FEATURED on the Wattpad Adventure 'Voyages and Sea Epics' list!
Not so far in the distant future, the Earth is drowning in our mistakes. The permafrost has melted. Millions have been wiped out. Thousands more suffer to breathe on land while facing...
"Because phase three is a last resort." She informed them in a hushed tone. "We're abandoning ship."
***
Meg pressed herself against the cool fiberglass wall to remain hidden from the mass exodus that had begun.
Bots were scrambling down the hallways, and she fell back from her hiding spot to jog towards a server bay on the main floor. There were fewer access doors up here, and Meg watched in horror as more bots abandoned their posts to flee in the opposite direction.
Something was going on, but Meg didn't have time to investigate. She had to get down to negative-six. As she moved towards the center of the building, the halls became eerily empty.
Where are the Sirens? She wondered as she readied the concussion flash in her hand.
Meg tossed the bomb at the server bay door and hunkered down to wait out the blast. Not a single bot or human rounded a corner in response to the rattling noise.
Cradling the sealed jug, Meg slipped through the opening and broke into a run to make it back to the awful airshaft she'd just left behind. There wasn't as much damage up here, making is easy for Meg to reach out and climb downwards.
Without any attacks, she was free to use a faster method, and Meg fired the grappling hook from her belt. Warily, she balanced her containers under one arm, hooking the final two through her fingers by the handles.
After she was sure the wire was secured to a rack, she pressed a button to give the line enough slack for her to drop over the edge of the platform.
The winds rushed up the tunnel and enveloped Meg as she made her way across the hardware. The added weight of her illicit chemicals made it a bit awkward, but she managed to keep them firmly secured to her person.
Walking herself in reverse, Meg made it to negative-six and cut off the wire at her belt.
From here she would need to climb up into the server racks to find the guts of the console beneath the Architect's control room. Meg wound a bit of grappling wire from her belt around the jug handles so they could drag behind her.
For an average-sized individual, this was a difficult squeeze, but for Meg it was merely cumbersome. She was able to snake her way around the intricate weave of hardware and wires to find the frames that held the racks in place.
Instinctually, Meg scuttled in the direction of the control room, using her slight proportions to cut corners. Having just been under the control room on Arc City One, she knew exactly what to look for.
Less than thirty feet to her right was the base of the console. It was identical to what she remembered; In fact, Meg could even picture the bot Marcus had managed to wedge into the machinery.
Meg located the networking switches to the console's mainframe, using her fingers to feel for the opportunity she needed. When she managed to find an open port, Meg took the chip out of the hidden pouch on her belt and cracked open its plastic case.
She fit the piece into the slot waiting for the automated click that signaled its connection. The countdown to destruction would begin momentarily.
Meg had exactly fifteen minutes to get to an escape pod, or she too would be blown to smithereens. However, there was just one more task to complete to ensure success.
Using the wire at her waist, Meg dropped through the hardware and servers as fast as she could, hauling the chemicals along behind her. As soon as she'd made it far enough (she guessed), she let the chemicals drop in a heap on the grated floor of the passageway.
She ran, checking to make sure that she had a clean escape route before turning to throw one of her last concussion discs in the direction of the chemical pile. She waited just long enough to be sure that the bomb might strike its target, then, ran for her life.
Behind her, a wet explosion mixed the chemical cocktail enough to spark a fast-growing glob of foam.
The frothy cloud burst outward, coating everything in its way. Meg could smell the terrible burn of the compounds as it ballooned in her direction, threatening to overtake her.
As soon as she made it to the airshaft, Meg hurled herself off the ledge using her grappling belt one last time to catch her fall. Her bones yanked in a terribly familiar way when her body hit the end of the slack.
Polyurethane foam was already spreading out into the shaft, swelling to meet her dangling feet.
Meg grabbed a server rack and hoisted herself upright to cut the wire and climb. She only had minutes left and six floors suddenly seemed like too far.
Her back screamed against the jolt from her fall and her limbs ached from all of her climbing over metal.
Meg had just managed to get her hands over the ledge to a platform on the main floor when she spotted the boots waiting for her.
Hello Underwater Adventurers! Well, it seems the tides are turning (sorry not sorry for water-based puns, I've got plenty of 'em and only a few more chapters to use 'em!.) Let's break down what we know:
1) Gayle's biting her nails and Coeuss didn't factor in Chantilly's interference (or he didn't tell his SIrens that this was a possible factor, which tells you how disposable those women are to his plan.)
2) Speaking of Chantilly, it sounds like Persephone has made some promises that Captain Matthias (or Admiral Stephens) wasn't aware of. So, they might be able to win this battle, but what is that going to do for the war? (As we already know, destroying the Arc Cities will slow Coeuss down, but as a sentient AI, he's in the old satellite systems.)
3) Olivia is a free agent now and Meg let her go. If Olivia makes it to an escape pod, you KNOW she's coming back! ;-P
4) Harrison is BACK and he brought Chantilly. No matter what way you look at it, this is going to be all kinds of awkward.
5) Meg now knows that Arturo was the one who ordered her mother's exile, which forced her mother to suicide after the birth of her baby (sacrificing her place on the Arc for her daughter.) Meg's been pretty forgiving up until now, but everyone has their breaking point.
6) And for those of you curious what Chantilly looks like, here she is in all her gorgeous glory:
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
