by Drew Cordell
“Am I under arrest?” I asked Leroy.
My vision was still obscured, but it looked like he frowned. “No. We all overruled Caeldra; she was out of line. That box is yours to keep, and Knight Squad isn’t going to mention it. As far as we’re concerned, it doesn’t exist.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“Don’t thank me; we’re just doing what’s right. Hold on,” he said. He switched comm channels, pulling me into a private connection. “There we go. Caeldra has been acting weird since she killed those Scavenger Guild convoy workers. I think everything is getting to her. I’m going to talk with her later, but let’s not worry about this until we’re back to the Guild Hall. She didn’t mean to shoot you, I know that for sure.”
“I’m over it. I’m not hurt and we can still get back to the Guild.”
“I’m glad to hear it. This will be uncomfortable,” Leroy said, unscrewing the valve on my O2 tank and causing air to flood inside my helmet. The pressure increased, causing my ears to pop painfully. I winced as the pressure capped out. Leroy screwed the valve back in its normal place and flushed the pressure, making my head spin as the air was expelled from my helmet with a sharp hiss.
“Your helmet is airtight. I’m going to do the final seal now, and you’ll be able to see a lot better,” Leroy said as he added another coating of gel and passed the light along it. The gel reacted with the previous coat, causing it to harden and turn the opaque layer clear.
Aside from minor inconsistencies across the surface, my vision was restored. Leroy replaced one of the fuses in my suit’s fuse box and slammed the lid shut. “Try your overlay again. It should be working.”
I pushed the button on my wrist link and my overlay flickered to life, back to normal and completely usable. “Good to go,” I said.
“Awesome. Let’s meet up with the others and see where we go from here,” Leroy said, patting me on the shoulder and leading me out of the room.
“Sorry again, Jake. I lost it in there,” Caeldra said, moving closer to me.
“Forget it. No one was hurt, and that’s all that matters.”
Mary walked over to me, giving Caeldra a nasty look. “Let’s get back to the Guild Hall,” she said.
Something wasn’t right. The tunnel felt like it was shaking. Something was moving in the distance, barely out of range of our lights. It moved closer and into focus. A torrential flood of water was moving toward us through the tunnel.
“Run!” I yelled.
20 FLOOD
We were running the other way, trying to outrun the water surging closer to us. It looked like it was coming from the ladder where we entered this level, and we had no idea where we were going now.
“Don’t stop running! If we get caught in this, we’re going to get lost!” Caeldra yelled.
I was holding Mary’s hand, pulling her along with me. Whatever happened, I couldn’t lose her. I turned back, cursing as I saw the water getting closer—it was moving too fast.
“We’re not going to make it!” I yelled, trying to force my body to go faster. I was flung forward, my body flipping through the water. I was still holding onto Mary, but I was losing my grip. Somehow I managed to pull a cable from my harness and latch it onto hers. Our bodies smashed together as the dark, murky water surged around us. We were approaching a fork in the tunnel, and I could see an open hatch on the ground, pulling water down into the darkness below in a furious whirlpool.
Someone flipped in front of me and was sucked down the hole. A chilling scream reverberated through my helmet over the rush of water then faded to nothing as the radio connection broke. Mary and I were being pulled toward the open hatch, but I managed to wrap my arms around her, pulling her in close as we sailed through the water. I kicked off the wall and propelled us away from the prying grasp of the open vent. It was barely enough, but it kept us from the same fate as someone in Knight Squad. By the sound of the scream it was a girl, either Caeldra or Bailey, and we wouldn’t be able to go after them until the level finished flooding.
Our momentum shifted, and we flipped backward; the water must have hit the end of the tunnel. We were able to stabilize ourselves in the water, and I fought to overcome the vertigo and nausea from the tumbling.
“Is everyone all right?” a voice called. It was Caeldra.
“Bailey got sucked down the hatch we passed. We need to go after her,” I yelled, feeling the panic sink in as my adrenaline faded.
