Episode 7.1 - A Quiet ‘Countrycide’ Hike

Episode 7 - Realities You Can’t Turn From
[Very mild heads up that this chapter is sometimes a bit 'gooey'. Not detailed gore or anything XD, but fair warning all the same.]

7.1 - A Quiet ‘Countrycide’ Hike
By moonlight, we descend the newly made fire escape. In truth, the menu had a plethora of things I could 'summon' onto the side of the tower to make our way down. I also got us lanterns, a telescope and some cloaks. Lila repaired our gear days ago, so we're kitted out in the usual stuff.

    As we trek quietly down the grassy hill the fort stands on, we're hardly Solid Snake. Sek's armour in particular clinks a lot no matter how much he tries to move subtly - but we had a good view on our down, so we mapped a path to avoid any Estolpfo who are out late on watch.

It doesn't take long to see the ever more faint green wall of the barrier. A few more metres and we'll pass the first hurdl--

"Graki Graki Graki Grak¬," whistles a creature.
     Of course, to say one of the Estolpfo can whistle would be exaggerating a bit, but it at least seems to be lyrical; suspiciously so in fact.

We collectively freeze, on impulse, I guess. Right in front of us, across the last few steps to the barrier, Major Tom walks along. Skeletal hands clasped behind his back, top hat spiffy as ever, odd singing/whistling noise repeating over and over.
    He walks all the way to the left, then turns on his bony heels and goes all the way back to the right.

I don't know what to do. Lila claimed Tom was her strongest servant, nearly level two-hundred, capable of beating us three single-handed. I want to believe that was a boast, but then again, if he's her second in command, and she's as powerful as the glimpses we've seen? I feel a cold sweat start to come on and swallow down saliva uncomfortably.

Finally, Tom turns towards us. The happy whistling stops. We stand perfectly still. And then, he jumps on the spot. I swear, a massive comical explanation point might as well appear over his head. He points at us, then brings both hands to his eye sockets, rubbing at his utter lack of irises as though to clean them. He stares out at us for a while and... He shrugs, shoulder blades exaggeratedly heaving. He turns again and walks off, clearing our walk forward.

"What the hell was that?"

"I don't know," I reply honestly.
  Eshu grins, "Lila’s precious sub-commander surely can't go AWOL and run off to save some humans just on a hunch that Lila doesn't really want their blood on her hands, now can he? But those three pesky human pets - always getting into trouble and mischief?"

"Who are you calling a pet?" Sek mumbles.

"You think that was his way of giving his blessing?" I ask.

This time Eshu shrugs, then points ahead, "Better get moving whatever the case, before someone with better eyesight comes along, hehe."

****

Our second hurdle involves no people to spot us, but a much taller obstacle. Although Escape's nights do have that video game brightness, it's still too dark to spend hours searching for a road. After all, we're only presuming one exists - for the town we are going to save, to trade with other settlements north (not that any of those are left standing anymore...) - but it's a game map, it wouldn't be unusual for the town to actually have no road. Instead, we go for the direct approach, right up the least extreme incline of the mountain range.

It's tough going, we stumble a lot and poor Sek has that heavy armour of his to contend with, though he doesn't complain about it - makes me feel a bit proud of our stiff-upper lip Tsundere.
Although it's hard work, I don't find it all bad. There was a time not long ago when the thought of hiking was a pipe dream. School trips I couldn't attend, parts of the world and nature I'd never witness. Being able to hike with my partners on my own two feet feels kind of good, honestly; in spite of the dire situation, of course.

 All that said, we are still rather glad when halfway up the mountain we find a tunnel. The initial plan of getting to the top and then jankily descending the other side in the fashion all open world players know best - was a bit of a gamble in a world where it's not some avatar on a screen at risk of ragdoll tumbling to their death.

Our enthusiasm for this lucky break soon wavers. Why is there a tunnel here? Right in the middle of a mountain, seemingly bored all the way through? There is no road or path on this side, that would make it brand new or an abandoned project - and I have a terrible feeling which of those is more likely...

   "This cave is not a natural formation. Someone built it," Sek mumbles, touching the cave wall, "and recently too, I'd guess."

"We never saw it before for sure," Eshu nods.

"But we weren't looking, were we..." I mumble. This place feels unnatural. A cave through the middle of a mountain is just odd.
    "If those drone guys dug it, maybe they're planning a more passable road; they sure act fast," Sek adds.

