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Speaker 1: I wasn't a good man. I didn't grow up with

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a wrong crowd or fallen with bad influences. I made

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my choices. When the trial ended, the judge said I

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was the most calculated man he had ever sentenced, and

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granted me life without parole, no visitors, no possibility of release.

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They buried me, and that was that until she came

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along that day. Guards poured me out of my cell

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without a word. Two stayed at my sides, two more behind.

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We passed through corridors where walls sweated under fluorescent lights.

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Doors slid open ahead of us after key card scuns.

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Eventually we stopped at a reinforced door. One of the

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guards stepped forward and unlocked it without speaking. Cold air

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drifted out into the hallway. Side was a table bolted

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to the floor and two chairs, one empty, one occupied.

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Her eyes were already locked on mind before I sat down.

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She wore a gray suit with a faint pin stripe pattern,

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hair pulled tight against her head, skin pale but without blemishes.

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The guards forced me into the chair across from her,

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wrists shackled to the ring at the center of the table.

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She didn't introduce herself. Do you want to rot here

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until your skin comes off your bones. She asked, what

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do you want a chance? She sounded studio practiced. I

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didn't answer. She slid a folder across the table. A

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thick black clip held the pages together. I could barely

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move my arms, but she didn't seem concerned with that.

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There's a sigh, she said, tapping the folder with her

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index finger. A cave deepest ever discovered, deeper than anything

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on record. Our first expedition didn't return. She didn't blink.

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They made several kilarmeters down before something killed them. We

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believe it was biological, possibly sentient. She let that sit

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for a second, then flip the folder open. The first

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image was an aerial shot of a dense mountain range,

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followed by several grainy stills of people in environmental suits

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carrying gear through a jagged tunnel. We considered sending qualified personnel,

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but the risk is too high. We'd rather loose some

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one replaceable. You're a murderer, a terrorist. You're already a

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dead man. If this doesn't work, we'll find another one

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like you cheaper that way, she paused. Then she folded

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her hands. You won't be alone. After a short debrief,

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You'll be taken to the cave entrance with three others.

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You'll be outfitted with recording devices, weaponry, and monitoring equipment.

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There is a strong likelihood you will not return. If

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you survive and complete the contract, you walk free. She

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tapped the folder again, clean record. You pick where you

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go after. My first instinct was the laugh. I hadn't

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tasted outside air in over a decade. I hadn't seen

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a sky without mesh across it since sentencing, so I

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didn't ask whether the contract involved what they were really

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looking for, or how many had already died trying to

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find it. It didn't matter what I signed. I'd already

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died once. If this got me out, even if it

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killed me for good, I was ahead, fine, I said,

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strap me in. She nodded to someone I couldn't see.

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I felt the sting of a needle in my neck.

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Cold spread through my spine. Before I could ask where

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I'd be taken, the ceiling peeled away from me, then

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the light, then everything. I woke in a bed with

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clean sheets, white walls, a smooth ceiling with a built

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in glow panel that lit the room without a bulb

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or fixture. Before I could sit up properly. A door opened,

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A man in sterile clothes stepped inside, gestured, and stepped

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back without a word. I followed. It took me through

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a short carried door and into a chamber where the

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lights were brighter and colder. Four chairs faced the screen.

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Three were already occupied. A man with a tag that

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read Hollis on his shirt sat with his legs spread wide,

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arms tattooed to the wrist, jaw unshaven, and a permanent

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smirk planted across his face. He glanced at me and snorted.

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Drew sat beside him, bold and built, thicker, his hands

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clasped between his knees. He didn't react to me at all.

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He stared forward with dead focus. The third was smaller,

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shoulders hunched. Nervous energy rolled off her in waves. She

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twitched every few seconds. Sometimes her head jerked to one side.

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Sometimes her knuckles tensed then released. She'd make a strange

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every once in a while. In looked involuntary. Nobody said

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a word. As I sat in the last open seat,

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the lights dimmed and the screen blinked on. We were

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ushered into another room. After the short presentation ended. Some

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vague footage of cave walls and sensata, nothing identifiable. This

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one had a long table, cold steel surface, and no chairs.

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A man in a black uniform stood at the far end,

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holding a remote in one hand and a tablet in

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the other. As you already know, he sighed, you're going underground.

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You'll be outfitted. You'll be monitored, your vitals, your recordings,

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every word you say will be logged. You'll have one guide.

