The air outside the chamber was thick, a soup of acrid miasma that moved like it had a mind of its own. I stepped out onto what was left of a high fortress, clinging to the edge of the ruined city below, like a dying limb, decay pressing in from all sides.
The city sprawled before me, a dead giant of twisted metal and shattered glass. Above, the dome that had once shielded it was a fractured skull, casting broken light and jagged shadows that twisted with the haze.
Behind me, a crack in the dome bled a sickly mist. It poured over the fortress, engulfing me, then rolled down the city like it had a grudge.
Descending from the fortress felt like crossing a droid junkyard. Bits of broken machinery littered the stairs, groaning under my boots like they remembered being useful.
The walls had given up, exposing the guts of the city. Streets cracked and curled into themselves, black with rot. Holo-ads flickered in the mist, like spirits trying to break through the veil.
When I finally stepped out onto a shattered balcony, the street below greeted me with the poetry of survival. Two beasts tore into something that used to be a person. Gave me that warm, fuzzy feeling.
“Careful, master,” Arvie’s voice hummed in my head, polite code for don’t get yourself eaten.
“I see them,” I muttered, leaning back from the edge. No sudden movements. I wasn’t in the mood to test whether sarcasm counted as a survival trait. This place was a nightmare of shifting shadows and rusty death traps. Every creak, every growl felt personal.
Then I saw it, a neon sign, sputtering like it was trying to remember its glory days, half-obscured by the tangle of rusted girders and conduits jutting from a crumbling tower.
What caught my eye wasn’t the flicker, it was the symbol, faint but unmistakable: Medical. In a place like this, even the hint of meds, gear, or a working scanner was enough to pull me in like gravity.
I climbed down using a rusted service ladder that clung to the building like a stubborn vein. Halfway down, somewhere in the fog, something hissed. Somewhere else, something answered. Lovely place. Wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.
When my boots hit ground, the beasts were gone, dragging the remains of their lunch somewhere private, I guessed. But the smear they left behind painted a mural of desperate struggle. Claw marks. Blood arcs. One shoe, sole up.
Still that neon blinked, like a siren winking through fog. The building emerged from the fog, battered but still standing. The door was a twisted wreck at my feet.
Inside, the air hit me hard, thick and sour. Broken beds and equipment littered the halls. A graveyard disguised as a medical facility.
“Stars Above,” I muttered. “This is a nightmare.”
“It’s still warming up,” Arvie said. “Keep moving.”
My gaze fell on a locker in the back of the chamber and picked my way through the wreckage, careful not to step on anything too squishy. A shimmer flared, something in my mind clicked and a holographic interface popped up. The symbols and prompts felt like echoes of a skill I didn’t remember learning, but my mind knew the dance.
With a mental nudge, I overrode the security, and the locker clicked open. A satchel inside caught my eye, my hands moving on autopilot as I rifled through it. Bandages, antiseptics, lotions. Nothing sexy, but they could keep me breathing.
Then I spotted the safe. Buried behind debris, surface clean, gleaming faintly like it knew it mattered. I stepped closer and the interface bloomed again, very complex this time, a kaleidoscope of shifting glyphs and fractal patterns swirling in my mind.
“This one’s interesting,” I muttered.
“Oh, definitely,” Arvie purred. “Let’s crack it open and see the goodies.”
I focused, feeling the puzzle pulse in my mind. It wasn’t just code. It had rhythm. A dance. I traced a line, symbols flared, twisted into a chaotic swirl.
“Careful,” Arvie warned. “This puzzle needs finesse.”
“Appreciate the pep talk.”
I breathed, adjusting my focus, imagined a clean slate, forcing the chaotic symbols to align. The colors harmonized, revealing a sequence of flashing glyphs. “There we go,” I said. “As you said, just needs a bit of finesse.”
Symbols began to align, pulsing in a sequence. I followed the rhythm, threading the logic. Confidence flickered, but each puzzle I solved triggered another that laughed in my face. Sweat beaded. “Who designed this? A deranged artist?”
“Whatever,” Arvie replied, laughter dancing in her voice. “You’re doing great. Just a few more steps.”
I pushed through the static, coaxing harmony from chaos. One final connection and the whole thing clicked, soft hiss, safe unlocked.
“Success!” I exclaimed, feeling a triumphant rush wash over me. “Not bad for a half-wiped mind.”
Arvie’s voice hummed with pride. “Nicely done, master. Let’s see what we won.”
Inside, a sleek metal container was pulsing with subtle power, practically screaming, “Grab me!” I lifted it, its weight solid and… promising.
“What’s this?”
“A mutacell box,” Arvie said, reverent. “Ancient tech from the time of the Elders. Master, this could augment you.”
“Excuse me?”
“Abilities you don’t even know you had.”
Excitement flared, “How do I use it?”
“Not here. You’d need an intact medical pod and a medic who isn’t fertilizer.”
So close, yet so far. But I wasn’t one to dwell.
I slid the box into the satchel, its weight gave me purpose. This wasn’t just survival anymore. This was leverage. This was change.
“Ready to continue our grand adventure?” Arvie’s voice went playful again. “Plenty more surprises waiting out there.”
With the satchel slung over my shoulder, I took one last look at the graveyard of metal and bone. The city beyond still waited, hungry, broken, full of secrets.
And I’d just stolen a piece of its soul.
I turned, stepping back into the swirling fog. With Arvie in my head and the relic of the Elders at my side, whatever nightmare waited, I was ready for it.
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