NOVEL NEXT Chapter 11: Mercury
"What do you plan, Hyde?" I watched as he crouched to the edge of our hiding place toward the individual separated from his group.
"Take his clothes and blend in with the others." He raised both hands, moving his fingers slightly as he whispered, preparing to act with a mischievous smile.
"He's probably one of the people who doesn't age, you won't be able to suffocate them into unconsciousness since they don't breathe, or knock them out without drawing attention from others since they're resilient."
"So, what do you suggest?" He clicked his tongue in frustration, looking apprehensively at his target who stood close to discovering us.
"Use the Sword of Mars and lightly cut the back of his neck near his right shoulder. It should be enough to pierce through the armor and disable him without killing him."
"How do you know that?" The young man asked disconcertedly, making a surprised face.
"I may not remember everything, but I know how people who don't age work and where to target them if necessary."
"I can't tell if that's helpful or disturbing."
"A bit of both, now hurry up!"
Hyde nodded and slowly drew the Sword of Mars, holding it close to his chest with one hand and pressing the button on its hilt, enveloping it in heat and making him sweat profusely.
He muttered something to himself, moving subtly until his target came into full view, turning and stopping momentarily in surprise upon seeing us. That was his mistake, Hyde moved quickly and cut the indicated area, making him go limp and fall forward into his arms.
The young man held his breath, holding back a surprised cry due to the individual's weight almost knocking him to the ground. Then, the process of undressing and hiding him began, thus obtaining a disguise so we could infiltrate the Junk Heap unnoticed.
"Wow, this thing is light." The young man exclaimed in surprise, moving his shoulders, trying on the man's suit.
"That's one of the advantages of futuristic materials."
"Okay, and what will we do if they discover our little friend here?" Hyde removed the helmet from the unconscious person, frowning when he saw his face.
"Is there a problem?"
"Despite everything you said, I expected the people who don't age to have some obvious sign of their identity, but this guy looks like a normal person, I could have passed by him on the street and not noticed anything wrong."
"Well, they don't breathe and are heavy, and we can't hear the inner workings of their bodies, so I suggest you focus on the perfection of their faces."
"What do you mean?"
"Look closely, he doesn't have a single pimple, mole, or birthmark, his teeth are completely white and aligned and his face is perfectly symmetrical. No matter how beautiful a person is, everyone has their flaws, but isn't he too perfect?"
Hyde brought his face closer to the unconscious individual, his face contorted in concentration, doubt, and curiosity before he nodded and stepped back.
"You're right, he look like a living painting."
"Better pay attention to these details from now on, someone we know could be one of them, but don't stare too much, people might think you're a pervert."
The young man grumbled irritably and put on the being's helmet, surprised when a hud full of blue icons appeared in his vision. I laughed as he waved his hands in the air, trying to touch them, but I asked him to stop and explained what he observed.
"So this helmet has several functions besides protecting my head?"
"Yes, it seems like a more advanced model than the ones that existed in my time. Look for a button on the side, near your ear."
He found what he looked for after a few tries and pressed it, making a miniaturized map of our surroundings appear in the corner of the hud, with a small blue triangle representing us.
The second press activated night vision, which was terrible to do during the day, making him exclaim in surprise due to the intense brightness attacking his eyes.
The third press activated thermal vision, so I explained its function and what the different colors meant. Hyde glanced at the other people who don't age and frowned at the little heat they emanated, except for a strange reddish orb in the center of their bodies.
The fourth press activated infrared vision, but there was nothing that needed its use now.
Other than that, the HUD also revealed details of the surrounding objects with a blueish outline, had zoom, motion sensors, an integrated flashlight, aiming assistants, and reports from its user's system, but since Hyde was a living being, the helmet didn't detect anything and displayed the offline message, and an ammunition counter for its owner's futuristic weapon.
Speaking of the weapon, Hyde held it similarly to the robots of Mars, only to accidentally pull the trigger and almost hit his foot with a luminous projectile that left a scorching circular hole in the ground.
"What the hell was that?!"
"Hm… An energy blast, probably based on MASO, but too refined to be absorbed directly from the atmosphere. The rectangular objects scattered throughout the pockets of your suit are ammunition. When the number in the corner of your helmet reaches zero, you will need to remove the magazine from the bottom of the weapon, insert a new one, and…"
"Morgan, where the hell are you?! We opened the damn door! Get here immediately!"
