The light was just beginning to fade from between the trees, blurring the spaces between the dense rows of massive columns of tree trunks reaching toward the sky. He ran onward, legs and heart keeping up a quick pace.

Although all the candidates went through intense training in preparation for this, his body was conditioned far more than the rest of the group - built from a month of fruitless and frantic searching through the dense jungle every day. He knew these hills and rivers like the back of his hand, having nearly upturned every rock and fern in search of his recently missing partner - and finding no sign of her anywhere.

While his attempts to track her down in the surrounding jungle were appreciated by her family and her guild, in the end she vanished without a trace, another victim of the hazards lurking outside the perimeter of the village. The overseers tried their best to comfort everyone and strengthen his resolve to carry on, and they succeeded only in the latter.

He approached a clearing, climbing up into one of the larger trees for a better look. Off in the distance, he heard a rhythmic thumping sound on the other side of the glade, pointing to something massive lumbering about.

As he climbed back down and prepared himself for his next moves, the sound increased, and he unslung his crossbow from his back. The heirloom piece, handed down through the generations, had protected his family countless times and brought back hundreds of animals for food. Its spring and main body were built from fragments of the mysterious materials left by the old ones, never degrading in the weather and nearly indestructible.

He wound the crank that applied the immense force necessary to pull the string back, then locked the metal bolt into the track down the center. He reached down and checked his hatchet, still firmly in the holster at his side but able to be pulled out quickly if needed. He jumped up and down in place a few times, listening for any noises that could give him away as he approached his prey.

He ran in short bursts, moving between what little concealment the open meadow offered. As he neared the other side, he racked his brain trying to figure out what kind of creature he would be facing. “Definitely too big to be food, and not a stalker or grazer. Maybe it’ll be a walker? That would be a great prize to bring back. Might even get me top placement…”

As the thumping noise approached closer, it changed to more of a crashing sound as branches and small trees were knocked down by its passage. He found a good hiding spot between a large rock and a shrub as its path brought it ever closer to him. Too late, he realized exactly what kind of creature was nearly on top of him. He whispered to himself “Shit, It’s a Scourger… and it’s too late.”

Suddenly a large branch flew at him, landing a few feet away in a massive crash as the nightmare creature walked into view. Its massive claws hacked away at the trees in its path, clipping them like blades of grass and tossing them out of the way. As small animals ran from its devastation, strange mechanisms on the top of its central body swiveled toward them and shot out rays of concentrated sunlight, killing them instantly and igniting the spot where they stood. Its many glassy eyes, swiveling around on a pair of tall stalks, glinted in the light as it searched.

Knowing he had very little time to ambush this abomination, and disregarding his training telling him to immediately flee from the monstrosity, he instantly shouldered his bow and fired at one of the eyes. Instead of watching for the hit, he immediately dove from his cover, sprinting to a sturdy tree nearby. As he slid into the cover of the trunk, he felt the searing heat of a beam land just behind him as the creature let out an unnatural howl, halfway between a wounded bear and the sound of lightning striking close by. Quickly he wound up the spring of the crossbow again, as the Scourger lumbered toward his position.

A wild thought entered his mind, and he decided to go with it, quickly climbing into the canopy of the tree. He snapped another arrow into the bow, and leaned out from behind a large branch. The creature, apparently searching down low, didn’t immediately notice him - and he saw that his first arrow must have struck true. One of the eye stalks now lay shattered, with strange sinews dangling from the armored shell as the other eye frantically looked for him.

He carefully lined up the second shot, his only chance to blind the beast. Thinking of his missing partner and praying for revenge, his arrow struck true. A shower of broken glass and sparks marked his success, the second lucky shot in a row.

As the beast entered a blind rage, it slammed into the tree with unstoppable force. He immediately popped loose from his perch, sending the bow flying and him clattering onto the back of the creature as it blindly fired beams into the trees.

He landed on top of its upper shell, knocking the wind out of his lungs and sending a wave of agony through his forearm as he heard a loud pop - the bone almost certainly broken. Driven by rage and fear, he grabbed his hatchet and began chopping down at the shell with his other working arm, hoping to critically injure the beast before it threw him off and crushed him under its six gigantic legs.

