They had reached the mouth of a gargantuan cave, from his position he could see the sloping floor that led down to the depths of the planet, seconds before the assault started Malcraft’s exoskeleton dropped from the sky. Now he watched as a line of over eight hundred other machines began their descent into Asimov’s lair.
They’re all doomed
They were inside now, he new it was coming, he pondered on the futility of their actions; none of these players had no idea what they were doing, to them Krusher9 was a game which they were still fully immersed in. Each one of them would die here, Asimov couldn’t be beaten, not within the conventional parameters of their game weapons.
But maybe he will do it.
Fifty metres below surface level and they rounded a corner, the cave opened out into a wide sloping chamber.
Here it comes.
His infrared scanners picked some movement at the sides of the chamber, the bulbous rocks that layered the entire room began to move, the screaming sound that emanated was that of metal grinding against bone.
Tiny fissures began to open up in the walls and roof as tiny rods containing a highly pressurised molten mix of iridium and platinum rained down on the attacking party.
Malcraft watched as those too slow to get out of the way were seared alive in their suits. The haunting screams that pierced across the comms link gave away the fact that in this lair, the usual dampening effect in the Krusher9 code was not operational. Asimov controlled your pain, Malcraft knew this all too well.
Still they went deeper, the skirmish in the Cavern of Glowing Rocks had taken more than two thirds of the troops, Malcraft listened to the chatter on the comms links. Most of the players were scared, the screams of their comrades had been like nothing any of them had ever heard. They knew real pain when they heard it.
No matter, you shall all be dead soon.
They were by an underground lake, two hundred and thirty three metres from the surface. An unseen light source gave the inky black water a faint deep blue glow, the water’s edge was ringed by a jagged necklace of rocks, starting low and rising to several hundred feet at the lake’s rear.
The small army were poised at the mouth of the huge body of water, it seemed the only way was to enter, as the rocks blocked any meaningful path around. As they hesitated in their progress, the centre of the lake started to bubble.
Ah, here you are, this is where you’ve decided upon this time. Bravo. You still have the capacity to surprise.
Out of the water rose a small humanoid figure, he was dressed in a vac-suit of midnight black. Tails of hair the colour of nightmares sprung from his gunmetal skull, which was paper thin, yet gave the impression of being hard as stone.
As ever Malcraft couldn’t stop starting at him, he viewed the fine filigreed lines that traced their way around that terrible skull. Within them he thought he could see his future and his past, and he didn’t like what he saw.
As he rose from the depths to a height of just a few feet above the water, Isaac.Asimov turned his palms towards his stunned attackers, his arms began to rise. A thin oxy-bright line appeared across his skull, at the same time his body glowed black and red.
And now, it’s time for hell.
Previous Chapters
Asimov's Ghost - Chapter 54 - Asimov's InfernoAsimov's Ghost - Chapter 53 - Hell Reborn
Asimov's Ghost - Chapter 52 - A Chance At Paradise
Asimov's Ghost - Chapter 51 - A Time For Death
Asimov's Ghost Summary and Chapter Links 41-50
Asimov's Ghost Summary and Chapter Links 31-40
Asimov's Ghost Summary And Chapter links 21-30
Original artwork by @fr3eze
Original words by Cryptogee