The edge of the arena was bordered by a metal wall set into sandy ground. Larox pushed his foot into the gravelly sand and leaned against the wall while cradling Lavinia. His arms trembled slightly as he tried to keep her hoisted.
Horst looked back toward the pile of motile slush growing in the center of the arena. Sweat flew from his brow as he rushed the sealed gate and slammed it with his shoulder.
"Probably shouldn't have done that," he moaned.
Larox scanned the glass walls above. The stands above the pit had emptied. There was no longer a roar of the audience or even a comment from above. The announcer left his perch empty.
"They must have evacuated the stands. Won't be long now, they'll be down here to kill us. Well, at least I'll die with a woman in my arms."
Horst kicked the panel again, "Let me hold her, you don't deserve the honor. Hell, you don't deserve to die. You need to live and suffer like the rest us until you're a miserable old fart."
Horst kicked the panel as hard as he could with a flat stomp against the metal. It began to open, which caused him to step back. Neither of them bothered to move away further. Three men and one woman stood on the other side. Larox and Horst blinked. One had a semi-automatic weapon, another had a rusty pistol, the remaining two had metal pipes. The man with the AK-47 also had some riot gear.
His hair was black, tight, and curly, short cut. The uniform was standard Clinker security, but all the badges had been cut out and replaced with blue and white insignia featuring a globe between two olive branches. The other men and the singular woman in their escort were wearing standards work overalls with no insignia. The sleeveless shirt of the man with the pistol revealed thick muscular arms covered with scars and burns.
"Jack Gonzalez, Mandaree Liberation Movement. We've been assigned to recover you," the officer in body armor said as he signaled the others to stay back, "Any enemy of the board of directors is a friend of ours. Will you cooperate? In other words, do you want to live?"
"I want to live," Horst said, lip twitching.
"Good to hear. Let's get the hell out of here,"
The officer waved and the men tried to take Lavinia from Larox, but he refused to let her go. They didn't press the matter, and even allowed Larox to follow at his own pace until they reached the hall and sealed off the arena.
Larox stopped, motioned to Horst help him shift Lavinia's limp frame so he could carry her on his back.
"So what exactly is going on here?" Larox asked.
Jack smirked, "We're releasing any prisoners who can help us overthrow Delant. Simple as."
Larox hoisted Lavinia a little higher as his stomach grumbled, "This one needs some rest. Can you get us to the nearest bed?"
The officer nodded, "Won't be a problem, as long as you gentlemen don't mind answering a few questions, and the little lady as well when she wakes up."
The long hall was recognizable enough, Larox and Horst were able to recognize the prison chambers and torture room. From one of the rooms, the sound of fists pounding the metal wall reverberated through the halls with muffled screams. Through the window of another door, Horst noticed that an elderly man in rags instead of a suit, with salt and pepper hair, sat in a wheel chair hunched over as he breathed through a mask.
They came to the infirmary where Horst and Larox had been treated before the battle. There were two beds, a chair in-between them. The cabinets containing were left open, a half-filled bottle of rubbing alcohol and a few paste-on bandages remained.
"We have wounded who could use these beds, so appreciate them," the officer said.
"We only need one. Well, Horst might need a nap too."
Officer Gonzalez smirked as he holstered his weapon, took a seat, and leaned back.
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"So, you clowns are part of the elite recovery division, resource gatherers?" Gonzalez asked without waiting for an answer, "No need to worry, once we kill Delant, things should get back to normal around here, better than normal. But there's something interesting going on and it involves that girl."
Jack nodded toward Lavinia, then pulled out a cigarette from his pocket. Larox eyed the cigarette, which Jack flicked towards him before grabbing another for himself.
"Can't you guys smoke outside," Horst said, "I don't smoke and neither does the girl here."
Larox shoved the cigarette in his pocket for later.
"Fair enough," Jack said, "But tell me one thing, because just about the entire city witnessed it. Do you know anything about that girl or how she was able to defeat your Captain's shade?"
Larox stepped back from Lavinia's bed, "I have no idea; all I know is that she stays with us. You want her help, you want to finish Delant, then you want to leave her with us."
