Naomi and I peer out from the edge of our seats as we approach the large tower. Ayesha stays in the back of the ship. The massive building does not show the slightest sign of aging. No one would have guessed that in these murky depths is such a beautifully preserved Black Technology Ruin.    

“Master, the main structure is completely intact. Do you want to dock?” Tak asks.

“We can dock on it?” I ask.

“Yes, Master,” Tak replies.

“What about air content? Will we be able to breathe once we are inside?” Naomi asks.

“The air should be breathable,” Tak responds. “The Helix Core within the base is functioning, therefore the air filtering should not have ceased.”

“Then let’s begin the docking,” I say.

“Of course, Master,” Tak says as the ship moves closer to the tower. 

The Rift comes to a stop near the top of the tower. A terminal extends connecting to the Rift’s side. A door suddenly presents itself in the hall of the Rift. Naomi approaches the door with a slight limp. I follow her. She stops and coughs up a little blood. 

“Maybe you should stay here. You haven’t fully recovered from overheating your Copy Seed,” I say.

“I can’t miss out on this,” she says. “A functioning Black Technology Ruin with a Helix Core, as a Scientist it would be wrong not to have this documented.”

“Was there no Helix Core at the underground Ruin in Albany?” I ask.

“Not that we could get. It was deep underground in the magma core of the mountain,” she responds as she walks into the terminal.

I alert her. “It could be dangerous…”

“If she wants to go, let her,” Ayesha says. “At least you tried to save her if something happens.”

She is facing the wall and does not look to see how deep we are underwater.

“What about you? Are you coming?” I ask.

“No, I’d rather stay on the amphibious aircraft,” she says. “That building is supposed to be on land and it has been submerged for who knows how many thousands of years…”

“Master, I’m picking up another vessel,” Tak says. “Two torpedoes have been launched.”

“Can you out run them?” I ask.

“Yes, Master, but you must leave now,” Tak says.

 The Rift starts to disconnect from the terminal.

“On second thought, maybe the building would be nice,” Ayesha says.

Water starts rushing in and before Ayesha can turn around, the door of the Rift slams shut. I make it into the terminal right before the door closes, and the water pushes me into the Ruin before the emergency door seals off the passage. I stand up and ring out my drenched shirt. Naomi checks on me.

“What happened?” she asks loudly.

“Someone attacked us,” I say concerned. 

“What about the Rift and Ayesha?” she asks. “Are they okay?”

“Tak assured me she would be fine,” I reply. “It’s hard not to believe a computer that hopscotched us half way around the world in a second.”

“True but we don’t have any communication with the Rift and we could be stranded,” she says.

“Master,” I hear Tak’s voice inside my head. “Master, can you hear me?”

I look around but don’t see her anywhere and Naomi doesn’t seem to hear her voice.

“Where are you?” I ask looking around.

“My current location is one point zero three degrees…”

“That’s enough. Are you unharmed?” I ask.

“Yes, Master. No damages obtained,” she replies.

“Elvion,” Naomi says as she puts her hands on my head, “did you hit your head? Who are you talking to?”

“No. I’m talking to Tak somehow.”

“You and I are linked through though Vortex, Master,” Tak says. “We will always be one.”

“So only you can hear me?” I ask.

“Anyone aboard can speak directly to you or hear this conversation unless you do not wish it.”

“So Ayesha can hear me?” I ask.

“Yes I can and I can’t believe you left me,” I hear Ayesha pout. 

“I did not have a choice,” I say.

“Whatever,” Ayesha says.

“Master, the ship that attacked us has a cloaking system I cannot trace it with only primary functions,” Tak says. “Be cautious. I can only presume they are after the Ruin.”

“Thanks for the advice,” I say. 

 

Naomi and I walk along the maze-like hallways to dead-end after dead-end. She is interested in the hieroglyphics on the walls and that every hall is lit with no light source. She reports all of her finding into a video journal with incredible details. I doubt she has noticed we are lost. She talks about the Ruins she visited in the past and compares them to the tower. Other than this one being completely untouched by war, this is older than most she’s seen. She can tell because the language is of the most ancient dialect of Latianeus. 

We come to a wall that she seems more interested in; it is almost an exact replica of the mural on the door that led to the Rift. However this time there are angels flying up to a shining godlike man and demons flying down to someone equally as divine. Suddenly we hear an explosion on the other side of the wall followed by the sound of twisting metal. A large hole is violently opened in front of us. Water seeps in along the edges.  

“…That ship got away but at least we’re the first to get in,” we hear someone say. He has a deep accent of the Chijen. “Now let’s see what we can collect for our excavating service. Chance and I will go. The rest of you keep a look out for that other ship.”

