That morning, the faint sunlight filtered through the gaps in the cave where they had spent the night, gently touching the faces of Modeus, Abigail, and Enzo as they slept. Modeus slowly opened his eyes, took a deep breath, and glanced around. Abigail was already awake, sitting cross-legged and facing the dwindling campfire. Enzo, with his large frame and four hands, was also waking up, stretching and yawning with a series of small cracks from his joints.
They quickly got up to prepare breakfast from the supplies in their packs. Abigail pulled out some dry bread and salted meat, while Enzo uncorked a bottle of water. Modeus merely gave a thin smile as he observed their modest breakfast.
"You seem dissatisfied, Modeus," Abigail remarked calmly, watching him eye the hard bread in his hand.
"I was just thinking, this kind of food is fit for animals, not for humans," Modeus replied with a smile that wasn't exactly friendly.
Enzo snorted softly as he drank from his bottle. "Better to eat this than nothing at all. We're in monster territory, not at a royal feast."
Modeus shrugged and began to chew his bread slowly, though his expression made it clear he wasn't enjoying it. After finishing their breakfast, they packed up their gear and prepared to continue their journey to the ruins mentioned by Klomin. The path to their destination grew steeper, with the roots of ancient trees spreading out like traps over the moss-covered ground.
When they finally reached the ruins, Abigail paused for a moment, sharply observing the large boulders scattered around them. The once-majestic building now only showed remnants of peeling walls covered in moss. Tree roots had crept into the crevices of the stones, swallowing what might have once been a fortress.
Modeus scanned the ruins attentively, occasionally touching the moss-covered walls, feeling the chill of ancient stones worn by time. "This used to be something grand," he murmured.
Enzo, standing on the other side, noticed a stone resting on a barely visible plaque. He easily moved the stone with one of his mechanical hands, revealing faded inscriptions on the plaque: "Fortress Tritia."
"This is Fortress Tritia," Enzo said, his voice deep and slightly resonant. "A name I haven't heard before; this fortress must have been built thousands of years ago, judging by its condition."
"And now, it's just ruins," Abigail said flatly. "A once-powerful fortress is now just a monument to its own downfall."
They proceeded to explore deeper into the ruins, carefully stepping over scattered shards of stone. The atmosphere was quiet and eerie, with only their footsteps and the whispering wind through the broken stone crevices to be heard. The ruins felt like a graveyard, silent and untouched, overrun by wild plants and creeping tree roots.
After walking for a while, they reached a lower part of the ruins. The surrounding ground was damp, and large tree roots sprawled across it, concealing what appeared to be a large door buried underground. The door looked ancient, with rusted iron forming its frame, but it wasn't completely covered by roots. It seemed as though the door had been used repeatedly by someone—or something.
Modeus stepped forward, his gaze fixed intently on the bunker door. "It looks like there's been some activity here," he said quietly, almost as if to himself.
Abigail crouched down to inspect the door more closely. "The roots should have sealed it completely, but look at how the door can still move. Something or someone must have been coming and going frequently."
"Good," Modeus murmured, a sinister smile spreading across his face. "That means we're likely to find something interesting."
Enzo, with his large frame, approached the door and began pulling away the roots that covered part of it. With the strength of his mechanical arms, he easily lifted the roots, clearing a path to the now-visible door. The door featured a large wheel in its center, like a mechanism for opening it. However, the rust covering the wheel indicated that it hadn't been turned by ordinary hands in a long time.
Modeus touched the wheel, feeling the rough surface of the rust. "It's old, but it still works," he said. "Not something you'd expect to find in ruins like these."
Abigail stood beside him, her eyes narrowing as if he was deep in thought. "If there's something inside, we need to be ready for whatever awaits us. Places like this aren't likely to be left unguarded."
Enzo, having finished clearing the roots from the door, nodded in agreement. "We should be cautious. Such places are often filled with traps or... unfriendly inhabitants."
Modeus's smile widened, his eyes gleaming with challenge. "The more dangerous, the more intriguing. Let's see what's hidden within Fortress Tritia."
