A Wee Bit O' the Fiction Options

[Kagetenshi]

Just wrote this, figured I'd post it. Comments are welcome.


It's been three days now. Three fucking days in this godforsaken sewer. We've got enough food to last us the rest of the day, and then we either surface or go hungry. Me, I just want to get out of this place. The stench, the dampness, the rats…

But we have no idea where we are. No fucking clue. Heron was carrying the maps and GPS, and he took a bullet back when this whole business went wrong. He was the first to go down.

We've been walking pretty much solid since then. I'm not sure how much more of this I can take. Robin lost an arm back there; she shot herself when the infection made her too weak to stand. Wren went crazy and started shooting at the walls. When we left him, he was splashing in the sewage like it was a wading pool singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat". I hope he died quickly.

We don't even know if we're outside of the facility yet. A dead end here, a branch there, a series of turns that must have been designed by a sadistic city planning manager… they add up, and quickly. We haven't passed Robin's body in a day and a half, though, so we must be getting somewhere.

I never wanted to do this, you know. I wanted to be a veterinarian. I was, for about a year, but I was short on cash and had speeding tickets to pay, so I agreed to work on some… less than legal animals.

He said it was a Barghest. It looked like a Barghest at first; the light was dim. It was a Hellhound. Once the ashes settled, there was a very thorough investigation. And that was the end of my legitimate career.

So here I am. The spitting image of a bold, dashing Robin Hood, pistol in hand, valiantly trudging through waist-deep sewage, praying that I'll live long enough to die from whatever I'm picking up down here.

I hate this. I hate it I hate it I hate it I hate it I hate it.

Things were just starting to go well. When I started out, I was barely making enough to live on. A cheap apartment, ammunition, booze, and a little on the side to save for the hospital bills. The last few months, though, I'd been hitting it big. I finally was making good money. I'd even bought a nice apartment.

I'm probably going to have to sell the apartment now.

Phoenix is shouting up ahead. It sounds like they've found something.

~J

[Kagetenshi]

They found a jackpoint. It looks like it was spliced in some time ago; why do they even have a fiber trunk in the sewers? It might actually have helped us get out of here if Kite hadn't gotten herself and her deck blown to pieces. She was lining up a shot on some security goon; didn't even hear the grenade land next to her.

Turns out there's another line of fiber running from the trunk off down the sewers. Hawk said we're going to follow it. I have a bad feeling about this.

[Kagetenshi]

I always wanted to say that when I was a kid. I'd imagine situations where I'd say "I have a bad feeling about this", and then I'd save the day.

Saying it in real life really doesn't have the satisfaction that I'd imagined.

The line ran for… well, a long way. It felt like most of a kilometer. Then it just vanished into a hole in the wall. Phoenix and Hawk searched around for a while and found what they think is a door; they're trying to get it open now. I told them that now is neither the time nor the place, but they didn't listen. We're injured, running out of food, probably infected with every disease known to man, and they want to go exploring. I swear, if I ever make it out of this, I'm never working with either of them again.

On the bright side, we found Partridge and Raven wandering the tunnels with Bluejay's corpse. As far as we can tell, that accounts for everyone.

I think Cardinal is preparing for death. Real confidence booster, that.

They've got the door open.

[Kagetenshi]

Hawk lost about half his face to a piece of monowire strung just inside the door. Patridge patched it up and then mojoed the wounds the rest of the way closed, or close to it. I would've pegged Cardinal as more of the healer-type. Luckily, Hawk's eyes haven't been flesh and blood for a very long time, so he can still see. I practically begged him to turn around, but he insisted on investigating further. I swear, the man is a fucking basket case.

My ribs hurt. I slipped on a loose chunk of concrete and almost impaled myself on a broken girder. This place is a mess, and there are dead sentry guns everywhere. I don't know why I don't just take off and leave the fools to their merry adventure.

[Kagetenshi]

I never understood until today why anyone would be afraid of a devil rat. I'd fought them before, but always on the streets, in the alleys; it was practically sport. Tonight (I think it's nighttime, my watch corroded back in the sewers) I faced dozens, hundreds, maybe thousands of writhing, undulating rodents. Underground, in the dark, with nothing but a pistol and a knife. Tonight, I have known fear.

Raven nearly bought it; Partridge and Phoenix are trying to stitch him back together. We can still hear the squeaking and chittering all around us.

I'm down to one clip. Twelve rounds. After that, I've got my knife and the bullet in my pocket. I've always kept it there for… "emergencies".

