Sophie walked through the belly of the metal beast without a shred of fear in her heart. She moved with the confident stride of a child who believed she was the architect of her own reality. This was a dream, after all. If the shadows lengthened or the silence grew too heavy, she could simply wake up in her cot within the Biome.
Everything appeared crystal clear to her silver eyes. She had no idea that she traversed a place of absolute, suffocating darkness. The area was vast. Mountains of scrap and skeletal metallic constructions rose toward a ceiling that was lost in the gloom. Strange, thick cables stretched between the debris piles like metallic webs, glistening with oil and dust. Sophie had fallen to the lowest level of the Rust Bucket where sunlight was a forgotten myth, yet to her, the jagged landscape was bathed in a twilight visibility.
Aidro, in his blue lizard form, perched on her shoulder. He accompanied her as she explored this unknown dreamscape.
Sophie stopped and pointed a finger toward a cluster of debris.
"Aidro, look there."
She ran over to check the object that had caught her attention.
It was a heavy, spherical object half-buried in the dirt. She picked it up. It was a grenade from the old era, though layers of corrosion had swollen its size until it resembled a heavy, rusted fruit.
Sophie did not know what it was. She was attracted to it because of the faint, rhythmic pulse of Rust Radiation Density that emanated from its core. She sensed it not as a threat, but as a fascinating shimmer.
She lifted the large grenade with both hands and turned to the lizard.
"Do you know what this is?"
Aidro tilted his head but offered no answer. They were both clueless.
Sophie frowned at the object.
"Why does it glow brighter when I stare at it?"
She tried to dust off the crust. The rust was thick and flaky, crumbling under her fingernails like dried mud. It refused to reveal the metal beneath. She tossed it onto the hard ground and hoped to crack it open like a nut.
Clunk.
The grenade bounced but remained intact.
Sophie kicked the enlarged sphere a few times.
"Open up! I want to see what's inside!"
It sat there, stubborn and sealed. She turned to the lizard.
"Can you open it? Please?"
Aidro did not want to let his sister down. He jumped from her shoulder and landed atop the grenade. He crawled around the circumference a few times before his blue, liquid form began to seep into the cracks. He merged with the rust.
Sophie watched with wide eyes. The reddish-brown flakes started to fade away. The corrosion dissolved.
"Yes! Get it open!"
She leaned in, excited for the big reveal.
The glow from the grenade intensified. It shifted from a dull pulse to a blinding white radiance. It became too bright to look at. Sophie covered her eyes with her hands and winced.
KA-BOOM.
A massive explosion detonated. The blast wave slammed into Sophie and threw her backward through the air. She crashed hard against a pile of corrugated steel.
"Owww!"
She cried out in shock. She lay there for a moment, waiting for the pain of broken bones, but it did not come.
She sat up and looked at herself.
Her skin was not flesh. A layer of hard, polished chrome covered her arms and chest. It shimmered in the settling dust.
"I'm... shiny?"
She realized this metal skin had saved her from the fire.
"It's my dream armor! It activates whenever I am in danger!"
As her heart rate slowed, the chrome receded into her pores and left her skin pink and unblemished.
She looked at the scorch mark on the ground where the object had been.
"So that thing was a bomb?"
She scanned the area frantically.
"Aidro? Aidro!"
She couldn't see him. The lizard was gone.
"Did he die in the blast?"
Panic fluttered in her chest, but she stamped it down. She remembered how she had first summoned her brother into this dream world.
"I can do it again. I just have to focus."
She thrust her arms forth and closed her eyes.
"Aidro! Appear!"
In a corner nearby, a pool of blue liquid began to pull together. Small metal scraps floated into the vortex and dissolved to add mass to the form. The liquid solidified. It turned into a lizard that shed its rust instantly and shone with a pristine blue luster.
Aidro hopped onto a large metal pipe and chirped.
Sophie noticed him and clapped her hands.
"You're back!"
She ran over and scooped the lizard into her embrace.
"Don't scare me like that, you dummy."
She stroked his metallic head, then sighed.
"But now I'm tired. I used up all my brain power to bring you back to life. I have to wait again before I can summon Mom."
Clank. Clank.
Sudden noises echoed through the vast chamber. They came from all directions, heavy and rhythmic.