Its massive claws swung upward blindly, fortunately unable to reach him but coming terrifyingly close. With a few huge hits, he managed to chop a square out of its armored shell, the half-organic half-metallic material parting under the ancient axe’s blade. The thick veins directly underneath the shell were no match for the axe, and jets of a burning hot, black fluid sprayed in all directions as they parted. Soon the creature’s movements became weak and sluggish, the toxic lifeblood pouring from the gaping hole in its body. He continued to chop at it deeply, hoping for the killing blow.

Suddenly one of the legs of the creature collapsed, and he reached for anything nearby to grab hold of. His hands slid off the now greasy surface, and everything went black as he slammed into the forest floor.

He startled into wakefulness, swinging at an imagined enemy. The blinding pain in his leg stopped him, now matching the pain in his nearly immobile arm. He looked down, overtaken by a wave of nausea at seeing a shard of ragged wood sticking from his thigh. He willed himself to be quiet, stifling the pain as best as he could in case the beast still lived. He slowly worked his way to a standing position, leaning against one of the beast's claws, and surveyed the area. It lay next to him, unmoving and likely dead. He hobbled around on one good leg, and found a suitable branch to use as a walking stick.

With a little work with his hatchet - interrupted by the occasional wave of pain as he bumped part of his broken body, he crafted a splint and walking stick, and sacrificed the valuable cloth of his shirt to make a sling. Although he was now unable to defend himself against any other threats, it’s unlikely anything else would come close to a Scourger, even a dead one.

With a little searching he was able to find his crossbow, and although damaged by the fall it should be easily repairable by the guild mechanics. Looking over the dead beast, he hacked away at the huge remnant of an eye stalk, a distinctive trophy to prove his prowess beyond any doubt.

With not much time left before darkness, and two life-threatening wounds, he set out on the agonizing journey back home, tying the piece of the beast to a scrap of cloth, the cloth to his belt, and dragging it behind him.

By the time he saw the light of the temple of the overseers, its bluish light projecting outward and upward from the huge pyramid in the center of the village, the last of his energy was long gone. Most of the villagers were gathered at the foot of the temple steps, seemingly celebrating the return of the triumphant candidates. As he entered the village, still dragging the trophy and dripping blood from his wounds, his vision started to narrow and his steps faltered. He attempted to shout to the crowd, but his voice only came out as a hoarse whisper.

As he took another step, a guard must have seen him and raised the alarm, as a far-off group of guild members turned from the back of the crowd. He fell, blacking out in a final wave of pain as the broken arm and shredded leg each collided with the hard-packed ground.

He awoke in a strange bed, in a room he had never seen before. The walls seemed to be made of the same featureless gray material as the temple, and a soft light washed out any shadows as it emitted evenly from every surface.

He stirred, still in some pain but without the searing spikes of trying to move with broken bones and a deep wound. As he did so, the mattress underneath him shifted like a liquid, but immediately reformed to cancel out any pressure points.

As he attempted to shift himself out of the bed, a woman’s voice interrupted. “You need to rest, my champion. Your wounds are nearly healed but you are in a fragile state.”

Her voice strangely reminded him of his missing partner, as if someone was imitating a memory of her, and he called out “Nadia? Is that you?”

“No Isak, I am not your beloved. You are our champion, and in time will carry the next generation forward. Now sleep and enjoy the rest, you have to heal and gather your strength for your next task.”

The mysterious light faded, and he fell back into a deep sleep.

He awoke again, this time to a warmth and dampness that accompanied someone’s gentle humming. He opened his eyes to see a familiar face - someone he hadn’t seen for years. The woman, dressed in iridescent black robes with the sleeves rolled up, was finishing up washing him with a sponge and a small bucket of warm water

“Leyla? I’m in the temple, aren't I? I haven't seen you in… years I think. You disappeared into this place a long time ago.”

“Isak, I’m so glad you made it here - It’s been a very long time. I’ve been here, tending to the overseers since I was chosen. I’m trained as a healer now, and I’ll be taking care of you.”

“How bad is it? The last thing I remember is passing out at the edge of the village.”

