"So we're seriously trusting the blue-haired ice queen?" Kyle sprawled like an idiot across the top bunk opposite where Ollie sat at the table.
The so-called 'standard issue' armour Erin had given them also had the same rhythmic and intricate patterns that were littered everywhere. More things to confiscate from these two idiots later. Knowing these two were cockroaches, they'd be able to escape this rift with their newly acquired gear intact. Probably even planning to sell it to the highest bidder.
"Got a better plan?" Ollie asked. "Because I'm all ears."
His own vest pinched under his arms. The material felt like kevlar but flexed like fabric, making it both more comfortable and more disconcerting than any body armour he'd worn before. The knee pads added another thing to the bucket list of effects he needed to research. Somehow, when he put on the whole set of gear, his body immediately felt lighter like it was a set effect.
Clyde sat cross legged on the floor by the bunk bed Kyle sprawled on, also staring at the new 'Trebuchet' he was given. "She did give us these sweet… and probably expensive guns."
"And the armour's better than those suits you three had on," Lily said.
"I still don't like splitting up. Every instinct says it's a bad call," Rachel said who sat to the right of Ollie.
"Gale needs to get whatever Erin wants him to get," Ollie said. "It's just efficient."
"It's not about efficiency," Rachel slammed her fist on the table. "It's about staying alive. And like I said before, we should be fighting together."
"We are fighting together," Gale said, not bothering to look away from the bottom of the top bunk where he laid. "Just… in different areas. I can take care of myself."
"We know you can," Rachel said. "That's not the point."
Kyle flipped onto his stomach, dangling his head over the edge to look at them upside down. "How bad could it be? Gale's got that phase thing that makes him untouchable. And we're still a squad of five. All roles covered."
"Yeah," Clyde nodded. "Lily's our scout. Ollie's our crowd control. Kyle's flank and I'm the hard hitter. Rachel is clearly our vanguard now. It's just like Quebec plus Rachel. And in Quebec, we didn't even have a vanguard."
Rachel clenched her fists. "That's not the point. Are we really going to let Erin just take control of leadership? We don't even know her. Besides, we fight better as a team. All six of us. We all already got used to each other and breaking that synergy now is not a good idea."
"She's right. Six is better than five," Lily rolled her left shoulder. "And my coordination's still off. Healing's faster than it should be, but it's not a hundred percent yet."
"Gale can see things we can't," Rachel said. "Literally. He's proven himself over and over in this hellhole. Remember what you two said about him in the beginning? Even still calling him a rookie?"
"Water under the bridge," Kyle said, grinning. "But he's not the only one with skills. Between all of us, we've got enough firepower and know-how to handle whatever comes our way."
"Look, Rachel. We get where you're coming from, but right now, Erin knows this place the best," Ollie said. "We can't really go against her. I say we just hit harmony, get the core, get out. Meanwhile, Gale grabs whatever magical thing Erin wants. We can handle ourselves and this plan will get us home faster."
That asshole Alexei didn't even bother letting him keep the phone he was reading when he got kidnapped. Who knows how long they've been in this death trap of a rift for. One of the cleaners might've even put it in the trash. After that, what would be the point of living if he couldn't read her old messages again?
"We don't have a choice," Ollie said. "Erin's our only way out of this shithole. The faster, the better."
Gale stood up. "Erin has her reasons. The faster I do what she needs, the faster we all get home."
Keep your secrets, Gale. It doesn't matter. Everyone knows Erin talked to him secretly when they were all asleep. Looking at contorted Rachel's face, she was itching to know.
Rachel sighed as her clenched fist loosened. "Fine. But we stick to the comms. No radio silence, no heroics."
"Yes, mom," Kyle rolled his eyes.
"I mean it," Rachel glared at Gale. "If anything feels off, we bail. All of us. That goes the same for you, Gale."
"I got it. Trust me," Gale said.
Of course Gale would say that. It was the only thing Rachel wanted to hear and would put a stop to this argument, Ollie sighed.
Ollie grabbed his rifle and put it in his storage box. That was one thing he'd be forever grateful for. Gale's got his reasons, and he'll eventually come around anyways, like always.
