Chapter 293 - Countdown (1/2)
”All jokes aside... we really don't have a choice...” Laz said, rather solemnly.
”So...?”
”We are going to do it and hope it works out. From the looks of things, we can set this in a reboot sequence. Timer to shut down and then it comes back up after the reboot. Right here.” Laz pointed it out to Ruby who understood it, but still not as clearly as Laz.
”Yeah. Ok. Hit this and run like hell? I don't think things are going to be that easy baby.”
”What's the worst...”
”Say it and you will be sleeping alone for the rest of your life.”
”Ouch. Ok. Getting back to it. How long do you think?”
”From here to the gate looks like 15 minutes tops. Assuming the others are already there, it shouldn't take us that long to get out.”
”That might be an issue. Look.” Laz pointed out one of the overlay monitors that showed two different groups of dots. One group was huddled a ways away from the gate while the other was approaching it at a fast speed.
With the numbers of dots, there was no way at they were all from the same side.
”Well. I guess this means we are fighting our way out. One hour to shut down and it looks like the reboot takes 15 minutes.”
”Sounds good babe. Pop those buŧŧons and let's get the fuċk home. Next time, I choose the date night. Deal?” Ruby said with a smile.
”Yes mam.”
And with that, Laz set the timer and double checked to make sure it was counting down.
Just as they were about to make their way to the gate to hopefully arrive before the two groups met, another earthquake hit, shaking the building even more. This time it was so bad, Laz and Ruby ended up grabbing each other to stay up right while cracks appeared in the walls of the control room.
As they stood there and waited for it to stop, one crack that ran the length of the far wall and down along the floor, separated to reveal a large collection of energy cores, just laying there like rocks on the bed of a lake.
Neither Laz nor Ruby could believe that they were down there, right underneath the floor they had been standing on.
”What the fuċk is this? Poof and they appear?”
”Less talk and more grabbing woman. We are running out of time.”
”Boy... you are testing my limits today. But we can deal with that later cause you're right.”
What they had found was the storage and compression room for the energy cores. The building that they were in served not just as a control center, but it also was part of the entire networked that absorbed the energy in the air outside the outpost, purified it and released it into the air inside the dome. Then, when the levels reached saturation for what the machines could handle, it used the excess to make the cores and stored them right underneath them.
There were a few other places that cores were stored as well, such as the first building that Jennia and Dwayne had checked out. But this was the main unit for it.
What they didn't know was that this caused the energy on the rest of the planet to become somewhat thin in general, minus a few special places. The base acted like a parasite that feed off the planet.
Of course, none of that would have mattered to them even if they knew.
It only took a few minutes since they both had spatial storages before the cores were gone.
Looking at each other's smiling faces, they knew it was time to go.
They took off running the way they came while the timer loomed in their heads, getting outside and heading off to the gate.
”Isn't the gate going to shut down when the power turns off?” Ruby asked, thinking of something along the way.
”The gate's not wired into the power grid. From the little I can understand, although the civilization here understood how to make it open and close, they didn't build it. They just found it here.”
”So then who made the gates?”
”No clue,” Laz responded honestly.
”Are these things everywhere? Like all over the universe?”
”I think so yeah. From what I gathered from my master, these gates are even older then them and they once ruled a good portion of the known universe,” Laz revealed what he had learned, surprising Ruby.
”Really? Damn baby... these things are getting more and more dangerous, huh?”
”I don't think any of these gates should be thought of lightly.”
”Yeah... Hey. You sensing this?”
”Yeah. They are engaging...”
”What's with this massive energy? It makes me feel like I want to puke.”
”That's one of the chosen... In fact, I have a good idea who it is too. And that's not good. Let's move it.”
They picked up the pace, moving so fast that they appeared like the wind and disappeared just as quickly.
They had both reached the peak of the Foundation realm and only needed time and a chance to enter what Laz had learned was called the Void Palace realm. The reason it was called this was because after building the base, they would then build on top of it. To call it a palace was a stretching it a little bit, but it wasn't wrong. The palace, formed of nothingness, was there to store the energy of the user.
And Laz now had tons of ways and means to do so in the library like, golden drop of blood his master had left for him.
If Laz were to release this info into the world, it wouldn't wrong to say that he was creating the planet's means of cultivation, one step at a time.
Arriving on scene was like walking into a raging inferno. The ground was covered with splashes of melted metal pools, still burning from some unknown source while the other areas were covered in blankets of flames. Several dead bodies were strewn through the area, no longer recognizable.
Face off against each other with nothing but the gate in the middle, there were two groups of people. On on side, a man with crimson lines covering his face and bȧrė upper torso stood in front of a group who looked mockingly at their opponents.
On the other side, Dwayne, the four Ivy's, Remi, the freshly awakened Jennia, and Helen stood at the front of the other group. Although they didn't look disheartened, the people behind them looked like they wanted nothing more than to flee... at least some of them. The ones following Helen and the Ivy's seemed the most steadfast and fearless, followed by the Vodun who had come with Jennia and Dwayne. If anything, Damien and the others looked very much like they wanted to find a rock to hide under. It was obvious that this was way above their current selves to handle.
Laz made a brief note in his mind that when he got back, Julia would have to fix that. He had no plans to manage this group long term.
”How delicious. Such rare treats delivered to my door. Not only that, but they are even those infected pieces of shit that can no longer be called human. That just means I can enjoy you until I kill you,” Tommy said, glancing at Helen, Jennia and the others who stood in front.
”But you... Well... you seem to be good at taking a beating. Looks like I found someone for Jesse to enjoy to his fullest?”
”I don't care what you're talking about but unless Jesse is some hot ȧss babe, Imma have to pass on that one bro,” Dwayne responded back, sicken by the look in Tommy's eyes.
”You think you got a choice son?”
”Motha Fucka, I'm going to mess you the fuċk up...” Dwayne, despite his subevent attitude towards, Jennia, was not a weak willed person. So hearing this kind of provocation was enough to stir him up even more.