The Fractured World 5

by David Aries

  “Well… it’s not exactly the easiest place to reach,” Akko correctly pointed out.

  “Hopefully, this is the last time we’ll need to visit,” I said as I eyed up the scored hatch.

  Trez cracked her knuckles before hopping off her ride. “Alright. It’s time to bust this bitch open.”

  I ignored my arms as they pleaded for mercy and set up the drill in Trez’s stead, pointing the tip so it hovered above the stubborn door.

  “Okay,” Trez said as she checked things over. “The batteries are fully charged, the tip’s where it needs to be, and it doesn't look like anything fell off during transit. We’re ready to go! All that remains is me to flick this switch. Just one little flick and everything will be revealed.” Her finger brushed back and forth, stroking over the nub.

  Back and forth… without actually pressing.

  “Are ya seriously doing this routine again?” Sylvetty said.

  “Aw, shut it,” Trez replied. “You know how much this means to me. This is my entire reputation on the line, dammit!” She grumbled. “I mean, what are we gonna do if this is a bust? Getting the drill back to the surface is gonna be a pain, and there’s no way I can fiddle with it down here. I wouldn’t even be able to recharge the batteries.”

  I patted Trez on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, this is going to work. Remember, I’ve already seen what it can do. The door doesn’t stand a chance.”

  “What he said!” Casella cheered while applauding. “You’ve got this!”

  “Go, sweetie!” Akko added.

  “Yeah, yeah. I know. Just… gimme a…” Trez closed her eyes as she went through her breathing exercises. Then, as if trying to take the drill by surprise, she slammed the switch down.

  The drill powered-up without any heart-stopping false starts and quickly reached its default speed.

  “So far so good,” Trez said. “Now we’ve gotta…”

  Her next click caused the drill to pick up the pace. Once it reached a blistering speed, it engulfed itself in a blue glow I remembered well.

  “Ain’t that the same trick the golem used?” Sylvetty said while wafting away swirls of dust.

  “Yep! I got the drill back how it used to be, or thereabouts. However, this ain’t enough. It’s already been used on the door and didn’t do the trick. That’s why I made… this.” She flicked one last switch.

  A roaring, metal groan echoed around the chamber as the drill kicked into a higher gear. The blue light tried to keep up, but it wasn’t ready for the task. Instead, it transformed into a vivid red monster twice as big as its previous incarnation in both length and width.

  The energy weapon slammed into the hatch, filling the room with a spark-creating squeal.

  Sylvetty jumped back. “Bleeding strewth!”

  “What did you do?” Faris said while protecting her face from the grit-filled storm.

  Trez laughed as she watched the fireworks. “You know, just busted through all the safeguards and fed in as much energy as I could.”

  “I-is that safe?” Akko said, backing away.

  Trez shrugged. “I don’t know, but it’s strong. Right, Muscles?”

  My knuckles turned white as I gripped the rampaging engine trying to bounce to the ceiling. If that wasn’t indication enough to back up Trez’s claim, I had some old combat experience to fall back on. After all, I’d faced the mining machine in action; my senses knew how dangerous this drill could be.

  And that was before Trez’s tune-up.

  The maxed-out machine took it to the metal door, spraying sparks everywhere like pyrotechnics at a concert.

  “It’s doing it,” Trez said as she skipped on the spot. “We’re going through!”

  My heart thumped faster and faster. The mystery was almost over; it was time to discover what had been sealed within this metal chamb—

  The engine exploded in my face.

  “Brandon!” Casella yelled.

  “I’m okay,” I said with a growl, more concerned about the engine.

  “W-what’s going on?” Trez asked as smoke billowed from the motor, before another boom made the whole thing rattle. “No, no, no! This can’t be happening!” She rushed over.

  I charged out to meet her. “Stop! It’s dangerous!”

  “Fuck danger! If I don’t do something—”

  The engine lurched as it released a chorus of concerning sounds before a plume of fire broke to the surface. At the same time, the drill groaned and came to a sudden halt.

  Too sudden.

