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Location: Arpeggio Underground.

Time: 20:25p

Year: 2093, February 14th.

I had been walking for a short time, and saw nothing but dirty walls. There were no doors, no corners or turning points. I was starting to think that it was a bad idea to go into the tunnel in the first place. It was cold, bitter, but surprisingly not damp. I was dragging my rifle by the strap, making it screech along the floor.

I had to walk for another five minutes until I saw a small manhole cover on the floor. By 'find', I meant I had tripped over it along the way. I got up quickly and circled around the small hole. It looked like I would fit down, and there was no other way down that I could see, so I ended up taking that route. It took a while to force the disc-shaped door open, and once I had succeeded, the shock had taken me off balance again.

I bent down and stared into the hole. I could only spot out more metal; it looked like a room, though it was clean unlike the large tunnel. If it was a room, it would most likely contain something or lead somewhere. I was about to jump in when I heard a faint screeching and growling from further down the tunnels. I didn't have to guess what it was. I instantly jumped down the hole and into the room, closing the hatch behind me.

The room was surprisingly larger than I had expected. It was almost completely angular, banding inwards in different angles until it met a point on the ceiling. The bottom was just the same, but lined with flat grating so people could keep their footing. In the centre of the room was a thin, metal pillar that illuminated the room. I couldn't even look at it without hurting my eyes.

I saw four separate tunnels leading downwards. I turned to my left and walked on, expecting to come out somewhere. Unfortunately, I was led into another slightly smaller room, still containing nothing; though I felt that I was getting closer to something interesting, so I continued walking further down; since it was the only way that any of the other tunnels ever led.

As I walked on through each tunnel, the rooms were getting smaller and smaller. I ended up having to crouch slightly to fit through the last few tunnels. Fortunately, I had come out of one of the tunnels, and into a much larger room than every other room I had searched. The space was completely hollow, and looked like it linked with many separate tunnels further down.

In the centre of the hole was a thick pillar that seemed to drop down forever. This was held up and linked to all the other tunnels, so I had little choice but to check it out and see if there was a way down through the pillar. Unfortunately, the door that led to the pillar was locked and made of thick steel. I cursed under my breath.

"Just great." I muttered to myself. "Now what am I supposed to do?"

I was just about to turn the other way and find another route when a voice had spoke overhead.

"Please, walk." The voice said in a monotone voice. "Have a nice day."

I turned around and watched the steel door slide open, inviting me inside. Even the walls were signaling me with a few dim arrows pointing to the entrance. It felt odd; almost as if there was someone watching me; watching me every move. I looked around for any kind of cameras or surveillance tools attached to the walls. I found nothing.

I sighed and walked on through the door, which closed behind me. I was now inside the pillar, which was made of purely white metal; and in the middle of the small room was a thinner pillar that looked like an elevator.

"Please remain calm." The voice said. "Proceed to level Minus-Ten; Lower Depths. Have a nice day."

I didn't bother looking around for any kind of cameras this time. I just obeyed and proceeded into the compact elevator. I didn't see any buttons inside. It was just a blank, white cylinder. I couldn't even get out since the doors had closed instantly once I stepped in.

"Proceeding to Lower Depths." The voice continued. "Please keep your arms and legs where they are; do not touch the edges of the elevator until you have arrived at your destination. Please remain calm."

I felt a sudden drop from the elevator. I was descending, but at this rate the elevator would crash into the ground; with me in it. I was dropping so fast that I almost thought that I couldn't breathe. I had just passed out when the elevator had stopped, throwing me into the edges of the elevator.

Location: Arpeggio Underground, Lower Depths.

Time: 20:50pm

Year: 2093, February 14th.

I woke up to the sound of ringing in my ears. I was slumped up against a wall, on the floor. I struggled to get up, by which time I had noticed that the doors were wide open, and the elevator had not been harmed at all. I finally got up and staggered through the doors; at least it would be safer on solid ground rather than an elevator.

The room that I entered was shaped just like a large box. It was very much like the room that I had seen in Epitaph, from when I still worked for the Arpeggio Militia. There were a few differences, though, such as the walls were all made up of computer screens and monitors; and there were wires and circuits attached to the ceiling, snaking along the walls and linking to the walls.

From what I could tell, the monitors were the only things that kept the room illuminated. What really caught my interest were the images that were displayed. They all looked like the rooms and openings that I had seen in this place. They all looked the same, apart from the size of course. In the centre of the room was a large disc covered in weird and angular patterns. I also noticed that the disc was a darker shade of grey, almost black.

I walked over to the large disc, where the strange patterns had started to glow blue. I heard a short hum and a few clicks as the monitors started to go out one by one, and an image started to flicker onto the disc. I circled around, noticing that the image was three-dimensional, making it a hologram of sorts. It was Sarra; the girl from my dreams. She was looking at me and smiling.

"Hello, Kobalt." She greeted me. "Welcome back. I knew we'd meet again."

"Delightful as ever, Sarra." I replied, still circling her. "What is this place? What happened to Arpeggio?"

"One question as a time, little Fox." Sarra laughed. "Firstly, this is Arpeggio; myself. The Arpeggio that you know is just the city built on top of it. Secondly, if you are referring to the city, then it has been destroyed by unknown means."

"You're lying." I retorted, staying calm. "You do know what happened; but tell me something else. What are you? Why were you in my head?"

