Chapter 5-3 Alice Winters
Alice tried to keep up with the narrow passages, while keeping her guard alert in case any monsters were nearby. She wasn't sure how far or deep this cavern was, but hopefully she was getting close to her destination. After struggling for what felt like hours, she finally found a sliver of light at the end of her tunnel. She moved faster, pushing herself out of the wall with all her strength. When she finally got out, her footing was off balance which caused her to fall onto her knees. She grunted, getting back up and dusting herself. The space she was in was much wider now, as she checked the area out. A large spotlight illuminated the room, showing her the wall formations were carved and smoother where she stood. Most likely indicating that someone had been digging on the sediment to make this place more accessible. She even saw wooden planks leaning against the walls, as well as yellow crates holding pails and shovels next to the light fixture.
"Looks like this is where Heisenberg gets his resources." Alice noted, making sure the coast was clear. "I must be underneath the Factory… Hopefully the root should be nearby." The Winters couldn't waste anymore time. Ethan and Hilda had probably already gotten the last flask and were waiting for her at the Ceremony Site. She needed to hurry, especially with nighttime approaching and her window of escape was closing. She walked out of the small space, going through a passageway until it took her to another portion of the cave. Amber lights were attached to the walls or ceiling, providing illumination. Beams of wood and pipes of metal were stuck in the earth's crust, most likely put there for structure purposes. Planks of wood and wires of yellow lined the floor. She looked to her left and right, wondering where she had to go now. The cable on the ground seemed to stretch out towards her right. There seemed to be more tunnels that way, and figured the further into the caverns she went, the closer she would be to the root.
Picking up her feet, she took a right and headed down the passage with fixed lights, scattered boxes and crates, and dust she kicked up. So far, everything seemed quiet. Too silent for Alice's taste, as she thought the enemies would get the drop on her. If Hilda were here, she would know right away if enemies were nearby. Maybe she should have kept the child with her. Then again, with the luck Ethan had, it was better her brother was being watched over.
She followed the path, but didn't expect what was in the other room. There were larger wooden crates piled up around the outer walls. The lights were dimmer, only providing minimum vision. In the very center was a protruding branch that appeared to have punctured beneath and rose upward into the ceiling. Alice recognized the organic life straight away, the last Megamycete root. She couldn't believe her luck in finding it so quickly. She approached, grabbing her kit and scraping a sample of it into the test tube labeled 'Heisenberg'. Once that was stashed away, she checked the area out to figure what her next move would be. She noticed some panels with controls surrounding the root. Generators were also stationed along with other tools such as shovels and axes. Now that Alice got a better look at the root, it wasn't as active as the last three. It was jiggling slightly, but not too many branches were lashing out or very aggravated. "Was Heisenberg trying to experiment on the root?"
It would make sense that the Lords would know about the roots from the Megamycete, since they had one under their domain and that was where their Cadou came from. Probably how they got the parasites and implanted them into their victims. But based on the equipment Heisenberg had around his part of the mold colony, it might suggest he was trying to do more with the Cadou than his siblings and even Miranda. She shuddered at the thought, realizing that if Heisenberg was capable of altering the Cadou, it meant he was as dangerous as the Duke made him out to be. "No point staying here now. Gotta find a way out." She looked around the room, trying to locate an exit for herself. She didn't see any other doorways or passageways for her to take. Though she did notice a small vent in one of the walls. The Winters crouched down, seeing the dark crawlspace. Not ideal, but she didn't have other options.
Getting on her hands and knees, she shimmed through the small hole, taking a right then a left until she came out to a platform in the cavern again. There were more wires and metal pipes within the walls, hopefully that meant she was getting closer to the factory exit. She climbed down the platform and was walking on the floor which was more wire than earth. The machines and metals increased the further she went, until she came to an iron barred door. It wasn't locked, so she walked right through. Her guard was up as she kept a look out for any enemies or Heisenberg himself.
She was walking along, finding herself back on suspending floors. There was a circular platform in the center, as the rails circled around the room, with some staircases going mostly upwards. Light fixtures were attached to the rails, giving her some vision. The most noticeable thing when she looked up was a giant fan spinning rapidly as sparks flew from the blades. Orange-red lights were in the center of the blade, like eyes watching her. It may not look safe, but she had little choice. "Nowhere to go but up…" From the center, she took a left and headed up a staircase to climb up. She walked on the second level, ready to continue her search, only to pause as she heard the roaring sounds of sparks nearby. She looked above, standing her ground as two humanoid creatures flew down and landed before her. Alice gasped, seeing the monsters as something she did not expect.