“What? Are you sure?” Adam shouted.
“Yeah, we need to go right away.”
“Leroy, Mary, are you okay?”
“Fine,” they said in unison.
We regrouped and tethered ourselves together again.
“Bailey, can you hear me?” Caeldra called. There was no response.
“That hatch is going to really start pulling us when we get closer, so we’ll need to fasten a few lines so we’re not sucked down as well,” Leroy said.
We trudged forward, approaching the open hatch. Leroy attached his main cable to one of the pipes and gave it some slack, allowing the current to pull us forward.
“I’m on the front. I’ll go down to get her,” Mary said.
I grimaced. I didn’t want her to go, selfish as it was. I’d rather it be anyone else than Mary. With the flood of water pouring down the hatch, it was dangerous. “Adam, maybe you should go,” I suggested.
“Mary’s on the front. It’s our safest option. We’ll double tether her so she’ll be safe. Just drop down and find Bailey. Try to rescue her, but don’t detach from the safety line. She’ll have to find a way to you,” Caeldra said.
“Got it. I’ll be quick,” Mary said, attaching her line to Adam while Adam attached his line to her harness.
“Be careful,” I said, trying not to sound as scared as I felt.
“You know I will,” Mary replied, activating the motor on her harness and letting the current pull her through the hatch.
The time passed painfully slow, and we lost radio contact with Mary, but Adam called out when he felt the line tighten.
A few minutes later, Mary and Bailey emerged. Even with the suit on, I could tell something was wrong. Bailey’s body was limp, and she was just hanging in the air.
“What’s wrong?” Caeldra asked.
“She didn’t make it. The hatch dropped down onto solid concrete. I didn’t want to leave her down there; it wasn’t right,” Mary said, her voice shaking.
“Oh God, no. No,” Adam sobbed, rushing over to Mary and Bailey.
“We need her air tank and weapons,” Caeldra said softly. “We have no choice but to leave her here.”
Mary started to protest, but Adam cut her off. “She’s right. We can’t bring her back, and we need to get back to the Guild Hall. The tunnels aren’t stable.” Adam’s voice was shaking. He was probably in shock.
“We should take the EPX suit as well,” Leroy said, his voice quiet, as if he was embarrassed to say it.
I shook my head. “Her body is broken, and it would be difficult to get her out of it. I don’t want to sound grim, but none of us need to see that.”
Caeldra nodded. “Jake’s right. We’re not taking her suit. It would take too long, and we don’t have the time to spare while we’re burning air.”
Caeldra took Bailey’s weapons and air tank, then let her body drift back toward the open hatch, silently disappearing down into the abyss. We were all quiet as if disconnected from reality. I thought everyone other than Adam was secretly thinking the same thing: I’m glad it wasn’t me. Shaking off the thoughts I knew I’d regret later, we started back toward the surface, trying to closely follow the same route we took before. The flooding had come from somewhere else, and we didn’t have time to figure out where. We needed to get out of the Depths; it was clear now how easy it would be to die if we were caught in another flood. There was no telling where the powerful waters would pull us; all the tunnels we were traveling through were unmapped and barren.
After about an hour, we
returned to one of the hatches we had come through. Adam climbed the ladder and tried to press the hatch open, but it would budge. Huffing, he raised his body higher on the rungs of the ladder and pressed his back up against the top of the hatch, heaving and managing to push it back. Breathing heavily, he climbed up and helped us through.
We were down to about four hours of air and still had a long way to go. Movement through the water was slow, and we still had a long journey to get back to the main vent that dropped from 406. Without extra lines, I imagined the journey up was going to be hell.
“When we get back to the main hatch, the Guild is going to send someone over to drop a spool of cable we can use to climb back up,” Caeldra said.
“Why didn’t we just take it with us?” I asked.
“We were already overloaded on equipment; it’s easier this way. I’ve got a drone in my pack that I’ll fly up there to relay the message. They’ll be waiting,” she said.