Modeus, Abigail, and Enzo stood before the bunker door they had just uncovered. After ensuring everything was set, Modeus took the lead, followed by Abigail and Enzo. The stone stairs they descended felt cold and damp, as though the air in the bunker had remained unchanged for centuries. Strangely, however, the walls of the staircase were lined with lights that were still brightly lit. The yellowish glow from the lamps cast long shadows with each step they took, making it clear that this place wasn't entirely abandoned.
"Someone's definitely been here," Abigail murmured, observing the still-lit lights. "This isn't an ordinary ruin."
Modeus simply gave a thin smile. "Of course. Places like this are rarely empty. People are always drawn to secrets hidden underground."
They continued to descend the stairs cautiously. The sound of their footsteps echoed along the stone walls, creating a reverberating accompaniment to the silence of the place. Each step seemed to draw them further underground, and the air grew heavier with a musty, penetrating dampness.
After descending the stairs for a few minutes, they reached the bottom, where a stone corridor stretched out before them. At the end of the corridor, something caught Enzo's attention. On the dusty floor lay a leather bag that looked strikingly familiar.
"That's... the previous investigation team's bag," Enzo said firmly. He quickly moved to the bag and examined it. "It's not dusty. It hasn't been here long."
Modeus approached, eyeing the bag with sharp scrutiny. "So they really made it this far. But where are they now?"
Abigail scanned the area cautiously. Despite the corridor's ancient appearance and the cracks in its walls, it still showed signs of recent activity. "We need to be careful. If the investigation team left this bag behind, they were probably in danger."
They continued through the narrow corridor illuminated by lights. The creaking of metal and faint moans began to echo from afar, heightening their alertness. When they reached the end of the corridor, they found themselves in a large room that resembled a basement. The room was filled with metal tables, surgical instruments scattered around, and, in one corner, a few human bodies.
Modeus stepped closer to the bodies, which were now more visible. The human remains were gruesomely dismembered, as if they had been used for horrific experiments. Severed arms, legs, and other body parts were strewn across the metal tables and floor. Some of the body parts appeared to be starting to decay, though not all, suggesting that some had been recently severed.
Abigail closed her eyes for a moment, holding her breath. "Horrible..." he whispered softly.
Enzo, with a stern expression, examined one of the corpses. "They were tortured and used for experiments. This is clearly the work of someone methodical, not wild monsters."
Modeus, with a cruel smile on his face, observed the body parts with an oddly nostalgic gaze, as if analyzing a piece of art filled with cruelty. "Fascinating. Whoever did this had very skilled hands."
As they continued inspecting the bodies, the sound of metal scraping suddenly came from a door on the other side of the room. The large steel door slowly creaked open with an ear-piercing noise. From within, human groans of suffering could be heard. Modeus turned, his eyes narrowing with curiosity.
"There's something alive in there," Modeus said with a grin. "It'll be interesting to see what that creature is up to behind the door."
Abigail and Enzo immediately took their positions, weapons at the ready. They knew that whatever was behind that door was likely to be a significant threat.
The three of them exchanged glances before Enzo moved forward, preparing to fully open the door. But before he could touch the handle, the groans from behind the door grew clearer, accompanied by the sound of heavy, intermittent footsteps. Something was moving closer.
Abigail took a deep breath. "Get ready. We might be facing something even more terrifying than what we've seen so far."
Modeus, clearly relishing the situation, stood tall, eyes gleaming with anticipation. "The more horrifying, the more interesting. Let's see what awaits us."
The door creaked open slowly, and the groans filled the room with a grim aura. From behind the shadows emerged a figure that was barely recognizable as human. Its body was partially replaced by mechanical organs, as though its flesh and bones had been stripped away and replaced with squeaking and creaking machinery. One of its eyes was still natural, while the other had been replaced with a glowing red robotic lens, casting a faint light in the dim room.
