《A long road》


 Gone

    I stared at the ceiling, bored out of my mind, my link was confiscated for some weird reason, something about going out to relate with family, not my problem really


    I tossed and turned on my bed, my boredom growing by the second


    at some point I just lay there, my mind... blank


    the ceiling twisted and turned and seemingly stretched to consume<i></i> me


    all of a sudden I heard a light knock on the door, I turned to the door a scowl already forming on my face, I was already envisioning my mum entering the room to lecture me


    With a slight huff I mentally unlocked the door, it creaked open slowly to reveal my little sister standing there her face alight, she pointed at me and shouted ¡°GREMLINNNN!!¡± while running at me, dashing to my bedside, and promptly jumped onto my chest forcing all of the air out of my lungs


    I gasped as she made herself comfortable on my chest, she had grown so much heavier Since she left , not voicing out my complaints I let out a crooked smile and said to her ¡°<i>clementine! You''ve grown!</i>¡±


    She huffed and crossed her arms and puffed her chest and shouted ¡°of course! After all I am going to take over the World! And you!¡± she paused for a second and shouted again ¡°ARE GOING TO BE MY LOYAL STEED!¡±


    I winced a little, not used to this amount of noise just after the deliberating silence I sighed a little before asking her ¡°why are you not with grandpa and grandma?, or Jenna?¡± she sagged a little and said in a low voice ¡° they¡¯re talking about serious stuffs¡­and school¡± her tone getting lower towards the end


    I  nodded empathetically, clementine was something like me , and didn¡¯t want anything to do with the stupid politics of this house, although she acted stupid and oblivious she was wayyy ahead of her age, maybe that was her way of enduring this situation


    I sat up straight my bones protesting as clementine slid off my and tumbled onto the floor, I let out a little laugh as clementine glared at me , stretching my hand towards her I suddenly said to her ¡°fine let¡¯s go play¡±  she squinted her eyes at me probably not believing me, she suddenly held my outstretched hand and shouted ¡°I book you till evening!¡± I laughed again, hoisted her up to my shoulders and stormed down the stairs with her giggling all the way down


    Upon reaching the end of the stairs, I set her down and held her hand leading her into the dining room, her laughing immediately stopped and her face morphed into one of serenity and her stride shortened, all this just to appear in front of those who claimed to be her guardians


    I gritted my  teeth and ignored her change in demeanor, walking into the dining hall, immediately upon entering I was greeted with a long and extremely luxurious table, apparently the wood used to make it was almost as old as all sentient life, ¡°what a waste¡± I whispered under my breath


    Sitting on the table was my family, if I could call them that, cousins, nieces, uncles. They all sat there although no children were to be seen around the table, eating in perfect silence, I ignored them all together and walked straight towards the door leading outside, all of a sudden a voice from the left side at the head of the table suddenly said ¡°son why don¡¯t you come eat with us?¡± I turned towards the voice, my smile brittle ¡°I am quite full father, no need, thank you¡± I answered, turning back towards my destination ¡°hmph leave him son, a failure like him does not deserve to dine here¡± a voice from the head of the table said


    I once again ignored them, heading towards the door ¡°a pity he dragged my dear granddaughter with him, I guess birds of a feather really do flock together¡± the voice added


    Something in my head flipped, I knew he was provoking me, I knew I was playing into his hands, but I did not care, my rationality did not win this time


    I turned towards the voice, it was that of an old man with angular jaws and a scarred face, his gray hair like crown on his head and his unnaturally yellow eyes stared calmly at mine a lazy smirk playing on his lips, the clanking of plates stopped as an unnatural pressure descended on the area forcing everyone on the table to fell like they were slowly suffocating, a low growl split the silence, coming from my mouth ¡°what. Did. You. Call. My. Sister?¡± I asked slowly


    The old man, my grandfather turned to me, showing no discomfort and was about to open his mouth to answer, when a tiny hand pulled at my sleeve, I turned towards my sister as she shook her head


    I took a deep breath and the pressure disappeared as quickly as it came, I tore my gaze from that of my grandfather to that of the one who called himself my father, he held his gaze for a second or two before ultimately turning his head away, I sneered at him and muttered under my breath ¡° yeah fucking coward, run away like you did when Mom died¡± and stormed out


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    I sat at the backyard anger still simmering at the back of my mind,  my sister sat with me a sullen and downcast on her face we both sat in silence for a while ¡°sorry¡± she said all of a sudden


