"Wait…what?"
A hint of elation touched her as she jogged to where the AI stood over a group of bushes. He'd pulled them up from the ground and dug into the dirt less than half a meter before he discovered what could only be described as a steel hatch that led underground.
The AI stepped closer, grasped the handle, and spun it slowly. The rusted steel groaned under the strain and left her fearful for a moment that it would break, but after a few long turns, it moved a little smoother.
"Nice work, Mini." She chuckled, unable to hide her relief.
"Your compliment is noted and appreciated."
"How were you able to find it?"
"I…" The pause was uncharacteristic since the AI was almost never at a loss for words. "Data not found. If I were to venture a guess, I would say I might have been here before. I will need to conduct further tests to establish for certain whether that is correct."
The Prophet approached as Mini worked the Minato to heave and pull the heavy hatch open and reveal the darkened entrance to a tunnel.
"Nice work. I began to have my doubts as to Robert7's trustworthiness."
Jessica13 shook her head. "You and me both."
"What was that?"
"Nothing. But I think that we should all wear the protective gear if we go down there. Bunkers usually only isolated these locations when they used them to dump the radioactive waste from their reactors back in the day, so the chances are that whatever is down there won’t be healthy for us."
"That is a good idea, Jessica13," the man said and her team began to pull the hazmat suits on. It was slow work but eventually, they were ready to enter.
"May the sun guide you through the darkness," the Prophet said as Jessica13 adjusted her protective gear. "And may we see each other on the other side."
She couldn't help a small smile. "Right back at you. And thanks. You know, for believing in us."
"I will thank you when you complete your mission."
Chapter Seventy-Three
Ten minutes prior to the prison break
She had heard of places like this in the past. Most of the bunkers had them for when they needed to flood the reactors. Maintenance was usually an issue since it was almost never needed, which allowed most of the locations to fall into disrepair over the years.
While she’d never paid the information much attention, she'd never thought it would be like this. The fact that there were branches of tunnels was already a little alarming. It meant these led to a variety of reactors that would lead them to more than one entrance into the city.
Only a few meters in, Jessica13 could already hear a cacophony from the Geiger counters they'd brought. That alone told her their decision to descend while already wearing the protective gear had not been in error.
"Mini, why don't you run scans into the tunnels to see which one is likely to bring us out closer to the central control facility of the city?"
"I could, but…the radiation interferes with the scans. These passages lead in various directions. We should head into the second tunnel from the left."
"Wait, I thought you said you can't see that far?"
"Once again, data is not found, but we should head down that tunnel anyway."
She had never seen the AI act like this before. Then again, he had never talked about having been somewhere before either. There was no reason for her to trust this sudden impulsiveness from him.
Then again, there was no real reason not to. Who was she to say he didn't know what he was doing?
It seemed more sensible to trust him, so she walked in the front of the group and directly behind Mini as they continued through the narrow passages. Hammerhand had been right, and if they ran into any defenders in this area, Mini's ability to get her and the rest of them out of trouble would be severely hampered.
What had happened to Hammerhand? And Tinker? And the other Knights? The Prophet had said he and his warriors had been led into a trap which they had barely escaped but that the Knights hadn't come out either. They'd been separated, and there was no telling whether they were alive or dead.
There wasn't much in the world that could kill Hammerhand, that much she knew. Tinker was a tough fucker too. If there was any way they could get out of whatever trap had been arranged for the Knights, they would have found it and gotten clear. The only question was whether they had tried to retreat or had pressed forward and attacked the city as planned.
Jessica13 shook her head. Her mind needed to be grounded in the present and there were enough dangers out here for her to deal with. The tunnels themselves were neglected and the arches had already begun to decay and fall apart. The coolant liquid seeped through the cracks, dripped onto the floor, and covered it in a light film that already started to steam. This, in turn, made clear vision almost impossible the deeper they went.
The clicking from the Geiger counters accompanied the unceasing drips of the coolant fluid in a way that made her skin crawl with every step. The suits they wore were effective against radiation, but there was always a chance that something would go wrong or the suits would reach a point where they soaked in too much.
She wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.
All they had to go on were the metaphorical gut instincts of the AI that piloted her mech. She had trusted Mini with her life in the past and there was no real reason to doubt him at this point. Nevertheless, a hint of concern pushed at her, a nagging feeling that something was wrong.
They were already a considerable distance from their entry point when she realized that the pools of coolant
