Shattered Stars

Progress

I gripped Neval's arms around my neck. I wasn't concerned he might fall off; I wanted something to cling to, something that might give me hope again.

"Have you contacted your squad?" I asked Skylar as we sped along next to each other.

"I can't, dude. There's no reception down here," he said grimly. "It's just us right now."

The sensitive stinging of fear in my chest intensified. After my interface failed to turn off the pain, I contacted Neval. "The stinging doesn't go away!"

"That function only affects physical pain," he said. "It cannot touch emotional pain."

The pain only got worse after that answer.

We rounded the corner when we came back to the Defect's room. I was tempted to turn the other way, but I knew I couldn't make myself. The next corridor went on for miles without end, and I lost track of time. I only knew we were close when the running footsteps of the Defects became silent. I turned on acoustic camouflage. With Skylar's activated as well, it was quiet enough to hear Phobos whispering in the back of my mind. His voice never went away, not even with hearing turned off, because my interface never recognized Phobos as an entity.

"We are near," the Defects said, slowing down as we approached a bend in the corridor.

Another blue light emanated from around the corner, similar to the Defects' glow. We stopped just before we could see the source. A series of stomps echoed from around the bend.

The front Defect looked back at us. "Now we plan."

Skylar and I glanced at each other. I gulped and shrank back, half-expecting something to come running out at us. "Are there escape options?"

"Yes, after the quest is complete," it replied, pointing a finger ahead. "Here, three layers of defense, three doors. First door is guarded by Clones."

"Clones?"

"They resemble me," it said. The chest auras shifted from blue to green. "Not fully."

"Get ready," Neval said, bracing himself on my back. "Let us make this one chance count."

"I'm not sure I'll ever be ready," I admitted, glancing around and behind me as though extra help was supposed to be there. Skylar looked ahead, saying nothing. The emotionless features of his armor concealed any expression he wore.

The Defects crouched into a running position. I warily got onto all fours. It was just me, Skylar, Neval, and the Defects. And Phobos.

"Be wary of the spears," the Defect warned. Its bodies charged forward with emotionless intensity.

My ears perked up. "Spears?"

Neval kicked me in the lower back. "Go!"

I leapt into a gallop alongside Skylar, effortlessly keeping up with the lead Defect. We rounded the curve in seconds and found ourselves in another expansive room. This one was smaller than the others and had several other entrances carved out of each wall. An enormous metal door sat in the far wall, guarded by several Clones bearing heavy armor that glowed blue under the chest.

Each one looked ready for anything, as though they had several lifetimes of experience in defense combat. The moment we entered, they twirled their staffs around and extended them into spears twice as long as they were tall. Thanks to the almost complete darkness of the room, the spears gleamed with infrared light. My interface warned me about the incredible amount of energy they stored.