She speaks into my mind, and then she is dead.
Doc flows out of her mouth and reforms into his man shape. I shudder, that is a horrible way to die. Bright light envelops me, Doc, Kala and Vua. Seems everyone leveled up from that fight. She must have been worth a lot of experience. It’s a strange thought, to think of someone as being worth experience to level you up. I wonder how much I am worth?
Everyone walks over, Kala helps me to my feet. We all look at the naked body of the dead Corrupted Progenitor. She was kind of pretty, in a bald goth psycho-killer kind of way. I sigh and collect the loot. She has an Ancient Core, and that’s it. I feel a little ripped off. Her body is absorbed into the ground.
"Great. We set loose a murderous Progenitor upon the world. Who knows what repercussions this will have. She may have the same ability to open Progenitor doors as I do." I say.
"Wait. What? I didn't even think about that. She is going to be reborn? But, she will lose all of her memories and levels, right?"
"I have no idea. She was a level one and almost kicked our asses. I don't really know how it works. It said she was a Corrupted Progenitor, whatever that means." I look back into the room at the pad that is below the glowing crystals. "Maybe there will be some info on that pad back there?"
I walk over to the pad, a noticeable force emerges from the crystals. There is a console in front, I wave my hand over it.
Species: Corrupted Progenitor
Name: Sarvina Uils
Project Codename: Q-74
Notes:
Project Q-74 is the brainchild of Sarvina Uils, a genius researcher and part of the Royal Family. She wanted to study the effects of repeated death and resurrection on the Progenitor mind and body. Unbeknownst to her peers she was studying the effects on herself. She was convinced there was a secret power to be gained from death. She built a Resurrection Net in her home and rapidly killed herself over and over. Recovered logs show that she resurrected 78,432 in a span of two weeks. She became extremely violent and unpredictable. Hver' Watu personally captured her and placed her in high security stasis. There indeed may be benefits to her process. She seemed to retain partial amounts of her skills and memory, at the cost of her mental health and body. Further study is recommended.
I finish reading the info from the console and I get a notification that we have finished the quest.
Congratulations! You have finished the quest:
Investigate the Experimental & Native Research Facility
You have found a Progenitor Research Facility. Defeat the hostile experimental life-forms in the facility.
Test Subject 0-5-1-9: Terminated
Native Species 33M-01: Active
Mind Furies: 10/10
Experimental Biological Weapon Q-74: Terminated
Quest Type: Secret
Difficulty: Very Hard
Rewards: 1000 Experience, Skill Boost Orb
Bonus Quest:
Learn about each life-form: 4/4
Rewards: 500 Experience, 5+ Permanent increase to Intelligence.
"Nice. What is this Skill Boost Orb?" Kala asks, holding a glowing silver orb, about the size of an orange.
I look in my inventory, I have one too. "I'm not sure, but I'm guessing it boosts a skill?" I shoot Kala a smirk. I notice Doc has walked to the end of the room. I put my orb away and follow him. He is standing in front of a recess in the wall. There is a square space, about the size of a small bathroom, with a golden orb floating right in the center. The walls, floor, and ceiling are also a gleaming golden color. "What is this thing?" I ask Doc.
"It is a Fast Travel hub." He tells me.
"What does that mean?" I ask him, feeling excited about what I think this thing is.
"It can instantly transport you to anyplace that is connected to this one."
"Wow, this is amazing. It is like what I was working on before I came to this planet. Can we use it?" I ask.
Doc walks into the space and places his hand on the floating gold orb. "There is enough power for two uses. After that, this facility will be drained of all power. There are three locations still connected."
"JAX!" I hear Kala yell.
There is something in her voice that makes my stomach drop. I turn around and run to her. "What is wrong?"
She is pale and points to the doorway. I look up and Jill is standing there. She is covered in blood, there is a huge gash on one of her arms, her clothes shredded and she has cuts everywhere.
"Jill? What happened?" I start to move towards her. But she raises her arm for me to stop.