She had dealt with vampire women, animated doll children, as well as amphibian and reptilian animals… but these enemies looked nothing like a gothic horror aesthetic this Village was going for. Large drills were attached to their hands and arms, spinning for an attack. Metal armor and wires surround the body, with a glowing red light in the center. The head looked more like a plane with the wings on the side. How could they see through it, Alice wondered. Aside from the pants and boots, most of the body was more machine than organic. Alice readied herself with her rifle, loading the chamber and started to shoot the one of the pair approaching her. To her dismay, the bullets only bounced right off of the metal shell. She switched to her handgun, but it was just as ineffective along with her bows. "My weapons are useless!" She grunted, realizing she had nothing on her that could work to defeat them.
Then again, since she had what she needed there was no reason for her to stick around. With not many weapons to use on them, she figured it was best to just run. They were fast and could fly with their jetpacks, but Alice had something better. Taking out her grappling hook, she launched the claw up on the railings, flying up and going to the different levels. She managed to evade them at a distance, but in order to move forward, she needed to get up the ladder. The only problem: the Grinder blades were spinning rapidly. If she tried to get through, she would only be chopped to bits. She scanned the propeller engine for any weak points she could expose, but Alice was unable to find any. Perhaps the answer to stopping the blades wasn't in this room? The blaring sounds of the enemies were gaining on her. Alice saw them approaching, quickly falling from where she was and swinging from railing to railing.
She didn't know what she could do in this room, which meant Alice had to leave. Hopefully she could come back, because this might be the only way she can get out of the factory. Dodging the attacks of the Jets, she ran back to the hallway as quickly as she could, climbing up the walkway and back through the vent. Thankfully, it didn't seem they followed her, probably only protecting the Grinder Shaft. She crawled through the small space and came back to the Root, then followed the tunnels until she was going the other way and was taken to a small path.
With nowhere else to go, she followed until she saw a ladder to climb up, being taken to a walkway only to find another ladder. Once she reached the top, she looked around and saw how grand this factory truly was. Levels of multiple floors as far up as she could see. Converbelts moving what Alice assumed were bodies taking them from one end to another. The smell of oils, gas, and metal invaded her nose to the point she wanted to throw up. She couldn't believe that what seemed small on the outside, held such an enterprise within. "Great… looks like I have another maze to get through." Alice sighed, not liking the idea of having to search every corner and cranny just to find a way out. She kept her eyes above, looking at the levels. "Guess the best option is up… but where to go is the question."
Her ears picked up the sound of laughter. She looked to the East, and saw a large shaft that appeared to be an elevator. The inside was what caught her attention. Rugs laid on the ground, with crates and boxes of all sorts of treasures. Behind many tables littered with documents and trinkets was the obese man himself, taking a drag from his cigar. Alice walked over to where he was, baffled by his presence, but welcomed it nonetheless. When he saw her, the Duke smiled. "Alice! Fancy seeing you here. Then again, I was told you would be coming here."
"I'm not even gonna question how you managed to set up a shop here." Alice told him.
"Like I told Hilda, where there's a coin to be made, I'm not far. And since you were coming here, I figured you would need my help."
"Well, I do appreciate the gesture." Alice admitted with a smile of her own.
"Any luck on your search?" Duke asked out of curiosity.
Alice nodded. "I found the last root, but now I have to find a way out of this factory. You wouldn't happen to know a route to take, do you?"
The Duke hummed. "Did you try going up the Grinder Shaft? That's the quickest way to the top floor."
"You mean the one connected to the Mineshaft with the spinning blades of death?" Alice questioned rhetorically.
The Duke lost his smile as he heard that. "So you're blocked in… hard to get through the propellers if they are active."
"Any other passageways I can take? I'll even resort to crawling through vents at this point." Alice stated.
"Sadly, that is the only way as far as I am concerned. However, if it is the blades that are troubling you, there might be a solution."
Alice raised a brow, but she was in desperate need. "I'm listening…"
"The Factory runs on two generators. The Main Generator and the Backup Generator. In order to cease the Grinder Shaft, you will need to divert the power to the Backup Generator. The room should be on B4, if I'm not mistaken."
"Sounds easy enough." Alice shrugged. "Alright, can this elevator take me there?"
"Check the buttons and see for yourself." The Duke eyed behind the Winters. Alice looked to the other wall, seeing a panel with three buttons. The bottom one read 'B4', the middle was 'B3' and the top one said 'B2'. Based on the glowing light next to 'B2', that was where she was now. In order for her to progress up, she needed to retreat down. A minor setback, but if she was quick she could still make it to the Ceremony Site. Pressing the bottom switch, she felt the shaft shift, before it began to descend slowly. While she was waiting to get to the lowest level, she went over to the Duke and did a bit of shopping and upgraded her weapons.