“You aren’t actually in that bad of shape considering - the little bit I heard said that you killed some insanely dangerous corrupted beast out there, one that nobody else has even tried to face before. You’re actually nearly healed already; we do miracles every day here. Try to move your arm. The broken one, obviously.”

He looked over, and saw that his formerly severely injured arm was already nearly mended, and encased in a light brace made of some form-fitting and mysteriously forgiving white material. “How long was I asleep?”

“Only a few days. Like I said, we do amazing things here.”

He sat up, a feeling of betrayal and confusion overtaking him, and barely noticed that his leg was also nearly repaired as well. “Why don’t we do this for anyone that gets hurt then? My dad fell off a ladder and limped around for weeks! What about the weaver who broke his hand? He’s had such a hard time working since, and you could have fixed it?”

She looked away for a moment, a slightly guilty expression on her face. “We would if we could, but there’s never enough resources to go around. You’re the next champion, so we have to take care of you.” She looked around quickly, then lowered her voice to a whisper. “I need to tell you a secret. This place is slowly falling apart, and every year there’s less and less that works. The overseers act like they’re preserving our way of life, but they’re really controlling us. You’ll see, champion. Once you know the truth sealed away here you can never leave.”

“I don’t understand. I can never leave the temple?”

“You’re the champion. The overseers want you to sire their next generation, so they plan on keeping you busy. You’ll be treated well, given the best we have and want for nothing. With enough time you too could join the council and become one of them.”

“But I’m stuck here forever.”

“Unfortunately.”

“That’s not happening. I still have to find Nadia, and now that I’m the chosen one, maybe I can get the rest of the village to help me in the search.”

At the mention of the missing Nadia, Leyla looked like she saw a ghost. She tried to hide her shock, but it was obvious.

“You know something about her, don’t you? Answer me!” He grabbed her arm forcefully, desperate to get information from her and to keep her from fleeing.”

“Please! We have to be quiet! They know I’m here already, and they might be listening.” She lowered her voice to just above a whisper, and easily freed herself from his weakened grasp. “ I’ll try to explain but it’s so far beyond your understanding.”

She leans in, and whispers into his ear, “I can’t leave here, but you could. You could get away from this place - you have the training to survive out there. She can explain it better, although… I don’t know. Once the overseers go to sleep and the temple is sealed, I’ll find you. I think she already has a plan for you, she knows everything.” She backs out of the room. “If anyone else shows up here, you heard none of this.”

Leyla left soon after, leaving him with more questions than answers. As she slid the door closed, the light that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere dimmed to a comfortable twilight. Soon the combination of the exhaustion of healing and whatever sedatives circulating in his body returned him to a deep, dreamless sleep.

He was awoken by a gentle pressure on his hand, and woke up like he was coming up for air from deep water. Leyla quickly and quietly shushed him, while doing her best to calm him back down.

“Hey, it’s me. Do you think you can stand? I’ll help you.” She assisted in carefully rotating his legs to the side of the bed, and after an initial unsteady step or two he was back on his feet.

“I think I’m ok to walk. Do you think you can tell me what’s going on now?”

They left the room, and quietly walked down the windowless and nearly featureless hallway. Although the ancient materials the pyramid was constructed from were built using advanced ancient technology, the ravages of time were apparent as they walked toward the center of the structure. Leyla stopped for a moment in an alcove, pulling him in as well as the lights around them dimmed. “I know what happened to your partner. They took her.”

“What?”

“Keep your voice down, someone might hear.”

“I found out they took her a little while after I finished my training here. They said she was to be the ‘chosen vessel’. I found out what that means a little while later. Do you trust me? Once you know what happens here you can never unknow it.”

“Keep talking. I just want to find Nadia.”

Leyla poked her head out of the alcove and looked around again, waiting for some kind of indication that the coast was clear. “Ok. Out of the men of the village, they choose a champion every few years.”

“Of course.”

“What they don’t tell us, is that they also choose a woman to be the next vessel. It’s not as often, but it’s monstrous what they do. You know those village girls that went missing every handful of years? They were chosen and taken.”

