Black Hole: The Book of Iratus, Episode 21

Chapter 201

The tunnel was so frigid that even the blankets the party brought were not enough. Iratus stopped and turned to everyone else.

Iratus, "We can't continue like this. It is way too cold."

The shark girl, Resonantia, spoke up next.

Resonantia, "Then we will have to come up with another idea if we wish to explore further."

The old rabbit man was far ahead of everyone else when he suddenly stopped.

Clamor, "I see light. Looks like another bonfire, maybe."

The raccoon girl was next to speak.

Victoria, "Is that how people get through here? Run through the tunnel from one bonfire to another?"

Iratus, "Not like there is any other way to travel in this tunnel. Should we continue?"

Clamor, "We could end up dying down here, for real."

Resonantia, "How about we get warmed up by the fire?"

There were a few grunts of agreement before everyone ran down to get to the fire. This bonfire was lit with flames still going, and several wrappers and crumbs of food lay about the area.

Iratus's mousey nose twitched as he went from wrapper to wrapper.

Iratus, "Curious food products."

Victoria, "We've seen strange food before—the food in metal cans, for one thing."

She and Resonantia huddled together with Iratus as the mouse boy nuzzled his girls.

Clamor, "In hindsight, the smoky smell in the tunnel really should have given away that there were multiple fires going in down here."

Iratus, "Maybe. Ok, now we need to decide whether or not we continue, and after seeing these bonfires, I'm willing to go a little further."

Clamor, "I don't suggest such a thing, but I don't care what we do either way."

Resonantia, "I say we keep going."

Victoria, "The more time we get to keep you to ourselves, the better."

Clamor, "And here is another reason that I don't live in the stone tower. Darn you kids."

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Chapter 202

With what little warmth they could gain from the bonfire, the party continued down the tunnel, with the train tracks never looking broken or rusted. Once another significant amount of time passed from travel, the group once again felt their morale drop until lights filtered in from around a corner.

In this part of the tunnel, the tunnel ends at a building where the train tracks continue, with the building itself having lights dotting it and shedding light with electricity fueling them. The tunnel opened up a little to reveal a personal entrance on the side, which the group came up to. The door was a glass door, and glass windows lined the wall. Inside was an empty waiting area with couches, wooden end tables, fake plants, and vending machines. The room was white with white tile, and the building also had fluorescent lights revealing the inside. Testing the doors, the group found them not locked and walked inside, where a wave of heat welcomed them. Several "ahs" filled the room as the group walked inside, and then they quickly got to work looking around.

Resonantia, "I don't understand; how is it so warm and toasty in here?"

Clamor, "I've seen stuff like this before. If you still have that flashlight, there are things and places that are fueled by the same thing."

Iratus, "Batteries, but we are aware that it only has so much fuel before it stops working."

The raccoon girl pulls out the flashlight for a brief moment.

Victoria, "We've been saving since we don't know when it will stop working."

Iratus, "If this place runs on however many batteries, shouldn't it run out eventually?"

Clamor, "I don't know. There are so many strange places in Nexus Prime, and something like this isn't too uncommon."

There were magazines and books scattered around, as well as a few trash cans filled with garbage that smelled of old food. The vending machines were altered to open up, but most food and drink were gone from them.

Victoria, "Free food!"

Iratus, "Someone is living here, so that would be stealing."

Victoria, "Boo."

The girls started to check out the couch as Clamor and Iratus looked through the reading material around them.

Clamor, "I can't read any of this. Are you having any luck?"

Iratus, "From what I can see, they seem to come from many different worlds. Wait, I found something."

The two looked over a comic book that came from Sanctum, Clamor, and Resonantia's world, and it was a comic about superpowers with a very tall rabbitfolk with supreme strength and athletic ability saving the day and defeating criminals, with the climax seeing the hero do battle against a man of flames and heat that can melt through the ground itself.

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Chapter 203

Resonantia, "The smells. Five people, and I'm pretty sure they are all female."

Victoria, "Five? I guess you've got a good nose."

Resonantia, "Darn right."

Iratus walked up to feel the fake plants.

Iratus, "I don't think these are real plants; they're not made of plant matter."

Resonantia, "Yeah, there are a lot of fake plants in advanced urban places."

Victoria, "Does this tower belong to an urban area?"

Clamor, "Who knows? This entire planet is filled with places and buildings of far-flung eras, forward and back."

Clamor continued to read through the comic book as everyone else was wrapping up their search.

Iratus, "Well, since people are living here, should we just leave?"

Clamor, "Such a strange picture book."

After hearing that, Resonantia and Victoria grabbed some of the reading material and were shocked.

