Mistrunner 2 - Chapter 54 - Adrift (Patreon)

In the beginning, I thought I knew what I wanted. Money. Power. Respect. It seemed so simple. But now? I’d settle for a companion who isn’t looking to leverage my friendship into some advantage.

Nora Lancaster

I pressed myself against the wall of the pre-fabricated building, clutching a grenade as I focused on the readout on my HUD. Only one node remained before I gained access, but I didn’t immediately tear through it. Instead, I took a moment to ensure I was ready for what I’d find when I forced the door open. I shifted, the fingers of one hand tightening around the grip of my R-14.

The plan was simple enough, but simplicity didn’t always mean it would be easy to pull off. In fact, I knew there were dozens of things that could go wrong. But in my situation, there weren’t a lot of other options – not ones that would get me what I wanted, at least. So, after taking a deep, calming breath, I plunged my awareness into the final node, solving it after only a few more seconds. Once that last line of defense fell before me, I took control of the door and immediately commanded it to open.

It slid to the side, exposing the interior – or more importantly, the octavangians who’d sheltered inside. Ignoring them, I tossed my grenade through the door, and a second later, it exploded in a wave of light and sound.

I didn’t hesitate before leaning out and squeezing the trigger. The R-14 barked in a series of three-round bursts that tore through the stunned aliens with surprising ease. But they didn’t go down easily. That rubbery skin was tough, and it had some sort of passive regeneration that made them incredibly difficult to put down.

But it was nothing that couldn’t be solved by a copious cascade of plasma rounds. Before they had a chance to recover from the flashbang-induced stun, I’d already peppered them with bullets. As I exchanged the weapon’s empty magazine for a fresh one, they continued to struggle, a few even begging for mercy. It made me regret my Universal Language ability.

It was easy to slaughter the octavangians so long as I could look at them as the aliens they were. Easier still, when I couldn’t understand their burbling language. However, it grew much more difficult to put them down when the act was accompanied by their urgent pleas for mercy. Still, I hardened my heart by reminding myself that they were invaders. Sure, I hadn’t seen them enslaving or killing people – not like the castorix I’d encountered at the other Rift – but I wasn’t so naïve as to think their hands were clean.

But then again, neither were mine.

I wasn’t ready for that kind of introspection, though, so I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind and finished what I’d started. Before long, the aliens had twitched their last tentacles, and silence reigned through the area. I broke it by using the secure connection to contact Patrick, saying, “Threats neutralized. Come on over.”

After he acknowledged, I set about inspecting the camp. It was surprisingly bare bones, but I did find the trident-like weapons the octavangians had carried to be interesting. I even fired one, but I soon discovered that my physiology didn’t quite match up with the weapon’s grip. I could easily see how tentacles would fare better.

I also found a little supplies and a metallic crate half-full of minor Rift shards, though there was nothing else of value. The shards were of the smallest variety, suggesting that the aliens hadn’t dared delve too deeply into the Rift. I set the crate aside before settling in to loot the aliens’ bodies.

There wasn’t much aside from a few credits, which I had to initiate a one-sided transfer to retrieve, the clothes on their backs, and the aforementioned weapons. All in all, it was a poor haul, but I hoped that the Rift would prove a better source of income. It did beg the question of why they seemed so destitute, though. I knew first-hand how much money could be made delving the Rifts, so why, then, were they not better equipped?

But it didn’t take me long to answer my own question. Obviously, I couldn’t be sure, but from what I’d learned, it wasn’t cheap for the aliens to smuggle people onto the planet. So, it made sense that they would cut costs in order to maximize their profit. On top of that, I couldn’t imagine that mining a Rift was a prestigious job. More likely, the aliens in charge had sent minimally qualified underlings. And finally, it wasn’t as if the area was that dangerous. They’d already cleared out all the wildlife, and humans avoided Dead Zones. So, the reality was that they just didn’t need to be well-equipped or highly capable warriors. Instead, they needed a bunch of hapless mooks who’d accept whatever low pay they were probably given.

Suddenly, I wasn’t so proud of my easy victory.

Fortunately, by that point, I only had to wait a few more minutes before Patrick joined me. I could see that he was a little disturbed by all the bodies, but I wasn’t certain if that was due to the aliens’ macabre appearance or if he just wasn’t comfortable with my massacre. Probably some combination of the two.

Over the next few minutes, I directed him to store the loot in his own skill-based storage. It was much larger than my arsenal implant, but storing anything cost a significant amount of Mist. Retrieving his stored goods was even more expensive. He could get around that requirement by using a specialized node, but those were fairly rare. There were a couple in Nova, most notably in the Dome, but other than that, the only one I knew of was owned by Gunther. Of course, the rich elites in the more affluent districts assuredly had access to their own access points, but that didn’t matter much to me.

In any case, it only took Patrick a few minutes to store everything away. Once he’d finished, I asked, “You ready?”

