He pictured her in the other train, probably sitting beside Lily. Was she talking or thinking about him? The twins always said that she constantly brought him up as a topic. Hopefully she doesn't get hurt on this mission. Hopefully this mission wasn't as hard as the last one they'd been through.
And now, he thought about Ollie. Gale had always seen him as the leader type, but he easily gave it away to Erin. He had a fight with the twins in the elevator before about his own leadership during this rift run.
I get it though. Leading is hard. He needed to make the right decisions all the freaking time. It was something he couldn't do himself.
Gale's head turned to the other side of the train, staring across to the other end where seats sat empty. Lily wasn't much of a talker. Always on point and serious about everything except for the times she'd lash out at the twins.
Always the twins… Gale missed them too. Kyle's endless chain of crude jokes and references. The way Clyde would randomly pull out a twinkie from out of nowhere like he had his own storage box. He always wondered what twinkies tasted like. Never got the chance to have any snacks at the orphanage and even back on Earth. Couldn't even buy McDs that one time as a homeless dust corrupted man had scared the wits out of him.
They were his team. That's what they had become… or maybe even family as dysfunctional as they were. Would they think of him the same, as family? And now, he was stuck alone on this stupid mission that he was forced to do.
It made sense though.
This mission was to attain one of Cev's swords. As much as he didn't like keeping secrets, he was afraid of what his friends would think if he told them about him being a Dainv or being not human. The kids did always call him a monster at the playground.
His phone suddenly crackled as Erin's voice came through, "You approach Courage Sector. This place hosts an infestation of bio-technological flesh structures. My instruments do not distinguish between mobile and static aberrations. Caution is paramount."
Gale pulled himself upright, swinging his legs off the seat. He rubbed his eyes, mentally shaking off the longing he felt for the team. "Got it. I'll check things out before I leave the train. How are the others doing on their mission?"
"They have arrived at their sector. Flesh warriors have fallen due to their efforts. The defense hall shall soon face their assault."
So they already met up with those flesh warriors, fighting without him. Rachel was the only one that could be the front line in that group. Everyone else was squishy. Ollie's smart and competent. He would know what to do in any situation.
"And Rachel? How is she handling it?" The question slipped out before he could stop himself.
"You will see the woman of fire when you return to Protection Sector. Focus on your task, Gale. Distractions serve neither you nor them," Erin said.
Typical. Never giving a straight answer to anything that actually mattered.
Gale sighed. "Fine."
The train began to slow as it approached Courage sector's transit hub. Gale pocketed his phone and stood up, stretching his arms above his head until his joints popped.
Time to focus. He took one last deep breath before moving to the door. The sleek metal glass windowed door slid open with a hiss, revealing the transit hub.
What greeted him was a flat expanse, a box basically. Fleshy creep covered the whole space from left to right. If the creep wasn't here, he could imagine that this whole place was just a complete box with nowhere to hide.
Gale smirked. Of course. It fit the name of the sector, Courage. In this place, there'd be nowhere to hide. He'd have to face the onslaught himself if a horde came at him. And somehow, that made it worse than Solace sector. At least that had the temples that could be used as environmental advantage. Dainv Combat Mastery excelled at places with lots of manoeuvrability he could use from the environment.
His eyes turned to the corner of the flat box of a transit hub. A giant flesh structure with a glowing pod of probably fluid was attached to the wall. Inside was a small ball of flesh that looked to be multiplicating at a rapid rate.
Analyze.
[Sacred Womb]
[Stage: Awakened.]
[Description: Houses cultivation fluid for flesh units.]
Gale's hand moved to his weapon. An embryo sack or whatever. Something was growing in there. If he destroyed it now, that would be one less monster to deal with later, right? But then again, would it alert enemies if he killed it?
"Guide, should I kill that pod thing?" he whispered, eyes carefully scanning the room for any movement.
[Action is ill advised. Killing flesh structures may alert hostiles.]