"You're asking two questions at once again." She pouted, crossing her arms. "You could call me an 'A.I.'. I was made to store all the history leading from the nuclear disaster that destroyed most of Earth."

"So you were made around the time that the world had died?" I assumed. "That doesn't explain why you were in my head or why you were made in the figure of a mythical being."

"I was getting to that." Sarra retorted. "I was only made in the figure of a Human. I have no idea why my makers made me like this. I don't even know why I was in your head. Maybe a small portion of me was stored in your head at an early age, but you can't remember it. Maybe you just have a gift that people don't have, allowing you to see me, even when you're not here."

"One bit at a time." I complained, shaking my head. "I'm not as...focused as you are."

We both waited in silence for a few seconds; just enough time for me to process all of the information I had been told. My head was starting to throb, and I had to sit down to keep focused. Sarra sat down with me, and a few pieces of paper started to flicker onto the disc.

"You seem to have a childish personality." I marked out; "Probably made by your creators; which raises another good question; who were your makers? Did they make all of this?"

"It is a good question." Sarra said happily. "My creators had actually made this whole facility, but had died from unknown causes later on; so I couldn't tell you what their names were. Even I don't know."

"Well that's useful." I groaned, losing patience. "So what are all these monitors for, then? What use are they for an abandoned facility? And why is this facility still running? Surely the power would have died out years ago, right?"

"More questions piled on me at once." Sarra complained, getting up. "Here's the thing; these monitors can link to anywhere in Arpeggio, meaning the city and the facility. They were useful for me to keep an eye on people and have a little control over the city. This facility also runs on the city generators, which have surprisingly survived the cities destruction-."

"So if you can see the city, then you must have seen what happened when the city was destroyed!" I accused, lashing out at her.

"Shut up!" Sarra shouted at me; "Fine! I did it! I killed Arpeggio! It was an accident, though. How was I supposed to know the Militia was so sensitive?"

"Wait; the Militia?" I said, confused. "What do they have to do with this? What did you do?"

"I was curious." She explained, starting to cry. "I wanted to have a quick walk about in the Militia's data files when they had locked down everything. They overreacted and set off a bomb in the city. It was a big explosion, and it completely shattered the city. It's their fault, not mine."

Sarra started to cry in full force, dropping to the ground and folding her knees, cradling them in her arms. I sighed and got up, circling around her again, and

"So you destroyed the facility by accident?" I asked. "Well, what's done can't be undone. Either way, I have to get you out of here."

"What?" Sarra asked, getting up and wiping away the tears. "Where are you taking me?"

"I need to get you somewhere safe." I said; "Somewhere where you can be put to use."

"...There's a small cylinder in the disc." She said, patting the ground. "That contains me; but it'll be a little risky."

"How?" I asked. "It sounds simple enough. What could go wrong?"

"I've detected a small breach where you entered." Sarra explained; "Possibly mutants. I can't tell. You need to be careful."

At that, Sarra had disappeared back into the cylinder, which I had removed with ease and placed in my belt. I had no other route but to take the elevator that I had used before. Hopefully I wouldn't be knocked out this time. There was no time for that. I stepped into the small cylinder and saw the doors close. After that, the elevator began to hum and click before finally ascending upwards.

It took just a few seconds for the elevator to arrive back in the tunnels, where a friend was waiting for me. Agustus, in fact.

"Let's go." Agustus shouted over, through the tunnel. "The mutants will be here any minute!"

I couldn't believe it! I didn't expect him to actually come in and rescue me. I sighed and pulled the cylinder containing Sarra from my belt, throwing it over to Agustus.

"Keep that safe." I ordered. "You're more likely to survive than me."

"What is it?" Agustus asked, looking at the cylinder. "Is this what we came here for?"

"It's an A.I. program." I replied. "It contains all information concerning Arpeggio and its destruction. Now let's go."

With that, we both stayed silent and moved on quietly. We were both assuming the worst, so I had to pull out my rifle and move fast and re-trace my steps through the complex.

So far, we hadn't had any run-ins with any mutants, and we had got out of the hole with ease. All we had to do then was get from there over to the very end of the tunnel. Unfortunately, that was where everything started to go to hell. We began to hear screeches getting closer and closer towards us; but we didn't look back. That was our biggest mistake.

I felt something grab hold of my leg and drag me down to the floor, pulling me the other way. I twisted around and shot straight into the darkness, hitting a mutant somewhere, causing it to lose grip of my foot. I was badly injured; the claw had dug in through the metal and into my flesh. Agustus had ran back and dragged me along, slowing us down a lot.

I heard more mutants coming our way. I didn't shoot back, but instead let go of Agustus and dropped to the floor.

"What are you doing, Kobalt?" The Wolf asked. "We need to go now!"

"Go on." I said, looking up at him. "I'm only slowing you down with this busted leg. If you don't go alone, we both die. I'll hold them back; you secure the A.I."

Agustus was about to argue back, telling me that he wouldn't go alone; but he could clearly see my face. I was serious. I was going to risk my life; and this time, I would actually die. I saw Agustus' eyes start to well up as he nodded quickly and ran off.

I pulled out my grenades from my belt, pulling all the pins out and holding on to them, laughing away the pain that surged through my leg. I shouted one last thing before they had set off.

"Let's see if I can really die, then!"

Everyone says that your life flashes before your eyes when you die. This time, I didn't see anything. I closed my eyes to make sure of that, and imagined myself with Joseph, one last time.

A single life that I could never live.

End