No Second Chances: The Beginning Of The End

3 days after her tablet suddenly turned on and downloaded some information, Gree was in Lorenz’s workshop developing a device for Casamira’s Major as a petition from Lorenz himself since there were readings of abnormal tectonic movement in the caverns, collapsing some entrances to active veins in the mines and opening other natural tunnels. The epicenter of the tectonic movement wasn’t exact but it represented a threat to the village, hence, the major requested a certain device from Lorenz after handing him some blueprints on how to make it.

Gree felt a bit offended given the blueprint represented a very basic model of the device in question and depended a lot on the alloy created to cover the electronic parts. Given she had nothing better to do since Nat was also working on the defenses of the town along with Phil, Gree decided to make a better version of the blueprint and began to develop the electronic components. However, when she checked on her tablet to go back in some notes for reference, she remembered the alert the tablet showed her while she was half asleep. Gree diligently read through the most important documents and double-checked the status of the virus she implanted in the database of Delcyt’s research department. Finally, she sighed after confirming the virus was successfully removed from the classified files, and the backdoor she was planning to have for later was removed. Maybe they are more capable than I expected; surely that new director knows how to order the engineers around. –Gree thought while scrolling through the information she had acquired with the virus.

The day was coming to an end while Gree walked into the workshop to find Phil welding some beams into a large gate for one of the entrances of the village. The progress has been greater than Gree expected since it seemed most of the villagers were trying to get the fortifications needed for the town. The vast majority of contributors believed in the major and his judgment since it didn’t fail to predict and properly counter unfavorable situations.

As Phil focused on the job that was assigned to him, Gree sneaked behind him with a welding mask to check on Phil’s progress, which was more than what a normal worker in the workshop would’ve done in the time he was given the job. Naturally, Phil noticed and stopped the welding and took off his mask to her what Gree had to say to him, to which she simply gave him a thumbs up and left to check on Nat. Phil got worried for a second but sighed it away and continued welding to finish the last of the 3 gates for the entrances the town has.

Nat wasn’t particularly busy at the moment since she had to wait for Pascal to check some measurements for her and bring back a blueprint for a sort of cannon they are currently building. Gree approached her and sat in front of her to just stare for a moment in order to make Nat slightly uncomfortable. “Have you figured where Chronos is?” –Nat suddenly asked while drinking water from her own bottle.

“Why do you still think about him? Do you like him or something?” –Gree teased Nat while then turning on her tablet to confirm any recent info from the database of Delcyt’s military. “And no I’m not sure why he suddenly left but the government was also looking for him, however, he wasn’t caught so he might be aimlessly wandering around” –Gree finally explained while scrolling through reports as she notices the reports of the recent Pandora’s Forest raid. 51 people entered including 4 custom weapon users and only 2 were reported to be alive… They also called Elvira? And if I had to guess, they would surely send Sinns under the influence of drugs since her body would handle them without breaking. –She analyzed briefly as Nat walked closer to take a look at the report as well.

“No, but Doc…Doc seemed to know him from somewhere, so maybe Chronos is part of his family.” –Nat countered while frowning since Gree got her intentions wrong and joked about it, she then sat next to Gree and peeked on what she was reading.

“I see… I honestly have a funny feeling we will be meeting him soon, maybe he will find his way out of Delcyt and we will see him in the next 3 years or sum.” –Gree shrugged and didn’t think much about Chronos whereabouts, on the other hand, the raid to Pandora’s forest revealed to her the existence of an Earth dragon somehow hidden by the Elves living in there.

As Phil finished his job for the day, he went to meet Marco at the back of the workshop, which talked to Phil beforehand and asked him for help with an old Pickup they had for deliveries but ended up breaking apart and didn’t have the time to fix it back. Marco explained to Phil the problems and showed him the carcass of the vehicle along with the rest of the pieces all over the place inside an old warehouse. Phil’s eyes lit up as his mind began to produce several possible ways on how the old carcass could end up. “Is that all? Is there anything else I need to know? If not, I will gladly help you get it moving. I will come to check and work on it every day; we just need to survive the Incoming hordes.” –Phil happily pointed to Marco who was very pleased with his enthusiasm.

Some hours later, After Phil manages to check the pieces scattered around the carcass, a tremor shook the village and Gree noticed some readings on different gases emanating from the cavern systems. An alarm in the village was activated and every miner inside and around the cave had to leave immediately the vicinity of the mines entrances; seemingly, the cause of the tremor wasn’t from a tectonic source, but rather from a massive form of life nearby the hive’s core.