A stern male voice assaulted our ears, making us jump and scream in surprise. A dot in an undulating circle appeared on the hud, moving every time the voice spoke. Hyde shifted anxiously, wondering what he should do, but I found myself in a similar situation, searching for a solution.
"Morgan, I will send someone after you if you do not report in the next two minutes, and I will have you disassembled if there is no good reason for your absence!"
Whether out of desperation or genius, I asked Hyde to press the buttons until he found the communicator function, activating it with a hiss similar to that of a radio, and repeating my words.
"Sir, yes, sir! I apologize for my delay, I thought I saw an unidentified individual stalking the perimeter and decided to investigate, but it was a false alarm, sir!"
"Hm… I understand, return immediately and keep your eyes open, the one who invaded the other facilities may be here."
"Yes, sir!"
The communication stopped with a hiss similar to the previous one and we sighed in relief, Hyde's heart was beating fast, and although I didn't have one, I felt a similar sensation in my chest.
We checked one last time if the person we had taken down was well hidden, and stored the grimoires and weapons in a large metal box full of tools that the man carried, taking it with us on our backs.
So we left our hiding place, with me giving my friend a lesson in gun safety as we approached the other uniformed individuals. They had opened the main door of the heap, revealing a dark metal hallway, and now waited in formation, ready to storm the facility.
However, our arrival caught the attention of what we assumed to be the squad leader due to his white helmet instead of a rusty hue.
"Morgan, there you are! Stop wasting time and join the others! We will begin the mission now!"
Hyde nodded and did as ordered, assuming a slightly crouched position in the line of people on both sides of the factory entrance. Tense seconds passed until the leader signaled for us to advance, leaving two members of the group behind to guard our exit.
Everyone advanced in perfect sync, except for us. No matter how hard the young man tried to imitate the others, there was always a few seconds delay in his movements. Fortunately, no one seemed to notice.
Our footsteps echoed through the dimly lit corridor, sending metallic cracks reverberating through the walls, while our flashlights illuminated the way along with the luminous details of our helmets and weapons.
I told Hyde how strange it was that no one welcomed us, there were no robots or crazed AIs ranting and trying to kill us. This place seemed deactivated, judging by its silence.
The young man only responded with nods and subtle murmurs so as not to draw attention, but he shared my feelings, this was going too well to be true.
We ran through wide and narrow passages, and walkways with grates and metal stairs, we saw walls and ceilings full of old pipes and complex mechanisms, all covered in dust and rust.
There were deactivated elevators and colossal metal doors that made us take alternative routes, but we always kept ourselves together thanks to the minimap indicating everyone's location.
The lack of attacks made us apprehensive, as this abandoned factory was full of perfect ambush spots, but none came.
Would we finally get what we wanted without any problems? No, probably not.
We stopped near a normal-sized metal door and one of the squad members removed a strange tool from a gray box slung over his shoulder. A bright flame ignited at its tip and he melted the corners of the door while the remaining members took up guard, half crouching and half standing.
"Very well, you remember the mission briefing. We go in, reactivate the power to this place, take what we came for, and leave." The leader whispered seriously, maintaining a disciplined pose and ready to shoot whoever came around the corner ahead.
"What if we find the one who broke into the other facilities?" A squad member asked.
"The supervisors would like him or her alive, but we have permission to kill if the first option proves unavailable."
"Understood."
Hyde swallowed hard and shivered slightly after hearing those words, but I sent some comforting words his way, helping him calm down. A bunch of armed people is not even close to the worst thing we've faced so far, we can defeat them if necessary.
Then, time passed without any more words, hisses and sparks filled the air as the door gave way until it fell inwards with a heavy thud that sounded like thunder.
Everyone tensed their fighting positions, scanning their surroundings with their fingers on the triggers and disturbing professionalism, too precise, too methodical, and as always, there was a time difference between us and them.
However, nothing happened and we moved on, activating our night vision and descending the long rusty staircase into a narrow passage on the other side of the door. We entered one by one, descending in a line like ants in an anthill.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
Our slow, anxious footsteps echoed through the dark, metallic spiral, descending level after level.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
Our equipment creaked along with our movements, but no one dared break the silence with idle chatter.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
We didn't know how much time had passed, but we kept descending, wondering how deep this factory was. It felt like we were going to reach the center of the Earth.