"Right. I knew that." Stupid Guide. Always stating the obvious like he was some kind of idiot. Of course killing the pod would alert the others. That's basic infiltration tactics.
For now, he didn't feel any of the eye watchers, which was fortunate. He hadn't summoned Dani yet.
Manifest. Passive. Gale mentally said as he imagined his voice to be as low and gravelly as possible. He didn't need to actually say that. All he needed to do was will Dani to manifest in a passive state.
A small rip appeared in front of him that looked to be a tear in reality. Dani appeared, squeezing through the tear, blinking at him cutely.
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Somehow, Dani's aesthetic had grown on him. He couldn't think of anything other than 'cute' and 'cuddly' when describing her.
"Dani, sit on my head again and just look around," Gale said.
Dani sat on top of his head, clutching at his hair with her small bat-like legs.
True sight detector eyeball locked and loaded. Gale stepped off the train, putting his weight onto the squishy flesh creep floor. It gave under his weight as something that looked like white liquid pus squeezed out of the flesh. It smelled something like shit, and he didn't want to guess what kind of vein or tube he had just stepped on.
Gale picked his way across the transit hub, heading for where the door to the defense hall should be. His boots made soft sucking sounds with each step, which would either squeeze out white, brown, or red liquid that he didn't want to identify.
But when he reached the end of the transit hub, he found the way to the door or where the door should have been. It was completely broken in.
Figures.
The next room would have been the defense hall that led to the Core Chamber. Whoever the proctor was probably had its minions break through this however long ago.
Stepping through the empty doorway, he saw the crumpled up sliding door to the right of him, lying on the floor. Beyond the door was a tunnel, and a dim light shined at the end of it. Flesh creep covered the whole tunnel, reminding him of what Kyle said about going through the innards of a giant creature.
Gale walked through the tunnel quickly, making squelching sounds on the floor. Reaching the end of the tunnel, it opened into a vast coliseum identical to the one they saw in the hive memory store, but transformed by the infestation of flesh. Fleshy spires rose throughout the stadium, attaching themselves from the floor all the way up to the high ceiling that could probably fit a skyscraper. Thick veins snaked across the floor and up above, connecting the grotesque network of the abominations.
Studying the arena, the exit stood at the far-end from where he entered. But walking through the stadium would expose him. The only cover available were the fleshy structures and spires.
Distort activated, and Gale became nigh invisible. Hopefully, this is good enough, and hopefully the eyeball watcher things didn't have true sight.
He picked his way across the stadium floor, careful not to disturb the larger veins. Some of the flesh spires pulsed faster as he passed, as if sensing his presence.
Gale quickened his pace, the back of his neck prickling with the sensation of being watched even though Breath of the Void gave him no warnings, nor did Dani. It could just be the eerie atmosphere, as the only thing he could hear was the multiple heartbeats that came from everywhere, the flesh creep, the structures, and the spires.
When he reached the far end of the door, the Core Chamber matched the same layout as the Harmony and Solace sector. At the centre, a circular platform stood empty where the Origin Core should have been. Only flaking flesh of veins and tubes remained on the platform, crumbling like dried-up meat.
Gale crossed to the inner defense hall, finding another flesh infested coliseum. He crossed over to the far end again, now entering the corridor that would lead to the elevator.
Walking through the corridor, he ignored the numerous flesh pods that were attached all over the walls and into the elevator he went.
"Erin, I'm in the elevator," he said into his phone.
The doors of the elevator suddenly closed as the platform shuddered and began to descend. It picked up speed, almost making his body weightless for a split second.
"Why haven't I encountered any enemies yet?" Gale asked into the phone. "Didn't you say this was one of the most infested sectors?"
"I have redirected the guardians to occupy the abomination's forces," Erin replied. "The small boy, Oliver, had done us all a great favour in diplomacy, giving me back the reins as general commander. I will allow him a wish later."
