181: Reach for the Stars, Part Seven

Reach for the Stars, Part Seven

Admittedly, this may not have been the best idea. 

Neve had fought in worse conditions than this, of course. Far worse. But she couldn't deny that it felt as though a pair of gentle hands were pulling down at her eyelids right now. That said, after what had just happened a moment ago, Neve needed something to take her attention away. 

Trying to keep herself focused, as she and her summon moved through the space station, Neve kept an eye on her oxygen counter. 

Oxygen: 93%

[Still a lot... Though, I shouldn't take it for granted.] 

If Neve seemed at all off, Erin wasn't commenting on it. Like Neve herself, the lamia mostly just kept her eyes searching their surroundings for any hidden enemies. 

"We didn't get to see it last time," Neve said. "Can you show me where that purple chest was?" 

"Of course." 

Taking the lead, Erin went to do just that. 

The sheer emptiness of this location was unsettling. Most of the other floors so far, with the only exceptions being the first two, showed some sort of an indication that they were lived. That, even though Neve was traversing them at their lowest point, they were at least hanging by a thread. 

This place looked completely abandoned, though. As though it had been empty for years until Neve appeared and brought all of those monsters with her. 

The corridor led the pair to a lobby of some sort. Here, Neve found some odd, circular computers atop white tables that turned on automatically as Neve approached. 

Erin went to keep slithering toward the chest she'd mentioned, but Neve paused and walked over to one of the computers. 

[Uh, no keyboard. Is it touch-based?] 

Pressing her right index finger against the screen brought up three options. 

[Messages, System Status, Operation: Replica. Uh... I guess I'll look through the messages first.] 

Tapping that option showed that there were, in fact, no messages at the moment. 

[Okay, never mind. What about System Handling?] 

Clicking on that option brought up the following series of prompts: 

Factory A - Offline

Factory B - Offline

Cafeteria - Offline

Clinic - Online

Engine Room - Online

Medical Wards - Offline

Star Control Room - Online

Neve tilted her head. 

[... Wait a minute. The amount of options being listed here does kinda match the number of buildings I saw outside. Is this basically hinting at where I need to go? So, where am I right now, then?] 

Wanting to keep moving, Neve quickly went back and clicked on Operation: Replica. 

[What the hell?] 

A wall of text appeared. Neve read through it as quickly as she could, while Erin stood beside her cautiously keeping an eye on their surroundings just in case any enemies happened to drop in on them. The text described a project built around the idea of harnessing the power of a star. 

As soon as Neve heard that, the magnificent object outside popped up in her mind. 

[... So, that thing is a star they made? Huh.] Neve nodded to herself. [Okay. Well, from what this thing said, I can only assume that I'm meant to go to the Clinic, the Engine Room, and then, head to where that star is. Maybe in that order.] 

"Well," a familiar voice then spoke in Neve's thoughts. "You certainly are taking your time, huh? Have you already forgotten that this floor comes with a ticking clock?" 

Neve instantly bit the insides of her cheeks as she heard Tamira speak. 

[Fuck off.] 

"Oh, come on... With a level like this being your opponent, you really don't want some sense of direction? An assistant sounds like exactly what you might need right now!" 

Neve remained silent. 

[Like she said,] Neve told herself, speaking about Tamira but not *to* Tamira, [this place has a ticking clock. Just stay focused.] 

"Stay focused, huh? Those are still your favorite word. Even as you got to connect to the outside world, even as you finally got to talk to that journalist... Even as you met Erin and Ahlakan, you chose to stay focused. Quite admirable." 

Neve's body trembled. 

[I hate you so much...] 

"Is that right?" Tamira asked. "I genuinely wonder why, hehe." 

"Alright," Neve said as she moved away from the computer. "I need to get a sense of where we are." 

She wasn't about to give Tamira the satisfaction she was looking for, however, she did utter one more phrase in her mind before she completely pushed the snake out of her thoughts.

[... It's unfair. it's really unfair.] 