Gree was worried since the prediction of the town major referred to something similar; however, the time given was supposed to be later on that month, not at that moment. Quickly, she took Nat with her and hurried to find Phil who was already waiting for them on their vehicle, and drove out of the town in order to check the cavern’s entrance in case there was any break out from the hive. Instead, the cave had a high reading of different elements on the air including cadaverine and putrescine which were normally found in dead bodies.

Nat instantly covered her nose and mouth after gagging due to the smell and Gree put on a gas mask she had in the glove box, Phil on the other hand was trying his best to only breathe from his nose, getting used to the smell. Shortly after they arrived, another vehicle that seemed reinforced approached the scene; the driver was Lorenz, and accompanying him was the Major of the town. With a handshake and a genuine smile, the Major introduced himself to the group. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person, I am Ivan Dragicevic, and I am the Major of Casamira.” –The old man mentioned in a very cheery way despite the situation at hand.

“What are you doing here though? I thought you only came out of your cave in case there was a disaster.” –Gree joked while keeping her mask on as Ivan laughed and motioned Lorenz to get something out of their vehicle.

Lorenz didn’t take long to bring out a sort of device that could read certain particles in the air. Once placed on the ground it began to emit a beeping noise and a gauge went up, alerting Ivan and worrying Lorenz. “So what does this measure?” –Nat asked while wrapping a cloth around her face to mask herself from the smell.

“You see, the hives are abundant in Falladis due to the natural tunnels and caverns scattered around the kingdom, so before becoming major of Casamira, I did construct this device and coated the electronics with the special alloy you are already familiar with. So, getting back to the point, this device measures the condensation of fumes created by the hives, and it tells us whether the hive is in a dormant, latent, or altered state.” –Ivan explained eagerly and kept constant eye contact with Gree, Phil, and Nat as if he was a professor presenting an invention.

Gree was holding her chin and her elbow with the next hand as she was fascinated by the utility the device represented. She walked closer to it to take a better look and found some special wiring colors normally used in military experiments. Clearly, Ivan is a politician from the Falladis Kingdom, who leads this village and its honest people, so he would have access to this, but I’m still not sure of what is the meaning of him bringing this device here with us around. My best bet is to ask him directly. –Gree thought after a quick inspection of the wiring of the electronics part. “Why are you showing us this device?” –She asked skeptically.

“I am a sort of first stage mage, and with this, I am able to see small fragments of the future. Having said this, I managed to see glimpses of something bigger than an abomination crawl out of these caves. You and your friends are a great help to the town, but, there is an individual that manages to take down the monster coming out of here with ease, and he happens to know you as well.” –Ivan explains once again revealing his ability to foresee small mirages of the future.

“Elvira? Or any other sort of acquainted of yours?” –Phil asked Gree as she crossed her arms and shrugged while thinking about all the probable people she knows that is able to face something that big and beat it.

“Do you have anyone in mind Miss Myers?” –Lorenz asked expecting a solid answer since the thought of having a massive entity about to breach out of the hive was a scary one.

“Currently there is no one I know that would be capable of taking down something like that unless it is a specially trained soldier or a guardian.” –Gree sighed after running out of people they could ask immediate help to. “Don’t you guys have any sort of connection with the capital? We will need military intervention if the cannons you are developing don’t work.” –Gree concluded while looking back at Nat who just realized she needs to adjust a few things in the cannons and test them before mounting them in the walls of the village.

“Well, then, it is time to get back to the village, we should work overtime to get the gates in place.” –Lorenz suggested as he got the device back to his vehicle.

“How much time do we have before this thing crawls out of the tunnels?” –Nat asked as Gree place her hands behind her head and walked back into the car with Phil.

“It might come out today or tomorrow. These reading were of an altered hive, so something will surely come.” –Ivan answered while getting slightly serious about the matter. “So I hope you don’t mind getting the cannons ready for it as fast as possible.” –Ivan continued while feeling a bit ashamed to hurry Nat.

Shit, I still need to test the cannons. It would be a pain if they don’t work by when these things come out of here. –Nat thought while getting back in the car with Phil and Gree.

After they left the place, the wall in the tunnel keeping the hive inside, started to get violently rammed, slowly bending the steel and shattering the rock around it, making it just a matter of time for whatever was inside to get out and head to Casamira.

Twitter: @Sbrcbleh12