AN: YEHAAAW! New (actual) Chapter fellas! I do be on fiiiiiiire! Some more Taylor! Some more demons! And an actual armory (gasp)!
And also, be notified about future interludes! They are obviously all canon but just because Interlude 3 gets posted after Interlude 2 (for example), the events do not have to actually happen one after the other. They can also happen at the same time. Don't worry if I confuse you here, it should be obvious when its happening and is not that important, so...
Enough rambling!
Chapter 5
I ranted for at least five minutes, maybe more. I had beaten a Demon that armored, trained soldiers could not scratch, after that had shot at it with rockets and bombs and everything.
I killed it with not even thirty shotgun shells and a fucking chainsaw (no matter how much I liked that thing) and I could have just stocked up beforehand and then went to town on it?!
"Why is that Armory not on the fucking map?!"
"Because officially there is no need for it to be! Scientific personal do not need to go there, while the Guards are all stationed there and know it's location! The marketing team considered a permanent reminder about the level of danger, that all personnel are exposed to, a bit too unsightly!"
"And the Scientists know what each room is too because they work here! That argument makes no sense?! In that case you would not need a map at all?!", I snarked back about the first point of the AI.
"I don't know, but this was the reasoning given!" was the cheerful reply.
Wait a minute.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN MARKETING TEAM?! YOU SAID THIS FACILITY IS CUT OFF AND SECRET AND EVERYTHING?!"
"Yes!"
"So then why-?", I cut myself off.
Whatever.
Not worth it to get upset about, the part of the Armory was more important.
So I spend hours of my lifetime bashing down a security door for a shotgun with one small ammo box, instead of breaking open the place where all the good shit was.
It happens.
To me that is, this shit of course happens to me.
Fuck you Armory.
And fuck this stupid, useless, ugly, unnecessary pointless map too!
I was (mostly) calm, I was fine.
I was fine.
I was fine, totally fine.
"Is this Armory locked? Or can you open it for me? You have control over the building, right?"
"I do indeed! Just come to the Main Control Room beforehand! It is right across the main Entrance!"
That sounded awfully familiar.
"There is not a shotgun locked inside that room by any chance?"
"There is indeed! It was left behind when the personal hastily abandoned this place to escape the influence of the rapidly expanding anomaly sphere! Just like me! I was tasked with recording as much Data as possible!"
"Wait, the left you behind intentionally? And you are alive and sentient enough to be considered a living being?! What a bunch of assholes!"
"No comment!"
Well at least he had a sense of humor. That was good. My Dad always told me to not trust someone that had no sense of humor.
Like tax collectors.
And wait, there still was a shotgun there? So now there were two guns instead of one?
No, I would not think about this in detail, this time-loop-teleport whatever thing was way to confusing already.
I would just assume I was free and firmly ignore the rest.
Walking into the now familiar room – I had spend a lot of time looking through the glass while denting the metal with my fists after all – I was greeted with a robotic arm-thing coming from the ceiling.
"Hello Taylor! Just stand still and I will establish the connection!"
Deciding to trust the nice fellow – I doubted he could damage my Suit without me noticing, and he was way too genuine to be plotting my demise in such a way – I did not move until the arm pulled back.
It had done something to the suit, similar like gluing a tiny radio to it.
"All done! Can you hear me?"
This time the voice came directly next to my ears, like somebody sitting in my head. It was a bit weird, but not painful or anything. No matter his seemingly excitable mood, the AI was being very respectful with his volume.
"I can indeed. Then lets go to the Armory."
"Yes!"
After I had already killed the demon.
I was not bitter, no no.
I was not.
As I followed the directions of my new sort-of friend we talked a bit about the UAC, what they did and general stuff. Vega could not tell me much, every time he tried most of it came out as [Classified] instead of what he meant to say, but I got the general gist of a Megacorporation controlling multiple facilities on planets, moons and other things. They seemed more advanced than Earth Bet by a wide margin, more reminding me of a Tinkertech-Company.
And wasn't that a weird thought, Tinkertech that was actually not made by a Cape, but replicable by Humans and Machines?
They also were responsible for the supply of Argent Energy to Earth, which general population did indeed not know about the fact that it was made (or sourced) in Hell? From Hell? With Hell? Something like that.
Why Vega could talk to me about Hell itself, but not the UAC in much detail was weird but a mystery that would remain unsolved for now.
