Endless rings whirled around the orb-like structure. They landed the Soul Drifter on top of a skyscraper. The entire surface of the mega-structure was filled with grayish-white towers like rectangles erected in the sky. No windows, just doors in places, and stairs. Kilometers high, these skyscrapers looked like giant monoliths.
The team walked off the ramp, weapons ready and suits sealed. A ghostly glow shimmered across the visors of their helms, as if the city itself projected an eerie canvas onto them.
Axel stepped down last, "Oxygen levels are nearly zero. Carbon dioxide is at 60%. Which does not make sense." The android didn't need an oxygen mask.
Eve brushed her hand across the dust on the roof. Beneath it, the material seemed to be built from a mix of concrete, marble, and nanofibers. *Strange,* she thought, then stood, dusting off her hands.
"We have to get into these towers to know the full story. Stay sharp. Cesnas Two and Three, stay with Vayne. The rest of you, fire those exos." Eve activated her thrusters, flying toward the neighboring tower, aiming for an opening. Her team followed.
Inside the tower, stairs and corridors led to huge cathedral-style halls.
They explored for hours, but the trails never seemed to end. Halls leading into balconies, gates leading into more halls.
Strange lights kept the halls illuminated.
The walls bore artistic depictions. Almost like human art, but with no figures or subjects—just geometries and structures.
Jax: "Like a grand palace... inside all of these towers. But no one lives here."
Kai: "Where are all the people?" He tapped his wrist module. "No energy, heat, or electrical signatures."
Anya: "Where do we go? Downwards? These stairs and halls never seem to end."
Eve: "We are already beneath the ground. The towers feed into the network under the surface. We have to keep moving. Turn on your infrareds. Vayne, can you read me?"
Vayne: "Loud and clear!" He responded from the cockpit.
Their helms now showed infrared vision alongside the light. Nothing out of the ordinary appeared.
They must have walked tens of kilometers.
Kai: "If these pathways lead down to the center, it will take us months to reach it."
Anya: "It's a huge planet. We can't just keep walking."
Eve: "You're right. Let's return to the ship."
Kai: "Ouch! Damn!"
Eve: "What is it?"
Kai: "I don't know. Feels like bugs in my suit."
Axel too suddenly collapsed to the ground. Eve rushed toward him—no movement. Then Kai screamed and dropped to his knees.
Kai: "They're in my brain. Something's screaming. It's unbearable."
Eve: "Neural networks!"
Hannah began screaming, writhing on the floor. Cesnas 1, 4, 5... just as same.
Eve: "Jax, Kinze, we're getting out now!" She carried Kai, Hannah and fired her jetpack. Kinze and Jax followed, carrying Axel and the three Cesnas.
Back on the ship, Hannah, Kai, and Axel were placed on observation tables, unconscious. Cesnas along side as Cesnas two and three stood over her sisters like ghosts.
Eve examined Axel's neural channels. Something was corrupting his cybernetic brain.
Eve exhaled and glanced at Anya. Anya shrugged. "Since Kai and Axel are down, you're the only expert here, Commander."
Eve: "Alright. Reboot Axel's brain. Put Hannah in the radiator. If it works on her, it'll work on Kai and Cesnas too. Elara, stay with Anya."
She walked to the cargo bay and returned to the cockpit cabin with her guns. "Vayne, I'm going alone."
"You can't do this. You saw what happened in there. The echo—or whatever it is—is frying cybernetic neural systems without even touching them."
"Mine's a different story," she said, strapping on her Exosuit.
"Alone? Who knows what else is waiting in there. I'm telling Jax."
"You're telling no one."
"Mira is going to kill me."
"Vayne!!"
"Alright, alright," he said nervously, "but you've gotta come back soon. I won't be able to hold them off for long."
She started clipping her Exosuit around her body. Vayne assisted, picking up her helm and fitting it on her head.
Vayne: "Got your xenobombs?"
Eve: "Yes. Open the hatch."
He sealed himself behind the cargo door and watched her jet off through the glass.
Eve jetted through the halls of the towers. She eventually reached the place where her friends had suffered the meltdown. Scanning the area—no readings on her visor.
"These halls could be interconnected all the way to the center. It'll take months to reach it. But if people ever lived here, there must be a way to commute."
But there were no elevators. Nothing. No clues.
She raised her wrist. Gatling guns emerged from her armor. She fired blindly in all directions. "Show yourselves!!!"
Eve felt powerless.
She knelt, broken. Feeling like this was a dead end.