Sorcerer… Cyborg???

Chapter 233: Living Machinery

Schnick. Kothar's short blade slit the maintenance worker's neck, a spray of blood painting the wall of the tunnel. It splattered across the open pipe as well as the glowing yellow tube, giving the light within the tunnel an orange hue.

The slain worker gave a few choking sounds, but then fell limp in Kothar's grip.

Kothar slowly pulled the worker's arm out of the pipe, so he could make enough room to continue up the maintenance tunnel. 

The worker's arm slipped out of the pipe, her fist clenched tightly around a glistening, red, gelatinous mass. 

It was about the size of a small melon, large enough that it would obstruct the pipe, making the worker's purpose in removing it clear.

Kothar stared at it in fascination, poking at it with his blade, it was almost jelly like, but still tough enough that it wouldn't break apart easily.

[That almost looks like a blood clot. I'm beginning to become more and more sure that their devices are a kind of living machinery.] Silane's voice was filled with clear fascination, even though they were deep in enemy territory, she still loved to learn about the new strange technology they had encountered.

[You can be as intrigued with it as you want, but don't think I'll be plugging some technology derived from this into my body.] Kothar said firmly, the gray surfaces, filled with the viscous red, blood like liquid, had made him uneasy.

As he talked with Silane, Kothar let the body of the worker go, grabbing the rungs tight and pressing himself against the wall. The worker fell down the tunnel, her body flipping and turning like a child's doll thrown in play, and there was the faintest of noises as her body struck the ground below.

[How would living machinery be any different to having something like nano machines. Besides, I wouldn't be directly installing one of their strange devices into you, I'd just be using their knowledge in creating a blueprint.] Silane responded, before continuing, suppressing her discomfort at how careless Kothar was once again becoming when it came to taking lives.

It had seemed his emotions had changed him, but Silane wasn't so sure anymore.

[Just remove the tools that she used and keep them for me, I'll want to have a better look later.] 

Kothar didn't reply, he wasn't happy about it, but he knew Silane had his best interests at heart. The more she could learn from the strange technologies they encountered. The more powerful he could become in the future.

There was a soft click as Kothar shut the small access door that had opened on the side of the pipe, and then began repeating the worker's motions in reverse, quickly removing the two tools.

Each of the tools was barely larger than Kothar's palm, and he easily stowed them both within his cloak.

With the obstruction taken care of, Kothar continued his climb up the tunnel, growing ever closer to whatever was deep within the ship.

-----

For hours, Kothar had been climbing through the narrow maintenance tunnels. All the while, he wondered what had become of his father, as well as the others who had flown into the enormous ship with him.

He had come across a few more maintenance workers on his climb, they had been similar to the first. Not physically very strong nor very aware, all of them falling to Kothar without even noticing his presence.

This made Kothar thankful for the fact that he had come into the maintenance tunnels, rather than continue g down the main passageway that he had initially been in.

For the soldier he fought there was surprisingly powerful, to such a degree that Kothar had been a little worried when he had been tackled by him.

The surrounding air had steadily been growing warmer and warmer as Kothar climbed closer towards the heart of the ship, and the tunnels were becoming narrower and narrower.

Not because of any structural changes to the tunnels, but due to the fact that the pipes that ran along the tunnels were growing larger, and radiate more heat that contributed to the heat.

But now, after hours of climbing, Kothar had come to a dead end, the tunnel he had climbed along ended in a gray wall, and even though Silane had warned him that there was no hidden door, Kothar had still pushed on it, without even the slightest budge in response.

[What now?] Kothar asked Silane, he could clearly feel the spatial fluctuations up ahead, but there was no way forward.

[Now? You can either cut through the wall with your plasma blade, or we backtrack and find an exit.] Silane replied drily, already knowing what Kothar's answer would be.

Kothar sighed, and stepped back slowly down the rungs. This current tunnel had sloped diagonally upward, so Kothar had been half lying as he climbed, and while that had been difficult enough, climbing backwards was even harder.

[Right here!] Silane exclaimed, she had found an inscription that was similar to the first access door she had found.

[Ju-] Silane began, but Kothar interrupted her.

[I know, push the wall.] He said, and placed his palm on the wall, there was a soft click and the wall swung outward.

Kothar stepped out, and found himself in a vastly different passageway to the other that he had been in.

Gone was the gloom and darkness, there were multiple tubes that glowed along the top of the passageway, lighting it in a bright yellow hue.

The ground, which had been a featureless gray before, was now also densely carved with injections, just as the walls and roof were.

The architecture was no longer bleak, but there were decorative features where the roof and floor met the walls, with artistic designs reminiscent of the inscriptions that covered every inch of the invaders' devices.

Far off in the distance, Kothar could see an end to the tunnel, where it curved off in either direction.

It was from there that he could feel the spatial fluctuations most strongly.