"Do you have any weapons that would do damage to those enemies here? They seem to be mostly made out of metal and wires. Hard for bullets to be launched at them." Alice noted.
"Ah! So you've noticed. Mere bullets won't be effective against their outer shells. A strong blast would do some good, but you don't currently have a weapon. However, I can upgrade your Spark Shot. A bit of electricity to override those mecha corpses might be what you need. For a price of course."
Alice wasn't sure what he meant by that, but she needed as much of an advantage as she could get. She allowed the Duke to work his magic. Increasing the volt charge, giving the battery less time to recover, and making the wires longer for a more distant attack. Hopefully it would come in handy for what she was about to face. With the supplies and weapons upgraded, she felt the elevator shift as it landed on the floor. She headed North out of the room and into the hallway, getting her surroundings in check. She saw another room across from the elevator and checked over there. There wasn't much in this room aside from work benches and shelves storing metals and scrapes. Though there was one particular contraption against the west wall. Another Labyrinth, this one resembling the factory in a sense. It was useless to solve without the ball, but at least she knew where it was. Since Alice already had the treasures from the other three Lords, she may as well collect them all.
She headed out of the room, not finding anything useful. Alice walked out, seeing a double metal door below blinding fluorescent lights in between the elevator and the room she came out of. With her weapons at the ready, she walked over and opened the door. The halls were mostly dark, with dust settling above the ground. A light fixture pressed into the bottom wall was the only source of light. Still, Alice faced worse so she would not waiver. Heading down, she took a left to go through another hallway. At the end of the tunnel was a red light that told her she was heading in the right direction, but would most likely meet something terrible. Loose cables hung from the ceiling, and the walls were lined with pipes. Alice came to another room which was brighter. It appeared as another workshop with benches, shelves and boxes.
Her eyes turned to a strange door with an orange light attached. Alice went over, believing that was her next destination. She tried to push or pull the door, but it wouldn't budge. She grunted in frustration, taking a look to see if there was anything keeping it shut. Her eyes once again landed on the orange dot, wondering if that was the locking mechanism. It seemed easy to break, but she would rather not waste her ammo. Instead, she took out her pocket knife and jabbed the blade into the light. A few sparks flew out, but once the bulb was destroyed the door shifted and opened on its own. "For a mechanical genius, he has terrible security." Alice mocked. She ate her words though as two figures stumbled through the door.
The Winters backed up as she saw other enemies approaching, axes and shovels in their hands. They wore tattered dress-like outfits as the maidens from the Castle. But Alice could see they had more muscular build, so they must be males. Strange visor headgears were on their craniums, covering their eyes. They waved their weapons around, but were trying to get at Alice. The Winters acted quickly, grabbing her Webley and started to blast them. Since they didn't have as much armor as the ones in the Grinder, she thought normal bullets would be just fine. She shot a few bullets on the visors, knocking them off which made them become angry. Alice outmaneuvered them, and took them down fairly easily thanks to the modifications on her handgun. A smirk played on her face as she watched their bodies fall to the ground easily. "Like I said, weak security." Alice repeated herself.
Curiously, she knelt next to the bodies and looked them over. "They look like the infected from Lady Dimitrescu's castle… but they're men instead of maidens. Guess Heisenberg has a type as well." Alice noted. She stood back up and went through the door, climbing up a staircase, then turned right to march up another flight before walking through a door and being taken to another room. The room itself wasn't of anything to note, aside from her being on a walkway with two large engines down below. Alice smiled, realizing this must be where the generators were located. She checked the area out, noticing a grate that was high up. She saw a door on the other side of the room she couldn't get to. Maybe if she lowered the grate, she could cross. Alice hoped that by rerouting the power, she could do so.
After a bit of searching, the Winters located a panel. She saw that it read 'Main Generator' on the screen. This definitely confirmed this was how she could divert the power to the other generator. The question was… how could she? There seems to be a large opening on the bottom, with wires, chips and other accessories. There did seem to be a place for a certain part, like a monitor, but Alice didn't have that on her. "Great, I need to find a part." Alice sighed, frustrated that it wouldn't be that easy. At least she knew what she was looking for, but where was it? She was certain it wouldn't be here, so she had to explore a bit more. Alice walked the pathway around and headed down the stairs, going past the two large generators. Her eyes saw a metallic door with a glowing bulb and decided that was where she had to go.
