12 Miles Below

Ice stalactites, oriented almost horizontally, decorated the superstructure. This place had seen very high winds, exposed as it was.

The closer we got the more detail could be made out. The spire structures had entire scaffolding dedicated to each, now used as a perching spot for snow. The satellite buildings had panels missing, exposing the skeletal underbelly. That said, all my thoughts were circling around how to beat Ankah.

Generally most building architecture would consolidate power into one place, usually in the basement. They called that a transformer room. So whoever found that room first more or less won today’s match.

Where things might get interesting was down to the purpose of the building. A fortress would have multiple different transformer rooms, so that if one failed another picked up the slack. A hospital would have a small generator for each wing along with multiple backup generators. And so forth down the list of possible buildings.

Still no clue what the hells this site was built for. And if I didn’t know, then neither did Ankah.

“You look like you have a plan.” Kidra said, clearly overestimating my abilities.

“Getting to the basement first would be the obvious.”

My rivals trundled forward in the snow at a slow pace, also talking between each other. Planning just like we were. Calem was a brute of a person, built like a bear. The problem was that Ankah had standards for her minions - Calem wasn't just brute muscle, but also smart too, which was the worst kind of combo to be up against. He'd probably point out the transformer room as the goal post, so I could bank on Ankah also going for the basement first. Or come up with a completely different plan depending on if they knew more than we did. Too much we didn't know right now.

"Even if we get to the transformer room first, we can’t rest easy." I wrapped up.

“I’m positive.” I pointed at the buildings around the main site. “Those satellite structures must each have their own power supply, and that’s just starting. Then we’d have to dig around to see where the backup generators might be located too.”

Backup generators were trickier beasts. They were stored in a way that preserved them indefinitely, at the cost of some efficiency. Had to be very careful not to wake up a sleeping beast, as I’d helpfully demonstrated on the last site. It’s not extremely dangerous however, most sites are too damaged. If the backup generators were triggered, few things would still be connected.

This site, on the other hand, looked almost preserved. Only the outsides had been harrowed out by the environment and neglect, but the innards looked functioning.

We discussed strategy over the next few minutes, tossing out different plans and narrowing down what we could and couldn’t do. We’d even considered the merits of cutting our own shortcuts by using the occult knife.

Finally, running out of ideas, I suggested splitting up. That did not go down well, for obvious reasons. I placated Kidra by offering to take on the main building.

Knowing that there were five relic knights prowling around inside that building and the clan lord himself, Kidra reluctantly agreed with the plan. She’d take on the surrounding satellite buildings. Once I beat Ankah to the transformer room, they’d bail from the center complex and try to find power cells outside - which Kidra would have already tagged.

The planning session was going rather well until a high pitched motor started up behind me. We both turned around just in time to see a flying drone zoom past us, racing forward to the distant site. It’s four propellers looking more like blurred disks fading away in the distance.

There’s only one person rich enough to bring a drone on an expedition.

Ankah had strapped herself to their hoversled, letting her minion carry her forward. In the meantime, she was piloting the mini quad-copter.

“This might complicate things.” Kidra said, while I cursed the gods.

“No really, you don’t say?” If my suspicions were correct, that was a scouting drone. Ankah was probably getting detailed imagery back. Looks like they’d banked spending their hover sled’s energy already in exchange for possible early recon data.

Kidra didn’t seem bothered. “This doesn’t change the plan.”

“No, but it does mean they’ll find the best entry point before we do. She might even sneak the drone into the building to get a head-start on mapping it.”

“We will overcome this.”

“Sure we will. By the way, do you know any loan plans available for occult knives? Asking for a friend.”

Kidra was unamused.

It was a long half hour walk, each minute watching Ankah get more and more intel on the site.

I tried bringing up the idea of using our own sled and paddling with shovels to pick up speed but Kidra refused that one. There’s no point reaching the site first if the knights weren’t around to help with any danger.

I could recognize what Ankah’s drone had been, from the controller she toyed with. Early fourth era photography drone, before hover technology like these sleds caught on. Deep in the ratshit now, those drones would have excellent cameras and could stay up in the air for hours. It would have been great if she’d crashed the thing, but no luck. It zoomed back once we were close enough to the site.