"HALT, STATE YOUR IDENTITY." This time, we absolutely do not freeze. The tunnel is long, not miles or anything, but enough that by lamp we couldn't see the far opening.
    Without hesitation, all three of us retreat back around to the safety of the mouth's edge on our side. Slowly, I peek back in. It's pitch black, of course; darker in there than in Escape's weird video-game-bright night - but I see it - an orange glow where the mouth should be, two yellow points of light for eyes.

"Definitely their doing so," Sek grumbles.

"If it reports on us, we’re done for."
    Before either of us can say more, Eshu leaps out, flinging a throwing knife with that insane accuracy of hers.

"Hey, wait," Sek shouts, "there could be more than one!"
    On queue, just as Eshu's dagger hits the comical weak point of the first robot, a second set of lights appears behind it. Dropping her torch, cowl up over her head, she charges into the cave, thoroughly blending with the darkness.

"Eshu! They're robots, they can probably--" Once more Sek's wail proves prophetic as the second unit raises one gun-mounted arm. The dim glow it generates lights the space around it and the two dead units on the floor by its feet for just a moment - before the bolt leaves the gun and saors down the tunnel like a flare. Where it passes lights the walls around it brilliantly for just a second. For a moment, I see Eshu, mid-jump, as the blast splatters hot plasma on the floor where she was, then again pure pitch-black darkness floods over everything, before the weapon fires another flare at us in a second blinding flash.

I don't wait any longer, charging in after her.
"Argh, you guys!"

I keep low and ready to pounce but the enemy keeps firing on Eshu, getting closer with each hit, probably learning her movement patterns. I watch her lob a second throwing knife but this time the robot sees it coming, raising its other hand in front of its chest. The knife jams into it and then out the other side! But no further as the hilt catches in the metal appendage, leaving it embedded in the machine warrior's hand as it continues firing, "Tch," Eshu clicks her tongue. She's close to melee range now, but the plasma shots are closing in on her.

"Jump back!" I shout, having all but caught up thanks to all that dodging.
    I'm half afraid she won't, Eshu seems to get dangerously focused during combat, but to my relief she complies, kicking off the ground and launching backwards just as a bolt hits the ground one step ahead of her.

I have to be fast; it won't take it long to change targets. In broad leaping bounds, I cover the last few metres of the darkness and strike out with my gauntlet, straight through its hand and cracking the crystal behind.
    Its gun barrel glows. At this point-blank range, I can't possibly dodge. Instead I twist my hand, digging the claws on my gualent deeper into its glowing heart, little chips forming by the second.
The crystal shatters, the light leaves the gun and its face alike as the metal body slowly crumples backwards, landing onto the ground next to the other two. Panting slightly, feeling the adrenaline flow through me, I can finally take a sigh of relief.

"Nice one!" mrash girlfriend calls, patting me on the back with a smile.
     I frown, wiping away the sweat from my little desperate dash, "You can't be that reckless, Eshu. You have to try to be more forward thinking."

"Ehehehe, that's why I have you, ain't it," she smirks. This girl! I'm glad she's ok though.

The hurried clinking chorus of metal armour alerts us to Sek plodding his way through the corridor, looking rather encumbered, "You guys are way too risky man..." he groans, stopping short of us by a few feet, carrying all three lamps. What night vision I could muster running blind through the tunnel fades in the face of the pool of light. A glint catches on something just outside where Sek has stopped.
     ...Did I? There were only two robots, right? But I could have sworn I counted two beaten ones dead on the floor while me and Eshu were charging at the third.

"Sek, lantern, now please."

"Huh?"

"Just, come on!"

"Alright, alright, no need to thank me for carrying them after you two just abandoned them. Here ya go."
    I shine the light around, stepping to where I thought I saw something off. My foot hits something. It squelches. It’s wet. It’s--

"Ah, ah! What the--- Jesu--" a dull clank accompanies Sek stepping and then falling over onto his backside.
     A moment later, I hear him gagging, vomiting-- Ah no wait, that's not him, that's me.

Uncontrollable bile surges up my throat, vomit explodes from me. I just barely avoid it hitting, that.

My head swirls. I, I can't, that isn't, nothing should - I just.

"Hey, Ko," Eshu's soft voice coos next to me, holding me by the shoulders, turning me subtly away from the, the, the-- Human corpse; what's left of one anyway.
     They started with the legs, well, of course they did. Turned to ribbons, trailing red and fleshy things streaking along the floor. Bits of vein and cartilage and--
I vomit again, Eshu patting my back gently.

