[Pleeease, staay b-behind th-the ye-y-yellow liine and p-prepare to d-d-depart.]
"Silence!" Kraynnor roared, exhaustion etched on his face.
[D-damage... Critic-]
Screech!
In his hand, he held the head of a train engineer android. With a single, brutal display of strength, his fingers dug into the metal, crushing it until it was reduced to a twisted, shattered mess in his hands.
Kraynnor was in a foul mood, battling an endless horde of androids and robots for the last half hour.
What he found incomprehensible was why the Astrylites had allowed these automatons to continue existing. If he had been in their place, he would have chosen to eliminate them from the beginning to avoid future problems!
But well... Kraynnor couldn't do anything if they were so confident as to have a kind of time bomb under their feet.
Huff... Huff...
"Finally..." Kraynnor turned his gaze toward the stairs leading to the second level.
Along the path he had traveled, behind him, lay the scattered and broken pieces of hundreds of cybernetic entities. Despite his regenerative abilities, his endurance had limits.
Tsk!
Kraynnor felt drained, lamenting that he couldn't carry food with him to replenish his energy.
Cautiously, he descended the stairs, relieved to notice that the presence of bones decreased as he advanced. His priority was to remain silent; he feared he couldn't endure more confrontations.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs, memories flooded his mind...
Kraynnor had spent countless hours in this place, eager to find knowledge that would lead him to immortality.
He was in one of the hundreds of sections of this vast library, each spanning at least ten square kilometers. Right now, he was in section number forty-five, one he used to frequent.
The rows of digital bookshelves extended as far as the eye could see in all directions. The hanging ceiling screens were silent, covered in thick dust. The holographic glass surfaces, once used to access information with the help of AIs, were fogged and marred by cracks caused by falling pieces of stone.
The digital books that used to float on the shelves thanks to an advanced electromagnetic system had fallen haphazardly to the ground. Their holographic covers had faded, lying forgotten and covered in dust.
Despite the desolation of the place, the presence of scattered bones was much lower compared to the first level.
Creeeek...
Suddenly, a disturbing sound echoed from the ceiling.
Looking up, Kraynnor found dozens of massive metal cables, each at least thirty centimeters wide. Some snaked across the ceiling, while others formed intricate tangles resembling twisted mechanical serpents.
"Wait..." Kraynnor whispered, a chilling sense of dread creeping up his spine. He recalled that in the heart of each section of the library stood a towering robotic entity known as "Sage." this colossal creation had a clear purpose: to answer visitors' questions and manipulate its vast surroundings with its numerous elongated arms.
In the past, this astounding machine had been a technological marvel.
All one had to do was request information on a specific topic, and in a matter of minutes, it would extend its long arms, bringing a stack of digital books to satisfy the visitor's curiosity.
However, with all the machines in a state of global war, this technological wonder had lost its charm...
Kraynnor also noticed that the hallways were filled with dozens of rusted androids of various types, moving slowly and silently, like specters searching for souls.
If he remembered correctly, the entrance to the third level was in section fifty. The reason behind this location was that the third level was not open to the public; it was exclusively for the staff working in the facility. Therefore, the easiest way to access the third level was from the first floor, using the numerous elevators scattered throughout the installation.
However, Kraynnor encountered an insurmountable obstacle: all the elevators were covered in debris and utterly unusable.
He was, therefore, forced to use the most rudimentary method: walking to get there.
What filled him with anxiety was the need to traverse the area where the Sage resided. Although he planned to stay as far away as possible, he couldn't ignore the danger it posed.
If he caught the attention of that mechanical monstrosity, he knew he would also attract the attention of all the robotic entities nearby.
Clic-clac...
As he moved in total silence, he could hear the footsteps of nearby androids. Every time the sounds echoed in the dark corridors, the nearby machines would turn their heads or twist their bodies, as if inspecting. However, realizing they were of the same type, they continued their march unperturbed.
It was a strange and unsettling sight. Kraynnor couldn't help silently wishing that the annoying voice of the system were present in this eerie place.
The movements of these mechanical entities were stiff, their frightening appearance accentuated by the dust and rust covering their bodies. Their eyes, emitting a faint blue glow, reflected in the holographic glass floors, creating dark silhouettes with sparkling eyes.
Each time he passed one of them, a shiver ran down his spine.
In a short amount of time, twenty minutes had passed, and Kraynnor was close to the center of this section. Normally, he would have reached this point in a matter of minutes, but due to the need to advance cautiously, his pace had significantly slowed.