"We move out in five. Gale, you know what you're doing?" Ollie asked.
Gale nodded. His face gave everything away. Whatever Erin was after, it wasn't just some random artifact.
Good.
Lily stood up. "Better get this over with then."
"Alright then," Ollie said. "Let's get this shit show on the road. Gale, you head out for your mission. The rest of us will hit Harmony."
Kyle jumped from the bunk bed and Clyde stood up. The team filed out of the sleeping quarters one by one. Ollie squared his shoulders. Same team, same problems.
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
Survive.
*
The train shuddered to a stop. Ollie gripped the support pole as the Harmony Sector's transit hub came into view from the windows… different from before, but it was hard to see with the grime on the sector's walls.
"Everyone ready?" Ollie asked, materializing Prudence strapped onto his shoulder.
"Born ready," Kyle said.
Rachel closed in on the train's door, looking through. "This is different. It's changed. Drastically."
Ollie pulled out his phone, turning on the screen. He pushed the push to talk button and said, "We're at Harmony's transit hub station. Any hostiles?"
Erin's voice crackled through, "The Tomb's instruments show no hostiles in your vicinity. Be warned; some abominations are of a nature that our sensors cannot perceive."
"You couldn't have told us that before we left?" Clyde muttered.
"The information was not requested," Erin replied.
"Great," Kyle said. "So there might be monsters, or there might not be. Just what I wanted to hear."
Ollie slipped the phone back into his pocket. "Let's do this. Stay tight, watch the angles."
He pressed the centre of the door right on the rhombus and circle. A blue glow flashed once before turning green. The doors slid apart with a hiss, and the smell hit their faces first. The same rotten putrid piss-like smell they smelled at the power plant. Flesh writhed everywhere Ollie looked, covering every surface with red meat that he didn't want to step on.
The door to the Core Chamber stood open at the far end of the platform, the fleshy meat surface was thinner around its frame, as if it had been recently disturbed.
"Vanguard first. While you're at it, burn a path to walk through," Ollie said.
Rachel nodded, stepping onto the platform first, her soles igniting the meat covered floor.
"Lily, you're up. Follow Rachel closely. Look for what's ahead," Ollie said.
Lily drew the newly modified Desert Eagle and moved forward in half a crouch, not seeming to mind the meat surface. When she reached the midpoint of the platform, she turned back and signalled with her hand 'clear'.
"Watch your angles," Ollie said, then signalling 'go'.
Rachel moved forward, burning the path for Ollie, Kyle, and Clyde to walk through until they reached Lily's position.
The corridor stretched before them. Meaty walls pulsed as if blood ran through the veins. It reminded him of cancer ridden flesh, eating through healthy tissue and consuming everything in its path.
Ollie aimed Prudence to their left while Kyle kept his eye on the right. Clyde covered their six, walking backward. Lily went ahead to the open door of the Core Chamber, once again signalling 'clear'.
As they approached the Core Chamber, the smell intensified. It wasn't just rot. There were other bodily odours mixed in with it, feces being very prominent. Burning this whole place down would make it smell like burning shit, which was even worse.
"What the hell is that smell?" Kyle wrinkled his nose.
"No idea," Ollie said, "but I doubt it's good news."
Lily peered through the Core Chamber's door, and her eyes told Ollie everything he needed to know about what the fuck was in there.
"What is it?" he asked anyways.
Lily backed away from the door. "Lights are gone. Before, there was at least dim lighting. And there's… something on the Core."
"Something?" Rachel asked.
"It's like..." Lily started. "Like a giant organ or heart with pipes connecting to it. It's attached to the Core somehow."
Kyle grimaced. "You're saying there's a fucking heart on our magic crystal ball? Like an actual heart?"
"Not exactly like a human heart," Lily said. "But yeah, beating like one. I don't know what the fuck it is. We should tell Erin."
Ollie pulled out his phone and tapped the camera app. "I'll send her a video. Hold on."
He approached the doorway, staying low. The stench grew closer, enough so that he had to pinch his nose telekinetically. All around where the light bars should've been were covered in meaty flesh that blocked out any light coming through.
