“The intervals between people coming and going have extended,” I said softly. “Nova, What’s the average time between intervals?”

“Twelve seconds,”

“Humph…I see, It’s now or never then.”

I slid my hand into the manual switch, and then pulled the lever. The door to the room split open and light poured in from the crevice.

I stuck my hand between the door and pried it open some more. Once I had enough space, I slid through and pushed it back in place. Not perfectly, because this was my means of escape. Or so I hoped.

The corridor was lit well enough, but the concrete floors and walls, made the area feel as though it was heading into a torture chamber. I turned right, instead of left, because the majority of the people I saw were heading left. Best to avoid people as much as possible.

The corridor took me to a short flight of stairs, which I followed, moving swiftly but quietly as I could. The ominous feeling that I had pushed away had returned, but this time tenfold. Some of the lights within the corridor flickered, making it feel eerie, but nothing I’ve never experienced.

Waves of footsteps fluttered in the short distance, forcing me to double back. As I scampered back, I found myself forcing myself up against a wall. I tapped the keys of my Furtiven Suit switching it to Black and kept as close to the shadows, hoping no one would see as I backed them.

I turned the camera on for my cybernetic wrist and watched as two women and a man passed me. The women wore lab coats whilst the man had a pistol at his waste. The lab assistants are being supervised? I thought. Interesting.

Once I felt comfortable the trio was far enough. I turned left and continued down the corridor faster than I wanted to as I could hear my footsteps.

I scanned the area, using my X-Ray vision. I found two quarters with eight bunks. I mused about how much space they had because it was obvious that they had too much space for themselves. Something that brought back bad memories from my enlistment days.

The maintenance room I commandeered was empty, thankfully. Which meant no one would come here offshoot. The deeper I ventured into the bunker, a lot more people roamed there, which meant I had to plan accordingly. I thought it might be best for me to steal some clothes, the only problem with that is. I won’t be able to fool anyone as these people have name tags.

As limited as my options were to finding the Hedgehog. I couldn’t lie to myself knowing how my anxiety had been stirring up ever since Nova came back into the picture. “Anything Nova?” I finally asked.

“Nothing Sir, the layout of the bunker is completely different than what the old schematics I have in my database.”

“I see, what about the vents?”

“I’ve been monitoring the vents you’ve passed. None of them matches the layout.”

I shook my head in frustration, then rolled my neck, alleviating the stiffness I’d accrued for the past hour. “Do that again Sir,” Nova said.

“What?”

“Shake your head again.”

“What for?”

“I believe I see something in the corner of your eye.”

“Left or right?”

“Left.”

I turned left, looking at the concrete walls, but seeing nothing of value. “I don’t see anything.”

“But I do…walk two meters to your left, then look up,”

“Fine,” I said, pushing myself up.

I walked the two meters, then looked up. I didn’t see anything other than the concrete wall. “Attempting to raise the volume from your artificial ear sir.”

“Go ahead.”

A subtle sound of wind bristled above me, nudging me to look up. As I stared up at the concrete wall. I squinted, trying to see where that noise was coming from them. Then I saw the four creases shaped like a square and big enough to hold me. “Sealed vent,”

“A poorly sealed one Sir, you might be able to free it with your cybernetic arm.”

“Where does this vent lead to?”

“A mess hall Sir.”

“Mess Hall? It might be crowded…but I can still gather information, and pinpoint someone of rank if possible. Yes. This is good.”

As my lips curled into a smile, I grabbed the bottom crease and slowly dug my cybernetic finger into it. I pressed my finger against it, bending the metal frame instead. “Damn it, I need to be quieter. Fine, since you’re going to be stubborn, we’ll do this the hard way.”

My short knife snapped out my wrist, gleaming brightly despite the lack of luminescence in the room. I stuck the blade's tip into the crease, applied pressure, and began to pry it open.

The vent dislodge after thirty seconds and a bead of sweat dropped to the ground. I grabbed the newly pried vent and slowly began to pull it out. It began to rip like a sardine can, which left me satisfied for some odd reason. “Now let’s see what’s in the Mess Hall.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

I flicked my cybernetic wrist off and tossed it in the air. The thrusters kicked in and I guided it through the vent. “Plot a path to the Mess Hall for me Nova,” I said softly.

“Understood Sir..”

As my cybernetic wrist zipped through the vents. I realised the feedback I’d been feeling whilst I practised my precision with my wrist wasn’t there anymore. “Slethe levels Nova.”

Stancer Cybernetic Eye V3.8 Synchronisation Ratio 89%

Egrinizer Cybernetic Arm (Prototype 8.39: Fencer Class) — Synchronisation Ratio 87%

Slethe Levels - 92%

Everything’s working accordingly, I mused, I’d be ecstatic if the world wasn’t about to turn to shit. The picture-in-picture screen popped up into my cybernetic eye and I saw a full view of the Mess Hall.

The bunker’s mess hall was a perfect mirror of the one set on the ground level above. The kitchen was on the left, and the tables and chairs were on the right. The difference between the two, no one was there, which filled me with elation. “Finally…I’m getting somewhere.” I whispered.

A man wearing a lab coat came into view from my camera, stopping me from calling it back.

As he came closer to the vent, I allowed my camera to follow him. He walked towards the kitchen, then disappeared only to return after a few seconds with his plate of food in hand

He lumbered over to the other, pulling up a chair and digging his fork into what looked like beans. The ‘beans’ rolled off his spoon and back into the mesh and he took a bite, shaking his head as if he were displeased. He knocked his head back as if he was taking a shot of rum and I finally saw his face. Holy shit, that’s Doctor Hallow Efroniz, I thought, “Eating in broad daylight.“ I whispered.

