Chapter 14: The Long Road

Septum stared at the small map projector in his hand, comparing it to anything in the surrounding area. Looking for any identifier to tell him they were going the right way. But as always. Maps never seemed to line up with reality, especially 3-Dimensional holographic maps.

He had personally always hated the maps and actually having to think portions of the job. He was more content being pointed towards something and being told to take it out. He felt more useful as a weapon than he did as a navigator.

"Are we going the right way?" Zara questioned walking up from behind a pile of rubble, brushing her hands on her pants as she quickly glanced around their surroundings.

"From as far as I can tell, we still have a few hours before we reach the site of a pair of ruined buildings, and that's if I'm reading it correctly." Septum sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he felt a headache beginning to form.

He took a moment to pause as he pulled his canteen from his side and took a small swig of water, washing around the inside of his mouth, swallowing as little as needed. Before spitting it back into the bottle. All while keeping his eyes and ears peeled on their surroundings.

They were both on edge. But it was always like this in the Wasteland. It was the land that divided up the sector cities, and there were almost always Androids to be spotted.

Ever since humanities assault to push the line known as the front far out of sight. There had been less and less Android presence in the area, but there was still something that just felt off, and anxiety inducing. Even for Agents who were trained specifically to handle the Android threat.

"Well, we can always hope. Since ruined buildings are pretty common out here. Hopefully we find the right ruined buildings." Zara would sigh as she glanced through her binoculars, searching for any forms of life. Which if they were lucky, there shouldn't be anything.

"Too many places for an ambush." Septum sighed as he stretched his muscles. "I only wish they were dumb enough to attack."

"Why would you put that out there! It's like you want to manifest a problem!" Zara yelled hitting him on the top of his head.

"Sorry, sorry." Septum muttered under his breath as he rubbed the top of his head looking at the sky which was now beginning to grow cloudy. "The entire reason I became an Agent is to fight Androids, and I feel like an overtrained errand boy."

"Well I hope you remember that only one of us is a weapon, and the other will break like a twig." Zara said pointedly as she readied her rifle. "We're all clear up ahead."

Septum nodded as he finished stretching, pulling out a meal bar and continued on ahead.

Project Machina

They walked for what felt like another couple of hours with the clouds overhead darkening more and more. Threatening to release a torrent upon them. Septum would remember to get weather data next time he went on a mission.

"We should probably crash in a nearby building." Septum commented feeling the wind picking up as a small chill filled the air.

"I have a feeling you might be right." Zara said after looking up from the map in time to watch lightning jump from one cloud to another.

Septum lead the way to a nearby building. Making the hand sign for Zara to wait, as he entered the building alone with his Katana drawn.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the sudden darkness of the room. But when they did, Septum was treated to a sight that was out of a horror show.

Husks of what was once people lined the walls. Dried blood now almost a dull brown as the rancid stench filled the air. Mushrooms Grown from where the stomachs used to be, and all of the skulls were either missing, or smashed into a thousand pieces.

It was a sight unlike anything he had seen. One that urged every fiber of his being to leave the place. To use his sword, to attack.

But he had to control it. He couldn't be spooked by something that had happened so long ago. Or at least, what he assumed had been a long time ago.

"No luck in this building, no roof." Septum lied as he walked out of the building, not wanting to burden Zara with what he had seen.

"That sucks." Zara sighed as she gestured to the other buildings that were now growing much more frequent. Showing some semblance of being the remains of an ancient city. "At least we have plenty of other buildings to choose from."

"Yeah. At least we have others to choose from." Septum agreed as he began walking in the direction of one of the nearby buildings.

Over the course of the next forty minutes. Each building he checked was more of the same, filled with more dead bodies, each wearing much more noticeable clothing. Clothing that was issued to citizens of Eden. A few even wore an Agents uniform.

Each building he checked, only heightened the sense of unease Septum felt. Each time he lied, only made him doubt his decisions.

That was until the last building he checked. It was relatively empty, all except one corpse. Much better to share a space with one corpse than it was to share one with multiple in a single room.

"Alright! You ca-" Septum started to speak as a muffled cry sounded from outside the building. Prompting him to rush out from the building to the sight of the last thing he wanted to see. The very things he had trained so hard to kill.

Androids.