- Chapter 4: Descent -
The air was moist and cold, clinging to his skin and mixing with his sweat. Ataeru licked his lips for the tenth time as he carefully descended each rung deeper and deeper into the ground. He was betting his life on a whim, looking for the Guild he hoped existed somewhere at the bottom. And if he got lost?
I'd rather not think about that.
Ataeru shook his head, flinging a drop of water off his forehead. The fear would be crawling upon him soon, the uncertainty and terror like a filthy hand. He could already feel the tips of its fingers brushing his heart and throat, but being brave meant knowing that and continuing on.
After a few minutes, with an adrenaline-enhanced focus and awareness, Ataeru reached the bottom rung and contacted the wooden floor. He was in a mineshaft. Dusty lanterns hung on both sides of the shaft every few meters, disappearing into its depths in both directions. They cast a warm glow on the cold rock walls. He strained his ears for any miniscule sounds, his eyes already attuned to the dimness, but even the silence provided small relief. Ataeru was completely unfamiliar with the layout of the shaft.
He took no more than a few trepid steps in one direction before hearing a familiar click.
Ataeru managed to dive to the floor just in time to dodge a giant mallet swinging down from the ceiling and slamming into the rock wall next to him. A gust of air rushed by his face as it missed his skull. There was a chance he lost a few strands of hair.
Ataeru took a moment to swallow a few deep breaths and calm his convulsing heart. When he was sure he wouldn't go into cardiac arrest, he shakily stood and dusted his pants.
So, since there's a trap here, that must be the way. I hope I'm right…
He gave himself a quick thumbs up before turning on his flashlight and walking into the heart of the mine. As he strolled along, his focus shot to the articles on traps on instinct. It was like he was playing an elaborate game of "follow the riddles."
The laptop said Angel was an enemy of the SSS before they teamed up. Did they install all these here against her? Why go through all that effort? Besides, these things are insane! One hit would kill anyone… right? Unless in this afterlife, people don't die. This is so weird… Angel was the president of the student council body, too. So, she was responsible for overseeing the NPC's did what they had to do. But that's what I don't understand. The SSS was fighting God, and Angel was keeping order. Why did they fight in the first place? And then, how did they manage to team up? Maybe the Guild will have more answers, if I can find it.
To his great luck, Ataeru did not encounter any traps for a while as he trudged along and reflected on whatever drifted into his attention. The lighting, however, darkened from a dim orange to a sickly green and by the time he noticed he was walking in almost complete darkness.
It was then that he encountered the next anti-Angel measure. A quiet whirring sound drew his eyes to the walls, where small metal pipes began to peek out.
Oh shit.
Starting with the pipes behind him, row after row shot out a quick hail of bullets, peppering the walls with holes and metal fragments, and they were gaining on him fast. Ataeru wasted no time in bolting as fast as his legs could take him down the shaft. It wasn't surprising that the trap was designed against this when a burst erupted right in front of him. He barely managed to slow himself and skid onto the floor, the burst narrowly missing his head by an inch.
The moment it was clear, he propelled himself back to his feet and dashed once again.
That was a distraction! It was meant to slow me down so the ones behind me could catch up!
Ataeru panted as the barrels began to erupt just inches behind him, literally the moment he ran by. His eyes widened when he saw the tunnel ended just ahead and it was filled with protruding pipes. Simultaneously, two rows closed in on him from both sides. Out of the corner of his eye, Ataeru spotted a small nook he could jump into that branched off. Summoning the last of his strength into an incredible burst, he dived headfirst into the small clearing just as a storm of metal shot down the shaft, shredding the walls and whatever was unlucky enough to still be in there.
Ataeru's heart pounded like a hammer, threatening to rupture at any moment. The smell of gunpowder in the air did not help the nauseous feeling in his stomach. With great effort, he managed to sit up and bury his sweaty face into his arm.
That's… twice now I… narrowly missed… death. Hehehe… Hey, I might actually… make it down there… alive.
Ataeru pulled himself together and staggered down the branching shaft way to his next ordeal, which wasn't too far ahead. The shaft opened up into a cavern with a high ceiling. Thankfully, it wasn't blindingly dark, but the only way through was a small passageway into a room.
Ataeru cautiously stepped inside, keeping his hand on the metal paneled wall. Red lights ran along the floor to the next door right up ahead, casting an eerie glow.
Without warning, the door behind him closed with a pneumatic hiss. The overhead lights shot on.
"Augh... damn."
Ataeru shielded his eyes, glancing down. The panel he was standing on blinked to life and then flashed with successive speed. He quickly stepped off, and witnessed a powerful column of laser shoot up at the ceiling a moment later.
"What the hell?"
The panel he had touched a moment earlier blinked next, sending him dropping to the floor. Another beam erupted. The difficulty ramped up just as quickly as the panels shot the lasers; now there were two activating at once.
I'm supposed to dodge all of these?
His thoughts were interrupted as three activated.
Time to cut this short.
