"Okay," Ryder said as the scan faded. His head throbbed, but he stood up straight and tried to focus.
"Plan B," he said. "We find another way out. Not back towards that thing."
He turned, and Rigg nodded, clearly having the same idea.
They moved away from the pillar, trying to move back towards the way they came in, hoping it was still open.
SCHLICK-THUMP.
Then, stone shifted quietly as the entrance closed.
The stone flowed together, sealing the opening completely.
Now, a smooth wall stood where the door had been, leaving no sign they could escape that way.
Rigg made a sad sound. "The entrance is gone."
Ryder stared, unable to believe it. He reached out and touched the smooth, cool stone where the door was just moments ago.
Just then, the System messages appeared again, calm and clear:
[ENVIRONMENTAL ADAPTATION COMPLETE] [PATH PARAMETERS UPDATED BASED ON ANOMALY DATA] [DESIGNATED PATH FORWARD CONFIRMED] [RETURN VECTOR NULLIFIED] [TURNING BACK IS NO LONGER AN OPTION]
Ryder read the words, his jaw feeling tight. Trapped. Again.
He looked down the only path left: a clean, humming tunnel leading deeper into this strange place.
He felt angry, like when command changed orders suddenly with no reason, just demanding they follow the new plan.
He lifted his shield, the weight feeling good on his arm, and gripped his blade, the cool metal feeling real.
"Right," he said quietly. "Guess we take the designated route."
He glared at the wall that blocked their way back, then looked down the tunnel ahead.
Next time, I make the plan, he thought. He nodded at Rigg, who looked scared.
"Stick close," Ryder said. "Looks like this place isn't done with us."
They walked into the only tunnel leading away from the pillar room.
The path turned sharply and got narrow fast. Soon, Ryder's shoulders almost brushed the walls as he walked.
The walls were perfectly smooth and cool, which felt strange. The only sounds were their footsteps, echoing loudly in the quiet tunnel.
Then the floor changed.
One second, it was smooth black stone; the next, under Ryder's boot, it felt like rough dirt, like a path he remembered from training. A few steps later, it changed again, feeling like dark, hard sand from a beach assault course.
Stone. Dirt. Sand. Stone again. The floor changed constantly under their feet.
"Okay, now it's just being weird," Ryder muttered, placing each foot carefully and testing the ground before putting his weight down.
"It's changing. Reacting," Betsy said. "Remember the scan by the pillar? This feels like that. Maybe it's using your memories to build the path, but it's getting it wrong, like a bad simulation."
Ryder grunted. "Tell it I didn't ask for a terrain course." He hated the idea of this place using his memories; it felt wrong.
After a moment, the air felt heavy again, and the green light from Rigg's glow-rod flickered, seeming pulled to one side.
Ryder felt slightly off balance as something gently pushed him to his right.
It felt like the floor tilted a tiny bit, or maybe gravity was acting strange. He adjusted his balance easily, but behind him, Rigg suddenly stumbled and cried out.
"You alright back there?" Ryder asked, keeping his focus forward.
"Yeah," Rigg said, his voice tense. "Just… the ground keeps shifting."
Ryder needed to rest because his leg hurt. He leaned against the cool, smooth wall, keeping his shield ready while watching down the tunnel. He took a breath and put some weight against the wall.
Then the wall moved.
It pressed inward slowly, just an inch closer than before.
He felt the slight pressure on his shoulder.
His eyes narrowed. This place kept finding new ways to be creepy.
He pushed himself off the wall and stepped forward, and the wall moved back silently.
He stopped, then leaned back again to test it. The wall pressed in again, gentle but definitely moving.
"Okay, that's new," Betsy said. "Maybe it wants you to lean there? Or maybe it doesn't like being touched. Hard to tell if it's helpful or just creepy."
"Leaning towards creepy," Ryder muttered, deciding not to lean on the walls anymore.
Eventually, the narrow hallway ended, opening into a wide, stone stairwell. The stairs went up into darkness, and the air felt thin and cool, like in the tunnels.
"Stairs?" Ryder growled, his leg hurting. "Seriously?"
"It… it wants us to go up," Rigg said, pointing up the stairs with a shaky finger.
"Yeah, I got that part, kid." Ryder looked at the stairs. It wouldn't be easy with his bad leg, but it was better than staying in this weird place. "Stay behind me. Keep that light steady."
He started climbing, his hurt leg aching with every step up.
