The upper levels were no kinder than the basement floors below. If anything, time had been even more ruthless here. The lobby crumbled before me. Dust clung to the fractured remains of walls that had long since collapsed. Large chunks of concrete lay scattered across the floor, evidence of the slow decay that had eaten away at the structure. The ceiling above was riddled with gaping holes, allowing shafts of weak, filtered light to spill through, casting eerie shadows on what little remained.
Where I had just climbed from—the dark, claustrophobic shaft below—now felt almost safe compared to the exposed ruins I found myself in. Here, the air was different, carrying a stronger scent of salt. The sound of distant wind whistling and the soft lapping of waves against the shore filtered through the cracks, echoing in the otherwise still, empty space—a haunting reminder of just how abandoned this place truly was.
Looking around, I could just barely make out the front of the building through the decay. Surprisingly, the framework of the doors was still standing, stubbornly resisting the passage of time.
"Cortana, how close are we to the solar panels?"
"Not far," she replied. "According to the schematics I can access, you should be able to exit the building and walk for a few minutes to reach the gated area where the solar panels are located. Whether the gate is still intact remains to be seen."
I moved toward the barely-standing doors, each step careful as the cracked floor beneath me threatened to give way. The closer I got, the stronger the scent of saltwater became, mingling with the musty air of the decaying building. I placed my hand on the cold, rusted handle, half-expecting the door to fall apart under my touch. With a bit of effort, the door groaned as I pushed it open, revealing the outside world for the first time since I woke up.
Shielding my eyes from the harsh light flooding through the door, the first thing I noticed was the faint outline of a city stretching out before me. Like the building I stood in, time had not been kind to the world outside. The shells of towering structures remained; their skeletal frames defiant against the years of decay. Yet through the broken windows and crumbling facades, I could see that many of the floors had collapsed inward, leaving only hollow ruins behind.
The streets were eerily silent, save for the distant sound of waves crashing against the shore. Vines and other plant life had claimed parts of the city, weaving through cracks in the concrete and crawling up the sides of buildings, adding to the sense that nature had long since taken over. It was as if the city had simply been abandoned, left to rot under the watchful eye of time
Feeling a new mote appear in my mindscape, I watched as it drifted and combined with the other two, attempting to reach for a star in a nearby constellation. The motes fell just short of the bright star's glow, and I realized I was only a few motes away from unlocking its potential. The star pulsed faintly, teasing me with its untapped power. For now, it remained out of reach.
I pushed the thought aside, refocusing on the task at hand. The weight of what I needed to do pressed on my mind as I scanned the outside of the building, searching for any sign of the solar panels or a path that might lead to them. The overgrowth made it difficult to see clearly, with vines curling over the ruins and obscuring much of the landscape, but in the distance, a faint glint of metal caught my eye.
"There," I murmured to myself, "that might be something."
The wind shifted, carrying with it the scent of saltwater and decay. I squinted, stepping cautiously out of the doorway to get a better look. Beyond the tangle of rusted fences and debris, I could just make out the edge of what looked like a service road winding between the crumbling buildings. It was narrow and partially hidden by fallen structures, but it seemed to lead in the direction of the gated area Cortana had mentioned.
"I think I found a path," I said, gripping the pipe I was still carrying. "Let's hope it holds up."
"Fingers crossed," Cortana chimed in with dry amusement. "Though given the state of this place, you might want to throw in a prayer for good measure. Preferably to any deity specializing in crumbling infrastructure."
I couldn't help but smirk at her comment as I cautiously set off down the faint trail. The path wound through the ruins like a scar, barely visible beneath years of overgrowth. Each step echoed with the crunch of rubble underfoot, a reminder of the fragility of the world around me.
"You know, I'd say you're handling all of this well," Cortana remarked, her voice light with sarcasm. "Not everyone wakes up from cryo-stasis, escapes a collapsing building, and casually walks through a post-apocalyptic city like it's a Sunday stroll."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," I muttered, sidestepping a particularly large chunk of debris. "I'll be sure to add 'surviving the end of the world' to my résumé."
"I'd recommend it. Skills like that are hard to come by."
Following the overgrown service road, I scanned the area around me, noticing glimpses of water through the gaps between buildings. It wasn't close, but I could tell the ocean was only a few blocks away. If I deviated from the path, I could probably reach the beach by cutting through the crumbling remains of the city.
"With the ocean this close and us being in a city," I muttered to myself, "my best guess is that we could be in Tokyo."
"Good guess," Cortana chimed in. "A once-thriving metropolis reduced to a playground for vines and rubble. Quite the downgrade."
I smirked at her dry tone but kept my eyes ahead, focusing on the narrow path winding between the fallen structures.
As we continued to trek along, I noticed the rusted fences I had spotted earlier were getting closer. Through the gaps in the overgrowth, I could now make out the familiar shapes of solar panels. Some of them had cracked panes, likely from the years of neglect and exposure to the elements, but to my surprise, most appeared to be intact.
"We might just catch a break here," I muttered under my breath, relief creeping into my voice.
"I'd say that's optimistic," Cortana replied, her dry tone cutting through the silence. "Considering how eroded the facility is, getting those panels to power anything below ground might be a lost cause. You'd have better luck repurposing them to power a small area up here on the surface."
I paused for a moment, letting her words sink in.
"Repurpose them? You're saying it's too late to fix the power supply underground?" I asked, eyeing the panels as we moved closer.
"Well, considering the state of things down there, I wouldn't bet on it. The wiring is probably shot, the infrastructure corroded. Even if you manage to get the panels operational, you'd just be feeding power into a system that's barely holding together. But, up here..." Her voice trailed off for a moment before she continued. "Up here, you might be able to get a small, stable area going—somewhere you can operate from until we figure out the next move."
I frowned, thinking it over. She wasn't wrong. As bad as the upper floors had looked, the lower levels weren't any better. Maybe stabilizing the facility had been a pipe dream from the start.
"Guess we adapt, then," I said, nodding to myself. "Let's get these panels online and see what we can power up top. At least we'll have a safe spot."
"Glad you're finally seeing reason," Cortana teased. "I'd hate for all your efforts to go to waste because you were stubbornly trying to save a pile of rubble."
"Yeah, yeah," I muttered, shaking my head with a grin. "Let's just hope these panels are more cooperative than the rest of this place."
"I'd say there's a thirty percent chance those panels will cooperate, but hey, I'm an optimist."
With that, I focused on the task ahead. If the facility below was beyond repair, then the surface would have to be our sanctuary—for now.
Feeling another mote blossom to life, hope surged within me. I could sense the constellation I was trying to reach—it felt so close now, just within my grasp. Watching the motes combine, they twisted together, forming like a whip, slinging out toward the star I had been reaching for. But once again, they fell short.
Frustration welled up in my chest, sharp and bitter. I was so close. I could feel it—just one mote short of capturing this star. The knowledge that I was on the cusp of unlocking something powerful, only to have it slip away again, gnawed at me.