The Magi's Society

As Mevi continued up the stairs, returning her thoughts to the here and now, she couldn’t help but still worry about the robotic hordes behind her. Hellion seemed confident and eager, almost jumping up every step and clearly hoping they would hasten their pace. The Sentinel was unfazed, as it normally was, but its stare seemed cemented on above them. The Sentinel seemed like it was thinking deeply about what might lay above them, but its true thoughts were a mystery to Mevi. After gathering herself from the previous moment’s turmoil, Mevi increased her own pace to satisfy Hellion’s eagerness.

The three of them ascended the spiral staircase. It must have climbed twenty or thirty meters before the staircase entered into the wall of the spire itself, disappearing from the main lobby’s sight, and further climbing in darkness within the thick metal walls. After another minute or two of speedy climbing the stair exited them onto the next platform. In contrast to the wide and open space the main floor showed, they exited onto a mostly closed-off narrow hallway. There was no ceiling here, and the walls of the hallway only stretched a few meters high before opening to a vast empty space above them. It was the strangest floor design Mevi had seen yet, what was the purpose of walls if they didn’t reach the ceiling? Mevi soon found her answer.

As the three of them ventured forward, the hallway stretched left and right at an intersection. Rooms without doors lined the new hallways, and within the rooms Mevi could see a terrible sight. Laying on crude medical tables were corpses. Or at least Mevi hoped they were corpses. From her vantage she was an unwilling witness to the contents of one of the open rooms. A mangled, shriveled, and hopefully dead corpse lay splayed on the crude medical table. As if drained of all of its vital essences and covered in jagged incisions, the corpse leaked dried blood and strange gelatinous oozes.

Before Mevi could make a remark or recoil in disgust, the Sentinel pulled her backwards the way they had come, with enough force it was almost throwing her backwards into the arms of Hellion. Just then a large mechanical monstrosity, a many eyed and armed floating cylindrical robot charged forward and slammed into the Sentinel. Its appendages held various surgical implements and several dangling tubes dripping with unknown chemical liquids. The amalgamation of doctoring equipment tackled the Sentinel with a surprising amount of strength. As the Sentinel struggled to stay on its feet one of the mechanical monster’s large eyes twisted in a socket to stare at Hellion and Mevi. Then all of the construct’s eyes swiveled and twisted in a desperate search, some popped out on entirely new appendages and scanned the room, then all of its eyes focused on the two humanoids without armor; its newest subjects. It writhed against the Sentinel, who now instead of being forced to the ground was attempting to force the construct to the ground instead. It flailed towards Mevi and Hellion as if trying to grab them, the two quickly retreated back down the hallway they had come and watched as the Sentinel slowly regained superiority and forced the monster to the ground. As it struggled to get back up the Sentinel balled a fist and punched a single swift strike into the top of where the equivalent of its head was. The creature struggled and sputtered a few moments but then eventually stopped moving entirely.

Rising from another new kill, the Sentinel returned to Mevi’s side and looked her over briefly before determining she was unharmed. Mevi watched in horror as the body of the mechanical construct continued to occasionally twitch and spit out electrical power. Turning to Hellion, Mevi couldn’t even fathom what she wanted to ask but knew she had to say something about this horrible place. Before Mevi could pull her thoughts together Hellion spoke in a grim tone, “I’ve heard of this place once before. Why we call this place the ‘Tower of Pain’. A guy, he never told us his name, showed up one day. This was maybe a year ago, the Castle was smaller then. A lot smaller. Anyway, this guy showed up and told us all kinds of horrible stuff goin on in here. Bots sucking people dry, openin em up like they were experimenting on em… We started calling this place that after we heard the stories. A few others showed up occasionally, never told us their names… Never lasted long.”

“Why would anyone do this? I don’t understand this level of cruelty, what purpose does it serve?” Mevi asked, almost becoming infuriated at the grizzly scene still partially visible through the open door.

“How’d I know? I got here with a group of idiots who all thought this place would be an easy raid. Suppose a lot of people trapped here got caught doin the same… Can’t do nothin about it so we should keep moving.”

Mevi almost wanted to continue questioning Hellion, despite the futility, but a loud bang from far below them echoed upwards to reach them. The constructs outside were doing something, and they could still breach the door at any moment. Holding back her empathy and fighting off the pain that rose in her heart at the sight beheld here, Mevi continued forward. It only took a few short moments to have the three of them go to either end of the hallways, both looking for another way upwards and to confirm Mevi didn’t recognize any of the bodies within the cruel chambers. Down the right hallway, at the end of its stretch, embedded into the wall was another door. Hopefully another passage upwards, and a path swiftly out of this scene of horror.

The Sentinel easily forced the new door open, revealing a small square room reminiscent of the various platforms and stationary transportation that frequented buildings on the surface. Entering within there was no clear way to activate the room’s functions. As the Sentinel walked past the threshold and the three of them were fully within the room, the door that was pried open attempted to bend itself back into place and shut. Before they could attempt to force their way back out, the platform started moving upwards, and they were ferried quickly beyond the point of no return.