Victoria, "How is this possible?" Look at these pictures."

Iratus, "Yeah, and I bet it's mass-produced or something."

Resonantia, "In the cities I've run through, there's a lot of stuff like this. Expert pictures and copies of the same quality."

Clamor, "This is revolutionary!"

Iratus walked up to the far door that led deeper into the building, opened it up, and was assaulted by a wave of cold. On the other side was a chaotic field of light and darkness from the broken lights. It would have been a white, sterile room if not for the old blood and oil splattered around, broken glass, and other objects littering the ground. He closed the door and returned to the others.

Iratus, "I'm just going to make the call. Let's go home."

Resonantia, "This place is a massive discovery! With this warm room, why don't we explore the rest of this place?"

Victoria, "I felt that cold when he opened the door, and I don't know if we can even make it back out without those bonfires lit."

Clamor, "If needed, we can break some stuff here to feed the fire. Those fires are not going out anytime soon anyway."

Iratus, "Now with all this sentiment, I think we should explore just a little more."

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Chapter 204

The group got their blankets back on and headed deeper inside the building. The hallways stretch out in mostly darkness, with some dim emergency lights sporadically flickering. The walls were scorched and scarred with damage, while some sparking wires were hanging down. Some times everyone got down and went silent as mechanical whirls could be heard. Metallic flying drones and four-legged drones would pass through the shadows from time to time, driving deep fear into the party.

Quickly, they found a door, moved into another room to avoid a drone, and then found themselves in a chamber with broken glass scattered everywhere from the glass tanks that once stood filled with liquids. Ice covered tables and walls where water was scattered.

Clamor, "I think I stand corrected; let's not be here anymore. Those metal things feel evil to me—absolutely godless or something!"

Resonantia, "Ignis and I have seen something like them before. The conductor called them drones, with these ones being the self-controlled machines. If they are self-controlled, then they'll most likely attack on sight."

Clamor, "I didn't understand most of that, but what is the threat?"

Resonantia, "Depends. Could be minor or filled with explosives. Let's go around. We can go through that door over there and hope we can move past these things."

Victoria, "So, still not turning back then?"

On their way out, Clamor grabbed some research papers, as they were the only thing worth taking. The party would pass through some more halls and come into another room. It seemed like some sort of main area, though in reality it was the control room. The consoles were smashed, the screens were cracked, and papers and files were scattered on the ground. There was an eerie blue glow that came from the remnants of the control panels.

There wasn't much to explore, with Clamor taking more papers and documents while Iratus grabbed some ammo and weaponry still around. The girls located a flashlight and a dozen batteries and quickly tested them. With the new flashlight, they took out their own and turned it on.

Resonantia, "Now that we have batteries, we can just reload the flashlight when it dies." Whether or not the batteries they found even work for their flashlight is still unknown.

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Chapter 205

This side of the building was clear of any drones, with some broken and smashed ones in the hallway. Another room revealed a large room with massive metal boxes that hummed, one partially broken, and would give out a loud sputter randomly. The hum of the boxes gave something to listen to as the party looked around the room. Since most of the ceiling was broken and collapsed, it left a bevy of dangling wires that prevented anyone from properly moving about the room.

Another room was a massive empty chamber that had a stairwell leading further down, but from the room itself, one could see the chamber of the area below. Through the glass windows were the remnants of an old battle, with disused weapons and small metal war machines. Scorch marks and other signs of battle painted the walls, but no bodies remained, and if anything, some drag marks still remained.

Clamor, "I know a battlefield when I see one."

Resonantia, "The hallways are in a similar state. Did this place come under attack?"

Victoria, "Sounds like the most straight-forward thing. Still, what was the point?"

Clamor, "Maybe it was beaten up and then teleported to Nexus Prime?"

Iratus, "You're the expert. Hey, I'm freezing to death, so let's head back to the warm room."

Everyone quickly agreed and then moved with haste toward the warm room. Within the warm room, the party waited to shake off their cold while the original occupiers were still away.

Clamor, "Before I forget, this place is probably the forbidden place in the broken tower."

Iratus, "Hm? How so?"

Clamor, "You've been in the tower before; doesn't this have a similar look and feel? That and I have taken a look at some of the lower floors, and they all have a similar feel as well."

Resonantia, "Was it just as cold?"

Clamor, "The underground parts were quite extensive, and I only checked to, like, floor three. It wasn't cold, but there were some lights like these and equipment, machinery, and battle signs all the same."

Iratus, "Maybe we could come here through the broken tower instead of the tunnel."

Clamor, "Might be even more risky."