Probably Corporation nonsense.
The Armory was just out of sight of the elevator. If I had searched more carefully, I would have found it quite quickly.
But I did not search carefully, because the map said that there was nothing to find and I did not consider walking along the outside of the facility worth it.
Not even the ten steps I would have needed.
Ten. Steps.
I'm such a fucking moron.
Also, fuck you marketing team I guess?
Partly fuming about myself and partly giddy with excitement about the goods I was so close to now, I waited impatiently for the door to open.
"And here is the Armory! There are also the living quarters of the Guards in the back!", came the information from my cheerful guide.
With a whoosh the airlock opened and I stepped inside.
First the important part.
"Where are the guns?!"
"Second door to the right!"
Kicking open the door, I looked in awe upon the treasure that was mine for the taking.
Guns!
Rifles!
Shotguns!
Something that looked like parts of a grenade launcher!
And so much ammunition!
Was this heaven?
Greedily grabbing everything I could reach, I plundered the treasure trove before me.
Stuffing everything into my bottomless pouches like some sort of strange armored hamster, I absently asked the humming AI a question that just now occurred to me.
"Actually why is this equipment still here? This has to be very expensive."
"It was too close to the sphere and got swallowed! The rapid acceleration and expansion of the phenomenon was not expected by any personal on site! Neither were my calculations accurate, the first time they failed actually!"
Huh. That made sense, so they just got surprised and jumped ship.
I shrugged.
"That just means more stuff for me, so I am perfectly fine with that."
It was very useful, to have a helpful, smart computer on my side. Vega was able to answer my unspecific questioning of "And what does this do? How do I use this? What does that mean?" with ease and the elation of somebody finally having something to do again.
Google would probably just have told me that I had cancer in some way shape or form.
Or some other illness.
No matter what you searched, there was always a way for you to be sick.
Somehow.
I did not even feel stupid about my ignorance, the AI seemed so happy and excited to explain things for me. He used terms I was mostly familiar with, and translated those I was not.
For a moment I even considered asking things I knew the answer to, just to make him feel better.
The grenade launcher thing was an actual grenade launcher, made in a way that I could attach it to my shotgun.
There was also a rocket launcher, but it had only a small amount of missiles.
Not something I would use a lot, I had no idea where to get more ammo after all.
I calmed the astonished AI about the endless space in my Suit ("Nobody was able to move it without assistance and it seems to ignore specific physics! How Marvelous Taylor, truly! I could not replicate such a device even on a smaller scale!") and followed Vegas guidance through the facility.
Because there were actual showers in the guard quarters.
As I was cleaning myself (the AI earnestly assured me that there were no cameras in the bathrooms, not that I really cared if some program saw me right now, I wanted to get clean), I heard something from our small-talk that made me perk up even more.
He said he could show me how to make my chainsaw better.
Yes please.
Finishing quickly, I hastily slipped back into the Suit, while listening to my new best friend.
"This chainsaw was a hobby of one of the scientists, which is why it is here to begin with! They tinkered on it in their spare time, something the UAC allowed, as long as any discoveries were written down in detail and the material costs came out of their private pay. Right now this tool is powered by a single cell. It has a long lifespan for a tool, but it will run empty in time. But I still have materials in storage! Together we could make it rechargeable, maybe even when you are moving around!"
Unlimited sawing? Just simply milling through a sea of demons with no care in the world? I had to stop myself from drooling a little.
(Did I always have such a violence fetish hidden deep inside me, or was that a side-effect of my latest experiences?)
It was difficult and more of a patch-job, even with the help of some robot arms in the workshop (Vega had more of those than I imagined).
But the end result was a serviceable weapon.
That was better.
The charging while moving part did sadly not work out too well. It did charge in general over time, but so slowly that using it more than once per fight (if my enemies gave me something like breaks in between the killing to begin with) was not an option once it ran out of fuel.
I could fully charge it here at the workshop and it would not discharge either as long as I moved around a bit. So it would hold for a while.
We had used materials and power cells that were definitely not intended for a glorified weed cutter, but neither of us cared much.
Vega obviously wanted to please me, and for my own motivation?
Well...
Chainsaw better!
'nough said.
All in all, a big upgrade.