"Why?" I growl, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, "Why did they stop halfway?"
   Half a corpse, around the stomach up is still intact, the face is in a permanent haunted stare of absolute unimaginable pain. Lila said the machine processes bio-matter to make energy, that it's more efficient if the matter is alive. That's a writing detail, that's something a smug writer would put in as flavour text based on no real science; becuase it's grim and grizzly, because it makes for a more horrific detail of a story's worldbuilding or a 'baddies' evil.
But they put it in knowing it's not real, just lore, fantasy flavour text. Knowing it can never be real, that no real being is ever actually chewed and ground to paste and mulched up alive for power. But Escape is a game come to life. Escape makes some arbitrary gory detail into reality. Why would they leave something that insanely awful in the game?
"Why?" I snarl again, standing upright with Eshu's help, "Why, did they stop halfway?!"

"Huh? Hey wait, Ko!"
     I sprint to the tunnel exit on this side, whipping out the little pocket telescope I got from the menu alongside the other items of our expedition. It takes a moment to find in the gloomlight, but over there, exactly what I expected: Two sets of faint lights, walking away.

    "Shift change," I turn back fiercely to the others, grinding my teeth against themselves, "They stopped halfway, they paused their murder of this man because their guard duty swapped over! Was he even dead when they stopped? Did they just leave him there on the floor bleeding out in unimaginable agony?!"

I've never told anyone but a doctor who forced me to - and even then I kept it clinically brief - but I remember losing my-- Well, the thing is I shouldn't. I was too young, but apparently trauma that intense can leave quite the impression. But this man, a bit overweight, pasty, pushing the far side of middle age from what I can tell, from what I can bear to look at of what remains - he was in no accident, nor was he born this way. This wasn't ‘fate’ or a random, tragically cruel accident; this was done coldly and mechanically. He ran out of energy from digging those things this cave, and so they recycled him, alive, screaming, in the most unimaginable agony, all in the name of efficiency. Resource management.

"Ko," Sek says softly. He must have gotten up at some point. I'd guess he's vomited the contents of his stomach, too.
    You can't imagine the corpse, what's left of it. No gore compares, not the most extra video game or movie you can think of prepares you for this. And this definitely wasn't possible a couple of months ago; neither Escape nor any of the studio's games could ever render such high fidelity, hyper-detailed destruction of a human body. Only one 'engine', only the real world should be capable of 'rendering' something this horrific.

"Ko, it’s..."

"I'm alright," I mutter back.
    The machine that did it is not far from him; perhaps we were lucky not to trip over it mid-run. It's sickeningly mundane, it looks almost like one of those office photocopiers. Where the scanner on top would be is a glass container that glows slightly in the same hue as the Drone’s chest crystals do. On the floor nearby is a stack of containers just like it, some filled with glowing light, others empty - I presume those are the batteries that get filled.

It's the side of the boxy, plain white machine that reveals its true nature. Where you would imagine paper ejecting on a photocopier, is instead a face of knives; of metal gears, and circular saws. All stained utterly red, extremely tightly packed, no doubt made of some Sci-Fi bullshitism in order to be able to break apart every piece of the human body with gross economy. Bits of bone and flesh are still visible in between the many interlaping blades--
     I nearly throw up again, but hold back - that or my stomach is too empty. "They left him like that, midway through that thing, to change fucking shifts."

"Ko." Suddenly, I can't see the machine or corpse anymore. Sek has hugged me, his big frame blocking my view. His metal armour isn't exactly comfortable, but I'm glad for the interruption.

"Thanks," I say, stepping away after a few moments. Eshu smiles from the tunnel gateway, keeping watch, I guess.

"What now? They probably have scheduled check-ins. If we aren’t fast, the rest of 'em will know their buddies are bunk," Sek says, still standing to block my view, but he can't block the smell. I can not fantom how one would even describe that...

"Ya, we continue on. We can… bury him when it's all over," I nod, "but first."

"Hey!" Sek protests as I step forward and draw the longsword from his hip scabbard, "Don't mind me."

I swing. The glass of the batteries, filled or not, shatters apart. I swing, and the machine's emotionless white walls crack. I swing and it dents. I swing and I swing and I swing. Swing, swing, swing, swing, swing.

 For a long time now, I've wondered if we really treat Escape as a new world, as another chance at life - or if we just act like it's some very involved video game, something that could one day end, a dream almost. No more, never again, this reality, this world will not allow it, it won't let us tow that line any longer. This is real, this world and its peoples are alive, and I live here amongst it. The good and the so terribly bad. It is all so utterly real.

 I swing and I swing and I swing…"Ha, ha, ha... ha," I pant, finally handing the weapon back to Sek, "Now we go deal with the rest."