Chapter 7

I sneezed the dust in these old tunnels somehow lingered even with the air refreshers humming in the background providing a steady breeze against my face. I had explored several tunnels on the first 2 levels and was now making my way down the third tunnel. The airlock was at the end of the tunnel and past that was the Martian cave system, it extended for kilometers and in fact had never been fully explored. There were a few tunnels that branched out to the surface near some old abandoned mining camps. I wanted to see if the camps were still accessible from the tunnels, If they were it would make a great back door if I purchased one of the camps. I had given myself the morning to explore, then off to the guild hall and then to receive some training.

As I passed through the airlock I noted that it was in perfect shape, old but functional, it would do in an emergency. Mars may seem modern now but all safety equipment was still kept fully functional and ready to use at a moment's notice. Once past the airlock I grabbed a torch from the rack located on the wall and continued down the tunnel, I had slipped my rebreather on in the airlock and engaged the exploration suits heaters. I was warm and breathing air that while it had a slight smell to it was perfectly healthy. I had about 5 hours before I would need to recharge the suit's batteries but I was not worried, as a cyborg I could survive without the air and heat the suit provided, but people would notice and questions would be asked.

There was a thick layer of dust on the floor and it was apparent that the natural tunnels had been expanded, but there was no doubt that this was an original tunnel. I continued down the tunnels my vision tracking everything, but all was quiet. Eventually, I came to the first exit and made my way to the surface, this airlock was in perfect working order also. Leaving the tunnels, I observed the sand and stones all around, almost in front of me was the camp. It was one building that comprised of three pods joined by tunnels. I entered the first pod and the lights activated as the airlock cycled. Walking quickly through all three pods I noted that one was a housing unit, the second a greenhouse with built in moisture recycling and the third was a warehouse shop. It was all empty but it had possibilities. I called Noa who had been watching everything and asked her what she thought?

“If we were to invest some capital it would make a fine base, in addition, if we made a landing pad we could have the shuttle there which is preferable to keeping it up here. The cost of a landing pad and hanger along with reactivating the camp is within out budget. The most expense outlay will be the water for the greenhouse, but once that is done this camp will be self-sufficient and secure. Should we buy it, Captain?”

“I think so Noa it meets all our needs; can you take care of it and give me an eta on how long it will be before it is livable? Also, why don’t you head back to the asteroid and get yourself another body, but before you do I want you to hack into anything to do with cyborgs, let's see if we can’t upgrade our tech. While state of the art for its time and still functional today our cyborg tech is well past it’s prime. We need to be cutting edge to be successful. The ease that your body was destroyed showed me that. I want us to be safer and as long as Bai Ong is out there hunting me I will take any edge I can get.”

“Yes, Captain I agree, I will see what I can learn and make any necessary purchases for upgrades. I will keep in touch with you and let you know when the camp is ready. What name do you want to register the camp as?”

“Good questions Noa, I have no thought about that, but since this is going to be our home, then let’s call it Home Base Alpha. Also, why don't you prep 4 more cyborgs and upload Ai’s into them, we could use a crew here and on the asteroid base. I will feel better knowing that someone is around watching our stuff when we are not there. That is all I can think of Noa, I will talk to you later.”

“You take care also, I don’t want to come back to find I have to download you into a new body, Noa out.”

I sat for a moment thinking about the conversation I had just had, it seemed strange but Noa was beginning to develop a personality beyond the scope of her programming. A ships Ai never left the ship and I wondered if giving her a body and allowing her to experience life was a catalyst. Her coding allowed for self-growth and development. I suspected all the additional stimuli was advancing her development. It would be interesting to see where this went.

I began to make my way back to the airlock to return to the city. Once I recycle through the lock I began to walk back up the tunnel. I had been walking for a while when something caught my attention, I heard something, a human would not have been able to hear it but my frequency range was much greater as a cyborg. The noise was coming from behind me, and while I could not understand it the sound had an urgency to it that called out to me. I stopped for a moment a but heard the sound again, this time there was a pain and fear in the noise. Swearing to myself I started to jog back down the tunnel all the while listening. The noise repeated itself twice more and then died off but by then I had taken the side tunnel which opened up to a small cavern and I saw what was happening.

