We don't go to Sub-Level Five

by RadBunny

Chapter Twenty One: Percentages

Sassi dozed off sometime after Astral finished talking to her about the beach, perhaps an hour or so of steady descriptions. The mare’s legs occasionally twitched, but other than that she was out cold.

That left him some time to think.

It was clear that Sassi had a lot more on her plate, dealing with much more than Astral originally thought. The fear in her eyes and just asking for him to hold her hoof was enough to show that.

His gaze softened as he looked over to the mare, the stallion letting out a huff.
Astral wasn’t about to lie to himself and say he didn’t find her rather attractive. But there was a time and a place. Hiding in a closet from freaky spider-things was neither of them. Yet the fact there was clearly so much he didn’t know just made him more curious. He just didn’t want to break what amount of trust she did have in him.

That said, the ‘handsome’ compliment still buzzed around in Astral’s head. The last time someone had genuinely said such a thing had been easily years. He wasn’t sure, but he’d sort that out later. For a few minutes, Astral busied himself with trying to think out how to get to the elevators without being eaten. Other than ‘run like crazy’, he didn’t have much if Sassi couldn’t walk.

Since he couldn’t sleep, Astral occupied his time with reading the medical contents, sifting through potential supplies, and generally trying to not have a panic attack.

After about an hour or so (in which no creatures were heard, thankfully) Sassi began to stir, wincing in her sleep. Not waking up despite the violent shivers, the mare was obviously uncomfortable.

Deciding to take another reading, Astral glanced down at the device; and his heart dropped.

Nine Percent.

He wasn’t sure how often she needed the doses, but those Spiders had been more venomous than Sassi originally thought. However…

We don’t have any more doses.

Trying to wake Sassi up was fruitless; she was out cold despite loud whispering and shaking her back and forth. After trying to wake the mare up, Astral noted how her breathing began to be a bit more labored. On taking another blood sample, ice water injected itself into his veins.

Nine-point-five. It’s rising, and fast.

Logic dictated there was some sort of first aid station here. Whether it would have the fancy syringes, Astral didn’t know. But if he didn’t do anything, Sassi probably wouldn’t wake up.

Scrawling a quick note on his whereabouts, Astral then slowly unbarricaded the door, listening for even the slightest sound.

Still in the clear.

Checking Sassi’s toxin levels again, the stallion felt an icy tendril dig into his chest at seeing the reading already having climbed higher. He needed to move.
Duct-taping a bit of miscellaneous fabric onto his metal-shot hooves to muffle them, Astral looked at his forelimbs, no shakes or shivers present. The Thestral then crept out into the hallway and closed the door. He took a marker with him; making a single line on a wall near the floor as he turned a corner. Getting lost was not an option.

Find a medical kit, get back to Sassi.

The hall had multiple doors leading this way and that; none of them were labeled. However, the sign for an eye-wash station made Astral’s ears perk up. Unfortunately, it led back towards the more open halls with the experiment-cubes.

Creeping along, Astral paused every few moments to listen. The large hallway that led to the cubed area (and the elevators) extended past the pony to the right. That was also where the eyewash station and a glorious ‘first aid’ sign now was protruding from the ceiling.

*click…click…click*

Astral froze, hearing a bit of raspy breathing from his left. It was far off, but the sound quickly faded. It was clear he wasn’t alone, however.

Navigating to the eyewash station, Astral found himself near the entrance to an employee lounge, the station a small closet-like area set into the wall.

Please let these syringes be common.

The massive first-aid kit, a box bolted to the wall beckoned to the Thestral. Ever so slowly, Astral unlatched it, the hinged lid thankfully not uttering a single squeak.

Jackpot.

The syringes must be a staple in the facility because three of each greeted Astral’s eager eyes.

Snagging the six cardboard-packaged items, Astral left the other supplies. Every item he took cost time and could make noise. He couldn’t risk either. Sneaking out of the room, Astral had turned the corner and nearly made it to the intersection, when the clicking started again.

Heart pounding in his throat, the bat-pony watched as a Skitter crept into the employee lounge, gaze focused straight ahead. Astral trained his gun barrels on it, hooves slowly creeping backward.

Keep moving!

His limbs continued to edge backward. One step, two steps, a side step…

And he was out of the line of sight.

He quickly made his way back to the storage room, not daring to sacrifice silence for speed, however. A final check and he opened the door and slid inside.

As the door locked and the Thestral barricaded it once again, Astral’s rear limbs began to quiver.
Not yet.

As soon as he was sure the door wasn’t about to be easily opened, the stallion set out the syringes, taking another reading.

Ten percent. Ok, purple, then green.

Injecting another two-syringe dose into Sassi’s chest, Astral let himself flop against the wall next to her.

I don’t know how much longer I can do this…

And yet the stallion knew there was a part of him that could handle this. But for now, that stayed under lock and key. And yet the fact that Astral hadn’t frozen only confirmed what he already knew. Perhaps Sassi’s blunt observations could help out to that end, whenever she woke up.

The mare was breathing easier, and Astral let himself take a breather. Downing a bit of freeze-dried fruit packed as a snack, the stallion tried to stay awake but could tell he was drifting off. Running on pure adrenaline for multiple stints was exhausting, along with the constant tension.

Unfortunately, taking stimulants would only make things worse, so that was out.

As long as they didn’t make any noise, they should be ok. After another reading from her forelimb to confirm the percentage had dropped, (now down to seven percent) Astral had a thought. He tied a small metal bobble onto some spare string, then dangled it from one of the barricade pieces. Any nearby movement with the door would send it swinging.

Putting Sassi’s helmet on along with his own and closing the visors, Astral only then settled down next to her.

Just in case a homicidal AI wants to suck the oxygen away again, this should give us some time, a few minutes of emergency air to get to the elevators.

He adjusted his head, making sure to face the string-and-metal bobble when leaning against the wall.

This helmet can sense thoughts, right? Ok helmet, can I set an alarm? A motion detection triggered one? Just that I can hear through the earbuds?

On his HUD, a simple text line flashed.
‘Motion sensor alarm set. Alarm type, interior audio-only.’

“Huh,” he muttered. “That will work. Set another alarm for forty-five minutes.”

Only then did he allow himself to doze off leaning against a wall. He made sure to hold Sassi’s hoof, however.

She had asked him to, after all.

Author's Note:

Go Astral!

Comments

[FridayPie]

11041222
That could the name for Adam Savage's public cave XD

11041280

But it looks like they ending up in same capacity (P21 wasn't good with stress either)

[Skulljack17]

His gaze softened as he looked over to the mare, the stallion letting out a huff. Astral wasn’t about to lie to himself and say he didn’t find her rather attractive. But there was a time and a place. Hiding in a closet from freaky spider-things was neither of them. Yet the fact there was clearly so much he didn’t know just made him more curious. He just didn’t want to break what among of trust she did have in him.

Amount, or some other word instead of among here. Along with occasional spots where there's an extra paragraph space needed, or removed. Otherwise not too many errors to spot here and there.

Astral is coming into his own, taking action as it's needed. Hopefully he can overcome his tendencies to freeze, or find a way to counter them.

[RadBunny]

11693946

Thank you for the catch! Inevitably stuff does slip through despite the spellcheck/grammer editor I run the chapters through.