"Tin Can, there's something fishy about this place." Dotty took small steps between all the shattered glass, torn paper, and smashed furniture that covered the floor. "More than fishy, it stinks. You sure we're gonna find something?"
The reception area of the guard outpost had suffered signs of a battle, maybe many battles. The walls and pillars stood as testament: there wasn't one unmarked by the telltale burns of laser weapons or more traditional bullet holes. Most columns were missing huge chunks that looked like they'd been smashed or even bitten away. The chairs and the tables were flipped over, splintered into a thousand pieces. The cupboard doors were wide open and their shelves were scattered on the floor or hanging dislodged with nothing to support them. In the centre of the room, someone had spent time piling up the drawers from the various desks into a strange mound. If any of it had once been useful, that time had long passed.
"Have a bit of patience," said T1N. He moved his head left and right, eyes burning with light.
"I can't. I'm dying of hunger here." Dotty grabbed a scuffed tupperware off the floor and tossed it aside when she saw it was empty. "It's been literally three years since I've chewed on anything."
"I'm detecting a large metal object at the far end of the building," said T1N, the lights dimming in his eyes. "That might be what we're looking for."
"What exactly do you hope to find? An aluminium hamburger?" She approached the android who stood on top of a table that was missing a leg. "Oh shit! The glass!"
The android bent down beside her and looked at her wounded foot. He held it in his hands for a moment as he examined it. His touch was cold and she couldn't help but tense up her body.
"It's nothing serious." He pulled the thin needle of glass from the sole of her foot.
"Screw you," shouted Dotty.
"It's already out." He showed her the offending piece of glass. It was about three centimetres long and the first centimetre was stained with blood.
"Nothing? It's pretty obvious you're not squishy inside. That hurt, you know."
"Can you still walk?"
Dotty nodded, biting her lip as she placed her foot on the floor once more.
"Well then, let's see if luck is still with us. Follow me."
At the back of the reception hall there was a set of double doors that had small circular windows at head height. T1N pushed them gently and they opened without a fuss. Someone had already destroyed the lock with pliers or a crowbar. Beyond was a series of equally devastated offices and beyond them they found a set of stairs leading down. The steps disappeared into the darkness of the floor below.
"Where do these lead?" asked Dotty. She stared into the dark void.
"Down to the dungeon."
The android turned a moment to flash her a grin then, turning back to the darkness, his eyes lit the way. Dotty followed the android down into a long passage, watching the floor, trying not to step on any more junk. On each side of the passage were small rooms without doors.
"Are those really cells? Damn, I never would've thought Eidolon would need those."
T1N turned towards her and his eyes blinded her for a moment.
"Oh, sorry." He turned back and continued walking. "It seems like the laser fences stopped working a long while ago. Or someone stole the generator."
T1N stopped in front of a door at the end of the passage. There was nowhere else to go. While the android was trying to open the electric lock, Dotty approached one of the cells.
"T1N! There's a human skeleton in here!" She pointed inside the cell.
"We can't get distracted right now," he said, still facing the door. "Every moment we spend here the danger increases."
"But…" murmured Dotty. She shuffled over to the android's side. "Maybe they have some answers. We need answers. Are you listening to me?"
The door was locked with a retina scan but T1N had taken the scanner apart. He pressed down on a chip behind the sensor and the lock opened with a clunk.
"Ladies first," said T1N, bowing to her.
Dotty pulled a face and stepped into the shadows. On the ceiling, some LEDs began to flash. After a few seconds, the room lit up. No doubt this room served as an office, the office of someone important, Dotty thought. Both the doors and the walls were armoured on the inside. Dotty looked around with her mouth hanging open. Everything was in the right place. There wasn't a trace of dust or disorder.
In front of her, in the centre of the room was a glass desk with a datapad sitting on it. Beside that was a two-seater sofa pushed into one corner and portraits of various people in guard's uniform hung on the walls.
Dotty approached the desk. There was a placard with a name etched into it. Her fingers traced the raised letters: "Sgt. Ryan Woods" then she dropped it on the floor and picked up the datapad. She kept pressing buttons but it wouldn't turn on.
"What are we doing here, Tin Can? I don't see anything useful."
T1N was studying the walls of the room with an outstretched hand. Dotty rummaged through the desk drawers but she only found blank white paper and a photo.
"Actually printed on paper. How retro," she said, holding it up in front of her.
