As he reached the building he’d been seeking out, VAL buzzed in Erec's head. [Stop this nonsense.] There wasn’t that blue glow from the first time—though, the rubble he’d moved was still cleared. By some miracle, the building hadn’t caught fire and burned down during the brutal fighting with the thrashing mites.
He’d found Vortex Industries' secret facility.
In the pale light of the moon filtering into the broken structure, his eyes traced the area of the ground he recalled the hatch being. Even now, picking out that seamless blend with the ‘wooden’ flooring was hard. Erec leaned down and traced the hard cracks in the fake wood, trying to find the indent and dead giveaway for the hatch.
[I will not allow you back in, Intern. I’ve spent far too long inside—]
“You’re in my Armor back at the camp; you aren’t going back anyway.” Erec dismissed the machine. His battle axe clinked against his back as he moved—and as he’d seen before from Seven-Snakes, Armor wasn’t always necessary for survival, even if it conveyed many advantages.
He’d rather have brought it but couldn’t take the risk. Someone might have noticed its absence; he’d seen the reverence with which the soldiers looked upon their steel. It wasn’t too far out of the conclusion. Some of them might go and take a look while the Knights slept.
With Fury, he felt confident enough in his abilities to handle anything that might be lurking in this ghost town.
Shortly after looking, his fingers brushed a deeper crack—as he pushed them in, they wedged below, the tips brushing past the surface and grazing the slick steel beneath.
Found it.
[There is nothing to gain here, Intern.]
“Bullshit,” Erec said, waiting for a moment.
There were two approaches to take here. One course loaded up and ready to go at his command; he was far Stronger now than ever before. While Fury was still uncontrolled, he felt confident using it to rip open this hatch. The issue was further down with that vault door which sealed the rest of the facility. There wasn’t a chance in hell his raw might could break a way in. But he didn’t necessarily need to do that; tearing off the hatch would send a message to VAL and leave the lab open for others to see.
There was a second option, and one not quite as bullheaded. Diplomacy. Erec tried to parse his thoughts at the approach—determined to give the attempt his best before taking a step he couldn’t take back.
Either way, things were going to change.
[You cannot get into the facility on your own.]
“I wouldn’t need to,” Erec said carefully.
[I would stop you before you’d be able to break in.] VAL droned in his head; the machine didn’t miss his implied threat and responded in like. Erec’s fingers felt clammy jammed down in the crack. But he’d heard something in the otherwise robotic tone—that little bit of a tell that passed by him unnoticed for too long. VAL was uncertain.
“If I let go, I don’t think you’d be able to stop me before I ripped this damn thing from the floor. Then all it’d take is another Knight to stumble along. It might be a few years; it could be tomorrow. But eventually, they would. You and I both know that.”
[Then they couldn’t breach my—]
“VAL; you admit freely to not knowing the limits of our ‘anomalous energy’. In fact, we both saw Seven-Snakes dissolve into the ground. So, quit with the empty assurances to yourself about ‘what couldn’t happen’ if I aired this place out for the entire world to see. The thing is, VAL, I don’t want to do this.” A partial truth. Part of him desperately wanted to pay back VAL for the pain it’d caused him, the fear he felt, and the forced secrets.
Deep down, ripping VAL’s secrets from their shadows would feel deeply satisfying, but that instinctual and spiteful reaction didn’t come from a good place inside. It came from the fire that dwelled within the beast.
It wasn’t who he wanted to be; he wanted to be better. Slipping too far into that darkness meant he’d never stop falling further.
And there wasn’t an answer about the fallout that might happen to him and VAL if someone else did get into this place—they might not get in, but if they did? It could be that the church burned everything in sight. Or it might be that someone found out about his association with it and VAL within him—would he burn alive to get rid of such forbidden tech?
The unknown has a way of spinning a thousand threads of fear; its very nature of living in the shadows of uncertainty gave it a magical power that few other things in life could unravel. But, one must confront it and step into that darkness to make a change. So, the question would be left to VAL.
Would it accept change, or did it need it forced upon it?
[You state you don’t want to, yet remain poised to do so. Is this an attempt to test the extent of my patience? What is this game you’re playing? Have I not been a good boss, dear intern? Buckeroo, I’ve been teaching you vital life skills. That’s the problem with today’s youth; you never value the power of the lessons from your older generation.]
“I want information and something I can use to protect my friends. I don’t know what other secrets you’re hiding in this old-world graveyard, but I know there’s got to be something to help. I don’t want to see Garin die like Alister, I know I can’t get rid of the risk completely, but something in here would lower it. Please give me something VAL. I’m begging for help here, a way to ensure our protection—something, please.” Erec said, flexing his fingers as he considered the hatch. It’d test Fury, but the thrill of the challenge ran through him.
Letting loose would be easy if he needed to. There were plenty of resentments shoved deep inside from the friction with VAL since he’d been forcibly paired with the machine.
[Have I not given you enough?]
