While Tantus read through more of the notes he found, the others examined the rest of the room. Amanda took the east wall while Typhus secured the entrance. Hani found a steel chair nearby and plopped down into it. The walls in here were a combination of white painted concrete with rebar reinforcement. No other architecture Deacon had seen so far was this advanced. It made him wonder what the floating isles above the main city were like. He turned to Tantus to ask him a question.

“Is The Tower part of the main city of the Shattered Sky or is it up in the clouds with the floating islands?” asked Deacon.

“The Tower is part of the Jinkbons district. Your guess is correct, Deacon. It is above the main city. They aren’t really floating though. They are on rails. That way they can be moved around. It’s all very complicated, I recommend saving your questions for when we get there,” answered Typhus from the doorway.

“I have a question. How are we going to get out of here?” Hanni queried from the chair.

“I may be able to help with that. I think I found a map of the facility. I can’t read the gnomish writing, but this section looks like the large open area outside. It even has the six doors notated,” Amanda called back to everyone.

Deacon just nodded and made his way back to the plastic like sheeting that obscured the far corner of the room. It reminded him of hospitals back home when they would pull a curtain around a bed for privacy. Only there was no bed behind the obstruction. There was a medium sized footlocker on the ground next to a glass case. Inside the case were four items. One looked like a silver bowl, and it had a small name plate on the shelf in front of it. The writing was gnomish so Deacon would have to grab Tantus to read it. Unfortunately, he was busy with Amanda reading the map.

Deacon decided to look at the other objects in the interim. The remaining three objects were very different. One looked the same as the handheld slate Deacon had seen guild masters use. He wasn’t sure how useful that would be. The next item was a long length of white cloth with some writing on it. It was rolled up into a thick ball. Finally that brought him to the last item which was a tiny hammer. One that would require a deft touch for delicate work. He decided to check the footlocker. The contents made Deacon’s smile reach his ears. Stacked up in neat rows of two separated by color were four sets of metal ingots. On the left were two rows of a copper colored metal followed by a brushed steel color. Then almost a chrome finished set and finally a white metal that Deacon didn’t recognize.

“Hey Typhus, what kind of metal is white?” Deacon yelled back toward the door.

“Goshenite Steel. Very rare. I don’t think anyone remembers how to make it--” Typhus answered flippantly before being interrupted.

“Goshenite Steel is receptive to all forms of Arcanum. It has almost unlimited uses no matter what tier of the arcane arts you use. It’s highly sought after by almost any organization across the Mortal Plane. I know for a fact the Tower has a standing quest just for knowledge of a Goshenite deposit. We are talking platinum’s worth of coin. Also, an equivalent price in blood. I’m glad no one here found anything like that but if they did, they should never tell anyone about it,” Tantus emphasized the last part being quick on the uptake.

Deacon got the message loud and clear. He tried using Polterheist to empty the footlocker, but the ingots were too heavy. He started with the Goshenite Steel. His muscles strained trying to get the six by two inch ingots up close to his bag. Then he slapped himself on the forehead and took the bag off. Then scooped the contents of the footlocker up closing the flap. That’s when Hani appeared through the sheets to see what he was up to.

“You’ve been awfully quiet back here. Everything ok?” Hani asked.

“Just me struggling to read these name plates and trying to figure out why this footlocker is empty,” Deacon responded looking like the cat that ate the canary.

“I can help with the items in the case. Mana bowl, Omni Headband, Personal Slate, and Felix’s Hammer of Repair. Now that’s a rare find. Both the hammer and headband are Legendary items. I will buy the hammer from you right now for fifteen gold, no wait twenty gold. That’s all I have. I’m sure I can move that item for you through the guild, if you’re unwilling to sell it to me, but I’ll want a small brokering fee,” Hani said growing more and more excited while reading the names of the items using his appraisal skill.

“I think we’ve got the exit here. It says there is a staircase in the east corner of the facility that leads back up into the graveyard. It also says this is facility five of five. There are more,” Tantus explained leaning over a table next to Amanda.

“Why don’t we worry about that if and when we get out of here, Hani? Thanks for the info though,” Deacon said as he tried to open the cabinet.

It seemed to be locked. Deacon tried to phase his hand through the glass and it was stopped. Hani then threw an elbow into the glass and an unseen force flung him out of the cordoned off area. Deacon stopped and thought about what he was doing. Then he noticed a latch on the inside of the cabinet. After several failed attempts to phase his hand through the sides of the cabinet, he got his face right up to the glass and focused his aura around the cabinet. Then he proceeded to use Polterheist to lift the latch. It tugged at the little interior hook for a breath wherein Deacon felt a surge of energy pass over his body making the plastic sheeting flap wildly. Like a large blast of force was pushing through them. Then the sheeting returned to rest.

“Deacon, whatever you’re doing you need to stop. The instruments in here are all going crazy,” Tantus hollered.

