Vivid Stars Online

I moved thirty feet down the corridor, passing several closed doors on the way. I tried opening one of them, however, without Elana’s tech proficiency it remained stubbornly closed.

At the end of the corridor, it split into a t-junction, with hallways moving off to the left and the right. On the right, a shimmering force field blocked the way, while on the left there was a similar force field that faded into and out of existence while I watched.

Huh, I mused as I watched it. I guess it’s broken from age, or perhaps power issues? Either way, it looks like a chance to move forward. I just hope it doesn’t cut through anything in the way when it reforms.

I thought about it for a minute before rummaging through my pack and coming up with a metal peg designed to hold down my tent. With the peg in hand, I gingerly walked forward and pushed it through the field as it faded out of existence.

Holding my breath, I waited until it reformed to see what would happen. The field shimmered back into existence, extending from the floor until it hit the piece of metal. Then it fizzled out and faded away.

OK, I thought, so there is a safety feature that breaks the field if it encounters a solid object while forming. Or, there’s something about the steel peg that breaks the field down.

Not wanting to risk that it was the second option, I quickly place the peg on the ground where it covered the force field emitter. For safety, I waited till the field attempted to stabilize again, then grinned as it immediately failed to form.

With a way forward secured, I moved down the left path and continued deeper into the facility. While I would have preferred to go right as a more direct route toward Elana, I would take whatever I could get at this point.

As I advanced, I continued moving through whichever direction had a failed barrier. At the next junction, I went straight, followed by a right and then another left. Finally, I come to a crossroads where both the left and right roads were blocked and the only way forward was up a set of stairs.

While I would have preferred to stay on the same floor, with no other way to advance, I took the stairs. Hopefully, I could find a way back down to the floor below as I moved back toward where Elana was trapped.

The floor above seemed to lack the lower floors' force fields entirely. Whether that was because it was a less secure area or for other reasons, I wasn’t sure, however, I was more than glad to take advantage of it.

Using the recordings from my scanner, I began trying to make my way back to Elana through the upper floor. Halfway there, however, I paused as my Psi Sense skill began picking up a massive source of Psi energy.

Turning a corner, I found a gigantic golden door in front of me. While the rest of the doors in the facility had been plain metal, this one looked to be formed from sheets of gold. Given that it was nearly as large as the external door we’d entered by, I could only imagine that it must be the entrance to an important room.

It was hard to ignore the best clue I’d found so far, however, I eventually pulled myself away. Elana needed my help now and I could always come back for it later. Besides, the odds were good that I’d need her help to get inside, anyway.

Several turns later, I was standing above the initial crossroads where we had been separated. With no obvious way down here, I was about to move on, before I heard a muffled screaming sound echoing from one wall.

Frowning, I moved over to the wall and began looking it over. After a few seconds of searching, I found a small button and pressed it. As I did so, a section of the wall slid down, revealing a tiny access shaft with a ladder leading down.

Shuddering, I moved to close it back up. Before I could, however, the screaming returned. It was a woman’s voice, crying for help.

Fuck, I thought as I started at the dark shaft leading downward. That has to be Elana or Linnea. Given that the sound is echoing up here, I can only assume that the shaft leads down to them.

For several long moments, I stood there, paralyzed with fear. I really, really did not want to force myself down into that small, dark shaft. On the other hand, I couldn’t in good conscience ignore it when someone needed my help.

I waffled back and forth before the screaming echoed up again, and I couldn’t hold myself back any longer. Fuck it, I thought, wincing as I moved into the wall. I immediately started hyperventilating as the walls seemed to close in on me. Nonetheless, I took hold of the ladder and began descending into the tiny shaft.

Every second I was in there, I was in absolute terror. Yet, strangely, I found myself able to progress. Something about being needed drew me forward, allowing me to overcome my fear and continue.

After what felt like an age, my foot hit a metal panel, and I froze. What If this is it, I thought, consumed with worry. What if I end up stuck in here forever? Frantically I began searching the walls, and every second that I didn’t find something tore at my psyche.

Then I found another button and breathed a deep sigh of relief as the panel retracted beneath my feet. With a grinding sound, the ladder extended as well, and I quickly continued to move down into the light.

It seemed the panel had opened on the roof of the floor below, and with the ladder extended, I could reach the ground. Turning around, I came face to face with the source of the screaming.

