“What do you mean that’s where the elevator is?” Helona scream whispered at Linux. She may be furious but knew better than to give away their position.

“They probably know that we’re going to attempt to climb. Instead of searching for us, they’re going to wait at our destination and wait for us to approach them.”

Linux could admit it was pretty genius of them to pull such a tactic. It was something Elest would think up off the bat. However, there was something strange about the whole scenario. Why did they feel the need to bring council members to stop him? With enough guards, he wouldn’t stand a chance. At the most, they needed to have Oculn’s help.

However, they brought Elest and Wenel with them as well. They had an abundance of skill and talent when it came to athleticism, but they didn’t need so them all just for little ole him. Unless if the woman Killian killed had been revived and told them about him hiding first floorers. That, combined with what they did during the fight, would probably lead to them amassing such a large group of guards.

“So what’s the game plan?” Helona asked.

“Simple,” Killian spoke up. “We hunt the Tetson now, fix the device at the lab, then hurry on to the elevator before they can fully organize.”

“Thats still going to take a while and who knows how quickly they can get a defense together.” Linux argued.

Linux could point several holes in that plan, and not to mention they were a man down. It was also night, which meant that it’ll be harder to not only find a Tetson, but killing it would be nearly impossible. The stars shined down, illuminating everything the light touched, but that wouldn’t be the same underground. If they were going to fight it now, then they would need to bring it above ground.

Linux heard grass shuffling behind him, as if someone were sitting up from a long sleep. He sharply turned and saw the most miraculous event occur. Helona and Killian were staring in awe as Kauss sat up as blood and lightning erupted from his stomach and chest. His injuries weren’t yet healed, but he clenched the dirt beneath him, steadied himself, and pushed himself up even more.

He could only stare as his mind attempted to figure out if that stubborn fool was a complete imbecile or if he was the bravest and unflinching man on this floor. His grunts of pain and blood dripping from his mouth went unheard and unfelt on Kauss’ face as he fought through the pain. If the situation kept on as before and he was still out on the ground, there was no world in which he could look at his reflection again.

“Let Killian speak.” Kauss said. Helona tried to push him down, but he knocked her hand away. He was getting tired of people trying to push him down.

Killian and Kauss locked eyes, and Killian nodded. He could finally get his time to shine and show his own unique abilities. He wasn’t the most smartest man alive, but he was confident in his strengths beyond his incredible brute force.

“I think I should expand on that plan.” Killian said. He may not have been the leader of the Owerneckers for long, but he’s learned a thing or two about battle strategy. “Their plan revolves around a surprise attack, so I doubt that they wanted us to see them moving. If we saw them, then we could come up with a plan on how to deal with them.”

“What we do is send one person to Olten and scout out their moves. As you said, we won’t be able to get there in time with everything going down, so we need as much info as we can get.” Killian looked at Linux. “You know the place better than we do, so you should do the scout the place. Once you know the enemy’s positions, make your way over here and we’ll head back to Felxin.”

Linux couldn’t help but stare in silence as Killian spouted out the detailed plan. He acted more like a leader than any of them, despite his lack of understanding basic concepts like Gaxtex layering. It was as if a lid had just been lifted and the person that escaped from the prison had began fighting back against their captors.

“Kauss, Helona, and I will go after the Tetson. We should be able to take on at least one. We’ll slice out the organ and keep it safe, then make our way back here. Then we head back to Felxin as you share your findings and we’ll come up with something from there.”

Killian took a deep breath and stopped speaking for a hot minute. He hadn’t spoken so long and with so much fervor for his entire life. The plan that he went over was made up on the spot as he spoke more and more. His brain worked overtime and his mouth was on autopilot, sending out words to feed the hungry ears that desperately wanted their meal.

Helona and Kauss were already on board with his idea, and so they waited for Linux to tell his thoughts about the idea. Linux stood motionless with a grimace on his face while looking down at his feet, arms crossed. The footsteps of the tiny militia faded away as they moved farther away from them and made it closer to their only escape. Silence began to settle in their little transparent abode.

“I guess that’ll do.” Linux accepted with a defeated sigh. “I would like a better plan, but I guess we don’t have the time.”

They nodded understandingly to one another. The next few hours were going to be an important stepping stone as to whether they perish, or if they can climb even higher. Kauss fought against the endless pain he was receiving from every angle of his body. There was no doubt that he wouldn’t heal completely in time, but there was no other option but to keep moving. The Gaxtex was the only thing making him less of a liability, and he wished there was more blue energy within the device.

