GarDNAnge1 had explored five levels below the lobby, thinking they had seen most of the stores. Once in the elevator, they saw just how big the building was. There were fifty levels below ground, and they were going to the bottom.
The elevator door opened. In place of the reflecting metal doors they were presented with a cold, dimly lit room with bodies everywhere. Not alive but not victims of a killing spree. They were organized in neat rows; and with no glass, close enough to touch.
These bodies were much like the others upstairs, in the position of their demise. However, these were completely whole. Most were laying down, perhaps the victims of a battle. Others seemed to die while doing normal activities; running, eating, playing cards. Frozen in motion with nothing but basic coverings, they looked so alive but, not.
Royal couldn’t help but stop and stare to make sure they weren’t breathing. It seemed as though any of them could move at any time. Then a thought crossed her mind. What if one of them gained consciousness while neglected down here? They would be hungry and want to attack and eat anything they came across. Who knows what horrible changes they would have gone through to survive in this place?
Cyd lead them trough the level. The waxed black marble walls and large windows mirrored the rest of the building. “This is where we keep our oldest entries.” He sounded like he was giving a tour, “These entries have been completely repaired so hardly anyone comes down here. We’ve been waiting for them to be retrieved but it’s been so long. Maybe they’ve been forgotten.”
Oyintsa took up the rear. He saw most of the party in front of him. He turned to check on Royal to make sure she was doing well. She was falling behinds again staring at another adventurer. “Princess,” he shouted, startling her out of her daydream. “Keep up! We’re all here together.” Soon after, she jogged to catch up.
Cyd continued to lead them to the rear of the massive level. “They look alive don’t they?” He said with not little pride as Royal caught up to them. “These adventurers are more like mannequins in this state,” Cyd continued, “There are several steps in the reanimation process before they move and breath.”
They approached the rear most wall and turned to the left. At the end of the pathway was an average looking young lady. Slightly below average height, it seemed as though she had finished drinking out of a cup. Her orange, yellow-spotted skin looked alive but like all others there she wasn’t breathing. She looked to the left in horror, distantly in their direction.
“Here she is,” Cyd said as they approached, “She was found in the remains of a nasty bombing accident. Rubin’s Trail was trying to bombard the Metal Fortress. Unfortunately for her, there was a protective energy shield. Most of the bombs exploded on the shield. A few of them bounced off of the shield into town. And well, here we are.”
“That was forty five years ago,” Tirzah said calmly almost to herself. She looked at her handheld to pull up an image of AD7.
“How long have you worked here, exactly?” Hachiro couldn’t help but ask.
“Not that long,” Cyd said, “Sometimes I get bored and read up on the entries.”
“IMAGE MATCH.” Tirzah’s handheld told them all they need to know.
“This is her,” Tirzah said satisfied, “How do we prepare for the next stages of her regeneration?”