A massive, crystalline spider was wrapping a figure on the ground in webbing. The woman on the ground was intermittently screaming her head off whenever she could get a breath, something that looked quite difficult with how tight she was being bound.

Beyond the spider, I could see a glowing force field upon which Linnea was frantically pounding, her face white with horror.

Right, so that must be Elana, I thought as I drew my gun. It looked like I’d arrived just in time as the spider moved its webbing up to her shoulders. Aiming, I fired a shot that hit it directly in the spinneret.

It let out a screech that sounded like the crackle of gravel underfoot before spinning to face me with terrifying speed. I fired twice more as it advanced, striking its face and taking out eyes that looked more like gemstones than anything else.

Then it was upon me, driving its fangs into my shoulder. I grunted at the pain and the strange, cold sensation that came with it. Otherwise, I ignored the attack and continued firing into its chest.

For nearly a minute we stood there, it biting me while I fired shot after shot into it. Then it crumpled to the ground with a final gravelly screech, releasing my shoulder as it did so. Gasping, I stumbled over to where Elana lay on the ground.

I felt off, cold and clumsy from whatever the odd Beast had pumped me full off. However. I could still move, and I had someone to save before I could rest. Once I arrived by Elana’s side, I pulled my dagger and began trying to cut her free.

It was hard going. While I didn’t think it was exactly silk, the webbing that encased her was both sticky and tough. Eventually, however, I forced a cut all the way down the side of the unfinished cocoon.

Elana gasped as I released the constriction on her chest, breathing deeply as she tried to struggle free of the remaining webbing. Eventually, she pulled her clothes off while I turned away, the webbing too caked on them to be easily removed.

“Thanks, Jared,” she gasped as I heard the rustling of her pack behind me. “That thing would have had me if you hadn’t arrived.” A moment later, I felt her pull me into a hug against her thankfully clothed chest.

“I mean it,” she continued as she hugged me. “You really got here just in time.”

I turned and pulled her fully into a hug as she began shaking against me, finally crying now that she was free of danger. Looking over her shoulder, I nodded at Linnea through the barrier, making sure she knew her sister was OK.

We stayed like that for a while, before Elana pulled herself together and moved away. “We need to all meet up,” she said while straightening up. “Can you try to let Linnea know how to get here?”

Nodding, I moved over to the barrier and began trying to indicate the series of turns I’d taken to get here. It hadn’t been too complicated, so I was able to give a reasonable set of directions. After I repeated it three times, Linnea nodded and turned to move away.

“So what happened?” I asked as I moved back over to Elana. Barriers covered all four corridors in this crossroads, I couldn’t see how the spider Beast would have been able to get here.

“A little while after you left,” she said with a shrug. “The barrier straight across from the hangar fell. At first, I thought it was a way out and was considering taking it, then the spider burst around the corner.”

“I think it was lured here somehow,“ she continued while shuddering. “I figure that after I started jamming the robots, the facility had to come up with another way to attack us. It used the force fields to start with, then found some way to attract the Beast down here.”

I blinked before replying. “You think it’s that smart?” While I’d been aware that something was directing the robots and the force fields, I hadn’t thought it would be capable of that level of planning.

“Yep,“ Elana nodded back at me. “I figure it’s some kind of AI, one that’s making the most of whatever resources it’s got left in this ancient facility. It might even be smart to identify that I was the source of the jamming.”

I supposed that made sense. It explained why she was the one who’d been separated. It was also a terrifying thought that we were up against that kind of intelligence. So far, I’d gotten used to mainly fighting dumb opponents.

While many of the Beasts we’d fought had been cunning or had good instincts, none of them had been capable of that kind of long-term planning. It made me worry about what else it might have waiting for us.

We lapsed into silence before Elana moved in for another hug. I didn’t object, she clearly still needed reassurance after what had to have been a horrible experience. We stayed like that for nearly ten minutes before the hatch in the roof opened again.

I tensed, worried that it would be some kind of danger, then relaxed as Linnea shimmied down the ladder. As soon as she hit the ground, she rushed over to her sister, crying as she pulled her into a hug.

I gave them a minute as I began looking around the crossroads, hoping to find a way forward. Unfortunately, all the hallways were still blocked off. The only way to leave would be up through the maintenance hatch again.

Fuck, I thought as I started up it. I was not looking forward to facing that again.