Descent into the Hive
Whoooosh—I began my slow descent into the hole. I toggled the boosters on and off, adjusting my speed just right.
-[The heart of the research complex... There might be something down there. Be careful.]
Hermann's voice came over the comms as I kept dropping lower.
How deep is this thing?
The deeper I went, the more surreal the view became. From the surface, the hole had torn open a cross-section revealing a massive underground facility.
-[Looks like the most heavily guarded secret facility in the entire research complex.]
That secret facility was now a wrecked shell, sparking intermittently with pathetic crackles and pops.
And far below, in the vast pit, sat the source of that blue glow I'd spotted from outside. It pulsed quietly.
Why the hell does Cherenkov radiation pop into my head first? It's not even submerged in water, so probably just my imagination. No radiation readings on the Nexus sensors either. A scan showed the light source was a gigantic cylindrical structure. But it was huge.
Like a damn skyscraper.
Thud. Splash.
After about thirty seconds of descent, the Nexus finally touched down. Stagnant water splashed up from the impact.
Hum. Hummm.
A structure at least ten times the size of my Nexus loomed right in front of me, glowing steadily. As I stared blankly at it, Hermann's voice crackled through.
-[...I never imagined we'd find this here.]
Hermann seemed to know exactly what it was.
-[Something I'd only seen in the plans. Didn't think they'd actually started full experiments on it. Faster than I expected.]
"What is this thing?"
-[The reason I hired you. A machine steeped in the grudges of gu-se-dae reinforcement humans, you could say.]
Grudges of reinforcement humans? I maneuvered the Nexus closer, approaching cautiously. The cylindrical device was embedded with countless coffin-like pods across its curved surface—like a honeycomb.
Crackle. Zap.
Faint currents danced across the surface.
"Safe to touch?"
-[First time seeing it myself, so I wouldn't know. Probably the first time it's ever been exposed to the world.]
"Should I... destroy it?"
In games, suspicious stuff like this was usually a destruction target. But Hermann sounded flustered, like my question came out of nowhere.
-[No, nothing's confirmed yet. No need to act rashly. Who knows what might happen—better to extract data and pull out.]
"Got it."
Scan classified it as a computer, so data extraction was possible. But as I fired up the hacking module, I frowned almost immediately.
"Hermann, the capacity's too huge."
This module could suck down an entire database without breaking a sweat. Now it was screaming in protest. One wrong move and the Nexus's main system might fry.
"Stopping the intake."
-[We'll send someone later. Understood. Still, there should be plenty of useful info nearby—look around some more before you head back.]
"Yeah."
Crackle.
The interference cut, and a small spark jumped from the cylinder. Before leaving, I glanced back at it one more time.
Data so massive it's a burden.
Some next-gen supercomputer? Quantum rig? Nothing like it in the game. The hacking module never failed like this.
It reeked of hidden story. But with no plans to stick with Hermann long-term, no point digging deeper.
If it's a big deal, it'll turn up again later.
Honestly, my head hurt too much for extra hassle. Just a blank haze. No energy for real thinking.
Anyway, as I turned the Nexus to leave—
-[Hold on, Rabe. Anything around you?]
"...?"
Ping. Hermann's sudden words made me reflexively scan the area. Nothing.
As I stayed silent, he followed up.
-[Nah, must've been nothing. Ignore it.]
"Okay."
Why the sudden nerves? Total flag right there. Even after the scan came up empty, I swept the sensors around again. Still nothing.
-[Focus on the mission. The underground facility's huge—you'll be poking around for a while.]
I got back to work. Nothing else happened until mission end.
I returned to the mobile hangar loaded with scavenged parts.
Jackpot.
Couldn't grab frames or armor due to storage limits, but weapons and system chips alone saved me hundreds of thousands of credits at least.
The extra weight slowed me a bit compared to the descent, but I made it back. As the Nexus settled into the hangar, automated arms whirred to life, repairing the worn exterior using pre-loaded materials.
Once Hermann's supplied stock runs out, it'll all be on me to restock.
The Nexus connection felt too good—I stayed plugged in during repairs. Disconnecting meant fogging up again. I'd squeeze every second from this clear head.
While the hangar headed back to Hermann's base, I sifted through the collected data inside the Nexus.
All brain neural research. Some reinforcement human mentions too.
Bio corp, so no surprise. In this world, "bio" meant dipping into that territory for most.
Is this really what Hermann wanted? Or just made-up busywork to keep me happy?
A mechanical arm shifted the storage module to a corner of the hangar. Staring at the piled gear made my chest twinge uncomfortably.
Stuff like this bugs me.
Instead of stewing alone, I decided to ask Hermann straight up. One-sided favors violated our deal anyway. "Good is good," he'd say, but exploiting goodwill to bind someone mentally? Pure evil.
-[Wondering if I invented a job you didn't want? Hm. That's how you see it.]
"You should only assign necessary work. No need to go easy on me."
-[Going easy? I only gave more because you gave more first.]
"...I gave more?"
A hint of amusement crept into Hermann's voice.
-[Not just the jobs—you handed off 'personal errands' to me without limits. How was I supposed to price those? You probably planned to do more than the credits I fronted. Not cash, but 'owing me one' on a subjective scale.]
"Wasn't planning that."
-[Failing to set clear terms screamed naive. Can't help it at your age. I said nothing because it already profited me plenty. A little extra generosity costs nothing.]
"...Ah."
I'd only cared about not being tied down—no thought to details. That was the mess.
Just spell out no real ties to Hermann. Credits? Who cares. Just fuel for the Nexus. What I really wanted was...
Wanted...
I curled up in the cockpit. Nexus was all I needed. Nothing else mattered.
"Yeah. That's it."
Zzzzt. Plasma lasers hissed against the armor in the hangar. I stayed curled there a while.
...
Click-clack.
After the hangar landed, I disconnected the neural port and climbed out of the cockpit. The sealed tin can's interior hit me.
"Urk..."
My body felt leaden. Crushing fatigue slammed down. Wanted to stay in the Nexus forever. Couldn't swap this meat for machine?
Wish I could transplant my brain into the Nexus...
Drip. Plop.
I blinked—blood trickled from my eyes and nose. Head burned hot.
"Sleepy..."
Cool metal floor below. Press against it, feel nice. Perfect temp for nodding off. No energy to think more. Just flop down and sleep.
Thump.
The world faded into soft darkness.