I lifted one hand, as though to ward off the darkness of the cave, and produced a thrum of energy from the fingers. A dull light was created, one that was enough for the shell’s eyes to function.

The others filed into the cave, one at a time due to the narrowness of the opening. They spread out, and Lisa who was carrying Mika walked slowly toward the deepest part.

“Hold on!” I yelled to get her to stop.

She stumbled a bit, and twisted around to glare at me. “What?”

“I literally have no idea what’s down here, don’t go anywhere,” I warned her.

“So what, I can handle it,” Lisa replied.

“Lisa,” I said with a sigh, “just listen to me please.”

She looked at me, and then at her sister in her arms, before she finally gave a small nod of the head. She glanced at the depths of the cave with an almost longing look, and then walked away from it and slumped against a wall.

With my impulsive daughter dealt with I turned my attention to the cave entrance. Once more I spread out the magical power of the crystal, and channeled it into the mechanism that controlled the cave.

There was a slight shudder, and then the door vanished as the entire room we were in descended. Sand spilled in through the opening, but only enough to block the entrance.

“That should hide us from Toma,” I said, and then turned to look at the Architects.

Arim and Rosalind had put Samara on the ground, and Arim was slowly moving his hands over her body. He was so focused on it that when the doorway was blocked he didn’t even seem to notice it.

I walked over to the trio, though I stopped just short of arms reach. “How is she?”

Rosalind didn’t turn away from her ally. “Fatigued, but conscious.”

My eyes tracked Arim’s hands as he continued to slide them over Samara’s body. “What’s he doing?”

“Organ check.”

“Uh...what?”

Rosalind turned her head a little to look at me with one eye. “Arim discovered they were removing organs from the incarcerated.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” I argued, “can’t you just grow those yourselves?”

Rosalind’s eyebrow lifted up as she turned to look even more at me. “Correct. That is why it is an enigma.”

“Samara untouched,” Arim suddenly said.

Rosalind let out a sigh of relief. “Wonderful.” She motioned at me with one hand. “Recuperation period acceptable?”

“Of course, I think we could use a break as well,” I said.

Though I didn’t need to sleep, I could at the very least take a quick break to check on Kuzu. I walked away from the Architects and joined my daughters, settling down next to them.

Both of them had fallen asleep, most likely due to the poisoning from before. Lisa still held her sister in her arms, even as she’d nestled up against the cave wall. If I’d had a blanket I probably would’ve put it on them.

I cast a look at the Architects one last time, and then turned the shell off.

☗ ☗ ☗ ☗ ☗

I couldn’t figure out what caused more of an ache, the bruise on my cheek or the fact that I was helpless. I struggled to stand up, as a bit of blood oozed out from the corner of my lip, but I didn’t glare at Him.

That would only get me hit again.

“Worthless, why are you so worthless?”

I felt His fingers grip my hair, and then He dragged me out of the house. The dry ground beneath me was studded with rocks, and by the time He finally came to a stop I’d picked up more than a few cuts.

There were a few murmurs from the people around us, but He didn’t care. Instead He threw me at a white sphere.

When my hands touched it I felt warmth, thought it wasn’t the same as the feel of the sun. Instead it was a type of warmth I couldn’t comprehend, and I pressed my non-bruised cheek against it.

“Hey, you need to stop!” yelled some man I didn’t know.

Yet all He did in response was lift one hand, and the man crumpled to the ground. He ignored the stranger, and focused on me as he spoke, “Use your rotten little brain, open the door in your head. If you come back without some fur I’ll beat you to death.”

I started to protest, as I didn’t understand, but he lifted a hand and I immediately closed my mouth. Instead I tried to do what he said, and I imagined a door inside my mind. I gripped the door knob, and then opened it.

The scent of something new, something strange, filled my nose. I opened my eyes and looked around, cringing instinctively as I expected to be smacked for doing so.

What I saw was a vast and green field, with green strands that rose up out of the ground. My body was half-buried amongst them, and I realized that the smell had come from them.

There was the sound of something stirring, and then a low growl came from my rear. I turned in time to see a white object leap up into the open, aiming to land on my face.

I raised my left hand to ward off that thing, and a mouth opened on the front and bit into my exposed fingers. I let out a scream of shock and pain, and tried to shake the white ball of fur off of my hand.

The monster dug in deeper with its teeth in response. I started to punch at it as hard as I could, my thin hand barely able to do much damage. As the teeth continued to grind into my fingers, I started to smash the bundle of fur against the ground itself.

A single eye glared defiantly up at me, and the creature growled. I grimaced as the pain in my hand only worsened, and reached down at the monster with my free hand.

If it wanted to stare at me, I would make it regret that choice. I thrust my thumb into the exposed eye with all of my strength.

When it started to release its grip on my fingers, I only thrust even harder and pinned the beast to the ground. I leaned into it, using my weight to hold it down, and never let up even after it stopped squirming.

