Time stopped. The undead froze. Silence spread around. Suddenly all the lights in the workshop switched on—even those that had been off. In the center of the hall stood a tall bald man. He wore a brown cloak covered with rusty stains of unknown origin. Attached to his arms up to the elbows were technological devices—long casings with transverse metal ribs attached along the length. They resembled chrome spines of ancient technological creatures, permanently attached to his forearms to carry out their endless, terrible mission.
The bald man lifted his head and looked around with a wild gaze. His eyes had no pupils. Sharp metal teeth peeked from thin, colorless lips.
He struck twice at the nearest zombies. At that moment, something terrible happened. The metal spine segments elongated and hit the zombies he had struck. Their bodies rippled, all bones emerging, instantly restructuring into a new form and forming a skeletal creature. But its bones were arranged along different axes, forming a different type of skeleton. The skull was also made of bone, but fragmented and transverse. They looked like beings of another race, of a new order. They looked more powerful, taller, but more horrifying than zombies.
As soon as they appeared, they pounced on the zombies, tearing them apart. Pieces of dead flesh and organs flew in all directions.
The bald man took a few steps and, with several more strikes, created new skeletal creatures.
A new wave of combat surged in the hall. Now the undead fought against the new monsters. They recoiled from the Cursed. He was no longer their primary target or threat.
The Cursed saw the bald man approaching him.
He rose and ran further through the hall, destroying the zombies in his path.
Reaching the end of the hall, he saw that there were no exit doors or hatches. He looked back. The bald man was getting closer. Skeletal creatures ran around him. There were too many of them. Terrifyingly many. The Cursed saw some of them biting into the metal walls of the workshop and tearing at the panels.
A terminal with a red button stood by the wall. The Cursed pressed it and felt a current arise. It lifted him off the floor and dragged him toward the vertical transport shaft running along the wall. He was once again caught in the current, sucked into a dark tunnel, and carried up to the very top of the cursed Palace-Laboratory of the Weeping Widow.
A large room under the palace roof. Numerous large devices and instruments of various designs and sizes stood here. On some of them were screens, across which arrays of data ran. A long iron bridge ran between the devices. At its end was a platform where a tall female figure sat in a high chair behind computers.
The Cursed surged toward her. He noticed that below the bridge were cauldrons in which green liquid boiled, sending up steam. Behind him, a noise arose. He turned and saw the bald man and his creatures following him.
The Cursed used several vampire dashes and reached the platform. Large figures in white masks with strange devices in their hands blocked his path. They were guarding the Mistress.
The Weeping Widow pressed a button and rose from the chair. She turned to face the Cursed. Her mask still concealed her face, making it impossible to discern her thoughts or intentions.
The Cursed heard movement behind him. He turned. The floor panels of the iron bridge suddenly split apart, and the bald man and his creatures, flailing their limbs in the air, fell into the huge cauldrons with the green substance. White smoke rose from the parts of the liquid where they were submerged. Their bodies melted without a trace. The bald man resurfaced several times, then disappeared forever.
The Cursed looked down. He stood on the very edge of the metal platform, beyond which the floor panels had already parted.
The grim servants of the Weeping Widow aimed their weapons at him.