    I placed my hand on her head ¡°its not your fault¡± I said while smiling and reached out to wipe the tears budding in her eyes ¡° let¡¯s go play drone wars¡± I said to her


    Soon enough sounds of laughter spread from the backyard, two drones flew around the backyard, armed with their array of weaponry, my drone suddenly bent at a corner forcing Constantine to swerve into a trap I had placed before, right before it entered the trap, the drone swerved sharply, letting only one of the wings get caught in the trap, although her efforts were valiant, her drone sputtered and jerked flying out of the yard and onto the streets


    I sent a gloating smile at her as she bashed her controller onto the floor repeatedly ¡°you¡¯re cheating!!¡±  she shouted at me


    I let out a uproarious  laugh and was interrupted by a flying controller, I deftly dodged it and headed towards the street to retrieve the lost controller, laughing all the way there


    Spotting the drone on the street I jogged towards it and bent down to pick it up suddenly I felt an intense sense of vertigo, my head was spinning and so was the world around me


    after what felt like decades I managed to get my bearings


    I picked myself off the ground, only to realize that I was not anywhere near home, I lay on a tarred road that seemingly led into the horizon itself and around me was a barren wasteland with no structures in sight ¡°wait tarred road?¡±


    The fog clouding my head receded as I swerved my head around me to take in the sight and as I did so I only confirmed how much deep shit I was in ¡°tarred roads are only used in planets at the edge of the empire and even at that they are in the extreme minority, one could even call them trash planets¡± I thought to myself ¡°how do I move from the heart of the empire, to the edge in a few seconds, that doesn¡¯t make any sense¡±


    I sighed, abandoning that train of thought and propped myself up ¡°what I should be doing is trying to find a way to get out of here¡± I thought to myself calmly trying to activate my link and a flickering holographic interface lit up at my front ¡°hey! Finally! Some good news!¡± I exclaimed and started examining my interface , there was obviously no connection to any empire towers


    But that wasn¡¯t what I needed at the moment as I mentally tapped a blue icon with the outline of an eye  and immediately I did that the interface flickered and went off, rebooting itself after a few seconds , this time an image of an eye hovered above my head and started scanning the environment around me


    I sat back down, calmly awaiting the results of the scan, information was a powerful tool and going blindly into the unknown without it could potentially be dangerous


    A chime sounded in my head to mark the end of the scan, the results arranging myself around me, my eyes narrowed as I scanned the information at my front ¡°that¡¯s not good¡± I whispered to myself


    It wasn¡¯t bad.......... it was horrible


    Apparently the curvature of this planet or whatever on God¡¯s black universe this thing is was infinite


    yes


    Infinite


    The thought that my link had malfunctioned crossed my mind, but it was the best tech the empire had to offer


    My eyes moved over to the other values, apparently the aetheric values around here was higher than Normal and the spatial coordinates were¡­..off, I never knew coordinates could be in imaginary numbers


    There was only one sane explanation for this¡± an aetheric anomaly?¡± I thought to myself ¡°that would check out¡± I said while nodding my head


    If it truly was an Aetheric anomaly, there was only one way out and that was for me to solve it, my eyes panned my surroundings trying to find any clues as to how I could get out of here


    I sent another mental pulse to my link, hoping to get a clue out of it, but it seemed the wilderness had no secrets to hide ¡° then there¡¯s only one way out¡± I murmured as I started walking down the road into the horizon


    Clementine pov :


    I sat on the grass, grumbling ¡°how did he do that!, it¡¯s no fair! I had already mastered all his reoccurring moves and mapped the whole yard AND I have been training for the last SIX MONTHS!¡± I shouted throwing myself on the grass, I did this for the next few minutes, until I noticed that Othello hadn¡¯t come back


    ¡°GREMLIN!!¡± I shouted, after a few seconds and with no response in sight I got up, annoyance clearly showing on my face ¡°I swear if you are playing a prank on me I will haunt you till your deathbed!¡± I shouted into the air while walking towards where Othello had last been too


    He wasn¡¯t there¡­. Obviously, ¡°okay you can stop now¡± I shouted once again, and once again I was answered with silence, ¡°hmph you still want to do this?¡± I thought In my head right before I burst into tears and started shouting ¡° gremlin! Gremlin!¡± after a few seconds of doing so, I was still met with silence and at that moment, I knew Othello would never do something like this