A few minutes later I pulled my finger out of the eye socket, and started to stomp the thing in front of me. My battered, bare foot crushed into the ball of fur, but I didn’t stop until a few more stomps.

I heaved in air as I tried to recover from my exertion. I looked at that pile of blood and fur, and a wave of nausea swept over me. I didn’t even turn away, instead I threw up all over the corpse.

A cold hand clasped on my shoulder, and I jumped.

“Fenix,” Kuzu said, as she gave me a little shake, “wake up.”

“What?” I asked, my mind a bit hazy, and as I looked around everything slowly clicked back into place.

I was in the shell room, in the chair I used to control it. “You told me to wake you up after a few hours,” Kuzu said, as she leaned in closer, “are you alright?”

I rubbed my face, sighing, and grumbled out, “Just a bad dream. No alarms went off?”

Kuzu shook her head in response.

“Good. Help me get set up, I need to connect and see what’s happened while I was gone.”

It didn’t take us long to get all of the wires hooked up, and then I put the headgear on and relaxed. I felt that weird switch, as my mind became more focused on the shell.

What I saw first was that Lisa and Arim were off in one corner of the cave, talking to each other. A glance to my side and I noticed that Mika stood next to me, and that Samara was no longer laying on the ground.

Instead she’d opted to sit up, with her hands on her lap. When she noticed the movement of my head she looked at me and smiled.

For an Architect her face was about normal, she had no distinct facial features. Her straight hair was long, easily reaching her waist while standing. The fact that her body was also thinner than most Architects was the only real oddity about her.

“Salutations,” she said.

“Hi.” I stood up and looked around the cave, to make sure nothing had changed. “I’m Fenix, and I believe you’re Samara?”

She gave what seemed to be an excessively graceful nod of her head. “That is my identification. Rosalind informed me we have a temporary pact?”

“Yes,” I said, “do you have a problem with that?”

“It would be disrespectful of me to renege on the agreement you made with Rosalind, given you rescued me.”

I shrugged. “I’m not about to argue. Though all I’m looking for is help getting to floor ninety-nine.”

All three of the Architects looked at me with shocked expressions. “Mentally unwell?” Samara asked, her voice trembling.

“I’m sane. We need to get to the emerald portal.”

“Nobody has access to that!”

I dismissed her complaint with a wave of my hand. “But you have access to a major transit node, right?”

Before she could think about what I’d asked, Samara instinctively nodded her head. “Wait, you want to foray against the node on seventy-five?”

“That’s the plan. While you hold it, we’ll go through.”

Samara looked at her two friends, and then smiled once more. “It would appear I am required to exercise what little strength I have,” she said, “I accept your request.”

Yet it was a request that gave her no benefits. I narrowed my eyes, but I didn’t voice my curiosity as to why she’d said yes.

“Are we heading out now, father?” Mika asked from my side.

“Only if they’re up for it,” I replied, and then looked meaningfully at Samara.

The Architect caught on to my unspoken question, and stood up. As she rose there was a bit of an unsteadiness to her, though she managed to not fall over.

“Do not allow me to restrict your journey,” Samara said.

I studied her for a moment, and then turned back to where the entrance of the cave was. I put all of my focus onto the crystal in the shell, and once more enacted the mechanism with which to raise the cave.

When the cave reached the surface moonlight filtered in past the mound of sand. I didn’t bother with moving the sand, instead I climbed over it and out.

The desert had changed with the passage of time. Night had come, and an almost full moon hung in the clear sky. All across the desert plants had grown up out of the sand, most of which resembled bowls.

When my daughters came out of the cave I helped them through. Lisa looked about and, visibly shaking from the effort, refrained from running off to investigate all of the new plants.

Mika cast a glance around and then looked at me. “What happened?”

I chuckled at her. “I’m sure you’ve noticed how it got cooler. When night happens all the moisture in the air starts to condense, so the plants sprout and try to collect as much as they can.”

“But...they’re plants,” Mika said with a frown.

“And? Did you forget who created all of this?”

“Of course,” Mika murmured, and then for some reason her frown worsened.

When the Architects came out of the cave we started to move out, with me in the lead. I took them southward to where the puffball field was, and then through it. With the sun down the plants were harmless.

We traveled in silence across the desert, a request that I’d insisted on. With the water being pooled it wouldn’t be long before the creatures also stirred, and most of those relied on sound for hunting.

Our arrival at the portal was one absent of conflict, and so we gathered around it and figured out our next course of action.

“Vanguard responsibility,” Arim said, as he put one hand to his chest.

“I don’t mind that,” I said in response, even as I held up one hand to stop Lisa from arguing.

Nobody else complained, and so Arim went through the portal first. Lisa, Mika, and I went next, and I held onto Mika’s hand while we transferred.

Floor 65

The Sand Tribe

We appeared in yet another desert, though this one had sand that was pale with a hint of yellow. The sun was near the end of its path, the sky cast in a brilliant combination of red and orange.

As I turned to check the surroundings I saw a big splash of red across the desert floor, and Arim’s head rolling slowly toward us.