Knights Apocalyptica

Erec almost tripped on a plank of wood littering the entryway. He stared at the flashing message without a single clue what it actually meant. This model should’ve been incapable of transmitting or receiving communication—let alone detecting some kind of communication ping. More malfunctions; it’s just a hunk of junk.

He glanced back and forth into the dark depths of the ruined building before preceding forward. Dust and dirt drifted through his passing—despite this being such a close place to the Kingdom’s wall, no one had stepped foot here for over a hundred years. Not that he’d blame them, the damn thing looked near ready to collapse. The piles of lumber from the floor above and barren insides promised it wasn’t anything worth looting.

But that blinking light, that little bit of blue. Barely perceivable, but the one thing that caught his eye by happenstance drew him into the deathtrap. What is it? The flashing pulsed from underneath a pile of refuse.

He approached and sunk to his knees, carefully pushing aside rubble and wood. If he sifted through the wreckage, maybe he could find the source of the light.

It was beneath the floorboards—a secret hatch. Dust filled its edges, and the hatch blended in with the flooring, but Erec could barely make out the thin gap. What the hell? He slipped back and considered the pile. It’d be a lot of effort to clear it, even with the Armor to do it, but… I have to know.

He gave the building a weary look and sent out a quick prayer to the Goddess to let it hold up a little longer. With that, Erec began to excavate the rubble. Even with the Armor’s help, the constant demand to move the heavy lumber and stone quickly took its toll. In twenty minutes, the inside of the Armor reeked and sweat drenched him again.

Piece by piece, he shifted off the heavy wooden timbers and cleared the way to the source of the pulsing glow.

Erec got to his knees and shoved the gauntleted hand into the edge of the hatch. It refused to budge. “Fuck.” He panted and then took a deep inhale.

With every bit of strength he could muster, he began to pry the hatch up.

The Armor shuddered and ground to a halt, but Erec ignored the prompt and forced all of the muscle he had to push the Markos II to its limit. The steel protested and shuddered around him as the mechanical supports began to fail. Armor should’ve enhanced the user’s Blessings, but the Markos II had begun to get in the way. So be it. Whatever mystery, this hatch might be big enough to get him past the Trial. It seemed fitting he’d have to rely on his own power.

His arms burned, but the gap widened. There was a burst as the mechanism keeping the hatch gave—the wood and steel square slammed upright, leaving Erec to stare down a dark hatch and a metal ladder.

Erec sighed as he stood up; the steel arms were too heavy to move and hung limp at his sides. With considerable effort, he could shift them around, but the reality of the situation was that he’d busted them. Either the shocks or the wiring got torn apart in his bid to open this hatch. Trying to fight with the Markos II as it now was would be the equivalent of taping weights to his arms, a piss poor idea and a quick way to exhaust his stamina. Crap. He didn’t have replacement parts, and with the noises his Armor made, fixing this wouldn’t be a patch job.

I’ve screwed myself. This better be worth it.

He started to laugh, a deep horrible chuckle. What was that old-world saying? Curiosity killed the cat?

Erec shook his head and triggered the exit protocol for the Armor. In a minute, he was free and staring down into the dark depths of the shaft. He strapped the hatchet from his Armor onto his belt. “I’ve come this far.” There wasn’t a chance in hell he’d walk away now.

Would this break his chances of getting into the Academy, or would it be his ticket in?

Slowly, Erec maneuvered over to the ladder and began his descent.

The shaft was dim but not dark, with an artificial and sterile smell lingering within. It was almost a cousin of scent common to the equipment prepared to enter a bio-cavern; that faint bit of citrus and alcohol. Halfway down the shaft, it became apparent what was causing the blue light—strips of LED down the side, blinking and lighting the darkness.

His heart kicked into motion as he tried to suppress the overwhelming fear of the unknown.

Erec proceeded downward, rung by rung, guided by blue, for what felt like an eternity until he hit the bottom of the shaft. Looking up, he could barely see the opening to whatever this was. He took in the bottom of this chamber—an empty steel room washed out with more of that light blue.

The one exception to its absolutely sparse nature was the presence of a giant steel door on the wall furthest from the ladder. A stylized purple vortex marked the surface of the door. To the right of it was a smooth panel made of glass, lit up with a bright, harsh white. He squinted and hesitantly stepped closer; there wasn’t anything alive down here, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched.

Nothing came out of the dark, no monsters from a rift, no old-world horrors. No, he was alone. Goddess knew how far down from the surface. Ironic that it was like home but so alien to it. He started at the glass screen.

