Chapter 48 - The Base

  20th November 2023, The ‘Base’.

  A week had passed, and the cave was unrecognizable, it looked like something straight out of a science fiction movie. If an outsider stumbled upon it without prior knowledge, they would believe they had walked onto the set of a blockbuster film.

  Numerous drones hovered in the air, busy with tasks. Some carried materials, placing them in designated spots, while others patrolled the surrounding area, scanning for potential threats.

  Other than the drones in the sky, the ground was lively with movement as well. Worker robots with spindly arms tirelessly constructed new structures, walls, supports, and pathways, while their larger counterparts hauled materials from one end of the cave to another. Guard robots roamed in formation, each armed with a laser rifle.

  While these mechanical soldiers and machines were efficient, their appearance was unremarkable. Barebones frames prioritized easy mass production.

  Lucas hadn’t poured the same level of attention into them as he had with Jager or Manuel. If those two were sports cars, these were economy sedans, functional but nothing more.

  Besides the bustling activities, Lucas had created a fully operational base. There were sleeping quarters with private showers, a gym and training ground, a greenhouse and farm, and a garage for vehicles and mechanical horses. At the heart of it all was Lucas’s pride and joy, a sprawling laboratory filled with every tool and instrument he could scrape together.

  In reality, settling in this particular cave had been part of Lucas’s plan. Before committing to the cave, he had dispatched his spider bots to scout the terrain. The cave was typical at first glance, with a network of tunnels, stalagmites, and stalactites leading to a cavernous lake at its innermost point. Upon further inspection, he discovered the lake was connected to a river miles away, which, according to maps of Raum’s region, eventually flowed into the ocean.

  This meant that the lake would fulfill their current water supply needs, as well as serve as an emergency escape route if the vampires ever breached their defenses. Besides, the cave’s location inside a cliff with a steep rock face made it nearly impossible for enemies to attack directly from the front, while the cave entrance created a natural barrier, perfect for setting traps and ambushes.

  The surrounding elevated area allowed for good vantage points, and combined with Lucas’s patrolling drones and guard robots, the area had become a fortress in its own right.

  Chloe and Samantha returned late one evening, lugging bags of supplies and loot from nearby dungeons. As they stepped inside, they couldn’t help but marvel at the progress.

  “This place is insane,” Chloe muttered, staring at a drone zipping past with a bundle of cables. “It looks different every time we come back.”

  Samantha smirked, glancing at the guard robots that saluted them. “Not bad, Lucas. Not bad at all.”

  Chloe glanced around, marveling at the transformed space. “Did Lucas ever give this place a name?” she asked curiously.

  “Not really,” Samantha replied with a shrug. “He’s always just called it the ‘Base.’ Nothing fancy. Maybe we should come up with a name ourselves? Something that gives it its own identity!”

  Chloe’s eyes lit up at the suggestion. “Yeah! That’s a great idea. When we bump into other people, we can introduce ourselves with a sick name. It’ll make us sound way cooler, like we’re some kind of secret organization or something!”

  Samantha smirked, “Exactly. Got any ideas?”

  Chloe rubbed her jaw, scanning the cave as if inspiration might strike. “Alright, how about something cool? Like ‘Iron Haven’?”

  Scruching her nose, Samantha shot it down, “Iron Haven sounds dumb. What about ‘Ebonspire’? It gives off that dark and mysterious vibe, don’t you think?”

  “Okay,” Chloe muttered, “but we’re neither ‘ebon’ nor a ‘spire.’ Maybe we should tie it to the fact that we’re holed up in a cliff. What about ‘Aerie Forge’? Like a mix of height and creation?”

  Samantha nodded, stroking her chin thoughtfully. “Hmm. ‘Aerie Forge’ has a nice ring to it. Let’s call ourselves that!”

  “Yeah!” Chloe pumped her fist enthusiastically before glancing around. “Anyway, where’s Lucas?” She looked around the room but didn’t see any sign of him.

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  Samantha shrugged, “Knowing him? Either buried under some blueprint or making something ridiculous.” She gestured at a passing worker robot, “Hey, you. Stop for a second.”

  The robot paused mid-step, its spindly arms clutching a bundle of wires. Its cyan lenses blinked as it acknowledged the order.

  “Where’s Lucas?” Chloe asked, looking at the robot.

  Tilting its head, the robot processed the question and then pointed a finger down one of the corridors before walking away, back to its original task.

  Samantha ruffled her head, “Well, in the lab, as usual.”