Martians, there were 2 Martians in this cavern and one was in distress while the other one was clearly on the offensive. As the taller one swept back its arm-like tentacles to attack the smaller one I reached out and grabbed it. Spinning it around I for the first time used my cyborg's strength and threw it against the far wall where it hung for a moment before falling to the floor, suddenly it arose and with a flicker of what looked like dark lightning that tracked all over its body, it disappeared. My vision began to flicker through all the different wavelength as the combat computer kicked in but no matter where I looked the Martian was gone or at least invisible to me. Turning to the other one I knelt down and had a closer look. Humanoid, female, age unknown but looked mid-twenties. She had greenish skin and could pass for someone who had been modified, that was one of the latest trends, to have your appearance genetically modified. Expensive and one way but hordes of people were doing it.

People were strange, both in real life and in the game which took a lot of its cues from real life. The girl's eyes opened and she slowly focused on me. Her gaze was mesmerizing and I fel drawn towards this alien girl. She studied me for a moment then spoke, “You have rescued me, from the Draiktha but I am not safe. If you will escort me to safety I will reward you. You must make up your mind soon I don’t have much time left.”

A message flowed across my vision and I read, you have been presented with a hidden quest, this is a time escort it is a onetime quest with a variable reward, do you accept?

Wow, this was amazing for several reasons, no one had ever discovered the Martians, and a hidden quest were very rare and offered rewards far beyond what a player would normally receive along with the fact that it opened up a new faction tab for me, one that no other players would have yet. In a game that depended on trade and resources along with an open market having access to a new faction was huge. I accepted the quest and helped the girl to her feet, she was clearly weak and needed my support.

“You probably have many questions, maybe I can answer some of them, first my name is Cliathano and I am a member of the tribe of the red sand. Mars has several tribes that are united together under the banner of the Prince. There is also a renegade tribe that have allied themselves to a faction of humans, those that are referred to as pirates. They are the Draiktha the people of the dark sand, who have sworn to rid Mars of all humans. We are at war with them as the Prince seeks to introduce our people to your people. I was on an observation mission when the Draiktha came across us in the tunnels. My two companions were killed along with the other Draiktha but I was wounded and hunted by the remaining one. Now if we can make it back to my people I will receive healing aid.”

The girl was then silent as she was out of energy. We traveled deeper in the tunnels, with Cliathano pointing the way. She eventually looked at me and asked, “How is it that you are still breathing and can see in this darkness? I know that your clothing only provided power for so long yet you are not affected as are other humans.”

I grunted and then realizing I needed to stay in her good graces began to speak. “I am not as other men, I cannot explain it but the things that would stop any other human will not stop me. I cannot explain more, it is trust, you must trust me as I have trusted you.” We looked at each other for several seconds before she nodded.

“I have no choice, you are putting yourself in danger to save me, I do trust you and I thank you.” Lifting her hand to my head she circled her thumb and forefinger around my eye and said, “I acknowledge my debt to you and even if the council rejects you I gift you the Ak’amai may the Spirits bless you. Suddenly her head dropped to my shoulder and she collapsed against me, reaching out I grabbed her and began to carry her, my vision showing everything in the darkness of the tunnel. After several minutes Cliathano opened her eyes and looked around, she tried to stand but I told her to stop and rest, it was clear she was at the end of her resources. I continued to travel as she guided me but my thoughts were on what had occurred.

When she had done whatever she had done I had an icon appear in the top left corner of my vision, as soon as focused on it became clear and I could activate it. I read the tooltip which stated, Ak’amai the ability to access the spirit realm. What the hell did that mean, I thought. I opened up the forums but did not expect to find anything as it seemed the only players who knew anything about Martians were the Pirates. I was very curious about this new ability but realized that this was not the time to experiment. I really wanted to get Cliathano back to her people and receive the reward. I was also expecting that this would open up a quest chain if I succeeded.

Cliathano finally told me to stop, we had been traveling for about 2 hours, and I had been moving fast once started to carry her. She struggled to her feet and made a series of gestures in front of a wall which suddenly was not there. As she collapsed I grabbed her and stepped through the entry way, looking back I saw the wall reappear. Glancing forward I saw two rows of three Martian warriors in front of me spreading out to encircle me, with what looked like energy spears pointing in my directions. They did not look happy and Cliathano was now unconscious, the act of opening the door had drained her.

One of the warriors handed his weapon to the man beside him and grabbed Cliathano from me, turning he walked away. I looked at him and then at the remaining guards who gestured for me to follow, keeping me completely encircled they led me to a mall opening in the tunnel. I entered and by the time I turned around there was only solid wall in front of me, I was in total darkness in a small cave with no exit. I have been in some tight spots in real life and in the game, but being in that cave alone with no exit was one of the worst feelings. I sat down with my back to the wall and closed my eyes. Having nothing to do, as I did not want to attempt to break out, at least not yet I fell asleep.