The being, or what was left of it, crawled toward Modeus, Abigail, and Enzo. Its remaining hand trembled as it reached out, as if begging for help. With ragged breaths, it uttered broken words, "P… please… help… me..."
Its mechanical heart emitted a clicking sound, each beat producing drops of lubricant that flowed like dark, shiny blood onto the metal floor, forming a glossy black pool beneath it. Every word it spoke sounded like endless suffering. It was as if this human body was trapped in a relentless struggle between life and death, its vital organs replaced by machinery that couldn't perfectly harmonize with the remaining human flesh.
Abigail took a step back, his face a mix of shock and anger. "What have they done to them…?" he murmured, his voice choked.
Enzo, usually so resolute, looked visibly shaken by the tortured figure before him. He gripped his weapon, standing guard but hesitating to move further. Something was profoundly wrong in this place.
Suddenly, footsteps echoed from behind the half-robotic figure. From the darker shadows beyond the door, a man dressed in a white doctor's coat emerged. The coat was stained with dried blood, creating a horrifying contrast against the once-clean fabric. The man stood casually, arms folded across his chest, an unsettling smile playing on his thin lips.
"Quite the fascinating experiment," the man said calmly, though his eyes sparkled with an uncontrollable madness. "My plan to lure in more subjects is working perfectly. Scatter enough monsters, and humans will come running. Very efficient."
Modeus regarded the man with a sinister grin, his sharp eyes scanning the doctor's attire as if he were savoring the sight of a madman. "Ah, it seems all lunatics have a penchant for wearing the same kind of clothes," Modeus remarked with an eerie laugh that echoed off the stone walls of the room.
The doctor's smile widened, seemingly unaffected by Modeus's comment. "Well, that's one way to look at it. But whether crazy or not, I'm the one in charge here. My name is Wilfrid Rochette," he said, stepping forward and fixing his gaze on the three visitors. "Doctor, scientist, and robotic mechanic. Here, I'm exploring the perfect integration of man and machine."
Wilfrid glanced at the half-robotic body crawling weakly in front of them before returning his gaze to Modeus with an oddly proud expression. "Behold my masterpiece. Originally, he was just a dying human. But with a little mechanical enhancement, he's now almost limitless. Although, yes… the integration is still not perfect."
Modeus chuckled and moved closer to the mechanical-human figure lying on the floor. "Quite entertaining, Wilfrid. Very entertaining," he said. "But I feel you're playing too much with human flesh."
Abigail, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up. His face was a mix of disgust and anger. "This isn't an experiment. It's torture! You've destroyed their lives and turned them into… monsters. What exactly do you want?"
Wilfrid looked at Abigail for a moment before letting out a small laugh. "Torture, you say? No, this is evolution. Humanity will never advance without the push of technology. Machines are our future. You might not understand it now, but sooner or later, everyone will. The human body is weak, vulnerable, full of limitations. With technology, we can overcome all that."
Enzo tightened his grip on his weapon, his eyes warily tracking Wilfrid's movements. "So, you're the one controlling those monsters," he said quietly, almost as a statement.
Wilfrid nodded, his face lighting up with more excitement as he spoke. "Exactly. Those monsters are just the first step in my grand plan. With a bit of technological enhancement and quantum manipulation, they've become stronger, faster, smarter. And when foolish humans like you come close, they make perfect test subjects."
Modeus sighed dramatically, clearly bored by the conversation. "So, what's your move now, mad doctor? Are you going to send more of those disgusting creatures to fight us, or do you have something more interesting in mind?"
Wilfrid smiled, but this time his smile was colder. "Oh, I have something far more intriguing behind the next door. And believe me, this time… you'll witness the true marvel of human-machine integration."
Abigail growled softly, his fingers tensing around his weapon handle. "I've had enough of this nonsense. Modeus, we need to move now."
Modeus rolled his eyes, then stepped forward with a casual stride. "Honestly, I was hoping for a bit more blood. But fine… let's see what our mad doctor has in store for us."
With the tension rising, they braced themselves for whatever awaited behind the next door.
***