- Time Skip (an hour later) -
- Are you sure that this is a good idea? - I asked, standing on the roof of a restaurant in the Orbital City with the others.
- It's our only way in and we need to find the supervisor! Someone kidnapped him and they're up to no good! It's our duty to thwart them! - Arika replied, watching the vehicles below us.
- I see a truck. Let's get ready! - Amber told us, also on the lookout.
The truck she mentioned was a garbage truck. It looked like a floating white and black box the size of a car with a hollow roof so that trash can be dumped in with ease. The truck stops at every building, right beneath a special pipe through witch the trash is dumped. Our plan was to jump into the truck and be carried into the Junkyard to bypass security. I was concerned over the plan's success, but as Arika said, we don't have another option.
I peeked out from behind a giant pizza sign and saw the truck arriving. One by one, Arika, Sebastian and Claudius jumped into it. Amber turned around to face me.
- Come on, we don't have much time! - Amber leaped down as well.
I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and followed her down.
The landing was soft, because I landed facefirst on a pile of garbage. My fall wasn't as gracious as the others, but it got the job done. The truck quickly moved on. As I got, I heard a squishy noise beneath me.
- What was that? - I asked.
- Food leftovers, plastic bags, old bottles and probably a bunch of other things - Arika replied. I moved forward with disgust, but tried to hide it with mixed results.
I didn't see much outside of the truck, as the walls were very tall, so the small opening that we jumped through was now my window to the world. I saw the countless lights, escalators and people as we left the Orbital City. We stopped a few times to pickup some more junk and we had to hide in the truck's corners to avoid being crushed by falling trash. Eventually, the sickening onslaught came to an end as we reached the elevator. I breathed a sigh of relief and so did the others. As we were coming down, I saw the rooftops of several other floors. I found out that floor 2 was the Robot Bay, which was a place where the hundreds of robots were charged, repaired and conserved. We quickly reached the Junkyard. The ceiling was gray and musty and square-shaped dirty lamps illuminated what I could only assume was a corridor. Suddenly, the box tilted and dropped its contents, including us, into a dark pit. We all screamed and time seemed to slow down as we fell.
Luckily, the terror didn't last that long, as we soon landed on an enormous pile of garbage. We found ourselves stuck in the Junkyard.
- Okay, we made it. Now what? - Claudius asked.
- We try to find a computer or a robot so that I can pinpoint the AI supervisor's precise location - Arika responded calmly.
I looked around. All of the walls were dark gray and musty, just like ceiling from earlier. The garbage truck dissapeared from our sight as we fell. The piles of trash stretched into the darkness. Several robotic cranes were grabbing heaps of trash and dropping into machines that I presumed were compactors, incinerators or shredders. Yellow, grated lights barely lit up the dark scrapyard. Despite their warm colour, the Junkyard had a cold and almost somber atmosphere. Arika took a few steps forward before sinking into a pile of garbage. We instantly came to her rescue and ended up having to dig into the heap to get her out. Her black suit was now stained with a weird substance. I really didn't want to know what it was.
- Ohh, thanks. I guess we need to watch our step - She brushed off a banana peel from her face. We continued forward, now making sure to not sink. It felt like navigating a squishy desert full of quicksand.
Somewhere in the distance, a bright light flashed ahead of us. As we got closer, it turned out to be a giant robot the size of a bulldozer. It also looked like one, with caterpillar tracks and a yellow-black colour pallete. There were two things that set it apart from a bulldozer: the lack of a cabin, due to the machine being autonomous, and secondly, the giant metal claw at the front. The shape reminded me of a fly trap; a two-part "jaw" with sharp "teeth". The machine filled its claw with garbage and drove off into the distance.
- Maybe that robot can help us? - Sebastian wondered.
- Maybe, but getting close to that behemoth wouldn't end well as it would probably grab us too - Arika replied.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLV2bkYJdrH
The bulldozer delivered the waste to a robotic crane which grabbed the trash and dropped it into a pit. Arika grabbed a pair of binoculars, however, they weren't too useful in the dark, so we ended up attatching Sebastian's flashlight to it using a sticky substance that we dug up from the trash pile we were standing on. It was quite a disgusting ordeal, but it helped in seeing anything. Arika leaped forward, albeit this time being careful not to sink into the trash.