Tonight, I am seriously considering using it.

[Kagetenshi]

After what felt like hours of walking, a few minutes ago we passed some foot-thick security doors that had been ripped off their hinges. The stark concrete gave way to immaculately tiled floors, gleaming metal walls; it feels like a hospital.

We're all taking turns carrying Raven. I was carrying him when we went through the doors, and he started shaking so hard he nearly fell off. It took us five minutes to calm him down; we couldn't get him to tell us anything useful. He just babbled about how the place felt "wrong" and that we should leave immediately.

Geniuses that they are, Hawk and Phoenix decided to press on.

Most of the doors are locked, and they're all very thick. More than a few of them have been ripped off their hinges like the front door was. The only sounds now are our footsteps. Inside the rooms we can get into are all sorts of equipment. It looks medical. There are also large cages in some of the rooms, and tables with straps. I don't know what they're used for, and I don't want to know.

I just want to go home. I don't want to die in this fucking underground maze.

[Kagetenshi]

Phoenix decided to go back and try to pull some ammo off of Bluejay's body. That gives us a chance to rest, the first in days. I didn't know it was possible to hurt this much. I want to sleep so badly, but the Long Haul hasn't worn off yet. I guess it's better to be awake than falling asleep on my feet, but I really wish the pain could just end for a little while…

We just finished our next-to-last meal. Water is getting scarce as well; everyone is praying that we find some supplies soon. We rinsed the worst of the sewage off with a still-functional decontamination shower in one of the rooms, but the water was clearly mixed with more than a few chemicals. I'm not going to try to drink it, and I don't think anyone else is either.

This feels like a scene from a bad horror movie, and I'm afraid it's going to turn out the same way. To top it all off, Phoenix just got back. Apparently the tunnel beyond the doorway is a seething mass of devil rats. We're cut off. The weird thing is, they won't cross the doorway.

Now is the time when we meet the scary old man who helps us out and then betrays us at the last second, or something.

It's still difficult to breathe. Either I cracked a rib or bruised it very badly. I'm freezing my ass off here; none of the lights work, but it feels like the ventilation system is working just fine. I can't hear it, but it's definitely there.

Hawk says it's almost ten in the morning outside. It feels like the middle of the fucking night.

Time to force myself back to a standing position…

[Kagetenshi]

Ten minutes ago, I was nearly killed by an unloaded gun.

A little while ago we had entered a narrower corridor. We were just coming to an elevator, when suddenly part of the ceiling pops off and this giant fucking machine gun points itself in our faces. I nearly have a heart attack right then and there, and everyone else dives for cover. It was then that we realized that we weren't hearing any gunshots, just a very rapid "click-click-click".

We're all getting edgier. Something is definitely wrong; Raven was getting better for a while after we patched him up, but now he's worse. Much worse. Physically he's about the same, but he doesn't talk to anyone, just stares around with wild, terrified eyes. Partridge and Cardinal are acting funny too.

Partridge asked me what I'd do when I got back home, if I did. I said I'd take a long, hot shower, drink a gallon of water, eat something—maybe a pizza, or maybe I'd dip into my reserves and buy a steak—and then drink until I couldn't see straight. Then I'd sleep for a week.

He told me he'd call his sister, tell her he loves her, and then spend the rest of the day in his wife's arms. I didn't know he was married. He did change his plans to include a shower after he heard mine, though.

I haven't smoked in six years. I think I'd kill for a cigarette right now.

The elevator shaft was slow going. The elevator itself was stuck a floor and a half above us, but getting up one floor with Raven in the state he's in was nearly impossible. We're resting now because frankly, after that I would not have moved another inch if all the dark priests of Aztlan were on my tail looking for fresh sacrifices.

Hawk and Cardinal are arguing now. Hawk wants Cardinal to scout ahead using his magic, but Cardinal says that that could be incredibly dangerous. Hawk doesn't buy it, but he can't force Cardinal to obey.

Something smells like lilac blossoms.

[Kagetenshi]

We ate the last of our food an hour ago.

This place makes no sense. Why is there such a huge facility here? Why is it abandoned, and why in the name of all that is holy is it connected to the sewers?

We found a body slumped against the wall ten minutes ago. It looked like it had been dead for some time. Hawk says he had a Renraku logo on his jumpsuit; probably a technician of some sort. He's the first person I've seen in days other than our group. I'd almost forgotten that there were other people.