  The whole thing shattered, breaking in half and showering the area in shards of metal.

  “No!” Trez squealed as she tried to force her way around me.

  I didn’t let her go.

  With the drill dead, it was only natural the engine followed. It fell completely silent unless you counted the crackle of its components being melted.

  Faris and Demi rushed to put the fire out… however, the damage had been done.

  Once they’d given the all clear, I let Trez go.

  She burst from my arms and rushed to the engine, which had seen better days. The batteries we’d been relying on had paid the ultimate price, while the components within were black. Then there was the drill itself. There was no reason it couldn’t spin anymore… but a fat lot of good it would do. Its crumbled, devastated body would never get through anything again.

  “No,” Trez said, flicking the switch on and off.

  It didn’t do a thing.

  “No, no, no!” She thumped the engine. “Dammit! This can’t… this can’t be happening. I worked so hard… so damn hard! It can’t end this way!”

  “Trez,” I said.

  She slouched over the engine, burying her face in her folded arms. “Why the fuck did I ignore the limiters? Why did I pump in so much power? I should have known it would be too much; I should have known this would happen. This is all my fault…”

  “Trez.”

  “Because of me, it’s fucked. We’re fucked. We’ve spent a year trying to get through this door. Now it’s never gonna happen. Thanks to me, we’re never gonna know what’s—”

  I put a hand on her shoulder. “Trez!”

  “What?!” she said as she jumped from her arms and stared at me with tear-filled eyes.

  I pointed at the drill’s tip. “Look!”

  The drill was busted, that much was obvious, but it wasn’t the only object to have fallen during the battle. The hatch, which had withstood so many of our attempts, had collapsed in on itself. Its crumpled surface congregated around a hole beneath the drill’s end.

  Trez gawked, mouth hanging open.

  I grinned. “You did it. You got us in.”

  “T-that’s… I…”

  Casella pounced from behind, capturing Trez in a hug. “That was wondrous! You did just what you said you would.”

  “Too right!” Sylvetty said as she jigged about. “Ya totally bossed it.”

  Trez sniffled. “Y-yeah. I did, didn’t it? All that work… it wasn’t for nothing after all.”

  “That’s right,” I said as I combed her blonde hair. “All your effort has paid off.”

  A heart-warming smile returned to her tear-soaked face.

  “It’s time to see what’s inside,” Faris said as she observed the hole.

  Vay had already moved the drill aside and was trying to finish the job it had started.

  “Let me help,” I said, hurrying over.

  Together, we pried the hatch open, exposing a dark metallic tunnel which descended into the depths of the planet.

  We’re in; we’re really in.

  What lurked at the bottom of the abyss was still a mystery, but there was no longer anything stopping us from learning its secrets.

  The barrier which had blocked our path for months was gone. It was time to claim our prize.

  Chapter 7

  No matter how hard I peered, I couldn’t unravel the mystery waiting at the end of this dark, unwelcoming tunnel.

  Just
how deep did it go?

  “My Brandon,” Casella said as she wiggled from side to side. “Whatever are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

  “Absolutely not,” I said, wiping the giddy smile from her beautiful face.

  “He’s right, sweetie,” Akko seconded, grabbing one of Casella’s hands. “It might be dangerous.”

  “Exactly,” I replied. “Which is why I’ll be going alone.”

  “What?!” Akko squeaked.

  “Is it really so surprising? Somebody has to go, and I think we all know I’m the man for the job.”

  Vay scoffed. “Says who? Since when can I not handle myself? If anyone should be putting themselves into unknown danger, it’s me!”

  “This isn’t a game,” I reminded her. “If worst comes to worst, I want to be the one in danger: not you.”

  “If worst comes to worst, I want to be fighting on the front lines. You are dreaming if you think I’ll let you relegate me to the sidelines.”

  “The same goes for me,” Faris said, stepping forward. “I’m going if you’re going; I won’t take no for an answer.” Her fiery stare seconded as such, and yet…

  “Never mind that,” Sylvetty said. “What the feck are ya wearing?”