He nodded, though his anxiety was written plainly across his face. Understandable. I’d been nervous too the first time I’d encountered a Rift. Even now, with that experience behind me, I was still a little apprehensive. After all, Rifts could take almost any form, which meant my experience was less valuable than it probably should have been. However, I had gained a significant amount of power since my last foray into an unknown Rift, so I hoped it would be a little easier.

Regardless, I was committed, and I wasn’t going to waste the opportunity. That didn’t mean Patrick had to go, though. So, I said, “If you don’t want to do this, it’s fine. I won’t look down on you for it. You can stay out here and keep an eye out for –”

“No. I’m going,” he said, his voice laced with steel. That’s one of the things I had always liked about him. He might’ve been frightened, but he wasn’t going to let that steer him off course.

“I thought so,” was my response. “But I wanted to give you a chance to back out. Anyway – let’s do it, then.”

So, with that, we headed toward the nearby Rift, which presented itself as a formless and multicolored prism, around which the arms of the stabilizer curled. In some ways, the Rift was a beautiful sight, but it was also wholly disturbing, considering it just hung in mid-air, unsupported by anything and looking like nothing so much as a window into another, unknowable dimension.

For his part, Patrick was far more interested in the stabilizer, which made sense. He was much more mechanically inclined than I was, so his fascination with the advanced machinery was unsurprising. Still, we were on a schedule. I didn’t think the aliens had an opportunity – or the inclination, really – to call in reinforcements from on high, but if they had, I didn’t want to be around when they landed. The only reason I was willing to chance it at all was because I knew just how difficult it was for the aliens to infiltrate a planet still under the influence of the Initialization. If we didn’t have the security of the quarantine, I would never have attempted it.

Even so, I had no intention of lingering, so I said, “C’mon. Let’s do this. Remember, whatever happens in there, keep your head on a swivel and follow my lead. It’s dangerous, so don’t hesitate for even a second.”

“I got it,” he said.

“Good.”

With that out of the way, I stepped forward and into the Rift. Patrick followed, though the moment I touched that blue prism, I lost all awareness of him – at least until, a second later, I stumbled into a strange situation. Patrick followed, almost tripping over me, but he managed to keep his feet. I wasn’t paying much attention to him, though.

My previous experience within a Rift had conditioned me to expect something fantastical, but what I found was surprisingly familiar.

“Is this…the Bazaar?” asked Patrick.

My initial thought was that it was indeed the familiar space station orbiting Earth. However, there were a couple of key differences, chief among them that there was no crowd. The other major discrepancy was that the place looked like it had been abandoned for decades. The metallic walls, many of which bore huge rents that looked like claw marks, were rusted and stained with blood, and the floors hadn’t fared any better.

“I don’t think so,” I said. “I think…I think this is…I don’t know. A copy or something, maybe.”

To the people of Earth, the Bazaar was a unique setting, but as far as I knew, there were dozens – perhaps even hundreds – of worlds in various stages of Integration in the wider universe. As such, it made sense that each one would play host to its own space station. It didn’t take a leap of logic to assume that they were all similar.

In a way, that thought made me feel smaller than ever before. Humanity wasn’t even close to unique. We weren’t special. We were just a speck when compared to the rest of the universe.

“It doesn’t matter,” I said, hefting my R-14, which I’d summoned the moment we’d passed through the Rift. I scanned the giant entryway – it was at least five-hundred yards long and perhaps twice as wide, with ceilings more than a hundred feet above the floor – but I found no threats. The place was entirely empty.

And creepy.

The Bazaar was an intimidating place, largely because of its incomprehensible size and the technology on display. However, it had also felt surprisingly mundane, mostly due to the crowds of humans that frequented the space station. This, though…this was different. Seeing its abandonment and the state of decay sent a shiver up my spine.

“Was the other Rift like this?” Patrick asked, his voice quivering a bit. I noticed that he at least had his pistol out, but he was clutching it so hard his knuckles had turned white. Not surprising, given the ominous atmosphere.

“No. No, it wasn’t,” I replied. “But it doesn’t matter. They’re all different. This is just another scenario. Let’s move. I’m not sure what we’re going to have to fight here, but it’ll probably be something horrible.”

Indeed, the creatures in my first Rift had been terrifying tentacle monsters and rat-like creatures. I didn’t know if that was normal, but I suspected that each Rift would play host to something terrible.

With that, we started forward – gradually and with great caution – but it proved unnecessary. Nothing attacked us. There weren’t even any obstacles. Still, I didn’t relax. Even if the disturbing environment allowed for such a shift in my demeanor, I knew just how quickly things could turn. So, with my weapon up, we progressed into the first corridor.

For a while, we didn’t encounter anything, and I began to think that the space station truly was completely abandoned. However, after about an hour, I saw something that put my hackles up.

One side of the wall was completely missing, and it was entirely open to space.  The only thing keeping the atmosphere from escaping was a thin, blue Mist shield, though I knew from experience just how flimsy those could be. One little Misthack, and the thing would come down. If that happened, Patrick and I would be sucked out into the void of space.

