Chapter 37

The blackened corridors resembled a labyrinth. The hundreds of junctions and Identical corridors testified, cementing here fear. The ominous atmosphere melded with the silence. The unsettling nature of the ship, now multiplied, sought to upset her security. Lilo had been in danger before. Many times. But she had never been the target. She had always been sidelined as she wasn't a threat inherently. Now she had no control, moving at the whim of the company she had surrounded herself with, and she still didn't know their motivation. She could be saving her friends just to put them in a worse spot. Nevertheless, it was her only option and time was against her. But at least now she was calm. Before, as the thrill of escaping her cell was still rife in her mind. She had been nonsensical. Even as she talked to her new acquaintances she hadn't had time to think things through. Possibly, because she had never expected these pieces to align the way it had. If she hadn't been stopped by the guard that helped her up she would still be running through these ghost corridors. A frightening prospect.

They moved through the tunnels, relatively slowly. They had to stop at every junction as Negid consulted the pocket computer. They took turn after turn down endless darkness, Janqe had the lead with his light, Negid at his shoulder. Then she walked, sandwiched between them and Hoklert, who moved, a mammoth shadow behind her. He didn't speak. Or maybe he did. He seemed to grunt occasionally, but Lilo had no idea what the grunts pertained to. But each second in the dark, in the company of strange aliens, going somewhere- she didn't know- seemed to chip at her resolve. She was confident, charismatic. But circumstances like these were trying, but at least now she had time to think.

An hour ago she had been sat in a cell, brooding over her failure. She had been overconfident. She thought this was second nature to her, and to an extent it was. Which is why she drastically underestimated Hamsterviel and his plan. From what she could divine, Hamsterviel was using this 'noise' to enrage, her friends, then lock them up in that room. Mind you, that had been two days ago. They hadn't moved. So Lilo assumed he hadn't got them all yet. Then suddenly the ship shook. She had felt a tingling as all the bulbs in the large prison room burst, the panels outside their cells shattered, the locking mechanisms fried. Simultaneously the doors fell open, releasing the insubordinate mercenaries. There had been guards, but they were occupied with the larger inmates. She had snuck past them. Hence she had run down the endless corridors, endless darkness. Filled with anxiety, fear and the adrenaline rush that fuelled her. But what was that tingling, the shock that had set her free. She had a feeling Sparky was responsible, after all Negid mentioned experiments boarding the ship. But he had mentioned there were four. She wondered if Trilby was one of the four. She still didn't know who's side he was on, if he had a side. He had left with the ship she knew, but why did he take Sparky if he had no reason too. She didn't quite understand it. Despite her extensive knowledge of such things.

The ship shook suddenly and violently. Shock imbued her face as she got catapulted back into Hoklert. He didn't even react to the impact. His bulk cushioned her, yet she fell to the floor with an audible crash. Her head span, both from shock and impact. Hoklert bent down to pick her off the floor. She cradled her arm as he did so, he was surprisingly gentle. He seemed to smile with genuine kindness, he wasn't a bad guy. On the other hand, she was absolutely no threat. Upon standing she noticed Janqe was posed prepared for a fight. He knelt beside the wall, jamming the helmet on. He drew a blaster levelling it. Negid jumped behind the steeled henchman, screen hovering above his hand. Two bright dots visible.

"Ji het ki di… na." He pointed down the left corridor. Janqe powered his weapon up. Hoklert flexed his muscles. Negid tapped faster at his portable screen.

"What's going on?"

"I'm picking up a huge concentration of electricity, massive, never seen a singularity- no- a pair. Be on your guard. Ji ik ni ba." Lilo, though in pain, read the situation. The hairs on her arm stood on end. A mixture of anticipation and electricity. For her, she could almost recognise it, like nostalgia it struck a chord. Her mind pieced together the information. Her sincerity realising, kicking in like she had been shocked. The ship shook again less violently. But enough to send her to the floor once again. A second later she saw a flash as fresh plasma plastered itself over the corridor. Temporarily blinded, she struggled to her feet. There was pain in her arm and leg now. Yet the idea in her head rang true. These 'problems' could very well be…

"STOP!"

And she fell onto the floor again.

"Sparky, you know we would attract less guards if you stopped sparking."

"I'm bored, it's a fun way to pass the time." Trilby almost agreed. He was much more restless now in Sparky's body. But even so, there was only so many endless corridors you could walk down.

"Sparky you're wasting energy."

"No I'm not, bro, I'm actually getting more." He said very matter of fact. Sparky gnawed on an industrial grade weapon battery. He took them from the weapons of the guards they defeated.

"Sparky when people know where we are it works against us. They could make a trap."

"You really worried about a trap. I could fight off a hundred guards. You can watch." Trilby thought he felt something, his antenna sparked. Trilby worked this out on the go. Send a small electric charge down a corridor tells you if someone's down it. Nothing.

"Look, Sparky we are walking down endless corridors in no direction, I get it, it's boring but I'm not getting wet because of you."

"Seriously bro, try one." Sparky tossed him a battery. They didn't look appetising.

"No Sparky I said I don't want to eat them."

"What are you afraid of, as long as you don't bite down."

"I'm not scared just…" He inspected the battery. Cylindrical, big sparking at the tips where it had been ripped from a rifle.

"Yeah definitely scared. You wanna wait here? I can save the others by myself you know."

"I bet you couldn't make it twenty seconds by yourself."

"Look who's talking,"

"Okay so not everything went to plan. In fact, this is the first time I haven't had a plan."

"Well I have a plan- and it involves batteries."

Trilby shot him a scowl. He could be very obtuse.

"We'll find something eventually, they can't take off with no power." Trilby tossed the battery into his mouth and bit down.

"Wouldn't do that…" Trilby felt a jarring sensation. A surge of electricity. He coughed out physical electricity, his body trying to stomach the huge influx, Trilby was already full-100%- the boost was overloading, the protocol taking effect. His body subconsciously releasing electricity. Sparky dived and pushed Trilby. Colliding with the wall, instantly the excess conducted into the metal. The surge had no visible effect. But the ship shook violently the metal charged and bent under the pressure. Sparky grabbed Trilby lifting him to stop him being shaken to death. Super charged Trilby, now disposed of the unwanted power smoked from the pores of his skin. The ship ground to a halt. But the damage was apparent. "I did warn you,"

"…Don't…"

"Never overload yourself, Okay?"

"…"

"You won't be able to move because you messed up your circuit. It'll equalise again but never do that," Sparky had suddenly turned very informative. Trilby refused to say anything. He should have known it already, and Sparky would rub it in. He felt odd, his head span and the his body as numb, he couldn't move. Trilby realised that many experiments would have elements that were dangerous to them. Sadly Trilby didn't have the same instincts. He have to learn the hard way.

"You know I've never had to explain how I work before?" Sparky began to fly with Trilby over one shoulder. "I'm surprised this didn't happen sooner. But you couldn't know right? You have a lot to learn little brother." Sparky smashed against the wall. A ball of plasma making his pores spark. He powered up, his danger instincts ordering him. Leaving Trilby on the floor. He leapt toward the source, another shot collided with his body sending him back, the momentum carrying him. This guy was good. Dodging the follow up shots. Sparky landed, the antenna sparking, there were 4 people, two small one medium and one large. The little ones first. Trilby felt hot, but he couldn't move. He was sure Sparky could handle it, yet he couldn't see any action. Sparky dived forward, the plasma grazing his body. He felt the tips of his fur grow hot, blackening. He darted, rolled, dived. Past the medium sized one.

"STOP!"

He leapt into the small one, antenna sparking. Then he saw her.