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Her name is Wren, the girl with the ticks. Presumably

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Wren glanced up but didn't speak. She was part of

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the firm mission, he continued. She didn't witness the attack.

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She abandoned a team before it occurred. She was found

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days later at the mountain base. She ran, Holly said, grinning,

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you're sending us down there with a coward. Ren flinched

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and her shoulders jerked. She tried to hold still, but

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the tension inside her was impossible to miss. The man

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ignored them both. You are explorers. You're being given an opportunity.

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Find out what happened, find out what they discovered, assess

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the biological threat. You will have audio and video documentation

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running at all times. You will not go off plan.

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You will not deviate from the root. She outlines, you

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will not improvise. Do that, and you'll have a shot

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at walking out. They loaded us into the back of

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a truck with no windows, no light, sense of movement

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beyond the vibration of the road. Beneath. Ren and I

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sat across from each other, silent for most of the

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first hour. Her leg bounced nervously. You're right, I asked.

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She blinked hard and nodded, yeah, sorry, it's well, it's not.

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She stopped and forced the head straight. It's hard sometimes

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you were there before, She nodded again. What happened? Well,

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she said, it's silly, but I was scared. I left

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before anything even happened, as you heard. I didn't have

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a reason. I guess I just kind of felt claustrophobic.

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Maybe I don't know. Something about the place spooked me,

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so I ran out of the cave. I'd walked all night.

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I looked at her carefully. And you still don't know

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why you left. I've been trying to figure it out,

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especially after they questioned me a bunch of times. I

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guess I did avoid danger. She seems sincere you scared

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of going back in, She perked, up suddenly full of energy.

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Of course, something in there killed my colleagues, and she slowed.

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They told me I breached contract and I was required

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to do this. After a brief pause, why are you here,

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she asked, I mean really, I lit some buildings on fire,

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I said, keeping the other things secret. She didn't look away.

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Do you regret it? I didn't answer her right away.

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I watched her instead, I guess so. Her eyes flicked

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back toward me, searching for something. Maybe she found it.

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She gave me a small nod, then looked away again.

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When the truck stopped, they kept us inside for another

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twenty minutes. When they finally opened the doors, daylight hit

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me so hard I had to shield my eyes. A

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dozen figures waited near a chain link gate that had

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been rigged into a stretch of pale rock. They wore gear, helmets, visors,

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and gloves. We looked at them in disbelief as they

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pointed toward a crate full of weapons. I took a

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short gun and a side arm. Harlis went straight for

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the automatic rifle and smirked. When they didn't stop him.

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Drew slung a belt of shells across his shoulders, and

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picked up pomp action like it was a toy. He

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really given us guns, Harli said, shaking his head and

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turning around to face us. They gave the prison crew guns.

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Hollis turned toward Wren, who backed herself against the side

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of the truck. She hadn't taken anything from the crate.

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What about her, he said? Do we even need her?

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What if we take her hostage? Maybe walk her back out,

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Tell them we want a helicopter or something. He didn't

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sound serious, but he didn't sound like he was joking either.

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One of the mass guards looked at him, and Hollis

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piped down. He looked disappointed. I guess that wouldn't work,

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would it. A man in a hazard suit gave a

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final briefing. Equipment had already been staged inside ammunition, light,

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nutrition packs, water. There was no communication. Once we entered,

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we would document everything, follow the route, and if we

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tried to exit up the doors would remain locked until

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the scheduled retrieval time. The cave entrance was tiny, a

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little more than a slit and stone. The walls were uneven,

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jagged in some places, then smooth in others. They were

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wide enough for two of us to walk side by side,

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with space in between. We moved through long tunnels that

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opened into chambers large enough to park air craft in.

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Wren led the way. She had a tablet secured to

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a vest and a laminated map strapped to a leg.

