The soft hum of high voltage electrical equipment and the yellow glow of the lights was starting to give Kazuma a headache as he slid down the ladder to the floor. He looked around at the dozen bulbous containers, and realized they were in a starburst pattern, with the largest one at the center. That had been the container Sylvia had inspected, but the container that he and Chris were interested in was at the southern edge.
The one with the little girl trapped inside of it.
Forcing down the pain, which come to think of it, was probably just withdrawal symptoms from all the various drugs he'd done since he'd arrived on Discord, Kazuma hurried over to a control panel on one of giant tubes connected to the container. He flipped out his phone, inserting the chip Chris had given him, and placed it on the surface of the panel. He tapped through a few screens, which now recognized him as a maintenance tech.
"OK, I think I see what we need to do," he called up to Chris. "We don't want to trip the flow when we pop her out, but I can spoof it so that it looks like the flow is the same. They'll catch it on the meter upstream with…mana? She's putting out mana?"
"That's what they're harvesting from all these pods," Chris called down. "I'd rescue everyone if we could, but…security is too tight. She's the one that has the best chance of escaping. The last hope for the world."
"Like something out of a cheap gacha game," Kazuma complained, but he inputted the series of commands, then nodded. "Right, the programs are set up to report the same amount of 'mana' coming out here."
"I'm cranking up production on the central pod, so it should be a while before they notice the discrepancy," Chris answered. "Get ready to power it down."
Hurrying over to a large emergency control switch, Kazuma used his phone to disable the security, putting in the override code Chris had supplied to him. He waited, then when she shouted, slammed the lever down. He'd already disabled the warning system at the main panel, and none of the lights changed, but the flow of mana ceased.
He scrambled back up the ladder and onto the walkway. Chris was just pulling the still unconscious girl out. "Shut the pod!"
Kazuma hastily did so, and by the time he'd turned back around, Chris had pulled a large white smock over the girl, then belted it with a bit of plastic cabling, like the kind vent rats wore.
"What's her name?" Kazuma asked, kneeling by the girl and feeling at the girl's forehead.
It was warm, but he couldn't tell if she was feverish. Her skin was wet and clammy, but that was probably just the fluid she'd been suspended in. The back of her neck had a small metal port in it, which Kazuma imagined went all down her back. That itself wasn't too unusual; some people got ports so they could go live in the VR world known as the matrix, or if they were a hacker who wanted to do some serious diving into a mainframe.
"For now… call her Alice. Maybe she'll remember who she really is when she wakes up. Either way, we need to get her down to the surface. Come on," Chris said, picking the girl up. She put her on Kazuma's back, then tied the girl's hands together so that her arms encircled his neck.
"Why won't she wake up?" Kazuma asked. He could feel a faint flutter of the girl's heart through the thin shirt, so she wasn't dead, but was she a vegetable or something?
"Mana drain. We used to call it Mind Down. It means her spiritual energy is totally drained: that pod kept her on empty so she was always passed out. It will take a few hours at least for her to build up enough of a reserve to wake up," Chris explained, leading Kazuma to the far wall, away from the elevator he'd come down on.
He could barely remember that ride, he'd been so high. A part of him wanted to go back to Sylvia to chase that feeling, even if it meant surrendering his anal virginity. It had all felt so good…
Most of him was sickened at the thought. Sure, he'd known Sylvia was evil. You couldn't exactly rise to the level of CEO and stay there for hundreds of years with a good moral compass. But to imprison little girls and use them as batteries or something? That was sick, even for the hedonistic ruler of Discord.
"You're making this sound like some cheapo video game. What, is she an SSR or something?" Kazuma asked, trying to sound snarky and confident, though he feared he sounded more whiny and harsh.
"You have no idea," Chris said quietly, pausing in the act of opening a maintenance hatch. "The world has been made to forget. I mean to make them remember. Starting with you, Sato Kazuma."
"It's Kazuma Sato," he corrected, adjusting his unconscious burden.
"It didn't used to be," Chris told him, then led the way down the corridor.
Kazuma had a while to puzzle that out, but he came up dry. He didn't have much breath for talking; he was more than a bit out of shape, and they were climbing up ladders, scrambling up slopes and stairs, and squeezing through cramped passageways. He was saved from total exhaustion by the fact that every few minutes, Chris had to stop and disable some security system.