Cardinal said something about having an idea where we were, but then he went silent and refused to say anything else. I think Hawk is finally having second thoughts about this entire business.

I wonder if Sparrow survived. Probably. She wasn't anywhere near the mess. We could use her drones right about now.

They're on the move again. I'm tempted to take my chances with the devil rats.

[Kagetenshi]

Sometime over the next day, the Long Haul is going to wear off. We're debating whether to take another dose or try to find someplace to sleep off the crash. I just want to sleep, but I honestly don't know if I have the strength to wake back up at this point.

We're waiting for Hawk to open a security door. It looks like the keypad still has power from somewhere.

I think I caught something back in the sewers. It feels like I have a fever or something. I hope it doesn't get much worse.

Hawk just got the door open.

[Kagetenshi]

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[Shev]

I like it. Survival/horror shadowrun tends to work well.

[Kagetenshi]

My head hurts.

It figures. I was the last through the door, and the only one who triggered the shock system. I wake up about an hour later with a killer headache and a bunch of 'ware that won't stop going on the fritz. It took another hour and six power cycles before everything settled down. I lost some recent data, too. I hate this place.

We've been hearing noises ahead, but none of us have seen anything yet. Twelve rounds. Twelve rounds until I'm down to my knife.

I wonder how many I can put into my skull before I die.

[Kagetenshi]

And to think that I said I knew fear before.

We've been watching for the past ten minutes as a group of… things leap around the room ahead of us. There are four of them. They look like oversized raccoons with their nervous systems ripped out and replaced with copper. They move faster than Hawk does, and that's saying something.

How did we find them, you ask? Well, we just followed the trail of corpses. None of the bodies looked chewed up at all, but they were slashed completely open. One of them had a pistol in her handbag, a tiny little thing. Only four shots, but that's four shots I didn't have before. There was a candy bar in there too; we divided it six ways and washed it down with the last of our water. We nearly had to force it down Raven's throat. I don't think he's going to last much longer.

I'm pretty good at keeping quiet, so I've been sent to try to find a way around the death-raccoons. Usually I like being alone, but… I wish someone, anyone was with me right now. It's stupid to just send one person, anyway. What if I walk into a monowire tripline like Hawk did? Or another shock system?

I hope they're still there when I get back.

[Kagetenshi]

I wonder how far below ground we are.

I found another elevator shaft past more shattered security doors. This one led down, seven or eight floors down. There was a guard station in front of it, and a lot of trashed security equipment. Some of the monitors in the station were still active, and apparently a few of the cameras made it. They showed some hallways and what looked like a parking garage. The cars were all empty; some of them were practically ripped in half. What the fuck happened here?

I went back and found the others. They were still there, watching the raccoons. One of them looked straight at me as we were leaving. I thought we were all dead, but it just turned and went back to leaping around the room.

Hawk decided to go all the way down to the bottom. I'm starting to think he doesn't really want to get out of this alive. When we got the elevator door open, though, the hall beyond was filled with the raccoon-things. Everywhere we shined our lights, they were there. They weren't moving, just staring at us. Hawk jumped and fired off a few shots at them, but none of them moved. They didn't even flinch, it was like firing into a brick wall.

We broke the sound barrier getting up the ladder to the next floor. The hall beyond was clear, and there's some light from up ahead; maybe there's still electricity here.

[Kagetenshi]

I'm coughing up blood.

The area we're in now has electricity. Other than the occasional corpse, there isn't a sign of life anywhere. I guess the corpses don't really count as signs of life.

While passing through a mostly-closed door, it decided to try to slam shut on me. I've got a bruise running up and down my side where the door hit me. After crushing me for a few seconds, it retracted back into the wall and stayed there.

There's no one here, but I can't shake the feeling that someone's watching me. Someone or something. Maybe one of the raccoons…

Raven woke up half an hour ago. I thought he was a goner, we all did, but he just woke up while we were resting and staggered to his feet before collapsing again. He's still very weak, but he's conscious and aware of us now. I guess it's a relief. We're probably all going to die, but it's nice when people don't go and die before you.

I'm so thirsty…

[Kagetenshi]

Water!

We stumbled into a large hydroponics facility. I don't know what chemicals and fertilizers are in it, but it tasted wonderful and hasn't killed us yet. There are some plants in some of the tanks, but none of us recognize them, and we're not hungry enough to risk it yet. Maybe if we find something we recognize…

The automation still seems to be working perfectly in a lot of these rooms. The plants are being tended to and the water is being recycled. The sheer number and size of rooms dedicated to hydroponics is amazing. Were they trying to feed an army or something?

