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Chapter: Vents, Pistons..., and Robots?
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I watched wide-eyed at the situation before me. It looks like I reached the center of the pillar, which is hollow. Its surface is sporting many holes similar to the vent I'm standing from.
It seems the steam or hot air arrives from below. I'm not clear since the smoke hinders my sight. "What is that? A Piston?" I exclaimed, looking at a piston-like structure above me slowly rising.
I know it is not the time to marvel, since the piston was about to arrive. I looked at the piston, readying to fall. Then I ran back inside to the nearest hole and huddled in it. "It looks like it is used to operate this island," I exclaimed in doubt.
"If I can somehow get on top of the Piston, then I can get out of here," I thought, hiding inside the hole as the piston fell, forcing the steam through the vents.
I ran towards the exit after the steam stopped. By the time I reached there, the piston has passed the vent I'm in and is rising slowly. I looked up at the rising piston.
"Normally, in an engine, the steam will push the piston up. Why is this acting the opposite?" I speechlessly examined the setup.
"Does this make the island float?" I speculated idiotically.
"How to climb this?" I discarded thoughts, looking at the vents dotted along the wall above. I glanced at the beat-up wings. "Old fashion it is." I rolled my sleeve, examining the hole above.
I stretched as if preparing for a climb but instead took a Ball Dial *poof* creating a ball cloud, then jumped on it.
The ball cloud rose fast due to the air from below. "Whooohooo!" I exclaimed excitedly.
"Ahh! It's too fast," I cried, noticing that I passed the hole I aimed for.
"Oh! No! The piston is about to descend" I panicked, searching for a vent before locating a hole approaching above.
After I calmed down, I calculated the distance to jump from here. I tighten my muscles as the hole approached. I watched as I pass it. When it is below me, I jumped from the Ball cloud, drew a curve, then held the edge of the vent.
This vent is small, similar to the one I hid before, so I used Eisen Clouds to block the entrance directly. I waited for some seconds before the piston descended *swoosh* *fweeee* *rattle*, the pressure from it can be felt on the cover I made. "Shit!" I gritted, pushing against the Eisen cloud.
I removed the cloud as soon as I felt the pressure stop, but I still found that the entrance is still covered. I stared at it before reacting.
"Ah! It's the piston," I shouted in surprise as the piston's body was blocking the entrance.
"It seems I need to go higher to see its top," I decided after seeing that I'm not high enough to see the piston's top and it stopped lowering further. Just in case, I manipulated Eisen Cloud to cover the entrance of the vent as the piston began to rise.
I observed the piston through a small gap I left in the cover. *clank* *clink* I saw it rise slowly before I found a groove on it. The groove is large enough to accommodate me.
I don't know what got me, but I suddenly ran toward the vent's entrance and jumped just as the second groove arrived. "I knew it!" I exclaimed, landing on the groove.
"It looked somewhat similar to a compression ring in the piston," I muttered, standing inside the gap of the compression ring watching the Pillar's wall recede down along with the vents dotted on it.
"Why did I jump here suddenly?" I realized my dangerous action, feeling the piston's heat on my back.
"Anyway, I am here," I calmed down, looking at the Vents on the receding wall.
"It is time to get out," I muttered, jumping into the next vent that appeared. I watched as the piston continue to rise and its bottom stopped just some distance above this vent.
"Oh! I have covered a large distance if I can see the Piston's bottom," I stretched my head out of the vent, to peek down, but was unable to identify the vent I exited from.
I quickly covered the vent, noticing that the piston was about to descend. *woosh* *fweeee* the piston dropped fast, but the pressure here is somewhat bearable since the steam is less at this height and I'm close to the piston when it fell.
After I felt the pressure stop, I removed the cover of the vent, to see the full view without the obstruction of the piston body. "*whistle* that is the connecting rod," I exclaimed in awe, looking at the pillar-like rod in the distance.
"That's the ticket out of here," I muttered, looking at the gap the rod had emerged from the ceiling.
"Oh! The piston has a one-kilometer radius, so I need to reach the connecting rod before the piston crushes me against the ceiling." I noticed from here that the top of the piston is littered with many crushed objects.
"If I'm not at this height, I would have more time running on the piston's top." I furrowed, looking at the short distance to the ceiling.
"Do I need to go down? So I can have more time running towards the rod while the piston rises slowly." I am displeased by the choice I have.
"No way, my body is already beaten up," I refused, glancing at the burns all over my body.
"I will create a head start," I determined before running and jumping out of the vent.
While falling, I observed that the piston has stopped lowering and will raise in some seconds. I quickly created a Ball cloud and laid on it. I used the momentum of the jump to push the Ball cloud toward the rod closing some distance.
"Damn it! The wind here is unstable," I cursed as the ball began to wobble due to steam from below.
"It's going to hurt," I gritted in pain and flapped my wings to stabilize and move forward. I was soaked in sweat due to the pain from that one flap.
"FUCK!" I stopped flapping as the pain from the wings intensify, But I'm satisfied as the ball stabilized and is moving toward the rod.
Even though it was moving forward, it began to lose altitude and fell towards the piston, which began to rise. "*sigh* I already expected it," I sighed calmly, observing the approaching piston's top for a place to land.
I adjusted my posture, then dived towards the place chosen to land safely. I used the ball cloud to cushion the impact and jumped off it before it burst.
"This place is insane," I gulped, looking at the things on the ground that have been crushed beyond recognition.
The surface is irregular, with potholes and cracks made up of things crushed regularly. "I can hide between these holes to avoid being crushed if necessary," I deduced, looking at the approaching ceiling.
