After a while the forest gradually decreased in density and nature, they were crossing from one
biome to another, changing the wooded scenery to plains. Dense green pastures, fields of
flowers in some parts in the far distance, scattered trees on both sides and slight hills to climb.
The most particular change was in the road they were walking on, transforming from semi mossy stone to a road of asphalt and pink paint, along with it, streetlights now extinguished that clashed
with the natural and peaceful environment, and the gold that adorned them only amplified the
sensation.
In the distance something loomed, an unnatural structure, a building of dull colors and little else.
From the position it was sure to be adjacent to that black road, they made a quick and concise
decision, they would explore that place as soon as they were at the gates of it.
—Should we pick up the pace. — said Marcus, intrigued by what he observed.
—A bit ironic coming from you, aren't you a six-foot-tall little axolotl? — With his usual humorous
tone, observing her partner.
... Right. —
For every step you take, I have to take two, my pace is already accelerated. —
I meant to go faster and get to that place as soon as possible. —
—Nah, sooner or later we'll get there, there's no point in wearing ourselves out and whatever is
there will surprise us in front of our tiredness. —
Good point Isa, we'd better continue at the current pace... — That last comment of his caught her
attention, reading between the lines allows to understand her better, and just what she wanted —
Do you want me to carry you my kitty?—
—I thought it would take you longer to understand... And the answer is yes! - ignoring the
backpack he was carrying, she jumped on his back, holding onto his shoulders and crossing her
legs around his chest as an anchor so as not to fall off — lead the way, pink fish!—
—At your command, my red kitty. — he rearranged his posture, carrying Isabella for comfort, and
then continued on his way.
The walk was resumed and with it their trip, Isabella with her experience hanging on things took
out of the backpack a cap for her with holes where her ears passed perfectly in order to cover
herself from the sun, doing the same for Marcus not wanting him to dehydrate, he said nothing
because his gills responded to such a gesture. And so, cat and axolotl continued their journey.
The sun was changing its position, step by step they were approaching the unknown which made
them slightly nervous which led them to ask each other what they could find in that place.
—A house like ours?—
—Maybe some kind of outpost or something related to security.— His deep but calm voice
expressed his thoughts.
—That makes more sense, although it's fun to think of it as an administrative building.—
—But why would there be such a building in this place? We still don't see any town in the
distance, and the distance between that place and the house is too far, at least 30 kilometers as
far as I could calculate.—
—Auralys did teach you well in mathematics, I would have lost count after 15 minutes of
starting.—
—Her lessons were a headache, I understand that she wanted to educate me, but I feel she was
pushing too hard.— He wiped the sweat from her forehead, even with the hat, the heat and
carrying Isabella with both backpacks was starting to take its toll on him.
—All for fulfilling her educational plans and getting these strange certificates, and the worst of all
is that according to her there was a lot missing that she didn't have access to.—
—Could it be because of that disconnection she mentioned?—
—It's possible, but that doesn't matter at the moment. Back to the subject, we will have to get
there to satisfy our curiosity. — He paused for a moment when Isabella passed him a water
canteen with pink serum, he took it and took a big gulp
—Thank you, I needed this.—
—Hydrate yourself well my axolotl, we still have to go, luckily the sun won't take long to
set.—
—Yes, yes, enjoy the weather up there.— He took another drink before handing the water
canteen back to Isabella.
More than an hour passed while they both continued on the asphalt, minute by minute the blurred
image of that building became sharper and more detailed, being able to notice more details and
peculiarities of that structure. It did not have many windows, less than 10 for a 3-story building, its
architecture was far from the mansion, it was duller, more formal, polished stone and thick edges.
Being less than a kilometer away Isabella got off Marcus' back, she didn't want to be an obstacle
if something bad happened.
As the distance became shorter, so did the sun's illumination, the sun had recently set and it
wouldn't be too long before nightfall, which is why they accelerated their speed considerably,
Isabella kept her instincts alert while Marcus kept his hand close to his pants in order to have
quick access to his pistol.
—Let's not make any noise, the last thing we need is for them to know we're here, if there's
anyone there of course. — Isabella's pupils dilated, looking for any anomaly.
—What if they've already seen us even before we spotted that place?— Her eagerness was
making her calm temper waver —Hmmm, though they would have intercepted us by now, after all
—I am a pink.—
—That could be good, but it could also be bad. There's only one way to find out.—
They continued on their way in lockstep, neither taking a step more than the other perfectly
synchronized, their tails lying stiff with tension, the building becoming clearer and more detailed,
neither saying anything as they were unsure of their words, that was until the distance grew so
short that the hidden was now obvious, and the image in front of them left them more nervous
than they already were.
Illuminated by the faint rays of the sun and graceful street lamps, they revealed the building's
facade, its walls, its surroundings, and the ground.
Instead of being smooth, the walls were stained by purple, blue and silver colors with light green
dots, they thought it was paint and already until they looked more closely and closely, dried blood
as if it were abstract art.
The surface was not only dirty but also damaged, cracks and fractures in large parts of the wall,
pieces of it lay on the floor. It was obvious, at least 4 different Chromatics were fighting over here, the details of how it happened and why it happened in the first place was a total
unknown to them, they were trying to deduce what happened, looking for more evidence, finding
only more wreckage on the front of the building hidden from their angle of perspective.
Isabella took out her claws anticipating any possible attack, Marcus did the same taking his gun
and pointing it at his surroundings, he didn't shout, he didn't speak, just his breathing agitated,
intense by his erratic glances from one side to the other looking for someone only running into the
growing darkness of the night.
—Do you think it has something to do with the announcement of the Node?— she whispered to
Marcus, visibly nervous.
—I don't know, there's a lot of damage around here, those look like shots from some kind of
weapon.— He pointed to various parts of the wall at a similar height to Isabella.
—Whatever happened here must have been pretty intense, would they still be around here?—
—I don't know, and if I'm honest, I don't know which answer is worse, because there are no
bodies? — His eyes went from the walls to the floor and ornamental plants. —If they are here,
we'll have to fight, and if not, why did they leave?—
—Look, on the right side there is an landing strip like in the mansion, could they have fled that
way? There is no vehicle — Isabella stopped looking at that place and focused on the building
now from a frontal perspective.
We will have to go in, go behind me and don't split up, whatever is inside is going to meet us. —
He said in a serious and confident voice.
Marcus was the first to pass pushing the door of already shattered glass and with the locks
disabled, contrary to what they imagined, the lighting was still working revealing more of that
battle scene.
The place did not seem to be as big as they thought at first, exploring the second floor they
realized the absence of any basement, only rooms with bathrooms of some luxury, maintenance
rooms and electrical systems intact.
In contrast, the entrance and the other rooms showed the nature of the building. Broken
surveillance cameras or covered in more dried blood, damaged furniture, and lots and lots of
papers strewn all over the floor.
Isabella took one reading its contents, the information only spoke of data and statistics on what
seems to be energy consumption, reports and inventories of assigned areas.
As much as she tried to decipher the mystery, the lack of any kind of context and the fact that
many of the documents were torn, dirty or burned made it impossible to recover them.
Without more to see, they went to the second floor where the trace of the fight had become
worse, the walls were more broken, holes not only from gunshots but also from blows, one wall
was even broken revealing the room being an office or rather the remains of one being the
apparent place of origin of the fight because looking at the stairs leading to the third floor they
could see no signs of battle. Having no other relevant things besides collateral damage, they both
went up to the third floor, a look at what would be the usual state and functions of the place
where they were.