Kauss dragged his foot against the floor, moving the grey dust around into piles. He knew that this had to be the ceiling that he looked up at since the moment he was born. It was so solid and rigid, not giving despite the strain of having all of this weight placed upon it. It was rather amazing that it could stay standing, especially considering the fact that it had been like this for upwards of millions of years, if not longer. There was no knowledge about when the tower was built or why it was built, so everyone made up their own ideas.

He sat down cross-legged and lied on his back staring up into the infinite blackness. Above him was darkness, and below him was even more. However, if they kept on climbing, or if they kept on falling, they’ll eventually reach a point where they can see. Below them shined the light of hell, and above them shined the light of a false paradise. What was the first thing he remembered when he exited the elevator?

Well, there were some flying creatures flapping their arms to stay afloat. There was the flower that Helona placed in her hair. It made her look both stunning while also cute enough that he could barely help but squeeze the life out of her. She made him forget sometimes that she could kill a man bare-handed with little effort.

Then there was the body. The first sign of the false paradise that Kauss’ mother hoped so much for. However, it was obvious that she still believed there was a paradise somewhere. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have ascended. And if she hadn’t ascended, they could have reunited.

Memories of his mother flashed by. She wasn’t around for long, but he still remembered the loving embrace she would give. It was all luck that he was born into a family as loving and caring as them. Most mothers barely recognized their children and there were a special few that would sell them off. He knew a kid like that in the Owerneckers. She was royally screwed up and her eyes showed no light, just like the void that hung above her. She was probably dead now sadly, but that was for the best.

“You there.” Kauss blinked and saw Helona snapping her fingers right in front of his eyes. He looked around, not knowing how much time he spent lying on the floor. “Good?” Helona reached her hand to him.

“Yeah.” Kauss said, grabbing on to her. She pulled him up and he stood back on his own two good feet.

Killian carried the flashlight again as he shined it down a tunnel that Kauss had failed to spot when he was looking around. The dirt broke away and revealed that the stone had become the walls of the tunnels, as if the tower itself formed it sensing that someone, at some point, would make their way down here and explore it. With little hesitation, Killian walked down the tunnel, and Kauss and Helona followed after him.

Killian swerved the light around the tunnel walls, looking for something interesting. So far, it was all plain grey walls that went down the single stretch of midnight darkness with no branching options. Although Killian didn’t find anything strange, Helona could count several oddities, and it was all because of the walls being so clean. The question that she kept bringing up was how the walls could stay in such great condition over such a long time. Just a few years could lead to decay and this place had to have been here since the tower’s creation. It was a well-known fact that the material of the tower was unbreakable, and she doubted it would change because they had access to lightning. Despite that, there should have been some sign of life somewhere.

No scratches marked along the walls, nature failed to retake its rightful place, and there was no sign of life anywhere. It was as if the tower refused to let nature uproot the monument that it stood as. Whatever this tower was protecting, and whatever the reason humanity lived inside it, they had to be linked, even by the slimmest margin. She had always been curious about the making of the tower and who or what decided that it should be built, but it wasn’t until now that the curiosity was fully realized. The questions surged and crashed into each other, each of them begging for answers.

“Look at this.” Killian called out.

Helona looked up from staring at her feet and saw Killian pointing the flashlight at the left wall. She looked and was surprised by what she saw. Drawings littered the wall, depicting something rather interesting. The first image was a mess of black scribbles that formed something humanoid in appearance. Multiple of those humanoid scribble creatures surrounded a drawing that stood out to Helona right away. A structure stood in the center of the mass of creatures and it spanned the entire height of the wall. The bottom was narrow and tightly compact, but the more it went up the wall, the wider it got until it reached its climax and went back in on itself.

“This has to be the tower.” Kauss said.

Helona couldn’t help but agree with that. What else could it be? They’ve never seen a drawing of what the tower looked like and she had assumed that it was the same width as their floor all the way up. However, if the drawing was indeed the tower, then that would mean that the higher they climb, the larger the floors will get. How the person who drew this knew what the tower looked like, she didn’t know. It had to have been drawn by someone that lived before the tower’s creation. If that was the case, then that would explain the other oddity about the wall.