"They are dead. Everyone..." She coughs up blood. "I...thought we had more time." She starts to sob. "It was so horrible. The things they did...and there was a creature...Blind..." Her whole body shaking. "And he is here, Jax? How?"
I take another step forward. Then a voice from behind Jill speaks. "Did you really think you could escape from me?" A man steps into the light, still behind Jill, he puts a knife to her throat. My mind is blank. Who is this guy? Then it clicks into place. The rich brat from Earth that tried to rape Jill. How is he here? Adam, that's his name.
"I don't understand. How are you here? What do you want? Please...let Jill go." I say, feeling the edges of my vision start to turn red with rage.
Adam grins at me. "Did you ever stop and wonder why you were able to secure passage on the ArkShip so easily? There were other, more qualified that could have taken your place." Adam looks me in the eyes. "I wanted you and your slut sister on that ship. I wanted you to hope and dream, just so I could see your faces when I destroyed everything dear to you. Did you really think you could take your sister away after what she did to me?" He slips his other hand around Jill and rips her front open exposing her breasts. Jill just stands there, shaking and crying. Adam gropes her and then licks her neck.
"God dammit! Let her go!" I yell at him, taking a step forward.
Adam presses the knife harder against her neck, causing blood to drip down. "But I haven't had my fun yet." He laughs "And boy-o-boy are we going to have fun. Besides, the rest of the gang will be here soon. They are finishing killing everyone in this backwater town."
The contents of my stomach are trying very hard to come up. My head is swimming, I can't seem to process what he is telling me. Everyone is dead? Livia, Sallindia, Farely, all the children?
"Jill...where are Aurelia and Nessa?" I ask, my voice cracks with emotion.
"Is that the name of that little bitch? I can see why they want her. She killed a dozen Mute. She got away with some kind of beast and talking bug. But they will find her." Adam tells me with a laugh.
I hear Kala crying. Then at that moment Jill screams and tries to slam the back of her head into Adam’s face. I hear a crunch of his nose and then there is a torrent of blood. But it is not his. I fall to my knees, pain and sorrow overwhelming me. Time slows as I watch Jill fall to the ground, her throat slit. Jill's eyes lock with mine for a moment, blood gushes between her fingers as she vainly tries to stop her own death. The sound of a man in anguish fills the room. That sound came from me. Adam wipes the blood off his face.
"That is unfortunate. She was just so fucking hot. I was really looking forward to having some fun with her." Adam shrugs. He looks at Kala and licks his lips. "I guess strawberry shortcake over there will have to do."
I scream until my throat is raw, my world turning completely red.
Chapter Seven: The Dark
~
My eyes are open, yet there is only the dark. My hands flail about, like a newborn baby. Where am I? My hands grasp my bag, and after a number of failed attempts, I pull out a Core. The space is illuminated some, I look down at my hands. They are covered in dried blood. Everything rushes back, like a two-by-four slamming me in the chest, knocking the breath out of me. I fall to the ground, sobbing. Then fear gr
abs hold of me.
"Kala? Doc?" My voice is swallowed by the dark, eaten whole, leaving only an intense nothingness to answer me back.
"Greetings Progenitor Jax, iteration 167." A voice says behind me. It sounds like a million robotic insects talking in unison. I yelp out from being startled and then turn around. In the dark I can barely see a humanoid form, it almost looks like a swarm of bugs that decided to try and be human.
"You're the Administrator." I say, remembering what Jill told me about the being.
"Yes. You have reached level ten, you may now choose a Focus." It says with zero emotion.
"Where am I? Can you please help me? I need to find my friends. My sister...is she alive? Was she reborn?" I ask it. No. I plead with it, my voice cracks with desperation.
The Administrator just stands there, not answering my questions.