“Found any egress points?” Lord Atius asked her, amused at all the bickering happening.

“Seven so far, my lord.” Ankah said, nimbly catching the loud thing and tossing it back into the hoversled. “I’ve already planned out a solid entryway that leads down to a lobby. If you need the swiftest entrance, I would be more than happy to share my findings.”

The Shadowsong prime took a few glances between his daughter and Atius, to which the old Deathless laughed. “I suppose I’ll take you up on that offer. I’m sure your father would be proud to see the work you’ve done mapping the site, young lady.”

Ankah’s Father sheepishly looked away, to which Atius slapped his shoulder heartily.

On my side, things weren’t so jolly. My heart had sunk like a rock. Ankah had gotten her drone inside the building and was confident enough to boast about it. Which meant she already had major parts of the interior mapped out. Scrapshit, for a spoiled princess, she’s annoyingly competent.

The team stopped a few hundred feet away from the site, taking the view in. Half of the site was sunken underground, halting all access to the first floor. Windswept ice encrusted most of the structure, making entry a little treacherous, and pack ice had grown around the sides.

A beat later, some unheard timer hit and all of us brought out the safety equipment simultaneously. Hard hats, impact resistant plates, the works. It wasn’t comfortable to walk in, but it was common sense: Always wear safety gear before diving into an unstable ancient building. Ankah and her minion finished first, their gas monitors blinking green, showing active. If parts of the underground site had a lack of oxygen, those old gas sensors would kick in automatically. That was rare to see happen as most sites were well ventilated due to collapsed walls. This site however might have that issue pop up. All prepared, they climbed up a snowbank that had collapsed into the second floor.

Kidra and I waited for her to vanish into the superstructure with the rest of the relic knights in tow, preparing our own gear and turning on the monitor systems. “Okay, now she won’t notice the plan.”

My sister nodded, then began to hike away from the site. “Move like the wind, brother. Tsuya guide your steps.”

“And Urs witness your trial. Don’t worry, this is only a minor setback. I’ll find another way in.”

Fifteen minutes later, I was swallowing my words and Frostbloom would have tasted better. This hadn’t been a minor setback. Despite casing the perimeter looking for alternate entryways, there wasn’t a single way that wasn’t filled with rubble. And I wasn’t a zippy little drone capable of speeding around to check a few dozen corners in minutes. Kidra had gotten inside her own target building, as she reported ten minutes ago.

The real surprise was an additional ‘companion’. Father tagged behind, no explanation offered. Was he worried I’d start some trouble in front of the clan lord?

…That’s a fair point in hindsight. If I weren’t so focused on this damn contest, finding a way to be petty would absolutely be in the books.

My salvation came in the form of a ladder. It stood intact at the side of a wall, going right up to the rooftop. The only drawback was all the ice that clung on the steps, the climb would be difficult. Thankfully the typical scavenger baggage included climbing hooks and rope for a reason.

While preparing for the journey up, Father finally broke the silence. “You intend to climb here to the roof?”

“Uh, yeah. The roof’s superstructure will be weak from all the snow that accumulated on top. I’m sure there’s sections that caved in but are still traversable. Why?”

He nodded, stepped forward and picked me up. Under my suit, people would describe me as a twig. However the suit itself and all my tools added to a good fifty to seventy pounds. Of course, that might as well be a feather to the relic armor.

“What are you doin-” Before I could finish, he jumped. The leap cleared him up a good ten or so feet up, where his free hand snapped like a jaw against the frozen ladder steps. From there he pulled, again throwing both of us straight up. The ladder groaned and creaked at the stress but somehow didn’t collapse. With one last leap up, he cleared the rooftop and landed down into the snow. We’d climbed three whole stories in a matter of seconds.

It was deep here, almost to my hips. Walking was a no-go. Fortunately there was a good way to fix that. Normally hover sleds are brought as carrying equipment and kept light to not waste the power cell powering it. But as Ankah had demonstrated earlier, there were plenty of uses for these.

“Why help me?” I asked while getting the equipment ready. Moving with all this snow around was a right pain, but slow and steady wins the race.

“The Shadowsong prime is helping his daughter inside the ruins.” He said.