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We found a flat stretch of tunnel that widened near

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a wall of crossed sediment. Some one had left old

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markers orange tags, half buried under dust. Wren told us

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this was the first stop. We weren't expecting to reach

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the next landmark until morning. We dropped gear, unrolled mats,

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and sat down in the dirt. Drew, leaned against the

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slap of rock, and slept. Almost immediately after a few minutes,

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Wren approached me. She looked hesitant. I don't want to

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be near them, she said, yeah, I know, maybe I'm

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againting scared for no reason again, But I don't know

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what if they do something, If they might, I said, whatever,

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let's just stick together, the two of them and the

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two of us. Sure, I nodded. She breathed out through

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a nose and nodded again. Then she lowered her head

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and mumbled something I didn't catch. We all woke up

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around the same time, and nobody spoke. We just started

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walking again. It was a strange situation. We all knew

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we could potentially die here. Whatever had killed those researchers

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were still down here, and now that we were getting closer,

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that realization was sinking in deeper than ever before. A

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few hours in, the cave shifted, the walls widened again,

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and the floor began to level out. The slope that

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had pulled us down from the start eased, but the

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tunnel didn't narrow. It kept expanding in every direction. That

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was the first place we saw the trail. It stretched

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across the stone like someone had spilled a vatter silver

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and led it cool. Long lines of dull metal fused

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with the ground, following the cave's natural channels. Some parts

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had pulled into circular patches. Others looked like they had

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been flung out during motion. Thin trails scattered but clearly

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following something's path. Wren stopped and knelt um She started

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the original crew. There was a satellite scan if I

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remember correctly, something in this range gave her a turn

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that matched heavy rhodium content. It was a really dense

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and unnatural concentration. It could have been worth a fortune,

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so it's no wonder there are traces of it around.

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We listened briefly. Drew talked about bringing some of it

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back and potentially getting paid for it, but no one

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answered him. We kept walking. More trails appeared. Some ran

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along the walls, and a few looped over natural arches

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over our heads. It was everywhere. It reached the junction

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where the ceiling opened into a chamber almost the size

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of a hangar. The walls clinted, Strips of exposed minerals

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caught the low light, veins of gold, and something darker

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ran to the rock, like roots frozen in place. That

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was when I heard it. A series of sharp clicks

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echoed behind us. They were fast. I turned. It emerged

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from the bend in the tunnel without warning, moving on

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all fours but rising. As it entered the open chamber,

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its forearms twisted at a sick angle, ending in serrated

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appendages that resembled both talons and surgical blades. Beneath its skin,

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if it could be called that something pulsed in irregular spasms,

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thick cables of muscle rolled beneath the fused metallic and

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oily surface, as though it had been dipped in molten

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chrome and left it congeal in uneven patches. Its head

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was horrific elongated, tapering to a point that hovered behind

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its shoulders. The jaws split downward instead of opening wide,

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unhinging into four separate folds, and molten metal leaked out

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in thin lines that hissed again the stone. He raised

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his head and looked around, almost like he was trying

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to listen. We looked at it in the silence, and

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then Hollis lifted his rifle and fired it. A full

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burst tore through the CAFN air Shells clattered to the ground.

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The noise was deafening. Drew stepped up behind him and

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joined in, racking around into the chamber with a grin.

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The creature didn't even flinch, but he started moving toward them,

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seemingly now alerted to their presence. It was fast and fluid.

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Hollis got half a breath into another laugh before it

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reached him. One swipe took his legs, another tore through

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his chest. I didn't see what happened next. There was

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in a sound beyond the gunshots and the wet slap

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of contact. Drew kept firing and to the gun locked

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open the creature pivoted toward him, Already moving, I turned

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and ran, and that seemed to alert Wren. She moved

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with me, and her body convulsed in both physical and

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vocal ticks. The shots behind us faded, then there was nothing.

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Wren gasped, her mouth opened, but she didn't speak. I

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pushed the harder toward us. Split in the tunnel, her

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heead We moved fast and low, and I started to

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realize something. It was blind. I slowed, pulling her behind

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a wall of rock with the ground dipped. Her head shook.

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She kept whispering something beneath, her breath, split up by

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involuntary yelps that were too loud for comfort. You have

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to stop. Do you hear me? She nodded hard, her

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jaw clenched tight. Sweat ran down the sante of her

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face and streaks, and her whole body trembled from the

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effort of holding still. I can't see he can only

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hear us. You have to stay quiet. She nodded again,

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and this time her body stilled, not entirely, but enough.

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We moved without speaking. Every step felt calculated, every breath

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too loud. The tunnels narrowed again as we descended behind us.

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Sounds from the creature could still be heard, but it

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was far enough away to give us some hope of survival.

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Not even bullets damaged it, so our best bet was

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to try sneak past it. Somehow, we entered another chamber,

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smaller than the last one, but wide enough of the

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darkness to stretch past the range of our lights. The

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ceiling bowed downward. They stepped around a jagged edge and

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nearly tripped over a body, or what was left of it.

