The newly accessed tunnel swallowed Nyx and Athena whole, a sprawling, interconnected web of passages where shadows clung heavily to ancient pipes and rusted machinery. Nyx's delicate fingers trailed along a cool metal conduit. "These older sections radiate a peculiar energy," she murmured, her baby blue eyes scanning the various openings ahead. "Almost like a faint, lingering thought imprinted on the infrastructure."
Athena paused at a branching junction, her keen hazel eyes flitting between three identical looking routes. "The schematics from the nexus are a jumbled mess for this level," she announced, pulling up a flickering display on her wrist. "No clear cut route. Any intuitions, Hadrian? Feels like a maze built by someone who truly dislikes guests."
Hadrian stepped forward as he finished checking his map, his eyes fixed on a specific, unmarked vent. "Sometimes the path of least resistance isn't the clearest one," he suggested, pointing vaguely towards the unassuming opening. "This one feels... less prone to cave-ins." He watched as Athena narrowed her eyes, then shrugged, leading the way with a cautious crouch. Nyx followed, her gaze briefly settling on Hadrian before moving to the tight passage.
Further in, the passages twisted and turned with increasingly frustrating complexity. The air grew stale, thick with the scent of recycled coolant and forgotten industry. Athena slapped a flat palm on a grimy wall after dead-ending at a reinforced bulkhead. "Figures. Always the longest route through," she scoffed, scanning the surrounding junctions. "I could have sworn the energy readings for this one were off, yet it kept leading us deeper. There are six ways from here. Take your pick, Nyx. My internal GPS just exploded."
Nyx's crystal device glowed faintly, but even its light struggled against the dense energy currents in this part of the facility. "My readings are too diffused in this section to be reliable. Hadrian?" Her calm voice held a note of subtle inquiry.
Hadrian surveyed the daunting array of choices, secretly glancing at his mini-map at the same time. "Hmm, no, not that way," he corrected Athena, his voice conversational, a slight shake of his head towards one passage. "This path here," he tapped a different, surprisingly narrow opening with his boot. "It has a distinct lack of structural integrity warnings for my shield." He offered a casual, almost charming smile. Athena eyed him thoughtfully, her expression a mix of suspicion and intrigue. "Structural integrity warnings for your shield?" she echoed slowly, before gesturing. "Alright, lead the way, Guide. You're either unnervingly lucky or hiding a compass in your boot."
The third passage proved to be the right one, opening into a larger, unexpectedly clear conduit that stretched forward. A faint, almost imperceptible current of warmer air flowed through, suggesting a direct link. The sense of being deep within a mechanical labyrinth began to recede, replaced by the feeling of clear, unobstructed progress.
"Well, I'll be damned," Athena breathed, staring down the straight pathway ahead. "We're making incredible time. That route should shave off at least fifteen minutes compared to the general schematics." She turned to Hadrian, her smirk a little less challenging now. "Alright, spit it out, Guide. You just have a secret sixth sense for ventilation shafts, or is there more to this whole 'feeling' bit?"
Nyx's eyes, however, seemed to see deeper. "No lingering thoughts here," she noted softly, her crystal device settling into a steady glow. "Just a clear pathway, as if this route was... waiting for us." She looked at Hadrian with a gentle, acknowledging gaze, a warmth blossoming in her expression. The hum of distant machinery seemed to grow louder from the straight path ahead.
Hadrian just kept quiet knowing they probably wouldn't believe him if he said he had a map of the place. Ha, a place he had never been to before, and he had a map, insanity. Hadrian quietly follows along as they get closer to their goal, still keeping an eye on the minimap for 'hostiles'.
The labyrinthine tunnels deepened, their rust-stained walls giving way to areas where strange, luminescent moss clung to cracked conduits. The hum of distant machinery grew steadier now, a low throb that resonated deep in the chest. Nyx moved with an ethereal grace, her senses alert to the subtle shifts in the air. "The core's pulse feels closer now," she murmured, her baby blue eyes shining with quiet intensity. "And... more coherent. Less sporadic, as if it's no longer struggling, but fully aware."
Athena halted at a T-junction, her head cocked. The glowing mini-map, subtly active in Hadrian's periphery, indicated a narrow crevice to the left as the optimal path, while the more obvious, larger tunnel to the right dead-ended. "This facility keeps getting weirder," she mused aloud, her hand hovering over a crude map etched into a grimy wall. "My scans still can't get a solid lock. Which way now, oh silent navigator?" She glanced back at Hadrian, a playful challenge in her hazel eyes. "More 'structural integrity for your shield' advice, or a new trick?"
Hadrian gestured non-committally towards the narrow opening, his voice casual. "The air currents flow better this way. Less chance of any unexpected... welcome parties." His focus, however, was keenly split, his mini-map displaying a new, flickering red icon ahead – an unidentified entity rapidly approaching their position in the very passage he had just indicated.
Athena scoffed, but a spark of curiosity lit her face. "Better air currents? You really are full of surprises." She edged into the tight passage, her agility perfect for the confined space. Nyx followed, her gaze briefly settling on Hadrian's subtle shift in posture before disappearing into the narrow confines. A low, rhythmic thump echoed faintly from within the passageway, drawing closer.
Hadrian carefully followed after them. He may have esper abilities but he was not a fighter. And that red icon, he knew, was something hostile. He bit his lip unsure how to warn them without being even more suspicious. Deciding the best way is to make a small nose and shush them saying he heard something.
The oppressive narrowness of the metallic conduit deepened with every step. Hadrian followed close behind Nyx, his senses acutely aware of the crimson flicker on his internal map. The throbbing red icon pulsed ominously, drawing closer. It was just around the next bend, lurking in the shadows of the twisted pipes. A low, rhythmic thump... thump... thump began to echo through the confined space, growing louder. It wasn't the sound of pipes settling, but something else, deliberate and heavy.
Hadrian subtly adjusted his weight, his boot scraping a fraction louder than necessary against the grimy floor. The sudden, slight reverberation caught Athena's attention immediately. She paused, twisting slightly within the constricted tunnel, her hazel eyes flicking back. Nyx, too, half-turned, her hand going instinctively to her side.
"Shh," Hadrian breathed, the sound barely more than a soft exhale. He raised a finger to his lips, his gaze piercing the gloom ahead. "Did you hear that? Up ahead. I think something's moving."
Athena tensed, her agile body coiling as she melted into the wall, her small blade sliding smoothly from its sheath. "Moving?" she whispered back, her voice taut. "What kind of moving? I didn't register anything unusual on my passive scans."
Nyx's crystalline device, which had been emitting a steady glow, began to pulse faintly, mirroring the rhythm of the approaching thumps. Her baby blue eyes widened, a flicker of concern touching her features. "It's irregular. Heavy. And it's coming fast. Prepare."
The thumping sound intensified, punctuated by the metallic screech of what sounded like heavy claws scraping against the conduit's uneven surface, indicating whatever was approaching had just turned the corner into their shared tunnel.
Hadrian stilled and prepared, realizing that if it was what he thought it was they were in for a bit of a fun time. These tunnels were very compact and prone to collapses, usually buildings like these have roaming crusher drones that crush and demolish debris that blocks up the tunnels. He prayed to all the gods that it wasn't that drone in the tunnel.