ORPHEUS - A.I.

Chapter Eighteen: Dead and Company

But, O sad Virgin, that thy power

Might raise Musæus from his bower,

Or bid the soul of Orpheus sing

Such notes as, warbled to the string,

Drew iron tears down Pluto's cheek,

And made Hell grant what love did seek.

Megan noticed that there was little sunshine in the hall, but then she remembered that they were underground. She saw two little windows at the ceiling and wondered why they were build there.

"Here's some breakfast for you my dear...", said Anthea as she handed a piece of bread and a cup of warm water.

"We are a modest lot... we do what we can to survive here...I remember you having a lot of questions yesterday, I'll answer all of them... but first let me tell you about this place...", said Anthea.

Megan did have a lot of questions but she didn't know if she should trust them. Nevertheless she quietly sipped her water and listened to what Anthea had to say.

"This room- the tunnels were all built as a part of a project- the tunnels stretch in all directions from north to south, east to west and they open up in various parts of the jungle and swamps. This as you can see is the main hall... that door from which you entered leads to the corridor to which many rooms are attached... and it's not always this dark here... those windows let in sunlight every now and then, but its a cloudy day today...", Anthea said.

The girls then threw open the door and stepped into the tunnel one by one which was about 7 to 8 feet underground. Andre dragged Tim into the tunnel with great difficulty. One of them closed the trapdoor behind them and everyone took out their flashlights. Andre couldn't believe his eyes. The tunnel stretched on for miles up ahead. It looked like it was dug up during the world war days and was clearly a planned construction. The flashlights lit up the tunnel and Andre saw side doors and exits everywhere. It looked like a maze, but the girls knew exactly where they were going. Especially the little one, she was humming a tune and swinging her little crossbow as she went. Fifteen minutes later they arrived at a huge iron door. The leader of the group knocked on it three times.

"Password!", echoed a voice from the other side.

"Don't mess with me John or I'll break you'r nose...", she replied.

The door opened and they entered one by one. What Andre saw next was beyond his imagination- an entire room stretched out in front of him, there were tools, all sorts of weapons,food, beds and a few people busy with their chores. The entire room was lit by a dozen candles and hurricane lamps.

"What the hell is this place?", Andre kept thinking as he walked into the strange room. One of them came and took Tim away and laid him down on a bed and began to inspect his wound...

Hex was getting tired and hungry, he couldn't remember the last time he had solid food- maybe it was yesterday- but it felt like a year.

Fortunately Chuck stopped at the bottom of a hill and began to clear up some dead leaves and twigs . Hex saw that there was some sort of door cut into the mountain. Chuck pulled a small lever and the door opened. There was a tunnel up ahead...

Megan and Mary were taken through a tunnel too. Anthea led the way through the deep forest and stopped before a huge tree, she then raised a trapdoor from the ground and stepped into a tunnel dug into the ground.

Andre, Megan,Hex and Timothy were now in the underground tunnels with their respective rescuers, but they hadn't met each other yet.

Hex was being led by Chuck to the room where Andre was taken by the girls before while Megan followed Anthea into the room a few minutes later. Hex's jaw dropped when he saw the giant room underground. He suddenly noticed Timothy lying unconscious on a bed.

"You found him?", asked Hex.

"Yeah and his friend too... Oh and Anthea has also brought in some girl...over there...", replied Chuck and pointed towards Megan who was standing in a corner talking to Anthea.

Hex immediately walked across the room towards her-

"Megan?", he said approaching her from behind.

"Hex? Oh God! You're ok!...", she replied turning around.

"Yeah.. apparantly these people here rescued our entire team...", Hex replied, he almost wanted to hug her, but then he thought it'd be awkward.

"Andre and Tim too?", asked Megan , excited that everyone was safe.

Both of them walked towards Andre who was relaxing on a chair. He jumped up in excitement as he heard their voices.

"Attention everyone...", Anthea announced standing in the middle of the room. Everyone turned towards her.

"As you see we have some guests here with us... they too were made to play the game... thank god we rescued them first...", she said with a sigh of relief. She then walked towards Megan and Hex who were standing beside Andre, Timothy was still unconscious lying on a bed nearby.

"Do you realise what grave danger is lurking out there?", Anthea asked Megan.

"The drones you mean?", replied Megan.

"Drones? huh!... They are just pawns, there's a much bigger threat than those drones...", Anthea said pulling up a chair. Chuck and the girls stood around her.

"Orpheus is just an A.I. gone crazy...", Hex remarked.

"Orpheus? Aah... so they've created another one?", said Anthea.

"You mean there has been another one before?", asked Andre.

"Yes an A.I. was built about two years from today...it destroyed our lives and forced us into hiding...", Anthea replied.

"But where are we?", Megan asked.

"You, my dear are in what we call - the Purgatory- a place which is in the middle of nowhere, you may enter here but there's no way out ... you will be tested here every day and each day you have to put your life on the line to survive here... this is neither hell nor heaven... this is nowhere... yes, this is purgatory!", Anthea replied focussing her attention towards the flickering flame of a candle on the table.

"I don't understand...is there nowhere out of here?", Hex asked.

