Awoken 3: An Endless Nightmare

Chapter 8: Mass Murder?

It took me nearly 20 minutes to reach the mall, and when I finally arrived, the place was absolutely packed. I guess it's a valuable place to attack, with so many ponies around, but why? What exactly is she trying to accomplish?

I passed through the front entrance and glanced around the food court. There's so many ponies here, and on a Tuesday, too. It's kind of unusual, most ponies are usually working around this time...

I stepped to the side, out of the way of the main crowd. I hate crowds. Yuck. There's so many ponies here, how am I suppose to tell where Tyra is?

Hm... If I were her, I'd probably command over the PA, like she did in the Weather Factory... So if that's the case, then she's got to be heading for a control room somewhere.

I shifted my gaze from sign to sign, setting off through the food court. There's nothing that specifically says where the control room would be, though I suppose that would make sense considering it'd be an employees only area. That means that Tyra has to sneak in, which also means she probably has her hacker with her. I'm assuming she'll post a video on PonyTube again, so the security cameras will probably be a target.

I caught one of the cameras out of the corner of my eye and looked over at it quickly. There was a cord on it that ran along the wall just below the ceiling, and I trotted along beside it, following it to wherever it led. Finally, I stopped in front of a large door marked with an Employees only sign. I guess this must be it... Or at least it's a start.

I tried the knob. Of course, it was locked. I put my ear up to the door, trying to hear past it, but no sound came through. I'm sure the control room isn't just on the other side, there's probably a staircase that leads up to it.

I took a few steps away, looking around again. Maybe I should go up to the second level, there might be another entrance there. I'm not sure how Tyra would have gotten into this one without breaking the lock, so this couldn't have been the door she used.

I quickly made my way to the escalator and stepped on. Who knows how long I have until she does whatever she's planning....

And that was when the escalator stopped dead. I was half way up, and it just kinda skidded to a halt, the ponies infront of me muttering with surprise and confusion.

"Did somepony pressed the emergency stop?" I heard someone say.

"Damn kids, always playing pranks."

"Ugh, forget it, I'll just fly." Beside me, a pegasus spread her wings and took off for the second level.

And then the lights cut out completely, and the mall when dark. More confused muttering erupted around me. I cursed under my breath. This better be a coincidence. I better not be out of time already...

It took a few seconds for the emergency lights to kick in, and by then, the shoppers had had enough, and began to head for the nearest exit.

"Attention shoppers!" The PA system did the screechy-microphone-feedback thing, making everypony cringe. Damnit. Damnitdamnitdamnit no I can't be out of time already, this isn't happening. I'm too late, she's already in...

"Attention shoppers!" The pony repeated when the feedback leveled out. "We are experiencing slight technical difficulties. Please stay calm and proceed with your normal business while we try to activate the backup generators. We apologize for the inconvenience."

I froze. No. No. No. She didn't just...

Across the mall, there was a scream. Then another. And then everypony was screaming from that area, and the pushing and shoving began as startled ponies who didn't know what was going on took off at a run for the nearest exit.