He expected her to do so silently, but each time she made him come up and watch, explaining what she was doing.
"This program is pretty simple: just attack this port with a bunch of junk data, then power it down, and when it comes back, you have half a moment to enter the reset key, which will disable it for thirty seconds and… go!"
"Right, for this one, you have to run a simple trojan horse, then key in three error codes within 10 seconds. The system will be vulnerable, and then your trojan will let you into admin mode. Be quick, it will detect something is wrong and sound an alarm if you stay in too long."
"For this, a physical method is simplest. Set up a couple of mirrors to redirect the laser beam. Be fast, you have to get the timing EXACTLY right, or the alarm will trigger."
Kazuma listened to all of it, not sure why he should care. At last, they came not to an electronic defense or lock, but rather a physical lock on the other side of a simple gate of metal bars, completely impassable. Chris frowned, apparently stymied by the simple barrier. "Shit. I'm not strong enough to…hmm. But maybe…?"
She turned back to Kazuma, frowning at him. Putting a hand to his forehead and Iris's temple, then muttered, "Grant status."
"What are you even-" Kazuma began, but then he gasped. His mind suddenly flooded with information, and he jerked and shuddered, sinking to his knees and putting a hand out against the wall to keep himself from falling over. Chris had fallen over herself, and was dry retching.
"What…what did you…?" Kazuma's vision cleared, but when it did, he found a strange card on the ground. He picked it up, and found that it wasn't plastic like he had thought. It felt…odd. Strangely organic, like it was made from leather or something. It had strange symbols on it, the only ones of which he could recognize were…
"Kanji!? But, that shit's illegal!" Kazuma gasped, nearly dropping the card. But there was his name, as his parents had taught him secretly all those years ago.
"Assistant and Wisteria. The most common spelling," Chris chuckled, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "And for the other…Protect. Appropriate. Congratulations. Now, hand it over."
"Er, OK, what the hell is it?" Kazuma demanded, passing the card to Chris.
She examined the card, then clicked her tongue. "You would be a lucky one. Appropriate you would find me…like old times, I guess. But your other stats…average. Huh. Guess that blood's getting pretty thin."
"What are you even talking about, lady!?" Kazuma demanded. Then blushed. "Um, unless, you know, you're actually-"
"I'm a woman, thank you," Chris said, sounding drained and defeated. "I'd blame Sylvia for that one, but frankly it's always been a problem. Well, I guess you're just an Adventurer then."
"What do you mean? This is one shitty Adventure! What kind of-"
Something washed over Kazuma, and he gasped for breath. What was-
"Well, I can give you this much. Two skills for you, my favorites. Steal, and Pick Lock," Chris told him. "Don't expect Pick Lock to work on anything electronic. Maybe if you take the skill a few times and level it up, but the basic one just works on physical locks."
Data poured into Kazuma's mind, almost like those learning chips you could buy that would dump a language into your head, or marksmanship. Half the time that stuff didn't work since most people could only afford black market knock offs, and the other half your brain dribbled out your nose when it fried your central nervous system.
But this time…Kazuma just…knew. He blinked at Chris, and she jerked her chin at the lock. "Try it."
Trembling slightly, he held out his hand. It just felt…right. "Pick Lock."
On the other side of the gate, the lock sprang open and fell to the ground.
Lowering his hand, Kazuma glanced at Chris and swallowed, but she just grinned and winked.
"Nice. Don't try to use it too often, you'll get Mind Down yourself," she warned.
"Right," Kazuma agreed, following Chris through the gate. He checked on his passenger. She was snoring softly now, and seemed to be sleeping instead of just in a coma, but she was still out cold.
"Here. Don't lose it: Guard it with your life. And never, ever let anyone see you have it," Chris warned. "They're probably so illegal that a law isn't even on the books banning them; that's how afraid Sylvia and the others are that someone will rediscover it."
"Rediscover what?" Kazuma asked, tucking the card away.
"Magic," Chris answered, and then opened a door at the end of the corridor. This time, they came out into a small maintenance bay, and Kazuma immediately noticed that it was much hotter here. They had to be on the surface, and close to the jungle at that.
"Hold on, we need to grab some survival gear," Chris told Kazuma, going over to a supply closet and taking out her tablet to hack it.
"No need," Kazuma said, and pressed his hand pad to the security plate. It flashed green and opened at his touch. "Maintenance worker, remember? Low level stuff like this I have clearance for."
