A technomancer's journey in an apocalyptic world

'Safe, I am safe for now.', was the only thought that ran through Ryan's mind as he stood on the platform that he created as soon as his hands had slipped, he turned to look at the rat tide that was falling into the chasm.

'So this is the fabled 'rat race' that everyone states, the one that none should get involved yet the reality is such that the only way one can advance is to participate and step on others without knowing what lies ahead.'

A loud hissing sound came to his years as he peered down only for his eyes to widen.

What seemed to be an army of rather large snakes had been invited into an all you can eat buffet, Ryan did not wait any longer as he pulled himself up to the other side while his temporary platform vanished.

He sent one last look towards the rat tide which he now dubbed as the 'Rat Fall', as he could not help wonder, 'Is that how the Pied Piper from Hamelin felt?'

With the thought in mind, he quickly left the 'Rat Fall' behind as he ventured deep into the sewer while slurping the remnants of the soft drinks from his canteen, 'hmm, I need a refill.'

'I can try to make my way up, but what if I pop out in the middle of an undead horde, not to mention I am so far underneath the ground, who makes sewers so deep inside the earth.', with that thought in mind he discarded the idea as he tried to find shelter, he was tired, hungry and thirsty for some water.

'If mom knew I was surviving on soft drinks for so long she would be screaming bloody murder about how too many soft drinks would ruin my health.'

A small graced his lips at the thought of his family, a family that was worrying for him, and at the thought of his family, it drifted to Michalina, which caused his brows to frown.

'Mom says she is a bit hot-headed and I do not want her to do something drastic such as charging into this city, if I am not wrong I doubt the bikes had enough fuel to reach here not to mention she could simply walk and either of them is dangerous without the trailer to protect her.'

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he did not even notice the change in his surroundings until it hit him hard.

'Huh, where am I what is this place, I have do not think that rest of the sewage had similar built, this place looks like as it had been carved out of wood, rotten wood to be precise.'

'I doubt someone made the sewage out of woods, but what are these symbols.'

He looked closely at that but he could find no head or tail about it, as such he sighed, 'I wish I had a working camera, this symbol look like strange writing, but I cannot make head or tail out of it, this place is strange.', With that thought in his mind, he simply touched the walls.

He felt a sharp tingle in his head as the ever-present voice in his head chimed.

Host encountered New Architectural and Technological advancements

Found traces of New Data type in the system.

Recalibrating System….

Retrieving New Data type….

Installing files….

Updating the Library….. Complete.

The new message would have been welcomed with open arms if he had not been hit by the sudden bout of incredible headache that made him collapsed on the ground.

The headache left as soon as the entire process ended which was only a couple of breaths long, but it was enough for him to cry out in pain as tears gathered in his eyes.

'What was that? What did it hurt so much when I came across new stuff?'

A sudden hoarse scream came to his ears as he was jolted from his prone position, as he looked up he was greeted by the sight of a zombie that looked to be fused with the wall itself, expect one its hand and a part of the torso and head everything seemed to be simply fused with the wall.

The sound of his scream had awakened the zombie as it was desperately tried to come out of the wall that it was fused with.

'I do not have time for this.' With a flash of steel, he stabbed the zombie's brains before decapitating the zombie.

He did not wait long enough to see the head hit the floor as he skedaddled as fast as he could from the place.

Lots of corner and turns later he found himself entering a narrow and small area so small that he could only crouch as he moved through the entire space.

'What place is this, with so many pipes and wires running, is this some form of maintenance tunnel?'

'I hope this leads to someplace safe I feel so drained already.'

Ryan did not how much time had passed but it was difficult for him to move, he simply wanted to at the very least sit-down and rest his tired and aching legs.

"H…. He…..e"

"H…. He…..e"

A rather faint woman's voice came to his ears, making him stop as he strained his ears to hear it.

'Should I go and check it out, it might be a trap, Nah it is a trap, who would shout in such a condition, who or whatever it is may shout how much they want to I am not going.'

A few minutes later he had his head hanging low, as he moved the sound became clearer and clearer he could distinctly make out the sound now.

"Help Me, somebody anybody please help me."

Then it was followed by loud creepy laughter of a man.

"Hahaha, scream all you want by no one will save you, wench."

Ryan took a deep breath each step was becoming more and more difficult, he was right in one instance, that it was a trap, a trap that was set in a loop playing the same words again and again, but it was becoming mentally straining to hear the scream of plea followed by the laughter over and over again, it was driving him insane.