What could not be found was any kind of actual, dedicated melee weapon. Even Soldiers in power armor were not strong or skilled enough to engage a demon in melee combat, Vega explained to me. Holding them at a distance also had the greatest chance of survival and of minimizing injury.
Also, if one of your buddies was fistfighting a demon, shooting said demon became a whole lot harder. I guessed that made sense. Friendly fire was not something to be taken lightly.
Not a problem for me of course, I was the only one shooting here.
And fistfighting things.
That question answered, I finished cleaning out the place and left the building.
Equipped, clean, ready to rumble and all that.
With no idea where to go or what to do next.
"So what do I need to do to get a ticket out of here? In theory at least."
"The main facility has the ability to open small portals. This was mostly used to send out data and receive emergency supplies. There was also a drop-off point for spacecraft, but there are none left. And those would get you not out of Hell, should we really be there."
"Small portals meaning I would not fit through?"
"Yes. Also the energy requirement for short range teleportation across a planet like Mars and the requirements to open a portal to Hell are vastly different. I assume opening a portal from inside Hell will possess the same difficult characteristics."
"So we are lacking energy?"
"Correct. Furthermore, not every sort of energy is of use to us in that particular endeavor."
"And let me guess, we can't create the energy we need here either. That probably includes this strange energy this facility was supposed to research in the first place? Argent something?"
"Argent Energy, yes. We do not have the capabilities for its creation, no. But a positive part about our likely current location: The Argent Energy supply the UAC used got sourced out of hell. I do not know the exact process, those files are [Classified]. The original Vega may have access, but as I said, I am not the original. I apologize Taylor."
"It's fine, we will find a way. If we are at the place of origin for this special energy, then we may find some source here, right?"
"It is possible. My Data suggests the demonic inhabitants of this dimension actually consume a predecessor of this energy to survive and empower themselves if they are unable to obtain Argent Energy itself. So it seems to be deeply connected to them."
"Hmmm."
Did that mean, that if I killed another big demon we could use that to somehow open a portal? That sounded a bit absurd, but I asked Vega anyway.
Any straw of hope could be a lifeline, for both of us.
"That idea is not necessarily naïve Taylor! This facility has an accessible core reactor. A freshly killed specimen of sufficient size could be forced into the chamber.
"That does sound neither safe nor a good idea?"
"It would definitely damage the systems, irreparably. And it is not a sure success. But if the reactor would blow up – maybe with some help from yourself, I might add – the violent reaction could be enough to create a portal."
"And it would for sure kill you."
"A sacrifice I'm willing to make."
That did not surprise me. The idea of being alone again was surely a lot more terrifying than death or non-existence for the AI. I would not allow him to sacrifice himself like that, but telling him that now would just put him on guard or create an argument, so I stayed silent. For a moment I considered simply saying that I had always dreamed to be a Hero, so I should be the sacrifice. Since that was not an option (for I did want to see my Dad, and Vega would fight me every step of the way and was the only mobile one of us two), none of us would be killed in this endeavor.
Just you wait, Taylor Hebert would always be stubborn.
More stubborn than an AI.
"There is one other problem..." was the sentence that ripped me out of my musings, coming from the voice from the speakers.
"Another one?! How unlucky are we?"
"I have nothing to aim the portal to. No coordinates, beacon or something else."
"So my destination would be completely unknown and up to random chance?"
"I fear that to be the case, yes."
"Then we find something to aim for before stuffing some dude into the reactor obviously, easy peasy."
I had my doubts of course, my confidence not much more than a front, but whatever. Positive thoughts. I broke the loop after all, something trained soldiers were unable to do. While being caught completely flatfooted.
Alright, they only had one chance and I had countless ones, but still.
I was not ready to give up hope this easily again.
The conversation was a pleasant distraction to the tiresome climb out of the enclosed valley of red stone. I would be shredded once I returned to Brockton Bay.
Sophia being fit? Don't make me laugh. After this experience, I could juggle boulders for days.
Eat dirt Sophia.
The terrain was tricky, finding good footing a new challenge for me. My experiences fighting in the rubble helped me, but climbing a rocky, steep hill was still something new. Especially considering my not indiscernible weight. Honestly, I was still a lot lighter than I should be, the plentiful ammunition and my wonderful weapons not boosting my weight by a markedly amount at all. Dimensional shenanigans were weird.
