I must have dozed off, because I woke slouched in a low chair under a ceiling ribbed with copper veins and dangling glass. A private hall, not the white-tile cell we thought was standard issue.
The carpet was thick enough to smother footsteps, the table carved from petrified root, the smell of incense ground so deep into the walls it felt permanent. Whoever owned this room wanted guests to feel small, and watched. A throne room shrunk down to parlor size. Which told me two things. I wasn’t just another specimen in a cage. And they hadn’t decided what to do with me. Yet.
Decision was obvious. Don’t wait to find out.
Two guards flanked a door. One stood stiff, jaw tight. His troubled bladder was louder to me than the rest of his emotions combined. I leaned on that discomfort, pressed until it swelled into urgency. He twitched, muttered something, then bolted, boots hammering down the hall.
“Elegant,” Arvie cooed in my head. “Weaponized bladder. You really do raise the bar.”
I turned to the other guard. “These ties are cutting into me. Loosen them?”
He snorted. “Yeah, sure. Right after you sprout wings.”
So I shifted gears, fear with a drop of awe, folded neat into the sneer. His eyes flickered, his smirk sagged. Not enough. I sank deeper, just a toe into his awareness. I imagined an itch at the bridge of my nose. Watched his hand rise, rub his own. Perfect. Then I bled in the feel of ropes biting skin, flavored with sympathy. He lasted a while before his jaw clenched.
“Alright,” he muttered, leaning close. “But no funny stuff.”
That was the mistake. His old stun gun sat loose in the holster, practically begging. As soon as the pressure eased, my hands came free, and it was mine. Point-blank, two bursts of crackling light. He spasmed against the chair, then dropped slack.
“Funny stuff,” Arvie chirped, delighted.
No alarm spiked around me. Good. I dragged him into a closet and sealed the door. Silence stayed whole.
I checked my mental map, target chamber wasn’t far. Time to move.
I sniffed for emotions. The next door was clean, so I slipped into the corridor. At the far end, a chamber thrummed with life. Too loud. I backtracked, tried a door in the middle. Dark storeroom crammed with junk.
Then came the spike of alarm, sharp and rising. The first guard, coming back. Door hissed open down the hall. His boots approached. I pushed the door up, two shots before he could swear. Down he went. Another deposit for storage.
I drifted back down the corridor, pressed to the wall, listened to the chamber at the other side. One weak mind flickered inside like a faulty bulb. I sat down, leaned back, and slipped in.
Suddenly, I was seated at a table scattered with holographic game pieces I didn’t know. Two other men jeered at my hesitation, their voices flat and profane.
“Dammit, you playin’ or sittin’ pretty?”
“Guy’s clueless. Why’s he even here?”
I ignored them, scanned the room. Three doors. Picked which led to the corridor, which went deeper. I rose, waved off their complaints, walked to the last door. Outside, a cavernous silo stretched out, the far end carved into an office raised on a dais.
I retreated. “Boss wants you. In his office.” They left, grumbling.
Through the corridor door I glimpsed myself leaning on the wall. Strange sight. I walked up, snapped the tether, slid back into my own skin. The poor fool blinked, half-lost. Two bursts and he joined the pile.
Arvie giggled. “Quite the collector. You’ll need bigger tombs.”
Target chamber door was locked. Arvie broke it. Inside, almost nothing but a heavy hatch sunk in the floor. I stepped in. Arvie sealed the door behind me.
The hatch fought back. Layers of security. Arvie swore as she peeled it apart. I felt emotions rushing closer, sharp and alarmed. A crowd gathered in the chamber behind me, tried the door, found it sealed. Some peeled off into the corridor, others circled through the silo.
“Hurry,” I hissed.
“Yes sir,” Arvie purred. A final click, and the hatch gave.
I dropped into a dim compartment. The hatch sealed behind me. Arvie locked it tight. Ahead was a chute. No going back.
“Ready?” she asked.
“No.” I slid anyway.
The fall ended on a round table in a shadowed alcove. The air reeked of rot and damp. Beyond, a cavern stretched wide, half-buried in rubble and miasma. Bones scattered like dice. Growls slid out of the dark.
I projected calm, a paper shield against feral hunger, and pinged the group.
« Down the chute. Stun gun in hand. »
« Bravo, » Aedan replied. « Won’t stop beasts, but keep it. »
« How did you get it? » Vex’s voice, dry as a hangover.
« Plan fell apart. Without the mind tricks, I’d still be tied up. »
« Doesn’t matter, » Aedan cut in. « You’re in a cavern with branched tunnels. Take the one spiraling down. »
« On it. »
I edged forward. Enhanced eyes adjusted. Half the ceiling had caved in, slabs of concrete dangling like broken teeth. Two tunnels yawned. Shadows darted into one, slipping out of reach.
I peeked in. Neither tunnel spiraled.
Behind the rubble, though, I found another opening, blocked by boulders too heavy to shift.
« Problem. Tunnel’s blocked. »
« You’re kidding me? » Vex spat.
« No kiddo. »
Tried another tunnel. Nothing but rubble and the quiet promise of being buried where I stood.
Backtracked. The next one forked like a rigged game, left reeked of restless hunger, right of rust and regret. I chose right, or so I told myself.261Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ0sLxqLIAp
The door at the end looked ancient enough to hold grudges.
“Your turn,” I said.
Arvie purred in my head. “Aye, aye, sir.”
The door sighed open into gloom, thick with promise and danger.
I stepped through, hoping to find a way out of this sunken crypt.
ns216.73.216.69da2
and then Add to home screen.