  They followed the robot’s direction until they reached a metallic door. The entrance hissed softly, releasing a thin mist of white vapor before sliding open. The room was spotless, a gleaming white interior that seemed worlds apart from the rest of the cave. It was filled with instruments and tools that neither of them could identify, blinking lights and holographic displays giving the space a futuristic feel.

  Instead of finding Lucas tinkering with equipment, the girls saw him lounging in a chair, leaning back while sipping from a cup.

  “Hey there. How’s it going?” Lucas waved casually when he spotted the girls entering the lab.

  Arching a brow, Samantha asked, “What are you doing, exactly?”

  “Science!” Lucas replied matter-of-factly, taking another sip from his cup.

  Shaking her head, Samantha dropped the bags she was carrying onto the ground. “I doubt it. Here, stuff we collected from the dungeons. Also, give me some of that tea.”

  With a snap of his fingers, Lucas directed the teapot to pour a fresh cup of tea for the girls, while a drone flew over, picked up the bags of loot, and carried them away.

  “Smells good,” Chloe said with a giggle, taking a sip of the tea. “You’re getting better and better at brewing this stuff.”

  “Thanks,” Lucas replied, a small grin tugging at his lips. “Any vampires today?” He looked at the girls.

  Chloe shook her head, “No vampires today. But we did find something… strange.”

  Lucas raised an eyebrow, lowering his cup, “Strange how?”

  “Well,” Chloe began, leaning against the table, “we stumbled across this ruin. It was half-buried in overgrowth, but it had these weird carvings and a giant circular entrance. Looked ancient. When we got close, though, we were ambushed.”

  “Ambushed?” Lucas’s eyes narrowed. “By who?”

  “A group of cloaked people,” Samantha interjected, crossing her arms. “They were sneaky, but not sneaky enough. We took them down pretty quickly.”

  “And?” Lucas prompted, sensing there was more to the story.

  “We checked their bodies afterward,” Chloe said, her tone growing serious. “Turns out, they weren’t just random thugs. They were… well, they were dark-skinned, with spiky ears.”

  Setting his cup aside, Lucas gripped the armrests of his chair. “Dark-skinned and spiky ears?” he murmured, more to himself than to them. “Dark Elves?”

  Chloe snapped her fingers, her eyes lighting up. “Oh yeah! That’s what they called themselves, the Malekith!”

  “They were pretty skilled with bows and arrows,” Samantha added with a shrug. “But their arrows couldn’t even scratch our armor.”

  “Malekith, huh?” Lucas repeated, rolling the name over in his mind. “Interesting. And where was this ruin?”

  “Somewhere northeast of here,” Samantha replied, pulling out her smartphone. She swiped through a map before tapping on a location. “Zone C2, to be exact.”

  “After we dealt with them,” Chloe continued, “we went closer to the ruin to check it out. That’s when the counter app you installed on the phone started going haywire. Look at this.” She nudged Samantha, who brought up a video recording on her phone.

  The screen displayed a wall covered with faintly glowing symbols. The app’s counter, displayed in the corner of the screen, was beeping rapidly, the numbers climbing to alarming levels.

  “The app’s counter specializes in detecting and analyzing surrounding ambient energies,” Lucas murmured, his eyes glued to the screen. “If it’s peaking that high, it can only mean one thing, a dungeon’s nearby.”

  Chloe nodded, her voice laced with excitement, “Exactly! That’s why we had to record this. Look at the walls, see those flickering runes?” She tapped the phone’s screen, rewinding the video slightly to zoom in on the intricate symbols glowing faintly on the ruined surface.

  “Those runes are Sylvian Scribe,” Samantha interjected, leaning over to point at the video. “It’s a type of rune language used by the High Elves. The translation isn’t perfect, but it roughly means ‘tomb.’ I didn’t get to master much of the codex, so that’s about all I could figure out.”

  Lucas leaned back in his chair, one hand rubbing his jaw in thought. “A tomb with Elvish language, huh? Either they were scribbling things like that for fun, or it’s really a burial site.”

  He drummed his fingers on the armrest, his mind racing. “Dark Elves, though, I thought we’d just be dealing with vampires, and now we’ve got them to worry about. Good grief.”

  Chloe stared at Lucas and asked, “Do you think it’s worth checking out? It could be a jackpot, or it could be a deathtrap.”

  “Maybe both,” Lucas said with a dry chuckle, gesturing for the phone in Samantha’s hands.

  Samantha handed it over, and Lucas studied the marked location. “Zone C2 isn’t too far from where. Let’s gear up and check it out first thing tomorrow. If it’s a dungeon, we will need to be prepared for anything.