Apart from the chairs and the table, there was nothing else in the control room.When they tried to interact with the walls, they learned that every functionality was damaged beyond repair. So, with nothing left to find, they moved to the next room. The next room was the ‘Mass Biomachine Storage’, which was a long and wide room that extended for miles according to the hologram in the control center. Differing from any other room in the whole underground complex, the door to the chamber was a massive double door and was reinforced with blue metal and black material. In spite of the door’s size, it swung open with the same message as the control room door emblazoned across it.

[PROJECT ATZI Recognized: Welcome, scavenger]

The doors swinging open, the group was able to peer into the massive room beyond and like Kain guessed, the room was filled with pods they theorized held dormant biomachines. From floor to ceiling, from wall to wall, and with a dozen rows, pods lined the room. The room was about 30 feet tall and had so many pods going in deeper into the chamber that none of the explorers present could count them. As well as that, not all pods were the same size. Some were large spheres a dozen feet in radius while others were cylinders as tall as the room and others still were tiny bubble-like pods.

The thing that made itself the most apparent was that every pod was smashed and almost all of them had blood dried on the shards that still jutted from the metal bases. Some blood was green. Some blood was blue. Some blood was violet. Some blood was orange. Some blood was even red. In spite of it all, not a single body could be found near the entrance.

Seeing that there was nothing to find at the beginning, the group entered further into the room. As they continued on, the group found more of the same: blood of every color, shattered pods, and more black material floors. After a while, they found a lift carved into the wall, accompanied by blood and broken glass. Another while later they stumbled upon another lift. The pattern continued, as the group moved further and further into the room, they found more and more lifts. By the time they had been moving for an hour, they finally found the end of the room.

Instead of a wall of pods at the end, the group found a massive lift and an equally massive skeleton lying on top of the platform. It was not the skeleton of some giant lizard or incredible monkey, but was a series of rings. The rings were similar to segmented spines with numerous ribs jutting up or down. The most striking thing about the skeleton was that the spines were able to slide inwards and make the volume smaller. It reminded Kain of a pufferfish and he said as much. Ythane agreed, saying that the skeleton reminded her of ‘stingclouds,’ which were apparently massive balls of light gas held together by a weak skeleton and thin, stretchy skin.

As they were discussing, Luna offered her opinion, “It looks like… a bush,” she stated.

“How so?” both Kain and Ythane said at once.

“Well, the bones are like the branches, and the space between is like the leaves!” she said cheerfully. She then walked to the nearest bone, broke a rib piece off, picked it up, and bit into it. The small rib snapped in half and Luna ate it like a candy bar. “Mmm… this isn’t that bad! Hey, look at… why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.

Kain and Ythane stared at her as she chowed down on the bone. After a few painfully long seconds, Ythane bent over her crystal laughing and Kain just sighed, saying, “Why do I have to tell you why that’s wrong? You’re tens of times older than me.” Luna shrugged.

Ythane soon regained enough control to speak. “What does it look like when it’s alive?” she asked, breaking down laughing as she finished her sentence.

Luna closed her eyes, looked through the DNA that came from the bone, and began to simulate the creature in her mind. “Hmm… it looks like a big… ball? Sphere? Like the sun but smaller and less bright.”

“A ball then,” Kain said, sighing when she took another bite of the year-old bone.

“Then a ball. It’s a ball… and see through. There’s an opening in the bottom where there are a bunch of muscles that are able to extend… oh! That’s far! I can use that… Okay, so it can reach down about a mile using that giant mess of muscle tissue. Though, by then it’s less like an attack and more like a tap. So it looks like the muscle mess is able to stuff stuff into the interior of the ball. From there, it is able to secrete an acidic, lighter than air gas that will dissolve anything put in it within a few minutes. Seems effective… I’ll use that later… The one thing that doesn’t make sense is that there’s no brain. I know that simple stuff can live without it, but this thing is… too complex for that. Is it… oh… there it is… it’s in the muscle mass on the bottom. Okay, that makes sense,” she half explained, half rambled.

Kain’s lips turned into a smirk. “There’s smart Luna again, she’s back after her vacation,” he teased.

“Hey! I’ve been smart! Like that time when… um…”

“I’m only teasing. You’re smart enough as you are,” he said, making Luna’s struggling face turn to a smile.

“So,” Ythane cut in, “It is an invisible floating ball that can hang in the air, grab things from a mile above them, and dissolve whatever it consumes using its method of floating? A powerful weapon indeed. I would assume that such a beast would be perfect for assassinations espionage,” she pondered.

“Either way, are you able to use that thing, Luna?” Kain asked.

“Mhm! If I shifted to become that, I might be able to get more than a mile out of the muscle mass grabers because of the mass compression I can do,” she explained, “That, and I can become itty bitty!”

“Well, guess it’s time to go back,” Kain said, staring at the long walk ahead of them. They took another hour to traverse the long storage facility and eventually ended up back in the Nexus. With the other two doors explored, the group entered the ‘Maintenance room.’

After another door and another PROJECT ATZI message, the large door slid open to reveal a large workshop. The workshop was mostly barren, however. The pods that lined the walls were all smashed, the tools and components were all missing, the numerous terminals were all smashed, and the tables were all tipped over.

“This place is…”

“Destroyed.”

“Broken!”

“... Charming,” he said, words oozing sarcasm, “Anyway, I don’t think we’ll find anything, but let’s look around anyway.” As Kain predicted, they found nothing in the workshop apart from broken glass and blood. Seeing as they could not find anything of value, they decided to leave the Nexus.

*=====*

New record for shortest chapter. I’ve been busy for the last few days, so I couldn’t make as long of a chapter as I would have liked. Apologies for that. By the time this chapter releases, there will be another chapter out with it, so just take this as the beginning of the transition period. That’s right! We’re going to be leaving the Soul City arc and entering the new one: The People of Power arc! Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed and thanks for reading.