    Not in a million years


    just as I was about to call dad through my link, a man stopped at my front, bending down to my eye  level, he had a hood on which cast a shadow on his face, shadows that I couldn¡¯t seem to pierce through


    I knew for a fact that no one was supposed to be anywhere near here, it was private property of our family ¡°oh stop crying dear¡± he said stretching his hand towards me


    I flinched back a little, while also maintaining my crying face and innocently asked him ¡°do you know where my brother is?¡± meanwhile I was ready to bolt and sound the alarm at any point


    The man stopped for a second, seemed to think about it and eventually answered ¡°to be honest?, I don¡¯t know¡± he said while chuckling, he then got up all of a sudden and said ¡°oh yeah! And remember this, s:10:6:8p¡±


    My eyes narrowed as I immediately flipped a switch mentally, immediately loud sirens started blaring and the walls of the compound immediately projected a force field, covering the entire compound


    The man glanced around, chuckling ¡°you¡¯re a sharp one eh?¡± He said  he then looked at me, a wide grin on his face, ¡°oh well my time is up!¡± he said abruptly, ¡°time to go!¡± he smiled as he turned away from me and casually walked away, disappearing bit by bit


    almost like an illusion, almost like¡­.he wasn¡¯t ever here, I turned my gaze towards the Laser cannons positioned all around the house, none of them had reacted to him, even with full security mode on


    It was..a little terrifying , but there was something way worse, my brother¡­¡­¡­¡­.had disappeared

 Dead things

    Astela POV:


    I stared at the dishes at my front, as I had done for the last 20 minutes, and I continued to do so with a blank expression on my face, I had managed to choose majority of my dish  and now only the proteins were left after a long period of eliminating everything on the table, what was left was something called ¡°chicken, that was from earth, and practically extinct and another native of earth, ¡­..shrimps


    after another few minutes of careful consideration I finally chose the chicken


    After piling the chicken on my plate I nodded imperceptibly, feeling content, I started by tasting the chicken, I was curious¡­ it wasn¡¯t everyday one ate food from the oldest colony


    I cut a piece of the chicken and placed in in my mouth ¡­¡­¡­¡­ it was way nicer than expected, somehow the chicken was able to retain juices that burst into my mouth, I nodded my head sagely, feeling good about my choice


    I noticed a shift of movement in the peripheral of my vision, I turned towards the disturbance, it was just Grandpa who wanted to converse with me ¡°so.. how is business¡± he asked me


    I smiled lightly and answered ¡°its going well pops, I just managed to secure a shipping contract with a whole sector, for particular reagents and alchemical produce"


    He nodded happily and turned away from me, I had managed to escape further probing this time¡­. Thankfully


    I turned back to my meal, slightly impatient to eat the meal I had carefully crafted, as I was about to dig in, alarms suddenly blared, the windows rowed shut covered by meters of one of the hardest substances to the know universe


    From the table, sprang up a hologram, that showed Constantine conversing with someone although no one was showing in the recording one could only hear a heavily distorted voice reply her, as the conversation continued the faces of everyone got darker and darker, I tried swatting away the hologram away from my food but sadly, it didn¡¯t work, I lay there, defeated as the whole family scrambled to act


    Soon enough I was the only one Who was left on the table, I took the opportunity to slide a few shrimps onto my plate,¡­..no one would notice


    A planet wide alert was issued to find my lost cousin, although he was the back sheep of our family, he was still part of it and a kidnapping or whatever it was, happening directly on the grounds of the family was more than just a minor slight


    The whole scenario gave me a headache, it was quite obvious that Othello had a good head on his shoulder, it wouldn¡¯t be above him to fake his disappearance, but it was too drastic of a move. I had the idea that he was plotting something, he was a lot calmer than he appeared


    This wasn¡¯t like him¡­..not at all like him


    days passed and he was nowhere to be found, all measures were taken and yet it was like he just disappeared, unsurprisingly no one really cared, you could even say some were delighted at his disappearance, as weird as it may be, the only one who seemed affected was his little sister


    She was utterly devastated, she almost looked like a doll at this point¡­.just going through the motions


    And worst of all¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ she didn¡¯t seem to be enjoying the food


    That¡­.that was quite sad


    Othello POV


    It had been a grueling few days, who would have known that the sun never set around here, surprising right? And let¡¯s not get to the fact that upon all my walking I had found no clues as to how to get out of this place, if not for the nano bots in my bloodstream, I would be dead by now


    I plopped down on the road once again, mumbling something about the vicissitudes of life, I had tried all that I could