"We've been here for 48 months and we are still looking for a way out.. the forest never ends , there's not a single person for miles and miles, no trace of civilization, no roads nor cars...just a forest full of monsters...", Anthea replied.

"Monsters?", asked Andre.

"Yes, there are unspeakable horrors in the forests, animals and plants like you've never seen before- all thirsty for human blood...", Anthea replied.

"The people you see here- these 15 people are all the human beings you'll meet here besides yourselves...", she continued.

"Everyday we go out during the day and forage for food and supplies in the jungle and often we return empty handed. Sometimes we lose one or two... sometimes we find a few..."

"But how did you get here... who are you people...you mentioned you have been here for two years? Where were you before... ", asked Hex.

Chuck had brought them some sort of warm meal for the three of them. They began to eat as they listened to Anthea explaining.

Anthea paused a bit and looked Mary, who was standing quietly in the corner.

"Hmh... you can call us the survivors... hunters ... or rebels... we were brought here two years ago... and left to die here, as a part of some sick program ...", Anthea replied.

"Ah! but enough talk for tonight, I think you should clean yourselves up and have some food and we'll talk in the morning..." she said.

"What about my friend here?", Andre asked looking at Tim.

"He'll be fine...he needs rest - Regina will take care of him ... Come let me show you to your rooms..", Anthea replied and let them out through the other door which led to a narrow corridor.

"Woah.. what is this place?", said Andre to himself.

The corridor was lit up by hurricane lamps and extended for about a mile up ahead. Along the way there were doors leading to numerous rooms. The three of them were shown into their respective rooms which were about ten by twelve in size. The rooms were modest with beds and tables and small attached bathrooms.

The detailed precision by which the rooms and the tunnels were made underground seemingly surprised the three of them. Nevertheless the went into their rooms and cleaned themselves up after which they laid down dead tired on their beds.

"It was a really long day...hmh!", Megan thought as she sank into her bed and closed her eyes.

Hex sat on his bed and unwrapped the piece of clothing from his wound. It had healed already! He thought about the crazy old man with the dog who helped him. He was nowhere to be seen. Hex was sure he was right behind them as they crossed the gorge. Exhausted from all the excitement during the day he crashed down on his bed.

Andre fell asleep immediately as he entered his room. He didn't even bother to change his clothes. Timothy was unconscious outside in the main hall - a beautiful blonde lady was treating him, cleaning his wound.

Mary was led to her own room after she had her meal.

"Rest now... we'll talk tomorrow", said Anthea coldly as Mary entered her room.

Somewhere in the jungle, the crazy opd man cowered in his small shed made of leaves and twigs. It was beginning to rain heavily and the darkness began to swallow everything around him. Fortunately he had lit a fire in his shed to keep him warm. He handed a piece of bread to his dog- who ate it heartily.

Strange noises began to echo from the forest. The dog began to growl. The man stared into the dark emptiness with watchful eyes... something was coming, he could feel it, something dark and dangerous...

Megan looked at the burning cabin. She felt lucky to be alive. She then looked for the bags- they were lying on the ground with dust and rubble all over them. She quickly dusted off the dirt from one of them and pulled the chain and opened it up. To her surprise there was nothing but blocks of stone inside. She then opened up the other bags with the same result- blocks of stone and dirt in each of them. She was shocked.

Now she was sure that Orpheus never meant for her to succeed and the tasks were actually punishments and not penance.

For if she had chosen to run off with the bags, it would have been useless for they were filled with dirt and staying there to help the girl would have definitely ended both of their lives. She realised that Orpheus actually wanted them dead and they were sent on a suicide mission.

Suddenly the drones began to approach them from the distance.

"Run!", cried Megan.

Both of them started to run in the opposite direction with the drones following them aggressively. Megan grabbed the girl's arm and ran furiously. She tore through the long grass and ran almost a kilometre from the blast site. After a few minutes she slowed down and turned around- the drones were still following them almost 500 metres away. She saw a small stream up ahead and a thick forest in the other side of it.

"There!", she said pointing towards the forest.

Both of them splashed through the water and crossed the stream. They entered the thick foliage and hid themselves under the bushes. Almost a minute later the drones arrived at the stream and unable to find them, they turned around and flew away.

Megan was exhausted and breathing hard.

"Are they gone?", asked the girl trying to catch her breath.

"I think so...", replied Megan.

"Oh god! Orpheus's gonna kill Tim and Andre... I've failed my task...", said Megan.

"What? Who's Orpheus?", asked the girl.

Megan looked at her and sat down. She was out of one trouble but have gotten herself into another more disastrous one...

Back at the tree, Andre was trying to keep Tim awake but it seemed that it was getting harder and harder for Tim. Andre buried his head in his chest in frustration and began to pray. If only he could free himself- he let out a scream in utter helplessness and kicked his feet in the dirt.

Suddenly from the side of his eyes he saw something flying from the left of him and hitting the drone in front of him. It was an arrow that pierced through the hull of the drone and fried its circuits. The thing was thrown a few feet to the side and made a strange bizxing sound as it completely shut down . Then he heard two more similar sounds behind him. Someone had shot down the drones.