He dashed towards the door, only to be stopped when all the panels in front of it activated. He would have to wait it out to make it through. A square of panels flashed around him to try and catch him in a rudimentary trap and cook his body at 400 degrees celsius. Ataeru moved swiftly, touching one panel, then another. Timing was critical to handling so many at once. Glancing at the door, he spotted his opportunity. The panels unloaded their beams and switched to a momentary cool-down.
Ataeru jumped at the door, jerking its handle wildly. His eyes widened when every panel in the room blinked to life. A quiet hiss unlocked the door and he shoved himself out as the entire room was enveloped in blinding red.
"I am never going in there again."
He shouted at himself.
The length between that room and the next was much longer, so Ataeru took to noticing the subtleties between the different rock textures and colors and debating what to eat when he returned to the surface, if ever. He was about halfway through his internal conversation about the merits of consuming energy drinks when the passageway opened up to a steep drop with a ladder to the floor below. By now he had gotten used to climbing ladders and descended fairly quickly, but not without healthy skepticism.
Another nerve-wracking rumbling intruded onto his hearing and he looked up with wide eyes to see the ceiling, covered in rows of razor sharp spikes, not collapsing but lowering onto him. Much like with the rifle barrel shaft earlier, he sprinted the short distance to the safety of another passageway and watched his exit disappear as the ladder he climbed down was literally scraped off the wall. There was no turning back now. Unlike previously, however, he was not prepared to be faced with another surprise so soon.
Merely a minute into the fifth maze of passages and he chanced upon a small chamber with vents in the ground. He sniffed the air, gagging at the noxious fumes.
Wait... It's coming from the vents!
Ataeru took a deep breath and covered his mouth, moving as quickly as he could through the chamber without inahling a single molecule. Not only were the fumes supposedly poisonous, they made him sweat.
A... nerve agent?
He became light headed, struggling to walk and almost passing out in front of the exit, but collapsed just outside the chamber. He let go of his stale gulp of air and gasped for the fresh supply around him. Sweat trickled down his face, a slight burning sensation apparent everywhere his skin was bare.
I am so done with ever coming through here again. I'm not even sure how I'm going to sleep tonight. Why did I come here anyway? To find weapons?
Over the course of the hour he had spent underground, he had felt a full assortment of emotions ranging from fear to disbelief to joy to dread and back again.
It's like an emotional rollercoaster. How many more times is my life going to be endangered? I can't be too far from the guild now. I can feel it.
In a pleasant twist, Ataeru found himself in a sewage hole that was quickly filling up with water.
"At least I get a free bath." He muttered to himself.
Maybe I can even drink my way out!
Ataeru chuckled and took a deep gulp of air before diving under the surface and gracefully propelling himself through the submerged passageways to the pockets of air that were available to him. It only took two minutes to navigate his way out, and the whole experience left him more annoyed than anything.
Am I expected to run around soaking wet? I'll catch a damn cold! I swear if I die of hypothermia…
Ataeru popped up in the middle of an underground lake, shivering and gargling the mouthful of water he had managed to swallow in his final few strokes towards salvation. The cavern he found himself in was enormous, with a waterfall emptying the lake out in the distance. Ataeru swam over to the rock shore and shook off the excess water from his uniform. He was now deep underground, probably hundreds of meters, but his ordeal would soon be over.
A small cardboard box floated down a stream towards the waterfall. As he followed it with his eyes, he spotted a small wind-up kitty squeaking inside. It bobbled along harmlessly, reaching the edge of the falls, and then plummeted over to who knows where. Ataeru was befuddled.
That was a… trap? It made me feel bad, but…
He shrugged it off and gripped the rusted handrails nearby, walking up a small flight of steps to a corridor with the symbol B17 painted on the side. He remembered seeing a few of these signs earlier, and this was an indicator he was on the right path.
There were no more surprises as he walked along.
Sneeze.
It echoed down the corridor and faded. Ataeru pitifully rubbed his nose.
Damnit, I knew it! All this sweating and running and then this! A bunch of cold water. Couldn't they at least provide a blow dryer at the end?
He filed along for ten minutes, sneezing every now and again and breaking the silence. But for all his work, for his daring to risk his life, he finally saw the end. A lighted staging area sat at the end of the corridor. What he wasn't expecting to see was the entire floor collapsed and a giant metal wreck lodged into the end of the corridor. He dropped to his knees at the edge of the hole gaping into the ruins below. A destroyed factory laid far below.
"I came all the way here for this?" He screamed at the top of his lungs. The echo reverberated for a moment, painfully loud, and then faded, leaving only deaf silence.
Ataeru punched the ground, gritting his teeth and letting loose howls of frustration.
"I risked my life to get this far! All I wanted to see was the Guild! All I wanted was answers, and for what? This is what's left?"
His voice cracked a bit. And then, more quietly-
"It isn't fair. It isn't fair…"
Ataeru faintly mumbled it over to himself. A single tear rolled miserably down his cheek, leaving a wet trail. It hung from his skin, wobbling, and then finally broke off, disappearing into the crater. He sat in heartache for longer than he cared to keep track of.