Iratus, "Considering the ebonies are most likely down here, I doubt it."

Clamor after shrugging, "Good point."

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Chapter 206

As the party made it out of the cave unscathed, another conversation happened.

Clamor, "So, when will we be diving back down there?"

Iratus, "Maybe tomorrow or the day after."

Clamor, "Then I'll prepare until then. Here are the papers I took to the place." He handed over the papers. "See if you can't figure out what they are, or see if Fractura knows."

With some goodbyes, everyone headed off to their respective homes. Once home, the loot was set down and sifted through. Three pistols and a handful of scattered ammo were all that they gathered up. The files, documents, and papers were mostly written in a strange language. There was only one paper that was readable to them.

Iratus, "It reads, Special documentary on Nexus Prime. Report number thirty-four."

He read it and passed it around.

Iratus, "Well, this is a lot to take in. Three stages of karma, the summoners, and EVERYONE still calling it luck."

Aestus, "Because it is luck."

Iratus, "And I'll never believe that."

The day would wane, and everyone would get ready for the night. Fractura would come by to trade some dental hygiene products he found in the broken tower and told them all about them. The tower folk traded from their stash for ten oval copper coins and twenty silver lion coins. After some time, the chickens were put up, dinner was made, and soon everyone went to bed.

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Chapter 207

The next day started lazily, with everyone refusing to get out of bed. Aestus would trace her finger along one of Iratus's face scars while Ignis rubbed her face against his furred chest.

Iratus, "Ladies, we have things to get done. Get out of bed."

Resonantia, "Another hour here isn't going to kill anyone."

Victoria, "Probably."

Ignis, "Let us loiter for another untold amount of time, love."

Iratus, "Girls, I love you all so much." He started to get out of bed. "I really do, but we have work to do."

Aestus, "But the morning is the only time we can have so much together time. Anymore, and we'll have too much heat."

Victoria, "Yeah, and I do not like how sweaty and icky our fur gets when we cuddle in the heat."

Iratus, "How about I bribe you girls by cooking for once, then we can play some more games?"

The girls got up with quickness, and soon breakfast was had and the chickens were fed and let out. The figures were being placed for the game, and everyone was setting up their area.

Victoria, "So where were we in this? The Alliance was about to attack which fortress?"

Resonantia, "The Fortress of High Mark. The Corefolk Union won't be able to withstand our combined armies."

Victoria, "I have not really been able to replenish my troop levels. So, you three are on your own."

Ignis and Aestus finished their own side talk and turned to the table.

Ignis, "Good news. I can hear the heartbeat of the baby, thus confirming her pregnancy."

There was some clapping, with Iratus giving a salute to Aestus.

Iratus, "Perfect. Now we have to really get this tower up to standard."

Ignis, "I have more news. There are signs that I and, of course, Victoria might be pregnant as well."

Victoria, "Give it another few days, and we'll know for sure."

Resonantia, "How unfortunate that I will be the last one."

Iratus, "We'll get there."

The rest of the day was a lazy one, with everyone taking it easy.

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Chapter 208

The 85th day came, and everyone got ready to go. Ignis and Aestus once again volunteered to stay behind. Fractura was looking over the documents as he spoke.

Fractura, "So...why am I going with you?"

Iratus, "We need more numbers in case these people are hostile."

Fractura, "I literally do not care."

Resonantia and Victoria grabbed flashlights each.

Resonantia, "There are strangers living in your tower!"

Fractura, "Ugh. Alright whatever."

Fractura was wearing modern-like military gear and was equipped with a metal baton. Iratus took one of the pistols as part of his kit this time, while Clamor left his great sword for a spear.

Fractura, "Nothing in these papers really stands out. I am in the same boat as you, unknown language."

Once everyone was loaded up, they left for the cold tunnel. The party traveled through the tunnel, each person carrying their own blanket. They also brought some fuel for the bonfires just in case, and it was a good thing as the bonfires burned quite a bit. They were rebuilt and set ablaze once again as the party continued forward. Soon enough, the party made it to the underground building, and it was still empty like last time, but this time there were blood splatters and rabbit remains.

Clamor, "Looks like they are eating well."

Iratus, "Still, they are not here once again."

Victoria, "Then are we going to go see if they entered the tower?"

Iratus, "Might as well. We can't just wait in someone else's home."

Fractura just sighed as he followed the group inside the cold underground building.

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Chapter 209

The party traveled through the dark and cold hallways, traveling the safe ways and avoiding the hallways known to have drones. There came a point where the group managed to find a recent smell of the foreign folk and followed it to a staircase. The stairs leading up were covered in debris and would take considerable time to cross, but the group paused instead and heard some voices. It was hard to make out until two females dropped in from a hole in the ceiling.