"Perhaps some of the other rooms may give us a hint," Erin said. Neve took some more deep breaths, continuing to set her rage aside. "The part that blocked me, in particular, looked..." 

She stopped. 

Neve knew why, as the sounds that made her stop reached her ears as well. 

All of a sudden, there were low growls coming from the west. 

Erin quickly moved to stand between Neve and the source, or sources, of those sounds. 

[Enemies?] 

Neve brought her weapons out but contemplated whether taking this fight was worth doing anyway. 

[Like I said before, I do kinda want to avoid leveling up. Maybe...] 

She had been about to suggest that perhaps running away was the optimal move here. The world itself confirmed that for her, however, once she saw what was causing all of these animalistic noises in the distance. 

The rumbling of the floor confirmed it well before she saw it, though. 

"The horde?" Neve let out in a whisper, watching as a pack of those enemies they'd fought before appeared once again at the end of the hall. They sprinted toward Neve and Erin, running with feral determination. "But, it hasn't even been... We haven't fought-" 

Erin grabbed hold of Neve and pulled her onto her back once again. 

This time, however, she couldn't run back to the Safe Zone, as the horde blocked the way. 

So, instead, the lamia ran deeper in. 

The lights began to flicker as Erin ran into the hall at the back of the room. The walls crept in, the space around them becoming narrower and narrower. The horde following behind them funneled in clumsily but still kept up with them.  2

Neve stared ahead. 

[Well, if the thing blocking the path is another Keycard door, we might not be able to get through it. We only have the Tier-1 Keycard.] 

The hall felt endless. The horde behind them did not slow down. 

Finally, though, they came out to the blocked path Erin had mentioned. 

Figuratively blocked, actually. 

"I sure hope you can see something I can't because this was the only path we could take!" Erin yelled out as Neve's eyes widened. 

To Erin, this place seemed like a chasm with a purple chest floating within. Wide and dark, there were only two things here, aside from the treasure. Lights were scarcely placed along the walls and an exit was on the other side. Ultimately, it must have looked like quite a pointless place to make.

To Neve, this was...

[A PLATFORMING SECTION!?] 

Dozens of tiny blocks hovered in the air between the ledge Neve and Erin were currently at and the exit. 

Back at Roha, where Neve had found Erin, there had been multiple sections, branching out from the same spot, with different levels of difficulty. 

In this place, there were only two paths, as far as Neve could tell. One leading to the exit on the other side, and one leading down to the purple chest, illuminated by some sort of invisible spotlight. 

Neve had no time to gauge where exactly she wanted to go right now, though. Not with all of those monsters quickly catching up to them. 

"Erin, put me down and follow me!" 

As soon as Neve's feet touched the ground, Neve ran forward. 

She leaped into the air, her eyes set on one of the blocks in front of her. 

And, naturally, as her strength had changed since the last time she did this, she overshot. 

As she had many times over the course of her journey, Neve once again felt death kiss her cheek, seeing several platforms go right by her. Death moved away from her, though, as Neve landed on one of the last blocks she could have. 

With a sigh of relief from having found solid ground, Neve turned toward Erin. 

"Okay, come over here!" 

Without needing to be told twice, and with a horde of ravenous beasts about to reach her, Erin pushed her body forward and jumped. A small number of those same beasts followed her, falling into the abyss in their attempt. 

Though, Neve got no EXP from their demise. 

Focusing back on Erin, it was impressive, actually. Erin's Precision meant that although Neve had arrived at her position accidentally, Erin's trajectory was almost flawless. 

Neve backed up a couple of steps to allow Erin to land on the square, holding her hands out to grab her once she did. 

... Only to watch the lamia fall straight through the same solid ground keeping Neve in the air right now. 

Neve's jaw dropped. 

[What?]

The monsters that had pushed them to this location stopped tumbling to their deaths, but did not retreat. 

They did not begin jumping forward though, either. No, they simply remained where they were and waited, snarling and growling as Neve took deep breaths. 

Calming herself down, Neve stood up. 

[Okay, now what?] 

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