“And if they aren’t?” Leroy asked.
“Then we’ve got a few hours’ worth of climbing to do,” I said, hoping the Guild would be on standby. I was good at climbing, and with the mechanical harness and Artemis system it wouldn’t be so dangerous, but it was a crazy distance for anyone to attempt.
“He’s right,” Caeldra said. “But they’ll be there.”
When we surfaced from the pool of water, we each had only about an hour of air left without dipping into Bailey’s O2 tank. The water had drained slightly since we’d arrived in the Depths. Raising herself from the water with her harness, Caeldra opened her pack and pulled out the drone, a small quadcopter with sensors and controls that connected to her Artemis link.
She activated the drone, and it started flashing with blue lights before rocketing up into the tunnel above us. Five minutes later, and Caeldra was cursing up a storm. “Not reading anyone. I’m sending it back to the Guild Hall to get help. We need to sit tight for now,” she said.
“Aren’t they expecting us?” I asked.
“Yeah, they were. Something must have happened.”
“I’m sure they’re just having problems with the signal routers. You know they’ve been spotty at best,” Leroy said.
“Probably so,” Caeldra agreed. “If it’s not back in twenty-four hours, then we’ll start the climb. We’ve got breathable air now, so we don’t have anything to worry about. Everyone still good on food and water in case we’re here a bit longer than expected?” she asked.
I checked my own supplies. I had enough for a lot longer than a day. Still, if we hadn’t brought the EPX suits, we never would have made it to the bunker. I wanted to open the box from my father, to rip into the envelopes and dig into their contents, but I had to trust following the robot’s instructions could save the Guild. I knew for a fact the note was in my father’s handwriting, but could it be replicated by a machine? There was no way to tell, and I couldn’t risk thinking like that. The information we had gained from the robot seemed to be helping, and causing a flood wasn’t Infinitum’s style. Bailey’s death was tragic, but I didn’t suspect it was caused intentionally.
“You okay, Jake?” Mary asked, swinging on her tether to come over to me and connecting on a private communication channel. Her feet splashed through the water as she came to a stop, sitting in the air with me and wrapping an armored arm around my back.
“Yeah, just shaken up I guess,” I said.
“Me too. I can’t believe Bailey is gone.”
I winced. Bailey’s death was terrible, but I was also upset about Caeldra turning on me. I was sure Mary was still upset about it too, so I didn’t bring it up. “She didn’t deserve that. I wish there was something we could have done.”
“There was nothing we could do; no way we could have controlled our bodies when that wave hit us.”
“You’re right. I just feel responsible since I’m the one who wanted us to go on this mission,” I said.
“It’s not your fault. We all knew the risks. When are you going to open your box?” she asked.
“I’m going to follow the instructions on the letter and wait for a political shift in Olympus.”
“Do you think we’ll ever go back there?”
I shrugged. “Who knows? I don’t feel like I have a home anymore. I never felt like I belonged in Olympus, and the Slums are gone now.”
“Home for me is wherever you are,” she said, smiling and lacing her gloved fingers in mine.
“You’re sweet. I’m just hoping the data we recovered from the other box will help us,” I said.
“I hope so too; we need all the help we can get.”
My helmet beeped. Someone was talking on another channel. “Jake, Mary?” Caeldra asked.
“Sorry, we were talking about personal stuff,” I said, joining the main channel.
“Right. Well, we were just talking about the box you found—how it’s yours to keep and how it doesn’t exist,” Caeldra said.
“Can I have a word on a private channel, Caeldra?” I asked.
She nodded and connected to my channel. “Look, Jake, again I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shoot you either; you have to believe me. I was moving my finger to make sure the safety was on when Mary tackled me, and I accidentally pulled the trigger.”
“I know you didn’t mean to shoot me. That’s not what I want to talk about.”
Caeldra looked confused, but nodded. “What do you want to talk about then?”
“Do you think there is any chance the Scavenger Guild was set up, that this is all a hoax?” I asked.