    Nothing was working, wandering into the wilderness, digging,


    There really wasn¡¯t much to do at this point, from my place on the road, I gazed at the unmoving sky and thought to myself ¡°is this how I¡¯m going to die¡±


    I lay there under this sun for what felt like days and drifted off to sleep


    It was around night time when I awoke, the stars we-¡°night?!¡± I exclaimed as I suddenly became aware of my surroundings, I now lay on a paved surface, not the paved road from before, ¡° This¡­is smooth stone?¡±


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    I glanced around, surveying my surroundings, immediately something caught my eye


    In the distance there were signs of a civilization ¡°although not an advanced one¡± I remarked


    The situation was getting more and more bizarre, nothing was making any sense ¡°what in the world is going on ¡° I thought to myself


    I took a deep breath to calm myself, questions would come later, when the luxury can be afforded, and that time definitely wasn¡¯t now


    I sent out a mental pulse through my link and once again the eye appeared, scanning my surroundings


    The aether levels were low with gravity of around 0.8 gs every thing seemed normal, except from the apparently lackluster level of civilization


    A few Deep breaths later, I set off in the direction of the horizon.. again


    hopefully this time it wasn¡¯t a fruitless endeavor


    I trudged towards the horizon and little by little the horizon came to me, everywhere was deathly silent as I walked on the smooth stone


    A slight inward movement of my left eyebrow graced my face, something was unusual, something I couldn¡¯t really place my hands on, everywhere seemed¡­¡­¡­ Dead


    ¡°I really hope I¡¯m not on a dead planet , or worse a dead A.G.S.O.B, that would be generally terrifying¡± my voice traveled in the dead silence, contested only by the sound of my feet hitting the floor


    Slowly but surely, the humongous body looming in the distance became clearer and clearer


    As I got closer to the structure the feeling of despair in my heart intensified and soon enough the full scope of the structure was revealed unto me


    Upon seeing it I couldn¡¯t help but burst into a maniacal laugh ¡°yeah I cannot deal with that ¡° I said while grinning


    A humongous structure made up of stacked hexagonal shaped ¡°boxes¡± held up by giant metal beams and floating layers of what seemed like glass


    The metal beams were bent and warped, barely holding their weight, and the ¡°boxes¡± which they held, rusted parts which spanned for miles, the ¡°glass¡± layers were already crumbling, fine cracks already spread almost all  the layers


    And on this dying structure, million of people buzzed on it, like bees in a hive


    I sighed again ¡°I really wanted to stay around for longer, I just got here¡± I whispered sadly


    Suddenly, the colours of the world shifted a little, like a shift in perspective, a tiny one, but it made all the difference, as the one who was perceiving this reality it was only normal that I changed, wasn¡¯t it?


    Like the little shift in perspective, I shifted a little, my slightly hunched back straightened, the smile on my face shifted to a neutral expression and I displaced myself on my right foot instead of resting on my left


    I stretched my limbs and casually started walking towards the structure, it didn''t seem so intimidating anymore


    ¡° I''ll get out of here one way or another ¡± I whispered weakly


    Constantine pov


    I was cloaked in darkness, my eyes closed shut, the darkness was ever present and ever growing, I struggled frantically, trying and failing to open my eyes


    The darkness slowly engulfed me, but as it was about to fully engulf me, I found myself in a room full of fog, an omnipresent light glowed softly faintly lighting up the room


    I swerved around, trying to figure out where I was, as I was doing so, my back came into contact with¡­¡­ something


    I turned swiftly to the disturbance only to be met with a carbon copy of myself


    But it has no light in its eyes, it seemed¡­. <i><b>Dead</b></i>


    Abruptly, its hand shot up and grabbed me by the throat, it''s hollow eyes bore down on me as spots appeared in my vision, I struggled and frantically shook my body, all to no avail, the blue and greens slowly filled my field of vision


    And right before unconsciousness took me, I saw hesitation in those eyes, those eyes were no longer empty, they contained something¡­¡­¡­.. something <i><b>humane</b></i>


    I woke up with a startling shriek


    I was drenched in sweat, and shivering intensely, my heart beat in my chest like drums of war


    I stared paranoicaly at the shadows as though they might leap at me at any point in time


