Acid Reign : Genesis

Ripp, Gus, and Lilly had been all over the area surrounding Nucrea except for the foundry in the old engineering industrial park. Lilly remembered that Johnny’s dad had searched the place, and said there was absolutely no reason to go back.

“Foundries dealt in junk,” he would explain. “With all of the new material technology that had been developed in the world, metal was obsolete as a viable resource, unnecessarily heavy and too costly to refine. As a runner, if you ever come across a foundry or any type of metal working plant just keep on searching, unless of course it’s a munitions factory. Then you need to take whatever you can carry and keep returning until there ain’t nothing left, or until you die.”

This was definitely a plain old metal foundry, but Lilly was happy that she finally had a contract of her own and in spite of all the logic concerning the whole situation, she felt amazing.

Nun’s box wasn’t specific about what it was she needed to bring back, just anything that was labeled Theonicorp.

She followed two metal tracks that ran from one end of the long building to the other. On the tracks were three wheeled buckets, filled to the top with metal scraps. She tried to make sense of how the foundry worked as she looked around at all of the equipment.

A metal staircase led up to a small office directly above a group of offices on the main floor. The stairs seemed intact, but she knew that would make more noise than she dared. There were a couple of Fringers she had to sneak past to get in, so loud noises weren’t an option.

She pulled out the Skynut and linked the feed to her Pigeon. She pointed at the drone and then at the office. Lilly watched her monitor as the small drone nimbly maneuvered through the rafters and made a quick scan of the inside of the office.

There was a collapsed writing desk, a pair of rusted filing cabinets, an empty wire wastebasket and a decomposed body. Knowing that there was no reason to risk checking out the office, Lilly typed in the return command. The Skynut zipped back to her, hovered, and then landed. Lilly smiled and pocketed her little time-saver.

After a quick search, she discovered there wasn’t anything worth taking from the other offices either, but she was determined to find something. She made her way through a long dark corridor that led to the adjacent warehouse.

The storage area of the warehouse was huge. There were containers of all shapes and sizes everywhere. She wondered if Johnny’s dad had even been inside this foundry.

Most of the containers were, surprisingly, in good condition, and labeled clearly with a bright green Midway. There were a couple of forklifts with containers still sitting on their metal arms.

She didn’t have time to check every container, but she made a location marker on her Pigeon, because this foundry was going to be her “gold mine”.

Two more tracks ran through this room also, but they were thicker than the ones in the adjacent smelting building. She followed the tracks to the wall.

There, sitting on the tracks in front of a giant reinforced door that looked nothing like the outside of the warehouse, was a military rail car. It was heavily armored, and there were two huge guns, mounted on the top. Lilly had never seen guns that big, and the obvious damage those two guns could inflict wasn’t what excited her; it was the Theonicorp insignia on the side.

“That’s not gonna fit in my bag,” she whispered to herself.

She searched every inch of the rail car, but couldn’t find a door or anything that resembled a way in. She went over to a small office that was adjacent to the track. Inside, there was a small control panel and some sort of communication or location relay grid. There were also monitors arranged in a panoramic view, all of which were surprisingly intact.

On a small metal table in the corner of the station, there was a case with the hexagonal insignia of Theonicorp on it.

“That’ll fit, though,” Lilly said with a huge smile. She picked up the case and gently slid it into her bag.

She strapped on the backpack and took a deep breath. There wasn’t any reason to search for anything else. Nun hadn’t been specific about what she needed to bring back other than it had to be something with Theonicorp’s name on it.

She made her way back through the maze of containers to the corridor. This time the end of the corridor was blacked out except for some light near the ceiling. There should have been enough light from the windows of the foundry to be able to see the end of the corridor, but there wasn’t.

The hair on the back of her neck shot up, almost piercing through her rad gear, as the darkness moved in front of her, the rancid smell burning her nose.

She turned her helmet lamp on, illuminating the group of Fringers that now blocked the corridor, hoping to blind them temporarily as she unlatched her A9.

There was no time to ground herself. She just had to trust that she was far enough away form the Fringers.

She pulled the trigger, and the blue and white explosion of electricity illuminated the corridor. She reached for her pistol and used the light from the writhing electricity to shoot at the surviving targets.

Ripp watched his monitor as the industrial park rushed toward him. He reached over to a panel next to the dash, activated a sensor array, and then shifted to a lower gear.

The buildings in the monitor now had a green hue as red stick figures popped up on the screen, some by themselves, but most of them gathered in one area. Inside a warehouse adjacent to the foundry, and right next to the biggest group of red, was Lilly, emitting a flashing blue light.

“Damnit, Lil!”

Ripp pulled up a holographic map that displayed above the steering wheel. He tapped the blue flashing light that represented Lilly and a direct course mapped itself out.

“Hang on.”

The smell of burning flesh and ozone filled the corridor as Lilly backed into the pitch-black warehouse. The moans of the dying Fringers and the building rage of the ones still alive echoed through the warehouse. She had never heard these sounds before, and they crept into her body and clawed at her bones. She realized being terrified wasn’t just being afraid, it was the combination of being afraid and alone.

Stick to your training.

She shot one Fringer, then another and then another. She kept shooting until the last round in the magazine hit its mark, and the slide locked.

The archer had almost recharged, but with only one charge left, she had to make it count. She could see silhouettes climbing over the smoldering pile of their dead friends.

The corridor was filling up again with Fringers, and she worried that there wouldn’t be a way out, but she couldn’t wait any longer. The archer was ready.

A second charge exploded, sending white-hot bolts of electricity through the corridor slamming into the next wave of Fringers.

This gave Lilly enough time to retreat into the warehouse and find a hiding spot. She remembered what Gus had taught her about diversion and unlocked her empty magazine as she followed the metal tracks to the wall.