Chinchi, the home land of the Chijen, is the largest of the oriental countries but was divided during a bloody civil war. I don’t know too much about the war because it started around the same time as the war in Aidon and even now continues in some areas.

Suddenly a man jumps out of the hole in the wall with a red fedora in his hand. He is wearing an old-school red zoot suit with black and red shoes. His black hair is slick back in the front but spiked in the back. Someone jumps out right after him, he looks more like an android or some horribly disfigured science project rather than human. His eyes are bolted open with metal plates, his mouth is cut open to give him a creepy smile that stretches less than an inch from his ears. He has teeth that are metal and sharp as razors, his tongue replaced with a long metal one. His entire throat is metal as well making him look even less human. With every breath he exhales intense heat and sometimes fire.

“And… it looks like we weren’t first,” the man with the zoot suit says. “Before we kill you, I guess we should say our pleasantries. I am Cue’nitol Keigh Ālahiaven but most people call me Cue and this lovable boy here is my younger brother Chance Ālahiaven.”

“Why kill us?” I ask.

“They’re Black Technology pirates,” Naomi says. “Worst of all I know them.”

“Not pirates. Excavators,” Cue says. “And I don’t believe we have met. Chance, you know her?”

“No. Maybe she was one of the girls from that strip club we went to,” Chance jokes.

“Nah. That can’t be it. I would remember that body,” Cue says. “Well it would seem as if you know us but we don’t know you.”

“You were hired by my grandfather to retrieve the Vortex from the Black Technology Ruin in Doku four years ago.”

“So your Dr. Jackson’s granddaughter,” Cue says.

“I’m surprised you remember,” Naomi says.

“I’d never forget a government contract,” Cue says.

“So where is your older brother Seth?” Naomi asks.

“Don’t know don’t care,” Cue says.

“Cue, the scan is complete the girl only has a copy Seed it is to damaged for resale but the boy has the Seed from four years ago.”

“Ha, ha,” Cue laughs. “Looks like you’ve been a bad girl. I never thought the granddaughter of the guy who hired me to get the Seed for the Gandole would be the one that stole it. The theft of the Seed was made public a few days ago and your grandfather is in jail. Boy, are the Gandole Feds gunning for you. The price on your head is…” Cue stops and stomps one foot struggling to remember.

“Six million alive, three-and-a-half dead,” Chance says.

“Yeah, that’s right. Lucky you we’re no bounty hunters, but that stolen Seed in the boy’s chest will compensate for not taking you in. Its reward for returning it to Gandalia is over ten times your bounty alive. Anyway, it’s time to die. It would be better not fight it. Chance, if you would please.”

Chance stands in front of Cue his eyes glow bright red, Naomi jumps me and forces me to the ground as two lasers zooms down the hallway. He controls the lasers direction simply by looking at us. I activate the Vortex and the shield raises just in time to save us from his death glare. I stand up and help Naomi up onto my back. With the damage to her organs from over using her Copy Seed, using it now could be fatal. I run as fast as I can back down the hallway and turn the corner. 

“Heat vision,” I yell in unintended excitement. “That’s pretty cool.”

“This is bad,” Naomi says. “I am going to need you to focus. Those two are dangerous and they weren’t kidding about killing us.”

“I know it’s just heat vision is amazing,” I say. “Will I get that? How does it work?”

Naomi lets out a loud sigh and stops talking.

 

After a couple of minutes I make it to the center of the tower. It is completely hollow except for metal bridges that connect each floor. The bridges cross in every direction in no particular pattern. A warm light radiates from the top level. I look over the edge and see the ground level thirty floors down. Cue and Chance catch up to us and as soon as they take a step on the bridge the passageways on every floor close.

“Hall c’toi teasulaser’s had elimnatin,” says an automated voice.

“That didn’t sound good,” Cue says. “Chance, what did it say?”

“All trespassers will be eliminated,” Chance replies.

“As I thought, that’s not good.” 

Suddenly a robotic praying mantis starts climbing down the wall. Its long body moves fast on its six legs. It leaps onto the bridge taking its place in the section in between Naomi and me and Cue and Chance. Standing twelve feet in height it opens its arms revealing long scythe-like blades. Its bug-like eyes make it difficult to tell who it is looking at but it readies itself for battle.  Chance wastes no time in firing his heat vision at the robotic mantis and it quickly turns its attention to Cue and Chance. The mantis is unaffected by the beam and moves in quickly towards them raising one arm ready to swipe it down on them. It seems to ach for blood.