It showed a man with dark skin and a big moustache who was hugging a girl with blonde hair and cinnamon skin. Beside them was a white woman who looked a lot like the little girl. A family, thought Dotty, a happy family. She put it back in the drawer and sighed.
She started to feel the full extent of her exhaustion: a ball of emotions collecting and rocking around in her stomach. She was starting to realise, little by little, just what a serious situation this was. The journey, those monsters, the death of her aunt and uncle… she had been sleeping for three years and since waking up she had been living a nightmare.
Her eyes fell onto the android who was facing away from her and scrutinising the walls with both hands. Who was this machine? Why had he come to a moon that was built only for rich humans?
She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. Nudging it by accident, one of the pictures behind her came loose and fell to the ground with a thud. It was the portrait of a grizzled, older man who wore the guard's uniform and held a blue cap bearing the Eidolon crest in his hand. It was the man from the photo in the drawer, only older.
T1N came over and looked at the now-exposed wall behind her. When the android's hand touched that blank surface, his eyes burst into light. His lips drew a satisfied smile.
"You must be some kind of good luck charm," he said, withdrawing his hand.
The wall behind the painting vanished into the air, revealing a control panel. Its screen lit up with a soft beep.
"A safe?" Dotty asked.
"More than that."
T1N's agile fingers sped over the control panel faster than her eyes could follow. At the end a small blue LED lit up. T1N took a step back and he watched with Dotty as a section of the wall, as thick as the room's armoured door, slid to the side and revealed a second room on the other side.
"But… how?" Dotty looked with disbelief at this new opening. "It's like a magic trick."
"It's all about luck. That's what you were saying, no?"
Dotty walked into the new room and the lights flickered on. "But what the hell is all of this?"
Her eyes darted from left to right trying to take in all the boxes, stacked shelves, and stuffed cupboards that lined the four walls of this room.
"It's a panic room." T1N opened one of the cupboards and it was crammed with tins and ration packets. "Weren't you hungry?"
Dotty's eyes went as wide as her mouth. She ran up to the cupboard and grabbed one of the ration packs from the huge pile. She tore open the plastic to open it. A dense paste which tasted like potatoes and roasted meat filled her mouth, spilling out of the corners of her lips and onto her jumpsuit.
"That's the best thing I've tasted in years!" she shouted and, with hands filthy from spilled paste, she searched through the rest of the cupboard.
T1N watched her. That room was full of secrets. Things that, for whatever reason, the city never got the chance to use. He crouched down and pulled a concealed handle on the floor. It opened a trap door to a two metre space beneath the floor. It was full to the brim with bottles of water.
Property of Hermes Shipping. Consume before 2088.
"We're saved T1N!" she said when the Android showed her a bottle. "There's enough food and drink here to last for months, maybe even years!" She stopped and looked at him. "Well, I suppose you don't need it."
"I draw my energy from sunlight and oxygen."
"Wow! Just like a plant."
Dotty pulled the cap off a bottle of water and poured it over her head, using it to wash her face.
"Thanks, Tin Can," she said with genuine gratitude. "You've saved my life."
T1N nodded. He stood up and studied the floor for other trap doors.
"Hold on a sec," said Dotty. "If this sector's guard post has this much stuff, imagine what there must be in all the other domes!" She thought for a moment. "Unless we won't need it because we can find a way back to Earth, right?"
The android's head was down inside another compartment he had discovered beneath the floor. This one was filled with a dozen long, thin black cases.
"Dot, put this on," he said, passing her one of the boxes.
"Eh! No one calls me that!"
"No one calls me, 'Tin Can.'"
"Fair point. But, what is this?"
Dotty looked for a way to open it. There was only a small amber circle on one of the corners. Pressing it, the lid flipped open so quickly that Dotty jumped back instinctually. Coming back, she saw there wasn't anything dangerous inside. It held some kind of suit. She took it out in both hands and examined it.
"I don't think it's my size."
It was one continuous piece of fabric, dark blue, almost black. It felt firm but stretchy at the same time. She lifted one sleeve for a closer look and realised it was made of tiny scales.
"It's an exosuit," said the android. "If you put it on, it will adapt to your body."
"And why do I need it?"
T1N opened a third compartment in the floor.
"It's battle armour, made from nanotechnology. You'll be faster, stronger. Your skin will be as hard as mine."
"Oh wow! My dream come true!" She undid the zipper on her jumpsuit and searched for the opening on the exosuit. "T1N?" she said, pointing to the opposite wall. "You mind looking over there?"