Before she could open the door, she watched it fly outward as two more of those zombies came out. She got out her crossbow this time, getting some arrows in the slot and decided to take these guys out quietly and leave less of a mess. She aimed them right at the heads, taking off their visors so she could jab the arrow heads into their cranium. After using four arrows in total on either one, she panted and headed into the new room.
It looked like an operating room of sorts, tables with straps and a whole wall dedicated to tools of torture. The east wall had a strange depression in the shape of a diamond, Alice wasn't sure what that meant so she continued to the north side. There seemed to have been a strange machine with a flame lighting it up. She checked it over, scratching her head as it took her a while to figure out what it was. Based on the shape, she could only assume it was a casting machine. But it was missing a mold to create some artifacts. Maybe she needed to make something to progress throughout the factory? She looked more around the room, seeing a workbench to the right of the casting machine. There was a white board with x-rays of chests and heads. She grabbed one from the wall and checked it over. The person looked to have nails and bolts within their brain and neck, being attached to the spinal cord. Were these… Heisenberg's experiments? Just what did he do to them? It was more than simply implanting a Cadou and waiting for the results. "I'm getting Frankenstein vibes from this setup." Alice mocked as she set the paper down, only to notice some more memos on the desk. They looked like notes, ones she could read. Alice checked them over in the hopes to learn more about these B.O.W's.
"Mechanical Soldier: Soldat. Ver. 1.00: Fully-grown male corpse used. Removed heart and implanted Cadou. Muscle stimulation via electric shock was successful. Brain dead so no high cognitive ability. Only moves by destructive instinct, then stops.
"Mechanical Soldier: Soldat. Ver. 1.01: Attached headgear to the cranium. Electrodes confirm stable brain waves. Experiment One: Lycan fight. Was dismantled and eaten within three minutes. Issues with destructive and murderous capabilities.
"Mechanical Soldier: Soldat. Ver. 1.10: Replaced lower part of arm with drill. Not enough output for effective movement. Need live bodies perhaps?
"Mechanical Soldier: Soldat. Ver. 1.15: Implanted Cadou reactor into the chest. Output greatly increased. Experiment Two: Lycan fight. Destroyed three lycans in one minute. Good results but issues with reactor durability. May stop functioning if the reactor is destroyed."
Alice couldn't believe what she was reading. These Soldats, as they were called, were what Heisenberg was creating in his factory. He was using the Cadou to bring the corpses to life. "Definitely a Frankenstein bootleg…" Alice noted. Not only was he modifying his subjects, but he was also using the Lycans to test how powerful they were. He must have taken his experiments seriously. But, why add such advancements to these corpses? Didn't Miranda want an ideal vessel for her daughter? And why use dead bodies anyways instead of living subjects? Something didn't add to what Heisenberg was doing. Still, Alice couldn't waste time thinking it over. She needed to get out of the factory and meet up with Hilda and Ethan. At least she had an idea of how to destroy those B.O.W's now.
She had to press on, figure out how to switch the generators. Alice tried the door on the left with an iron bar window, but it was locked from the other side. So she went up a staircase, took a right up another flight to be taken to yet another walkway with those Soldats ready to attack her. There were three of them, but she wasn't worried as she already knew what to do. Blasting their visors off of their eyes so she could get some head shots in. Both bullets and arrows smashed right into their sunken skulls. They put up a fight, but Alice was tougher. She took the treasures they left behind as a reward, then continued on. The Winters followed the walkway around until she got to the south wall where she found a door. Not hesitating to step through, she opened it and entered the room.
She jumped a bit, seeing who was in the area. Behind barred fencing, a lone figure sat idly on a chair. She stayed in the doorway, watching and waiting for it to make any moves. After a few minutes, the being didn't do any action. Did he hear her come in? Alice moved cautiously around the fence, getting into the light that was shining on the skin. She took a step towards the man in the chair, aiming her weapon as she saw just what the experiments were. The left arm was covered by a drill attached to a motor. A metal visor placed over the eyes. Cables were connecting to the back of the skin, which had stitch marks on the limbs and joints. "Just how many modifications was this guy doing to these experiments?" Alice had to question. She knew for a fact this creature was bound to come to life, so she needed to search the rest of the room for what she was looking for.
The blond headed to the back room, seeing what the storage space had to offer. She noticed a suitcase that was opened. She peeked inside and saw what looked to be some sort of mold with a large diamond pattern, similar to that of the depression on the wall in the Foundry. Perhaps Alice could use this to get access to that room. She also saw something else within the case, a strange device with a screen, two buttons and knobs as well. The screen displayed frequency wavelengths of different heights and spaces. Alice knew what it was, Ethan had to use one to fix many machines in his job: A Signal Modulator, which helped to reroute power to certain circuits. The shape looked similar to that picture on the generator panel where that part was supposed to go. Alice grinned, knowing she had the part she needed to redirect the power to the engines. All she needed to do was insert it into the panel.