Holding close to the Sentinel, Mevi tried to keep herself stable as the transportation slowed, sped up, turned, stopped, and changed directions many times. The helplessness of being trapped within the small room, unknowing where they were headed, terrified Mevi. Yet the Sentinel held one hand out to stabilize her and another firmly on its rifle while it stared intently at where the door’s opening once was. Hellion was grinning like a madman, seeming to enjoy every second of the thrill-ride this situation had turned into.

As the room came to a slowed stop, for good this time, a light slowly flickered on weakly above them. Until this point there had been such minimal light, barely even dim illumination, the weak source of light suddenly activating seemed blinding. After blinking and squinting through the sudden source of light, the doors to the jostling transportation slid open without a sound.

A room opened up as the doors slid away. Similar lights like the one within the transport started flickering overhead, illuminating the wide space slowly but fully. A lab, or some kind of workshop, was revealed before them. Strange equipment was attached to the walls, tubes hung down from the ceiling eerily, and many different work stations stood here and there with unknown implements laid atop them. The room was rather small compared to the lower floors, at least if the three of them had indeed gone upwards. The walls seemed to curve inwards at a noticeable angle, like they had ascended far to the top of the spire.

Without any other choice, Mevi slowly stepped out and onto the lab floor. The Sentinel and Hellion followed closely behind. Hellion’s eyes flared with greed and excitement, obviously entranced by the strange equipment. He darted past Mevi towards the nearest table and mumbled excitedly to himself about value and rarity. Hellion began rifling through a crate near to one of the tables and excitedly picked something out to show Mevi. “This! This right here!” Hellion said loudly, holding what looked like a bulky projectile weapon. The device was almost a half a meter wide and thrice that long, Hellion wielded the device precariously like it weighed too much for him to carry properly. “This is a matter disrupter! I’ve only ever seen them mounted on gunships in the Legion! With this, and your friend, we could easily melt through just about anything! Swarm of bots be damned, we could carve a new gateway through the walls with this thing!”

“Is it safe, if it is that powerful?” Mevi asked, now worried as Hellion fumbled to grip the large weapon.

“Safe? Of course not! These things pack a punch big enough to wipe out a whole building if you aim it right. But your friend could use it for sure!”

Before Mevi could object Hellion set the device down and raced towards a new table with a delicate-looking rifle sitting atop it. Studying it closely, and completely ignoring Mevi, Hellion muttered in amazement to himself. The rogue continued to investigate the room, completely enthralled by the devices. Mevi couldn’t risk waiting any longer for Hellion and attempted to persuade him back to his senses. Yet regardless of anything said, done, or even if she tried to physically stop him Hellion ignored her and continued to frantically collect various devices. Mevi was forced to continue without him, hoping whatever he was looking for or getting ready would help their escape.

Continuing past the tables of strange equipment, Mevi and the Sentinel found a short staircase leading upwards to the next level. The stair opened into a rough, scar and scorch-riddled, room. Along the edges of the room were various melee weapons made from crude iron in similar fashion to the halberds the iron sentinels used, which in turn were crudely made to resemble the Sentinel’s own weaponry. This place seemed to be where the finished products below were stored and sorted. Pieces of unfinished hollow suits and armor were displayed occasionally next to the weapons, also in a mockery of the Sentinel’s own equipment.

Mevi and the Sentinel carefully walked into the open storage space, cautious of the shadows that jumped as the flickering lights attempted to illuminate the room. On the far side was a door, left slightly ajar and allowing a pale blue light to sneak through the cracks. As the two cautiously approached the door mechanical grinding started to echo out of the walls and floor. Panels in the walls and floor revealed themselves and opened, out from the now open panels stepped more iron sentinels. Five of the constructs were shunted out of the ceiling and blocked the way the two of them had entered, and easily twenty more were slowly removing themselves from panels in the ground and walls. The Sentinel’s head darted quickly, looking for some kind of safe place to put Mevi, but the iron sentinels didn’t give any time to think.

Rushing forward, the quickest of the iron sentinel constructs charged the Sentinel. The five that were placed by the entrance remained as if to guard any attempt at escape. Four of the constructs charged and engaged the Sentinel, who fought them off with swift strikes from fist and foot. The Sentinel’s agility was obviously heightened without the bulky armor it normally wore, and the four attackers were thrown off. Scanning the room, there was only one possible spot for escape. The open door on the far side of the room. Grabbing Mevi with one arm, the Sentinel bounded forward towards what might be safety. In the same movement as its powerful leaps, the Sentinel dodged two other iron sentinel’s attacks. Clearing the room in only a few seconds, the Sentinel thrust Mevi into the new room.

Within was another strange sort of small experimental lab. Without any clear signs of danger, and being such small confines it was barely three by five meters in size, the Sentinel pushed Mevi within. Mevi’s golden protector attempted to enter the room itself, but its legs were grabbed by three new attackers and pulled its mighty form down to one knee. Reaching down with one hand, and crushing the grip the constructs had on one of its legs with a hard strike, the Sentinel raised its now free leg to kick the door closed. The last thing Mevi saw as she lay on the ground was the Sentinel raising its energetic rifle in the direction of the door, at least five other iron sentinels descending upon it. As the door shut tight, the metal frame became inflamed with white-hot energy that threatened to push through and explode on Mevi’s side. The door was sealed, the energetic rifle melting the hard metal in an instant to transform the door into a solid piece of metal wall.

