The red light on the walls spun faster. The alarm was a constant scream in Kaelen's ears.
WARNING. SECTOR 4 LOCKDOWN. OXYGEN PURGE IN 5 MINUTES.
"They're going to kill us all!" a miner yelled. "They're shutting off the air!"
Panic exploded in the tunnel. The miners ran around like trapped rats. They clawed at the walls. They begged the cameras for mercy.
Kaelen stood still. He felt dizzy. His nose was bleeding. Using the "Logic Breaker" skill hurt his brain. It felt like someone had hammered a nail into his skull.
He wiped the blood away. He looked at Jory.
"Stop shaking, old man," Kaelen said.
Jory looked at the dead robots, then at Kaelen. "You killed them. Now the System will kill us. We should have just worked!"
"Working is dying slowly," Kaelen said. He tightened his grip on the heavy robot blaster arm. "I prefer to live fast."
He walked over to the dead leader robot. He saw a blue card sticking out of its chest slot. He pulled it out.
[ITEM FOUND: ACCESS CARD (LEVEL 1)]
[DESCRIPTION: OPENS BASIC DOORS.]
"Come on," Kaelen said. He started walking toward the massive steel Blast Door at the end of the tunnel.
"Where are you going?" Jory cried.
"Up," Kaelen said. "To the sky."
Jory hesitated. He looked at the other miners who were crying on the floor. Then, he looked at Kaelen's back. Kaelen walked like he owned the place.
Jory ran after him. "Wait! You can't just walk out. The Blast Door is three feet of solid titanium!"
They reached the door. It was huge. It had no handle, only a scanner.
HISS.
Steam shot out of the pipes. The air was getting thin. The oxygen purge had started.
Kaelen swiped the card on the scanner.
BEEP-BUZZ.
Access Denied. Lockdown in effect.
"See?" Jory wheezed, clutching his chest. "It's over. The math says we die here."
Kaelen stared at the red light on the scanner.
"The math says the door is locked," Kaelen muttered. He closed his eyes. He pictured the door.
In his mind, the door wasn't locked. In his mind, the door was open. He pushed his madness into the machine.
"Open," Kaelen commanded.
He didn't swipe the card again. He punched the scanner.
SMASH.
Plastic and wires flew everywhere.
Usually, breaking a scanner keeps the door locked forever. That is how technology works.
But Kaelen's "glitch" changed the rules. The system panicked. It didn't know if it was locked or unlocked, so it defaulted to Kaelen's will.
KA-CHUNK.
The massive gears inside the wall groaned. The heavy steel door began to slide open.
The miners behind them stopped crying. They stared in shock.
"He... he opened it," someone whispered.
"Move!" Kaelen yelled.
He stepped through the door, out of the dirty mine and into the Transport Bay.
This room was clean. It was white and bright. In the center, there was a massive freight elevator—a metal platform large enough to carry tanks. It led straight up a giant shaft, toward the surface.
But the elevator wasn't empty.
A man stood there. He wasn't a robot. He was human. He wore a crisp blue officer's uniform and held a pistol. He was looking at a tablet, looking bored.
He looked up and saw Kaelen covered in dirt and robot oil.
"Oh," the officer said. He adjusted his glasses. "A rat escaped the cage."
Kaelen didn't stop walking. "I'm not a rat."
The officer sighed. He raised his pistol. "Stop right there, slave. Or I'll put a hole in your—"
Kaelen threw the heavy robot blaster arm. He didn't shoot it. He threw it like a spear.
It flew across the room faster than a baseball.
THUD.
The heavy metal hit the officer in the chest. He flew backward and hit the wall. He slid down, unconscious.
Kaelen stepped onto the elevator platform. Jory scrambled on behind him. A few brave miners followed them, terrified but desperate.
Kaelen looked at the control panel. There were many buttons.
"Do you know how to fly this?" Jory asked.
"No," Kaelen said. He smashed his fist onto the button labeled SURFACE.
VRRRMMM.
The platform shuddered. It began to rise.
Kaelen looked up the dark shaft. He could see a tiny dot of real light far above.
[QUEST STARTED: ESCAPE THE UNDERGROUND]
[DIFFICULTY: SUICIDE]
[REWARD: ???]
Kaelen grinned. His nose bled again, dripping onto his shirt.
"Here we go," he whispered.