  I had to confess it had distracted me as well.

  Faris had on an oxygen cylinder that looked like it belonged to a deep-sea diver.

  “I took it from his spacesuit,” she explained before affixing the mask over her mouth. “Call it insurance against the unknown.”

  I ground my teeth together. Something told me my words wouldn’t sway a woman who had brought an oxygen tank to the occasion. And as for Vay…

  Why do they have to be so stubborn?

  “Fine,” I said, sighing. “Everyone else, stay here until we give the all clear.”

  Trez folded her arms and grumbled. “You better not take too long. I didn’t bust this bad boy open to lurk outside.”

  Demi saluted. “We’ll set up a perimeter. No foreign entities will get in or out on my watch.”

  “I appreciate it,” I said as I edged to the ladder. “Wish me luck.”

  “Stay safe, my Brandon,” Casella said.

  “And, seriously, be quick about it,” Trez said. “I’m gagging to see what’s hiding down there.”

  “I’ll do what I can.” And, with that, I began my descent.

  I’d already noticed ahead of time that the tunnel had something of a ladder built into its side. Rather than protruding rungs, it had deep grooves chiseled into the metal surface vanishing down into the darkness.

  I led the way, with Vay next, and Faris above her.

  Minutes passed by with nothing more than the clunk of our feet smacking into the footholds.

  “This is some passage,” Faris said, voice muffled by the breathing apparatus she was wearing.

  “Tell me about it,” I said as I glanced down. “I still can’t see the bottom…”

  Vay laughed, sending an echo into the great unknown. “I can’t wait to see what sort of opponents are waiting for us!”

  “Hopefully, nothing.”

  “Come now, my king. Just think of all the possibilities lurking down below.”

  “Again, you’re confusing me with someone who wouldn’t prefer an easy—”

  Light flooded the tunnel.

  I snapped my eyes shut and focused on my senses. Were we under attack? It was like we’d been hit with a flash grenade from some shooting game.

  My instincts didn’t detect a thing.

  A single peak revealed the truth: nothing nefarious was happening. The tunnel itself was the source of the light as its previously monochrome walls lit up in the same manner as its surface. Thin indents glowed, turning the pitch-black into the almost sunny. However, that wasn’t all. Thin strands of blue trickled in front of me, as if I was being bathed in waves of falling light.

  At the same time, something tugged on me.

  “Hey, what?” I said as I squeezed the handholds.

  My grip was more than enough to overpower the new force, but that didn’t stop it from trying to pull me deeper into the pit.

  It was like a non-existent waterfall was attempting to wash me away.

  “Ooo, a grav lift,” Vay said. “What lovely service.”

  “A what now?” I asked.

  “A gravitational lift,” Faris explained. “It manipulates gravity to allow for safe passage in numerous directions without many of the drawbacks of ‘conventional’ lifts.”

  “So you’re saying this thing will take us to the bottom safely?”

  “Yes.”

  “That does sound pretty cool… but I can’t help feeling the whole ‘more convenient’ part won’t mean much if someone—say an enemy running this place—turns this off, and we end up splatting at the bottom.” Seriously, you wouldn’t want a powercut to happen when you were riding an elevator with no floors or cables.

  Vay laughed. “When did my king become such a worrywart? If they wish to offer us the VIP treatment, I say we let them.” She let go of the rungs and was carried down at a gentle pace until she landed on my head.

  Normally, I wouldn’t complain about having Vay’s delectable behind pressed into my face, but there was a time and place for everything.

  “Okay, okay,” I said as I let go and let the grav lift take over.

  It was an unusual sensation. Even though I was heading down, it didn’t feel like I was falling. It was more like riding a lazy river in an imaginary inflatable ring.

  We cruised down what could have been miles of shaft without any trouble before my feet finally kissed solid ground.

  Vay came a second later and was delivered into my waiting arms.

  “How romantic,” she purred, stroking my cheek. “Did my bout of fan service get you all excited?”

