Prologue: Cold sweat
Gross, murky, and exhausting.
That was Benjamin’s life.
Grimacing, Ben slowly crawled through the dense, bubbling mud, his face twisting as it stuck to his camouflage suit and thick beard like a third skin. He sighed and took in a deep breath, his eyes almost popping as he held back the urge to vomit. He held his breath as he scowled at the festering carcass lying just a few inches beside him.
“Ugh, what the hell,” he murmured.
He gulped at the yellowish maggots seated on what he assumed was a deer.
Benjamin tapped the sensor on his visor helmet, which unfurled a gas mask over his lower face. *Haaaaa.* The air still carried the sickening smell of death and rot, but it was… contained.
The soldier continued to trudge through the thick mud; he had a mission, and no amount of festering flesh would deter him.
His mind quieted as he stared down at the abysmal drop now below him. He was lying just a few inches from a deep cliff. He glanced up as he pulled his equipment from his baggage. The huge cavern had massive pillars that dwarfed old-world skyscrapers. Trails of Leyline Mycelium vines crawled over the pillars like hairs on a man’s thigh.
Dark and cold. This cavern wasn't used for a human population, so it had no Illuminator to mimic the sun nor turbines to control the temperature.
The only source of light was the Leyline Mycelium. The weird alien plant was a global network of power and knowledge. It was used to synthesize clean, optimized energy. It was also used to send information at almost light speed to different parts of the world, since the plant was one big global hivemind.
Benjamin sighed as he grabbed his focus back.
'No time for games.'
He set the legs of his sniper rifle, smiling like a fool as the silent death machine clicked into place. His job was dirty, but he relished it. He poured his soul into it—anything to take his mind away from his bitter loss.
Ben reopened his eyes as he peered through the conical scope, the world blurring and warping through the magnifier. He silently set the device to infrared.
He scanned the subterranean horizon for his prey, his cold black eyes hovering over the landscape like a raptor’s—firm and focused, trying to pick out motion.
“Found you,” he murmured as he fished out his recorder. He was a reconnaissance officer.
About a kilometer away, between a natural rock formation and a dense canopy of Mycelium:
“I have eyes on the hostages,” he whispered. Benjamin made sure his recorder was connected to his rifle and storing his perception.
Three reddish humanoid blobs in the bluish backdrop. Warm-blooded. Humans. They were in a kneeling position.
“Two adults and a child. A family. The father is one of New Lekki’s CORE scientists,” he whispered into the device.
Ben moved his gaze to the multiple vaguely humanoid shapes standing deeper into the rock structure. They were blue—he almost missed them—and they were… moving?
“That is not possible,” Benjamin said as he adjusted the scope of his rifle.
If the readings were correct, it meant the people moving were… dead. Their movements were almost nonexistent; if one didn't pay attention, they would be missed.
“Sighting of… undead hostiles.”
Then the bluish-green background in the sniper's scope gradually turned purplish. The orange blobs started shivering—so much that Benjamin could see it through the vague visage.
“The temperature is dropping.”
Ben’s eyes narrowed. The dead captors moved back slowly, almost in reverie. A new figure slowly stepped into the scene.
“A female.”
This person was so cold that she was practically invisible against the surroundings, though Ben kept a sharp eye. The orange figures began fidgeting. One of them crawled on his knees awkwardly, since his hands were tied behind his back. He was talking—pleading with his captors.
The cold woman continued conversing with them. Benjamin couldn't understand what they were saying.
“I need closer eyes.”
He was about to send off a drone when the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. His heart fluttered as the temperature around him slowly dropped. He felt the buzzing before he could see it.
Benjamin moved his head back slowly and glanced at the Leyline Mycelium growing out of the cliff a few yards away; it was pulsing with a faint blue light. The whole cavern began pulsing. Darkness, light. Darkness, light.
'It's probably nothing.'
The Leyline Mycelium was just a strange plant, for all he cared.
When he returned to the scope of his weapon, what he found made him flinch. The cold woman was staring straight at him. Benjamin held his breath.
'It's just a coincidence. Right?'
Her body was pulsing with the same faint energy as all the Leyline Mycelium around her, as if they originated from her and created her at the same time. The woman tilted her head, her shoulders slumping with... relief?
She stretched her hand out toward the warm hostages. Benjamin watched with an anvil in his gut as the woman absorbed the heat from the warm-blooded flesh. In a few seconds, the hostages became as cold and lifeless as their captors.
Benjamin’s heart banged against his ribs, frantic and trying to escape its cage. Then the woman turned back to him again. They stared each other down for almost thirty seconds. Then she raised her hand and pointed directly at him.
Benjamin gulped. Cold sweat trailed down his trembling hands. The message was clear.
He tapped on his recorder, saving his evidence.
Benjamin collapsed his rifle and stuffed his equipment back into his backpack. He didn't turn back as he sprinted toward his bike. It felt as if the frozen lady was standing just behind him.
He grit his teeth and revved the bike's engine. Soon he was gliding through the rocky terrain on a CORE-issued hoverbike. It was able to exceed a couple hundred kilometers an hour.
'But is it fast enough?'
Ben grit his teeth as the wind battered his visor. He needed to get this info to New Lekki. Pronto.