Finally cresting the top of the natural prison, I once again gazed down a steep cliff. Now that I was not busy falling to my death, wounded or pissed off about getting bested again, I was able to see more than I had from the top of the Test-side.
The difference between the Mars rock stratum and the native ground was severe.
It reminded me of watching a badly edited video in the real world with my own eyes. The red rock abruptly cut off and was replaced by a greyish wasteland, a bright boulder dropped by a giant on an enormous field of tarmac. Dead and withered trees appeared at some places, a mockery of existence. In the far distance, a speck of sickly green could be seen, like a meadow that gave up on being healthy and now just clinged to some meager form of life as much as possible.
It was a wasteland.
"It is quite a sight, is not?" Vega broke the silence.
I guess he could see what I saw?
"If I had to live here, I can understand trying to flee to other dimensions."
"You are not wrong, this is how it looks like, when despair and destruction gain the upper hand."
"Yeah", I whispered softly.
What I did not share was the growing fear about my own home. Earth Bet was circling the drain. People had become numb to the terror of the Endbringers. The atrocities of the Slaughterhouse Nine had been more or less accepted as a risk of trying to better the world, as something that was a punishment for daring to hope. Most Capes did not even bother to try much anymore. Sure, they fought villains and made life a bit harder for the gangs.
But when was the last time somebody tried to do good on a larger scale?
Not like the gangs had any difficulty defending themselves, Brockton Bay was a cesspool of crime, racism and hate. I loved the City, just like my Dad, but I knew that there was a lot to be done to make it a better place.
One of my main motivations to desire to become a Hero actually, was to give my Dad the sight of his city returning to its former glory.
Before Leviathan, before the accidental creation of the Boat Graveyard blocked off any way of using the docks – because some idiots sank some of the biggest cargo ships right in the Bay itself as a form of protest – that sight was the gift I wanted to make for him. He still tried to get the old Ferry running again, not giving up, no matter how hopeless things seemed.
Was this place how a possible future for Earth Bet looked like, this desolate wasteland?
I took a deep breath. We were not yet lost. I would return, stronger than I had ever been. I would pull us kicking and screaming into a new Era.
First Brockton Bay, then the whole of Earth Bet.
Because with these powers I could actually do something.
Climbing down the other side of the rocky terrain was just as difficult as climbing up, if not more so. Vega assured me, that my reinforced boots would be able to take and mostly absorb any impact, no matter the height, but I was still careful. What if I didn't fall straight? Or bounced off against something and turned in the air? Or if he was simply wrong? I was not willing to take that risk. Finding out if I had no more than one life now because I crashed head first down a cliff?
Better safe than sorry.
Closing in to the bottom, I was a bit at a loss where to go next. There was no structure I could see, neither were there demons roaming around that I could spot.
Vega soothed my worries that we were alone simply by saying "There were always demons that got into contact with UAC forces, even at places that had been cleared before. It may look like it, but we are not alone Taylor, I assure you."
Normal people would probably be worried about such a statement, but for me it was a sigh of relief. I preferred slaughtering enemies instead of dragging boredom any day of the week.
Actually, I preferred slaughtering enemies to pretty much every hobby I had ever had, the mortal struggle was just so gratifying.
No, I did not have issues.
Channeling the fear of being powerless once again, like I had been when I got bullied for over a year, into attempted genocide was maybe not healthy per se, but there was nobody there to stop me. And I would not have stopped anyways, unless it was my Dad asking, and maybe not even then. Principal Blackwell had burned out any respect I may have had once for authority.
"So where are those demons you were talking about?" I asked after trekking through the depressing landscape for twenty minutes (Vega was keeping time). I had just chosen one direction at random and was relying on the helpful AI to stop me from going in circles. Whoever had made the radio connection or whatever he was using to talk to me had done one hell of a job.
"You could try drawing their attention. Afterwards you could travel in the direction the most amount of opponents came from and maybe find a hive or base this way!"
"Drawing their attention? How? Just shoot in the air or something?" I asked sarcastically.
"That is an option, yes!"
Really? Well, why not.
Shrugging I pulled out the Heavy Cannon (as I had been helpfully told it was called), because the only thing louder was probably a grenade or rockets which I owned only a few handful of, and fired into the air.
The silence was ripped apart by the heavy thundering of .50 caliber BMG rounds splitting the air. I waited expectantly for a moment.
Nothing.