“Linux,” Kauss called out. Linux looked over with a worried expression. He didn’t know if it was because he actually cared for his safety, or the fact that he may become said liability. “How do you add more blue energy to this thing?”

“I’m not adding anymore of that stuff. The moment you’re fully healed, you’d collapse from all the pleasure.”

Despite the warning, Kauss held out his hand for a capsule. Linux didn’t know whether to oblige the man’s craziness or scold his stupidity. He could very well do both and let him feel the effects. Better soon than having him constantly bother him with the question. However, this wasn’t the time for that. Yeah, he would feel fine afterword, but the moment the sun rises he’d be clawing at his chest, writhing on the ground. Then it would be his job to remove the excess energy, which takes more effort than inserting it.

Kauss’ hand was still held out, waiting for his question to be answered with either a yes or yes. There was no refusal in his mind, and Linux just wanted to get everything going. Anymore time they wasted would lead to him missing out on viable information. Digging through the bag with the energy capsules and dirty clothes, he pulled out a shining blue device.

Motioning Kauss to come over, he carefully rubbed the transparent substance in the center of the capsule that exposed the blue liquid inside. His hand became slightly hotter with pleasure, only slightly, however, due to it being weak in this state. Once the fluid entered the Sheild, the effect would no longer hold back and spread throughout the body, starting at the needle and working its way around.

Kauss walked up alongside Linux as he examined his injuries. He had his arm folded across his stomach, the excessively large wound still pink and red with each movement sending waves of suffering throughout his body. Yet he stood, not with grace, but with a stubborn abandon of his own safety and security. As long as a job needed to be completed, it didn’t matter the wound; as long as he lived, nothing would stop his need to finish the task at hand. He didn’t understand what happened that forced him to gain such a view, but whatever it was, he wished to never come face to face with it.

That stubbornness wasn’t natural, coming from trauma seen only by him and his friends. Linux knew that one day, that stubbornness would lead him to his own deathbed. It wasn’t an if with him, only a when. He just begged that the when wasn’t an hour away.

“Where’s your Sheild?” Linux asked.

Kauss raised his arm and winced. Blood fell from his stomach, but quickly flowed back to where it belonged, creating a backward flowing waterfall of blood. Kauss grasped the Gaxtex Sheild that was under his armpit and pulled. Linux could hear as the inside of his skin squelched and squirmed as it tried to suction the device back inside. In the end, he tugged one final time and it exited his armpit with a satisfying pop. He yelled from the pain as a new hole formed where the needle left him, leaking more blood in the process.

Linux quickly grabbed it before the inevitable happened. With the Sheild gone, the few amount of pain relievement that he had from the blue energy vanished and the full brunt force of pain arrived. At first it was a minor discomfort which lasted only a second. Then, in one huge battering force, a wave of agony that was so great it could kill that monster in the light rammed into him all at once. He screamed, looking toward the starry sky as if he was asking god why he made pain a thing. He fell to the ground and Linux now had a ticking time bomb on his hands.

If he doesn’t complete the transaction now, then Kauss would pass out from the pain and set them back even more. With his hand shaking slightly, he turned over the Gaxtex and rubbed his finger across the metal. He felt a circular opening and began picking at it with his fingernail. The metal came loose and opened up, revealing an opening in the Sheild. A hole went inside the device and along the edges were razor-sharp blades that were beginning to rust.

Linux jammed the first capsule in and twisted it along the edge. He could see the liquid drain out as it entered the Gaxtex. Some of the liquid leaked out of the side and immediately burst into lightning, being exposed to the elements. The liquid vanished into the device and he shook it, getting any stuck on the side of the capsule into the hole. When the first one was done, he threw it to the side as slight bursts of lightning rang out.

As Linux was getting his Gaxtex ready, Helona and Killian were doing something of their own. Helona covered Kauss’ mouth as he screamed into her hand. It was a scream of blood and saliva. Even some vomit came out as the pain was overtaking his other senses. He smelled pain; he felt pain; he could even see pain by this point as his mind went so fuzzy his vision became blurry and awash with colors.

Helona’s hand was coated with blood and saliva that Kauss spit out once every second. Her heart hurt seeing him like this, but there was nothing that could be done except try to keep him quiet. He could accidentally alert someone over here and she could now see why Linux was so against giving him the extra energy now.

