand quickly summoning her staff and slid it through the opening of the claw and with a mighty heave she tossed her right hand up firmly grasping onto the other end of her staff. Now with a better grip Merlynn smirked in assurance of her plan thus far. Her smirk lasted until she quickly realized that there was a ‘T’ in the track and the claw could go either way. She then quickly followed the ‘T’ to the left to find what she could assume was trash disposal. Fortunately for her the claw moved along the right path and she readied herself for her jump. “Here goes everything.” Merlynn chuckled to herself as she leapt with all her might clearing the gap easily enough until she crashed into a small wooden crate decimating it. “Totally stuck that landing, least I made it.” She thought to herself as she dusted off. The belt moved faster than she had calculated so getting up was a bit wobbly but manageable. As Merlynn gazed ahead planning her next move when she was suddenly startled as Gloria and Hiro came crashing upon her from above.

“Fuck pipes!” Hiro screamed in pure hatred. “I need a hundred year long bath…hell my bath needs a bath.” Gloria grunted a whine of pure misery as what visibly seemed to be a foul aura permeated her. “What happened to you two?” Merlynn asked while holding her nose in a vice. “I got my ass kicked.” The two sighed in unison. They looked at one another slightly irritated then back at Merlynn who was all but puke laughing from their reactions and that foul linger. Before the two could humor her any further the belt buckled from their combined weight causing the wire supports to snap sending them and it careening down. With a loud crash that shook the room the three managed to land safely after Hiro shifted into a large gel dome cradling them to the ground. After reverting back to normal Hiro released a wheezing sigh followed by Merlynn’s and Gloria’s own similar retort. The room settled quickly as the last bits of dust began to dissipate and in that exact moment they heard the click and handle turn of a door, to see Abbey emerge from behind it unscathed and wearing a look of pure boredom on her face. “What?” Abbey asked in sincere naivety.