'Is that light that is shining up ahead?'

A mentally and physically drained Ryan slowly made his way to the light, he was still in a crouching position for some time now and as such his back was screaming and protesting with a dull ache.

His eyes did not fool him, as he neared he found that light was shining, he quickly turned off his light so as not to draw unwanted attention.

He winced slightly from the sudden brightness as he peered through the opening at the side of the service vent that he was using, what he saw made him stumble a bit.

A tree, a pure tree that seemed to glow with pure ethereal light, it made him feel completely calm, it made him feel safe, but most importantly it wanted him to simply lie down and rest.

He was about to give in when the sound of the woman and man came to his ears and this time he was able to witness the reason behind those sounds.

Two large creatures were playing with each other, they had the body of the lion, but the front legs looked like they were eagle talons that the back was that of some kind of cows, and the creature was standing on its two hind legs, but that was not the weirdest part, the most unique was its face.

It had a face that looked like a human, except the eyes, nose and mouth were upside down, even though they occupied the proper space, it felt weird but then he noticed the hairs, well more like a mass of wriggling worms seemed to have been tied and placed together substituting the hair.

The creatures were playing and tousling with each other trying to bite, if it were not for the atmosphere in that room, it suddenly felt wrong and blasphemous to him, like something should not exist, yet he was unable to move or tear his eyes away.

'Tier 10**', was written on top of the creatures, as they sound of the hysterical woman and the deranged psychopathic male's voice poured out of their mouth.

Host Life in imminent Danger

Host is advised to run

Host Life in imminent Danger

Host is advised to run

 

The message was blaring at his head as Ryan did not wait, with great strength the Ryan tore himself from the scene as he pressed forward, the leaving behind the broken part of the tunnel behind he pressed forward, moving as fast as possible.

He was only a few feet when the noise stopped as loud footsteps along with the sound of sniffing came to his ears making Ryan move as fast as he could while still being crouched.

He then made the mistake of turning his head to look back, and his breath hitched as he saw the large face of one of the creatures looking at him with a creepy smile on its face.

He was thankful of the fact that the space was not big enough for the creature to enter with the alarm blaring in hard in his head, it was screaming for him to get as far as possible, but he feared that he might not be able to get away from whatever the creature was.

The service finally opened up to what seemed to be a narrow beam, as Ryan stepped on him he found himself to be at least 30 feet up from the ground of a broken and dilapidated bunker, with the help of his torch lights he could still spot the remains of broken remains of people.

'It must be the bunkers of Navalach city.', as he looked forward he sighed, 'Just my luck the remaining part of the beam is broken.'

'Well, it is time to put my skill with the monkey bars to test.'

Ryan did not want to waste the limited resource he had, at the same time he did not wish to create an unstable bridge, but more importantly, he did not look forward to the thirty-foot drop.

He raised his right hand as an Iron handle appeared which he holds on to quickly, 'Ok one handle at a time.'

Ryan would extend his right hand to create a handle and hold on to it, while he would remove the previous one with his left, before holding on to the newly created handle with both hands before he would create another one.

And soon he managed to cross the hundred-foot distance as he neared another service tunnel he found it to be bolted shut which was only a minor inconvenience as he swiftly removed it.

'What a waste of mana and resources, even if I get back the resource that I used, it is less than a half, and not the whole thing, such a waste.'

As he stepped inside the service tunnel, a faint sound of humming came to his ears, but he did not wait to see the source of the sound as he bolted fast through the service tunnel, if he had waited he could see one of the creatures had followed him there and was sniffing the air to find him, while making a weird humming like noise from its mouth.

'Why anyone would put a service tunnel here that led to the bunker that makes no sense.'

A few minutes later he came across a ladder which he climbed up, as he opened the hatch that covered it, he found himself inside a room, decorated with the National Flag and the proud enlarged emblem of Navalach Police force displayed on the wall.

'I now see why there is a service tunnel as it leads to the Police station'

'Wait a minute if I am in the Police station, maybe I should take a peek at the armoury and then maybe search for something that I can use.'

He left the room which he found to be at the highest part of the four-storey building, as he stepped out of the room, he grimaced, half of the building was nothing but rubble, and the cold air of the night hit him as he looked at the empty streets of the ruined city as it was bathed by the moonlight.

'I am at the surface again huh.'

'I hope I will not have to face something incredibly dangerous.'

With that thought, he slowly moved once again turning off his light so as not to draw attention towards him.