They took out three packs, but before they set out, Chris unbound Alice's hands and laid her out on the ground. She was stirring and shifting now, though still as pale as a vent rat or someone who'd spent their entire life planetside on the lower layers.
"Time to wake up," Chris said, taking out an adrenaline shot.
"Is it smart to give her that?" Kazuma asked. "What about that mind down stuff?"
"It would be death to carry her around in there, and we'll need her," Chris told him. She stabbed the shot into Alice's arm, and a moment later the little girl sat bolt upright.
"FATHER!" she screamed, looking around wildly.
"Shh, hey, it's OK, we got you out of there," Chris said, patting the girl's arm, then pulling her into a quick hug. "You're safe."
"Where…where am I?" the girl asked, sounding dazed, her head resting on Chris' shoulder. Her blue eyes locked on Kazuma's, and she blinked. "Big…brother?"
"Ah, no, not exactly," Kazuma admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "Do…do you remember anything?"
"I…remember…my father…the pain…I don't…" the little girl started to cry, and Chris rubbed her back.
"Shhh, shhh, it's OK. I'm sorry, I would let you grieve, but…we have to get going. Right now. It's not safe here," Chris said, pulling away from Alice and wiping the girl's tears away with her fingers.
"Who…who are you? Who am I?" the girl asked, hiccuping. "I just remember…my father…he tried to…to…I think…he wanted to save me, but…"
"I'll explain later," Chris assured Alice, standing and pulling her to her feet. "Take this. We have to run."
Alice took the offered pack, frowning at it. She reached to the side of it, and took the machete out of its sheath.
"That won't do you much good," Kazuma said, taking a rifle and checking it. It was a high caliber gun, something to keep off the big predators or herbivores, though it might just slow them down. Or, you know, mission kill an armored car. "Get a gun. Can you shoot?"
"I don't…what is a gun?" Alice asked, looking confused and clutching the machete to herself.
"Let her keep it," Chris said, standing and drawing her own two pistols. "I think she knows how to use that."
"For what, chopping weeds?" Kazuma demanded, but didn't argue further.
Chris looked through the view screen, and the jungle outside looked quiet. She checked the peephole, just to be sure. The door itself was heavily armored as well as being a double hatched airlock. Not because the atmosphere was deadly, but to keep out something nasty if it somehow got through the first door.
"Clear," Chris muttered. She looked at Kazuma. "Ever been to the surface?"
"Just in Green Zones, and only to clean stuff," Kazuma admitted.
"Well, this is a Level 5 red zone. So be ready. A big old murlodont or a herd of hundroog could come out of the foliage and rip you limb from limb," Chris warned.
Swallowing, Kazuma gripped his rifle, then nodded. "Right. Let's do this."
Chris opened the first door, then quickly opened the next as Kazuma shut the first. They dashed out into the clearing around the building, only for red lasers to suddenly paint the ground in front of them. Behind them, the sound of clapping could be heard.
Kazuma and Chris slowly turned, Alice shrinking to hide behind them, still clutching her machete. Behind them on the roof of the building, Sylvia stood with a dozen corporate commandos in power armor, even more HK Hawks roosting behind them, venomed talons gleaming.
"Well, well, well. I suppose I should have expected this," Sylvia said, continuing their slow clap and smiling down at them. "From you, at least, thief. But you, Kazuma? Naughty, naughty. And here I thought you loved me."
"Me too," Kazuma said, his throat suddenly swollen. He desperately, desperately wanted to crawl back to Sylvia and feel that rush again, but… "But you imprison little girls."
Sylvia stopped clapping and glared down at them. "If you knew who she was, what her kind had done to me and mine…you'd be thanking me, boy. And do you realize, you stealing her could kill us all?"
"You're full of shit!" Kazuma snapped. "She's just a little girl, how could she-"
"She's a part of the mana battery that keeps this moon green," Sylvia said, gesturing to the jungle. "Keeps the food flowing. No mana, no food. No food, no people. A small sacrifice, a tithe to be paid by the leeches that held up their corrupt system for ages. Fair, wouldn't you say?"
"Fuck you," Kazuma growled. He glanced at Chris and lowered his voice. "Now would be a good time for one of those nasties to come out of the jungle."
