Everwinter: The Forerunner Archives (25 page)

I laugh
but try to hold it in. "Ha! You mean they tried to convert these people to the True Body Plan? Good luck!" I gesture to the squalor around me. "You'd have a better chance of convincing a bird to stay on the ground for its own good!"

"Yup," Ursa agrees with a knowing smirk.

We move off the main thoroughfare and head down less densely packed streets.

"Almost there!" Glamis confirms, his good cheer infectious.

"Is there food at this lab, Glamis?" Traylor pipes up for the first time in quite a while.

Glamis nods vigorously. "Oh yes! Very much so! You'se will be quite happy at labs!"

Nothing can make me happy anymore...

The thought runs through my mind before I can vet it. Flashes of Tien and Jude follow. I want to cry, but instead I yawn, pushing the hurt down.

I need a bloody nap, and soon. 

Five uneventful minutes later, Glamis runs ahead of us, stopping in front of a crumbling warehouse-like building and jumping up and down on the spot.
 

"We'se here!" he e
xclaims. 

We
join the massive mutant where he stands, staring at one another incredulously. The building is three stories tall, but the top two floors are nearly missing, blown away or crumbled. 

"This it is?" Ursa asks with disdain. I can read the thoughts on her face:
Well this was a huge waste of time!

Glamis sees our disappointment and literally smacks himself on the forehead. "No! No! Silly womans! We goes under streets, like burrowing midgets!"

I try not to laugh, but even Altair's lips crack a weak smile. 

What is it with Glamis and midgets?

Glamis steps back into the street, finding a circular steel plate flush with the cobblestone, and wriggles his fingers into a couple of holes, pulling the object free. It crashes to the pavement with a clatter. There are plenty of people around, watching us, but Glamis doesn't seem to care.

"In," Glamis points without preamble.
 

We all step up to the hole. A rusted metal ladder descends the side of a shaft, disappearing into darkness. We can see nothing.
 

Suddenly, my claustrophobia kicks in. "No way," I say, shaking my head. "We don't even know what's down there! We
–" I cut off as Altair steps up to the hole, dropping in, not bothering to use the ladder. We hear a soft thump immediately after. We hold our breaths in anticipation.

"All good," Altair's voice calls up to us.

Traylor smiles and dashes for the hole. It looks like he's about to drop down like Altair had, but then he climbs onto the ladder.

"How did you even know how deep the hole was?" I call down, moving to take my turn at the ladder.

"I didn't," Altair's snide reply echoes up. I can practically
hear
the smile on his face.

I climb on.

I'm assaulted by the stench of decay, mold, and stagnant water as I descend. Dripping water echoes all around me. My feet reach the bottom with a wet thud and Altair immediately has my hand, pulling me away from the only patch of light down here.

My eyes are adjusting though.

Ursa climbs down next, followed by Glamis, who just drops down like a rock. The mutant leans down and grabs a pole off the floor. There's a hook on the end of it. He quickly pokes the pole up and out the hole, using the hook to grab the lid and pull it back into place. We're submerged in total blackness.

I squeeze Altair's hand and, for a wonder, he pulls me in close.

"This way," I hear Glamis proclaim. His footfalls start moving away from us.

"Hey!" I call. "Got any lights down here?"

Glamis stops and huffs. "My apologies," he insists. "I forgets you simpletons can no see in darks. I rectify presently."

"Glamis can see in the dark?" I whisper to Altair.

"Apparently," is his own whispered response.

A
muted glow suddenly grows out of the darkness. It's soft, at first, but steadily increases in intensity. When my eyes adjust, I see that the light has taken on a familiar form.

It's Glamis!

The oversized mutant's skin is
literally
glowing, emanating a bright yellow fuzz. Now that I can see my companions, I glance over at them to find that they are equally dumbfounded.

"Did your
Doctors make you glow in the dark like this?" I ask, smiling to myself.

Glamis laughs. "Of course, silly humans! They make
s my skins glow first, then see in dark eyes after. They never leaves laboratory. I does thats for them. They gives me body light to do so. I can now see if ambushed by midgets! Now come! Waste time we have enoughs! Time to meets Doctors!"

He starts moving again, and this time we follow gladly.

Glamis takes us down tunnel after tunnel, twisting here, turning there. I'm lost within minutes
, but I'm more than certain Altair already has a map drawn in his head. Finally, the light from Glamis' body catches something reflective in this dull, smelly space. Sure enough, we come to a massive metal door that encompasses the entire tunnel.

"We's here!
" Glamis announces. He moves to the side of the door and we hear the creak as he opens a panel. A blue glow shines out, mixing with Glamis' yellow, emanating from a large square surface. Glamis presses a gnarled hand to the panel. The panel flashes, then a message scrolls across its surface.

IDENTITY ACCEPTED. WELCOME HOME, GLAMIS.

I smile at that nice little touch. The Doctors must have taught this machine how to do it. 

Is that what this thing is? A thinking machine?
 

Some of the machines in Krakelyn could learn, but only after you put the knowledge into them yourself. I can't remember what the mechanics back home call it.
 
Programming
, I think.

"Glamis," I ask, "is that thing a...a cumpewter?"

Machinery begins to whir within the massive door. 

Glamis, still glowing, eyes me warily. "I knows not this word," he replies.

I huff, trying to figure out how to phrase it. "You know, like a...a robot. A thinking machine without a body. Does that make sense?"

Glamis nods for a wonder. "Yes. I understands. But no, 'tis not thinking machine. 'Tis similar, but only do whats you tells it."

I nod as the door clicks open, swinging wide on its own. A sterile but brightly lit white hallway extends before us, terminating in another metallic door at the other end. 