Sophie froze.
"What is that?"
The sounds grew louder. They were getting closer.
She dropped to her knees and crawled into the hollow of the large metal pipe Aidro had been standing on. She pulled her knees to her chest and hid in the shadows.
Thump.
Something large dropped onto the pipe from above. The metal vibrated against her back.
Sophie covered her mouth with both hands and held her breath.
Thump. Thump.
More landing noises occurred around her hiding spot.
Three Ruster mutts appeared in the clearing. They were Class 2 Decayers, drawn in by the noise and heat of the grenade explosion. They moved around the area with jerky, predatory motions as they inspected the scorch marks. They overturned a few metal sheets with their snouts.
From her vantage point inside the pipe, Sophie saw their legs. They were made of jagged scrap iron and twisted rebar.
A memory flashed in her mind. She saw these same legs stomping in the mud. She saw them tearing at her mother.
Grief struck her heart like a cold knife, but it was quickly replaced by a hot, boiling rage.
"You..."
She forgot to be quiet. She forgot to be scared.
WHAM.
She slammed her clenched fist against the interior wall of the pipe.
CLANG.
The sound rang out like a bell.
The three mutts froze. Their sensor pits flared red. They snapped their heads toward the pipe.
Sophie realized what she had done. Her eyes widened.
"Uh oh."
The three Rusters began to loom closer. Their metal paws scraped against the floor. One of them lowered its head to swivel its sensor eye toward the opening of the pipe.
Just as the red light began to bleed into her hiding spot, a blue blur shot past the opening.
Aidro rushed out from behind the pipe. He skittered across the floor with loud, clicking steps.
The mutts saw the movement. They figured that little critter must have been the cause of the noise. They turned their attention away from the pipe and snarled at the lizard.
Sophie breathed a sigh of relief because she thought the distraction had worked.
"Thank you, Aidro. I love you so much."
She prepared to crawl out the other side.
Whip-crack.
She heard a sharp whipping sound cutting through the air.
She didn't have time to react.
SCREEE.
A sharp, segmented tail slashed downward. It sliced the metal pipe in half effortlessly. The blade missed Sophie's head by mere inches. Sparks showered over her hair.
The pipe fell apart. Sophie was exposed.
The Ruster stood over her. It stared directly at her with its glowing red eyes.
"AAAAHH!"
Sophie screamed. She abandoned her hiding place and scrambled backward.
She scrambled to her feet and started running through the rusted labyrinth.
The mutts gave chase. They hopped over metal frames and debris with terrifying agility.
Sophie slid beneath overhangs of twisted steel. She jumped over obstacles that blocked her path.
"Leave me alone!"
As she ran, she noticed Aidro running across some elevated pipes and other scraps to catch up to her. The lizard ran mere inches from one of the Rusters, but the beast didn't seem to mind its presence. The three dogs were solely focused on catching the human girl.
Tears streamed down Sophie's face as she sprinted.
"Why are you here? Why are you in my dream?"
She screamed at them over her shoulder.
"Did you come here to finish me? Did you want to eat me like you did mom?"
The image of her mother's death replayed in her mind. It fueled her legs with adrenaline and her heart with fury.
"No! I won't let you! This is my world! Why should I be afraid of you?"
She stopped running. She skidded to a halt and turned her back to a large shipping container.
The mutts caught up instantly. They surrounded her. One balanced on a beam to her left. One landed on top of the container behind her. The last one stood on the ground directly before her, blocking her path.
Aidro caught up and hopped onto Sophie's shoulder.
The situation was tense.
Sophie observed the three mutts. Anger burned inside her chest and pushed away the fear. Her fists clenched tight at her sides.
Before her eyes, the cavern faded. Vivid images overlaid reality. She saw the training room in the Biome. She saw her father.
…
Strider stood on the mat. He instructed both Sophie and Aidro in basic martial arts.
"Watch closely."
Strider demonstrated a defensive stance.
"You pivot on the back foot and use the opponent's momentum."
He executed a few swift strikes against a dummy.
Sophie interrupted him. She raised her hand high.
"Daddy, what sort of technique is this? Can we defeat Rusters with these moves?"
