Everything You Know Is Wrong

Chapter 18 - Deus Machina X

Using the darkest of necromantic sciences Othniel Charles Marsh had reanimated a half dozen 10-meter-tall pterosaur skeletons to act as his body guards and general camp muscle.

Being utterly skinless they couldn't fly, but they stalked about the camp on the tips of their wings in an unnerving manner. They had wickedly sharp beaks and moved with inhuman quickness.

The pterosaurs immediately sensed the Felixes as they came tumbling through the tear in space/time. They flung themselves at the intruders, snapping their beaks.

Patch saw them coming immediately.

"Run," he yelled, and took off towards the partially-unearthed pyramid that the entire camp was built around. Felix was not far behind him, his speed mostly a product of terror.

The camp workers scattered in every direction as the two Felixes came running, trailing behind them an entourage of skeletal dinosaurs. The pterosaurs were gaining rapidly on the Felixes. The air was thick with panic and also screaming.

"Intruders!" someone was yelling through a bullhorn, "Protect the find! Intruders! Protect the find!"

A wide and deep trench had been dug into the ground directly beside the pyramid in order to reveal as much of it as possible. The Felixes ran down the wooden stairs so quickly they broke several. Most of the pterosaurs managed to come to a skidding halt at the edge of the trench, but one spilled over the side. It smashed into dust on the bottom.

The Felixes could see the entrance now. It was a sealed stone door covered in blast marks. Apparently someone had been unsuccessfully trying to open it with dynamite.

"Can you open that?" asked Patch, as they hit the bottom of the stairs.

"Yes," Felix barely wheezed.

He issued the thought-command to open the door, and it slid open spilling sand everywhere and making an irritating grinding noise. The two nearby workers ran for their lives just as the two Felixes ran inside.

Felix sealed the door shut behind them. He leaned over to catch his breath.

"That should hold them," he said between gasps.

Patch was looking around with his hands on his hips, grinning widely.

"So you really know how to use a God Machine, huh?" he said.

"Pretty much," said Felix, still breathing hard.

"I almost didn't really believe it," said Patch. "I've really outdone myself with this plan."

Felix took another few minutes to breathe.

"Okay," he said finally. "Okay let's go. I'm ready."

"You go," said Patch. "I'll stay here and keep an eye on the door."

"Don't worry, nothing is going to break through that door," said Felix.

"You can't possibly know that," said Patch.

He had a point. Felix left him to watch the door.

Felix mentally queried the pyramid. It identified itself as God Machine 10, a Heiroarchon-categorization Worldlathe. That was a quality categorization of Worldlathe for some reason Felix didn't know. He knew exactly where everything was.

Felix proceeded immediately to the computeronium core. Here he would be able to diagnose whatever the problem was and then tell the machine to fix itself. If that didn't work Felix didn't know what he was going to do. He supposed the whole universe was screwed in that case.