“Scan hand…” Erec read out the instructions displayed below, taking in the obvious outline of a blue palm. He hesitated and looked at the door again. Well…

He placed his palm on the screen, carefully lining it with his fingers. It chimed, and then nothing. Just a blue bar was running back and forth over the surface. Erec glanced about, not sure what, if anything, should be happening right now.

“UNKNOWN CREDENTIALS. FINGERPRINTS AREN’T ON RECORD—“ A loud booming voice startled Erec out of his skin. He hopped away from the screen and grabbed his hatchet free, turning left and right to figure out the source of the noise. “OVERRIDDEN. AUTHORIZATION GRANTED. WELCOME [NULL] APPOINTING INTERNSHIP INTERVIEW CLEARANCE. SECURITY MEASURES ENGAGED.”

The security hatch above slammed closed. In an instant, the dim blue light shifted to a harsh pulsing red. Erec’s heart quickened as he backed against a wall, listening to the whirring and buzzing beneath the metal plates all around him. He’d always figured he’d end up dead in the wastes, but dying deep underground like this... It’d been his fear for as long as he could recall. It’s why he tried to climb so hard. If he died, he wanted to die under the sun.

“WELCOME POTENTIAL NEW EMPLOYEE AND OR INTERN. PLEASE PROCEED TO OFFICE 103 FOR YOUR INTERVIEW. DUE TO CONFIDENTIALITY CONCERNS, YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO LEAVE UNTIL YOU’VE SUBMITTED YOUR NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT FORM NC-25 TO DATABASE A-CC-20. WELCOME POTENTIAL NEW EMPLOYEE AND OR INTERN. PLEASE PROCEED—“

The loudspeaker continued to blare the same script. Erec watched with fascinated horror as the steel door to the facility opened, retracting the dividing steel plates into the wall. Rows of white sterile lab light lit the entryway; everything inside lacked a single speck of dust. Clean and reeking that same sterile citrus smell. Though not filled with the same heart-racing red as the exterior.

He glanced upward to see nothing but a black void. Whatever this machine was, it’d locked him down here. Erec grabbed at the radio on his waist, and pressed the button.

“Help—I got locked in—“ Static. Nothing but static as he tried to send the message.

“PLEASE REFRAIN FROM USING MOBILE CELLULAR DEVICES. ADDITIONALLY, RECORDING EQUIPMENT IS DISALLOWED IN THIS FACILITY DUE TO THE ABUNDANCE OF SENSITIVE BUSINESS AND TRADE SECRET INFORMATION. EMPLOYEES ARE NOT PERMITTED TO TRANSMIT, RECORD, OR DISTRIBUTE POTENTIAL TRADE SECRETS. FURTHER ATTEMPTS TO BYPASS THESE RESTRICTIONS WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE TERMINATION. MANAGEMENT WILL BE INFORMED OF THIS ATTEMPT.”

The loud booming voice interrupted itself to send him that warning. Erec immediately removed his thumb from the radio. Management? Termination? He hesitated, wondering if he should try to press the button three times for a distress beacon. But if it blocked one transmission already, that’d enrage it further and get me nothing.

There was a blissful three seconds of silence before the voice repeated the same message about proceeding to onboarding. Erec remained near the ladder and took a deep breath. You don’t just stick an arm in a Rift. He sighed. The Goddess favored the bold; even if he wasn’t the most loyal of her flock, he didn’t want to lack in that regard. Besides, Bedwyr wouldn’t have hesitated due to some dead machine’s voice echoing in this old-world pit.

Erec entered the facility and winced as another exit slammed closed behind him. He straightened up and continued, already committed to this course. White tile floors and soul-crushing steel walls filled the place. Black numbers indicated the different rooms that spiraled off from the main corridor and entry chamber. In the entry room was an empty desk with a nonfunctional computer.

Based on some of the labeling—this was the lobby. A helpful and semi-redacted floor plan map indicated which room was ‘Office 103’ He’d have to go down some stairs and take a right. Easy. One step at a time. Despite trying to keep a cool head, Erec’s knuckles were white around the hatchet’s grip.

As if the weapon would help with any old-world artifacts if they decided to shred him apart with bullets. His Armor would’ve prevented that—but well, it was fucked, and on the surface. So that particular security was long gone.

He walked down his curated path. The door to the stairway opened automatically, even as the rest remained sealed. There was only one road to follow, deeper into the belly of the beast.

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