Just as I was about to fire again, the grey rubble next to me exploded and showered me in fragments.
The Pinky (thank you Vega), that had been sleeping (?) quite close to me without me noticing charged me without waiting for the dust to settle. Its heavy, armor-plated front barreling towards me, each step slightly shaking the ground I was standing on. Grubby claws reached out towards me. Rolling out of the way, I started firing at its rear, before tripping over a smaller, brown creature that shrieked angrily at me.
That thing had not been here before, can demons teleport?!
Stomping out the fireball it gathered in its claws, I pinned it with my boot and blew up its ugly head.
Only to get blindsided by the Pinky and literally run over.
Shaking off the remains of the Imp that had softened my fall a bit, I jumped over the Pinky's next advance and fired into its rear again. Surprisingly quickly it crashed and did not stand up again. Turning around, I realized that the time I had taken to execute the demon had been long enough for the appearance of multiple more creatures.
Indeed, while I was watching even more popped up in flashes of angry red. Grinning I swapped to the shotgun with the added grenade launcher and blasted the closest group into a bloody mist. Perforating another cheeky Imp, I pumped once and rammed the barrel into the face of a bald zombie. Swatting his raised shotgun to the side (and why did he have that shotgun in the first place?), I unloaded through his head. Kicking the carcass into a fireball coming for me, I gave a mocking cackle and fired once more onto the body at my feet, just for good measure.
The surrounding demons, who had eyed me warily, seemed to disagree with my sentiment and closed in on me again.
"Bring it then, you weaklings! Don't be shy!"
The fight was on again. Well more like the slaughter.
"I have successfully located a possible origin point of demonic forces!" those words snapped me out of the short break I had been taking.
"Alright."
I didn't ask how he did that, because Vega was not only far away but they also teleported to me. I doubted I could understand the explanation. And as long as it worked, I didn't care about the how.
Jumping off the remains of a Pinky – the armor-plates made a sturdy, reliable platform to rest on – I stretched myself, hearing the pleasant sound of cracking joints.
"It is located two kilometers West from your current location."
That was a bit of a distance, but not that far.
Giving a nod, I walked over the battlefield, softly humming to myself. It looked like I imagined the aftermath of a war in the middle ages to be. Well, with demon corpses instead of humans, I supposed.
And the occasional firearm.
"I was traveling north in a straight line, right? Does that mean we missed it? How does one miss a whole base?"
If I did not notice it, that was one thing, but an AI not identifying such a thing either? How unlucky.
"I do not know, but I have only limited access to your Suits systems because it is of alien design. There are also only sparingly few sensors installed, to discern things in any detail. This Praetor Suit, as it has been named, was not made with an Artificial Intelligence in mind. My apologies."
"It's alright Vega, I'm not mad at you. I was just surprised. We are on the same team here, as equals."
The following silence told me that I had shocked my robotic friend for some reason.
"I thank you for your kind words, but I feel like you are doing most of the work. Without you I was stuck for such a long time, unable to do anything at all."
"And without you, I would lack any semblance of a plan to get us out of here. And companionship. And Data. Also, weapons (weapons!). I feel like I have to thank you."
"Let's agree to be equals then, Taylor."
I agreed, humming.
Who knew an AI could get emotionally touched like this?
"Now lets break into some demon nest and shoot up the place!"
"Yes partner Taylor!"
I never truly doubted the Data of my friend, but even after he told me "only a few hundred meters remaining" there was still no sight of anything except for dead rock and withered plants. The sickly green meadow was far away in the north still, so the landscape had no diversity at all. But right as I was about to give in to Vegas proposal to lure out some more demons (he too seemed to become a bit unsure about his sensor readings) the sound of my boots hitting the ground suddenly changed.
Crouching down, I brushed my hands over the floor. This was a different material. It mostly looked the same, but closer inspection revealed a more dam colored part. Carefully I knocked with my hand.
"This seems to be hollow, Taylor."
"I had the same thought.", I murmured back.
The structure was underground? No wonder we did not see it. It also blended in quite well, especially with the rubble and rocks covering it.
I knocked again, searching for a way in.
Right as I was about to stand up, to search around it, there was a squeak and the whole thing I was standing on folded up.
Knocked on my bum, I dumbly looked at the sizable Imp that had opened what I now identified as an opened trapdoor.
