March 28th, 2008

7:41 PM

Giygax Project #9847 Darkling Series [Version 1.1.6]

© Copyright 2007-2008 Giygax Corp.

C:\Unit8\System\OpsCheck

Running System Ops Check…

Warning: Critical damage to drive unit detected.

Warning: Critical damage to ROM detected. Stored memory inaccessible.

Warning: Critical damage to power supply detected.

C:\Unit8\System\Startup

Unit8 is starting up…

Warning: Startup failed. Critical damage to power supply.

C:\Unit8\System\EmergencyStartup

Identifying damaged power routes…

Identifying intact pathways…

Rerouting…

Power successfully rerouted. Emergency Startup Complete.

7:45 PM

She awoke with a gasp. That first breath seared her lungs, as if someone had poured molten glass through her nostrils, down her throat and into her chest. That acrid sting only made her more aware of the screaming pain in her abdomen and back. She took a second, deeper breath, which only hurt worse than the first as more of the stinking, burning air filled her chest cavity. As she forced herself to regulate her breathing, she began to calm down, and her awareness of her surroundings grew. She was lying flat on her stomach, and the ground beneath her was composed of firm dirt. The air was hot, gritty, and putrid to smell and taste. Her back was crooked because an object was wedged beneath her left hip, propping it off the ground. Below her hips, she could feel nothing.

She cried out at that realization. Her legs were mere dead weight. Mustering up all the energy she could, she pushed off the ground with her arms and rolled herself over onto her back. The pressure of the object she had been lying on did not subside when se rolled away—it felt as if it came up with her, stuck to her. Screwing up her face against the pain ramming up her spine and into the base of her skull like a superheated railroad spike, she forced her eyes open—and quickly snapped them back shut against the fierce heat and grit that slashed at her eyeballs. It was no loss that she could not open her eyes, she thought, as she could not see anything when she did anyway. Nothing but the black smoke that she drew into her system with every breath.

A constant hissing and crackling nearby told her that something was on fire. Fully alert and gaining back a bit of strength, she dragged herself away from the spot she had awoken at. Using a hand to shield her face, she tried opening her eyes again, eager to make sure that she wasn't heading any closer to the flames.

She could see about two feet around her in every direction, but everything beyond that was concealed by a thick swath of black ash. Twisted scraps of metal with wicked sharp edges were strewn on the ground in front of her.

One of these was solidly embedded in the left side of her stomach.

"What the fuck…" she heard herself moan in disbelief. Hands shaking from the sight of the metal shard coming out of her, she took as strong a grip as she could on it, and pulled. It took some effort, but she was able to work the blade free. She felt an unpleasant shudder as it came loose from the base of her spine—so, it had been this piece of shrapnel that had impaled and paralyzed her—and with disgust she threw it to the dirt, away from herself. She gripped her wounded abdomen with her left hand as she supported herself on her right arm, listening carefully for any signs of the fire or any approaching help. That was when her eyes trailed across her own left arm.

There, tattooed lengthwise along the inner side of her forearm, was a single word.

DARKLING8

But what the word meant to her, she didn't know or care. Her attention was focused elsewhere—a rip in the flesh of her arm had missed the word by half an inch, and from her arm trailed broken wires. Crimson hydraulic fluid spilled from every wound, the same color and consistency as blood.

Well, shit, she thought, that's why I don't have my strength. She was weakening every minute that the pressurized fluid leaked out of her body. She had to patch herself up, and quickly, before she became completely paralyzed. Just then, her ears registered a new sound--one her hard-coded recognition software told her was traffic. There was a road nearby. Without wasting another moment, she rolled back onto her stomach and set off at a crawl.