Even if the runaway wanted to go back the way she came, she had been turned about. Unable to even tell where she stood much less where was behind her. It was too dark to even see that she couldn't see. Nothing felt broken but there was some leftover pain from being spilled out onto hard metal. It was impossible to tell the direction because of the absence of light.
It was dark.
It was a pit.
Tiffaney Oakenstaff was now trapped in pit, that was also dark and lightless.
There was no real sound in this space, her own small movements and her own heart were loudest.
Did the noble mention that it was dark?
She was dead. That was the morbid conclusion she came to in that moment, there was no hope from escape, and she fell for the simplest of slide traps. Worst of all, she was dead, it was still dark, and there was nothing to keep the past voices away.
"This is where those who disparage my good grace end up."
"If your lucky you might get let out."
"Mommy she was mean to me, make her go away!"
"You will live to serve this house, until than I don't have a daughter like you."
"Ill be good, Ill be good...I must, I must, I must…"
Tears spilled from her eyes as the young girl pleaded to nightmares only, she could see. For eons, only racking sobs and muttering of 'I must obey' echoed in her metal prison, rather than the stone room she remembered. Her teeth chattered as short gasp replaced proper breaths. Her entire frame shook softly as she curled up to instinctively protect herself from the monsters in her mind.
No one could hear the noble, trapped in the overflow of a vortex engine. Though it took time, more time than she would ever admit even to her death, she managed to regain some semblance of self. Her wet face and clothes grew cold as the soft air breathed about her.
Summon courage she didn't know existed; she began to slowly feel her way about. It turned out that the idea if one sense is missing the others became greater held a glimmer of truth because it felt as if she could feel the subtle currents of air. Whether it was some extra perception or luck, no one was around to tell as she found a gap in the round walls. It led down but she already felt the worst that could happen to her, she had nothing to restrain her.
The shaft itself wasn't long, and it spilled out into a pathway that was bolted into the wall side. Bright painted rails protruded out like trees to the upside down noble. There were the same faint lit lights against the wall that had occupied the corridor. To her left were crates of some kind, and to the right the walkway extended into another grated staircase. Righting herself she ignored the surroundings that were noticeably strange and refused to acknowledge them until she wiped her tears and sorted herself.
"Oh…" There should have been other words, what on earth, how is this possible, or eh gads!"
From this railing the noble lady was availed to the innerworkings of Castle Dyne. Most traps in the halls were simple mechanical structures, all of which needed power to drive them. What that source was lady Tiffaney couldn't say; what was apparent was this was not a small operation. In the space before the walkway, three massive gears sat in brackets that were larger than any comparison the noble could think of.
Pipes of all kinds winded like vines some dumping rivers of gray fluid across the matting surfaces. Shafts were protruded from the three main gears into their own various trains. Springs and other strange, shaped brackets were placed seemingly randomly about. If she looked closely, similar railing could be seen in walkways that disappeared into the forest of metals. She was a spec, even the smallest gear in these workings had teeth larger than her body.
Titanic gears spun slowly, completing revolutions per hour instead of per minute, even still it was visible to see them rotate slowly. Noise was unlike anything elsewhere in this world. Gurgling from the various hydraulics, pressure discharges, clatter and clanking as metal constantly hammered metal. As various subsystems revolved high pitched whinnies and hums would float about the cavernous space. The only constant thing was the sheer oppressive volume as the content of the noise shifted.
"Oh…" After gaping and staring to take in the scale of things, the noble realized she had to keep moving looking at the crates verse the stairs she needed a decision on what direction to take.
"Something triggered the overflow sensor."
"Wasn't that grate sealed up to prevent large objects from entering?"
Most of the words were foreign but the noble knew what the voices meant. She couldn't see the people, but she heard them to the left making her decision for her. Turning she barreled down the staircase, just as the workers approached the crates.
"Did you see someone on the other side there?" Receiving a negative eyeroll, the workers could only approach the hole Tiffaney crawled out of and begin their inspection.
In the future the noble would use this as one of the reasons she was okay with being short. Despite almost jumping down step by step, she didn't have problems banging on the crosshatch grating. Her steps were short enough that she could find purchase on the relatively wide stair risers. Every ten meters was a branch off that winding into the gear structures. She had to be close to the exit or wall, just a little further and she could be free.
"Um can we help you?"
The railing ended in a small Forman's office, two men and a woman in coveralls with blue stiped hats stared in surprise.
"I ah, is there an exit nearby?" It didn't hurt to ask the question as she struggled to regain her breathing.
"Oh sure, we can show you to the exit if you like." Scratching the back of his head the lead man was cautious. In his head he was thinking of the campy poster that told him what to do when one of the serving staff gets lost beneath the castle. He remembered the poster, but as to what was on it, not an iota.
His coworkers seemed to, so he continued.
"You must be lost! Don't worry this happens all the time." Holding his hands in a non-threatening manner he hoped to resolve this. Forman Earhart would have his britches if he let a maid from rear castle run amok. It was only in fiction where one could magickly be positioned to snatch someone from a crowed work office.
"Oh, in that case ill just go back the way I came." In the moment the women made a diving lunge but clipped the edge of the desk. In his prime the other would have vaulted over the desk, however a fated love affair with dessert prevented that.
Realizing that it would be the end if she got caught, the girl turned and fled, jumping through the papers that flew everywhere. Her only choice was to brave the factory behind her.