Amy flew down the way she had flown before, past the Temple agents she had just knocked out. She came to a series of double doors alongside either side of her. She found meager living quarters inside each one, with bunk beds, a small desk, and a toilet in the corner.
Amy figured this made a certain kind of sense – put the living quarters near the top of the ship for easier evacuations in an emergency.
Amy found an elevator shaft, after skipping several living quarter doors, and punched open the doors and flew downward into the shaft. Because there was almost no light, Amy only flew down one level, until she could see a sliver of light coming from the closed elevator doors below her.
She punched through these doors and found herself in a stark, white hallway. Red lights flashed intermittently on the ceiling above her, no doubt thanks to Future Girl's fighting her way straight down into the sub.
Amy explored. This section of the sub reminded her of a hospital, with shiny white walls and a single blue stripe running down the hall. Amy followed it, hoping to find some kind of answer.
Peeking inside doors along the hallway, Amy saw room after room with hospital beds and elaborate surgical equipment. She wondered if this was where the Temple burned off people's faces and messed with their memories.
"Intruder!" someone shouted. Amy stopped in midair, as a handful of red-clad Temple guards arrived, running at her with guns ready to fire. After another few seconds, Amy had knocked them all unconscious and crushed their guns beneath her boots.
Amy felt the entire craft shake. Future Girl's doing, no doubt.
Amy flew to the elevator and sped downward into the darkness. She spotted another sliver of light and flew at it. The doors fell apart with her punch, revealing another cramped hallway.
"Kill the sinner!" someone shouted. Amy turned toward the voice and saw five Temple agents aiming weapons at her.
"C'mon, guys," Amy said. "Let's..."
"Fire!" The Temple agents fired, and Amy felt more bullets bouncing off of her. She flew forward, disarmed the agents, and knocked them all unconscious.
Two more doors slid open in the hall behind Amy. Two more Temple agents ran out with guns drawn.
"Protect the holy one!" one of the agents said.
"That sounds interesting," she said.
In a flash, she disarmed all four men and knocked them out. She grabbed the fourth by his neck and demanded, "This holy one. Take me to him."
"Praise the Temple," he said.
She threw him against the nearest wall. He stumbled around for a second, and then Amy grabbed his arm.
"I said, take me to him."
Still dazed, the man wobbled on his feet for a second. "All right," he said.
The man sheepishly led Amy through one of the doors, down a long hallway lit only by the swirling red alarm lights. At its end, the man silently opened a hatch, revealing a stairway leading downward, lined with grey metal walls. Amy wondered who this man was before the Temple got a hold of him.
At the end of the stairs, the man opened a large metal door and motioned for Amy to go inside.
"May the Temple forgive me..." he said.
Amy entered and found herself in a large, open chamber. The walls had a red tint to them. The chamber was nearly empty, with a large black chimney, or perhaps a furnace, burning at the other end.
A tall beautiful woman dressed in black sat on a basic folding chair in front of the furnace.
"And here you are," she said, turning to face Amy.
Amy folded her arms. "Miss Kahror. Madam Corruption. You're the 'holy one?'"
"I am more than just the Temple's chief recruiter," she said. "I am one of its priestesses. Or I was. After the beating that little brat Future Girl gave me, I've lost most of my power. My people got me out of my stasis at Mirai and brought me here to heal."
Amy walked forward. Behind her, the Temple agent who led her there closed the door, leaving Amy and Corruption alone inside the chamber.
"This is where we build our own suns," Corruption said.
"How?"
"How can you fly, or punch through walls? How can a submarine of this size exist without the world's governments knowing about it? Your people and my people live in a world of impossibilities."
"Whatever," Amy said. "Why are you building suns?"
"That's a much better question. There might be some potential in you after all."
"Don't even do that thing where you try to convince me to join you, because it's so not going to work."
"I wouldn't dare," Corruption said. "You believe what you believe, and I believe what I believe."
"And?"
"My beliefs are correct. Yours are incorrect."
"According to who?"
"The Temple, of course," Corruption said. "Humankind is out there, doing its thing, and the Temple watches, studies and judges. Would you like to know your judgment, Amy McBloom?"
Amy rolled her eyes. "I didn't come here for a theological debate. Just tell me what the deal is with your miniature suns."
"This submarine is essentially a mobile factory," Corruption said. "We indoctrinate our agents here, and we construct our suns here."
"Are they a power source? A weapon? What?"
"They are new technology," Corruption said. "Nothing more."
Amy heard a slight hissing sound behind her, followed by a deep voice saying, "Not so. Everything the Temple does is for a purpose."
Amy turned and saw a purple cloud in the air behind her, which quickly transformed into Proscenium's metal frame.
"You followed me?" Amy said.
"I trusted you," he said.
# # # #
Next: Manufacturers.