Strider stopped. He looked at his daughter and shook his head.
"These moves are mainly effective against human combatants. They are useless against Rusters."
He tapped his knuckles against the concrete wall.
"First of all, humans do not have the strength to dent a Ruster with their bare fists. You would break your hand before you broke their armor. And second, their bodies are contaminated. If you touch them, you risk infection. It is more effective to fight Rusters with guns, explosives or Chainblades. "
"Then why learn it?" Aidro complained from the floor. "It seems useless. We should just shoot things."
Strider crouched down and looked them in the eye.
"It isn't useless. Aside from Rusters, humans are the next most dangerous thing in this world. You must be ready for everything."
…
Sophie remembered that moment as if it were happening now. The image faded, but the experience and lessons remained fresh in her muscles.
She glared at the mutt before her. She lifted her hands and settled into the fighting stance her father had taught her.
The mutt didn't charge immediately. It seemed to be savoring the fear.
"Fine. I'll go first."
Sophie screamed and dashed forth. She tossed a fist with all her might.
The air sliced apart. Time seemed to slow as her small fist approached the metal snout. The mutt was caught off guard and didn't react.
CLANG.
Her fist landed squarely on its face. A loud ringing sound rang out and echoed several times before fading into the dark.
"How'd you like that, you brute?"
Sophie thought she had done immeasurable damage. She stepped back and looked.
The dog's face had barely moved. There was not even a dent.
Throbbing pain shot up her arm. She withdrew her hand and cradled it.
"Ow! How come that attack did nothing?"
She looked at her knuckles. They were red and bruised.
"Am I not supposed to be super overpowered in my dream? Is it because my dream armor isn't active?"
She was utterly baffled. She remembered what her father said.
"He was right. You can't fight a Ruster barehanded."
During her thought process, the mutt lunged. It knocked her down with its heavy metal head.
It pounced on her and pressed its heavy paw onto her small chest.
Sophie gasped as the weight crushed the air from her lungs.
The other two mutts hopped down from their perches. They closed in on Sophie with hunger in their eyes.
Sophie used her hands to push away the paw, but the metal was too strong. It was immovable.
"Get off!"
She cried as the mutts closed in for the kill. Thick, rusted drool dripped from their jaws and fell onto her face. It burned her skin.
Suddenly, her chest started to glow blue. The light pulsed beneath her skin. The intensity seared the mutt's paw like a hot iron.
The beast yelped and lifted its leg.
"Now!"
Once free, Sophie jumped up. She scrambled through the gap between them and started running through the maze again.
The dogs became more agitated and gave chase immediately.
While she ran, Sophie thought of the weapons her dad mentioned.
"Guns. Explosives. Chainblades."
She looked around the rubbish heap.
"Where am I going to find a gun here?"
She shifted her eyes around very fast. She searched for anything usable.
She saw a metal bar lying near a pile of scrap. She slid on her knees and picked it up.
It was brittle and rusted. flakes of iron fell off in her grip.
"This is garbage!"
Aidro chirped. The lizard climbed onto the bar and merged into it.
Suddenly, Sophie witnessed the bar shaking off its rust. The corruption fell away like dust. The metal beneath became resplendent and shone with a blue hue. It felt firmer and heavier in her grip.
"This isn't a Chainblade like Daddy's, but it will do."
She saw an obstacle ahead. She jumped over it and stopped. She waited with her back to the barrier.
The first dog jumped over the obstacle.
"Surprise!"
Sophie swung the bar with all her strength.
WHACK.
The bar slammed into the dog's head. The force was tremendous. The beast's head smashed into the ground, and its momentum caused its body to keel over Sophie's head like a bike stopping abruptly and flipping over.
It crashed behind her.
Of course, the dog wasn't dead, but for the time being, it was groggy.
The second and third dogs hopped over the obstacle. They attacked Sophie with their paws from both flanks simultaneously.
Time seemed to slow again.
She remembered her father teaching her how to dodge.
"Don't be where the attack lands. Twist. Minimize the surface area."
The memory faded and time flowed normal.
Sophie twisted her torso violently to the left. She avoided the first paw entirely.
She couldn't fully dodge the second one, so she raised her arm and blocked at an angle.