It stared dumbly back.
Right as I grabbed behind me to pull out my shotgun, it gave a loud hoot and hastily rammed the door shut again.
"Hey! Come back here!"
I pounded against the robust barrier that stopped me from following the little bastard.
"Don't lock me out you coward, what is the matter with you?! Fight me!"
I may have imagined the hoarse "Fuck you!" coming from within, but it still pissed me off.
"I said. Open. UP!"
With a crack the trapdoor gave way and I fell down the hole, face first. This gave me a very good angle to see the in surprise bulging eyes of the little coward, before I crashed down on him. Pushing myself off, I shotgunned the guy, gave a quick "Thanks!" because he had cushioned my fall and then charged down the nearest corridor.
Time to shoot me some demons!
This place was less of a building and more of a cave system, but that did not stop or hinder me in the slightest. Gunning down everything moving, I blasted my way through the different openings. I was not worried about getting lost, Vega was mapping out the Cave simultaneously with my movement and projecting a minimap to the top right of my visor, directly next to the compass he was already showing to me helpfully, which was located at the top center.
I just focused on murder.
That was the fun part anyways.
After the cave fell quiet once more, this time for good, there was still no greater or bigger demon to find. I carefully cleared the whole place twice, to make sure that there were no hidden paths, but nothing new was uncovered. Nothing to stuff into a generator and then blow up.
That sounded worse and worse of a plan the more times I thought about it.
The blood and guts covering everything more or less in its entirety were the only new addition. Not that I minded the place not being quite so dull anymore, but I was pretty sure my Suit was not able to filter out the whole smell, it was starting to stink a little.
Expecting another "Bossfight" at the very first location we spotted may have been a bit naïve, but I was still disappointed. Vega took notice and tried to cheer me up – he was really a sweetheart.
"Keep your head up Taylor, this was only the first place! And I have to say, your combat prowess is quite impressive! You said you were only 15? What did you do in your life to be so proficient at fighting?"
In some quiet moments I had shared a bit more about myself. How old I was before the loops (I was older now, I was pretty sure), that my Dad was the head of hiring and a spokesperson for the Dockworkers Association, that sort of stuff. I even told him a bit about the bullying, not sure why. I had not even told my Father. My reasoning had been to not stress him even more – Moms death hit him very hard, I had to take care of myself for months – but I suspected the personal shame I felt about the whole thing was the bigger sticking point. And how does one tell their parent, that the daughters best friend said parent had was now bullying you? Shit, I mean Emma had been my best friend before all that too, I knew how much such a thing hurt.
So why did I share this deeply personal predicament with Vega?
Maybe it was because I felt he would not judge me. He was only helpful to me, nearly desperate for conversation. A dark part of my mind admitted, that this was also something that made me feel better. No matter how much he may judge me (even if that was unlikely) he would take anything or anyone over further isolation.
Just because of that I knew he would not leave me.
Did that reasoning make me a bad person? I don't know. Did the reasoning matter, if the result was something positive anyway? No matter, enough with the difficult thoughts. My AI was waiting for an answer still (he never got impatient with me too, a relief).
"I told you Vega, I had no training. This is all self taught, in a desperate attempt to don't go insane. And to get some payback."
"Dying so many times? It had to have been horrible. You are stronger than I could ever be, Taylor."
"You get used to it. I'm more impressed with you not going insane of boredom. I would gladly take a hundred deaths instead of that."
"Maybe it is because of the different perspective. Until a few years in, I did not realize I even could get bored."
"Maybe. Well, this is a bust. Time to head out and attract some more demons I guess."
Climbing up the trapdoor I had broken was harder than simply falling down: The stages were not made for somebody of my weight. If Emma could hear me now, talking about my weight. She would have a field day.
And then I would maybe break her jaw, finally.
The mental image cheered me up considerably as I heaved myself out onto the grey planes again. Only to come face to face with a metal sheet that had definitely not been there before I descended. "Vega, am I seeing things?"
"If with things you mean a metal plate with carved in coordinates, written in UAC officer code, yes you are. And so am I."
I was of course instantly suspicious. How did this get here? Who send it? This smelled like a trap, metal plates just don't fall out of the sky. Obviously. Unless somebody threw them out of the window, which was a bit unlikely.
Because we were in fucking Hell.
