"Clear," Ollie said.
"No shit, Sherlock." Kyle moved past him, entering the corridor.
A sudden rush of wind passed through the corridor, causing everyone to close their eyes as they tried not to be blown away. The scent of lemon and lime suddenly filled the whole corridor. When their eyes opened, they saw the bodies of the flesh pounds and the splattered blood all cleaned. Not even a streak of water. The spell's signature was the same one that Erin used.
"Prosperity sector, no fucking wonder," Kyle grumbled.
Lily moved ahead, "Shh. Let's keep it down. There could be more."
"Yeah, yeah." Kyle followed her, eyes darting around the corridor. Gold and platinum inlays ran along the walls like veins in marble. Even the fucking light fixtures looked expensive. If he weren't in serious mode, he'd be jacking all this shit right now. "Rich people, man. Spending millions on a hallway when a concrete tube would've done the job."
They moved down the corridor. Kyle kept his pistol ready, repeatedly glancing backwards in case anything red entered the corridor.
At the end of the hall stood a door with the familiar rhombus circle etched in its centre. Lily reached the door first and signalled others to say the coast was clear.
Reaching the end of the hall, Kyle held up his hand, and everyone stopped.
"Wait. Something stinks."
"What do you mean?" Rachel asked behind him.
"Not like actual stink." Kyle pointed at the place where they killed the flesh pounds. "I mean this whole setup. Those things were waiting."
"Maybe they can't get through," Clyde said. "Or maybe this defense hall has limits. Could be only a certain group can enter at a time. That would explain the emptiness. No point in overrunning this place if it won't budge."
Rachel glanced between the twins. "That's... actually a good point."
"Don't sound so surprised," Kyle muttered.
"It does make sense," Lily said. "This place looks like a rich man's place. Shitty rich old men and women love their exclusivity."
"What do you think, Ollie?" Rachel asked.
Ollie sighed. "Doesn't matter what it is. We need the core. Can't run away from this one."
"Nobody said anything about running," Kyle said.
"I'll try the door." Ollie reached for the rhombus, pressing his palm against it.
The symbol flashed bright red. Nothing interesting happened.
"Well, that's just great," Lily said. "So what now? We—"
Deafening thunderous footsteps cut off Lily mid sentence.
Kyle spun around, pistol raised at the only other entrance of this corridor. Two heavy footsteps were incoming. "More fleshfucks incoming."
Ollie knelt down on one leg and aimed Prudence towards the other side of the corridor. "Everyone with a gun, aim at that door."
They formed a firing line, weapons trained on the entrance to the corridor. Kyle's finger rested on the trigger, ready.
The door swung inwards, two flesh pounds entered and stared their metal bucket heads at the group. Surprisingly the doors maintained their shape and state. Expensive hinges and expensive wood. Go figure.
"FIRE!" Ollie shouted.
Kyle squeezed his trigger three times in rapid succession. His shots hit the second flesh pound's chest, tearing through veiny writhing muscles. Beside him, Lily's deagle charged up a bright blue for a split second before it sent a lance of light that burned a hole straight through the same target's head.
Ollie and Clyde focused on the first one. Clyde's rifle boomed once, removing half its torso. Ollie's follow-up shots pulverized what remained of its dangling head.
Both creatures collapsed in a mess of red jelly like blood tissue, still writhing veiny muscles, and what looked like brain matter. The corridor fell silent before another gust of wind disintegrated the remains of the bodies.
"Fuck me," Kyle muttered, ejecting his spent clip and slapping in a fresh one, continuing to aim down his sight against the entrance. The others did the same. Everyone tensed up, waiting for more flesh pounds to come.
Minutes passed. Nothing came through.
"I'm thinking we're clear," Ollie said after fifteen minutes.
"You sure?" Kyle didn't lower his gun. "Last time we thought we were clear, those things came busting through like they owned the place. Literally just happened minutes ago too."
"Kyle…," Ollie sighed. "Whatever. Fuck it. It's clear. If more were coming, they'd have shown up by now."
Kyle didn't budge. Ollie didn't either. Bossman knew the drill. Wait until they were completely absolutely mega sure that shit was clear. Everyone else did the same.
Thirty minutes later, Kyle finally eased up, muscles aching from holding position. His shirt had become damp with sweat beneath his armour.
"Five down," Kyle slipped Balista into its holster. "Anyone getting the vibe that five has some fucked up vibes?"
Clyde nodded. "Noticed that too. Five's gotta mean something."
"Can't be coincidence," Kyle continued. "Those flesh pounds had been raiding this place for probably who knows how long. They send five. Erin sends five. Coincidence?"
"I think not" Clyde said.
"Gale had that first bit of clues in Harmony sector's defense halls." Kyle said. "Can't let the kid do everything."
"Just spit out what the fuck you're talking about," Rachel said with a harsh tone.
"Hell if I know," Kyle shrugged. "But I'm saying there's something fishy about the numbers matching up. This place got rules."
Ollie stepped over to the rhombus panel again. "Only one way to find out."
He pressed his palm against the symbol. Once again, it flashed red.
"Fuck," Kyle kicked the wall.