Gale smirked. "That sounds like a roundabout way of complimenting Ollie. Why can't you just be honest?"
"I speak with honesty," Erin said. "Stop this useless chatter."
There she goes again, Gale sighed. Someone who doesn't know how to small talk. To be fair, he also didn't know how to do small talk until he learned from the Communications 101 article. He could understand that small talk did always feel weird. Heck, even now, it still felt weird.
The elevator continued its descent. Collapse Era. Even Guide had mentioned that after he came back to Earth. Now Vianne had said it too. It sounded like a post-apocalypse of some sort.
"What's the Collapse Era?" he said suddenly into the phone.
Erin spoke immediately, "I wish not to speak of it."
Gale sighed once again. It would make sense if she had lived through the era. Bad memories are always hard to talk about. But before he could say sorry, the phone crackled again.
"While the army was at the front line of the war against the tide, we were backstabbed by the traitors," Erin said. "The Dainvs who did not want to join the Cesnv were culled; thus began the Collapse Era, scattering the Dainv amongst the stars."
"Did you lose anyone back home?" he asked softly.
A pause before she answered. "My children."
"I-I'm sorry," he said immediately.
"Your apology confuses me. The traitor's actions are not your fault. Stand tall, and do not apologize," Erin said.
"Right," Gale shook his head.
The elevator continued its silent hum. What would have mom felt when she had to leave him at the orphanage? Dad didn't even look back at him one final time before they left in that car. Even Erin didn't sound that impacted by losing her children.
Maybe if he told Rachel or any of the guys about his insecurities, they'd laugh at him. Adults were supposed to be stoic, always logical. They weren't supposed to talk about mom or dad, about missing them like a baby or a child.
Right?
Being an adult wasn't fair. And now, he was supposed to just accept his fate of being what they called a 'failsafe', whatever that meant. Keep connections or fight alone, which is it?
"Do you miss your children?" Gale asked, not caring if she didn't answer.
His phone crackled immediately, but Erin did not speak. For a long moment, it felt like she was trying to find words. And when she seemed to finally found her words, she sighed heavily before speaking.
"I miss them. Too much."
"Do you think my mom and dad also missed me when they left me?"
"After leaving you, they must've cried long and hard. Maybe even knowing they will no longer see you."
"What were your children like?"
"I had two girls and a boy who was the youngest. The girls took after their father while the boy took after me."
"Did you teach them lots of things?"
"I did. A lot. All three of them liked learning, watching videos, and reading."
"They must've been really smart."
"They really were."
The elevator shuddered to a stop, and the doors hissed open. Looking through the doorway, the Courage sector's form revealed itself. A vast expanse of emptiness that stretched to the horizon. In the middle of it all was a spiralling tower. On top of the tower were four prongs.
The tower was infested with thick flesh creeps that reached up close to the top before looking like it was sliced apart. Its veins and tendrils looked to be fighting to crawl up to the top before being sliced off by something invisible.
On the road to the tower were flesh monsters that were all torn apart. Some he recognized, like the flesh warriors. While others looked to be a perversion of humankind, having a enlarged head with a mouth that stretched across its whole face, no eyes.
Another one looked like a normal human, except wearing robes that made it look like a priest. The only difference was that its head was that of a skull, while the rest of its body was of flesh and skin, only marred by scars.
Breath of the Void's tendrils reached out to scout the area and towards the large tower. However, before it could reach the top of the tower, it was pushed out, but not before he felt and saw what was there.
It was a sword, covered in dark clouds that seemed to ripple against reality. The form of the sword itself could not be made out.
Around the sword were three monsters of indescribable being, or maybe it was just one. A goat, a lion, and a dragon in the same position of space, blended into one. Its form was a grotesque mix of mouths and hands and a crown of eyes with independent movement.
It was as if the word 'fear' was condensed into a single monster, as Gale's legs seemed to not want to go out of the elevator.
Run, Gale. Do not look back. Just run.