Gar thought for a moment and scratched his head with his thick, blue fingers. “Door locked,” he replied
sternly.
Green Hair slammed his forearm into Gar's chest knocking him aside. “Out me way,” the Troll growled. Gar snarled, but acquiesced. As Green Hair sauntered out of the warehouse, the two remaining Trolls growled at each other, surely for some form of dominance. Gar punched the second Troll hard in the chest knocking the wind out of him. As the second Troll gasped for air, Gar took his position behind Green Hair. Apparently, I had just witnessed a coup, and Gar had promoted himself. "Rose,” I heard Karl's voice say.
Looking up, I spotted the Goblin hanging out of an opened air vent. "You've gotta see this,” Karl said, his eyes wide. He disappeared back into the shaft. Holding my hand on my shoulder, I gritted my teeth and fought through the pain. Climbing up over the crates and boxes, I glanced down at the warehouse one more time to make sure the Trolls hadn't spotted me. Clicking the safety on, I pushed my Beretta back into its holster and snapped the safety strap over it. I peered into the shaft and saw Karl moving quickly away from me. Placing my hands on the edge, I pulled myself inside.
Chapter "Oh my God,” I breathed.
Wrapping my fingers around the slits in the ventilation grate, I pulled myself as close as I could. I stared down in horror at the black heart of the warehouse as a mass of machinery moved autonomously about its nefarious work. Deep bronze with silver and black highlights, it seemed to stretch on endlessly. Chugging, cranking, and undulating, it created a primal cacophony that was almost musical. Hundreds of clear tubes, filled with featureless, white, seemingly proto-humanoids with black, sclera-less eyes, were plucked one by one from the roof by gigantic, robotic arms and inserted into the machinery. As they descended, the clear fluid in the tubes was drained and replaced by a thicker, mint green substance that caused the proto-humanoids to painfully convulse. Further down the machine, a bright blue pulse electrified the green fluid, creating the sulfurous smell I detected earlier. As it became transparent again and the humanoid's spasms stopped, the tubes were replaced on the conveyor belt in the ceiling.
Were these the pod people? Could they be the Maryut Yaz told me about?
"See?” Karl said anxiously. “I told you it was aliens!" "Those aren't aliens,” I corrected him. Although, I wasn't entirely surewhat they were. They certainly looked like the gray aliens from abduction lore. Scanning across the sprawling machine, I spotted several purple Seeker amulets scattered on the floor. Each was glowing brightly as mine still was. That wasn't a good sign. Pulling the Maker's PDA from my
The Brimstone Betrayal
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