As you step out into the hallway, you see the bodies of several beaten clergymen laying on the floor and leaning against the wall. You head back out to the sanctuary and once you emerge from the hallway, you see Tom cracking his neck standing in the middle of the room with the body of the priest that greeted you laying at his feet. He immediately notices you and asks you a question.
" Where's Reylesh? "
You answer him as you continue approaching.
" She's getting dressed. She's going to act like a member of the church while we're down in the facility. "
Tom nods before Reylesh emerges from the hallway wearing the robes that the priestess had on.
" You know, the idea of a Mind Mirror is cool and all, but I don't think humans understand how dying actually works. "
She says in a snobby tone.
" Explain. "
Tom responds as he looks at her new form with intrigue. Reylesh begins to elaborate.
" Well, you see, a Mind Mirror backs up someone's consciousness digitally so they can be put into a new body after death, right? That's just the thing though. Because every consciousness after their first one is a digital one, after they die for the first time, their real consciousness goes to an immortal realm like everyone else's when they die. "
" I see. So essentially if the Czar were to die, he'd go down to Hinnoahm to suffer eternally while his digital copies are still here on Aria. "
Tom says as he thinks about it. Reylesh nods her head as she replies.
" Yep! The digital copies in the Mind Mirror aren't actually his consciousness. Everyone including the Czar would think he's the real one, but he would just be a digital clone! "
" So that means even Voldoor's most elite can't escape death… "
Tom says to himself in a satisfied tone. Reylesh then looks around at all of the bodies scattered everywhere and makes a remark about them.
" Yeah… and I'm pretty sure all these bodies are gonna blow our cover the second someone walks through the front door. "
Tom smirks at Reylesh before instantly disappearing and reappearing in the blink of an eye. Reylesh's hair and robes blow to the side and the bodies of the clergymen all disappear before Tom responds to her.
" They're all stuffed in the bathroom in the hallway behind you. "
Reylesh looks behind her and turns back to Tom with a surprised look on her face. Tom then talks to Pads as he turns his attention towards the altar at the front of the sanctuary.
" Alright, Pads. The church is clear. Open her up. "
" Sure thing! Open sesame! "
Pads says as the giant statue of Vol on the altar begins to rumble. The stone women on both sides of Vol begin to slowly slide outwards and away from the center of the altar, then Vol's statue slowly raises upwards to reveal a doorway that was submerged beneath the ground. You and Tom both look at each other with wide eyes before heading towards the doorway. Before you enter the elevator, you turn around and look at Reylesh.
" You gonna be okay up here on your own for a while? "
You ask her in a concerned tone. Reylesh looks back at you proudly with her chin up and her hands on her hips as she responds.
" Mhm! I'm gonna seduce anybody that comes through the door, and if things get ugly, I'll just kick their ass. Since I can shapeshift, I get to choose everything about each form I take. That includes muscle density and muscle memory! "
" We shouldn't be too long. "
Tom says in a confident manner before turning to you.
" Ready? "
You nod your head as both of you step into the elevator and turn around before the doors shut in front of you. You quickly begin descending and Pads talks to you in the earpiece.
" I can't seem to locate Master Ryen using their surveillance system, so I presume he's at the core of the facility where the Czar's consciousness is stored. I'll watch over you and give you directions to navigate the facility. "
" Sounds good. "
Tom says as the elevator continues to descend. Pads then gives you both a warning.
" The soldiers down in the facility have already taken notice that the elevator is active. They're waiting for you with rifles aimed at the doorway, so be ready when the doors open. "
You look down where you're headed with your Trap Sight and see twenty soldiers holding a choke point in the hallway through the walls. Tom does the same and he responds.
" I see them. They won't be a problem. "
The elevator finally reaches the entrance to the facility and the doors open, but as they begin to open, your perception heightens and it feels as if time is slowed as the soldiers begin to open fire. Both you and Tom blitz the soldiers, dodging the bullets and hitting the soldiers with your fists. The bullets coming from the barrels of their rifles look like purple plasma, and they absolutely annihilate the elevator doorway as the heads and bodies of the soldiers explode into blood and bones from the force of your strikes. The soldiers all die almost instantaneously and their blood paints the metal walls and surrounding furniture in the hallway before it slowly drips down onto the floor. Tom then picks up one of their rifles off the ground and inspects it. Pads makes a remark, obviously looking at the rifle in Tom's hands through the surveillance system.