"Wait," Clyde said. "What if we need five to do something? And if Erin sent us here knowing that we won't go unless she doesn't tell us."
"Classic corporate bullshit," Ollie said.
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"You're one of them, asshole," Kyle said.
"Kinda grown to liking it though," Clyde said.
"True that," Kyle sighed.
"That makes sense," Lily said. "Can't just throw bodies at this defense hall and expect to get something out of it."
"Rich people shit. Always gotta make it hard," Kyle said to which Rachel shot him a look as the temperature spiked for a split second.
Before anyone else could speak, the door glowed green once. A status screen appeared in front of Kyle, and by the looks of everyone else, it also appeared in front of them.
[Previous squad completed the challenge.]
[Result: Failure.]
[Reward: Disintegration.]
[Next squad, please touch the access panel.]
"Jesus fucking Christ," Kyle waved his hand on the status screen that appeared in front of him. "You guys seeing this shit, right?"
"Yeah," Clyde said. "And I don't like what it's saying."
"'Disintegration'?" Rachel said. "That doesn't sound good."
Kyle laughed. "No shit! You fuck up, you're gone. Poof. No wonder lady blue didn't want us knowing what the fuck was in here."
"No second chances? Kinda like it like that. Sorta," Clyde said.
"Same bro," Kyle said. "If I gotta go out, disintegration sounds clean at least. Quick death always easier than becoming whatever those things are."
Clyde pulled a Twinkie from his pocket and stared at it solemnly. "Only downside is I still got a few of these left. Hate to waste good snacks."
"Children, focus," Rachel stepped forward, turning to Ollie. "We need to try. If we don't get that core, we're stuck here anyway."
"She's right," Lily said. "Touch the panel again, Ollie."
Ollie pressed his palm against the rhombus again, no hesitation. This time, it glowed green and a new screen appeared in front of each of them.
[Challenge: Sensual Bells]
[Time limit: 1 star]
[Instructions:
-
The group must be composed of 5 entities.
-
Each entity will have their senses restricted to only one of the basic senses.
-
The basic senses are: Vision, Hearing, Taste, Smell, Touch.
-
The group must choose who gets what sense.
-
Using these 5 senses, the group must figure out the order in which to ring the three bells.]
Five gray rings of light materialized in front of the door, each about three feet in diameter, from left to right.
Ollie stepped forward, trying to touch the rings himself. "Looks like we can't even choose who gets what sense. No indication of which one is which."
Kyle snorted. "For someone so rich, you're shit at puzzles, Glory. It's obviously from left to right: Vision, Hearing, Taste, Smell, Touch."
"How the hell would you know that?" Rachel asked, crossing her arms.
"Because I'm not an idiot," Kyle tapped his temple. "The instructions already spelled it out. 'The basic senses are: Vision, Hearing, Taste, Smell, Touch.' Order matters in lists."
Rachel rolled her eyes. "That doesn't mean anything."
"No, he's got a point," Clyde said, staring at the gray rights from left to right. "Instructions laid it out. Gotta follow the trail of breadcrumbs."
"Well, good news is…" Lily said, "1 star means a hundred years, according to Erin. Which means we have unlimited time, technically. The bad news is that we have unlimited time. We could die of starvation before we finish it."
"Which is why we need to be smart about this," Rachel said. "So who's taking what?"
Kyle raised his hand. "Dibs on vision."
Rachel turned on him. "Why do you get to have vision? That's probably the most important one."
Kyle reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his Division 16 Special Investigations Unit badge, flipping it open then back close. He quickly pocketed it before saying, "This is why, princess."
Clyde unwrapped another Twinkie, biting off half of it in one go. He spoke through his full mouth: "Man's got a point."
Rachel looked to Ollie, "You should be the one getting vision. You're the leader."
Ollie shook his head. "As smart as I am, I'm not investigations smart. Kyle's got the right call on this one."
"But you saw through the androids at Harmony," Rachel said.
"You think they didn't get that too?" Ollie said. "This time, it's out of my league. Let them handle it."
Rachel grumbled.
"Fire princess needs some chill," Clyde said while chewing. "So who gets what?"
"I'm absolutely not fucking with the taste sense. But since you want an equal method, we'll roll for it." Kyle pulled out a d20 dice from the same pocket he fished out his badge from.
"I don't trust your dice," Clyde finished the remainder of his Twinkie and turned to Lily. "You got dice too, right?"
"How do you know that?" Lily asked.
"Witch shit," Clyde said with a shrug. "Divination, occult. Witch Ashen's kinda known for that."
Lily grumbled something under her breath and pulled out a small pouch from her pocket. From the pouch, she pulled out a polished black stone d20 with white font and a smaller d6.
"Use the d20," Kyle grinned. "Highest roll wins. First is vision."
"Since you suggested this, you roll first." Lily held out the dice to Kyle. "Roll for vision."
Kyle snatched it from her hand and shook the die between his palms like his life depended on it. He'd always been lucky with dice, and luck was a skill.
A little shake, a jiggle, and a specific diagonal flick of his wrist, he'd get a nat 20 anytime of the day if he wanted it. Those idiots at Snakes and Lattes never knew what hit them. It was a sucker's bet for them.
