#120

As if in a sign, the time-vortex around the island clears up a bit, and when they exit the former prison they can all get a good look at the Blue Tower.

“Holy shit!” Mark cries out. “That looks even bigger than the Red one...”

Mina and Susie don't lock eyes but still have a sense of both humor and the grotesque inside.

“It looks like it has a set of prongs at the top, almost,” Jacob adds.

Okay, that's funny. Sort of. In the most immature of ways.

Mina sees those as well, and has a theory in her mind. “Didn't we find out that two universes in this Cascade thing have been destroyed? Including me and Jacob's?”

“Those prongs do seem to have energy on them. Fuel energy.” Mark is speaking. “Maybe each prong represents a universe...”

“The Inspector might be feeding off that energy, then,” Susie says. “You told me that he woke up in the White Tower's fuel core before he woke up a second time, which was the time where we went up and met you, Mark. He said that he saw a figure drinking in the fuel, but he thought it was a dream...”

“Hm. Maybe that's why they need the medics. It's nice to have an army, but he could also be infusing people with the fuel. Using them as batteries. Emergency backups, or something.”

“The mutants could work for that too,” Jacob says. As he says it, he recalls that—to his knowledge—Doctor Kai told him about the origin of Inspector Fox. (That happened, didn't it?) That Fox was once human makes this all worse, but that goes without saying.

“Now, how do we get in?” Mark asks, stating what everyone else was thinking. They're about to approach it, but You suddenly takes off again. This time, no one shouts after him. They just follow, because he's following those fuel-signals. Or, he's been hacked, and is leading them into a trap. Either way, it's worth a shot—what sort of traps could they have left that they haven't faced yet? (They know the answer is “many”. But they all want to act all world-weary, which is okay.)

As they approach the Tower, they see that there are actually several gates up ahead—all sealed of course, but You is already raising his arms. The virus unlocks these gates, and there are no Guards within. No mutants. Perhaps that initial wave of defense was put down after Fox saw that perhaps his attempt to complete his Beta-4 ritual failed. Perhaps he'll let them come straight to him with no problems. Which doesn't exactly bode well nevertheless.

They enter through one of the gates, and find that this Tower is different from the other two. It's ringed like the Red Tower, but much less is visible, like in the White Tower. A hallway leads down towards an elevator. There are no side-doors, unless there are ripple walls like the ones You saw in White. However, like in Red, there is a glass wall at the far edge of the elevator, revealing a central tube that seems to be full of little tendrils. The tendrils are moving matter about—anything from computers to random Kirbyesque machinery bits to large crates marked as containing weapons.

With no other choice, at least at this gate, they enter the elevator and go up. Mina approaches the glass wall and decides to tempt fate by looking down. “Whoa...”

She points, and they all take a glimpse. The shaft goes down, too, but it stops not far below ground. The ground is ringed with a strange but beautiful circle of crystal spires. In the center of these massive quartz chunks is some sort of black monolith. It makes a pulsing noise, which is easy to inspire thought of a correlation between this monolith and the crystals. To Susie, they dimly resemble a crystallized form of fuel, but much purer—meaning that instead of simply being a dull grey, they flash with a faint rainbow. The group can see the vague forms of Crimson Guards milling around the larger crystals—they could be harvesting them.

The elevator begins to ascend and eventually that lower level fades from sight.

However, Mark keeps an eye on the outside of the car, even as silence looms. He notices two odd things, but puts them aside as nothing. The first is that a large staff is apparently being shipped. It, like the Tower, appears pronged at the top. He instantly discards the image due to its connotations; he knew that Susie and Mina were silently picking on him. However, next he sees something different. One of the crystals from below is being sent up. Inside it, though, Mark can vaguely see the shape of a humanoid figure. This unsettles him greatly, but he could be hallucinating. He's incredibly tired, and if it's more trouble maybe it will just go away or something. And, this time-field, even in its diminished form now, is messing with his head. He can take that as an excuse to be lazy.

But he hasn't been “lazy Mark” for awhile. He should be disturbed by this sudden return of a trait, but he's too tired to face it. That will cost him later.

The elevator doesn't seem to have stops, which is weird. They all fear the worst, because they all know deep down that there is no challenge. There are no “stages” or “phases” of elevator duels against Crimsons or soldiers or whatever. They broke the ritual, and as they rise they can almost feel anger besides their fear. But it's not their own.

No, the elevator is under the control of whoever's at the top. He commands it just as he's done so for everything else in the tale of these five individuals.

The power coming from the conquest of the whale is still in Susie and Mina. The others will have to be more careful. Boxing glove won't do much; not even a laser pike could do what's needed. You might stand a chance, but not much of one.

Time isn't a factor aboard the elevator. All that matters is that it reaches its destination, and what's behind that door.

It's over, and the door slides open.