When he turned his head to the actual Core, it was… unrecognizable. The cylindrical pillars that riddled the sphere were all broken. Its surface covered in flesh that had 4 different chambers that beat independently of each other. It was a massive bulbous structure that had grown around the Core. The areas around the chambers were semi-transparent, revealing the sleek white metal underneath. It was definitely the Core they were looking for, not corrupted by fleshy substance.
Ollie quickly zoomed in with the phone's camera. The growth wasn't just around the Core. Pairs of metal tubing flowed from where the ventricle chambers piped from. What were they pumping into or from the Core? Not a single shit given.
He recorded for ten seconds, then ducked back into the corridor. Immediately, he sent the footage to Erin.
Her voice came exactly 10 seconds after, "It appears these abominations fashion their technology from living tissue. Flesh is the medium for their vile advancements."
"The fuck does that mean, Lady?" Kyle asked.
"The flesh growth leeches residual essence from the Core through those ventricles. Simultaneously, a foreign substance is being infused into the Core itself, most likely a method to control it," Erin said.
"Something?" Ollie pressed.
"The fluid appears to be changing the Core to be a suitable host. This is… unexpected."
"So what do we do?" Ollie asked.
"Burn it," Erin said. "Destroy the organic matter completely. The Core itself is resistant to heat, but the growth will be vulnerable."
"Are you sure? What if it tries to call for help when we attack it? Maybe we should wait for Gale to get back so we're at full strength?"
"Negative," Erin said. "Gale is occupied with a mission of equal importance. To recall him would be a strategic error. Each day you remain in the Tomb decreases our survival probability. Proceed with the objective."
The call ended abruptly. Ollie stared at the exited walkie-app call. It reminded him of the way Jonathan did things. No bullshit but also not a single care given to the front line workers.
"Fuck, this doesn't look good," Ollie turned to the others. "We're supposed to burn that thing and grab the Core. Is everyone ready?"
"This feels like Jonathan's asshole commands all over again. The 'rush in and deal with whatever pops out' bullshit. Not sitting right with me," Kyle said.
"Yeah," Clyde said. "This shit already happened back in New York. Remember how that turned out?"
Ollie turned on Clyde. "New York was your fault for not taking the shit faster. We're not about to repeat that same mistake. A go is a go."
He materialized the two remaining breach charges from the storage box. "We've got two breach charges left. I'll place one on the other door. Rachel, you burn that organic stuff. Twins, you extract the Core however you need to. Lily, cover me while I set the charges. Clear?"
No one looked happy about it, but they nodded in agreement.
"Let's do this." Ollie headed toward the second entrance to the chamber.
Lily moved with him, her Desert Eagles drawn. The others positioned themselves at the main doorway, Rachel at the front with Kyle and Clyde right behind her.
Ollie worked quickly, placing the breach charges at either side of the door. One tap of his phone, and the breach charges were set to remotely blow up. But two charges weren't probably enough to hold a horde out.
"Charge set," he called out. "Rachel, you're up. Burn that heart thing first, then work your way along those tube things."
Rachel moved forward a step before the Core. Her hand opened to a palm. Twin jets of fire erupted from her fists, hotter and more focused than anything Ollie had seen her produce before. The flames streaked across the chamber, striking the bulbous growth around the Core.
It shrieked.
A piercing wail screeched through the whole area, driving into Ollie's ears. It wasn't anything mechanical or even organic sounding. All he knew was that it pierced his ears as if a needle was struck into it. The fleshy growth on the Core writhed around, trying to avoid the flames, but it couldn't get away. Fire engulfed its whole fleshy structure.
"Keep going!" Ollie shouted over the noise, his ears ringing.
Rachel pressed forward, sweeping her flames across the whole house-sized Core. Flesh melted, dripping onto the floor. Parts of the bulbous flesh blackened and peeled away from the metal of the Core, releasing thick smoke that stung the eyes.
Ollie's phone crackled. Erin's voice came through.
"Hostiles incoming," she said. "A multitude of them converging on your position from the transit hub. Prepare for confrontation."
"Everyone get ready!" Ollie telekinetically grabbed the charges and placed them right at the entrance of the transit hub. Suboptimal placement, but it'll have to do.
"Kyle, get the fucking Core NOW!"