One was a foxfolk and the other was an otterfolk, and both of them were adults and equipped with gambeson, like what Iratus was wearing, and each had an arming sword and an assortment of equipment on their belt. The foxfolk had black hair and golden fur, while the otterfolk had blonde hair and dark brown fur.

The foxfolk, "Oh no."

Iratus, "Woh, woh. Give us a minute."

The otterfolk, "How about no? Beat it or else."

Clamor being offended, "Or else what?"

Iratus, "Fine, we will leave."

He started to backup, with the others following him. The two females had a nasty glare, but that could just be from the cold.

Iratus, "How about we come by another time?"

While he was talking, the rest of his group had their noses on full alert.

Resonantia, "Someone hurt?"

The foxfolk were grimmest.

Fox woman, "None of your business!"

Iratus then raised his nose and smelled fresh blood. Seeing this, the otter woman spoke up.

Otterfolk, "It isn't ours. Now beat it."

Iratus finally led his group out of the room, and then the two foreign females yelled in surprise.

Foxfolk, "Hey wait! Where do you think you are going?"

With an evil grin, Iratus picked up speed, and after a few turns, a third female jumped out of a door. This one was a badgerfolk with white hair and fur, and he wore similar equipment to the other two.

Badgerfolk, "Well, well, well. Intruders, intruders."

Fractura, "My tower. You are the intruders, and I respectfully demand that you get the hells out of my home."

Badgerfolk, "Well, it is ours now. This saves us time from having to shoo away you or that rabbit."

The two other women were starting to catch up.

Clamor moved up, "Are you suggesting that you females were going to do something to us? Because we've got you outnumbered right now."

The two other females closed off their only remaining path.

Foxfolk, "You will be leaving through the stairs and not our base."

Badgerfolk, "You must be the nasty-smelling folk from a couple of days ago. You left your slimy finger prints on my comic book!"

Iratus, "Can we just introduce ourselves and try to start this friendship from zero again?"

Badgerfolk, "Let's just kill them now."

Clamor, "Again, outnumbered."

Foxfolk, "Shut up, Tempestas."

Victoria, "Imagine what would have happened if we couldn't speak the same language."

Otterfolk, "Only a handful of civilizations and people don't speak common folk, or whatever you others call it."

Fractura, "No, that is what it is called."

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Chapter 210

There were a few suspicious glances at Fractura from the hostile girls until the sound of the mechanized drones could be heard. Then there was a lound charge-up sound, which made the hostiles and Fractura duck down with their fur brisling from fear.

A forceful and fiery explosion ripped apart a door further back. The sound echoed all the way down, smashing and banging inside everyone's ears.

Iratus, "Aargh! What in all the hells?"

The girls in the back ran past Iratus's group, with Fractura grabbing onto Iratus.

Fractura, "Move! Go now!"

The party shook off the surprise and started moving down, following behind the girl group. As Iratus ran through a door, he stopped to look back and saw a mechanical abomination, similar to the metalheads but less person-like and more artificial. The bipedal machine twisted and flung its limbs around to move as several flying drones flew past it with alarms blaring.

Finally, everyone made it to the warm room, where Clamor slammed the door shut after Iratus ran in and held it tight. The rest of the female group was already waiting inside, cowering at the sound of the alarms. Once Iratus's group was seen, they moved into a defensive position and aimed their swords at their foes. The two other girls were a blonde-haired and furred foxfolk and a blonde-haired and gray-furred raccoonfolk. Then, the female raccoonfolk got ready to fire her bow.

Raccoonfolk, "There are the troublemakers! Why are you here? State your business!"

Several thuds could be heard from the door as Clamor locked it and backed up. In the corner was an old foxfolk that Iratus recognized as the fox woman who gave him the key and then bizarrely hid inside a closet like a creeper. She was tied up, gagged, blindfolded, and bleeding from somewhere.

Resonantia, "We didn't have any sort of plan; we just came by to say, Hi neighbor."

Iratus, "It is important that we all stick together and survive on Nexus Prime."

Raccoonfolk, "Really now? How about no and get out of our home?"

Fractura, "This is my home; you get out. Also, release that woman over there." He pointed to the old fox woman tied up on the floor.

Raccoonfolk, "I see a kinship of recognition in your eyes. Who are you?"

Tentions were raised and off to the side. Victoria was getting angrier as she looked at a mask on the table; it was nearly featureless but could be identified as a racoon face mask. Victoria looked to the raccoonfolk who was wearing a tight blue outfit that looked like something a thief or spy of the night would wear.

