Vitae Memorandum

41-Effectively Impossible

Without any alternative, the convoy reached its destination still in the depth of the night. Having expected both vehicles as they were, there were no questions raised, and things had proceeded smoothly thus far.

"Okay, this isn't good. There are far too many people here, and they just closed the gate behind us. Our chances of pulling this off with force alone is basically nothing. Qheria, your mother does the sneaky thing.. sometimes at least. What's the best way we can follow that idea?" "The biggest trick to that would probably be patience. We got in, which in most cases wouldn't have been easy. Getting out won't be easy either. We hardly know what we're working with, or where everything is. So a lot like our first trip to the Factory. We need to sneak around, gather information from the shadows, and figure out a plan." Mhyl pondered Qheria's answer to her question. This was the fortress, the origins of all the advanced technology they had been facing. This was possibly their most crazy operation so far. It was also really the reverse of what had happened when they had escaped from the bandit camp before as well, they were actually trying to sneak in instead of out.

Thanrie meanwhile had been looking through the scope, making sure not to push any of the buttons. "If we parked near that gate, we could slip though to the other side. It's not even fully closed, so it won't be locked. Mhyl, is there anyone around there?" "Actually, no, it's pretty quiet near that area. This will mean they will be able to carry Lwyn away, but we'll just have to track her destination down." Thanrie understood Mhyl's concerns, but as long as they themselves stayed safe, they could save Lwyn.

Qheria managed to park discreetly in the shadows, and they all slipped through the gate into a faintly lit corridor. Neon filaments glowed along all of the halls. "Thanrie, do you need someone to hold your hand? Really, no matter what, we can't have you shrieking again here." Mhyl was aware that the layout was the same eerie lighting that had thus far kept Thanrie in fear twice before, and this honestly could be seen as a third time coming. The halls were much brighter at least, without quite the same horror-filled impression, but it still reminded her too much of the past incidents. Thanrie had no answer.

As they kept going through endless corridors, Mhyl eventually saw a patrol approaching them. They all ducked into a nearby storage closet to avoid being spotted. The door had a window, but was cluttered full of junk and was completely dark. Eventually the patrol walked to the door, a neon filament glowing from their forehead. As the light turned and glowed through the window, Qheria cupped Thanrie's mouth, stopping the onset of any scream successfully. Once the patrol walked away, they finally decided to whisper about it.

"That... that was another one of those clockwork automatons again. I couldn't see it very clearly, especially having to stop Thanrie's nerves, but the similarity was at least that obvious." Qheria was even more nervous, having been aware how dangerous those things could be. A single one was considerably more skilled than a bandit, and could easily raise an alarm. Last time, they had taken them out only thanks to a matter of numbers and the gift. This time, they had nothing like that, only their own tools and weapons.

Qheria thus had the largest misfortune right now as well. With a short range and the loudest of utilities, she had to depend on the abilities of her friends. It was a shame Lwyn wasn't here, she could have been really helpful with her long range accuracy. The three of them kept going regardless, and eventually passed up beside a window. They looked down below them and saw many of the clockwork automatons working on.. something. They couldn't figure out what it was. What was remarkable was that, with the improved lighting, they got a better perspective of the clockwork automatons.

Contrary to how artificial the ones in the Factory had appeared, the ones here looked frighteningly normal. Like a real person with armor and accessories that wouldn't ever be coming off. They were even actually wearing various robes and clothing, like a real person. Something about them thus looked even more terrifying, as they were not only too... realistic, they also were considerably more advanced. Thus, they had no idea just how much more deadly these models could be over the ones found in the Factory.