Of course Ankah was getting the extra assistance. “Why not help Kidra? She’s your favorite isn’t she?”

“She can handle herself. You, I’m not so certain.”

“Making sure I don’t darwin award myself off the surface? Didn’t think you cared that much.”

“Darwin award?"

"A joke that pops up in old books all the time. It's about this scientist who studied how creatures evo-"

"I’m only fulfilling my duty to keep you safe. I have no need for a scholar story.”

Figures. All right, let’s see what other use he could be.

“How much is the Shadowsong prime helping?”

“He is keeping a watch for dangers and assisting with navigation.”

“And I don't get any help either?”

Father stared back, a hint of frustration creeping into his voice. “There wasn’t any reason for me to train scavenging. I earned the Winterscar armor before I came of age to be a scavenger.”

Scrambling on top of the hoversled turned out to be a little harder than expected. It slipped away, wiggling in the air. If there wasn’t a rope attached, it would have been next to impossible to bring back. “You know there’s other ways you could help, right?”

“I’m not here to do your work for you.”

“So why is Shadowsong getting the help and I’m not?”

Father crossed his arms. “I refuse to enable your weakness. You'll get my help once you’ve earned it.”

That made me snort. What a liar. “And how exactly do I earn it?”

“When sacrifice calls, I shall answer it.” Father quoted.

The oath of duty all knight retainers swear to. It was our caste that put themselves into harm’s way for the greater good. Our caste who ventured out into the dangerous surface to recover scrap and tech. And that’s supposed to make us somehow better than the brilliant people who stayed behind to put that tech to use.

Tell him you’re going to follow the Reacher oath of duty instead of the Retainer one. Oath’s an oath right?

A moment of adrenaline spiked through me at the thought of rebellion. All right, Teed. Let’s try your way then. A deep breath and I hardened my resolve. This could end up violent. Once I felt prepared enough, I turned to stare back at that faceless helmet of his, my feet firm and planted. “What darkness covers, I shall bring to light.”

His hand snapped around my collar again and lifted me up. Cold fury radiated from his voice. “This is not what you swore as a Winterscar. You are not a Reacher. Honor your duty.”

My heart pounded as my hands reflexively reached out to grab his forearms. A part of me wanted to just fold here, to escape. But I had prepared for this. Fear didn’t rule me this time.

“One should always respect duty, no matter the rank. Do you disagree with that?” Let's see him deny the words of the clan lord himself.

He held me in the air for a moment more. “So be it. Continue crawling in the mud. Leave your sister to shoulder everything while you cower from your duty.” Then he tossed me into the sled. The hover sled wobbled dangerously, dipping down and kissing the snow before springing back up and floating further down, with me stunned on top. Deep breaths helped calm my nerves.

He hadn’t lashed out at me physically. Being disappointed wasn’t anything new. This I could handle. I took my win and ran with it.

Now situated a few inches off the snow, it was much easier to cover ground by paddling with my hands to the side. It took a few minutes for my heart to stop racing, but the physical movements helped center me.

Father followed leisurely behind, as if nothing had happened. The armor simply didn’t care about the hundreds of pounds of snow it was plowing through. And our ancestors actually knew how those armors worked once?

Mind boggling. I’m used to working with a wide range of different tech levels, but there’s a hard limit around the lost tech era. Rumor has it, printers for those could only be found deep underground.

My hunches about the roof had been correct, there were a few caved in sections of roofing. Finding one that faced the right direction, my feet carefully carried me down into the collapse. Here the wind wasn’t able to pile up snow, and the hallways looked accessible.

“I’m in.” I clicked the comms over to Kidra.

“About time. What’s your entrypoint?”

“Uh… the roof.”

“The roof?! You do know where basements are located, yes? Are you still competitive for the transformer room with this setback?”

“Maybe. It’s a really big building, ya know? Now let me focus on pulling a win here.”

Light from the outside only dimly reached here. And once Father and I truly penetrated into the superstructure, it was up to our own headlights to show the way forward. Empty hallways and rooms of various sizes waited in the gloom. There was a feeling of walking on hallowed ground.

As I’d expected, this site was far more intact on the inside than most I’ve been in, despite the outside appearance.