“What happens to them? I’m having a hard time believing you, but I don’t think I have much choice here. So you’re saying that she’s here?”

“Um, yes. In a way. It’s complicated. We’re going to go to the inner chamber, where you can talk to Alethea. She’ll handle the rest.”

“Alethea?”

“She’s the controller of this place. She hears and sees everything here, and told me to find you. She's been here for longer than the village, and carries immense knowledge of the old world.”

“How does that work? She’d have to be hundreds of years old.”

“She is. She’s nothing like us.”

They continued walking, the building itself seeming to be drawing them closer to their destination as the lights behind them turned off as they passed. The few doors that crossed their path also seemed to be protecting them from discovery, closing automatically under a mysterious force.

They approached a massive set of doors, wide enough for four to walk abreast and made of immense slabs of ancient metal - armored to withstand nearly anything. “Here we are.” She looked up slightly, and spoke to the air. “Alethea, can we enter?”

The lights flickered for a moment as something seemed to awaken, and the doors groaned under the massive force slowly opening them. Inside, the hall opened up to a round chamber made of a glossy, white and smooth material, filled with strange glass tanks lining the outer walls. Although some seemed to be broken or empty, one in the rear still circulated a nearly opaque greenish-blue fluid, quietly bubbling. The doors immediately closed behind them, and Isak instinctively looked around in case of an ambush.

Leyla spoke up, seemingly to the air. “Alethea, we’re here. I brought Isak, as you requested.”

A voice spoke up, seemingly from nowhere and everywhere at once, startling Isak. He realized it was the same voice from before. “Thank you. Leyla, please return to your chambers.” She turned and quickly left the room, nearly at a run but attempting to be as quiet as possible.

Isak looked up and said to the disembodied voice, “You sound like her. Like Nadia. Please, I need to know where she is, and I think I need your help to do it.”

The artificial voice responded, the voice sounding even more like Nadia’s. “I know where she is. I’m afraid though that she’s beyond your help, at least for now. This is the inner sanctum where your… duties were to be conducted. It was supposed to be a big ceremonial thing, you know, robes and stuff.”

“You sound just like her! How is that possible?” He looked around again, trying to find the source of the voice. “I’ll do anything to see her again. Please.”

“I’ll show you.”

A small but equally overbuilt door opened at the far side of the chamber, and he entered. As he passed the functioning tank, something moved within, too obscured to see any detail other than some outline and color. The tank began to circulate and bubble the liquid more vigorously, completely obscuring the contents, and they continued onward.

The small space seemed even more alien than the inner sanctum, flanked by tall rectangular towers with blinking lights randomly flickering in the front panel. The only other object in the room, a waist-high metallic pillar, sat with an intricate cylindrical container at the top.

The voice spoke again, now sounding halfway between the obviously artificial one and Nadia’s. “Isak, I have to show you something. Two things, in fact. I sound like Nadia, because I am her. In a way. When someone becomes the vessel, their mind is joined to the Alethea persona. Normally their mind is absorbed and fused with Alethea, but I fought back. We have an arrangement now.”

“I don’t understand. So she’s here with you?”

“Yes. We run this place from here. There’s not much to see, locked up in this bunker, but Alethea and I always have plenty to work on and plenty to talk about. Our minds live here together. When I became the vessel, there were some.. significant changes.”

The voice changed to Alethea's more clinical and artificial tone. “The vessel is modified to carry out the progenitor function, a necessary step after the failure of the brood tank complex, 66 solar cycles ago. The vessel’s extraneous features are removed to optimize resource consumption and modified systems are installed to increase capacity and development speed. The mind is merged via the removal and destructive scanning of the vessel’s cranial tissue and the implantation of a remote link and body management controller into the host body.”

The voice shifted back into Nadia’s familiar tone. “What she’s saying is that there’s not really that much of me left. Alethea and I have had some very serious conversations about how horrific this whole thing was, and that’s part of the reason you’re here.”

Isak replied, his expression somewhere between confusion, anger, and sadness. “Alethea, why would you let it happen? You run this place, so why didn’t you stop them?