We eventually reached the end, with the soldier from before melting a door similar to the one before, allowing us to return to the corridors of the facility, but something had changed.
"Holy shit! What the hell happened here?!" One of the soldiers exclaimed in surprise, earning a scolding from the squad leader, but that didn't change the destruction around us.
Deep cracks similar to claw marks tore through the metal floor, with the walls and ceiling suffering a similar result, successive wide cuts in the walls, and two thin lines opening the ceiling.
As if that wasn't enough, the corridor was crumpled outwards, and deep footprints covered the floor, as if something large had squeezed in here.
"Eyes open and weapons ready, men! We don't know what lives here, but it's big and angry for sure!" the squad leader commanded and we all responded with a synchronized Yes, Sir.
We followed the footprints and Hyde and I prepared ourselves for the worst. The soldiers seemed ignorant of the AIs' condition, but we knew what awaited us in the dark depths of this place.
The damage was becoming severe and the facility more decayed, dark drips leaking from holes in the ceiling, sudden jets of steam spewing from pipes and ancient machinery, chunks of the floor crumbling, nearly leaving members of the squad to die by impalement.
Destroyed cabling and cubic robots sparked with any remaining electricity, threatening to electrocute us, and the raging AI's damage to the infrastructure intensified.
The path turned into a straight line and we passed a colossal, broken metal door and, on the other side, found what the squad leader identified as this place's generator.
Its condition was deplorable, but functional enough, a large cylinder similar to a Tesla coil surrounded by control panels, a huge pile of scrap metal, and wires running from its top, through the ceiling and connecting to large turbines around us.
But where was the person responsible for the destruction we followed?
"Morgan, activate the generator." The squad leader ordered absently, as he seemed to be communicating with someone through his helmet.
It took us a few seconds to realize that he was talking to us, and that was more than enough for us to receive intense looks from everyone present, including the leader, who now seemed more agitated.
"Morgan, what are you waiting for?"
Hyde nodded quickly, trying to pretend that nothing was wrong, and turned towards the generator, marching with hurried steps, however, I could feel his pulse accelerate and sweat dripping down his body.
"I hope you know how to use this thing, Jekyll, because I have no idea." He whispered, stopping in front of one of the control panels.
"I'll do my best, but generators aren't my specialty and this place is falling apart, there's a chance that nothing will happen or everything will blow up in our faces."
"Nothing new. Tell me, you also noticed their eyes burning us from under their helmets, didn't you?"
"Yes, and the leader seems to be arguing with someone. There's a chance that we've been discovered and they're waiting for the right moment to attack, we gave several signs that there was something wrong with us."
"It's not my fault, these guys move too strangely and I don't have the training of a soldier."
"Too late to regret it, I'll control your arms and see what I can do with the generator."
"Be my guest."
I moved Jekyll's arms and hands as if they were my own and started the basics with the control panel, giving it a few punches and slaps, checking if everything was in place, pressing a few buttons, and turning on a few lights, noticing that there was residual power in the place.
Hm… The generator appears to be an early model powered by MASO absorbed from the atmosphere, a crude and unrefined process, explaining the amount of equipment here to withstand the load. Reactivating everything at once will overload the worn-out generator and generate an explosion. A gradual startup of the entire facility, sector by sector, is the best option, especially since we don't know where the grimoires are. It would be awful to be locked out due to a dead door.
"Morgan, report!" The squad leader demanded.
I asked Hyde to repeat my findings and went back to work.
With the turn of a key, a soft hum echoed through the room and soft lights illuminated the place. With the press of a button, the halves of the generator opened in opposite directions with a jet of pressurized air, revealing a dark orb. With the push of a lever, the orb floated and spun rapidly, becoming a blur and absorbing the MASO around us.
Normally, the particle from another dimension was not visible to the naked eye, but the amount that the machinery sucked in was so much that we could see red and black strings converging in its direction.
Simultaneously, the halves of the generator rose and fell repeatedly in a steady, piston-like beat, and the wires in the ceiling lit up in a blue light, illuminating the room in a sea of light and shadow, and bringing the turbines around us to life.
BOOM!
Some exploded in a shower of metal and smoke, despite the slow start, time proved invincible to them, but on the bright side, we heard the muffled sounds of the machinery coming back to life on the upper floors midst the current cacophony.