"Delant's finished," Jack ran fingers through his sweaty hair, "I'm not asking for help with that. Hell, my commander isn't asking for help with that. We just need to better understand what kind of science experiment they've been running with the people sent to scrubbing, and if it can help us survive. You and I both know supplies, food, water, and soil is just about exhausted. The power system is failing. The oxygen isn't what it used to be, just ask old Ed."
Larox leaned against Lavinia's bed, "I don't know much about what little Jimmy has been up to, but there's no love lost for him here. He's killed our Captain, beat the living snot out of Horst and myself before dropping us in that death match, and has done who knows what to our mechanic. But if you guys can get what's left of my crew back together, we'll pull supplies in for this base. Guaranteed. "
"Who's your mechanic? Do you mean Lauren Sheffield. She's been recovered from the scrubbing barracks but she's a bit shaken up,"
"You're not doing things in halves," Horst said, "But this isn't over until it's over, you gotta get Delant out of central."
Officer Gonzalez grunted a bit as he peered into the medicine cabinets, "His personal guard is proving difficult. We can't afford to see the tower damaged so it's floor by floor fighting. Plus, that loud mouth Norima refuses to surrender. His forces aren't holding anything critical, they're contained, but they're still making our life miserable."
"It could take you days to get to the top floor, even weeks, they're well stocked up there," Horst said, "They might even be able to hold you off for months. You can't afford a siege."
"What about the hangers?" Larox asked, "Can we get to them?"
"We haven't secured them yet, Norima and a small contingent of guards have set up defenses there. The least of our worries right now."
"I made some programs that access certain blast doors from the hanger," Horst said, "If I can get back there. I might be able to make life easier for you guys. I might be able to open a few gates and reverse some of the automated defenses. I can't say it will be an automatic win, but it should be worth at least five floors and save you explosives."
"We deal with Norima first and you can help us open the main tower? That sounds like a worthwhile proposition. You guys stay here and rest, don't make trouble. I'm going to take this up with command. Welcome back to Clinker Corporation."
Leaving the quiet muscular man to watch over them, officer Gonzalez left.
-----
Helen entered the laboratory. It was hot, the air stifling even more than the halls. The scientist shuffled through papers. A read-out printed. It flew into the air and gently swayed until it landed on the metal grate flooring. A small pile of papers slid off a desk.
"Burning the evidence?" Helen smiled, "I can't have you destroying valuable program data now, can I?"
"How did you get down here?! Shouldn't you be sheltered with the rest of Jim's harem?" Alfred asked, a slight growl of irritation in his voice.
"Ultimately, I can go where I wish. So I thought I'd check up on my favorite boy."
"You're beginning to sound like her."
"Don't say that!"
The hum of machines droned in the background as they stared. A distant gunshot ricocheted against metal but neither reacted.
"I want to surrender peacefully and not be executed for what we've done here," Alfred said, "Even though you'd have me betray the entire human race, I'm not ready to die just yet. I have things to see to."
"Fool, I've helped you enhance the human race. If a life form can't adapt it doesn't deserve to continue living. That is reality. These were your own words."
"That was a long time ago. I can't produce any more of your kind, even if I tried. Everything is gone, the resources simply don't exist, and it was all wrong from the start."
Helen pushed past the one-eyed scientist and grabbed a read-out, she pretended to scan it as her eyes narrowed and her cheeks reddened, "So what does that say about me? Is my very existence repulsive to you?"
Alfred froze to watch her back shift slightly. The glass chambers in front of her were now empty. It was too late to retrieve any material. It had all been flushed. The journals were strewn about as she seemed to consider them for a moment. Finally, she crumpled a data sheet with a relieved sigh until it became a tight little ball of paper.
"Burn them if you want. They were all failures anyway."
Another bullet echoed through the halls. This one sounded a bit louder. Helen sniffed before she pushed past Alfred to leave.
"I'm sorry," Alfred said, not looking back.
"It's fine, I have other things to see to as well."
Helen snapped her fingers. A large stack of papers in a small furnace began to smolder before bursting into crackling flames.