  “Sorry. Unknown enemy territory tends to do a dampener on my libido,” I replied as I helped her to her feet.

  Faris was the next to land… and she did so with a face like thunder.

  “Is something the matter?” I asked.

  “No,” Faris insisted as she folded her arms tight.

  “Aww, you poor thing,” Vay said. “Was there no hunk waiting to catch you in his arms?”

  Faris glowered into the depths of Vay’s soul.

  I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Can we not start fighting amongst ourselves?”

  Seriously, how is jealousy still a problem?

  I guess I’m not complaining most of the time…

  Being surrounded by multiple loving women desperate for my attention wasn’t what I’d call a major issue. Well, except when I had bigger fish to fry.

  “So this is what was down here,” Vay remarked as she looked around the room.

  It was a circular space, around the size of a classroom, with a similar metallic design to the tunnel that had brought us. It lacked much in the way of décor or glamor beyond a few barriers and lights and didn’t appear to have much purpose beyond acting as an intersection. As well as the lift we’d come down, there were four doors leading deeper into the facility.

  I didn’t care that there wasn’t much of note. My lips curled into the goofiest grin. “At last! Now this is what I call sci-fi.”

  My space adventure had generally been short on the science-fiction front. Most of it had been spent acting out closer to a pseudo-fantasy adventure, with the rare bits of tech I’d spied either hostile robots or stuff that didn’t work.

  This was the sort of high-tech scenery I’d been waiting to see.

  Vay glanced from side to side. “Looks like nobody came to greet us…”

  “That shouldn’t be a bad thing,” Faris said as she took off her mask and tested the room’s air quality.

  She laughed. “Apologies, little one! It’s not that I’m looking for trouble. I was just sure a tough opponent would be waiting for us.”

  “I’m surprised myself,” as I peered down the open tunnels. “But I’m not complaining. Still, it’s too early to get co
nfident. For now, we need to figure out which way to—”

  “Whee!”

  An excited noise echoed down the entrance passage. Moments later, Casella and Trez came floating down, with Sylvetty not far behind, and Akko a little after her. The latter pair crashed into those who had arrived first, bundling them all into a pile.

  My mouth fell open. I gawped so hard I forgot to say a thing.

  W-what are they doing here?

  Faris had very much the same expression I did, down to the dumbstruck stare.

  Vay, on the other hand, laughed and spread her arms wide. “Welcome, little ones!”

  “No welcome,” I said. “What are you doing?!”

  “Wait, wait, wait,” Trez said as she wiggled out of the pile. “Before you get your nagging knickers on, this was an accident.”

  “An accident?”

  “Yeah. It’s not like we were trying to come down here.”

  “It’s true, my Brandon,” Casella said. “Trez and I were simply looking in the hole when the grav lift activated and pulled us inside.”

  “Aye!” Sylvetty said. “I tried to grab them, but all that happened was I got nabbed too.”

  “A-and I couldn’t just leave them alone,” Akko mumbled as she fidgeted with her hands and tentacle locks. “I was so worried. What if they didn’t arrive at the same place as you? What if they ended up in danger?”

  I rubbed the back of my head. It wasn’t ideal, not by a long shot, but what was done was done.

  It doesn’t look like Demi or the others are giving chase.

  I guess they’re trusting me with this while they hold the perimeter.

  Not that it’s worked so far…

  Then again, they could hardly be blamed for not seeing this coming.

  I sighed. “Alright, I understand. Sorry for getting snappy. For now, let’s focus on finding a way to send you back.”

  “Hang on a minute,” Trez said as she flickered around like a kid in a toy store. “You can’t expect us to fall down here then not have a look around. That would be a tease too far.”

  “Everything is so shiny,” Casella said.

  “It’s stark raving bonkers, that’s what it is,” Sylvetty replied while scrambling around. “What sorta wizard built this den? Magic lifts and now this? It’s incredible!”

  “No, no, no,” I said. “We still can’t guarantee this place is safe. We’re sending you back for now. The question is… how?” The shimmering lift made going back up impossible unless we figured out the way to reverse it.