CLICK!
CLICK!
CLICK!
Unfortunately, the joy I felt at reactivating this place was short-lived, as Hyde and I turned and came face to face with several weapons pointed in our direction.
"You have my congratulations for making it this far, but enough of the games. Who are you?" The leader spoke sarcastically, stepping forward as his men spread out and surrounded us.
"Is this some kind of joke?! It's me, Morgan!" Hyde pretended not to understand as he stepped back. He tried to reach for the toolbox, but the menacing tension of all the soldiers made him give up on that idea.
"No, Morgan is on the surface being repaired by the men I left guarding the entrance, and they told me something interesting, there was a small cut on his neck, precise enough to disable him without killing him, as if whoever did it knew where to hit, so I'll ask one more time, who are you? According to the information revealed to us, whoever invaded the other facilities knew exactly where they were and probably had authorization to enter unhindered, which means one thing, you are a traitor android of the project."
Android! That was the right word!
"HAHA! Well, well, you got me! What happens now?"
"You will be taken in for questioning, and at the very least your memories and personality will be erased and replaced with new ones, or dismantled and turned into spare parts."
"Can't I apologize and promise never to do this again?"
"Hump! And you still ask if I'm joking! You're surrounded, give up and surrender, don't make this unnecessarily difficult and we'll give you a smooth ride to the supervisors, they'll be glad to know who's been giving them so much trouble lately, trust me, they're furious."
The leader raised his gun, and approached with an outstretched hand, ready to apprehend Hyde.
I, on the other hand, was about to leave the young man's body and use the android in front of me as a hostage and shield, it would be a quick move and I could withstand a few shots if necessary.
However, none of the forces present acted, as a tremor shook the room.
CRASH!
CLANG!
CRASH!
CLANG!
CRASH!
CLANG!
It was as if something metallic hit the ground repeatedly, then we heard cracks and hums of metal dragging against metal near us.
"Sir, get out of there!" One of the soldiers shouted in a mixture of fear and surprise.
We realized that they were no longer pointing their weapons at us but at something just above. The metallic noises got closer, increasing in volume with each impact.
CLANG!
CRASH!
A gigantic blade pierced the ground next to us, showing the reflections of Hyde and the leader. Although their faces were hidden, the position of both revealed that they felt the same as the soldiers.
Whether out of curiosity or stupidity, we slowly followed the length of the weapon, seeing that it was a triangular twin blade with the other end almost touching the ceiling.
There was a five-fingered robotic hand ending in claws and painted a combination of beige, silver, and gold, gripping the hilt of the weapon, and as we followed the arm, we came face to face with a pair of red eyes staring at us in the darkness.
The animosity between us disappeared and Hyde and the leader retreated with hurried steps, the former drawing his swords from the box on his back in one fluid motion, and the latter keeping his advanced weapon pointed at the thing.
The thing walked with heavy steps that shook the area, each one sounding like an explosion as it dragged its blade across the ground with a sharp hiss, faintly illuminating its body with a jet of sparks.
Its form became clear to all as it stepped into the light of the generator, making our eyes widen and our mouths drop. We had seen impressive things during our journey and had our steel and will tested constantly, but despite that, I was not confident that we would win this one.
It was a metal monstrosity imitating a mythological being, a humanoid robotic torso made of connected sharp metal plates painted the same color as the arm, and a smooth head with a pair of glowing red circular eyes.
All of this was connected to a griffin-like metal mass where the head should be, with four legs leading to four paws with three fingers ending in claws, a pair of large metal wings sharp as blades, and a long tail that moved like a serpent.
It was at the very least the most creative design we had seen so far, and at the maximum the most terrifying.
Hyde swallowed hard and his posture trembled. After all, he was still a boy, and my chest hurt whenever I remembered that I had forced him into this situation. We expected insults, glorious speeches of greatness, death threats, everything we had seen before, but…
"SSSCCCRRREEE!"
The monstrosity let out a deafening shriek, shaking the chamber and raising clouds of dust and rust. Its wings spread, creating a wall of shadows worthy of nightmares, and it closed the distance, swinging its blade wildly.
Utter chaos took over the place, insults reached our ears, gunshots rent the air, slashes tore through the ground, and steel clashed against steel, the grimoires left their hiding place and we faced the master of this place.
END OF CHAPTER