She turned on her heels and began to head back, ready to get out of this hellhole of a Factory. The moment she went back into the room, steam came out of the chair. Alice's green eyes went wide as the Soldat came up from the seat, turning around to see his target. "Shit." Alice swore. She should have expected it to come alive, at least Alice had her handgun at the ready. She shot at the visor, knocking it off then started to attack the head. It only took a single bullet to the flesh before the creature began to stride forward, jabbing his drill arm into some of the shelves. Alice managed to evade it, but she had a feeling that her bullets or arrows to the skull wouldn't do the same type of damage that the others suffered. She had to think quickly, but acted faster as the creature came at her. She ducked from the power tool and shot a bullet right at the chest. Sparks flew as it hit a strange orange core attached to the breast.
Alice saw the sparks, taking notice that upon getting blasted, the figure seemed to stagger and cease movement. She recalled the notes she found in the Foundry, about the Cadou core within their chest. That must be their weak point! Alice decided to try a different method. Taking a few steps back, she pulled out her Spark Shot. "You wanna dance, let's waltz!" Alice moved around the creature, as it kept lunging at her and attempting to pierce her with his drill. She waited for the right moment, she needed a clear shot. It was tough, and at a certain point she nearly got punctured. Once he got his drill stuck in the wall, she took the chance. Pulling the trigger, she let the wires fly from the barrel of the gun and attach onto the core. Volts traveled through the thin cables and into the Cadou reactor. The monster's body shook from the shock, as the core flared up before it dimmed out entirely. She reeled her wires back, watching the B.O.W fall to its knees only to blow up in chunks.
Alice shielded herself from the mess, sighing. "Looks like you aren't so tough after all." The Winters looked down at the corpse, seeing it left something behind. A heart, connected to mechanical parts and crystals. It did seem beautiful from afar, and would most likely fetch a high price for the Duke. She traced her steps back to the Foundry, originally planning on heading to the generator room so she could use the Signal Modulator to direct the power to the Backup Generator. However, she looked over to the casting machine, remembering that it needed a mold in order to create an artifact. She did have a Relief Mold as it was called, and figured that it wouldn't hurt to see if it was used for the depression on the wall. The Winters went over and set the Relief Mold onto the case, watching the two sides come together and being picked up then lowered down. A small door opened to reveal a cauldron, tilting forward as hot burning liquid filled the hole. Freezing steam came out of both sides as the process was complete. The mold case came back up, opening up so Alice could take what was created.
A horse on its hind legs with a cross diamond in the background. It wasn't as hot as she thought it would be, and it was pretty sturdy. She wasn't sure what kind of casting machine this was, but figured she should give the final product a try. She headed to the East wall, where the depression was and inserted the relief inside. It fit perfectly, raising the brick wall upward which opened a new pathway. Even though she knew she should head back, Alice wanted to know what could be beyond this path. She already had the Signal Modulator anyways, so she could redirect the power any time. Perhaps there was more information she could gather to figure out just who this Heisenberg fellow was.
The Winters climbed up yet another flight of stairs, ready to turn a corner on her left. As she was about to, her ears picked up the faint sound of ringing from a phone. It reminded her of when she was in the Castle and Lady Dimitrescu was getting a call from Miranda. Alice crouched down, slowly inching her way to the dim hall until she found herself in another corridor where a large metal door was the first thing she saw. Heisenberg's crest of gold was in the center as a fluorescent light shone down. Gears and pipes were on the door, as Alice wondered if this was a special room for the Lord himself.
The phone kept ringing, and Alice wanted to know what was going on. She ducked under a window with metal bars separating the room from the hallway. She carefully lifted her head up, just enough for her to see inside. She didn't get a good look at what the room was, since she had a fixed view. But her green eyes manage to land on a certain man who was making his way to a workbench. Alice couldn't help but awe as she saw how the man looked. He had long, wavy silver hair that didn't seem to know what a brush was, the color of it matching his mustache and beard. His choice of clothing was that of a tattered coat, old-fashioned sunglasses, heavy boots and what she thought was a cowboy hat, but was just a fedora. He looked similar to one of the Lords stationed at the altar in the Church, which meant that had to Heisenberg himself.