Beside the drawing of the tower, Helona could make out some strange form of writing. It was foreign to her, and if it was important enough to write, then it needed to be read. However, she couldn’t understand it a single bit. It was as messy as the drawings of the people.

Suddenly, Kauss bent down and picked something up. She noticed it right away and spotted what he was holding. When she saw it, she snatched it from him immediately and ignored his complaints. What he had found was a leather-bound journal with a clip lock. The lock was thankfully broken, and she opened it quickly. She was half expecting it to be in the same writing as the walls were, but it was in their native tongue. She read it aloud so everyone could hear.

Day 1 of climbing the tower. I brought this journal with me to document everything that happens. The elevator ride wasn’t long, thankfully, but it was rather fucking terrifying. Imagine my surprise to see such a massive creature telling us we’ll be judged. Bitch, I thought I was going to die that very moment.

Whoever wrote this was one-hundred percent a first floorer. The way he wrote was proof enough. The writer’s iron tongue and exaggerations were a classic staple on speaking like one of them. She kept on reading.

Gaxtex and Vivus are just as excited as I am to climb. Gaxtex a little too much, but there’s no worry in that.

When we left the elevator, we were covered by trees on all sides of us. A strange creature walked by us, making weird noises. Then the mother came, and we booked in on out of there as fast as our legs could carry us. We met this man calling himself Junto as well, and he said he’ll give us shelter.

Already Helona could tell something strange was happening. She thought back to the picture that was in one of Linux’s journals. The people that were in the frame were Junto, Vivus, and Gaxtex, as the disclaimer read, but here they weren’t alone. Whoever this person was, they were most likely the same person who took their picture. Then why didn’t they add in his name. She combed through the journal entrees, scanning through each one, finding any importance in them.

She couldn’t find much except for figuring out the process of Gaxtex making his Gaxtexes. The machine that was hooked up to the elevator had a suction screwed into a part of the elevators that could be moved about. That was the single most dangerous part of the operation. If someone didn’t know what they were doing, then they could die from being overloaded with electricity.

Once it was hooked up, the energy would go through the tube and into a machine. There was a barrier inside that would regularly take in a certain amount of liquid. It would then blow air into it and the Io-Grade hardened into Ioniest sealing the remaining energy inside. Once the process was finished, it spat out a capsule from a hole at the other end.

Finally, she made it to nearly two months in. She read it silently first, taking in every ounce of information she could get. The more she read, the more grim her face turned until all she read became so weird and confusing, that it was somewhat horrifying. Once she finished reading it to herself, she read it aloud for Kauss and Killian to hear.

I’ve found a tunnel that went fairly far down. I’m writing this as I’m looking at these strange drawings on the walls. There aren’t any signs of drawing materials anywhere, so how these pictures got on the wall is a mystery.

I don’t have to read the writing to know what this is all about. It’s about God, isn’t it. Maybe multiple gods, or those humanoid creatures could be the disciples of a single God.

I noticed something interesting as I continued down the path. There seems to be one large drawing that looked like appendages of a larger whole. It turned out I was right. I can’t even describe whatever this thing is. It has to be God! This has to be the origin of the tower.

Helona, curious about what the journal was describing, went to see for herself what this God was. Kauss was already on his way, taking out his own flashlight in order to see where he’s going. Helona followed close behind, keeping an eye on the wall. Just as the journal said, along the wall was a drawing of some sort of tentacle appendage. It started as one, but the further they walked, the more tentacles showed up. They were drawn in much more detail compared to the humanoids.

The tentacles snaked and curled around each other and Helona could only imagine what they were attached to. Whatever this God looked like, it showed to be a monster of enormous size. Could a God like that truly be called a God then? Wouldn’t the better term be demon? Considering what Kauss said about his God, she would’ve assumed it was some benevolent person in the sky awaiting lost souls and sending them across worn pathways of diamond and silver.

The full image of the God slowly appeared out the corner of her eye. Kauss was already staring at it as Helona and Killian finally began taking in its full size. She could see from just the look on his face that he didn’t like what he was seeing. His eyes were squinted and his eyebrows were slanted as he stared at the drawing angrily.