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It wore a suit, or what had been a suit.

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Once the fabric had fused. The limbs torn open across

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the chest and peeled back at the shoulder. The skin

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beneath had dried into something gray, stiff, and hollow. I

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counted three more nearby. Wren knelt slowly next to one

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of the bodies. I knew her. She whispered, but there

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was no time for reminiscing or anything of the sort.

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I tapped on the shoulder and gestured for her to move.

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The tunnel dropped hard. After that, we slid down a

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slope that forced us onto our hands, boots scraping loose rock.

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The air was changing again, hot, and now not from

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the strain. It hit my face before we saw the sauce.

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Then we rounded a bend and the floor or dropped

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out into a massive chasm. Rhn and I stared in

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disbelief as a lake stretched out in front of us,

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smooth as glass, not one made of water, but rather

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molten metal, gold, silver, blue, all bleeding into each other

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in an endless loop. Heat poured from the surface. Sweat

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ran down my back in slow waves. My hands felt

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down beside my gloves. I thought about how this was possible.

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Surely the heat from the molten metal itself would have

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killed us by now, But my attempts at rationalization were

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interrupted by a clicking sound behind us, and a realization

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that we had just reached a dead end. We moved

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to the side and took cover behind a jagged ridge

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of stone at the lake's edge. It was a match

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enough to break the line of sight, maybe enough to

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muffle sound. Rent's body convulsed and she put both hands

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over her mouth butt. If she made a single sound,

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we die. I could feel the creature approaching. The air

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shifted as it entered the chamber. She reached for me,

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her fingers closed around my arm, trembling her eyes met mine.

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She knew I looked at her. I didn't say anything.

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There wasn't time. Even a whisper could have ended it.

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She mouthed something. I raised the shotgun. Her head shook,

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small and sharp. Her lips trembled, but she didn't speak.

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Her hand tightened around my arm. I felt her fingernails

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through the fabric. She tried to pull back. Her mouth opened,

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no sound came out. Her eyes screamed. I fired. Her

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head snapped sideways, gone before the rest of her had

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time to fall. Blood hit the rock behind us in

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a wet splash. Her body collapsed to my feet. The

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creature sprung into motion. I could hear it. It stood

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on top of the rock I was hiding and slowly

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dropped itself down. His tail ran right past my arm,

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and it seemed to inspect Wren's body. It lifted her

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up by the torso and walked out of view. I

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could hear the liquid sloshing. Curiosity got the better of me.

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I peeked around the corner to see the monster slowly

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walking into the lake of metal, Wren's body in tow

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The surface took both of them, metal folding upward to

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embrace its body as it was scended into the glowing pool.

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Then he was gone. The lake smoothed over again, silent still,

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as if nothing had ever broken its surface. I didn't

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know how long it would stay submerged, but I wasn't

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going to give it time to come back. I stood

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and ran. I followed the same path we'd taken down,

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or close to it. I kept one hand on the

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rock to guide my turns. Everything looked different on the

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way up. Eventually I reached the chamber where Drew had fallen.

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His body was bent in half across a flat boulder,

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split from the ribs down. I recognized the boots before

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I saw the rest. Hollis lay a few feet away,

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or at least most of them did. His rifle was

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still in one hand, his other hand was missing. I

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kept moving. By the time I saw the faint blue

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glow of the reinforced entrance, I couldn't feel my legs

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any more. Two guards stood at the threshold. The helmets

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reflected my face as I stumbled forward. Neither of them

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moved until I crossed the final threshold and fell to

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my knees. I didn't speak, They didn't either. One of

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them stepped forward and removed the shotgun from my back.

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The other one retrieved the body. Calm, they helped me

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to my feet and led me into transport. A little

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while later, she sat across from me again, in the

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same suit. We reviewed your footage. She said, your documentation

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exceeded expectations. She flipped through a few pages. What happened

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to Wren was unfortunate. She closed the folder and pushed

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it aside. You've done your part, she gestured toward the door.

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The hallway stretched in front of me, too bright to

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focus on. A man in black uniform walked me through

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two checkpoints, then into another chamber. He handed me a

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small envelope. Inside were travel documents, a debit card, and

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a folded sheet with my new credentials. I was escorted outside,

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and just like that, I was alone. I walked until

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the facility shrank behind me, nothing more than a shape

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at the edge of stone. I was free.