PREY
19
The great hall before them appeared to be created of finely patterned black stone. If you stared at it for too long it almost looked like it was writhing like bricks of snakes but a quick scan for signs of life revealed it to be an optical illusion. The simulated wasteland behind them was motionless. The unfathomable hoard of vex they had been slaughtering a moment ago had vanished without a trace along with the scars of their battle.
“Welcome, and Congratulations.” the voice in their heads spoke again.
The trio looked around bewildered. “I... I don’t know that to do now.” The hunter admitted. “I never get this far in the dream.”
“Yeah I figured the simulation would end once we beat the army. This is weird.” the warlock stepped forward and instructed her ghost to perform a thorough scan of the tower hall they stood in. “No signs of life anywhere.” The tiny sprite concluded and faded back out of existence at the Warlock’s hand.
“Maybe we need to go up to the top? I don’t know...” The Hunter began cautiously approaching the large stairwell in the corner of the room that spiraled upward around the walls.
“Might as well.” Replied the Warlock. “You good to go, Titan?”
The armored human checked his guns for a moment before responding. “Sure. Lets see if it takes us out of here.”
After what felt like 10 minutes of ascension on the black marbled staircase the trio found themselves no closer to the top of the hall than they had began. “I don’t understand it.” The warlock declared. “We aren’t moving but neither are the stairs. It’s a goddamn anomaly if I’ve ever seen one. Hunter, do you have any ideas? Any feelings at all about what we are supposed to do?”
“Maybe if we go up the stairs backwards?” She replied.
“Worth a try.”
The hunter readied herself and began to step upward one leg at a time while facing the Warlock and Titan. She appeared to be making progress for a time. “How am I doing? Because to me you guys haven’t gone anywhere and I’ve been walking in place.”
“You’re further up than we are!” The warlock shouted up to her.
“Well that makes no sense at all - “
The sound of something hard hitting the top of the stairs caused all three to turn and look. An small orb was rolling down the stairs a few meters above them. Just as soon as they looked at the orb, they realized they were all standing together at the base of the stairs. No one had moved, no one felt any change.
“What in the world is going on” The warlock sighed as she spoke. After a moment of clanking down the steps, the orb was now just a few feet from them. “What in the world is this. I’m so confused by everything.”
“Let me try something” The titan raised a light machine gun and without warning emptied the entire drum into the ceiling of the hall with deafening effect. After the sparks had finished flying and the dust from bullet impacts settled, the warlock chortled “Smooth move pal.”
“It was worth a shot” the Titan gestured.
“Yeah I guess.” The Warlock conceded.
The Hunter reached down and grabbed the orb from the floor. The second her glove touched it, the voice returned.
“Where do you WANT to go.” it spoke clearly and with many voices. The Hunter looked deeply frightened and replied shakily “I want to get out of here”-
She vanished and the ball dropped from her hands to the floor with a dull clank.
“OKAY. WHAT. JUST. HAPPENED. NONE OF MY STUDIES EXPLAIN ANY OF THIS.” The Warlock shouted with terror. “WHERE THE FUCK DID SHE GO. HUNTER???!??”
The Titan lunged forward and hoisted the ball over his head while shouting “WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER!”
The voices replied “She is with Us.”
“TAKE ME TO HER NOW!” The Titan commanded the ball. The moment the breath escaped his lungs to ask the question he was gone, leaving the Warlock flabbergasted and alone in the dark tower.
She spoke aloud to herself, “Okay. OKAY. No, this isn’t okay. Think. They asked the orb to go somewhere and it took them somewhere but I don’t know where. I don’t trust this thing but I have no reason to believe that it is lying. It’s a ball. It can’t lie. Logic. You’re okay, you can do this.” The warlock summoned an over-shield for herself with her light and steadied her nerve.
She cleared her throat and held the ball up to eye level: “Whoever you are, safely take me to my friends.”
The orb fell to the floor for a final time and the black tower hall was silent as its simulation slowly corrupted.
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