My headlights spent most of the time picking clear trails to follow on the ground. People have had punctures by falling on debris and it’s never a fun time. I’m currently the underdog time wise, but caution was always the priority. And the hallways were strewn with debris that had rotted away, falling from the ceilings or walls.

Finding out what went on in this site would give me a better idea on where to dig for tech. I spent more time on any wall that looked like it might have had pictures or symbols. Eventually I hit a lucky spot. A big blue arrow pointing to ‘Data center 2’

Sites dedicated only to data storage were mentioned occasionally in books, but this would be the first time seeing one. Perhaps data storage was just a side feature?

“This architecture is too strange.” Kidra said over the comms.

“What do you mean?”

“There aren’t any airlocks, the walls are thin, and occasionally it looked like entire windows had a view directly outside.”

Well, that doesn’t sound like it’s up to any building codes. Or common sense. The lack of an airlock could be explained. Would get very windy each time someone opened the door, but not a deal breaker to a large enough building. But thin walls? And even worse: windows to the outside? Tempered glass could withstand the temperature difference, but considering all the glass I’d seen was shattered, that theory’s probably out in the snow.

Small cubicle offices lined the sides of the walls and I spent a few minutes inside one. The chair neatly tucked into a desk, drawers and cabinets crusted over with ice. The handles on the cabinet really drew my attention. “Office items don’t look made for gloves.”

“I have noticed the same in my building. Keyboards, switches, every type of instrument. None of it was created with gloves in mind.”

Outside equipment had to be large to work with these thick gloves. Even Kidra’s occult blade had been transferred over from its original handle to one almost as large as the knife itself. Relic armor gear was the exception, since their gauntlets were ‘normal’ sized.

I seriously doubt the office workers who spent their time here all wore relic armor like it was casual wear.

“This place must be really old. Either it was built underground and eventually emerged or it was built back when the world was warmer.”

And it must be huge to have stumped Ankah for this long. Or she was keeping her discoveries quiet.

“Who might have lived here then?” Kidra asked. If only I knew.

“You’re not normally interested in that. What’s with the questions all of a sudden?”

“I’m not, more idle thought as I’m exploring. But I suspect finding out the mystery here is all you’re thinking about. And you are a chatterbox. I thought I’d offer you the courtesy of indulging.”

“If only other girls of our caste were as considerate. All they not so sneakily ask about is if I’m going to inherit the armor or not. A shame really.”

“What do you tell them about the armor?”

“I’m really vague about it and let them come up with any answer for themselves. So I technically never lied to anyone.”

She chuckled darkly, “That’s quite the evil plot, dear brother. I didn’t think you had it in you.”

“No arguments from me, dear sister. But since all they care about is the armor, I don’t feel quite so torn up about it.”

We continued talking gossip while the exploration dove further into the superstructure. More and more private offices littered the hallways. Someone was bound to have left a tablet or some information that could be recovered from these rooms, maybe even paper could have survived if it was frozen over.

Alas, Ankah already had a massive head start and distractions couldn’t be afforded. The curiosity burned under me, kept in check by priorities.

The main hallway, or at least what was left of the hallway at this point, opened up into a larger room. Simple metal tables filled the space, empty and desolate. The ones that weren’t rimmed with frost glinted back our flashlights, as if surprised to see humans walking nearby again.

A mess hall of sorts. I made a mental note of where this was in relation to the rest of the building. At some point, the kitchen would need to be pilfered. They always had a spare power cell.

Ankah’s voice sounded on the local comms. “I’ve checked over the last stairwell down, all paths underground are indeed blocked, my lord.”

Oh. This was a lucky break.

It’s not that the place was too big, it’s too much blockage. That’s why she hadn’t gloated about finding the transformer room yet.

“Understood. We’ll have to try a different building.” Atius said. “Our target isn’t in the site itself but further down underground. Any path will work.”

“If I may be so bold as to make a request from you, my lord. Your occult longblade might be able to cut a path into the flooring for us.”

“Interesting proposition Ankah. It’s worth an attempt. You are welcome to follow behind if it works. Your ropes are kept in good condition I’m assuming?”

Amendment: This was a short-lived lucky break. And now Ankah was probably ten minutes away from finding the transformer room first.

I needed to get real clever, real fast. Or my sister would be paying the price.

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