//------------------------------// // Chapter 107: Simply Sublime Suburb. // Story: We don't go to Sub-Level Five // by RadBunny //------------------------------// The airlock cycled them through a shorter decontamination cycle, and the two were greeted by another hallway. Well-lit, but ruined offices and isolated lab rooms spread out on either side of them as they walked. It was only when the two Thestrals turned the corner that Astral couldn’t hold back an annoyed hiss. A familiar fleshy paste was plastered all over one of the double doors ahead of them. “Not a fan of the décor?” Sassi remarked, concern twinging over their link. He appreciated it, knowing that he didn’t have to pretend to be strong. “To put it mildly.” She reached over and gave his shoulder a nudge. “Just hang in there, Astral. Let me know if I can help, but we have to keep moving.” “I know,” he whispered, hating how there was a slight tremble. “Just…I’ll do my best.” “That’s all I ask. I know you’re hurting. Let’s get out of here so we can heal. Together.” Somehow, that made a smile twitch onto Astral’s face, Sassi brightening up as she sensed a bit more stability over their increasingly-prevalent hive mind. “I’d like that.” They trotted forwards, Astral managing to feel a semblance of normality. He had been through worse. Sort of. They forced the double door with an obnoxious squishing noise. Thankfully, the offices beyond were mostly untouched. A closet and ventilation duct to their left was filled with the fleshy material, indicating that it was spreading even past the decontamination areas. The office lights were working, for better or for worse. The low hum immediately made Astral’s nerves fray. It wasn’t as bad as in the room, but it was enough to remind him, to nearly put him back in that- A nudge to his shoulder snapped the stallion back, Astral glancing over to the concerned mare at his side. He nodded, taking a few deep breaths. Have to focus. Their hoofsteps echoed through the office. It was barely audible, but it may as well have been hammer falls in the unnaturally quiet area. There weren’t any signs of a struggle, only strewn papers and chairs next to the desks. If he had to guess, this was one of the areas that had been successfully evacuated. Feels like a lifetime ago. The offices blended into some low-level labs, nothing but thin plexiglass separating the desks from microscopes and more computers inside the clear rooms. There were a few chemical hoods for examining nasty substances, their ventilation ducts leading up to larger channels that ran the length of the hall. Astral’s eyes followed the ducting. The vents were intact. That was a good thing. A few were open but empty. Nothing was present, but there was one- Pearly-white teeth gleamed in the open vent’s depths. Two red eyes locked onto Astral’s as the stallion’s heart rate skyrocketed, shotgun swinging to- Then it was gone. “Astral. What is it?” Sassi asked, guns following to track where the stallion had aimed. “In the vent,” he said, a slight quiver in the Thestral’s voice. “The open one. I saw that creature again.” “The thing that hunted you in the rooms” “I think so. Teeth. Red eyes.” “…which vent?” Astral blinked, the previously-open vent now closed flush with the massive ducting. His stomach dropped into his hooves. Did I see it? “It was open,” he whispered. The stallion’s confidence abruptly crumbled. “I swear, it was there. I-” “Astral,” Sassi asked, reaching over to gently rest a hoof on his shoulder. “If you say you saw something, I believe you, alright?” A bit of warmth crept back into Astral’s chest at that. “Let’s keep going. It’s not out of the question that it could have followed us. The residual toxin will make you feel cruddy, but nothing more, so it’s not a hallucination,” Sassi explained. “Usually there’d be a heavy barrier with the decontamination areas. That nasty stuff already breached it, so we know there’s a hole somewhere.” Astral nodded, the two continuing through the nondescript offices. There were no more sightings, and two massive double doors loomed in front of them. As they swung open, Sassi let out a soft hum of surprise. “Huh. Well, I didn’t know about this testing area.” It was a massive testing room, easily four times the size of a hoofball field. Mock suburban homes dotted the landscape, a fake sun looking in the sky. Astroturf was on every lawn, and there were even scattered toys to simulate if kids had been playing. “They wouldn’t test a bomb