05-14-2016, 09:42 AM
From the fortified camp of the astronomers, Seventeen took a short ride on the Barrel Train up into the hillsides of the nearby hinterland. After traveling about a mile from the camp, the cyborg had to evacuate his modified kart and make the remaining five minute journey on foot. Fortunately for someone with still very limited knowledge about the Ashen Steppes, Seventeen was able to locate the cave entrances without having to comb over the gray-black landscape for them.
Almost hidden amongst all the outcroppings of dark stone, the raven-haired warrior spotted an entrance into the underground and quickly headed in that direction. Within a few moments, he was hunched down and glaring into a downward sloping cavern barely four feet tall.
“Crawl or awkward, shuffling squat?” Seventeen asked himself out loud as he tried to get a better look at what might be waiting inside the nearly dark tunnel. About forty yards into the network, there seemed to be some light. “Well let’s get this over with,” the cyborg muttered as he crouched down and started to shimmy his way down into the network of caves. With a steady shuffling, he eventually passed through the increasingly darkening tunnel before arriving at a larger chamber with some light from a deep fissure in the roof.
Even without much light, the machine-hybrid found his augmented eyeballs naturally adjusting to the new conditions. It wasn’t quite the beautiful assortment of intricate thermal readings that he recalled from the days of his mortal life, but it was more than enough to know what was around him. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a little reticule that told him his destination, so he quickly found himself glaring angrily at the walls of the cavern.
“What the hell does magic coal look like?” He asked himself as he brushed his fingers against one of the walls and glanced down to see if it left any sort of residue. Without any idea what he’d even be looking for, Seventeen wiped his hand on the side of his jeans and finished his loop. From his current location, there were three tunnels that went deeper into the caves. Would he find what he needed further in?
This is real dumb… With a frown on his face, Seventeen opted to go down the closet tunnel. In short order, he found himself stooping once more to make his way through a rough, slightly tilted corridor that seemed to shrink with each step. Before he could make it much more than twenty feet, he felt the earth shift beneath his boots. “Fuck m—”
The floor collapsed, swallowing up the lithe cyborg, who could only grasp for anything solid as he dropped down into darkness.
Almost hidden amongst all the outcroppings of dark stone, the raven-haired warrior spotted an entrance into the underground and quickly headed in that direction. Within a few moments, he was hunched down and glaring into a downward sloping cavern barely four feet tall.
“Crawl or awkward, shuffling squat?” Seventeen asked himself out loud as he tried to get a better look at what might be waiting inside the nearly dark tunnel. About forty yards into the network, there seemed to be some light. “Well let’s get this over with,” the cyborg muttered as he crouched down and started to shimmy his way down into the network of caves. With a steady shuffling, he eventually passed through the increasingly darkening tunnel before arriving at a larger chamber with some light from a deep fissure in the roof.
Even without much light, the machine-hybrid found his augmented eyeballs naturally adjusting to the new conditions. It wasn’t quite the beautiful assortment of intricate thermal readings that he recalled from the days of his mortal life, but it was more than enough to know what was around him. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a little reticule that told him his destination, so he quickly found himself glaring angrily at the walls of the cavern.
“What the hell does magic coal look like?” He asked himself as he brushed his fingers against one of the walls and glanced down to see if it left any sort of residue. Without any idea what he’d even be looking for, Seventeen wiped his hand on the side of his jeans and finished his loop. From his current location, there were three tunnels that went deeper into the caves. Would he find what he needed further in?
This is real dumb… With a frown on his face, Seventeen opted to go down the closet tunnel. In short order, he found himself stooping once more to make his way through a rough, slightly tilted corridor that seemed to shrink with each step. Before he could make it much more than twenty feet, he felt the earth shift beneath his boots. “Fuck m—”
The floor collapsed, swallowing up the lithe cyborg, who could only grasp for anything solid as he dropped down into darkness.
![[Image: 17.jpg]](http://omniverse-rpg.com/images/17.jpg)