Ataeru rose to his feet silently. There were concrete shafts protruding from the walls that survived the wreck and presumably still led somewhere. If anywhere, it would be back to the outside world where he would have to face reality, or whatever came close to it.
Ataeru sauntered into one of them and followed it in the one direction it led. He was utterly crushed.
I had been so looking forward to seeing the Guild in operation; it was what I struggled for, and what kept me moving forward through the traps. I had a wish that I could hold onto, something fantastic and unnatural, un-native to the world I was used to. It swept me away, letting me forget about everything else that worried me. For those few moments when I was about to die, I was freer than a bird. And now it's over. There is nothing left. There's no Guild, no SSS, no Angel… and no God. Not even people. Not even NPC's.
Ataeru moved in a stupor, not noticing the concrete shaft had ended and that he was in a large, dark bay. It was cold in there. His breath materialized in front of him as a small cloud. He had no false pretense that this was anything more than the way out, but as he squinted his eyes, he saw there were machines in the shadows. Tables with tools were standing among them. The smell of oil permeated the cool air, pinching Ataeru's nose and bringing him back to his senses. A tiny speck of glittering golden hope gently landed on his heart.
Is this… Is this part of the Guild?
His eyes widened in wonder and he flipped on his flashlight, throwing its glow where he could, taking in as much as possible. He shuffled over to one of the workbenches, casting a light on what rested there.
A rifle! A real rifle!
Ataeru could not hide the astonishment from his voice.
"This is it… They didn't mention it in the articles, but this is part of the Guild…"
He ran his hand over the smooth barrel, confirming just how real it was. A clip was tucked right under it, ready for instant use.
"I've… never seen a real rifle up close like this. I can't believe they made this kind of stuff…"
Ataeru took his time to examine the rest of the bay. A lot of the surfaces were grimed with use, and there were numerous bullet holes in the walls. By chance, he stumbled upon an electrical panel and managed to turn on the overhead bay lights, revealing a splendid sight.
Row after row of lights activated, exposing the true size of the bay. It wasn't nearly as large as the factory he had seen in the crater, but it was still an impressive station.
There's no doubt about it. The SSS… And the Guild. This is where they operated. If the other factory was blown up, does that mean… this was their backup? Is this… the New Guild?
Ataeru closed his eyes and smiled. Where earlier he had been despondent, here he found what he had been searching for all along.
"Maybe everything isn't as hopeless as I originally thought."
For a moment, gazing over the sight before him, Ataeru could imagine the hundreds of workers pounding and forming away at metal to make the weapons the SSS needed. He thought he could even imagine the SSS itself, standing right there with him. But it was just a fraction of a second. Just an illusion.
He turned away to make his way back to the surface, satisfied.
- Operation: Afterlife School Reboot -
It was strange, but there were numerous deep gashes and holes in the tunnel walls.
There must have been a battle here. And if it was this deep underground, this close to the Guild, it must have been important. Time to follow the trail.
Ataeru picked up the pace and jogged down the tunnel, turning at an intersection towards a distant light. What he found, he had not been expecting.
A smooth stone wall with a green door was embedded into the end of the tunnel. A small light illuminated the area, and an electric panel with some piping ran up the length of the wall. A white plate was screwed into the top of the door, a sign.
Second Computer Room.
Ataeru was apprehensive, but approached it. His fingers ran over the panel, feeling the little circuits and wires. One of them sparked, short-circuiting, and burned out. A quiet humming came from inside. The door was already slightly open. He pushed it inwards, and entered.
What the…
Busted computer monitors were scattered everywhere, all shot up. Shards of glass littered the floor. Wires were tangled between them like dead bodies and hung from the ceiling. The entire room was a wreck. Ataeru carefully stepped between the debris towards the center of the room, where the damage was greatest. One of the wires flickered with electricity, and a monitor, buried underneath many others, blinked to life.
Ataeru pulled the broken machines off and propped the heavily damaged but functioning monitor upright. A blue grid with a red contoured body was visible. There were some grainy video feeds next to it, but they remained static.
Slowly, Ataeru reached out and placed his fingers on the screen. It was warm to the touch. He could feel every little crack in the glass. And without warning, it began to glow. Faintly at first, then a radiant and blinding white light that engulfed the monitor, Ataeru, and the whole room.
When he opened his eyes, the monitors, computers and cables were all fixed, placed in their proper places as if nothing had ever happened to them. In unison, all the monitors flickered to life to show the same blue grid and red contoured body.
"What the hell have I done..?"
For the first time since he arrived in the Afterlife, Ataeru heard a voice other than his own.
"You've reactivated the Angel Player program, and me along with it."
- End Chapter 4: Descent -
- End Prologue: Opening Arc -
Author's Note: Thank you for your patience. This concludes the opening 4 chapters of this fanfic. The real action will now begin in chapter 5.
(If you like the story, yer friends will too. Be sure to tell 'em so I can get those reviews and make the uploads faster!)