I feel strangely good. Better than I have since before this whole thing started.

Raven's recovery has been amazing. He can stand on his own now, though he can only hobble a few steps before collapsing. Less than a day ago we'd written him off as dead, and now it looks like he may be back in action in a matter of days.

Hawk saw someone moving in the next room. It's time to go hunting.

[Kagetenshi]

…What just happened?

Hawk, Phoenix, and I are on the run from a ragtag group of people with a nasty habit of not dying when they get shot. I ran out of ammo for the pistols (except the emergency round) and picked up what looks like either a large submachine gun or a small assault rifle somewhere. I don't think I have any more ammunition for it, though, and the clip is only about two-thirds full.

I don't remember writing the end of my last entry at all. We're trying to work our way back to where we think we last saw the others; hopefully we'll be able to meet up with them there. Our radios were not designed to be dunked in sewer sludge, and none of us had the presence of mind (or, for that matter, the time) to make sure they stayed dry. My poor camera is also dead, but at least it was insured…

[Kagetenshi]

No sign of them.

On the bright side, we've lost our pursuers for now. The Long Haul has worn off, and I'm having trouble keeping my eyes open. Just going to take a little nap…

[Kagetenshi]

I don't know what time it is, or why I'm awake. My eyelids keep trying to drag themselves.closed again. Hawk and Phoenix are still out cold on the floor. I'm getting hungrier; those plants are starting to look pretty appetizing.

I went for a walk and found the bodies of a few of the people who had been chasing us. They've all got these freaky matching blue cybereyes. Maybe they're part of a gang or a special guard team.

[Kagetenshi]

Where am I?

I must have fallen asleep on my feet. I can't find anyone, not even the corpses. Good riddance, Hawk would probably want to check the bottom of the tanks or something.

I'm trying to find the elevators now. After I find them, I'll track down the others. Or maybe I'll just leave. It's their fault I'm here in the first place. Hell, I bet it was their fault the run went south in the first place. I'm better off without them anyway.

I hope they're ok…

[Kagetenshi]

I found Cardinal on my way to the elevators. He and Pheasant had woken up to a group of the blueyes sweeping the area. Pheasant ran off to distract them while Cardinal headed for cover. He thinks he heard Hawk calling not long ago, but hasn't seen anyone since then.

Behind us, we can see the elevators going up and down in the shaft. Hopefully this means that they'll be operational soon. I do not relish the thought of climbing ten or more floors of ladder.

On my way around this floor, I found that large portions of this floor are blocked off for giant freezers. I looked around in one but wasn't able to find anything immediately edible. Maybe we're in some kind of secret research bunker or something. I wish I knew how far up the building extends…

[Kagetenshi]

If there is a God in the universe, He has it in for my poor ribs.

Partridge came running this way, pursued by a pair of blueyes. I sprayed one of them with the assault rifle and he went down hard, but the other, she nailed me in the chest with this whopping big shotgun slug. My armor stopped it, but I think a few ribs were broken. Another spray and she went down. Partridge did a little of his mojo and made things mostly better, but it still hurts.

Hawk came staggering this way with a bullet in his arm and a slash across his stomach. After fixing him up, Partridge was visibly staggering; this is really taking it out of him.

We're still missing Raven and Phoenix. Debating whether to stay here or go and look for them.

[Kagetenshi]

It's a good thing we called the elevator early. A few minutes ago, Raven came sprinting in like the Devil himself was on his tail. How he did it I'll never know, but he was carrying Phoenix slung over one shoulder like a sack of potatoes and a pair of shotguns over the other. We dove into the elevator as a group of blueyes started hosing down the corridor with lead. The door shut after us, and we've been traveling up ever since. It must have been over a minute, by now.

We've decided that if we get separated again we'll try to meet up by the elevators. They're a natural enough location. Maybe next time we'll actually be able to plan where we end up going.

[Kagetenshi]

…We came out of the elevator into what, as far as we can tell, is an ordinary suite of offices. It looks like it's been a while since they were last used, but other than that, I can't find anything strange about them.

This is getting more surreal by the minute.

We've got to be above ground by now, so we're scouting to try and find some windows. Maybe we can finally figure out where the hell we are. Phoenix is nursing a sprained ankle while Partridge rests up; he's not confident in his ability to heal it right now.