Only problem was, this was witch dice, and witch dice had a different trick to them. Still, they were all the same shit.
Opening his palms and throwing the dice on the floor, it bounced across the floor, hitting the wall before resting on a 17.
"Boom," he said, pointing at the number. "Beat that, fuckers."
Clyde went next, rolling a 10. "Shit."
Ollie followed with a 7, shaking his head as the die settled.
Rachel's roll landed on a 4, and she cursed under her breath as the temperature went up a few degrees.
Lily took her turn last, her die landing on a 16.
"Well, shit, you almost fucked me," Kyle muttered.
Lily flipped Kyle off. "Maybe in your fucking dreams."
"Next roll's for hearing," Kyle said, still grinning from his victory. "And since I already won vision, I don't have to roll again."
Picking up the black d20, he tossed it to Ollie, who caught it with one hand.
Ollie shook it a few times in his hand before letting it roll between his fingers before throwing it onto the floor. The die hit the wall, bouncing twice, and then spinning into a corner as it landed on a 15.
Clyde went next, getting a 5. He kicked the die away in frustration.
Rachel rolled third, landing on an 8. "Damn it."
Lily's roll came up 12. "Shit."
"Looks like Ollie's got ears," Kyle said.
"Taste is next," Ollie said, telekinetically grabbing the die and then handing it to Rachel.
She rolled it between her palms, blew on it for luck, and threw it like a bowling ball into the wall. The d20 landed on 18.
"Finally!" Rachel shouted.
Kyle shook his head. She probably didn't realize she was rolling for taste. Or maybe she did. She was just competitive at wanting a high number.
Clyde rolled after her, getting a measly 3, while Lily's roll landed on a 9.
"At least I can finally feel what Gale sees in how he tastes things for information," Rachel muttered.
"Is that what you're thinking? What Gale tastes?" Lily snickered. "You could already do that before this challenge."
Rachel's face went red as the temperature around them spiked. "That's not what I meant! I meant how he always uses taste to learn stuff—you know what? Never mind. We're supposed to be serious and we're here rolling a fucking die."
"Says the one who threw die like a bowling ball," Kyle smirked.
"Smell's next," Ollie flicked the die into Clyde's hand telekinetically.
Clyde's face lit up as he rolled a natural 20. "Fuck yes! No nasty-ass shit going in my mouth!"
"Touch goes to Lily then," Ollie said, not bothering with the final roll.
"Great," Lily said sarcastically.
Kyle walked over to the left-most ring, standing on top of it. "Everyone line up according to the list order. I'm on the left, Lily's on the right."
They lined up into position: Kyle at the far left for vision, then Ollie for hearing, Rachel for taste, Clyde for smell, and Lily at the right end for touch.
The gray rings beneath their feet changed to a bright green, flashing once.
[Commencing challenge.]
[Luxuries are a reward for the senses. Good luck, challenger.]
The room plunged into total darkness. Kyle felt his stomach lurch as gravity seemed to flip, then snap back to normal. He crashed to the floor, though he only felt the sensation of the crash.
Kyle opened his eyes. Looking down, something was horribly wrong. He could see, but he couldn't feel any part of his body. He tried pinching his cheeks, and as expected, there was no pain. Moving his limbs only felt like he was moving a puppet.
Turning his head to the right, the others looked just as fucked up. Ollie had a gray mosaic covering his ears, but the rest of him looked normal. Rachel was trying to talk as her mouth moved up and down, but Kyle heard nothing. Her tongue was covered in the same gray mosaic pattern as what Ollie had on his ears. Lily's entire body was a mosaic blur while Clyde had the mosaic only on his nose.
Kyle turned his head back forward. Examining the whole place, the room they'd fallen into was a room with the same amount of opulence as the outside of this place. Gold, platinum, and bronze inlays ran along the whole floor and walls. Four massive pillars supported the whole room, one at each corner. In the centre, four platforms of increasing size rose from the floor, creating a stepped pyramid effect. From the looks of it, this was a linear puzzle. Each platform had to be reached in sequence, and those platforms would have the necessary information they needed to ring the bell in order.
When Kyle looked up at the ceiling, he spotted three bells hanging from different chains. One brass, one crystal, one iron.
Kyle tried to speak, to call out to the others, but his vocal cords locked up. Nothing came out, not that he could hear it anyways. The only way he could tell nothing came out was the sensation of something in his throat locking up.
No one could speak. They could only use the sense they'd been assigned.
No fucking wonder those flesh pounds couldn't get through this place. This wasn't a problem that violence could solve. Violence would've been so much easier. Shoot up the whole lobby. Problem solved. This?
This was fucked.
The others started regaining some semblance of balance. None of them had visual data. They had to learn how to reorient with just their own singular senses.
Rachel stood up slowly, her hand going to her mouth, probably realizing she could only taste. Ollie cupped his hands around his mosaiced ears, turning his head from side to side like he was trying to pinpoint a sound. Lily reached out, feeling the air around her, while Clyde sniffed deeply, his head tilting back.
This was completely fucked.