The stairs were long and winding, and it was very quiet. The smooth stone made it hard to get a good grip, and the only sounds were their breathing and the soft scrape of Ryder's shield.
Finally, the stairs ended. They were not in another tunnel but stepped onto the edge of a huge, open space. Ryder moved out carefully, shield up and blade ready, surprised by how big the place was.
It was a giant room.
The ceiling was too high to see in the dark, and the floor was the same smooth black stone. The room was huge, maybe fifty yards across.
Around the edges of the floor were deep, black trenches that looked bottomless in the green light from Rigg's glow-rod.
The silence felt heavy, like something was about to happen.
CLANG!
Suddenly, a loud noise echoed from the high ceiling, making Ryder and Rigg both jump. Ryder spun around, blade ready, looking for the source of the sound.
The stairs they just climbed were gone; a thick stone slab had slammed down, sealing the way.
Trapped. Again. One. More. Time. The thought felt bitter.
"Alright," Ryder muttered, looking back at the huge room.
So, this is a test floor, he thought, scanning the empty space and the deep trenches, a constant danger.
Then, high up, the ceiling seemed to ripple like heat haze, but solid. The stone flowed and bulged, forming a shape.
Next, something dropped from the ceiling, falling silently towards the floor below.
It wasn't alive. Ryder watched it fall. It looked a bit like a dog – four legs, a body, a head – but it had no face or fur.
It looked like it was made from junk: scrap metal, broken rocks, and wood splinters, held together by thick threads that seemed to move when he looked closely.
[CONSTRUCT DETECTED: MEMORY FRAGMENT – TYPE: SCRAP HOUND]
[ANALYSIS: ARTIFICIAL AGGRESSOR. SOURCE MATERIAL… INCONCLUSIVE BUT RESONATES WITH ANOMALY DATA.]
"Heads up!" Betsy warned. "Looks like they're using your memories now. Incoming!"
Great, Ryder thought. Monsters made just for me.
The first Scrap Hound stood up and started running silently and smoothly. Then another ripple appeared in the ceiling, and a second construct dropped down, landing closer, between Ryder and the first one.
Ryder got ready, planting his good leg firmly. He angled his shield to block the nearest Scrap Hound. It hit the shield hard, the impact shaking his arm.
The construct moved back a little, and Ryder attacked with his blade, aiming for a leg joint. The blade hit hard, and sparks flew.
The construct cracked where the blade hit. Cracks spread across the stone part as the threads holding it snapped with small ping sounds. The construct stumbled, its leg broken.
Meanwhile, the second Hound ran towards him, circling around. Ryder turned, dodging its silent attack, and let it run towards the edge of the floor, near the trench.
He didn't push it in yet because it was too risky with his bad leg. Instead, he turned back to the first Hound and stabbed his blade deep into the broken leg joint. It shattered with a loud crack, and the creature fell, trying to crawl forward on three legs.
He fought carefully, using his shield to keep space between him and the hounds. He kept both monsters in front of him, aware of the trench behind him and his weak leg.
He slammed his shield into the second Hound's side as it attacked again, making it lose balance. He quickly turned and hit its back hard with his blade.
CRACK!
The construct stopped moving. It shook hard, then fell apart. The scrap metal, stone, and wood pieces clattered to the floor, the shiny threads holding them together disappearing like smoke.
Next, he turned to the first Hound, which was still trying to crawl towards him.
He hit its middle section hard with his blade, shattering it. Sparks and dust flew up, and then it was still.
Ryder stood breathing heavily, leaning on his blade with its tip on the stone floor. The silence returned, feeling even bigger in the huge room.
He looked back; Rigg stood near the sealed stairs, his eyes wide in the green light.
Then, across the room, about thirty yards away, part of the floor near the trench started to rise. It lifted slowly, like a huge trapdoor, showing a gap underneath.
A bridge started forming from the gap, stretching slowly over the trench towards Ryder's side, made of the same black stone.
"That… that's probably our way out," Rigg said, sounding relieved.
"No kidding," Ryder said, tired.
He wiped sweat off his face with his dirty arm as the bridge finished forming. It lined up perfectly with the floor on both sides, crossing over the black trench.
It pointed to a new opening in the far wall where a dark tunnel waited past the end of the bridge.
Another tunnel, he thought. Of course.
He limped across the huge floor, the new bridge being the only way forward. Rigg hurried behind him, and the bridge felt solid under his boots.
They reached the end of the bridge and stepped onto the other side. Then they walked towards the dark opening, towards whatever waited for them next.