The sun descended toward the horizon, painting the windswept sand in shades of crimson. After thirty minutes of travel, Irene, Zhon, and Aria finally reached Ravine and Roan's position. They dismounted from their mechs.

  As Roan climbed down from Ravine's mech, Aria—still attached to hers—commented, "Well, you definitely have a knack for coming back roughed up, huh?"

  Roan smiled at both Zhon and Aria. "And you two have a knack for coming back unscathed. It's almost as if we always end up with the hard stuff."

  Aria laughed. "And you better hope it stays that way. Unlike you two, we can't fight, so unless you want to learn how to repair yourself, you better pray nothing happens to us."

  "Zhon, how long do you think it'll take to fix his arm?" Irene asked.

  He looked up, then back at her. "Within a few hours."

  "Good. In the meantime, let's stay alert. Anything could happen."

  They all nodded. Roan sat on the sand and sighed in exhaustion. "Phew, what a day this was."

  Aria looked up at the sunset. "I'll never get tired of seeing these. It's so beautiful."

  Ravine sat next to her. "Isn't it the same thing every day? What's so special about it?"

  Behind them, Zhon moved beside Roan and began working on his arm, his tools making loud mechanical noises.

  "It's not about the cycle itself," Aria said. "It's the moment. As the sun comes down and you see it shine in its full glory before it goes, and the sun settles to give way to the night."

  Ravine continued staring at the sun for a while longer. "I don't think I fully understand this concept or your enjoyment of it, but... thanks for sharing this moment with me, Aria."

  "Anytime!" Aria giggled. She turned back to stare at the orange sand as the sun continued its descent. "Say, Ravine... once our mission is over, what would you like to do?"

  Ravine's eyes widened at the question. What do I want to do? She looked at Aria. "I guess I never thought about it. I suppose whatever Mother Phoenix requires me to do."

  Zhon suddenly stopped his repairs. "Oh, come on. There's gotta be something you want for yourself. We all sort of have something we want to do once this is over."

  "I want to continue exploring this world and see as many beautiful things as I can," Aria said.

  "I want to see it all with her," Zhon added.

  "I want to read more books and learn more about human philosophies," Roan said.

  Irene cleared her throat, looking up with her arms behind her back. "I want to gather the remains of our fallen comrades and give them their proper send-off."

  "What about you, Rav?" Zhon asked.

  Ravine looked down with a confused expression and sighed. "It's hard to say. I mean, this mission—this is what we've been born to do, right? Beyond that..." She shrugged. "What else is there for me to do?" She looked up at the emerging stars as night settled in. "I guess I would want to see what's beyond here. Space, the stars, other planets. I want to see what it's all like."

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  Roan laughed. "There you go."

  After a few more adjustments, Zhon stood. Roan's arm was finally fixed. "There, good as new."

  "All right, let's go," Irene commanded.

  Ravine opened her menu and saw three skill points available. This time, I'm not passing up on a special ability. She examined her options:

  "SPEAR MAYHEM: MULTIPLIES SPEAR COUNT TEMPORARILY AND SENDS THEM TOWARDS ENEMY"

  "VINES TRAP: IF THERE IS EVEN A HINT OF VEGETATION, THE USER MAY USE IT TO TRAP ENEMIES IN THE DESIGNATED RADIUS FOR 20 SECONDS"

  "INFILTRATED RAZORS: ALLOWS USER TO CHOOSE ONE TARGET WHICH WILL BE TORN APART FROM THE INSIDE (ONE TARGET ONLY)"

  All these are good, but focusing on one target might not be the best play here, and counting on vegetation in this climate would be stupid. The spear ability looks nice—even if it doesn't kill, it might disperse crowds.

  She selected it. The system displayed: "NEW ABILITY UNLOCKED: SPEAR MAYHEM."

  I have one left. She selected the reflex upgrade. Another message appeared: "REFLEXES IMPROVED BY 12%"

  Zhon crossed his arms. "Are you done now?"

  Ravine nodded. "Yeah, sorry about that."

  She grabbed the ID from her inventory and pressed it against the scanner. The scanner identified the card, and a voice announced: "IDENTITY CONFIRMED. HAVE A GOOD DAY!"

  The door began to open with a loud screeching noise, then stopped suddenly, leaving only a narrow gap.

  Zhon turned to Aria. "Didn't you say they had power?"

  Aria shrugged. "I said the base had it. I don't know about the entrance, though."

  "This is way too thin for us to pass through," Irene observed. "Anything you can do with the mech, Aria?"

  She shook her head. "These doors were made so that nothing could pass through. I'd probably risk damaging the mech."

  "Not like using mine will be of any help either."

  Ravine thought for a moment. "What if we passed under the door to get in?"

  "You mean like what moles used to do?" Zhon asked. "How would we even do that?"

  "Just watch." The system announced: "RAZOR ARMS ACTIVATED."

  As she pressed her fingers into a fist, a loud whirring sound like a chainsaw filled the air.

  "Heh, I'm jealous," Roan said. "Those actually look quite useful."

  She sank her arms into the sand, then activated her slithering ability to sink deeper. Maneuvering underground, she emerged on the other side with a loud whirring sound as she tore a hole through the floor.

  "Woah," Aria said. "I don't know if I should feel amazed or creeped out."

  "Both," Zhon said. "You can feel both."

  "Good job, Ravine. Let's go." Irene turned to Aria. "You stay here. We don't know how long we'll be there, and we don't want to lose you mid-mission. It's too tight for a mech to pass through."

  Aria groaned and looked down. "Fine. Just don't take too long."

  Irene nodded with a faint smile. "Promised." She turned to the hole and crawled through to the other side. The others followed.

  Zhon turned back. "We won't be long, okay?"

  Aria crossed her arms. "Whatever."

  They faded into the darkness.

  Irene activated her optical flashlights, trying to make sense of the layout. The corridor was pitch black, and echoes reverberated endlessly. They began hearing voices again, which startled Irene and Zhon.

  "What was that?" Zhon asked.

  "These voices," Irene said as they continued walking. "Ravine and Roan heard them earlier, but we don't know where they're coming from."

  Small whispers echoed through the corridor: "Help... trusted you... why... gone..." The tones were eerie and mournful.

  "It's like they're lamenting," Roan said. "But who or what can that be?"

  "It could be anything, but since you said you can't sense them, they may not be here right now—they might be farther away," Irene replied.

  "I sure hope so," Zhon said. "We can see damn near nothing here."

  Ravine's eyes narrowed. "So much anguish and pain..."

  Irene kept walking in silence.

  After about fifteen minutes, a door opened above them, granting access to a large room filled with glitching screens emitting different voices. On each screen, the faces of multiple humans appeared, speaking words they couldn't decipher. The lights flickered erratically.

  "The voices are from here?" Roan asked.

  Ravine brushed her hand across one of the screens. "The voices, the feelings—is it them?"

  As if responding to her touch, a body dropped to the floor with a wet thud, startling them all.

  "What was that?" Zhon gasped.

  Then another body fell. Then another.

  Irene immediately drew her greatsword. Ravine and Roan followed suit.

  "Zhon, stand back," Irene said slowly.

  The bodies kept piling on one another, emitting strange noises—cries, screams, moans. The pile began to evolve, merging into a massive amalgamation of bodies with different voices speaking simultaneously.

  "The voices," Ravine said slowly. "I get it now. The ones we felt—they were the ones expressing themselves. Somehow, these people managed to live..."

  Irene stepped forward with her sword raised. "Then it is our duty to alleviate their pain."