" Holy shit!! That's an antimatter rifle!! "
Tom then looks down at the dismembered soldiers' bodies and looks at one of their arms on the ground. He walks over and kneels over it, gently touching the patch on its shoulder.
" Pads? You said these guys were High Temple Guard, right? "
Tom asks in a suspicious tone and Pads responds.
" Yeah… "
" Well they're not. These guys are NaxTech. "
Tom says as he stands back up.
" That's strange… Why would NaxTech be down here protecting the Czar's Mind Mirror? "
You ask as you look around, scanning the environment.
" Not sure, but a better question is what happened to the High Temple Guard. "
Tom says to you before he takes off walking down the hallway. You follow him as he asks Pads another question.
" Where do we go? "
" You're gonna take the third left down another hallway that'll lead you into a warehouse. The Minders must've heard the commotion outside of the elevator and they're headed your way. There's about twelve of them that are about to intercept you from multiple hallways. "
Almost as if it's right on cue, you see seven women and five men, who are obviously cybernetically enhanced based on the way they're moving, emerge into the hallway and unholster their Eviscerators to open fire at you. You and Tom crush a few of their mechanical bodies into a ball with your telekinesis and slam the remaining Minders against the wall, flattening them before you and Tom pick up the pace, turning down the left hallway towards the warehouse.
" Haha!! Those minders didn't stand a chance! "
Pads laughs and exclaims in your earpiece as you and Tom continue to run towards the double doors at the end of the hallway.
" The remaining clones of the Minders that you just killed are trying to sound the alarm but I've disabled it remotely. Communication between the facility and the outside world has been cut off, but they're alerting the remaining guards in the facility that they're under attack. It also looks like there's some kind of machine above the warehouse that you're heading towards… "
Pads says before you and Tom burst through the doors to the warehouse. You're immediately met by a hail of bullets coming from every direction as several hundred soldiers all fire their weapons at you from all across the warehouse and all along the balconies surrounding the outside walls. You and Tom split up, running and sliding up and down the aisles of the warehouse at an incredible speed as you both kill the soldiers effortlessly while they all desperately try to track you. The soldiers scream and try to fight back as you and Tom swiftly massacre them throughout the warehouse, and once the ground floor is almost clear, you use your telekinesis to push the whole balcony around the walls of the warehouse against the ceiling to smash all of the soldiers standing on it. Pads cheers as he watches you both absolutely annihilate this elite force of soldiers with ease.
" WOOHOO!! YEAH!! FUCK'EM UP!! "
A group of Minders, seeing that bullets aren't effective against the both of you, unsheathe what look like prototype swords with a glowing purple edge before they begin rushing you and Tom, swinging their swords at you from all directions. You and Tom effortlessly dispatch a few of them with your fists as you continue to run throughout the warehouse until you both meet back up in the middle of the warehouse. You and Tom stand back to back as more Minders assault you from all sides at an inhuman speed, but you dodge each sword swing effortlessly, almost like you're both dancing as you counter strike each of the Minders with punches and kicks while they continue to flood towards you.
The remaining Minders break to pieces from your strikes until there's finally one left, who slowly gets up from the ground with half of her torso and an arm missing. You and Tom both stare at her as she squares up with her blade in her hand, and she speaks to the both of you with a raspy mechanical voice.
" What… are you? "
Tom remains silent as he calmly approaches her, then in an instant, she darts around unnaturally fast to cut him down with one arm. Tom sidesteps her initial strike, then effortlessly dodges a couple more strikes before catching the blade of her sword with his bare hand and disarms her. Refusing to give up, she immediately jumps in the air to hit him with a spinning kick, but Tom cuts her in half mid-air with the sword before both halves of her mechanical body clang to the ground. Tom inspects the sword, making a remark.
" These antimatter weapons are impressive. "
The lights in the warehouse then shut off and dim red lights turn on as metal slabs fall from the ceiling to seal the exits.