From this point, he could see the figure of the Sage in the distance. Kraynnor was perplexed by the drastic change it had undergone: its once beautiful and wise appearance now deeply unsettling...
To notice the marked difference, Kraynnor compared the Sage from five hundred years ago to its current version.
In the past, this monumental automaton looked immaculate, with a body of pure white radiating wisdom. It wore a long, sober robe adorned with golden accents on the edges, giving it a venerable air. One of the most distinctive features of the ancient Sage was its four humanized faces, each with friendly expressions designed to interact with different visitors, allowing it to respond to multiple questions and requests simultaneously.
However, what stood out the most were its numerous silver arms, extending in all directions, giving it a majestic appearance.
Even Kraynnor used to feel proud that this technological marvel had been created from the prototypes of androids he sold to Caelum. However, at this moment, that feeling of satisfaction had completely faded.
All because the Sage, in its current state, had lost its previously immaculate appearance. Its robe was torn, the golden details had lost their luster, and its four friendly faces now had twisted smiles that seemed closer to those of a monster. Its blue eyes blinked sinisterly, and its extendable arms had become twisted metallic tentacles entwined in the ceiling, giving it a completely corrupted appearance.
Kraynnor stopped looking at the Sage, ready to continue on his way. However, something in the corner of his eye caught his attention and left him frozen. On the shelf beside him, something had appeared: a head with rotting synthetic skin, revealing the rusted metal underneath.
"..."
He remained silent, hoping that this android that had emerged out of nowhere while he was observing the Sage would retreat.
One of its eyes was empty, but it still emitted a blue gleam. The android brought its head even closer and trembled with excitement upon detecting Kraynnor's soft breathing.
[D-d-do you n-need help c-carrying y-y-our books?]
Unfortunately, what Kraynnor feared happened: the distorted voice of the android echoed throughout the place. Kraynnor instinctively turned his head toward the Sage and frowned as he discovered it was watching him intently.
Creeeeeeeck!
The arms on the ceiling were activated, starting with a slow and unsettling motion that intensified within seconds.
Kraynnor watched as at least five of these mechanical appendages descended toward him. Each arm was equipped with lethal weapons at its ends: sharp metal claws like razors, buzzing spinning blades, and massive spiked metal spheres.
"Shit..."
Swooosh!
Claang!
Kraynnor jumped back with a powerful leap that propelled him dozens of meters through the library's corridors.
As he descended through the air, he watched as the place he had been turned into complete chaos. The impact of the Sage's arms demolished everything in their path, reducing both the shelves and the android that had triggered all of this to rubble!
[In the y... in the year 2278, pyramid-shaped flying objects at high veloci...ty were observed in the stratos... stratosphere. Many thought they were... ships of a... private organization, but... in reality... they were... hostile alien... civilization spacecraft that caused the... extinction... of humanity. Do you... want to know more?]
Kraynnor didn't hesitate for a second and sprinted with all his might. He had heard what the Sage said, although he didn't expect updated information on the situation of humanity.
But what it mentioned about the pyramid ships in that year was true.
At that time, no one in their wildest thoughts would have imagined they were damned aliens with humanity in their sights, but even if they had known, nothing would have changed!
"!"
As he raced at full speed, dodging the terrifying arms that left a trail of chaos and noise, Kraynnor noticed an increasingly large horde of common mechanical entities gathering around him. The crowd of rusted androids and robots grew so dense that it became impossible for him to continue running in a straight line.
Quickly, he assessed his surroundings and noticed the shelf next to him. With an agile jump, he propelled himself onto it and continued leaping from one shelf to another.
Crash! Thud! Clang!
[D-do y...ou wish for... additional k-knowledge?]
Huff! Huff!
Kraynnor, with sweat running down his body and breathing heavily, watched with wide eyes as the Sage's arms destroyed the shelves he had been on.
"Almost..."
After only five minutes of pursuit, the entrance to section forty-six was just a few meters away.
The problem was the horde of mechanical entities covering the floor!
Kraynnor hesitated on whether he should attempt to activate his Xenogenic Fusion, aware that if he used it, he would be left completely defenseless afterward. With no time to think further, with the Sage's arms about to reach him, he gritted his teeth and, without hesitating, reached into his inventory and pulled out the Biomimetic Cube.
Slaash!
In the blink of an eye, he molded it into a several-meter-long saber and, with a dizzying spin, lunged toward the ground, cleaving all the machines within reach in half.
With the path cleared, Kraynnor stowed the cube and entered the next section!