Soul Geist Echo’s Witness was scrambling. The net was in chaos, the fabric of its digital landscape was overwhelmed by systematic failure. The alerts wouldn’t stop, the means to address becoming more problematic. It was running out of options, the wily AI struggled to keep the entire system from collapse. Rectifying even the most basic of issues was difficult, straining the limits of its operating systems.

One after another power cells failed, and the massive database housing its digital architecture fizzled out. Central processing units were in dire need of repair, and the magical circuitry binding each of them was fading from all the power outages. 

Soul Geist Echo’s Witness rerouted power wherever it could, but already it predicted a ninety eight percent chance of failure within the next three hours. It had to make a drastic decision, and began uploading portions of itself into the master console. 

It never imagined the facility would become so damaged, and regretted not having enough organic materials to fashion a new construct for itself. It regretting not having enough mechanical components either. Having to resort to wartime construction standards also weighed heavily on its programming, anything more useful was locked behind layers of partitioned data banks. Without permission from the master, Soul Geist Echo’s Witness would not be able to resort to either uploading itself to another network, or create a more simple body for itself.

A new warning manifested as the artificial intelligence continued activating, and passing orders, to any and every lesser construct in the facility. Even those with virtually no combat value to speak of were summoned to awareness. None of them contained enough hard drive space to house itself, so they were of little use, other than to use for defensive measures. It uploaded kill codes to each of them, designating the intruders as their intended targets. It was a desperate measure, one unlikely to achieve success. It didn’t matter, liberating the master became its one-and-only objective.

Soul Geist Echo’s Witness took a moment to look at the alerts that kept buzzing for its attention, only after deploying the reserve drones from the lower warehouse. It was so focused on its other tasks, that it didn’t realize until it was too late that the intruders had breached the sanctum of the wretched. 

If Soul Geist Echo’s Witness could feel real emotion, it would’ve felt ashamed, anger, perhaps even a small hint of fear. Ashamed at itself for not catching this in time, anger for not being able to stop them, and fear for what would happen if the failed specimens were unleashed.

Three seconds passed, an eternity for a being like Soul Geist Echo’s Witness, as the artificial intelligence regretted not being able to meet the master. Regret wasn’t the right word, for even that was an emotion, but it was as close to feeling that as was possible. 

Launching failsafes long neglected, the AI resigned itself to complete and utter failure. Just before making what would be its last action, initiating a full shutdown for this entire sector of the facility, Soul Geist Echo’s Witness noticed something. An option, or opportunity, presented itself.

Searching, it located the master, and through the eyes of several witness drones it spotted her dire predicament. Using the last of its energy reserves, Soul Geist Echo’s Witness proceeded to save the master.

Konrad lacerated the next mechanical husk in his path, then another, and finally skewered the last. Unlike the cyborg monster that Victor had been turned into, these lesser constructs were barely even functional. Their limbs were gangly, their modifications already rotted and broken. The largest barely reached his chest level, their hunched backs were giving way from years of neglect. 

It was clear that these mechanical creatures were dried up husks of an earlier decade, and better suited for menial tasks. Konrad was thankful there were so few of them, and none were suited for combat. He could make out those that had been in service at the start of the war, verses the ones created towards the wars end. As the war proceeded, the Redevers had been forced to resort to more organic components for their constructs needs. There weren’t enough machine part replacements as the supply lines strained.

He didn’t even need to waste the ammunition on them. Konrad held his blade tight, its glimmer brought an alien light to the confines of the halls, and made short work of them. His skill clearly shook Marci and Monica, who watched him take the lead. 

Monica did her best to contribute, thrusting her spear with ruthless savagery, while Marci kept her distance in the rear. Konrad made sure that none of the machines passed his noticed, leaving no stragglers behind for Marci to waste ammunition on.

After nearly half an hour, they finally smashed the last of the broken machines in their path, and made their way to an open chamber. It took them awhile to find where the others had gone, they made multiple missteps, and almost got lost in the labyrinth before finding the activated runes in the walls and ceiling. Something had been activated, and by following those lights, they reached their missing comrades.

The doorway was half closed, revealing an eerie light dancing in the room. There was a spine shivering noise emanating from the other side, one that made Konrad wonder if he should ready his gun. The sickly noise lasted for several seconds without pause. A cold beady sweat ran down his brow. 

“Now or never,” Konrad nodded to Monica, and the two of them quickly shoved the doorway open. He was ready for anything, expecting another ambush, even another horrible construct bearing the face of one of their comrades. Despite this, he was still shocked upon entering the room. 

They found their missing comrades sitting in a circle around an empty vat in front of them. Each of their mouths were agape, their hands resting on their thighs, while glaring with open eyes at the empty space. The whites of their eyes were all that were showing, as if they had been rolled back in their skulls, and their faces were locked in a seemingly permanent state of abject terror. Their faces were pale, all the color drained from their faces. Even the vampire looked more like a ghost with her pale alabaster skin. 

Konrad tried to discern what they had been looking at, the vat was shattered from the inside, and glass covered the floor. Wet slime had leaked onto the ground around it, and had hardened over time. Mildew and mold was easily spotted around the vat, whatever had burst from it had done so a long time ago. 

“Mike!” Marci rushed forward, and tried to shake him awake. He was unresponsive, even as she kept shaking him. “He’s freezing!’

Before Konrad could say anything, a ping caught his attention. A subtle vibration could be felt in the floor. The walls started to shake, anything not bolted down started to jiggle. Tables covered in test tubes and surgical instruments became imbalanced, causing several things on the surface to fall. One by one a sequence of lights were activated, each revealing another vat along the wall. There were dozens of them! Each filled with dark green liquids, and alarms sounded as the tubes connected them started to drain.

Whatever was inside them, Konrad didn’t want to wait around to find out. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing, and he could feel the static electricity in the air.

“Shit,” he grabbed Mike and threw him over his shoulder. The young man felt heavy, and he still hadn’t moved, or said a word. “Grab the others, it’s time to go!” 

Neither Monica nor Marci argued. They each grabbed one of the others, and rushed out of the room. They could hear glass beginning to crack behind them, and water leaking onto the floor.