"But I don't need to take any chances," I muttered, running towards the rod.
Parkour is really useful for crossing this surface easily. I ran swiftly towards the rod, nearing it. "I can reach it before the piston fully rises to the ceiling," I smirked confidently and shamelessly activated Electro, increasing my speed to not take any chance.
As I was 50 meters away from reaching the rod, I suddenly tripped and fell. Before my sparkling body hit the ground, I thought 'How can I reach it easily without any obstacles? Well done God,' I seethed and protected my body with my hand quickly due to my fast reflex *thud*.
I felt dizzy due to falling suddenly on this irregular surface. My arms and legs hurt. "*ugh* what now?" I shook my head to recover from the dizziness. With my muddled eyes, I watched the ceiling fall down.
"Ceiling is falling down?" I confusedly looked at it before a trace of clarity appeared in my eyes.
"Shit! The piston is rising." I cursed, aware of the situation I'm in.
"Fuck! The rod is just in front of me. If I reached it, I would be safe from getting crushed," I cursed, looking at the gap from which the rod emerges.
I tried to stand up, but I felt my legs were stuck in something. I pulled my legs anxiously without any success as I watch the approaching ceiling.
"What the hell?" I looked at my leg only to be dumbfounded; my leg is being held by a mechanical claw with three fingers, which is attached to an arm, whose owner is a robot with only its square head intact as the rest of the body is crushed.
It is looking at me with its one intact eye glowing red; overall it is tattered with exposed wires and rust.
I stared at it with mouth agape from where I was lying down, but I quickly regained my sense due to the approaching danger.
"You bucket of bolts. Let go of me," I yelled, pulling my legs, but it tighten the grip instead. I began to panic as the ceiling neared me; I looked around in desperation for any solution.
I soon found a depression near that robot, so I crawled and lay inside it. Failing to pull my legs from the claw after realizing that my leg was still out of the depression, I took my chances and lay near the robot, since it survived and was not crushed completely.
I made myself flat as much as possible, watching the ceiling near me. "You are so dead if I'm alive after this," I glared in the direction of the robot. I held my breath as the piston started to slow down 'Stop, stop, stop, stop,' I prayed as the ceiling finally stopped.
I didn't feel any pain of being crushed or I'm crushed so thoroughly that I can't feel anything. It is very dark and only the heat I feel from the Piston on my back indicates that I'm alive.
It feels like an eternity for each passing second between the ceiling and the piston. I can clearly see the crushed things struck to the ceiling due to my night vision.
'When I'm down, I hoped for the piston to arrive slowly, but now I wish for the piston to move fast, I thought ironically.
I felt the piston begin to move as the light appeared in the darkness. I sighed in relief after finding that I was still intact before feeling severe pain in my back.
"What the...? I'm lying on my back, so how did it get hurt there?" I turned my head to find the bleeding tail, I speechlessly looked at it.
Even though it looked mangled, I know it is not broken and escaped from being flattened by a hair's breadth. "You got what you want for not listening." I grinned in pain. "And you…" I sat glaring at the robot, which escaped from getting crushed, due to the depression in the ceiling also saving my leg.
Before I could utter a word, I felt a loss in gravity. I even floated for a second or two due to the piston falling down. I tried to create a Ball dial, but the dial went out of my grip due to me suddenly getting dragged by my leg along with the piston. "NNOOOO…!" I yelled in despair as my exit was getting further.
I got dragged down like a balloon attached to the rollercoaster before *thud* *slam* slamming heavily on the ground again. I spat a mouthful of blood as my internal organs got shaken.
I lay there staring blankly at the distant ceiling; it is a miracle I didn't lose consciousness.
Hot air blew, waking me out of my stupor, "*cough* *cough* *spat* *ugh*," I groaned, spitting blood in pain. I slowly sat down, wiping the blood in my mouth; I turned my head as blood slowly flowed down my head, staining my silver-white hair red.
"Gah! I already *hu* will forget things, *ha* now I got my head hurt," I complained, hoping it won't cause any future problems and started examining my body for damage.
I looked at the robot with anger burning in my multicolor pupil as the whites in my eyes slowly turned red, spreading all over my eye.
"Grrr! You piece of rust," I growled, animalistic, as my claws and teeth extended out before I pounced on the robot, ignoring the pain all over the body.
I grabbed the arm holding my legs and tore it brutally from its body *click*, ignoring the claw holding my ankle. *scratch* *clank* *clunk* I clawed wildly at the robot's head, scratching it, and peeled the metal as blood oozed from the claws.
I plucked its remaining eye before throwing it away, then opened my jaws wide, biting the robot's head and tearing it away from the body.
I threw the head away angrily and "ROAR!" I roared triumphantly, raising my head. "*Haa* *haaa* *haa* *hu*," I breathed heavily as the red in my eyes began to reside.
I stood there, blinking in confusion. "What happened?" I squeaked dumbly before the pain assaulted me, followed by tiredness.
"Ahh Ow! Ow! Ow!" I cried in pain, looking at the bloody claw and pain all over my body. I noticed the piston beginning to rise, so I tried to move, only to double over in pain from my ankle.
"Fuck! That piece of metal, sunnava…" I cursed that robot which caused my swollen ankle.
I limped towards my thrown bag, picked it up, and moved towards the connecting rod. "I lost my Ball Dial, injured my head, ankle…" I grumbled angrily as I went.
"Whoever sent that robot be prepared," I declared furiously, pressing the wound on my head to stop the blood from flowing.
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