Activity

Klein left the rations on the ground. A lot had happened to this group before he arrived. They probably had some reservations about him. Taking a pocket sandwich and beef snack, he walked to the basin.

The grid pattern worried him. It was too different from everything he had seen to be good. The squares were about two foot by two foot. Striking one with the back of a gauntlet, Klein listened to the clank. It was iron or steel, not too thin but not too thick. Taking a cautious step forward, he put weight on the square. The floor didn’t give way so he stood more properly on it. In full gear, Klein weighted about five hundred pounds. Since the floor didn’t break with him standing on it, it wouldn’t break for anyone else.

Still not satisfied, Klein put his helmet back on. As the HUD lit up, he used all his scanners on the one square and then checked those results against the rest of the floor. Thermal imaging showed faint heat sources under several squares. The metal hide the exact shape of these objects. His laser rangefinder showed the basin shape was almost perfectly square. The whole room was a machine of some kind. An arena or colosseum. And they had to clear it.

There was a noise from behind. Snapping around, Klein dropped to the floor. The steel outer visor slammed shut over the Plexiglas HUD. His rifle’s electric scope synced over his right eye. It was only a swordsman, a dual wielder, Asian in appearance. Another victim of this place. Releasing the defensive functions, Klein took a knee. Seeing that no one had eaten the rations, he scooped them up and returned them to his pack.