    ¡°Deep breaths deep breaths¡± I repeated monotonously


    I immersed myself in memories of gremlin, the memories were painful, but no matter where or how


    he always managed to exude a calming presence


    After a while I opened my eyes once again, the irrational fear subsiding


    I got up from my bed, and walked towards the door of my room, sliding my feet into my slippers, I gazed back into the room, feeling a shiver crawling up my spine


    The fear had subsided, but it definitely hadn''t disappeared, the shadows almost seemed alive and it felt like it was gazing right back


    I slipped out of the room, slamming the door behind me, I strolled in the corridors of the hollow house, my footsteps echoing in the silence


    I walked where my legs took me, too awake to go back to sleep¡­..and also slightly terrified


    I gazed at the door at my front a simple number ¡®5¡¯ plastered on it, apart from this it had no ornaments crowding it, it was gremlin''s room


    ¡°The idiot disappears when you need him most¡± I tsked And swung the door open


    revealing an almost Spartan room with barely anything in it, only a neatly dressed bet say at the corner and at the the window a table was to be seen with various books scattered all over it


    I sighed and walked towards the table and sat on the chair it it''s front¡± where in the seven hells is that idiot ¡± I whispered to myself heavily


    I naturally wasn''t too worried about his safety, he was capable and he would definitely survive¡­..he had no other choice


    Either way his absence left a gnawing hole in my heart that I could only fill with fluff ¡°not that I would ever admit that at his front¡± I grumbled as I reached into his left drawer and pulled two objects out, one was a thin slab that lit up briefly when I held it up, and the other was a circular device with small segments in it


    I held the thin slab gently swiping on its screen it''s surface lit up and twisted to form words that spelt ¡°insert your password¡± I tsked and placed the slab back into the drawer


    I brought the circular device close to my eye to study it well, it seemed old, way to old ¡°I haven''t seen this before¡± I thought with furrowed eyebrows


    My fingers absent mindedly traced the segments


    Suddenly the device started glowing softly


    And abruptly a full hologram of gremlin appeared at my front


    Dressed in some sort of robe, he stared into the distance for a while and the suddenly shouted ¡°did you miss me!¡±


    He was answered by the device being thrown with full force towards the nearest wall

 Interlude?

    Case file 1625(01;24): the road


    The road was first encountered, on the year 2645 of the new empire calender


    A human male by the name of Alexander traois suddenly appeared in the upper districts of the planet of garr


    Local authorities apprehended him after catching him trying to sneak through the border, our attention was only brought to him when upon closer inspection, the male seemingly had no identity whatsoever


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    And yet he carried state approved gear with him


    he was quickly brought into our custody and properly secured


    After a few rounds of interrogation, nothing of note was found to be wrong


    Everything seemed odd, but solveable, after all we had dealt with a honestly staggering amount of anomalies, this wasn''t anything new


    Until he disappeared¡­.right before our eyes, at the center of one of the most powerful organizations in the known universe, a full scale investigation was launched, but nothing was to be found


    It wa<i></i>s until twenty years later at the edge of the heartlands¡­a little child named Alexander traois was born

 One problem after the other

    ¡°Hmmmmmmmmm,¡± I drawled out lazily, staring at the megastructure.


    After a few minutes of inspection, I noticed that the structure¡¯s sterilization vents were left open.


    ¡°Hmmm, seems like the structure was stuck in purification mode upon landing,¡± I thought to myself.


    Most times when megastructures like these were built, the entire planet was usually completely purified of all non-sentient life, and then the native species of whatever was colonizing it would introduce life forms native to the planet.


    There was definitely something I could exploit around that side. As old and decrepit as the structure looked, I didn¡¯t want to test its ability to detect life forms around it¡ªthough when it came to the sterilization vents, that might be a blind spot.


    ¡°As long as the structure detects the bots in my bloodstream, it shouldn¡¯t turn me into mush. In fact, that¡¯s probably what¡¯s going on now,¡± I mused while looking around.


    After formulating a rough plan, I started walking toward the structure. ¡°Map the best areas to evade the surveillance of this structure, based on the sensors you can find.¡± I paused, then added, ¡°And also¡ªactivate camouflage mode.¡±


    Although I was evading the structure¡¯s detection, it didn¡¯t stop naked eyes from spotting me. Sadly, my link didn¡¯t have any advanced stealth features.


    A map lit up at the top right corner of my vision. I glanced at it. ¡°The systems are way more deteriorated than I expected,¡± I noted as I moved toward the structure.