The paw grazed her arm and slipped off the chrome skin that flashed into existence for a split second.
This all happened in a split second.
Because she had moved, the two dogs crashed toward each other. Their metal heads collided with a sickening crunch. Their expressions showed genuine surprise. They thought they had killed that human, but this wasn't so.
Sophie picked up the bent metal bar and spun around to face them.
"I'm still standing!"
Her arm wasn't injured because her dream armor had activated. She praised the lesson her father had taught her. Even in this dream, it was useful.
The three dogs started getting up. They shook their heads and growled.
Sophie didn't wait. She ran again, and the dogs chased.
She climbed up higher into the structure. She jumped from one container to the next and scrambled onto a horizontal metal pole that spanned a wide gap. She was trying to lose her pursuers by making the terrain less easy to travel.
She looked back.
To her surprise, the huge dogs balanced across the pole like acrobats. Their claws gripped the round surface perfectly.
"That's cheating! You're supposed to be clumsy!"
She leaped to another pole and continued to climb.
As she ran across a catwalk, her eyes noticed something familiar below.
More of those rusted grenades were scuttling around on the floor.
"Wait, they're moving?"
These were different. They had merged with Rotters. They were swift, living bombs known as Flak-Crabs.
"Do they also explode like that one?"
She remembered how the grenade had exploded in her face earlier. An idea formed in her mind.
She ran closer on the overhead beam until she was directly above them. She leaped down.
Thud.
Her landing scared the Flak-Crabs. They started scuttering away with their many legs.
Sophie reached out for the nearest one and picked it up.
"Aidro! Do the thing!"
She commanded the lizard. Aidro unmerged from the metal bar in her hand, causing it to rust away into dust instantly. He climbed onto the Flak-Crab in her hand and merged with it. The rust on the crab dissolved, revealing the shining explosive core.
The dogs dropped down behind her.
"Grrr!"
They pounced immediately.
In her fright, Sophie instinctively kicked a different Flak-Crab that was by her feet.
The crab flew through the air and hit the lead dog in the chest.
BOOM.
A huge explosion blasted the dogs backward. The shockwave threw Sophie across the room. She crashed hard and skidded, but she kept holding onto the Aidro-infused Rotter in her hands.
She tried to get up and look.
"I can't see!"
Her eyes were blurry, and she saw only white. The explosion was too bright for her silver eyes in the darkness. The darkness itself was so bright to her, so the explosion was like staring into the sun.
Sophie winced and rubbed her eyes repeatedly.
"Why is it so bright?"
Just when her vision started to come around, she opened her eyes.
The jaws of a dog were closing in on her head.
"AAAAH!"
She screamed and shoved the Flak-Crab in her hand directly into the dog's mouth then dove to the side.
KA-BOOM.
Another explosion ripped through the air.
Sophie rolled to her feet. This time, she had squeezed her eyes shut and didn't stare at the flash.
She looked at the dog. Its scrappy parts had flown all over the room. It was nothing but smoke and debris.
She turned to where the first explosion occurred. The dog that had pounced at her initially was blown to bits.
The last dog had suffered from that explosion also. It had lost huge chunks of its body. But it wasn't dead. Its core was still intact.
Sophie saw the red Rust Core shining bright in her sight. It pulsed within the ruined chest cavity.
Metal parts that scattered across the floor, even the remnants of the dead Ruster, were being drawn to that dog's core. They slid across the ground like magnetized filings. It was trying to rebuild itself.
"No you don't!"
Sophie rushed over there quickly to interrupt the process. She used her bare hands to pull apart the merging scrap metal until the core was exposed. She ripped it out and held it in her hand.
"Got it!"
She celebrated, thinking this was it.
Then she saw the metal scraps moving toward her.
She walked backward, but the scrap was still moving. It followed the core in her hand.
"Why is this happening? Shouldn't the Ruster die when you take out their core?"
She remembered a memory of when she overheard two Galvanizers talking in the Biome.
…
The memory hit her with the force of a physical blow. The smell of the Rust Bucket faded, replaced by the scent of recycled air from the Biome's armory.
She hid behind a ventilation grate and peered into the workshop where the Galvanizers cleaned their gear.