“Jake. We found functioning thought collection equipment in River’s Port and data that proved their allegiance to the Omniscience Engine.”
“I know, but think about it. If it was all faked, if they weren’t actually spying on us but just had River’s Port citizens work the thought collections for them, then the Omniscience Engine knows nothing about us.”
“Yeah, but that’s too complicated. Doesn’t it make sense they were spying on us to get all those resources while we worked to eliminate the Harvesters together?”
“The Harvesters were the only danger to the Omniscience Engine once the world ended here, and the Omniscience Engine has been playing everyone. It’s not the simplest answer, but do you really think the leaders of the Scavenger Guild would risk going to war with us over some resources they could produce themselves? River’s Port is more or less intact, and they have the same resources they always have. They were producing at a surplus before all of this went down, so isn’t it logical they are just using their surplus production to supply us? What I’m getting at is this whole thing could be a setup by the Omniscience Engine.”
“That’s too complicated though …” she said, considering it. “None of this makes sense.”
“Exactly. Nothing has been as it seems; there’s always something shifting behind the scenes manipulating everything,” I said. “This could all be because of one person in the Scavenger Guild who had hired Gabe and his driver to take the data to River’s Port. I’m betting the third party who gave them the data didn’t expect us to make it to River’s Port. Those mines were meant to damage the convoy and make us suspicious. I’m not speaking against your actions, but I think Gabe and the driver were supposed to die, or at least lose the crate. With them dead, the leaks in the Scavenger Guild were plugged, and we’ll never know who the mole was. Either way, their job is done. Whoever set this up wants us to go after the Scavenger Guild—they want us to go to River’s Port. Why?”
“The Omniscience Engine wants us spread out. We’ve got people going to the Docks, and we’ve got people going to River’s Port,” she said.
“Look, I’m not going to say what you did was right or wrong, but you pulled the trigger and killed those two men. Are you fairly certain they were telling the truth?”
Caeldra grimaced. “Yes. I don’t think they had any idea what was going on. They were just pawns.”
“I think the Omniscience engine wants us spread out for a reason,
” I said. “I don’t think the Scavenger Guild has anything to do with anything that’s happening. They didn’t tell us about the shipments because it didn’t involve the Champions at all.”
“The Omniscience Engine is going to attack us,” she said, taking in a deep breath. “It may have already happened.”
21 FUSION
Caeldra switched channels, leaving our private lobby and speaking with everyone else. “We’re going. Now. We need to get to the Guild Hall. If they toss us a line, great, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.”
“What’s going on?” Leroy asked, confusion in his voice.
“Jake and I think the Omniscience Engine is going to attack the Champions. It could have already happened; that’s why we need to move. If we’re under attack, we need to get the data from the card we recovered to the Guild right away. It might be our only shot,” Caeldra said, launching her line up and starting to climb the large pipes alongside the walls of the circular vent.
The information hit the others, and they started climbing as well. Caeldra and I explained our thoughts more as we went, laying all our cards on the table. There were no objections. It made sense, and we moved with renewed determination. Climbing in the EPX suits was cumbersome, but the automated harnesses and Artemis functions helped. Even with the gear, we had over three miles to climb.
“Picking up something on my scanner,” Adam said, looking up.
“It’s the drone. It’s coming back from the Guild Hall,” Caeldra said, stopping her ascent and reaching up to catch the drone as it landed in her hand. She passed the transmission to our suits, and it played on our overlay.
Marwin appeared on the screen. “We’re sending a team to the vent to drop the main line for you. Even with your suits, you’re going to need to take breaks on the way up to let your carabiners cool while you climb. If they get overheated, they could break and you’ll have to climb the old-fashioned way. We’re picking up unusual activity at the Docks and need you back here as soon as possible. We’re planning on mobilizing some squads and moving some of our people from River’s Port as well to check it out. Get back here and stay safe. I hope your trip was worth it.”
