Page 45 of Kryxis

“I have to go in and grab something,” she told him.

Kryxis looked pained again, shaking his head. “No…Dani.”

She reached out and touched his shoulder. “I will be fast. Okay? You’ll stay here and guard the door, won’t you?”

His hands clenched into fists, as if he was fighting internally, either wanting to make her stay or to go in with her.“Xia harish xa vaas.”

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’”?

He growled, his tail weaving behind him. “Xa.” He took her hand, holding it in his.“Visa na rish varr nesh.” He sighed then said in her tongue, “Be here…. come back…soon.”

She squeezed his hand. “I will. Promise.”

He let her go. She went for the door and pressed a switch beside it. It slid open and she slipped inside.

There were a series of offices and supply rooms at first, nothing threatening yet. Not even bots roamed, though she did find a couple of damaged ones as she walked deeper in. What was strange to her was how messy everything was. Tables were on their sides, computers lay broken, screens shattered. There were several cracks in the walls and great big holes in the ceiling where wires dangled down. Debris crunched under her feet as she went.

When she passed through one large office space, it was like a storm had blown through, everything broken or out of place. There was also evidence of something bad having taken place. Black stains on the walls and carpets. She also noticed some of that blue fungus growing along the walls.

To the back was the central lab where she was told she’d find the datachip. The door was already open but stuck halfway. Carefully, she snuck through, making her way down a short passage. There was a metallic smell in the air like in the tunnels,but she didn’t see a source. Her garometer started to crackle, but the energy was on the low end. She stepped out of the passage and into a wide chamber, trying to understand what she was seeing. She clicked the light on her wrist to make it brighter then aimed it farther into the room.

The first thing she noticed was the fungi, growing on the walls but also growing out of giant tanks. She got closer, shining her light on them. Most were broken, with the mushrooms sprouting past jagged edges of glass. A few tanks, however, remained intact. She froze beside one of them and shined her light into it, illuminating what lay within.

It was a giant fungus. It almost looked monstrous with its sprouts spreading over the glass of the tank.

She passed the tanks and went farther in. A row of cells sat along one wall. Inside one was the skeleton of another creature, fungi overtaking its back and face. She stepped over to another. Inside looked like the remains of a large grex, like Sheek, only this one had one huge blue arm growing out of its back.

Dani stared at it, and her pulse began to race. What the hell were they doing here?

The rest of the cells were open and empty. Her mouth went dry, and her stomach twisted as she went by them, heading for the testing lab beyond.

Inside the room was a large computer console wrapped around an operation pod, its glass lid open. Inside, tiny fungi had spread.

This room…felt very wrong, and she had a mighty need to get out as quickly as possible. She went over to the main computer and flipped open a box next to it. The datachip was there, a slender black device connected to a port.

She reached for it, then paused.

Something happened here. Something very bad. It wasn’t hard to see the destruction all around her. Marityne employeeshadn’t just shut this place down and left quietly. They had fled. Because she doubted they would have left such an important piece behind.

She glanced over at the computer.

Don’t, Dani. Just take it and leave. You don’t need to know. Because if you do…

She thought of Kryxis waiting for her. The most terrifying male she’d ever met, who had shown no fear. But he was afraid of this place…

She leaned over and turned the computer on.

The system came to life, lights and screen flickering on. A few programs popped on the screen including an access pass to the datachip. She opened it and several hundred files appeared.

She scrolled through them and saw they all were titled by TEST SUBJECT followed by a number.

There was no need for her to go through them. She could already put two and two together by what she’d seen beyond the room. But there was one thing she had to know. Going to the search function, she typed in VRISHA.

Several dozen files appeared. One read test operation 110. The last dated file.

When she clicked on it, lights around the room aimed downward. Once the file loaded, the ghosts of Marityne scientists appeared, their faces covered by ventilation masks and goggles. One walked past her, while others sat at their computers.

It was a holographic recording. They were merely images from the past. Dani stood watching as several scientists appeared at the pod.

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