Anger builds in me as I look at the dimly lit demigod of this world. "God dammit! You piece of shit. Why didn't you come when I leveled up back at the research facility? You could have saved everyone. Why didn't you help?" My anger turns to intense sorrow and tears stream down my face. The Administrator does not reply, its body constantly shifting and blurring. "Just go away." I turn my face into the dark. "If you are not going to help me or answer my questions, you are no use to me."
"Are you rejecting my offer of a Focus?" It asks me, its voice causing an itch in my brain.
"Go." Venom dripping in my voice.
"You reject my power?" It says, a speck of emotion floats in its choir of voices.
"Fucking go!" I scream at it and fire my Laser Beam. My attack harmlessly hits a force field around the Administrator. The demigod's stare pounds into me, even though I can't see its eyes, then its body disperses like fog being burnt away by the morning sun.
A strange power fills me and a few notifications pop up, but I wave them away. I throw the Core I am holding and scream into the dark. The Core echoes into the space as it tumbles about. I lay down, letting the black nothing devour me. My sister's face keeps flashing before me, blood spurting out of her neck as she falls to the ground. I had just found her the day before, and she is already gone. What happened to Kala and Doc? Why can't I remember anything?
I lay there for hours, switching between sorrow and anger, playing the events over and over in my mind. All the while the dark surrounds me. At some point I must have fallen asleep. A spasm in my sore back wakes me up. Only silence greets me, the ringing in my ears, that has always been there since I was a child, screams at me. I sit up and crack my neck and back. Now what? My night of crying and anger has left me feeling empty. My bag is still next to me, I open it up and get my water out and take a deep pull of the refreshing liquid. I should probably take it easy on my water, I have no idea where I am, my logical brain tells me. My logical brain also scolds me for how I handled the Administrator. I shouldn't have rejected his offer of a Focus.
Kala and Jill must still be alive.
For my own sanity, I repeat this over and over. I must find out what happened. Not knowing is worse than knowing. Okay, first thing’s first, let’s see what those notifications are.
Congratulations! You have completed the secret quest:
Thrice Offered, Thrice Refused
The Administrator is not the only all-powerful being on this planet. Nor is it the only one able to offer quests and a Focus. Power should not be taken, or given, so easily. Three times you were offered to become more powerful. Three times you refused. You have completed my secret quest. There may be hope for you yet, Progenitor Jax.
Quest Type: Secret
Difficulty: Variable
Rewards: A Secret Focus
You have gained the Focus:
Ameliorater
Skills now take four times as much effort to learn and level. You must work harder than most. Yet, do not despair. When you do gain a new skill, or level an existing one, you have a choice. Either modify the skill to a better one, or empower the skill. Skills may only be modified or empowered once, choose wisely. Modified skills will start at level one.
New Quest Alert:
The Dark & Light, Part 1
You are in a new Progenitor ruin. If possible, restore power. But, beware, your actions cause reactions. Think before you act.
Quest Type: Normal
Difficulty: Easy
Rewards: Light
Do you accept this quest? Y/N
"Are you kidding me." I say out loud. "So, my Focus is to work harder?" I pace back and forth in the dark. Who the hell gave me this Focus? I didn't choose it, and I didn't ask for it. It's not fair. So, now I'm stuck with this Focus forever? Unless I kill myself. Maybe that wouldn't be so bad? Then I wouldn't remember my sister being killed.
"No." I say to myself. I can't go down that road. I'm stronger than that.
I notice that I also have ten attribute points to allocate. I'm not much of a melee fighter and prefer to use skills like Laser Beam. So, I put four points into intelligence, four into wisdom, and two into constitution. I need to focus my development. I have been all over the place.
What is up with that quest? Talk about vague and ominous.
Alright, well let’s see where I am. I use my very painful Morph skill to change the structure of my eyes so I can see in the dark. The space is still very hard to see, there is just not much light for my eyes to boost. I get out a few Common Cores and toss them around the room. That's better. It seems I am in some type of Progenitor ruins. There is a Fast Travel pad a few feet to my left. Well, that explains how I got here. But where is Kala, Doc and Vua?