here, right?” Astral asked cautiously. Sassi let out a soft laugh at first. “No, not like that,” she said, clearly happy to be out of the enclosed office. The mare then paused, a frustrated grunt sounding over the radio. “Ok, I don’t think they would. That’s a good guess though. If we were above ground, it does look like a testing area for blast radius and damage. Good catch.” “Well, there was a ridiculous movie where the stallion survived a bomb by hiding in a fridge. Hopefully, these homes are furnished.” Making Sassi giggle, even a bit, made the dark tendrils in Astral’s mind flee. The levity vanished as they moved from home to home. There wasn’t anything to scavenge; the canned food and items were decades old despite the exterior structure looking new. There wasn’t an ounce of movement outside of the two Thestrals, and yet Astral felt eyes boring into the back of his head. Sassi didn’t seem to be as concerned, but her worry for him hummed through their link, a warm comfort in the back of his mind. They carefully moved from behind one house, making sure not to be out in the open. There was a smaller street on the left between the rows of homes. They slid along the rear of the house, the windows shining without a speck of dust. There wasn’t any movement as Astral glanced over. Bright red eyes stared back at him, a mouth widening into a fearsome grin with pearly-white teeth. The lights in the room behind the face flickered as it stared at the horrified Thestral. The stallion swung his guns around, a muffled yell echoing over the radio as he back peddled, tripping over his own hooves. The flamethrower flicked on- And it was gone. “Astral! What is it?” Sassi asked, chain guns spinning as their motion tracker showed zero movements. “The window! That creature. It...” His words trailed off, Sassi cautiously looking inside. “Same creature from before? The homes are probably connected, but it’d be a tight squeeze,” the mare mused. “Same one. Just stared at me,” he panted. The stallion’s limbs shook, gears grinding in his mind. It was there. I saw it! It was real! …right? Sassi led them down another two houses, stopping as Astral abruptly sat down. The turmoil in his mind was palpable even without their link. It made the mare’s heart ache to see Astral’s confidence shatter so quickly. He had tried to shake it off, but it was clear that it was getting to him. It doesn’t make sense. The gas was purged from his system; barely any residual toxins remained, and the RASP system confirmed as much. That left only a few options. Hologram? Maybe a tuned spell for someone’s mind to make them hallucinate outside of the gas? Or…. The stallion let out a yelp, hindquarters giving out as he scooted away from another window. The motion tracker was clear, and an investigation revealed the same thing. Empty. “Sassi, I swear,” Astral said, his voice soft and quivery. “It…” Any final shred of confidence abruptly shattered. The stallion hung his head as he struggled to catch his breath. She sat down next to Astral, leaning a head over to rest her helmet against his. “Just breathe, Astral,” she whispered. Sassi’s heart abruptly clenched as she held his shaking hoof. The only other option outside of a projection or hallucination is that it’s real. The motion tracker continued to show all clear, so Sassi decided to spare a moment for some very-necessary comfort. Wrapping her stallion up in a tight hug, the mare didn’t let go until he had stopped shaking. All we have down here is each other. We’ve only gotten this far by trusting the other. “Next time you see it, blast it, if you can,” Sassi whispered. “You believe me?” The sad, almost whimpering tone made the mare hug him even tighter, eventually letting him go. The fear and doubt made her stomach clench as it bled over from his mind. “We’re only alive because we trusted each other,” Sassi said, resting a hoof on his shoulder. “I trust you with my life. So, of course, I believe you. I just worry.” His shoulders relaxed, the relief nearly palpable. “If it’s not real, Sas, that means I’m even worse off than I thought,” he added softly. “I recognize that. But something is here.” “Then let’s kill it.” The two set off again, but now Sassi could feel an odd prickle on the back of her neck. She knew what it meant, and even though Astral had been the only one seeing a creature, the mare’s gut began to acknowledge another fact about this empty testing area. It wasn’t an alien feeling, but never a welcome one. They were being hunted.