We don't go to Sub-Level Five

by RadBunny

Chapter 101: Lovely Liminal Location

“Don’t. Move. Astral!”

Astral would have nodded as Sassi’s voice echoed in his ears.

No, not his ears.

It didn’t matter at that moment. The creature above them clicked again, slowly reaching down to examine the supply room. It was only when it stared at Sassi and opened a fang-filled mouth that she let loose with the cannons.

Astral didn’t even have time to react.

The creature jerked, but it was more out of surprise than anything. The two cannon shots shattered the ceramic-like armor on its chest, but otherwise, the creature didn’t appear harmed.

As the miniguns sprayed it with ineffective projectiles, the creature’s mouth opened in what could only logically be a smirk.

Astral was only able to send a single burst of flame at it before a second creature yanked him off his hooves. He heard Sassi scream his name as he was dragged into the destroyed air duct. It was a wonder the guns weren’t shorn from the mounts as the creature sped along.

It hadn’t been more than a second, but Astral finally snapped out of his shock and fired. The flames coated the air vent, whiting out the HUD. At first, the creature didn’t pause, continuing to yank him through the air vent at a blistering pace.

After a few seconds of fire, the creature finally let out a screech and flailed, the two of them punching through the thin metal and slamming into the floor. Light abruptly washed over them.

Astral rolled over, jumping to his hooves to bring the guns to bear-

The creature was faster.

It pinned him with a set of serrated claws, blackened armor bubbling and crackling as a fungus-filled face loomed over the pony. The guns were locked to Astral’s side and aimed away- but one of his hooves was still free.

As the monstrosity leered over him and opened a fang-filled mouth, Astral shoved his hoof into it. The creature let out a gurgling choke, Astral yanking the pin out of the grenade he had rammed into the throat of the mutant as it tried to snap down.

The monster exploded with a wet splatter, Astral coughing up tar as he laughed.
“I didn’t t-think that’d work!” he gasped, forcing himself upright.

Taking a few moments to collect himself, Astral looked around at the oddly-barren area.
“Sassi? You there?” He asked, the radio replying with a burst of static.

What was an even harsher realization was that he couldn’t sense her over their mental link. Astral hadn’t realized how comforting the soft hum of her presence had been until it was gone. An invisible, gentle warmth in the back of his mind had abruptly been removed.

“AI? How about you? Online?”

‘Confirmed. Duplicate backup program running. Suppression field detected- unable to connect to primary program with secondary user.’

Looking around, Astral could only frown. While the night vision wasn’t at all necessary, a sickly, fluorescent-like light permeated the area. If not for the helmet’s filter, it would have made his eyes immediately hurt.

Metal walls immediately rose around him to the ceiling, and a sickly, tannish-green wallpaper was plastered over them. Judging from how they were arranged, it was a maze. No doors, just openings in front and behind the stallion.

Great.

What was more disturbing, however, was the floor. It wasn’t fleshy, but of an ugly tile that was more suited for an old dentist’s office.

As the AI scanned the area, Astral examined the dead creature. He didn’t learn much else, other than the fungus was intertwined with every part of the mutant.

“Sassi named the other one. So, I get to name you. Clickers? Eh, that’s cliché.” He then grinned, kicking the dead creature’s mouth.

“We have Skitter, Chitters…you get to be Chatters.”

He liked that.

Unfortunately, the AI scan only revealed worse news that was supported as Astral took a few steps. As soon as he passed through the first door, there was a whisper of movement behind him. On turning around, the entrance was gone.

The walls can move. An ever-shifting maze.

And judging from the AI’s scans, he couldn’t blast through the steel. A map wasn’t available either- the suppression field and composition of the walls limited everything to line of sight.

He was alone.

Astral took another moment, steadying his shaking hooves. His limbs ached, and every muscle felt out of place as shivers randomly shot through them. The medication station on his side thankfully was mostly full, trickling in the necessary substances. The reactor was operating at minimal capacity, likely due to the suppression field.

He started walking, marking each wall with a scrape of his hoof as he entered, and then an angled mark as he left.