“Unfortunately, it’s out of my control. The medical sector was cleaved from our mind decades ago and remains under the control of the overseers. We couldn't stop it, and until Nadia’s mind was added to my own, we considered the process a necessary evil to keep the temple functioning. The previous vessels have been more or less compliant with the wishes of the overseers, or their minds were immediately absorbed. The first few volunteered.”

Isak replied, “I can see Nadia being a little more feisty. She and I always were a little different; we got in trouble for going out on our own and exploring the wilds together. Both of us always wondered what was beyond the borders.”

“With the recent failures of equipment here we can no longer keep this place hidden from the free-roaming automated systems, what you call the ‘corrupted beasts’, and their behaviors have become more hostile. We believe that removing us from here and finding a more functional facility is critical to our continued operation.”

Nadia continued. “We also have a much better shot at fixing things here if we get out from under the overseers. Once this place finally shuts down, they'll have no real power over the people, and are going to have to own up for all this. Maybe we can find some way to fix this place up too, if we’re lucky. Anyway, we talk way too much.”

The cylindrical container in the center of the room began to unlock and twist apart, and warning lights illuminated the area in a red glow. As the container opened, the first thing Isak saw was the face of a beautiful woman, although not Nadia.

As the container’s outer casing parted and the sections swiveled downward, it became evident that she was a wholly artificial creation. Where her hairline would have begun, her scalp instead transitioned to a metallic surface, matte gray like the walls of the temple. All that he could see of her ended at her neck, and a thick metallic collar at the bottom seemed to be hooked into the pillar and tied to the rest of the building somehow. Her all-black eyes never blinked, and she looked back at him with a pensive and shy expression.

“This is Alethea and I. We’re both in here.”

Although the shock of discovery was nearly paralyzing, Isak’s joy at learning Nadia still lived overrode the wave of emotions trying to overwhelm him; and he managed to keep composed. “I’m just happy to see you again.”

If Nadia was still capable of shedding a tear she would have, even as the AI’s cold and mechanical presence in her mind did its best to comfort her. “Thank you. I’m so glad you were the one chosen, I don’t think we would have a chance without you.”

Alethea jumped back in, and their facial expression changed to a less expressive one as the artificial consciousness took over. “We also will retrieve the vessel component - although this will be a burden to our travels, this facility will be unable to sustain the life of the biological component after shutdown.“

From behind them, a series of clanging and thumping sounds came from past the door, back in the tank room. “Please wait for the retrieval process. It will only take a moment. For now, it would be helpful if you take us with you. Please hold while we unlock.”

The pillar made a clicking sound, and the artificial head looked down for a moment, closing her eyes. A moment later, Nadia looked back up at Isak and said, “Could you carry me? I can’t really go anywhere like this. I’d like to see my body again too - I know what happened but it's been in that tank for a while now.”

Isak walked a few steps over to Nadia, and did his best to carefully lift her up. Although his hands trembled as he took hold of her, he steadied as she leaned into his grasp. She felt relatively light and slightly warm to the touch, and although obviously artificial, Isak still felt the connection to her despite the changes.

“Ok, let’s go get the rest of me. There’s a cart in the other room that we can use to wheel me out of here and grab what we can.”

Isak carried the head of Nadia and Alethea out of the room, taking great care to keep a good grasp but trying to be gentle. As they approached the tank, a specialized claw was already descending from the ceiling to retrieve her body.

A cart approached, pulled along by another ceiling crane, and stopped itself next to the tank. It immediately zipped away into the shadows, leaving the cart behind. The tank retrieval mechanism hummed as it began its ascent from the liquid bath, and Nadia’s dripping form began to emerge.

As the intricate support hardware disconnected itself from her body, it became immediately obvious how much the Overseers took from her in the conversion process. Her body began about halfway down her neck, beginning with a metallic collar-like device - similar to the one on the bottom of the artificial head’s neck. The body was completely encased in a shiny, black one-piece bodysuit, fitted with metal attachment rings to help handle the largely immobile body. Her arms ended halfway between shoulder and elbow, capped with connector discs of the same gray metal as her head. Her legs were completely missing, her hips rounded off and terminating in similar connector plates.