- What's going on? - I approached her.
- There's a small room next to the crane. I think that there might be a computer in there, so let's go there and see if I'm right - she told me.
- We don't have much else to do in here after all - Amber followed us.
After a harrowing fifteen minute walk, during which all of us had to be rescued from the treacherous trash piles, we finally reached the crane. We entered the dimly lit room all covered in unidentified waste. Luckily, there was a computer in there. It was protected by a password which Arika quickly circumvented. As the orange screen lit up, we found out that we just overrided the automatic program and gained manual control of the crane. With another bulldozer coming closer and closer to the crane, we had no time to waste. Arika quickly opened the log and looked through its lines as we anxiously watched the dozer.
- After getting rid of the insane amount of background noise, I found it. Collector 5-C. That's where he is. - Arika quickly logged out, reactivating the automatic program.
We had to hide beneath the dirty dask so that the bulldozer wouldn't notice us. As it left the crane, we snuck out of the room and continued our trek. The collector was west of our current location, so we used a compass that I brought with me. I don't know how it got into my pocket, but was incredibly convenient at the moment.
As we got close to the collector, it looked like the other pits we've seen, but much larger. Sebastian stumbled over something and quickly got up. As he gazed upon the object he tripped over, it turned out to be an old astronaut helmet. We scrutinized its design and it perfectly matched in helmets we saw on the video of the ambush. Red outline and cracked visor.
- It's proof that the kidnappers were here! This ought to be the real deal! - Sebastian shouted.
We now ran towards the compactor and looked into the big pit as we reached it. At its bottom, surrounded by garbage, was the AI supervisor's body, We recognized him as he was wearing the same suit as in the video. Without hesitation, we leaped into the pit. Amber checked his pulse, but there was something off.
- This guy has a weird texture. It feels like... plastic? - Amber felt the supervisors face.
- Wait... - Claudius examined the face. We shook the body and did a few other things to determine if he was alive or not, when all of a sudden, the head came off, revealing a metal spring beneath.
- It was a mannquin! - Arika exclaimed, annoyed. It was a decoy.
However, there was something far more worrying than that. With a metallic clank, the walls started closing in. The collector was, in fact, a massive trash compactor and we were in it.
- IT WAS ALL A TRAP! WE'RE GONNA GET CRUSHED!!! - Sebastian screamed into the air. We really were in a death trap.
As the walls continued closing in, several thoughts rushed through my head. Memories of my distant childhood, like buying toys or moving into out home in Florida as well as more recent thoughts, like my decision to participate in this mission. Did I make the wrong choice? Should I have returned to Earth and lived a normal life? The worst part was that my mum, Justine, didn't even know where I was and she had no idea that I was about to die. I imagined her crying over my demise as my eyes started getting teary.
Suddenly, a loud explosion bursted into my ears. Arika used the dynamite in her utility belt to blow a hole in the floor. The trash was falling through it as if the hole was a whirlpool. Impulsively, we jumped through the hole, landing on a metal grate. We evaded the trash compactor and survived. However, this wasn't the time to rest. We were fooled by our enemies and were stranded in the Junkyard, having barely escaped death. I spotted some metal stairs and started descending as my friends followed me. I was deeply thankful to Arika for saving our lives, but I had to push that side as we went into the unknown. The stairs led us into a fork. We decided that Amber, Claudius and Sebastian went to the right as Arika and I ran off to the left.
- Arika - I started - Thank you for saving us.
- No problem. That's why I'm here - she smiled at me.
Unfortunately, her grin turned into a frown as we heard some footsteps coming from both ahead and behind us. Arika decided to confront whoever was stalking us while I stared forward in anxiety. Abruptly, two muscular men grabbed me and dragged me away.
- Chris! - Arika exclaimed, but was ambushed by another enemy agent as a fight ensued.
A third man shone a flashlight into my face.
- You're under arrest - he said in a tone that sent chills down my spine.
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and then Add to home screen.