Gustov stood by a heavy steel table. He held a pulsing Rust Core with a pair of long iron tongs. The red light bathed his sweaty face in a sinister glow.
"We should just smash it. One solid hit with the hammer and the threat is gone for good."
Nicardo leaned against a rack of rifles and shook his head.
"You idiot. That is money you are holding. If you shatter the core, you turn a fortune into worthless dust. We need those for the generators. You have to kill the metal body but keep the heart intact."
Gustov grunted. He watched a pile of loose screws on the table tremble and slide toward the core he held.
"But it is still alive. Look at it pulling the screws. It is hungry. It wants to build a new shell right here in my hand."
Nicardo grabbed a heavy canister of black motor oil. He unscrewed the lid with a sharp twist.
"That is why you drown it. You submerge it in oil immediately."
He gestured to the dark liquid.
"The viscosity blocks the signal. It suffocates the magnetic field and puts the monster to sleep. If you don't, it will just pull the armor right off your back to make a new skin. Never leave a live core exposed to the air, or it will never stop hunting for a body."
…
The memory faded. Sophie looked around frantically.
"Oil! I need oil!"
There was no oil to plunge the core into. Just dust and rust.
"What should I do? What should I do?"
She ran around in circles while being chased by a floating cloud of metal scraps that tried to reform the monster in her hands.
She ran for a minute before she realized something.
"Wait, why am I running away? I'm such a dummy."
She stopped.
"All I have to do is crush this thing, and the scraps will stop chasing me."
She started to squeeze the core.
"Break!"
But the thing was rigid. It was harder than stone.
She switched to both hands and clamped down. She bent her knees and strained with every ounce of strength she had.
"Grrr!"
Still, she couldn't crush the core.
"Then I just have to pound it."
She lifted the core to pound it against the ground.
Suddenly, she stopped.
A sheeting of silver chrome appeared on her hands. It enveloped the core.
The metal skin began to glow. It absorbed the energy of the core.
The buzzing redness of the Rust heart faded. The light died. The magnetic pull ceased.
Sophie opened her hands. A dense grey ball remained. It crumbled into dust and slipped through her fingers.
"Huh?"
Sophie was confused.
"Did I eat it?"
Before she could question it, her gut began hurting. Her chest burned as if she had swallowed fire.
"Oww!"
She folded to her knees. Her body started crackling with blue electricity.
ZZZ-ZAK.
She released a massive pulse of energy that rippled outward.
The signal hit the remaining Flak-Crabs hiding in their explosive shells nearby. They couldn't take the stress of the overcharge.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
They exploded in a chain reaction.
The Rust Bucket vibrated under the force of the explosions. Numerous parts fell from the ceiling and buried Sophie under a pile of debris.
Shortly after, a loud skittering approached.
Click-clack-click-clack.
The explosions had attracted something vicious.
Metal cables shot out from the dark above. They created a web that spanned the gap in the ceiling.
A beast descended.
It was a large spider with the imposing presence of a Corroder. It lowered itself onto the web and stopped directly above where the explosion was. Its multiple eyes scanned the area, but it didn't see anything suspicious in the rubble.
Its eyes suddenly shifted. It saw movement near a pile of scrap.
Thwip.
It shot out a web line. It dragged up an object and dangled it before its head.
It was a Flak-Crab.
BOOM.
The crab detonated in the spider's face.
The spider didn't even flinch. The explosion washed over its heavy armor without leaving a scratch.
Realizing it was a false alarm, the spider began crawling back to its nest in the upper shadows.
As it crawled away, Sophie slipped out from beneath the rubble pile. She dusted herself off and looked up at the retreating monster.
Her eyes were drawn to something glowing.
It wasn't the monster's core. It was something else that hovered above the spider, caught in its magnetic field like a trophy. A blade of pure blue light.
Sophie gasped.
"That's… that's Mom's sword."
She recognized the Adamantine blade instantly.
"How did it end up in my dream? And with that Corroder no less?"
A desperate hope bloomed in her chest.
"Did I unconsciously summon my mother? Did she take the form of a sword like how brother took the form of a lizard?"
She crawled out from the debris. Her eyes were fixed on the blue light disappearing into the gloom.
"If my mother has been reborn in my dream, then I must reclaim her."
She started to climb.