The Winters was baffled by his appearance, finding it a tad odd. Not that it was a distasteful look, considering the area they were in. However, what was puzzling was that he appeared… normal. Like a regular human out of the four Lords. All of the other Lords had some sort of modification or defect happen on their body, but as far as Alice could tell, Heisenberg didn't even have a blemish. Maybe that was why Miranda considered him to be her favorite, since he seemed like an ideal vessel due to the Cadou not affecting his physical structure? It was mostly speculation, and Alice didn't have the resources nor patience to figure the answers out.
She kept her focus as he sat at the bench, picking up the receiving end of his phone. Alice tried to hold back a chuckle as she saw that it appeared to be a brick phone, with an antenna sticking up and taking up half of the head. She remembered when they had a phone like that in her house. She shook the nostalgia off and listened to his conversation. "Hello Mother, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?" He spoke in his muscular tone, sounding professional despite his slight accent. Based on how he addressed the person as 'Mother', he was no doubt talking to Miranda. Alice kept her ears open in case there was news about Ethan and Hilda.
"Huh… so Alcina and Donna both got their flasks taken… and no sign of Moreau either…?" Heisenberg asked while Alice absorbed this information. So Miranda was figuring out that Rose was going missing and her children were either failing her or out right disappearing. If that were the case, she would most likely be wanting to keep a tighter leash on the remains of the Village and ensure that they couldn't leave. "Yeah, mine should still be in the Stronghold, guarded by the Lycans and Urias. Even if they knew where it was, they would have to face off against that hoard."
So Hilda was right about the flask being in the Lycan's den. It was a good thing Ethan went there. Even though the fourth Lord seemed confident in the B.O.W's, Alice knew her brother was tough and Hilda would be of use to him. Still, if they weren't at the Ceremony Site, Alice may have to check at the Stronghold and make sure they were holding their own. "A little kid?" Alice perked up as the man spoke once more. "Nah, I didn't see what she looked like, but yeah it seems they have a young girl with them. I only communicated with her through Moreau's television after she and Ethan Winters defeated him."
Wait, what did he say? Alice blinked, did Heisenberg talk with Hilda?! Through the television?! "I'm sure she's fine, if she has those two with her. Why the sudden interest in the kid? I thought you were going to use Rose for your Ceremony?" Silence fell in the room, as Alice wanted to hear more, despite the conversation being one sided. "Yeah, I know how important this Ceremony is to you, we all do. I just wanted to know what the kid has to do with it." Again, more silence, but soon he spoke once more. "Of course. I'll stop them myself if it comes to that. After all, what son would I be otherwise?" His tone sounded a bit mocking towards the end, wondering if it was intentional. "I'll check the Stronghold to see their progress and report back to you." He promised Miranda, just as he pressed a button to end the message before slamming the phone on the desk. "Evil Witch! Can't wait to be rid of her." The Fourth Lord grunted as he stood up, adjusting his coat. "Still, if that woman and kid could take down super-sized bitch and her gnats along with psycho doll and that moronic freak, then it's no wonder she wants them both." Heisenberg walked over to the door near the desk, stepping out of the quarters.
Alice processed everything that he had said with Miranda. "Was he… talking about Hilda?" It was unsettling as it seemed to be true. Hilda was the only child that had been with Alice and helped her gather the flasks. Come to think of it, she recalled the phone call with Dimitrescu and Miranda. When the pale lady mentioned Hilda, the Mother of this Village seemed to have some interest in her as well. "Don't tell me… is Miranda after her?" With this idea, it made Alice all the more fearful for the child's protection. If Heisenberg or Miranda went after Hilda, who knows what they would do to her! She couldn't waste anymore time, she needed to get out of the Factory and get Ethan, Rose and Hilda out of the Village.
She also needed to be careful, because Heisenberg was a lot closer than she anticipated. She hurried away from the window and saw a ladder on a ledge. She skipped it and jumped down two platforms until she was on a walk away. She took a right and headed down, trying to hurry so she could get back to the Generator room and switch the power to the Backup engines. She had to snake her way through this curved walkway, keeping her ears open as she heard the grunts of the monsters nearby. Since her hearing was on high alert, she didn't notice something blocking her path until her eyes caught it and forced her feet to stop. She looked up, noticing large crank-like arms shifting up and down in a circular motion. If Alice didn't stop at that moment, she would have been diced for sure.
She looked at the machines, trying to find a weak point for her to expose so Alice could stop them. Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be any kind that could get them to stop. Which meant that Alice would have to be cautious. She watched the metallic arm with the spinning gear come down and timed the movement. Once there was an opportunity, she dashed forward. Her legs turned left and headed down, then just as she turned right, she saw another large robotic arm grinding before her. It was a bit faster this time, but Alice jumped through with no problem. At least she was halfway there.
