Nova's footsteps, which had been a rhythmic beat on the metallic floor, came to a sudden halt.
His senses, honed by years of training and countless close calls, immediately registered the anomalies.
A faint, prismatic glow spilled from around the corner, a familiar but unsettling sight. It was Maram's and Sam's light box, now lying discarded on the floor. Its crystal, normally a vibrant beacon, was barely alight, flickering erratically like a dying star; he picked it up and attached it to his belt.
As Nova looked ahead, he could just make out two figures locked in a desperate, silent struggle. They were moving too fast, their forms too indistinct in the gloom for him to recognize, but the frantic energy of their fight was unmistakable.
"Yo, what's the situation!" Nova's piercing bark cut through the tense quiet.
"Nova?" they both replied, their voices coming from the darkness, a blend of surprise and relief. He recognized the familiar tones of Maram's unenthusiastic voice and Sam's deeper, more level-headed call. But before he could process their disorientation, a sudden blob of manickal energy grew from the shadowy fight, followed by Sam's yelling.
Just then, a body came flying at him. The sheer force of the throw sent a wave of compressed air rushing past Nova, rustling the fabric of his cloak. In that split second, the body of the figure became clearer as it zipped past him, a silhouette of a young man. It was Sam, his form contorted, no longer the calm, grounded white mage he knew.
The sight was unsettling and jarring, a betrayal of his memories. Sam's body, however, didn't just crash onto the floor; it adapted to the throw. As he contorted in mid-air, his form allowed him to land with a fluid grace that defied logic. He came to a sliding halt, his feet barely scraping the floor, a cloud of dust puffing up around him before his form solidified, his cell changing back to normal.
"Wow, that's new. Never knew you could fly," Nova said, his tone a mix of genuine and mocking admiration.
Nova fixed his posture, his hands dropping to a readying stance. His mind raced, already analyzing the new data, trying to figure out what could have forced such an unnatural reaction from Sam.
He saw Maram's silhouette in the gloom, her form a frantic, dancing flame as she dodged whatever she was fighting. He threw an orb that burst, giving him a clearer view of her predicament. She was darting and weaving, her movements a desperate, frantic ballet against an unseen foe. As he watched, Sam walked back up next to Nova, his body still faintly shimmering as it morphed back to normal. He was panting heavily, his chest heaving with exertion, his usual calm demeanor replaced by a mixture of anger and confusion.
"Why'd you let the robot out of the portal storage?" Sam asked, his voice strained and breathless. He wiped a hand across his forehead, leaving a faint smear of grime on his pale skin.
"Clearly, I wouldn't do that," Nova retorted, laced with sarcasm. He didn't have time for blame games. They needed information, and he needed it now. The last thing they needed was to be fighting each other in a dimly lit hallway.
"Then what is that?" Sam said with a grunt, a hint of genuine fear in his eyes as he gestured wildly into the shadows.
Nova turned his head, his eyes scanning the gloom. The source of the commotion was still unclear, but the constant sounds of metal clashing and the low hum of power had been pinpointed. He reached into the air, grabbing an orb, a compact source of pure light energy. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed it over to the fight. It spiraled through the air, leaving a shimmering trail behind it before it exploded in a burst of brilliant, searing white light.
The light illuminated the corridor for a brief, blinding moment, revealing a sleek, dangerous-looking mechanoid. Its polished chrome body glinted in the firelight. It was slightly different from the one they had fought before, this one had a vaguely human shape but it missed the defining details of a human.
He then turned his head back to Sam, the surprise on his face quickly replaced with a grim, determined expression. "A robot," he said simply, as if the obvious statement held all the answers.
Maram yelped, a high-pitched cry of alarm, as Sam stared at Nova. Nova, ever the pragmatist, didn't waste time trying to explain. He pointed at the chaos and told Sam, "Catch her."
"What?" Sam turned to the fight, his eyes wide with confusion. He looked from Nova to the fight and back again, his mind unable to keep up with the rapid-fire succession of events. Then he saw it: Maram, her body hurtling toward him, propelled by the same unseen force that had thrown him moments before.
Freaking out, Sam's training took over. He dodged, a move born of instinct and desperation, his body shifting just in time to avoid the collision. The hallway was narrow, and Maram had no room to maneuver. He watched in horror as she was sent tumbling down the hallway, her body bouncing off the floor before she came to a groaning, painful halt.
Maram groaned on the floor, a pained, guttural sound that was raw with agony. "I'm tapping out," she said, her voice strained and raspy.
Sam, his face pale with shock, helped Maram into an abandoned supply closet. This closet is surprisingly spacious.
Meanwhile, Nova grabbed the flash box from his belt. He gave it to Sam. Using their returned flash box, the orb hummed to life, casting a beam of pure light down the corridor, illuminating the path ahead of them blessing them with a reassuring light. But when he did, the mechanoid had vanished. The light revealed nothing but the empty, pristine corridor, a silent testament to the robot's stealth.
"Sam, where did it go?" Nova's voice, full of frustration, broke the silence. He was annoyed; his vague, meticulous plans were already falling apart.
"I don't know, it was just there!" Sam replied, his voice a frantic, desperate whisper. He was breathing heavily, his chest heaving with exertion.
"Let's check the labs for it," his commanding tone left no room for argument.
They went into the biology lab. The air was thick with the smell of decay and mold, a cloying, suffocating scent that made them both wrinkle their noses in disgust. The room was a testament to neglect. It was filled with withered plants, their leaves brown and brittle, their stems twisted into grotesque shapes.