Deacon didn’t know why Tantus was screaming so loudly. He returned his focus back to the hook that had moved up by a hair. If he could just wiggle it just a little bit, it might come free. Finally it flipped up and clear from the latch. The glass doors swung open as Deacon was tackled to the ground by Typhus and Amanda.

“Stop whatever it is you’re doing. There is random magic going off all over this lab. Hani is pinned to the far wall and several tables are on fire. Don’t be stupid!” Amanda chastised.

“If all that alchemy equipment was still on the table, I’m sure we’d be in the middle of one hell of an explosion,” Typhus scolded.

“I’m sorry, I thought I could get it open, and I did. Now, Oh shit—” Deacon was cut off as a solid beam of lighting arced through the lab burning through the plastic sheeting and zig zagging its way around the room.

All the items from inside the cabinet floated into Deacon’s bag as everyone scrambled for the exit. There was a loud repeating announcement now to go with the constant strobing red light. Hani’s body flopped to the ground with blood leaking from his ears. Whatever the magical trap did to him, he wasn’t walking out of here. Deacon took it upon himself to carry Hanni. Surprisingly, the bells on his hat continued to jingle as he bounced on Deacon’s right shoulder. He immediately added everyone to his party in case things got worse. Hani was unconscious and was unable to accept the invitation. Out in the main chamber it was a chaotic mess of jets of water with the strength of a power washer, leaving deep furrows in whatever they struck, acid sprinklers melting metal bodies, and finally columns of steel systematically crushing random pieces of the environment.

“I can’t read gnomish, but I do speak some of it. That announcement keeps repeating the same thing. Biological purge initiated. I do not like the sound of that,” Typhus relayed to the team at large.

“Where are these stairs up? Time to go,” Deacon asked as he marveled at the destruction.

“Southwest corner. Almost exactly the opposite side from the ladder,” Tantus said as he raised his shield above everyone to protect from the environmental disasters.

The exit wasn’t far from the entrance to lab one. They dodged the water cannons and avoided the puddles of acid created by the sprinklers. At that point there was a clear path to the door. Once they reached it Tantus took the rear maintaining the shield to protect the ones attempting to open the door. The door itself was of large iron construction. There was a wheel at the center of it that controlled two bolts. It was thick enough that Deacon couldn’t phase through it.

“What are we going to do? We need to get that door open now,” Amanda shouted over the cacophony.

“I have an idea, but I’ve never used this ability before. Here take Hani, I don’t know what this will look like so be ready to run if I get the door open,” Deacon said as he triggered Ghost in the Machine for the first time.

Deacon’s hand was on the door and his whole being started to flow into the mechanism. The door now had a greenish tint to it and then two eyes the size of serving dishes popped open. They had green pupils that leaked Nether energy in whisps into the air before dissipating. Deacon instinctively knew that there was rust on the innerworkings. He strained the metal, feeling the scrapping and popping of bolts holding the structure together. Deacon knew he didn’t need to spin the locking mechanism all the way just enough to get the door opened. The pools of acid began connecting in the main chamber covering more and more of the ground. With a final screeching of metal the lock came free from the housing in the door.

“Pull,” came the voice of Deacon followed by a spooky echo.

Amanda and Typhus pulled on the door hearing the hinges squeal as it cracked open wider and wider with the strain. Tantus had to back up a few steps to avoid the puddles of acid. Hani was laid on the ground next to the exit. They finally got the door opened wide enough they could move through it when a jet of water scored a line across the door inching back. Typhus ducked into the calm stairwell and began pushing from the opposite side. Amanda dragged Hani’s body in and Tantus followed dispelling his magic shield in the process. The water jet had cleared off more of the rust, enough so that Deacon managed to shut the door himself. He reversed his view, eyes popping open on the interior of the stairwell.

“That was crazy, huh?” he asked in that same eerie voice.

“Get out of there. Hani is too heavy to carry for the rest of us, shirtless wonder,” chided Amanda.

Deacon deactivated his new ability which consumed another hundred soul energy. While useful in this instance, he doubted he’ll get to train it up much. Green mist and pulsating energy poured from the door coalescing into Deacon’s body. He patted his torso with his hands and marveled at what he’d just done. Readjusting his beaded necklace, he turned to his friends who were seated on the stairs waiting for him to finish.

“Okay, we should probably go now,” Deacon said, before Tantus pulled his communication stone from his bag. He held it out so everyone could listen.

“Tantus, some house Hascavir troops have intercepted the caravan. They have a warrant for Deacon’s arrest and detainment within the city. There were some Smitehammer clerics with them. They took both Daskus and Ralph into town after confiscating the scroll cases. There was nothing I could do. Do not come to the Shattered Sky until the guild can work out what’s going on. Is this thing working. Deacon has enough money to invest in a communication crystal network, I don’t understand why Tantus made these. This is Sophie by the way,” repeated a message from the Vice Guild Master.