Victoria, "You're the Qui Durat."

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EPISDOE 21: END

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Episode 21 End Character Sheet
Name: Iratus Lionheart
Species: Mousefolk
Age: 14
Coverings: blonde fur, white gambeson (many repairs, some leather patchwork, minor damage), leather gloves, tactical vest, tailorcraft backpack, leather plate helmet
Weapons: Long Sword, 3x Knifes, Short Sword
Equipment: belt, belt bag, water skin, leathercraft backpack, 2 bags, 33 oval copper coins, 7 small silver bricks, 6 gemstones, 20 fine silver coins,20 fine gold coins

Wounds: Shoulder, stab wound (minor)

Community Stash: a fire starter, whetstone, several leather items, a lot of animal bones, 3 glass jar, 1 fish net, fishing gear, primitive sewing kit, trowel, woodcutting axe, a bunch of small wooden figures, wooden dice, some of sheets, metal scrap, lots of rusted metal, several small fish nets, some medical supplies, semi-automatic rifle (no ammo), a strange device (Gameboy-like device), lots of wooden planks and boards, wood glue, sandpaper, compass, sextant, some bedrolls, a tent, lots of rope, a large barrel, some ink, 1 papyrus paper, 3 hide paper (parchments), 80 cloaks and other clothing materials, some alcohol, some primitive medicine, some fabrics, 6 carts, 11 tattered tents, skin drum

Armory: 10 wooden spears, 56 short swords, 53 knifes, 25 daggers, 34 metal spears, 2 hand bombs, 21 rusted weapons, many armor pieces, ruined metal armor, box of unknown ammo, 4 hunting traps, 3 snares, 3 pistols, 12 unknown bullets, 5 extra pistol ammo.
Aestus: leather vest, leather helmet, metal spear, short sword
Victoria: scrap metal Breastplate, leather helmet, metal spear, short sword, crossbow, flashlight
Resonanita: breastplate, metal helmet, metal spear, short sword, compound bow, flashlight
Ignis: leather helmet, metal spear, crowbar

Treasure: 88 oval copper coins, 33 oval silver coins 74 ancient metal coins, 40 fine silver coins, 44 fine gold coins, 23 fine copper coins, a tarnished silver brooch, a small ornamental figurine, a handful of sparkling glass beads, a small wooden trinket box, a collection of delicate, hand-painted porcelain charms, a few antfolk tapestries, some antfolk art, 157 copper lion coins, 25 silver lion coins, 14 gold lion coins, 165 wolfen metal coins

Home Base, Tower: Large Storage Area (many crates, clay pots, and wooden chests), Basic Workshop Area (lots of tools, woodcarving tools), Kitchen Area (many tools, many cutlery items, pots&pans, makeshift grill), Library, Armory, Infirmary Room (surgery tools), Guest Quarters, Master Bedroom (proper bedding), Six Bedrooms (proper bedding)

Outside Base: Butchering Hut (modern butchery kit, smoking rack), Tannery Hut, Underground Storage Area, Garden Area (fenced in)

Books: 3x woodworking books, weathered leather-bound journal, war game booklet, sketch book (from warband), Special documentary on Nexus Prime #34, 16 Broken Tower documents

Year 0, Day 85

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(Extra Stories)

Extra Story 1

(many years ago) A younger Victoria is out playing with some kids by a wide stream. One of the kids stands on a rock and proclaims

Kid 1, "I am the Qui Durat! I have come to steal from you, greedy and gluttonous rich people."

Kid 2, "No fair, I want to be Qui Durat."

Kid 1, "No way, Qui Durat is a female!"

Victoria, "Hey, this isn't cool. The Qui Durat is a criminal and shouldn't be looked up to."

Kid 1, "Pfft, that's just crown propaganda. The hero of Epping Forest is a hero who steals from the rich and gives to the poor."

Victoria, "No, she is a thief who steals from the barely rich and gives to the even richer!"

Kid 2, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. You're stupid, Victoria."

Victoria, "Qui Durat stole from my uncle, killed my eldest sister, and because my uncle died, our debts were forcibly paid, and my family's land was sold to Lord Stimulus."

Kid 2, "Makes since why you're always around here. Don't worry, Lord Stimulus is a benevolent lord."

Kid 1, "He even hired a lawyer for my family once. He is a good man."

Victoria, "My dad says he hired Qui Durat to steal from my uncle, so he can't be a good guy."

Kid 1, "Give it a rest, Victoria; Qui Durat is a hero, and that's final!"

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