She circled around a large mechanical part, trying to move ahead. When she looked behind the device, she could see two of those lower class Soldat's coming after her. Axes and shovels raised and staggered towards the Winters. "You boys don't know when to leave a lady alone, do you?" Alice teased, keeping distance between them. Part of her wanted nothing more than to shoot them and kill them right here. But given how close Heisenberg was at the moment, the last thing she wanted was to create attention and get herself caught. She could use her handgun with the silencer, but she didn't want to waste handgun bullets on only two of them. The couple kept approaching, as Alice needed to find an answer.
As much as she hated to, her feet ran off straight ahead. She ducked under another grinding gear, looking back as the two followed after her. She was prepared to gain more distance, but watched as they collided with the grinding cog and was knocked out from the blow. She couldn't help but chuckle slightly as the environment worked in her favor. She took a right and came across three other B.O.W's, evading them as best she could and lured them to the final arm which was the fastest. She ducked as one of them launched at her, then she pushed them into the pathway for him to be grinded to a pulp. The other two tried to go after her, but she quickly went past the final shaft and ran like crazy. She wasn't taking any chances, nor did she look back. She took a left down the walkway, heading a right to a large room then another left until she found a ladder for her to climb up.
It appeared to have been a dead end at first, until Alice noticed a grate that was barred up on a vent. She knelt down, grabbing the bars and attempted to rip it off. It was far easier than she realized, setting the grate down and crawling through the vent. Alice came to the other side, looking around the room as half of it was taken up by crates and a door which was locked from the other side. To her left, she saw a dark corridor with a shining light at the end. She also noticed human sized chambers against the left side of the wall, holding sleeping Soldats. Not a very welcoming sight, but her options were limited.
Alice kept her weapon out, going slowly through the pathway as her eyes were open in case one of them decided to wake up. She went along, finding a metal door with a barred window. When she looked through, she could see the Foundry on the other side. At least she made it back, and could get to the generator control. As she was about to go inside, she backed away when she saw a figure coming down the steps where the hidden stairway came from. She peaked through the bars, trying to keep herself hidden as a trench coat figure walked towards the Casting Machine, checking over the workbench as well. "Looks like somebody's been using and taking my tools… without permission." Heisenberg chuckled in a malice tone. "If there's a rat in this Factory, then I better find them…"
Alice took notice of the large hammer within his hands, Ethan wasn't exaggerating about this Lord having a weapon. He walked over to the stairwell corridor on his left, the same one Alice took when she first came to the room. Great, now he really was after her, and was actively searching. She couldn't waste anymore time, she had to get out of the factory. Opening the door, she took a right back to the open room and took the staircase back to B3 of the factory, being taken to where the panel that controlled the main engines. Now she just needed to divert power to the backup generator. She found the panel and knelt down, taking out the Signal Modulator and placed it into the space. She waited, watching the screen load only for it to say 'Error'. "What?" Alice took the device back and checked it over. "That should have worked." She grunted in frustration.
No, she couldn't get upset now. She still needed to find a way to get the device to operate the panel. She remembered Ethan would use these at some of his jobs before, and taught her a few rules about them. First off, there would be five settings that the Modulator could be set to: OSS, MUF, AWS, URF, or MUFF. Certain machines will only operator on the setting they are at. They will usually have that setting labeled above where the Modulator was supposed to go. Alice looked again, seeing a dial that said 'MUF'. Alice looked back at the device, pressing the arrow key on the left of the device so that it was on that setting.
Next, she needed to make the frequencies match. There were three screens: One in the middle showing two wavelengths that were overlapping each other. Another in the bottom left showing a red wavelength with higher hills that were closer together. And the last one was at the bottom right with a green wavelength where the hills were smaller and further apart. The idea was she needed to use the dials to control the frequencies of both bottom screens so they would match each other on the top where there would be a single pattern. Admittedly, that part did take her a while to figure out, since she had to turn the dials now and again. Eventually, she got it and placed the Signal Modulator back into the panel. This time, it worked and the light turned green.
Alice pulled the lever down and pressed the red button, watching as the lights turned on and the sound of the engine on the right side of the room began to purr as the other went silent. A smile spread on Alice's face. A grate platform lowered for her, helping her get to the other side of the door. At least now she was getting somewhere. Once back on the third floor, she can make her way up the Grinder Shaft and get to the second floor. Then she would be home free. Once the bridge was down, Alice walked over and opened the door, being taken to a long, dark hallway with steaming pipes on the side, crates and boxes of metal lined against the wall. The Winters threaded down the corridor, taking a right to go up a staircase and into a large room with more machines and barred walls.
