Chapter 67: Homecoming

Chapter 67: Homecoming

As he reached the building he’d been seeking out, VAL buzzed in Erec's head. [Stop this nonsense.] There wasn’t that blue glow from the first time—though, the rubble he’d moved was still cleared. By some miracle, the building hadn’t caught fire and burned down during the brutal fighting with the thrashing mites.

He’d found Vortex Industries' secret facility.

In the pale light of the moon filtering into the broken structure, his eyes traced the area of the ground he recalled the hatch being. Even now, picking out that seamless blend with the ‘wooden’ flooring was hard. Erec leaned down and traced the hard cracks in the fake wood, trying to find the indent and dead giveaway for the hatch.

[I will not allow you back in, Intern. I’ve spent far too long inside—]

“You’re in my Armor back at the camp; you aren’t going back anyway.” Erec dismissed the machine. His battle axe clinked against his back as he moved—and as he’d seen before from Seven-Snakes, Armor wasn’t always necessary for survival, even if it conveyed many advantages.

He’d rather have brought it but couldn’t take the risk. Someone might have noticed its absence; he’d seen the reverence with which the soldiers looked upon their steel. It wasn’t too far out of the conclusion. Some of them might go and take a look while the Knights slept.

With Fury, he felt confident enough in his abilities to handle anything that might be lurking in this ghost town.

Shortly after looking, his fingers brushed a deeper crack—as he pushed them in, they wedged below, the tips brushing past the surface and grazing the slick steel beneath.

Found it.

[There is nothing to gain here, Intern.]

“Bullshit,” Erec said, waiting for a moment.

There were two approaches to take here. One course loaded up and ready to go at his command; he was far Stronger now than ever before. While Fury was still uncontrolled, he felt confident using it to rip open this hatch. The issue was further down with that vault door which sealed the rest of the facility. There wasn’t a chance in hell his raw might could break a way in. But he didn’t necessarily need to do that; tearing off the hatch would send a message to VAL and leave the lab open for others to see.

There was a second option, and one not quite as bullheaded. Diplomacy. Erec tried to parse his thoughts at the approach—determined to give the attempt his best before taking a step he couldn’t take back.

Either way, things were going to change.

[You cannot get into the facility on your own.]

“I wouldn’t need to,” Erec said carefully.

[I would stop you before you’d be able to break in.] VAL droned in his head; the machine didn’t miss his implied threat and responded in like. Erec’s fingers felt clammy jammed down in the crack. But he’d heard something in the otherwise robotic tone—that little bit of a tell that passed by him unnoticed for too long. VAL was uncertain.

“If I let go, I don’t think you’d be able to stop me before I ripped this damn thing from the floor. Then all it’d take is another Knight to stumble along. It might be a few years; it could be tomorrow. But eventually, they would. You and I both know that.”

[Then they couldn’t breach my—]

“VAL; you admit freely to not knowing the limits of our ‘anomalous energy’. In fact, we both saw Seven-Snakes dissolve into the ground. So, quit with the empty assurances to yourself about ‘what couldn’t happen’ if I aired this place out for the entire world to see. The thing is, VAL, I don’t want to do this.” A partial truth. Part of him desperately wanted to pay back VAL for the pain it’d caused him, the fear he felt, and the forced secrets.

“...I’m strong?” Erec said, shaking his head. “VAL, what the hell is this?”

[Per the employee’s request, you’ve asked for a higher salary. As upper management requires, we’ve begun to conduct your performance review ahead of schedule. Tell me, Erec. What value is it you bring to this wonderful company?]

Should I play along? Erec frowned.

“I’m your only employee; I’ve killed plenty of horrible creatures and looked into magic at your request.” Erec removed a hand from the crack and massaged his forehead. Was VAL trying to distract him? He scanned the nearby room—nothing, just the rubble and wood piled away towards the side and the loose structure above his head. It must’ve been set on good foundations to have lasted this long, considering the damage the walls had taken over the years.

[Indeed. Looking at my notes here, Intern Erec Audentia has been vital to the “EMERGENCY EXIT” project. Tell me about your stated goal and why you’ve failed to meet it. Has there been any progress, and why did you choose this independent research goal? What value does it bring to Vortex Industries?]

“...Finding my mother?” Erec asked and took a heavy sigh. “You know why I want to find her VAL. I don't like how she left, and I want answers for what she did. But, if I’m honest, I’m scared that it’ll be nothing but a corpse when I find her out there. Is that the answer you're looking for? How about this? I miss seeing her smile. The way it made me feel like everything in our family was fine. How Bedwyr and Father and her laughed around our table with breakfast, how each day was filled with joy—I miss the feeling of being complete.”

[You don’t feel complete?]

Erec paused as he considered the words that’d spilled out. Being so close to the edge of using Fury—prepared to unleash it if VAL tried to pull a trick was letting those deep-set emotions spill out like a flood.

He hadn’t been complete. Not for a long while. Erec thought after she vanished that if he could be like Bedwyr, who seemed to adapt and thrive after their loss, he would find that part of him that was missing. But, no. That’d never been right; it would’ve never given him what he wanted. He had his friends, but there was still a hole inside that festered with resentment, sadness, and the question of why.

“I need an answer.” Erec hung his head, ashamed that even if he was aware of that missing piece, there wasn’t a way he saw to fill it on his own.

It wasn’t fair to the people who cared about him. That selfish desire might lead to his death, but there it was.

[Lucky you, Buckeroo. Here at Vortex Industries, we’re always seeking answers. From complex mathematics to the way the world works—and we help each other find them. Completing performance review.]

There was a hum in his mind for a second. And Erec winced at the unwelcome noise.

[Recommendation: Intern has shown great resolve and benefited Vortex Industries greatly, while Intern has some anti-social mannerisms and detrimental tantrums, they espouse the ideals and vision of Vortex Industries. Albeit in a more modern fashion. Even with a failed personal milestone, we can put great confidence in their future growth...]

“VAL. Where is this going?”

The hatch flung open—a blue light bursting from below to fill the dark tunnel to the underground facility, lighting the ladder downward in an azure glow from hundreds of LED’s.

[Congratulations, per your performance review, you’ve been fast-tracked into a full-time position within the company. Please proceed to office 103 to fill out the necessary paperwork to confirm your new employment in the position of Researcher I.]

Erec stared down at the blue lights, closing his eyes for a moment. In the end, the machine accepted change. More than that, VAL showed itself to be willing to work together rather than be enemies; he let out a deep shuddering breath, his heart hammering.

If he’d made an enemy of an unknown machine stuck in his body, he wasn’t sure what he would’ve had to do to win.

Shaking off the lingering dread of what almost was, Erec began to descend back down that long tunnel into the dark lab. Somewhere down here would be a tool, something to help him protect those he cared about. He was sure of it.