Not giving myself a chance to miss out on this opportunity, I pulled myself up the vent with one hand and the full force of my cybernetics. My back screamed from the weight, but my cybernetic spine ignored those muscles and helped me as much as they could.

The hardest part was doing this without arousing suspension in the vent, something I barely got away with after gasping whilst I lost my grip. The stomp lost grip, making me lose grip. I gasped, trying to stop myself, but I felt my voice travel through the vent as the microphone from my wrist echoed my voice.

Doctor Efroniz looked around as if he’d heard something. After a few seconds, he finally went back to eating his bean mesh, or whatever it was.

I kept my wrist there, watching as the man ate, whilst I made my way through the vents. A white line pulsed in front of me and a message from nova popped up. Follow the line to the Mess Hall.

The maze leading to the Mess Hall was far longer than I’d hoped. It didn’t feel that way whilst I watched the camera of my wrist zoom through, but it was evident.

I made a left, scrapping against the vent’s walls, hoping no one heard that. As my heart beat like a jackhammer in my chest. I stopped moving, then switched to X-Ray- Vision ensuring no one was around.

A skeletal figure walked in the opposite direction but turned back as if the echo finally reached him. I looked up right at me and I stared into his eyeless skull. Any closer and I’d be talking to your corpse, I thought bitterly.

“Fucking Rats, god…I hate this place.” The skeletal man said, shaking his head and then finally walking along as though he was tired of this place.

Once the coast was clear, I continued my trek, watching Doctor Efroniz in my cybernetic eye. The food on the doctor’s plate was disappearing, which meant I had to get to the end of the vent before he left.

A man walked through the Mess Hall entrance, hair sheening silver from the light. A tapping sound followed, and then his full body came into a view. An old man with grey hair in a white lab coat with a walking cane.

As the old man sat down, he placed his cane on the table and then lapped his feet as though the chronic pain in his walk had disappeared.

Efroniz sighed as he made another bite into his food and ignored the man. Do they hate each other? I asked myself. The old man then picked up his cane, then released it from his hand.

A loud snap echoed through the Mess Hall. Efroniz shook his head, taking another bite out of his food whilst the old man turned to Efroniz. “I dropped my stick Efron, can you get it for me?”

“After I take the biggest possible dump on it. Sure.”

“Such acidity, the Automaton you love so much didn’t spread her legs today?”

“She did actually after she spat in your food. Bastard.”

“Bastard? You’ve finally given me a name other than grunts and pouts that you’ve been displaying these past few weeks.”

“What’d you expect? A warm welcome? For fuck sake Arson, you fucked us OVER!”

“Semantics Efron, you know it.”

“Look outside Arson, fucking Doasians are here, because you needed new DNA samples from ‘live’ children. Do you know how fucked up that is?”

“I’m a man of science Efron. I already know, but you know different. Haven’t you been sequestered to solve the computation problem for the Ortho-Interpretive Processor?”

I thought he made it, I mused making a right in the vent.

“You can’t compare creating an all-functioning processor to CLONING children, to stitch DNA to allow us to survive harsher weather climates.”

“You see, Efron, that’s your problem. You haven’t been enlightened. You think the Imbibe was the great disaster that we’ll face?”

“I don’t what to hear ramblings of a madman!” Efroniz snapped.

“Ramblings of a madman? You’re the one making a processor that’ll allow Automatons to have better functionality. No. Not functionality, but adaptability. You want your robot lovers to move and think as we do. Have you ever considered if they gained sentience?”

“My Orto-Interpretive Processor, won’t allow them to do that that Arson. It will solely be used to allow them to do tasks that men shouldn’t have to risk their lives for simple pay.”

Arson turned to Efroniz smacking his lips, and shaking his head as if he knew something. “It’s funny how you say “that men won’t risk their lives for simple pay.”

“Wouldn’t you prefer to not have your son work in a furnace, hoping an accident wouldn’t happen?”

“Of course, but that is life Efron, something you do not value. Replacing the common man with a machine is downright disrespectful to all those who have worked with sweat, blood and tears. They work to provide for their families. And your Processor is aimed to take their jobs away, compared to what I’m doing for worst than me!”

“I’m saving lives Arson…you’re just taking them!”

“We all have our own World View Efron, it’s a pity you’re so shortsighted that you don’t even know what mine is.”

“The pity is on you Arson, especially when you sleep at night. The children that probably died at your hand will have their way with you. One way or the other.”

Arson’s lips curled into a smile. He pushed up himself off the table and walked towards Hallon. He dipped into his pocket pulled out a white packet and dropped it next to him. “The last packet of salt. You can have it, after displaying such an insufferable attitude. It’ll match your attitude quite nicely.”

Hallon didn’t say anything, he snatched up the salt pack and tucked it in his pocket, then sneered at Arson who looked down at him. I couldn’t see how Arson was eyeing Hallon, but I could feel the disgust emanating through my camera. “I’ll be seeing you around old friend.” Arson said clapping his hand against Hallon’s shoulder then stalked himself out of the Mess Hall.

As Arson disappeared, I watched as Hallon Efroniz continued munching down his meal with red in his eyes. It was as if, Arson pitied and that was something the Engineer simply couldn’t accept.

“Nova,” I whispered.

“Yes Sir.” The sentient AI answered.

“Who in the Imbibe is Arson Fellis?!”