Story Reader / Floating Record / ER06 When Day Breaks / Story
Beep—beep beep beep—beep—beep beep beep—
A rhythmic buzzing pierces through Trojan's hazy consciousness. As she instinctively tries to move, pain surges through her body.
Hnngh—hnngh—
With a hoarse groan, Trojan fights through the pain, her arm inching desperately toward the terminal that Bridget left within arm's reach.
Beep—
With a soft chime, the terminal connects.
Hgh...
Help... help...
Help her...
...
Following those two faint, mumbled words, the terminal falls completely silent.
You instinctively call out to the terminal twice more. There is no response.
I'm ready, Commandant.
Hold up, we're coming with you. Teddy, where are you?
I'm still trying to lock onto their signal source. What, you think this mine's an open field? Like we can pinpoint it in seconds?
And let you go in alone? This is hardly the time for that kind of talk.
The mine's collapsed twice, and that's not counting deliberate sabotage. You really think you can navigate it safely without a professional guide?
Their mission scope doesn't go nearly as far. Aren't Bridget and Trojan even deeper down?
Engineering Force has its protocols. In situations like this, they can only conduct rescue operations at the upper levels. Going any deeper would be reckless. I won't let my people take such unnecessary risks.
But I can take that risk myself. I'm already here, and Bridget's in trouble—there's no way I'm just going to stand by and watch.
I've located the general area of the communication terminal. We need to hurry up.
While I don't have any geological expertise, judging from the fluctuations and interruptions in the signal, the situation down there is getting worse.
After a quick equipment check, they join a newly prepared Engineering Force team and descend deeper into the mine together.
SHING—
Blades flash through the air as Lucia slices through the Corrupted, revealing a Construct lying beneath it.
...Who...?
Over here!
Before Karenina can speak, two team members are already jogging over. They kneel down as they have countless times before and begin treating the fallen Construct with practiced efficiency.
Penetrating wound in the abdomen. Vital signs are poor, but we've still got hope here.
You handle the wound—use Kit Three for first aid. I'll secure the frame. Captain, we're pulling back now.
Fall back. Alert the other squad members on your way back—search only at this depth, following standard time limits. Don't proceed any deeper.
The two members nod in acknowledgment and disappear around the corner, carrying the injured person.
Sigh... It's just the two of us now.
Teddy, where's the signal coming from? Which way should we go?
Not sure.
Teddy remains hunched over her keyboard, all the while without looking up from her keyboard as her fingers fly across the keys.
What?
Look, I don't know which way to go. Sure, I hacked into the mine's infrastructure system, but the cave-ins and battles have wrecked too much damage—the data's all scrambled now.
I can only pinpoint the general direction. Can't tell you exactly how to get there—it's not like I'm the architect of this place.
Besides, even if the actual architect showed up right now, they probably wouldn't know how to get through either.
With an exasperated sigh, Teddy finally looks up and points to a side wall.
It's down this way, but... what, you planning to smash open a path with that hammer?
...Hey Lucia, do you remember how we got up here in the first place?
I remember, but it doesn't really matter. Like Teddy said, most of these tunnels are either buried or altered now.
The few remaining official paths might be blocked by equipment, and Kurono has all the access permissions for the lower levels.
And don't forget, we've already hit two dead ends just now.
What—
Looks like this is our only option for now.
Skych stops in front of a room, growling softly while pawing at the door.
Moni... what was it again... Oh right, monitoring room. That's what it's called.
Could this be... the place?!
CRRRREEEEAK—
The gentle giant hand suddenly exerts its strength, causing the metal door to groan and warp under tremendous force.
Skych enters the room, finding the scene both familiar and foreign to his memories. For a moment, he loses focus as his perception wavers, while memories and reality blur together in his mind.
As a monitor-like device catches Skych's eye, his demeanor shifts to one of certainty, as if he's finally found what he's been looking for.
Skych clenches his fist and suddenly lashes out at the device with explosive force.
Ah... that's right, this is it—this is the monitoring room!
You're all evidence, and I'm not leaving any traces. Norman is clean. It's just Kurono that's filthy.
You... and you, too...
As Skych growls and wreaks havoc in the room, a figure briefly flashes past the doorway.
Bridget glances at the "Storage Room" sign on the door, then carefully peeks inside to check on Skych.
...
—Huh?!
Sensing someone watching him, the massive figure quickly turns around, stirring up a gust of wind that sends shattered equipment parts flying in all directions.
Bridget quickly withdraws behind the door as her mechanical components whir into high gear.
Gh…
Too afraid to even lift a finger, she takes a hard swallow.
Hm? Hmm... just a rat.
Ah... yes, the mines are crawling with rats. They wear human skin and leech off Norman like parasites.
After a brief pause and hearing no further sounds, Skych slowly turns back around. His clouded pupils fill with disgust as he mutters to himself and crushes the objects in his hands.
This dirty...
CLANG—
And disgusting piece of...!
CLANG—
Witnessing this from outside the door, Bridget takes careful, measured steps, inching away from the room as quietly as possible.
Once at a safe distance, Bridget suddenly breaks into a sprint toward the monitoring room.
Huff... puff... Good thing he's lost it. I need to hurry before he comes to his senses...
Despite the considerable distance between them, the echo of her footsteps inevitably carries back to where she had been.
Tap tap tap—
The faint echo of footsteps pierces through Skych's clouded mind, granting him a moment of clarity.
His towering figure suddenly goes still. Inch by inch, he turns his head, scanning every corner of the room.
No... wrong place.
The giant narrows its eyes, leaning out of the room to peer into the darkness at the end of the corridor.
Could it be... over there?