"Vega, do demons write? Scratch that, is it likely that they have such a code in the first place?" If somebody was able to get the drop on us like that, why not put a bomb there instead? If it was a trap, it was a very obvious one and not very good in the slightest.
Or did that make it a good trap? That nobody would expect such an obvious trap to be, in fact, a trap?
Maybe for a demon it was not obvious?
"This code is used to transmit high ranking orders to qualified personnel. I myself am forbidden from copying it without explicit orders, but able to read it. It was not unusual for a supply drop to be accompanied by new orders."
"So not demon-made then."
"No, especially because the sudden appearance is not the only strange part about this."
"What do you mean? Explain please, I can't read the thing after all."
"Look closer at the writing. It is safe to pick up for you, I am quite sure."
Trusting the AI, I grabbed the metal and held it up experimentally. There was nothing special about the material, it could have been from one of the abandoned factories in Brockton Bay. It looked a bit too new for that, but it would have fitted in seamlessly otherwise.
"What do you mean? It just looks like somebody simply wrote the numbers down?"
"Yes. It was likely a human, or humanoid, who wrote this."
"So what is the strange part about it?"
"Taylor, this is a metal-plate you are holding. And somebody wrote on it, with their bare hands, like forming clay. If they used a tool, then it was one I am not familiar with."
Oh, true! It was so easy for me to simply deform tough materials with my bare hands, that I forgot the normal human could not just claw open metal with a finger.
Well, a normal human could not.
A Parahuman on the other hand…
This smelled like Cape-Business.
"So for you it is not unusual for people to be able to do such things without technological assistance?" Vega sounded awed.
"Yeah, I told you about it before, right?"
"Yes, but I assumed you were talking about feats done with power armor or sophisticated tools. Not something like this. So you are saying one of those Parahumans just simply wrote this with their bare hands?"
"Yes, a Brute probably.", I mused. "That actually brings us closer to solving the mystery how I got here. Maybe multiple Capes are involved."
It did not explain why they had chosen me tough, useless, unimportant Taylor Hebert. I was such a nobody that the school covered for my bullies, just because they were popular and Sophia was on the Trackteam. That was the only reason I had been able to come up with at least. What was the happiness of one poor girl against that of their Stars?
"We know there are alternative Earths, but neither the UAC nor Hell as an actual place have ever been talked about in the News. Also, how does a Parahuman know UAC-Code? My knowledge before all this told me, that even getting to the Moon was impossible."
Mainly because the Simurgh was the Queen of the Skies and would not tolerate pesky humans to come close to her without retaliation.
Retaliation meaning getting knocked out of the sky. The amount of pieces you would be in depended on her mood at the time.
"Another interesting point Taylor: Coordinates are always split up into different parts. That is because not only the actual space is important, but also the specific dimension."
"Makes sense I guess, I have no clue about this stuff. So what is so interesting here?"
"The coordinates describe a place in Hell."
"Wait what?"
That meant this was not our ticket home. But its not like we had solved the power problem yet either.
"Do you know where it is? You said you could not locate the exact location of the facility."
"That is still true, that is where it gets even stranger: The coordinates are orientating themselves based on the location of the storage vault. So I can plot a route that is at least very close to the actual spot."
"How do you know that it means our storage vault?"
"I appreciate your skepticism Taylor, but this literally says `go 250 kilometers south-east from the exit of the previously looped storage vault` when I roughly translate it. What other vault could it be talking about?"
Alright, Vega had a point.
But that was weirdly specific.
Wait.
"250 kilometers?! I'm gonna be dead before I make it there!"
"Don't be so dramatic, after what I have observed, this distance should be well in your capabilities. And this is the best lead we have."
"And what if this is supposed to tire me out so they can kill me better at the end?!"
"Did we not agree on the fact that it is unlikely for demons to be the creator of this note?"
He had a point again. But I was not happy about it and told him so.
"I can understand your frustration. If you wish, we can instead try to look for more demon hotspots?"
I was grateful for the offer, but the AI was sadly right, this was our best lead by far. Somebody obviously had designs for us. Getting out of here was the first priority, shooting whoever did this in the face came after.
But boy would I enjoy said shooting and that sweet revenge.
Was I becoming a vengeful, bloodthirsty person that was perpetually pissed off?
Nah.
AN: Aaaand thats a wrap! Happy new year fellas, see you in 2022!