There is a golden orb on the ground. I believe it is what is used to activate the travel pads. I pick it up, but it is devoid of any power. When I Analyze the orb it is listed in purple letters, I guess it must be an epic item. I place it in my bag, just in case. There are two alcoves on each side of the Fast Travel pad.
"Jesus." In each alcove is a huge robot. They are about ten feet tall, and made out of silver and gold colored metals. They have six arms each that end in what look like blasters and other nefarious weapons. Instead of legs they are mounted on a large sphere of metal. I wave my hand in front of it.
"Hello," I say to it. No response, thank god. I try analyzing it.
Name: War Wraith, Fourth Generation
Title: N/A
Level: 250
Synthesis: 40%
Core Power: 0%
Health: ????
Mental: ????
Stamina: ????
Focus: ????
Race: Progenitor Construct
Disposition: ????
Skills: ????
Loot: ????
-Requires 1 Saturated Synthetic Core
Wow, this thing could swat me like a fly. I wonder if I found a power core for it if it would follow my commands? I turn around and leave the murder-bot alone. I seem to be in a security room, but it's hard to tell because it is so dark. I sigh, I need to figure out a way to see better.
"Shit." I mutter to myself, an idea popping into my head. Can it be that easy? I use my Optical Illusion skill and will a floating ball of light in front of me. The mental drain is minimal. But it does take some effort to have the ball of light follow me. Now that I have my light problem fixed I Morph my eyes back, the extra light was starting to hurt.
The room is fairly small and has nothing else in it besides the bots and the Fast Travel pad. There is a closed door opposite the travel pad. I walk up to it and wave my hand to activate it. Nothing. There are not seams or a doorknob. How the hell am I supposed to open this? Taking a few feet back I use Laser Beam on the door. I hold the beam on the door until I am almost out of mental energy. The door is not damaged at all. I put my hand near the door, no heat at all. I place my hand directly on the surface of the door.
The door swishes open, a cloud of dust fol
lows it. Coughing, I wave the dust out of my face. I step through the doorway into a hallway. There is a wall right in front of me, while the hallway continues to the left and right. The wall in front of me is black, but it seems to be shifting and moving.
"What the hell?" I say out loud. I take a step forward and thousands of black insects, that look like huge black silver fish, scurry away. I scream like a baby and jump back. Being a scientist, I shouldn't be scared of bugs, but I am. I don't see evidence of the bugs, which is strange, because there are no cracks or seams in the walls for them to escape.
Gathering my courage, I step back into the hallway. Left or right? I peer into the dark, my floating light only illuminating the area a few feet in front of me. I choose right. I take a step and my heavy armor boot clomps onto the floor and echoes down the long, dark hallway. I cringe at the sound. Pulling up the 3-D representation of myself from my menu I unequip my armor and put my casual clothes back on. There’s no way I can be stealthy in heavy armor.
"Damn." I say, looking at the floating image of myself slowly rotating in the air. I have a long, angry looking red scar, from my forehead all the way across my face and chest. My health is at 90% and will not go up any more. I look over my status page, I have an affliction called Scar of Dimensional Fire. It is permanent and can't be healed.
A few hundred feet down the passage are two doors on the left and right, they are both open. The passage continues down. How big is this place? This is the largest Progenitor ruins I have been in so far. Could this be Facility Zero? No, I would have received a quest update if it was. I peek into the door on my right. The blackness greets me, my light only illuminating the doorway and myself. The silence of this place is driving me crazy. My breathing sounds like an airplane engine.
Stepping directly into the room I expend a lot of mental energy and fill the room with 50 floating globes of light. I squint at the sudden influx of light. Even with all the new light in the room, the space is not fully illuminated. I am standing in an enormous room. There are hundreds of cots, no, thousands. What is this place? Attached to each cot is a six-foot tall pod. With no power, I can't make heads or tails of the purpose of the pods. All the cots are made up perfectly, nothing out of place. This feels very much like a military base, maybe this is the barracks?
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