As Helona held his mouth closed, Killian propped himself over Kauss’ body and pinned him down. It was normally easy to keep someone pinned because of his immense strength, but Kauss was managing to move him with all of his thrashing. Even with the added strength of his Gaxtex, Kauss stood an actual chance of toppling him. He couldn’t help but be impressed. However, he wished he’d find strength like this during better situations. Maybe in a fight to the death perhaps, or maybe getting his anger out in a less terrible situation. Discovering this now was just a hassle.

“Move over.” Linux ordered, approaching them.

Killian moved off of him a bit but not enough to where Kauss could writhe on the ground. Linux bent down on one knee and lifted Kauss’ shirt. He saw the hole that the Gaxtex was in before, and he aimed the needle directly over it. In a quick fashion, he inserted the device back into his armpit, causing him to scream even louder. Lightning exited the wound and device and encircled his body, spasming his muscles. His body was jerking so heavily that he lost the ability to scream as he could only look with wide-eyed terror with his mouth agape in a silent pain.

The lightning quickly quieted down and all that was left was the slight twitching of his fingers and eyes. Helona couldn’t help but twitch her own fingers as she imagined the amount of pain he was experiencing at the moment. If she was in his position, she’d have passed out minutes ago. His unwillingness to let pain and death control his life may be troublesome, but it was also one of the many things she respected and loved about him.

His eyes closed and fluttered open a second later. His eyes reflected the lights of the hundreds of twinkling lights in the sky. He saw them when he was fighting the guards and when he woke up moments ago, but so much was happening that he couldn’t really appreciate them. Now that he stared up at them with not even an ounce of pain in his system, he could finally appreciate their beauty. Whatever they were, he wanted to touch them, then wrap his palm around one and never let go. He didn’t care if that would make the sky darker. As long as he could have a light of his own, he would become the happiest man alive.

Suddenly, a man looked down at him, masking his splendid view with golden hair. He knew it was Linux but was peeved enough at him blocking his vision that he didn’t think saying his name was worth the effort. He waved his hand in his eyes and he couldn’t help but get angry, but a chill calmness spread through him enough that it helped the rage fade.

“You doin’ okay?” Linux asked.

“Just peachy.”

“It looks like it’s already affecting you.” Linux offered out his hand and Kauss reluctantly took it. At the very least, he could see the lights when he stood. “Side effects of this procedure include numbness and the feeling of being at peace all the time for the first half, then an indescribable pleasure that will make you wish you were feeling actual pain.”

Kauss didn’t bother to listen to the man. He was busy looking at the lights and feeling his wounds. It was strange seeing his gut bleed with blisters and scabs spread across him, yet feeling nothing at all. On one hand, it terrified him that he couldn’t feel any pain from something that should be strong enough to make a grown man pass out screaming, but the calmness that permeated in him refused to let any emotional imbalance occur. That too scared him, but it was better this way since they had a mission to accomplish.

Linux gathered some more energy capsules and made sure his staff was securely latched onto his belt. When he was sure everything was ready, he turned back to them before making his way off.

“When y’all injure the neck, don’t go for it’s base where the throat connects with the rest of the body. Thats where the organ is. Once you kill it, harvest the organ. There’s a tube that you need to close with brown electricity. If you don’t, then the gas will leak out and you’d have to kill another.”

He waited for them to give the sign that they understood what to do. Helona and Killian nodded their heads, Killian adding in a thumbs up at the end. Kauss was too out of it to show his stance on the matter, so Linux assumed that he understood it. Hopefully.

Linux looked around the field, making sure that there was no one near. He took a deep breath and used his Gaxtex to raise all his senses. He heard no one, saw no one, and smelled nothing but the scent of animals in the air. He could see the shine of a Casso’s eyes on him, but otherwise it was fairly quiet, with no one around.

Bending his knees, he let his feet sink into the ground. His mind was racing with the amount of possibilities that could force this plan to go completely wrong. Although what Killian said made sense, they could have wanted their eyes on them as they sped to Olten. Anything that could go wrong will go wrong. That was one of the many things he learned during his career as an inventor. He had to steel himself against that doubt in his mind. It was acceptable to think of scenarios so that he could plan around them, but he couldn’t let them overtake him. Otherwise, he’d give up before he ever got started.

Taking a deep breath, he sped off into the darkness.