Mevi ran towards the door, but as she approached the heat still emanating from the white-hot metal she was pushed backwards. Mevi yelled for her companion, forcing her into some strange laboratory closet. Clattering battle echoed muffled thumping out from the doorway. Metallic clanging and another blast of some energetic weapon which reinforced an amount of heat through the door for a brief moment. The sounds of battle would begin to fade and move away, as if being carried to the farther end of the room or ending entirely. After several moments of waiting, watching the hot metal slowly cool, Mevi approached close to the doorway to carefully listen. Barely audible echoes of combat occasionally made their way through the thick metal, but even as Mevi moved as close as she might dare to the hot surface, the sounds eventually completely faded.

Mevi was left within a small lab. A single table on one side of the room, with various tinker’s equipment without any subject to be used on. The pale glow came from strange tube-linings that pumped the pale blue glow’s source; a slow-streaming liquid similar to the green-blue essence being pumped from the stasis pods within Hellion’s base. This version seemed refined, almost perfect, in comparison to what was seen before. Mevi couldn’t understand why she felt the liquid was so perfect, she was almost tempted to reach out and touch the tubing. Shaking her head to clear the intrusive thoughts, Mevi reminded herself what just happened. She needed to open the door, she wanted to help, she couldn’t stand being left behind to be protected yet again. Yet as Mevi looked around the small room, which was obviously a nearly empty storage space for broken or useless equipment, nothing was available for use.

Just as Mevi began to become frustrated, a sound like steam being released slowly hissed. At the far end of the small room, the normally bare wall’s edges leaked light steam and mist. The wall itself retracted as if it were a sliding doorway. It slowly opened to reveal a new, and even more terrifying sight than the experiments on corpses far below.

Revealed past the new opening was a massive vat of the pale blue liquid, within were countless bodies of people suspended within by tubes connecting to their faces and inserted into various parts of their bodies. Mevi approached unconsciously, aghast at the sight, and passed into the new room. As she did, the door closed behind her, she turned to go back but the door was sealed tight and fast. As Mevi leaned against the now closed doorway, she beheld the massive vat of liquid once again and felt dread. With the many other bodies suspended in the liquid were two she could recognize. Saerin and Ouapi’s bodies were floating gently in the liquid, wearing little beyond their small clothes and showing no signs of consciousness.

Mevi rushed forward into the room, and slammed against the vat of liquid. Banging her hand against the hard glass, Mevi called out to her two companions, but they didn’t answer. They couldn't answer. As Mevi rested her head in defeat on the glass, she could hear a strange slurping sound from her left. Darting her head towards the sound, a massive form of floating blue liquid hovered over her. Eyes wide in surprise and fear, the liquid held its form stretching from the ground up above her as if to subsume her.

Mevi held her breath, the liquid shifted and moved as if animated by some intelligence. It moved around her as if looking at her intently, showing no signs of ability nor desire to communicate. As the liquid reached close to her chest it suddenly recoiled backwards, as if injured, and the entire form of the blue liquid shook like a great rage boiled it. Suddenly a piercing screech exploded from the liquid, making Mevi’s ears feel on the verge of explosion. Despite the pain from Mevi’s ears her heart felt the brunt of the pain. She reached to her chest and fell to the ground in wracking pain. She almost felt as if something was desperately attempting to flee her chest and body, trying to push and dig its way free of her heart and escape in a violent breach. Mevi felt herself becoming overwhelmed by the feeling, no air was passing into her lungs, she couldn’t breathe or move beyond violent shaking and clutching at herself. Just as suddenly as the screeching began, it suddenly stopped. Mevi could breathe again, but the first gulp of air she took in sent shivers through her body and a retching blackness came spewing out of her in a violent heave.

Mevi lay on the ground in the fetal position as a dark black tar escaped her mouth onto the ground, a sickness that fought to escape her. The trail of tar was gone after four or five heavy heaves, and it almost slid against the ground like it wished to escape. Mevi recoiled at the disgust that had just violently exited her, the dark tar slopped in blood and spit attempted to almost crawl back towards Mevi. A dark presence pushing it towards her. A thin tendril reached out from the clump of disgust, but before it could touch Mevi a pale-blue glowing arm reached down with a glass jar to scoop up the sickness.

Beside Mevi was a… creature. A thing that mocked humanoid form with its own attempt, but was made completely out of the pale blue liquid, held into a semi-solid shape like a person. It held the sickness in the jar and sealed it in a simple glass containment vessel like a chemist might use for a dangerous acid. Sealed with a metal cap, the sickness writhed towards Mevi weakly. A voice then emanated from the liquid humanoid, great and powerful but at the same time muffled like a distant echo, “Who dares bring such vile sickness into my realm? What fiend thought to poison my experiments with an assassin sent to foil me? Who enters the workshop of Modrak, Lord Over Form and Body?”