The group were moving the entire night. They had to take a snap, when the sun set, as they had no clear direction to go towards.
Max: I thought you guys knew where you were going!!!
Melissa was sulking all alone, and Lin had a carefree attitude as usual. They themselves didn't have a map and were just balling it. But they wouldn't open up about their mission too, when asked.
Chuck on the other hand was preparing for the campfire and to roast the food they had brought from the village. Albert helped him and soon they began eating.
Chuck: This...is a problem!!!
As Chuck shouted, he grabbed everyone's attention. He then pointed at the bags they were carrying.
Chuck: At this rate, we will be running on empty in two days!!!
Albert: Well, we can still find the food on the way too..
Albert tried assuring him that it's fine. Possibly because he himself was a traveler and mostly survived in the wilderness. But this got Max thinking.
Max was a rather lazy individual. He hated long walks, and wondered how long they had to walk. Also there was the massive case of food shortage. And most of all, Max didn't like bringing this up, but he hated that he has to wear the same clothes. All this problems led his mind to one solution.
Max: Alright!! Let's go to the Dome!!
Melissa: The Dome?? You mean the place they bad you??
Max: Exactly!! Who knows...we might find food there. The type that don't rot. I mean...who ever it was that put me in there, were planning to preserve us for a long time.
This was what they agreed on finally after a slight discussion. They would go back to the Dome once again, and find the necessary items for their journey, and move on after calculating where they need to go. Plus it was a very nice shelter for them, protective against the weather and wild animals.
Once the sun rose again, they changed their direction and started moving to the Dome. The entire night was chaos. Chuck was crying again, all alone. Lin and Albert took turns watching guard. They even forced Max to do one shift, but spared Chuck and Melissa.
And after two hours of walking, Max was munching on what resembled a protein bar from back in his time. This was shaped like a cookie, and apparently would last for days without getting spoilt. Max enjoyed the savoury, granting him the stamina required to walk.
Eventually they reached the huge Black cylindrical building. It was two hundred meters wide and four hundred meters tall. Max was again taken aback by the sheer scale of it. He was confused on how humanity even built something like that.
Chuck: This place is insane no matter how many times I look at it...
Max nodded in agreement, and they walked towards the Dome. They didn't know the exact height of the Dome too, as most of it was underground too.
Max raised his head above and looked at the huge golden eye symbol pointing downwards.
Max: That thing's still there...??
Albert: My Master told me that it stays that way for a week after "birth" , but I don't know how long it has been since you became the Avatar..
Max: Aah...I see!!
They were about to go in, when Max was noticing something different about the exterior of the Dome. He couldn't really put a finger on it, but there was something different about the outside of the Dome. The electronic panels of the outside were open, and parts of what looked like an engine was seen.
Max: Weird...
All five of them stepped in and immediately, Lin and Albert instinctively pulled out their swords. They both glared at each other, but then faced forward.
Melissa: What? What happened??
Albert: Don't move...something's coming this way.
Max also noticed sounds of scratches and metal clanking. And then, from the corner of the room, three robotic rats came in.
They were palm sized, had broom like structures in their unusually huge mouths, and bad a plastic cover in their tails. They were moving at high speeds and cleaning the floor, clearing the rubble all around them, which was the result of Albert's fight with them earlier on.
Max: I'm already so used to seeing random shit happening. But....you guys can see that right..??
Max had to make sure, just in case.
Lin: What the HELL is that??
Melissa: They look like rats....
Chuck": So, they are armoured rats??
Max: What??! No!! They are clearly robots!!!
Rats: Clean! Clean! Clean!!
The robot rats cleaned the floor and vanished in the end of the hallway.
Chuck: What's a robot??
Max: Oh right, you guys don't know what that means, right?? Haha...I'm the only one smart enough to understand this!! Yes! I've always dreamed of this day!!
Max chuckled like an evil warlord. He then turned to his Troupe, who just had the most annoyed expression ever. Max corrected himself.
Max: Robots are machines...well....how can I explain machines to cave men??
Lin: What cavemen?? We don't live in caves!!
Chuck: I did...technically..?!
As Max was busy thinking they heard a voice.
???: Maximus Augilleris Steefan. So...you are here...!!
Max looked at the voice behind the person. The voice carried no emotion whatsoever, and Max had realised that the owner is a robot. And he was right, as he saw the same silver, green robot that he had seen the first time he woke up here. Only, he wasn't "offline" anymore...