But for now, even though it flickered with every passing second, it still held, which allowed me to focus on the planet looming in the distance. Or it had once been a planet.

“It…it looks like something took a bite out of it,” muttered Patrick.

And he was right. There was a sizable portion missing from the sphere, and though a few pieces lingered, slowly orbiting the orb, there wasn’t enough material to account for the absent pieces.

I was just about to say something when I noticed the blackness of space move.

“Oh…oh, God…”

Whatever it was, it was enormous beyond all comprehension. I could barely see more than the outline, but even that was enough to twist my insides into a thousand knots. It had the shape of a giant serpent. Or perhaps a worm. I couldn’t make out any more than that.

But it was enough.

In the past, I’d wondered about the nature of the universe. I had only been awakened a few years before, and already, I’d developed superhuman abilities and traits. And I knew that Mist extended life spans significantly. My uncle had been over a hundred years old, and he hadn’t even looked like he’d reached middle-age. So, extrapolating from that, what kind of power could someone twice his age achieve? What if they had the benefit of a fully Integrated world and all the technology and information that came with it? What about someone a thousand years old? Two-thousand? What was the limit? Did a limit even exist?

More, I had seen extremely powerful creatures as well. I also knew that, while they didn’t progress in the same way that someone with a Nexus Implant might, they could still grow stronger. I’d sometimes wondered what would happen if something like that dragon had survived the bomb that had been meant to kill it? What if it had continued to grow more and more powerful?

Perhaps the thing hovering near the planet was the answer to that question. It didn’t take a lot of guesswork to wonder if it had been the cause of that planet’s woes. After all, it was large enough that it wasn’t difficult to imagine that it had taken a bite.

Fortunately, it hadn’t noticed us. Even if it had, would it even care? We weren’t even ants to that monster.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped back from the huge rent in the wall, retreating until I couldn’t see the scene outside the space station. That’s when the lights started flickering.

I flinched, but with a force of will, I focused on the things I could change. If that monster decided it wanted to eat the space station, then that’s what it was going to do. I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t even make it think twice. When it came to that creature, I was entirely powerless.

And I hated it.

Not because I thought I had reached the pinnacle or anything. I knew I hadn’t. In fact, I knew I wasn’t even close. But I’d somehow convinced myself that I could stand up to whatever monster happened to cross my path. After all, I’d spent a relative fortune on an arsenal of weapons that would take care of most threats on Earth. Maybe I wouldn’t be able to stand up to enemies from other parts of the universe, but I could at least give them pause.

Seeing that planet-sized monster put the lie to that expectation.

“Are you okay?” asked Patrick, his voice trembling. He was just as terrified as I was. I knew that. But still, he was worried about me.

“No. Not really,” I said. “I…I don’t…”

I took another deep breath. Seeing that creature didn’t change anything. I didn’t need to be the most powerful person around, did I? No. I just needed enough strength to dissuade anyone from taking advantage of me.

“I’m fine,” I lied. “I’m fine. Let’s…let’s keep going…”

“But –”

“I said I’m fine, Patrick,” I reiterated. Then, I took another deep breath before adding, “Nothing’s changed. We still need to finish this Rift.”

“I…shouldn’t we just turn back?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Did you see an exit? Because I didn’t,” I said. I’d looked for it, too. During my first Rift experience, I’d been stupid enough to keep going well after I should have turned back. Back then, I’d had my reasons – mostly that I wanted to prove myself to my uncle, and I thought that retreating from the Rift would have counted as a failure of the test he’d given me – but they didn’t matter in the face of how foolish the decision had been. So, I’d vowed not to repeat it.

The Rift seemed to have other ideas, though, and it didn’t offer a convenient exit. If I had to guess, we weren’t getting out unless we found our way to the end. I did wonder how the octavangians, who I’d assumed had never progressed far into the Rift, had gotten out. Perhaps they had some specialized equipment or something. Or maybe they just knew what they were doing. I had no way of knowing and little opportunity to research possible explanations.

With that, I started forward, pointedly ignoring the giant hole in the space station’s fuselage – or more importantly, the shadowy creature that had taken a bite out of planet. Patrick followed, probably because he had no idea what else to do.

For the next hour, we saw nothing else of note, save that the state of the station was more of the same. So, when we finally stumbled upon a change, I almost didn’t notice it.

“Stop!” Patrick said, reaching out and grabbing my arm.

In most cases, he wouldn’t have been capable of stopping me, but the moment he’d spoken, my awareness snapped back to reality, and I saw precisely what had alarmed him. Before us was a metal wire stretched across the hall at chest height, so thin that it was barely even visible.

“What the…”

“I only saw it because the lights flashed,” he muttered. “What do you think it is?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “It almost looks like a…”

A series of clicks sounded from up ahead, and I looked up just in time to see one more horror to add to my nightmares.

“…a spider’s web.”