The claw lowered her body, gently placing her dripping form into the utility cart. Isak walked up to get a closer look, laying a hand on her. He felt a wave of so many conflicting emotions that they more or less canceled themselves out, leaving him mostly stunned.

Nadia said. “I’m sorry Isak. They didn’t leave much after converting me into their baby factory, but it’s still me. One second, it feels really weird to reconnect… Nnngh!” The body twitches and gasps as her sensory data reconnects, suddenly feeling her awareness expand outward to the body on the cart.

She stretched her remaining limbs, feeling out her very limited range of motion and moving joints that have been mostly immobile for an extended period of time. She groaned a little, her body waking up from what felt like a long nap. “There’s some towels nearby, to get this tank goop off. Over there.” One of her abbreviated arms points toward a nearby cabinet, and Isak grabs a fluffy towel. He carefully dried the suit off, being gentle but trying to be thorough. It’s a little awkward both trying to hold her head and dry her off, but quickly she’s cleaned up, aided by the suit’s smooth surface.

“Could you please connect me to my body? It’ll be a lot easier to handle me if I’m in one piece. All you need to do is plug me into the neck fitting and push until it clicks. I’ll handle the rest”

Nadia’s body lifted herself up slightly, making it easier to line up her neck division. Isak noticed the pair of cover plates and connectors on the surface, and carefully lined her head up as he pushed it down onto the mating surface. A quiet click signals his success, and Nadia’s eyes twitch and roll back slightly as the connection to her body rearranges itself.

“Thanks, it’s been a while since I saw myself. This is actually the first time I’ve been back together, and it’s …” She looked down at her body, and held her arms out in front of her to get a better look. “Shocking. Alethea’s done her best to keep me going, after the initial attempt at a mind merge, and I’ve seen myself from the cameras in the tank room a few times, but I’m still barely keeping it together.”

“We’ll get the hell out of here and never come back. Or we’ll eventually come back with a vengeance. Either way, someone is going to pay for this. Also, what’s a camera?”

Suddenly Nadia’s expression went slack, and a voice took over, a pre-recorded message playing in Alethea’s voice with none of her simulated inflection and personality. “Warning, disconnection of the controller from the central core will trigger a reactor core shutdown in ten minutes if not overridden by an administrator. ”

Nadia replied, “That’s not good. Neither of us knew about any alarms. Your stuff is in a locker on the way out, let’s grab it and get out of here!”

They took off, Isak propping himself on the cart and using his good leg to kick against the ground and gain speed. Alethea did her best to keep on the right path, slamming doors closed along the way that could allow someone to discover their escape. They quickly arrived into the storage room, a dingy and run down area of the building containing rows of lockers and stacks of crates.

“It’s the third row, second locker down. Grab it, we don’t have much time!” Isak frantically ripped the door open, and grabbed the duffle bag containing his battered equipment. He threw it next to Nadia, and picked up speed again down the long main hall of the pyramid.

As Isak began to see the light at the end of the hall grow as they approached, the lighting around them suddenly switched to red, and a claxon blared as the systems within the pyramid began to announce their impending failure. “That was way faster than ten minutes! We locked out the overseers and guards, but the main blast door is gonna close on us!”

Isak tried to pick up speed, and as the main entrance was nearly in sight, he saw the massive front doors begin to grind downward to seal the building shut. From out of the corner of his eye, a black streak of a person ran toward him, shouting “Grab her! I’ll grab the bag!” He tossed the bag to Leyla, and kicked with all his might to try to gain more speed.

They reached the door as it was closed to about waist height, and Leyla crouched and ran under. Isak grabbed hold of Nadia, holding her to his chest, and she wrapped her remaining arms around his neck as he slid under the rapidly closing door. They continued fleeing the structure, Leyla running slightly ahead of Isak as he fought his injured leg to keep pace. As he tried to catch up, he noticed how light Nadia was as he carried her, even lighter than he would have expected.

He met up with Leyla as they reached the edge of the darkened village, barely lit by the torches of the few guard towers and fires around the perimeter. Isak whispered “There’s a gap in the wall there that’s not guarded. If we’re quiet we can slip out there."

They continued on into the darkness, and carefully made their way by moonlight through the forest, into an unknown future.