“You do things that don’t benefit me, and then when you do help, you use it to justify all the times you’ve ended up hurting me. VAL, this isn’t a partnership; it can’t be if you’re just using me. Is that what you want? A pawn? An excuse, so you don’t have to be stuck down here? I can get that, but you know I was trapped below almost my entire life back home; if you understand that, we have that in common, then why do you insist on this? Why do you treat me so harshly?”
[You are an Intern, an employee designated to be the most expendable within the company. One day you’ll earn a higher salary—]
“That day is today, VAL.” Erec sighed. “Today is the day I ask for more, or this will end, one way or another, because it can’t keep going as it has. We’re in this together, all the way, or we’re enemies; I need to know which it is before people start to die again.” Erec waited in silence.
VAL joined him in the quiet. A minute passed and then another. Erec’s fingers pressed against the underside of the hatch. He wondered with each second that passed if the silence was VAL's answer
[Running evaluation.]
“What?” Erec squinted into the darkness.
[Performance review engaged. Employee #0001, Intern: Erec Audentia. Stated performance goals: Find mother. You’ve failed the stated goals.]
“…Are you trying to piss me off?”
[Why do you believe you’re a good fit for Vortex Industries, Erec?]
When was the last time it called me Erec instead of Intern or Buckeroo?
Was the machine trying to buy time? There wasn’t a way to reinforce this hatch. This behavior was odd, too—if VAL wanted to stop him preemptively, it would’ve started to shock his body or sedate him before he could begin.
“…I’m strong?” Erec said, shaking his head. “VAL, what the hell is this?”
[Per the employee’s request, you’ve asked for a higher salary. As upper management requires, we’ve begun to conduct your performance review ahead of schedule. Tell me, Erec. What value is it you bring to this wonderful company?]
Should I play along? Erec frowned.
“I’m your only employee; I’ve killed plenty of horrible creatures and looked into magic at your request.” Erec removed a hand from the crack and massaged his forehead. Was VAL trying to distract him? He scanned the nearby room—nothing, just the rubble and wood piled away towards the side and the loose structure above his head. It must’ve been set on good foundations to have lasted this long, considering the damage the walls had taken over the years.
[Indeed. Looking at my notes here, Intern Erec Audentia has been vital to the “EMERGENCY EXIT” project. Tell me about your stated goal and why you’ve failed to meet it. Has there been any progress, and why did you choose this independent research goal? What value does it bring to Vortex Industries?]
“…Finding my mother?” Erec asked and took a heavy sigh. “You know why I want to find her VAL. I don't like how she left, and I want answers for what she did. But, if I’m honest, I’m scared that it’ll be nothing but a corpse when I find her out there. Is that the answer you're looking for? How about this? I miss seeing her smile. The way it made me feel like everything in our family was fine. How Bedwyr and Father and her laughed around our table with breakfast, how each day was filled with joy—I miss the feeling of being complete.”
[You don’t feel complete?]
Erec paused as he considered the words that’d spilled out. Being so close to the edge of using Fury—prepared to unleash it if VAL tried to pull a trick was letting those deep-set emotions spill out like a flood.
He hadn’t been complete. Not for a long while. Erec thought after she vanished that if he could be like Bedwyr, who seemed to adapt and thrive after their loss, he would find that part of him that was missing. But, no. That’d never been right; it would’ve never given him what he wanted. He had his friends, but there was still a hole inside that festered with resentment, sadness, and the question of why.
“I need an answer.” Erec hung his head, ashamed that even if he was aware of that missing piece, there wasn’t a way he saw to fill it on his own.
It wasn’t fair to the people who cared about him. That selfish desire might lead to his death, but there it was.
[Lucky you, Buckeroo. Here at Vortex Industries, we’re always seeking answers. From complex mathematics to the way the world works—and we help each other find them. Completing performance review.]
There was a hum in his mind for a second. And Erec winced at the unwelcome noise.
[Recommendation: Intern has shown great resolve and benefited Vortex Industries greatly, while Intern has some anti-social mannerisms and detrimental tantrums, they espouse the ideals and vision of Vortex Industries. Albeit in a more modern fashion. Even with a failed personal milestone, we can put great confidence in their future growth…]
“VAL. Where is this going?”
The hatch flung open—a blue light bursting from below to fill the dark tunnel to the underground facility, lighting the ladder downward in an azure glow from hundreds of LED’s.
[Congratulations, per your performance review, you’ve been fast-tracked into a full-time position within the company. Please proceed to office 103 to fill out the necessary paperwork to confirm your new employment in the position of Researcher I.]
Erec stared down at the blue lights, closing his eyes for a moment. In the end, the machine accepted change. More than that, VAL showed itself to be willing to work together rather than be enemies; he let out a deep shuddering breath, his heart hammering.
If he’d made an enemy of an unknown machine stuck in his body, he wasn’t sure what he would’ve had to do to win.
Shaking off the lingering dread of what almost was, Erec began to descend back down that long tunnel into the dark lab. Somewhere down here would be a tool, something to help him protect those he cared about. He was sure of it.