Lower Factory – Production Sector 4
It wasn't an attack; it was a metallic avalanche. Hundreds of "Combat Dolls" dropped from the overhead production lines, their steel claws digging into the grate floor, creating a deafening screech.
"Elyra, Defensive Formation Number 3!" Silas shouted, pressing a button on his cane to launch a taut metal cable around a nearby light pole, creating a makeshift tripwire.
"Number 3? That's boring!" Elyra retorted, but her body moved with blind obedience. She ducked under the cable at the exact moment the first three dolls lunged at her. They tripped over Silas's wire, their balance broken.
In that second of imbalance, Elyra was there.
Her sword, Vortigern, didn't just cut; it sang.
SHING!
Three metal heads flew into the air, and black motor oil splattered like blood across her white combat suit.
"Behind you! Six o'clock! Two of them!" Silas directed, stabbing another doll with his electrified cane-spear, frying its circuits.
Elyra spun like a tornado, severing an arm here, piercing a chest there. "There are too many, Silas! My sword is getting hot!"
"I know!" Silas stepped back, his eyes scanning the area frantically. He saw the battle as lines in a book. Every enemy movement was a sentence, and he was looking for the "grammatical error" in their programming to exploit.
"Poggles!" Silas yelled. "I need chaos! Now!"
The lemur popped out of Silas's collar, waving a small screwdriver. "Chaos? My specialty! My specialty!"
Poggles leaped from Silas's shoulder, landed on one of the dolls, and sprinted across their metal heads with amazing agility until he reached the assembly line's main control panel.
Poggles ripped off the cover and began messing with the wires frantically. "Red with blue! No, green! Let's try all of them!"
A massive spark flew, and suddenly, the factory's conveyor belts sped up by 300%.
The hanging dolls that hadn't dropped yet began to swing violently, crashing into each other, raining heavy scrap metal down onto the enemy ranks below, crushing them.
"Our way up!" Silas pointed to one of the speeding hooks passing by. "Elyra, we need to ride that line!"
"You're joking!" Elyra shouted, slicing the leg of a crawling doll.
"The other option is becoming sardines in a can! Jump!"
Silas ran and leaped, embedding his cane's hook into the conveyor chain. It yanked him off the ground with tremendous speed.
Elyra looked back, seeing an army of dolls piling up. She grinned a savage smile, then ran, jumped, and grabbed Silas's outstretched hand at the last second.
The two (and Poggles clinging to Elyra's ankle) soared above the factory, suspended in the air, as the scene below turned into a sea of sparks and crushed metal.
Upper Catwalks – Observation Deck
They jumped off the conveyor belt, landing in a tactical roll onto a narrow steel walkway overlooking the entire factory.
Silas sighed, leaning on the railing to catch his breath. "That was... close."
He checked on Elyra. She was panting, sweat dripping from her forehead, but her eyes were shining with adrenaline. "Did you see how I cut that engine? It was beautiful."
Silas smiled, opening his mouth to praise her, but stopped abruptly.
The smell of the air changed. The scent of oil vanished, replaced by a sweet chemical odor. The smell of rotting flowers.
"Elyra... mask!" Silas shouted, pulling a cloth soaked in a special solution from his pocket and pressing it to his face.
But it was too late.
From the shadows at the end of the walkway, a man stepped out wearing a long coat and a beak-like plague doctor mask, holding a massive rifle spewing thick purple gas.
"Uninvited guests..." The man's voice was muffled and distorted behind the mask. "You are breathing the holy air of The Silent Horizon."
Elyra swayed. The sword dropped from her hand.
"Silas..." she whispered, her voice weak. "My head... the fog..."
It wasn't ordinary poison gas. It was "Concentrated Oblivion Gas."
Silas grabbed her shoulder, trying to steady her. "Elyra! Focus on me! My name is Silas! We are on The Floating Whisper! Don't give in!"
Elyra looked at him, her eyes losing focus with terrifying speed. The violet in her irises began to fade into grey.
"Silas?" she mumbled, as if the name was foreign on her tongue. "Why... why am I holding a sword? I'm scared..."
Silas felt his heart split. The fierce warrior vanished in a second, replaced by the lost girl.
The Crow-masked man laughed. "Ah, the Curse Bearer. Our chemical affects her faster than others. Soon, she will forget even how to breathe."
The man raised his rifle to finish off the helpless Elyra.
Silas's look shifted from concern to a cold, dark fury. He was no longer "The Writer."
He stood in front of Elyra, shielding her with his body. He pressed a button on his cane's handle, opening the tip to reveal a glass lens glowing with intense white light.
"Poggles," Silas said in a low, terrifying voice. "Close your eyes."
"Why?" the lemur asked.
"Because I'm going to burn this Crow's retinas."
FLASH!
An intense beam of light (a directed flashbang) shot from Silas's cane straight into the lenses of the Crow-man's mask.
The man screamed, dropping the rifle and clutching his face, completely blinded.
"Now!"
Silas hoisted Elyra (who was barely conscious) onto his shoulder, kicked the rifle away, and ran toward the emergency door behind the blinded man.
"It won't be long!" the man screamed behind them, staggering. "The whole island knows you're here! There is no escape from memory!"
Silas kicked the door open and sprinted into a dark corridor, whispering to Elyra, who was weeping silently on his shoulder:
"I will read to you, Elyra. I will read to you until my name comes back. I promise."