0.5 Mining Authority Building

It was easier to get around without the EVAC suit, so Keith picked up speed as he rounded the corner and finally emerged into the cavernous space where the facility began for real. No tourists would have wandered down here, and it was obvious in the utilitarian architecture of the building cluster that stood pressed against one side of the large, open space.

The construct figured this was some kind of natural pocket in the asteroid given its uneven dimensions and sloping sides. The walls had been reinforced with carbon fiber paint to keep the air in and trouble out, so they shimmered a little. Large lamps stood close to the ground, helping illuminate walkways and building entrances. No one bothered with the ceiling, so it was pitch black up there.

You could hide some nasty monsters in the dark if you wanted.

Keith tensed as he stepped into the cavern, but nothing moved. Save the background hum of air circulation systems, the plaza stood silent — not a single human in sight. A maintenance bot flowed out of a nearby wall and went about on its patrol, ignoring Keith completely. Dealing with visitors wasn't part of its instruction set.

Swallowing the sudden burst of memory, Keith made his way down a wide sidewalk and walked into the mining authority building largely unobstructed. The door to the building wasn't even properly locked. The authorization pad was blinking green and red and beeped sadly as the man walked past it.

Well, this isn't creepy at all, Keith sent to San along with the view from his eyes.

Down the hall, on your left, the AI sent back. Take the stairs down to the basement. Yeah, this is far outside of normal. I'm sifting through the logs now, perhaps there is something here that explains all of this.

Keith had his doubts as he walked through the abandoned building. He glanced into a couple of the rooms and found them separated into cubicles with desks and chairs — an office setup. This had been an office of a functional mine. Where the hell were the admin people or the miners?

At the bottom of the stairs, the lighting turned dim. There was a security station in front of him, also no longer staffed, and beyond that two lines of cells that looked more like cages. A shiver ran down Keith's spine as he vaulted over the desk with a wince and looked around.

"Hello!" he called out. "Is anyone here?"

A moment later, a low voice answered, "Who the fuck are you?"

Make a Connection - [Strong Hit: 6 + 2 + 0 = 8 vs 6 | 7]

Keith followed the sound of the voice to one of the far cells and stared into it. "Keith. You?"

The man who stared back at him looked older, his hair trimmed short. His clothes had seen better days, though Keith was willing to bet getting stuck in a cell for however long hadn't helped the situation.

"Shiro," the human answered curtly.

"What the fuck happened here?" Keith asked as he knelt in front of the cell door and fiddled with the locking mechanism.

"You don't know?" Shiro sounded dubious.

"I only got here maybe an hour ago. There was a distress call." He didn't look up from his efforts. "Where is everyone? I've been to mining installations before, and I've never seen one this quiet."

Shiro sighed and approached the bars. "There was a leak. Some kind of nasty chemicals, according to the PA system. But we'd been digging near a Precursor vault, so..." He paused for a moment, then added, "There was a bright flash and then some people vanished. Then, fifteen minutes later, a second flash took more people. Everyone ran after that. I'd say they evacuated, but I don't know for sure."

Face Danger (Lock) - [Weak Hit: 2 + 2 + 0 = 4 vs 3 | 7]

Keith yelped as the lock shocked him and briefly disabled his internal augments, but it opened all the same. He sat back on the floor, dizzy, and waited for the augments to reboot themselves.

"You OK?" Shiro asked, pushing the cell door open and kneeling next to Keith.

"I'll live."

"You're a construct," said the human with a note of surprise and concern. He reached out, offering a hand.

Keith shrugged. "Don't touch me. When was the last pulse? Flash, whatever."

"Yesterday afternoon. The time between the flashes got progressively longer. Last I counted -- poorly, mind you, there's no clock in there -- it was over a day between events. If I had to guess, the next one's not for another six hours, maybe." Shiro pulled back and stood up. "Sorry."

[Mark Progress: Quest: I vow to assist the Providence mining facility with their troubles.: 4 boxes]
[New Clock - Next Flash - 1/8 Ticks]

Keith noted the way Shiro stood between him and the sentry post, almost protectively. He had no clue why the fuck the human cared, but for now, it didn't matter.

"We need to leave."

The human nodded once, resolute. "Yeah. You good to move?"

Keith checked his augments and deleted all the error logs. There wasn't a damn thing he could do about any of them, not without contacting the Guild, and he wasn't about to hand himself over to the enemy. He managed to get to his feet with some effort and then took a deep breath.

"Fine. Let's go."

(After this, I started getting the hang of the moves, and I was really into the clock. The Next Flash clock added a surprising amount of tension even though I had already decided at this point that these two would escape and go on more adventures because I'd basically adopted San and Keith by this point.)