Moldy animal cells, once pristine specimens, now swam in a sea of green and black sludge, their vibrant colors faded to a sickly gray. Cages, covered with a thick layer of dust, were lined up against the wall, their occupants long gone, leaving behind only the ghosts of their former selves.
"Why don't we ever clean this place up?" Sam asked, his voice a muffled complaint. He waved a hand in front of his face, trying to disperse the thick, musty air.
"Be my guest if you want to catch a disease," Nova said, his voice laced with disdain. He had no love for this lab. It was a place of ghosts and memories, a monument to the past they all tried to ignore.
"What do you mean? I can't catch diseases," Sam said, his voice a flat, matter-of-fact tone. He looked at Nova, a puzzled expression on his face. It was as if he had just said the sky was green, and Nova had argued otherwise.
Nova's hand, which had been resting on the handle of a nearby door, froze. He slowly turned to Sam, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Wait, wait, wait. You can't get sick?" he asked, his voice a low, incredulous whisper.
Sam shrugged, a casual, almost indifferent gesture. "Not that I know of."
"And you just didn't think to tell anybody that?" Nova shouted, his voice echoing through the lab. The sound of his voice was like a stone dropped in a well, a loud, jarring noise that disturbed the eerie silence. The sound of the rustling grew louder, a rapid, frantic scratching that came from one of the cages.
The sound beckoned the attention of the two mages. "We'll talk about this later," Nova said, his voice now a low whisper. He jabbed his finger into Sam's chest, a hard, forceful push that made Sam stumble back a step. Nova slowly crept up to the cage, his footsteps silent on the dusty floor. The rustling inside the cage increased, a frantic, desperate sound. He pulled off the sheet, revealing a restless jackrabbit.
But the thing about this jackrabbit was that it was a meter tall, just resting on its hind legs. An impossible sight brought to life.
"Sam." Nova's voice was a low, guttural growl, a sound of disbelief and fear.
"Yes." Sam's voice was barely a whisper. He was staring at the jackrabbit, his eyes wide with shock.
"What in the world is that?" Nova asked, his voice now a loud, frantic whisper.
"A jackrabbit," Sam said simply.
"Oh, a jackrabbit! I see, I see. Why the fuck is a massive jackrabbit doing in an abandoned lab?" Nova shouted.
Deflated, Sam said, "I don't know, but let's go to the next lab." He was tired of this place, of the questions and the mysteries. He just wanted to get out.
Nova threw a sheet back over the kennel, a quick, jerky motion that hid the monstrous creature from view.
They walked to the next lab, this one labeled "Transmutation." The room was a mess of broken beakers, shattered glass, and discarded equipment. They looked through the glass, not wanting to waste time going in. "Good thing this lab is gutted, or we'd be searching for hours," Sam said, his voice a tired, weary whisper.
Before they got away from the glass, Sam noticed a small, nondescript black box mounted near the floor with two worn handles protruding from its face. "The breaker!" he exclaimed, his voice filled with triumph. He rushed into the room, his hands still faintly emitting manick joules, gripping the cool metal of the handles. With a grunt of effort, he pulled them down, jump-starting the emergency lights.
The hallway instantly flooded with a harsh, flickering fluorescent light, chasing away the dancing shadows. He then snapped the switches off and on in quick succession, resetting the main power grid. The humming of machinery and the steady glow of the overhead lights returned, bringing the hallway back to life.
"Well, that's one problem solved," Nova said, his body relaxing slightly as he used a quick, precise gesture to disperse the lingering flames that had been dancing around his head.
They made their way into the third lab, the "Atomic Lab." The transition from the chaotic transmutation lab was jarring. This room was a labyrinth of intricate, gleaming metal structures and complex machinery. The space was so filled with conduits, wiring, and bulky apparatus that it felt cramped and claustrophobic. Strange consoles with blinking lights and cryptic symbols lined the walls, and the air hummed with a low, constant energy that made the hairs on their arms stand on end.
"I wouldn't even know where to look," Sam said, his voice a low whisper, his eyes darting from one complicated machine to the next.
Nova, ever the tactician, didn't reply. Instead, he stayed close to the walls, his form hugging the perimeter of the room, exploring in a wide arc away from Sam. He kept his head on a swivel, his senses heightened, his priority to avoid being ambushed or surprised by the mechanoid.
A sharp, metallic clank sounded from the window, a sound that was too deliberate to be a random echo. Nova's head snapped toward the noise, his instincts screaming. He grabbed a heavy wrench from a nearby tool rack on his way to the window. He peered through the glass, his eyes scanning the corridor outside. "What's going on?" Sam asked, his voice now full of concern as he came up from behind.
"I just heard something from the hallway," Nova replied, his eyes focused on the window. Sam looked at the glass, noticing that Nova had a reflection. Nova saw it, too, the reflection staring back at him. Without a moment's hesitation, he used the wrench to shatter the glass, a single, forceful motion that sent a cascade of shards onto the floor.
He leaped through the broken frame, his body a blur of motion. He landed with a crouch and, with fury of swings using the wrench, banging it against the mechanoid's polished chrome body. The blows only served to anger the machine. The mechanoid pushed Nova off of it with a surprising amount of force, its joints whining in protest before it sprinted into the darkness of the corridor.
"Wow, how'd you know that was the robot?" Sam asked, his voice laced with shock as he helped Nova to his feet.
"Windows are transparent, not reflective," Nova huffed, his chest heaving with exertion.
"Well, you got the breaker on. Let's get Maram and bring her back to the library."
They took Maram out of the supply closet by the arms. Both of the mages rested her on their shoulders and headed towards the library.