    ---


    Gilbert¡¯s POV:


    ¡°I really don¡¯t understand why we¡¯re still doing this,¡± I said, staring at the flickering holograms presenting a dead view of the barren wasteland outside the vault. Its light reflected on the rust-stained walls of the cubicle, a little bulb flickering from the ceiling, barely bringing any light to the room.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s free money!¡± I said, trying to find the positives in this situation. The pay was better than most menial jobs, plus, as long as I was on the job, I was entitled to one nutrient cube for the whole day! That was the biggest perk around here.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing outside but a dry wasteland that would only sap the life out of you. Who would even want to go there?¡± I thought while spinning in my chair, its joints squeaking precariously.


    There was no movement outside. All the sensors were beeping at their usual pace.


    In summary, a normal day around here. A small dot seemed to appear on the hologram at the edge of my vision, but by the time I swerved toward the disturbance, it had disappeared. I rubbed my swollen eyes and thought, ¡°I¡¯m already seeing things again?! But I haven¡¯t drunk from the lower extractors in a while.¡± I grumbled a little before grudgingly going to retrieve my daily nutrient cube.


    ---


    ### Othello¡¯s POV:


    I stood in front of an impossibly large vent¡ªprobably the size of a neighborhood, and that was just in length.


    Surprisingly, there was no dirt or grime on its interior, though a pale and odorless ¡®gas¡¯ slowly seeped out of it.


    ¡°Hmm, seems I was correct. But how is it still producing this even after the structure itself has almost crumbled?¡± I shook such thoughts out of my head and braced myself for the nauseating feeling of my link interacting with another device. Though nobody I knew ever felt this way, interacting with devices was like rubbing dirt and grime on exposed flesh.


    ¡°Alright, do it,¡± I thought toward my link. Immediately, a panel appeared in my vision.


    ¡°Scanning¡­¡­.. - Connection found. Would you like to connect with - Bastion 6286?¡± An emotionless voice inquired, seemingly coming from everywhere. I took a deep breath and said, ¡°Yes.¡±


    **¡°Building neural pathways¡­¡­ forming bridges¡­**


    **¡­¡­. sending encrypted data¡­¡­ receiving¡­**


    **¡­¡­Decrypting¡­**


    **¡­.. establishing connections¡­¡±**


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Immediately, the process reached this part, and I felt like someone had taken a brush and started scrubbing my brain. I groaned in agony, but the indifferent voice continued either way.


    **¡°..... connection established¡­**


    **¡­¡­Requesting access¡­ access granted¡­**


    **¡­Requesting clearance level¡­ captain¡­ denied¡­**


    **¡­. requesting clearance level¡­ vice captain¡­ denied¡­**


    **.. requesting clearance level¡­ warden¡­ denied¡­**


    **Requesting clearance level¡­.. denied¡­. denied¡­¡­ denied¡­¡­¡­.¡­**


    **Requesting clearance level¡­ civilian¡­ access granted.¡±**


    The pain receded, and in its place, a tiny itching sensation spread around my skull. A prompt also flashed on the panel: ¡°Do you wish to use force?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± I said breathlessly. Even though this structure was heavily damaged and definitely had a lot of exploitable weaknesses, I didn¡¯t want to alert anyone inside of my presence.


    ¡°If anything was to be believed, my presence here would probably cause quite a stir,¡± I thought to myself while hunched on the floor, still a little dizzy.


    After a few minutes, I managed to get up.


    Looking at the large vent, I sighed and crawled into it, cursing all the way through. After spending a few minutes climbing the oddly stain-free pipe ¡°Not even rust,¡± I thought as I climbed. ¡°That was definitely odd.¡±, these encroaching thoughts immediately dissolved from my brain as I saw an end to the tunnel. I double-checked my camouflage and softened my footsteps as I got closer to the edge.


    Once there, I peeked around the corner, expecting to see some traffic¡ªbut all I saw was an empty hallway.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make any sense?¡± I said, frowning.


    I peeked again before hesitantly taking a paperweight from my pocket and throwing it into the hallway.


    Immediately as it passed the threshold, it rippled and disappeared.


    ¡°Did you catch that?¡± I asked my link.


    It was silent for a while before suddenly chiming:


    **¡°Aetheric anomaly detected.**


    **Status: active.**


    **Threat: low.**


    **Concentration: 6g689y7bxrJojfr27974w.**


    **Type: sp-error.¡±**


    I stared at the notification for a while before sighing and looking at the anomaly itself.


    ¡°One stupid thing after the other,¡± I grumbled.