Glamis gestu
res for us to proceed. "Sorrys," he apologizes, "but getting into labs somewhat a process. Many doors to goes through."

Ursa comes up beside me as we walk. "Working cumpewters are exceedingly rare," she says, sensing my disappointment at not having seen one for real.
 

"Have you used one before?" I ask.

Ursa nods. "Oh yes, but not for ages now. As you know, Forerunner technology, where it hasn't been destroyed by the Deacons, is unreliable at best. Most scientists have learned to use cumpewters, but not
how
they work." She hesistates. "To the uninitiated, they have the appearance of something magical."

I nod. "I know. That's why I wanted to see one." I pause, contemplating. "Jude would have been so jealous
. I–" I cut off as my eyes go wide. The words just slipped out, without thought.

I shake my head.

"I can't believe I just said that," I say.

Ursa puts an arm around me. "Give it time," is all she says.

We come to the door at the end of the hallway. I glance back to see that the first door we went through is now sealed shut.

If this is a trap
, I think to myself,
there ain't no escaping...

Glamis reveals yet another panel on the wall, but this time he puts his face up to it, a pale beam of light shooting out and washing over his face.

"I tells you is long process," the oversized mutant grins, blinking the light out of his eyes.

The door slides open, revealing a circular space. Glamis steps inside and we follow. The door slides shut and more machinery begins to whir in the walls. I feel the room start moving. At first, I think it's my claustrophobia kicking in, but then I re
alize that’s not it at all. 

"
Are we moving?" I ask, incredulous.

Glamis shrugs. "Yes. 'Tis elevator." He gestures to the room we are in.

"I know not this word," I reply, smirking at the hulking giant.

A sudden buzzing noise sounds all around us and, by default
, I defer to Altair. He looks just a clueless as I am though. A new light, red, suddenly switches on in the room, bathing us. I can feel it getting hotter by the second. 

"What the hells is this!" I hear Traylor panic.

Glamis laughs. "Sillys! Just 'tis decontamination."

Ursa gasps from beside me. "I've heard of such a thing!" she proclaim
s. "There are rumors of a lab with a fully working decontamination cycle! We thought it was all a pile of ashes though!"

"No, 'tis trues," Glamis replies.
 

The buzzing noise sounds again
, and this time the red light clicks off. My relief is instant, but I'm sweating like crazy. I can feel the room–
elevator
– beginning to slow its descent, finally stopping. 

I look up. "How far down are we?" I ask, not wanting to think about all the tons of dirt and rock above our heads.
 

Glamis s
hrugs. "I knows not." And that’s all he has to say on the matter.

Traylor is snickering at my anxiety, but Ursa lends me some comfort with a hug.

The elevator door opens and Glamis gets out. "Welcomes to Laboratory Takay!" the mutant proclaims.

We step
into a reception area of some sort, with a desk and waiting chairs off to one side. Most of the furniture is knocked over, everything coated in a thick film of dust. It's also kinda dark, and I look up to see much of the overhead lighting is burnt out. Oil fired lights.

This place has power, surprisingly.

I never thought I'd see such a luxury in the Fringes. 

Behind the desk, a large, three letter logo is plastered across the wall.

"BCM?" I ask, genuinely curious. "What does that stand for?"

"We's don't knows," Glamis replies, leading us past it.
 

"Huh," is all I say.

Past the desk is a massive wall, and there's something strange about it. It's not all one color, but a series of smears and swirls. It's not until we get close that I realize what I'm seeing. It's a window! This whole side of the room is one giant pane of glass!

And it's
filthy.

"Gross," I say, running a finger through the grime, creating a clean spot. "I though
t you said this place was clean?"

Glamis shrugs. "Look
cleans enough to me." I shake my head. I didn't realize cleanliness was subjective when talking to a mutant.

A door, set almost invisibly into the glass, suddenly bursts open, and one of the most bizarre looking creatures I've ever seen practically leaps thro
ugh. The thing is fairly small–about my size–but it prefers to saunter about on its hands and feet. Its arms and legs are grossly overlong and rail thin, giving the creature a creepily insectile appearance. Its skin is hairless, and so dark that it’s nearly blue. What passes for its eyes are the same shade.

"Doctor Ragyle!" Glamis shouts with glee upon seeing the newcomer.

"Welcome back, Glamis!" Ragyle replies with a crooked smile. "And I see you did not return empty handed." Ragyle's eyes slither over to me and my companions, finally settling on me alone. His eyes go wide. "No, rather, it would seem you've outdone yourself this time! You shall be rewarded, Glamis!" Glamis looks ecstatic, but I start to wonder what goes on down here. This Ragyle creature has the look and feel of a snake. Ragyle pulls open the oversized tunic coat he’s wearing–a doctor's coat–and pulls something out.

A syringe.

Traylor recoils immediately, but I grab him by the shoulder.

Ragyle examines the syrin
ge then tosses it aside. Traylor's relief beneath my grip is instant.

"Now where did I put..." Ragyle grumbles. "Ah!" The frail looking
mutant finally produces a long thin wand from the multitudinous pockets of its coat. There's some sort of sensor on it, flashing red, where Ragyle grips the device. Then, without preamble, Ragyle saunters over to Traylor and begins to prod my little brother with the tip of the device.

Traylor actually giggles and swats the wand away. "Stop that!" he half-heartedly protests.

"Stop moving, please," Ragyle insists, moving to prod Traylor yet again. The boy looks at me for help, but I only laugh at him and shrug. Ragyle finally brings the rod to a stop at the top of Traylor's spine, poking him in the neck a few times. The device beeps twice, then Ragyle steps back, eyes wide and horrified.