Even stranger, there was a subtle noise that began echoing down the tunnel. It sounded like a whimper of something, like a baby rat, but how could an animal survive down here. There was barely any air or ventilation coming down from the surface. It was probably something else, but the more she heard it, the less likely it seemed to be anything else but what she imagined.

However, before exploring and discovering the source of the whimpering, she had to see God. And saw it, she did. Her eyes widened as she took in the full scope of the drawing. It was hard to distinguish from where the picture began and where it ended. There were three main parts that she could make out, however.

The main part of the drawing was the large woman that stared straight into their souls. She was completely nude and exposed herself for all to see, unashamed as servants bowed to her glory. Despite having a humanoid figure, she very clearly wasn’t human. Her hair was so long that it out-scaled her body by more than double. The beautiful locks of her hair spread out around her and entangled themselves onto each other, becoming those same tentacles that she spotted some time ago. There were also other oddities about her body that she couldn’t really describe. There were lines that enhanced parts of her body that made her look fairly inhuman. Two lines were roughly drawn behind her back and absorbed into one of her arms, making it look like she had wings. She didn’t know if that was a mistake on the artist’s part or if that was the intention.

The second part that Helona could spot where the servants that bowed to her. They were 12 women bowing to God, each of them wearing black cloaks that draped loosely behind them. They all looked the same and their hair was just as exaggerated as God’s hair. Their hair reached all the way down to their feet, blending in with the black cloak that covered themselves up. A certain aspect of the servants sent an uneasiness down her spine. A few of the woman were actively being choked by God’s hair. Even though they were being suffocated, they didn’t put up a fight and continued bowing to their master.

Finally, the area that circled God was the hardest aspect to miss. It was drawn in the same style as those humanoids, all scribbled and drawn with no thought or purpose. The scribbles circled her and the only detailed part of the mess was the wisp of black lines symbolizing smoke exiting the top of the mess. The mess stretched and chased after the women that was bowing to God. This entire mural showed the abusive relationship between a God and her subjects, and whether or not it was true was uncertain. All Helona knew was that someone found their way here and told their story these drawings.

After Helona's eyes were full of seeing the drawing, she returned to reading the journal.

This truly is God. I can’t believe my luck in finding such a scene. I need to show this to people and get them to try and deduce the writing. Gaxtex, Vivus, and I are leaving tomorrow, but that doesn’t mean that they have to not know about it. Besides, once I reach the top of the tower and meet God, I’ll come back here. I’ll turn this place from a monster infested floor into paradise.

I hear a noise further on. It may be nothing worthwhile, but it’s been bothering me for a while. I’ll record what-

That’s where the page ended. No satisfying conclusion and the sentence couldn’t even finish before whatever happened to him probably killed him. Considering he was down here as well, there was no way for him to survive, even with a Gaxtex. What point is the revive if the thing that can bring a man back to life is no longer around.

“So that’s it?” Killian asked.

“Yeah, and listen.”

Now that they weren’t busy looking at a picture or reading from a journal, everyone could clearly hear the sound of whimpering coming from further down the tunnel. Kauss signaled to be careful, and they began walking down the pathway, lights forward and hands on their weapons. As far as they knew, they were being led into a trap that could get them all killed in less than a second. They couldn’t just leave though since this was the best lead they had. Not to mention it would take precious time trying to climb back up the pit.

The whimpering grew louder and louder as they approached the source. It didn’t take too long before they stumbled upon a doorway. The whimpering was the loudest than its ever been and it wouldn’t shut up. It was beginning to get on Kauss’ nerves. Drawing his knife, he entered through the door and came upon a large room.

The room was massive, large enough to fit several of those Tetsons if they ever decided to live together. It was like a massive arena with piles of broken bones to act as the seats and a circle of dried blood would be where the duelists sparred. In a battle of blood and grit, only the victor would come out on top. The first competitors, a group of what looked like disgusting monstrosities of baby Tetsons.