Maybe it’d work, maybe it wouldn’t. But the emptiness of the maze gave off an unsettling vibe. There were random, homey objects set up. An entrance table with flowers, a dining room table, and chairs…

Things were just wrong.

What was the purpose of this place?

“Who’s there?”

Astral’s head snapped over, eyes narrowing as a distorted voice rang out from somewhere nearby. To his left?

The motion tracker was useless, so the stallion crept forward with the flamethrower and shotgun at a ready. Despite the clear voice, there was nothing. Twists, turns, and a dozen halls later…nothing.

“Maybe speakers?” Astral muttered, then spying something even odder. A vase had been smashed from one of the random tables that popped up. Underneath it, however, recording lenses peered out from the wood.

“A camera. So, this is a testing location,” he said to himself.

He wasn’t sure if that made things better or worse.

I just hope you’re ok, Sassi.

“Who’s there?”

The voice echoed around again; but Astral realized a single, crucial detail. It was the exact same tone and inflection from before.

So, it has to be a recording.

As he continued to walk, the stallion noticed the walls had stopped shifting rather abruptly, locking into a set format. The AI helped plot it on the HUD, at least for areas he had been. A new addition to the home-centric paraphernalia abruptly cropped up, dotting some of the random halls and rooms.

It was a large storage locker but made for something twice Astral’s size with angled slits on some of the metal plating. Some sort of equipment or another object from the looks of it. On a careful inspection, Astral found he could fit easily inside even with the armor.

Thankfully, it had no signs of freaky-flesh goo.

A spark of anger made the Thestral snark, the abrupt turn of emotions making the pony grind his teeth. Considering what he had been through Astral was surprised his emotions had been ‘somewhat’ stable.

But he was just sick of it. His body failing him, this place wanting to trap any life underneath rock and metal, it had worn him down to where anger and spite were some of the best tools. That, and the desire to keep Sassi safe.

One hoof in front of the other. To escape. To have a future with Sassi.

He could do that.

A few deep breaths quelled the anger, yet as soon as it had fled, Astral wished for it to return.

The lights in the next section began to flicker, and fear took the place of anger.

“Who’s there?”

The voice sounded again- this time nearly on top of Astral. Yet the maze yielded nothing but silence and the soft whine of the ceiling lights. He carefully crept forwards, peeking around the corner.

Somehow, he must have come full circle. Either by chance or, more likely, led by the maze. The body of the Chatter lay on the floor.

Crouching above it, however, a similar creature tore bits off of the dead creature with crackling that was more suited to eating a bag of chips.

The monster was oddly dark, the pigment of the armored skin seeming to draw in all light. It had the same fungal growths as the Chatter, but its movements were more fluid and powerful.

It was focused on eating for another moment, but then it stopped. An almost perfectly circular head on a disturbingly-long neck abruptly turned. Two red, pinprick-pupils locked onto Astral.

As pearly-white fangs widened into an eager grin, the stallion bolted.

Author's Note:

Thank you to UglyPotato, Dakuookami ,and Changeling404 for the idea for this lovely area.

Seems familiar. Rooms of the back? The room back behind the main area? The place of back in a room?
Nah. Must not be important.

Comments

[Noble Cause]

Hoooooo boy, this is going to be wild...

[Screw]

Well, it seems you are going with popular or well known horrors that ever produced, and I can't say I don't like it! This is awesome!

I hope the sequel, if any, would deal with more of these like the Mandela Catalogue or even older horrors like Slenderman or even those .exe games.

I presume, in the sequel, these two had caused the whole silo 3 to teleport out of the ground and released monsters that none have encountered yet!

[RadBunny]

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I figured may as well draw on some well-established nightmare fuel!
As for a potential sequel, I can't give any spoilers! But Slenderman....hmmmm. that gives me an idea.

[Jahbraz]

Fuck. Necromorphs.

Better get a plasma cutter. (GO FOR THE LIMBS)

[ArcherStern]

Backrooms anyone?

Don't forget your required -but ultimately useless- bright yellow hazard suit.

[RadBunny]

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