EURYDICE || Percy Jackson

10 - Ma Gasket

————————————————————
MA GASKET
————————————————————

THEY STOPPED AT THE DOORS and Leo leaned against them, trying to control his breathing.

Laviana frowned at him. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," he said, but he seemed pale. "We have other stuff to worry about."

She didn't like it, but they peered inside. Nothing looked different. Gray morning light filtered through the hole in the roof. A few lightbulbs flickered, but most of the factory floor was still lost in shadows. Laviana could make out the catwalk above, the dim shapes of heavy machinery along the assembly line, but no movement. No sign of her friends.

Leo opened his mouth, but Laviana put a finger over his lips.

Her headache spiked. Something smelled wrong too—like burning motor oil and sour breath. Something not human was inside the factory. Laviana was certain. Her body shifted into high gear, all her nerves tingling.

Somewhere on the factory floor, Piper's voice cried out: "Leo, help!"

How could Piper have gotten off the catwalk with her broken ankle?

Monocle Motors: that single red eye logo. Why hadn't she realized?

"Cyclopes can mimic voices," Laviana whispered.

She didn't know how she knew that, but she was certain she was right.

Leo swallowed and they slipped inside and ducked behind a cargo container. Slowly they worked their way toward the center of the room, hiding behind boxes and hollow truck chassis. Finally they reached the assembly line. They crouched behind the nearest piece of machinery—a crane with a robotic arm.

Piper's voice called out again: "Leo? Vin?"

Less certain this time, but very close.

Laviana peeked around the machinery. Hanging directly above the assembly line, suspended by a chain from a crane on the opposite side, was a massive truck engine—just dangling thirty feet up, as if it had been left there when the factory was abandoned. Below it on the conveyor belt sat a truck chassis, and clustered around it were three dark shapes the size of forklifts. Nearby, dangling from chains on two other robotic arms, were two smaller shapes—maybe more engines, but one of them was twisting around as if it were alive.

Then one of the forklift shapes rose, and Laviana realized it was a humanoid of massive size. "Told you it was nothing," the thing rumbled. Its voice was too deep and feral to be human. One of the Cyclopes.

One of the other forklift-sized lumps shifted, and called out in Piper's voice: "Leo, Vin, help me! Help—" Then the voice changed, becoming a masculine snarl. "Bah, there's nobody out there. No demigods could be that quiet, eh?"

The first monster chuckled. "Probably ran away, if they knows what's good for em. Or the girl was lying about a third and fourth demigod. Let's get cooking."

Snap. A bright orange light sizzled to life—an emergency flare—and Laviana was temporarily blinded. She ducked behind the crane until the spots cleared from her eyes. Then she took another peep and saw a nightmare scene even Hera couldn't have dreamed up.