In the middle of the dried blood staining the stone floor, a group of baby Tetsons nestled together for warmth. The fur was the only part about them that looked adorable to hold on to. It was so fluffy looking that Kauss imagine if he were to stick his head in, it’d be like rubbing his head along a freshly washed blanket. However, the rest couldn’t be so lucky. Their heads didn’t carry fur like the adults did. Instead, it showed its skin along with the flesh that connected its dangling eyes to its head. Their skin was a nasty pink that was wrinkled to all hell, looking like a testicle that soaked in water for hours more than an animal.

Their legs and tails thankfully looked similar to the adults, but that didn’t mean they didn’t look ugly. They just looked as ugly and horrific as their parents. The more Kauss looked at their faces, the more Kauss wanted to gag. The smell of the place didn’t help either. Feces and urine were piled up into a single corner of the room. Right away, Kauss marked that spot for him to intensely avoid at all costs. He didn’t care if he’d have to fight a Tetson at some point, he’d avoid that literal pile of shit before he care about his own life.

“I guess this is their nest.” Helona said, covering her nose. She took a step forward and heard a crunch. Picking up her feet, she saw she had stepped on some shed skin, most likely from their tails growing.

“So we just wait.” Killian said, sitting down.

Kauss sighed and looked at the baby Tetsons. There was three of them overall, and they were the source of the whimpering. As soon as the Tetsons spotted them when they entered, they began barking even louder, crying for momma Tetson to bust through the door and teach these idiot humans a lesson. He hoped momma Tetson heard the call so she could come down faster ad make their job quicker.

“Do you think that is how the tower was invented?” Killian asked.

“Strange for you to ask such a question.” Kauss remarked.

Killian shrugged. “I get curious a lot. I just rarely voice ‘em.”

“I doubt that stuff is real.” Helona said. “People look for something to believe in to be able to forget the fact we’re all dying.” She looked at Kauss. “No offense, but that applies your grandma too.”

“Yeah, I know.” He waved off the statement.

Some people just want to live their own lives the way they decide to. They’ll do things they want to do, say everything they want to say, and believe whatever they want to believe, no matter the cost to other people. Kauss knew a man down on the first floor that had enough of the charade that everyone blanketed themselves over. He felt like everyone was living life wrong cause they weren’t accepting the horrifying reality of the world. He felt they should all be as miserable as him.

He started calling peoples Gods out as false, saying that no matter what anyone did, they were living a lie, and said there is no true freedom to say anything they wanted. He was murdered only a week after he started doing that. Some random elderly man got drunk and ran into him. When the man started berating him about how he shouldn’t drink the pain away and embrace it, the old man smashed him in the head with the same beer bottle he stole from the bar. That was just life down there, and they refused to embrace it cause they were too scared to. People who try to control another’s life were doomed to die, not because they were exposing the truth, but because they refused to let people live a lie.

In the prison of his mind, he could feel a lot of things happening around him. He could hear the whimpering of the baby Tetsons even clearer than before. He could hear Helona and Killian flicking their flashlights on and off, bored from the waiting. He could even feel a shaking underneath his feet.

He opened his eyes. The ground was truly shaking from underneath him. Actually, if they were at the lowest point of the floor, then the ground was actually shaking from above him. The Tetson’s began crying louder as the entire room began to shake. Kauss, Helona, and Killian stood up, trying to keep themselves on steady feet. The roof above them wasn’t breaking up, but Kauss still worried that it would cave in on them.

Suddenly, a loud roar cried out from above them. That roar was unmistakable. It was the roar of a Tetson, and an angry one at that. However, a single Tetson couldn’t cause this much shaking. Kauss tried thinking about what it could be, until suddenly, he heard something move incredibly quick down the tunnel. Helona pulled out her gun, and Killian raised his fists. Kauss pointed his flashlight down the tunnel. Nothing appeared except for the ever-growing darkness, yet the noise persisted.

Then, the Tetson appeared. Kauss gasped as it walked in, swiveling on its feet as the shaking grew even larger. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Once it was in, it took one final breath and collapsed, half its face burned away, revealing its skull underneath skin and muscle.