At least she didn't see any enemies so far. She kept walking, ready to get to the next section. As she was halfway through the one room, her ears heard the distant sound of scraping on the floor. She looked around, seeing some of the pipes and rusted metal pieces move around, being lifted up and floating in mid air. Her eyes went wide, keeping her guard up. This didn't seem like part of the Factory line. "Well, well…" The blond whipped her head, looking back to where she entered as the owner of the Factory himself slowly stepped forward. His large weapon behind his head, carrying it with one hand with ease. He took a drag off his cigar and blew some smoke out while he kept his focus on the woman before him. "Didn't think you would have made it this far. You're just as tough as your brother, I'll give you that."
"Lord Heisenberg…" Alice breathed, keeping her composure despite being in the presence of one of the leaders of this Village. The most dangerous one.
"Oh? So you've heard of me. I'm honored that despite not being local, you understand the situation you've wandered into." A smirk played on his face full of whiskers.
Alice pulled up her Webley handgun, keeping a stance as she was glaring right at the man. "Don't come any closer! I won't hesitate!"
"Oh, I know you won't." He reassured her.
"Look, my fight isn't with you. I have more important things to do and will let you live if you just let me walk away." Alice offered. The last thing she wanted was to fight this Lord, especially when she wasn't sure what he was capable of.
"Do you really think you can stop Miranda and her goals? You may have gotten this far, which I do applaud, but not even you can stop that witch yourself." Heisenberg declared, taking a step forward as Alice kept her finger on the trigger.
"I don't care about taking down Miranda, this place won't last much longer anyways once I'm done. I just want to get my family back! And I'll be damned if she uses Rose to bring back her daughter!"
Heisenberg stopped moving and perked up when she said that. He seemed surprised by her words. "So you do know what her experiment really is…"
Alice glared at the Lord, hatefully as she knew he was not going to let her go. Probably to either hand her to Miranda or use her for his own experiments. She began to pull the trigger, letting the bullets fly out of the chamber and towards the mutated man. Just as she thought it would hit him, they stopped mid air. Heisenberg smirked as the ammo was just out of his reach. "Did you really think that metal bullets would affect me?" As if that wasn't bad enough, with the snap of his finger, Alice found some of her weapons being pulled from her body and circled around the Lord himself. She gasped as she watched her Webley handgun, F2 Rifle, and flash grenades being taken from her. She lost almost half of her inventory while Heisenberg himself just smirked. "And it looks like you aren't as armed right now…" That smirk on his face widened as he glared at Alice.
There was no way she would be able to fight him, especially when she lost some of her best weapons. The Winters couldn't take a chance, instead she turned on her heels and started to head to the room in front of her. Heisenberg laughed as he followed after her with his metallic tornado surrounding him. "You can run all you'd like, but you won't be able to get far." Alice ran to the next room, hiding behind one of the three large metallic wall structures. The Lord tried to locate her, as he scanned the room. All Alice could do was keep her distance and not be near that maniac. She was so close to getting out of here, but as long as he was nearby, she would be too far from her goal. It didn't help that scrape and debris was flying around, nearly hitting her so she had to constantly be on guard.
Alice couldn't keep waiting, she was so close to the top floor, she had to get to the Grinder Shaft. Alice kept her eyes peeled, watching the Lord circle around to try and find the woman. If she could sneak away from him while his back was turned, then she could have a chance. With the right opportunity, she rushed past and found a door to her left of the room. There were five light dot locks on the solid door. She looked around in her stash, hoping to find anything. To her luck, he didn't take her pocket knife. In a hurry, she slashed the lights on the locks and watched the sparks fly. It caught the attention of the Lord, as he made his way over to her. Alice worked quickly, slicing the bulbs so the door would open. Once she made it through, she was taken to a dead end ahead of her. It didn't help that pieces of metal were flying over her head. She had to duck to not get hit. When she turned, she could see the metal man making his way towards her.
She looked to her left, seeing a narrow hallway and took it. She had to duck down, crawl through and jump over some pipes, as Heisenberg chased after her. Climbing up some stairs, she came to a metal door with a pull bar. Her hands grabbed it quickly, pulling it for her to walk right in. There were more benches, shelves and even a few lockers that were the size of her. She could hear him coming closer, despite the door being locked. Alice couldn't just leave the room, he would keep following her. When her eyes landed on the lockers, she got an idea. The Winters ran over, hiding in one and kept her hands over her mouth. She watched through the small slits as the Lord marched into the room, searching around but was unable to find any sign of the Winters.
"So, you want to play hide and seek. Alright, but remember that this is my Factory. You are just an unwanted guest…" Heisenberg walked out to the double sided doors on the other side, dead set on locating the intruder.