"We'd have to be pretty damn lucky for that," Chris answered out of the side of her mouth. "Keep that thing talking. She always did love the sound of her own voice."
"I rather think I'll be the one doing that to you, my pet," Sylvia said over their little conversation. "What are you saying, thief? Hmm, perhaps this time, I'll turn you into a boy, and then do you while I make my new pet watch. Then I'll either put you back in your pen, or-"
"ABOVE!" one of the commandos suddenly yelled, raising his gun and letting off a stream of bullets towards the trees high above them.
The HK hawks started to rise, even as something with huge, powerful arms, and a long tail that ended in a venomous spike lept across the 100 meter gap and landed amongst the commandos. It fell dead, but it did crash into three hawks, breaking bones and causing the others to flap away in a panic.
More creatures leapt out of the treetops, most of them landing amongst Sylvia and the commandos, while four of them attacked the three out in the open.
Kazuma got off one shot, blowing off one of the creature's arms before its tail lashed out, sending his rifle flying out of his hands. He fell to the ground with a thud, barely conscious of Chris blasting away with her pistols and felling another creature. A third and fourth came for Kazuma, who had put Alice behind himself, and he desperately scrambled for the pistol he'd strapped to his side. It probably wouldn't stop this thing, but-
"BIG BROTHER!" Alice screamed, and leapt at the creatures. She looked to be about ten years old, with blonde hair past her shoulders, flying loose behind her, her white smock flapping about her knees as she jumped. Kazuma cried out and reached out a hand, trying to claw her back, to keep her behind himself, but he was far too slow.
The creatures howled, both standing on their springy tails and reaching out clawed hands that were as big as Alice's torso to rip her in half. Then the machete came down.
"EXTERION!"
In a spray of bone and blood, the creature's hands were severed, and they rocked back on their tails as Alice landed, machete behind her now. Being predators, they immediately backed off, fleeing and leaving their dead and dying companions.
"RUN!" Chris screamed, even as Alice's knees buckled, and the machete slipped from her hands.
Kazuma caught Alice just as she passed out. He didn't have time to process what had just happened, or how, as he slung Alice over his shoulder, machete in the other hand, and booked it for the trees, Chris sprinting ahead of him. He panted, running faster than he ever had before in his life, as the howls and screams echoed behind them amidst gunfire.
Just as they made it to the trees, another shot rang out. Chris shrieked in pain as she fell one way, and her right leg blew off the other.
"CHRIS!" Kazuma gasped, stumbling beside her. "Chris, I-"
"RUN YOU IDIOT! " Chris wailed. "JUST GET HER FREE OR THIS IS FOR NOTHING!"
"I…" Kazuma didn't look back or hesitate further, nor waste air on more words. He couldn't carry both Alice and Chris, and he ran off into the jungle, hacking his way through with the machete as the sounds of battle continued behind him. Tears streamed down his face, but he ran for all he was worth.
Some time later, Sylvia tossed aside the arm they'd ripped off one of the feral throwbacks and tossed it aside. They had been meant to keep intruders away from this location, and a fun diversion. Briefly, Sylvia considered violating one of the wounded ones: it wasn't quite bestiality considering their shared biology. Even if it had been, Slyvia wouldn't have cared, and they always did like dominating those they defeated in every way. But there was no time for such things now.
The Avatar was still alive, breathing out the last of her mana and life force, hands clenched to her wound. "How did you get out this time? Wait, don't tell me: I let you out myself. It's been what, a hundred years?"
"One hundred forty two," the Avatar gasped, now pale from blood loss.
"Hmm. I've missed our little game, but I'm afraid I don't have time for it," Sylvia sighed, reaching down an arm that grew scales and claws.
The thief gave Sylvia a bloody grimace, and opened her hands, revealing a grenade with no pin. "I'm not letting you take me alive this time."
The explosion took out Sylvia's arm, and one of her feet, causing them to fall to the ground in a bloody pile. They hissed in pain, but cried out in anger.
"I'll find you, my pet!" Sylvia raged, one arm becoming a tentacle to lift them back up. "You and that little bitch! YOU'RE BOTH MINE! MINE FOREVER! MINE! THIS IS MY MOON! MY WORLDS!"
Beside Sylvia, the body that had been called Chris dissolved into silver flakes and vanished.
And in the jungle, Kazuma ran blindly on, carrying his precious burden.