The Pandora Index (Older work)

The South Passage

"D-do something!" the woman shouted, her voice was raspy from strain.

Without a second thought the man sprinted in the direction of the smaller android, bullets sparked across his armor as he tackled the android and slammed its head hard on the ground two times. A crack appeared in the middle of its smooth face on the first impact and on the second it shattered completely, revealing hundreds of sensors and multicolored wires. It flailed its arms in a desperate effort to fight off the man. The man quickly stood up and stomped on it. The android let out a final muffled squeal before it went limp. He looked back at us and yelled, "Follow!"

I ran towards the man and turned. The woman was focusing all of her power on the larger android and was slowly backing up towards us. She was still having a lot of trouble. The man suddenly picked up a small dumpster with one hand and threw it at the android. The metal can hit its target with a loud thud. The android stumbled and stopped firing to steady itself. A large crack had appeared on its large eye. Sensing the chance to escape, the woman spun on her heels and sprinted towards us. We all started running in the opposite direction of the mechanical monster. It let out a gurgled screech and gave chase.

We ran around corners, and ducked through dark alleys for what seemed like half an hour. The android was slowly gaining on us. Its mismatched legs creaked and groaned as it ran after us.

"The passage is just ahead of us!" The woman yelled. She pointed towards a large garage at the end of the alley. "We need to distract the android somehow!"

The man suddenly spun around and slammed his fist in the center of the androids eye. A full speed sprint meeting a full strength punch, the eye shattered, and with a electronic scream, the android fell onto the ground still writhing. The man looked at us, "Go!"

We listened and reached the garage in ten seconds flat. The woman fumbled with the combination lock until it clicked and the door sprung open. We rushed in and slammed the door back down.

We stood there for a while, hunched over, gasping for breath. Behind the metal door we could hear muffled shouts, screeches, and gunshots. That android is in for one hell of a fight.

I looked around the dark workshop we had stumbled into, the only thing that identified it as a workshop was a lone metal desk at the far end of the room with old power tools and a box of assorted screw drivers. In the middle of the room was the kind of lift used to work on the underbellies of cars. The corners of the room were spotted with dust, water damage, and rodent feces. Other than that the room was completely empty. The only source of light was a small window above the desk, I could see lights of the New Detroit "Mini-Vegas," a half mile street populated by casinos, bars, and other places where the wealthy could burn their money.

The woman started feeling along the wall for a light switch. I looked down at the cords around my wrists. I still need some way of escaping. While she was focusing on the wall, I walked over to the work table to search for something to cut the cords around my wrists. Nothing was sharp. I grabbed a small screwdriver, I could use this as a weapon if I need one. I shoved the tool into my back pocket, to my surprise, I felt my Pandora badge still untouched. They must not have searched me before when they took my armor.

I quietly walked back over to the woman and helped her look for a light switch. She hadn't even noticed I had moved. I felt the switch and pressed it. The light flickered three times before bathing the whole room in dull green light. A crash of thunder echoed outside. Rain began to thud on the little window. It had only been sprinkling until now. It was pouring

The woman sighed, "Well now comes the worst part." She walked over to the desk and reached under it. Something clicked and the car lift began to rise, revealing a rusted sewer grate under it.

"The Kings Court is only up the street a little, so we don't have to go too far in it." The woman said, also staring at the grate. She looked up to me, "You first."

I glared at her and walked forwards. I gripped the iron bars and lifted with all my strength. The rusted grate rose with a loud squeak. I stared down into the dark tunnel and hopped in. The tunnel was larger than I had thought, it had a small maintenance ledge to walk on next to the rushing stream of rainwater. I moved aside so the woman could come down. I had considered running down the dark tunnel but there was no way that I would have even known which way to go.

The woman landed with a thud and walked towards me, she had a piece of rope in her hands. "Hold out your hands." she ordered.

I lifted my arms and she tied the rope around the cables in between my wrists. She wrapped the other end around her right hand.

"So you don't get lost." She explained.

She started walking down the dark tunnel, pulling me along like a dog on a leash. We walked in silence for a minute before she slowed her pace, a storm drain was pouring water on the ledge ahead of us. She pulled her hood over her head and pressed on.

The water had made the smooth concrete slippery. She made it through just fine, but I was having trouble since I didn't have a hood to keep the filthy water out of my eyes. All it took was one wrong step and I slipped. I landed hard on my back with a yelp and tumbled into the murky water below dragging the woman in with me.

The water assaulted my throat and burned my eyes. It tasted like something dead had crawled into my mouth and slithered down my throat. I sprang up from the water and gasped for air. Thankfully, the water was only waist deep.

"God dammit, Daniel!" The woman spat behind me.

I turned to face her, she had her back towards me while she was looking for something in the water.

"Hey!" I shouted, "How do all of you know my name!"

The woman turned. A sour look was on her face. Her face. I recognized her. How? How do I know her?