    I stood at the edge of the anomaly, hesitant to enter. ¡°There¡¯s no other way. I can last at most another 10 days before the bots in my bloodstream run out of convertible nutrients.¡± I psyched myself up and, after a moment¡¯s hesitation, stepped into the anomaly.


    The first thing that hit me was the stench¡ªit was practically choking at this point.


    ¡°Activate purification mode,¡± I said between coughs.


    After a few moments, the stench receded, and my lungs got their reprieve. Once I recovered, I raised my head to study the area I was in.


    A dim glow covered everything. Trash was piled into huge towers, and moving between these towering hills were people scavenging. Above, millions of saws arranged in a circular pattern spun slowly.


    A low crunching sound came from beneath the mountains of trash.


    The dim red glow made the whole scene look eerier¡ª¡°Like the stomach of a humongous beast,¡± I thought silently.


    My feet were already sinking into the slimy mess beneath me. My skin crawled at the number of flies and maggots gathering there.


    ¡°At this point, the energy spent keeping sanitary practices up will reduce my stock to five days,¡± I said with resignation.


    I turned my attention toward the scattered figures scavenging from the trash hills. Most wore skintight suits, though a small minority were clad only in torn rags, covering as much skin as possible.


    The suited ones moved in cohesive groups, swaggering wherever they went, while the ragged ones cowered at every step.


    I noted this interaction and kept observing.


    As the ceiling saws accelerated, the figures retreated from the trash hills. Most split off, but I stuck with the largest group. They walked for a while, carrying huge bags on their shoulders, their skintight suits obscuring any identifying features.


    Eventually, as we went higher, traces of civilization appeared¡ªthough the most disturbing thing was the sanitary conditions.


    ¡°At this point, it isn¡¯t even better than a dump site,¡± I thought.


    Living in close proximity to those trash mountains would do that to anyone.


    Soon, they reached a relatively clean building¡ªor more like a factory.


    The moment they arrived, their mock cooperativeness dissolved, and they split into smaller groups, eyeing each other warily. Smaller groups were picked on, their goods stolen¡ªbut surprisingly, nobody was killed.


    ¡°I expected that in an environment this cutthroat, at least some deaths would be unavoidable,¡± I thought.


    But so far, I¡¯d seen no direct killings.


    After lingering for a while, a chime sounded from the building, and the doors slid open. The figures started trooping in.


    As I was about to enter, I noticed two sensors flanking the door.


    ¡°Will these detect me?¡± I asked my link.


    ¡°Low probability.¡±


    ¡°Better safe than sorry,¡± I said before retreating into the alleys of the dilapidated town.


    After finding a place to rest, I told my link, ¡°Bring up everything that¡¯s happened since I entered the bastion.¡±


    The ever-present tickling in my brain intensified.


    ¡°Full immersion?¡± the emotionless voice asked.


    ¡°Yeah, I need to review everything. Information is power, after all,¡± I mumbled before fading into unconsciousness.


    ---


    Peter (Gremlin¡¯s Dad) POV:


    I stood before Constantine¡¯s door, my hand hovering over it, my face clouded with hesitation. Ever since Othello¡­ disappeared, all she¡¯d done was lock herself in her room.


    Though I knew she had no love lost for me, it still hurt to see her like this.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Trust me, I really am,¡± I thought regretfully.


    I shook the thoughts away and psyched myself up. After gathering enough courage, I knocked.


    ¡°Uh¡­ baby, please, can you open the door?¡± I said hesitantly.


    No response.


    I knocked again, harder this time. Still nothing.


    Fearing the worst, I grabbed the knob and twisted¡ªonly to find it wasn¡¯t locked.


    I hesitantly opened the door¡­ and found the room empty.


    ¡°When did she leave?¡± I thought, looking around the dimly lit corridor. The implants in my eyes adjusted to the low light.


    I walked down the hall, searching for her door by door. Finally, I reached Othello¡¯s room and opened it.


    There, I found Constantine sitting on the floor, fiddling with a circular contraption.


    But none of that caught my attention¡ªher eyes were hollow, sunken, almost dead. All my words stuck in my throat.


    ¡°Those aren¡¯t the eyes of a 13-year-old,¡± I thought grimly.


    Her gaze didn¡¯t focus on me as she stood and walked past, muttering, ¡°How? How? Why?¡±


    For some reason, this version of my daughter sent chills down my spine.


    She seemed¡­ dangerous