Elevator Music Pt. 2

What the hell? This is just a standard expedition where we rendezvous with another crew of rookies and then head back to the elevator. We're not even traveling far for resources or looking for biological material from the surface-dwellers. Seems a bit overdramatic... then again, Rocco has been doing this for twenty years. He's probably seen a lot of things I can't even imagine. Even though a rookie dying on their first rendezvous mission sounded laughable, from Rocco's perspective, there probably isn't anything more humiliating and sad. Is the surface really that cruel...?

…

"Bane, we're a couple of minutes out from arriving at the surface, repeat to me what we're doing and how."

I stood up tall and crossed my hands behind my back. "We're first going to check our equipment bags and then each other's bags, sir! We will examine our uniforms and then each other's to make sure there are no errors, sir! Then we will check our weaponry to make sure all our weapons are loaded adequately and the safeties are on, sir!"

Rocco clapped his hands in a grandiose manner. It almost pissed me off but it's also the first time I've seen him wear a genuine smile on his face.

"Yes, haha, so you can get serious, you moody brat! Kids these days think they're cool acting like they don't care..." Rocco got very close to my face, "but it is cool to care. There's nothing cooler than knowing your life has value and cherishing it."

He backed away and started examining his equipment bag. Without thinking, I went to check my own as well. I don't know why but Rocco intrigues me. I have a feeling that whoever he is behind this scavenger position is someone that I would grow fond of. I don't get to see my father that often so maybe someone like Rocco could teach me a lot back home. I'm tired of having to do everything myself. Ever since I was twelve…

"You did forget one thing, Bane..."

"Huh?"

"The monitors, the very last thing we have to do is make sure we acquire a visual signal on the monitor. It's rare but just in case there's some unprecedented phenomenon awaiting us outside the elevator doors, knowing what to expect will come in handy."

What kind of nonsense is that?! "Oh, yeah, that makes sense, I guess. Sorry, Sir!"

Rocco smirked and got back to business. I checked my uniform and jeez, it felt like Rocco tightened everything far more than needed. I know being cautious is important but sometimes walking in this feels like tight spandex. I know in the old world, the concept of superheroes was popular and they would often find themselves wearing hilarious costumes with such materials. I can't imagine any of that was efficient. That's just the world of fiction after all... I checked my guns as well and I feel like a professional holding this rifle. If I remember correctly, they're nothing like the guns of the old world. These guns were engineered in the early days of scavenging. After encountering the surface-dwellers, everyone knew that we had to develop weapons to combat them. With the whole world focused on studying ultraviolet radiation, we were able to not only create our temporary surface-resistant uniforms but we've also been able to develop the UV-70. A weapon that takes advantage of the surface's radiation and uses it as ammunition. With all this radiation pooled together and focused into bullets, there's more than enough to even kill these wretched surface-dwellers. I've never seen one in person but they sound like Shakespearean monsters the way people describe them. Shakespearean...? Maybe it was Lovecraft. My father told me that he learned about both Shakespeare and Lovecraft during his education. It boggles me that education existed outside of history. There was really a time when humanity didn't just want to know about the world around them but also the people in it. It makes me envious…

"Hey, snap out of it kid. You started daydreaming again. Let's check these monitors and get in position. It's an exciting time for you. Exploring the surface for the first time is a once-in-a-lifetime dream for many kids so chin up!"

"Yes, sir!" I stood tall once more and even saluted him in stereotypical Scavenger fashion. I bent my right knee and held out my hand on top of my head with all five fingers touching.

"Oh come on, I'm not that impressive although, I'll take flattery anywhere I can get missy," Rocco giggled.

"Hey, don't push it, old man. Let's just check these monitors and get going." I couldn't help but start hopping a little bit and even do some stretches. I'm usually very reserved on the outside but even I can feel myself getting fired up beyond belief. I don't hate Milona by any means. Unlike most of the residents, I find it to be an agreeable place to live. The prices aren't that bad, and sure the amenities leave something to be desired but the people are nice and crime is damn near non-existent. People these days take that sort of environment for granted but I've read many crime novels from the old world and it astonishes me what people would get up to back then. Murdering for the sake of emotion is unheard of. If someone is stressed, it's usually because their job requires something of them. Milona, despite being one of the cheaper and less flashy cities, has consistently been one of the leading governments in the world's surface-recovery program. Maybe it's because they don't know as much as me but as the son of one of the most well-respected Scavenger Lords, I understand why Milona must be the way it is. My father himself told me the biggest secret of our city. On the day he had to take refuge underground he-

"Bane, take cover, now!" Rocco's scream jolted me and almost made me trip over myself.

I was extremely confused and worried. "What's going on?!" I looked around and followed him to the end of the elevator where he hid behind a bunk bed.

I don't know why, but I snatched my arm away and looked toward the monitor at the top of the elevator door. The pixels were fuzzing in and out as the monitor slowly connected to a satellite signal in space. As the image became clearer and clearer, I realized what I was looking at. There are many things in life that you know are real but they never seem so until it happens before you. Falling in love, success, depression. People think of these concepts when you tell them about this, but what they never think about is the physical world around them and how much of it they have yet to truly understand. I'm the same way, and maybe that's why even though I learned about them in school, even though me and my friends used to pretend to be them during class, and even though my father told me countless stories about slaying them himself, when I saw this nine-legged creature as tall as my house, waiting for us at the surface doors. It had a body shaped like a cricket and large teeth on the edges of all its limbs. A single one of its teeth must have been as big as my arm if I had to guess. My heart was terrified. The fire I felt up until now extinguished in under a second. The creature was banging at the elevator door waiting for it to open. It didn't seem intelligent in the slightest. It looked as if it were acting in pure rage.

Rocco stood up from his hiding spot and ran over to me trying to grab me. "What the hell are ya doing kid?! Do you want to die?"

I couldn't understand what I was feeling but I was compelled to show myself bare. Is this what being suicidal feels like? No, that can't be it. Even though I felt terrified and in despair, something was knocking on my soul, something greater.

It was subconsciously but my body refused to be dragged by Rocco. My mind felt blank and before I knew it, the elevator doors began to open...