She ran back to the huge hangar door and crouched behind the armored transport, wishing it would open by some unseen force. Those mounted guns would make quick work of them. She quickly linked up the Skynut again and set it to follow her and scan the room.

Red dots started popping up on her pigeon display as the Fringers spilled out from the corridor into the warehouse.

“Six is good,” she told herself as the dots spread out, two of them coming right at her.

Diversion.

Ripp watched the display as a bright red flash filled the hallway between Lilly and the bottleneck of Fringers. He watched her back away from the group of red, firing her gun. The heat display on his monitor made it look like red laser beams were shooting out from her hand.

“Good girl.”

Ripp tore around the last set of smaller buildings that ran along the main road. He was close now. She was right there in front of him. He sped to the building where Lilly was huddled. There were no doors or windows anywhere on the building. The hangar door was mechanical and no way to get it open.

The Mustang’s engine screamed as Ripp swung around and headed back to the front of the foundry.

Ripp would have to go in after her.

Lilly quickly dimmed her Pigeon display, hoping that none of the Fringers had noticed the light. She loaded her spare magazine in one quick motion, and then moved slowly along the side of the rail transport. She strained her eyes to see the display, but once she could focus she saw that a Fringer was right on top of her. She quickly tossed the empty magazine over the transport and hit the side of the control office.

The diversion worked. Groans and mumbling filled the silent room. Lilly watched the dim screen of her Pigeon, waited until the Fringers gathered around the office, and then moved stealthily back to the corridor.

The engine roared as Ripp sped around to the back of the foundry. He came to a sliding stop, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.

The monitor showed that Lilly had somehow worked her way around the Fringers and was climbing over a fading red pile of bodies, back through the corridor.

Confidence.

Lilly started to climb over the mound of burnt Fringers. She tried not to think about the horrible scene and the unbearable smell. She clawed her way over the slippery carnage, tearing at the burnt flesh of the Fringers.

She squeezed through the gap at the top of the mound and slid down the other side, Fringer blood soaking her clothes. She got her footing and looked down at her Pigeon display, which was also covered in charred skin and blood. There was no way she could see the feed from the Skynut, so she decided to run. She had no idea how many more were in the warehouse, or the lobby, or outside, but if she could reach her transport she would be safe.

She pulled a cloth from one of her pockets, quickly cleaned her visor as best as she could, then ran along the metal tracks back to the front of the foundry. All she could think about was getting to her transport and driving home. She wanted to be back at Johnny’s, with Ripp and Gus making fun of each other. She missed Bean and realized melted Fringers smelled way worse than she did.

Lilly laughed as she broke through the front doorway of the foundry.

Ripp watched her run through the foundry and headed around to the back of the building. There was a group of Fringers right behind her.

Division.

Ripp grabbed a glass and metal sphere from the middle console, shifted to low gear and pushed the accelerator as far into the floor as he could.

A hundred yards away from the entrance, Ripp came tearing around the corner. He was expecting to see Lilly sprinting with her tail between her legs, ready to hop in, but instead Ripp watched her fly sideways and land hard on the ground.

Lilly was in pain, covered with blood and melted skin, but she was out! Her eyes hadn’t adjusted to the light yet, but she kept running, hoping not to trip or run into anything. She knew there were Fringers close behind her.

She grabbed her pistol with a greasy hand. It was hard for her to see through her gore covered face shield, but she slowed down, steadied her aim and shot two of them.

Lilly had turned back to see how far her transport was when a huge Fringer came barreling out of a side building and backhanded her. She flew through the air and landed hard on her side. She rolled a couple of times to take some of the impact away but she was sure she had broken some of her ribs and dislocated her shoulder. She looked through her bloody visor at the blurred giant that was charging right at her.

Disoriented and ears ringing, she struggled to get up and steady her pistol. Her vision faded in and out as the roar of an engine replaced the ringing in her ears. She struggled to breath and realized her rad-breather wasn’t working. It must have been damaged from the impact or the backhand. She took her helmet off and took in a deep breath of the toxic air.

Ripp sped around the left side of Lilly, putting the Mustang between her and the horde. He slid to a stop, spraying dirt and rock into the horde.

The door facing Lilly opened.

“Get in, Lilly! Hurry! Lilly!”

Lilly got up painfully and slowly looked around.

The Fringers had recovered from the shower of gravel and were rushing towards them.

“Lilly! Get in!”

Lilly finally realized it wasn’t a dream. She grabbed her pack and jumped in leaving her helmet behind. Ripp opened his door, rolled the arc grenade towards the horde, and shoved the Mustang into gear.

Ripp and Lilly were pushed back into their seats as the Mustang raced forward. He needed to get as far away from the explosion as fast as possible. He looked over at Lilly, who was covered in blood and barely conscious, and injected her with a syringe.

Boom!

The shockwave of the explosion caught up to them and shook the transport throwing it out of traction, for a moment. Ripp regained control, shut down the extra sensor displays, and eased off the accelerator.

He looked over at her open bag and recognized the hexagonal insignia of Theonicorp on the case. He decided right then that whatever she had found wasn’t going to be handed over. Ripp had never known Nun to be anxious. The desperation he felt with the Theonicorp theme meant Nun was fixated on something, and Ripp was determined to find out what it was.

Memories of finding Lilly and the mysterious woman, named Soam, starving to death in the Fringe came flooding back to him.

He looked at Lilly, saw how vulnerable she was and remembered the promise he made to Soam.

“I’m proud of you,” Ripp said.

“Thanks for coming to get me.”

Ripp nodded. “We can talk about this later. We need to get you to a medical center right now, and then I need to try to stop Gus from killing Nun. If he hasn’t already.”

Lilly nodded and closed her eyes.