Factory Reset

Chapter Nineteen: Hear No Evil

When B-64 heard what Lied had said, he wasn't that surprised. He had already seen that Mason could tap into Boson Energy, his green stripe said as much, but he was a little shocked that the others could as well.

Mason stood beside B-64 and gripped his hand tighter. He wasn't sure if he had heard Lied correctly, because if he did, that would mean...

Lied smiled broadly, his blue nose twitching once again, "Yes, you did hear me correctly. Please, follow me." Lied swiftly turned around, nearly skipping across the little sidewalk area through the lab.

Mason and B-64 followed quickly behind them, both intensely curious as to both why, and how he knew that. Marissa and Axel, with Hannah in tow, followed after them. Marissa and Axel did share a look of intrigue before taking off after Lied.

For someone that looked like they couldn't run fast, Lied was surprisingly speedy. Mason and B-64 ran beside numerous dangerous looking machines, weapons, and what seemed like a sort of living matter.

B-64 managed to guard against a small burst of white fire that came out of an exhaust pipe from a vehicle with his shield, gripping Mason's hand tighter as the shield fizzed to life. Lied, despite being quite a ways ahead, apologized for it when they reached him.

"Sorry about that. Most everyone here just stays at their stations and doesn't use the walk area." Lied breathed out, panting every so slightly. Mason and B-64 rested for a moment, their hands finally parting for the first time in a while as they waited for the rest to catch up.

Hannah was the first to catch up with them, slamming into Mason's knee with a full force jump and squealing happily, chanting, "Again! Again!" Marissa and Axel followed, looking moderately displeased yet still curious.

Lied glanced at them, "Again, sorry. Now, we just have too-" He fumbled with his lab coat and searched around in his pocket in search of his keycard. After much too long of a wait, Lied managed to get the keycard again, and swipe it against a door's card reader that plainly read, "Infinite."

Maso and B-64, plus all the rest, entered the pitch black room.

Suddenly, as soon as they took the first step inside, it brightened up. Life-like recreations of grass and trees soon materialized inside, seemingly pulled up from the infinite void of darkness from below with some stream of green energy placing them where they were meant to go.

The ceiling turned a turquoise shade with numerous fluffy looking clouds suddenly appearing. As they took another step, they felt the temperature shift suddenly, turning a cooler temperature as a hard and cold breeze swept the area, grass sprouting at an increasingly fast rate.

Mason gasped out, feeling fresh mountain air invade his lungs. It felt real, but again, he could sense that it was not. Just like that hallway. He blinked several times and crouched, brushing his hand against the grass, feeling the soft texture.

Marissa and Axel gasped alongside him, even B-64 seemed to take in a breath. Hannah smiled widely, a toothy grin showing as she began to run around the group, smelling and feeling the air that she was missing.

It reminded them of home.

"This room was designed to understand the habitats of the creatures we've captured. To perfectly recreate the conditions in which these creatures spawned from." Lied told them as he stepped inside, the door they entered through melting away into a mountain's side.

Axel looked around, absolutely dumbfounded. He turned to see Lied, "How much... How?" he simply asked, at a loss for words. Lied laughed a little, nearly a giggle. He held his hand behind his back as he walked.