Ford where shocked to see Coriander´s fall. The ground had stayed in place for this whole time, why in the world would it choose to collapse right now? unless maybe it didn't. Maybe something or someone, simply made a hole and dragged her down. The thought scared him, but that didn't matter right now. The only thing going through Fords mind right now, was to save Coriander. At first he thought that the smartest thing would be not to make her whereabouts obvious, but then it hit him. If someone really dragged her down in that dungeon, then that someone would know exactly where she was. And if Coriander couldn't see what she was up against, then she wouldn't have a fighting chance. So Ford ran over to the nearest tree, and broke of two solid branches. He hurried over to the whole where Coriander had dropped down, and yelled down to her that everything was gonna be all right, he was coming as fast as he could and he wanted to throw her a torch. He then held a hand over one of the branches, and it burst into flames, creating a torch. He then dropped the torch down to Coriander, and saw to that she picked it up, and then he was on his way.

He ran over to the giant wooden door, which he suspected was the way down. It was very large and beautifully decorated for a normal castle door. It had a massive handle which seemed to consist of gold. Pictures of mighty dragons and vicious serpents where carved in the wood, and it all seemed hand made down to the smallest detail. But there where no time to waste. Coriander needed help, and he intended to be there for her, just as she had been the for him, when he needed it. He lit his own branch, creating yet another torch, and then he slammed the door open. Inside where a stairway down. Although the torchlight was enough to light up the darkness of the dungeon, he could only see a few steps ahead of him. The grey stonewalls where covered in dust and spider webs, and the stairs seemed like they hadn't been used, for over a hundred years.

When he got down he was greeted by yet another door. And this one had a giant golem carved in it. Everything on the door was completely covered in dust, except for the handle, which looked like somebody had used it recently. He was scared but he just couldn't back out now, so he opened the door and entered the room. It had a high sealing, and big stonewalls. It was completely square and had four stone pillars to help keep the structure up, although only two of them where still intact. And in the opposite end of the room, something caught his eye. When he moved closer he could see that it was a pile of human bones. They lay scattered as if someone had smashed a mace in it. The skeleton itself had a sword in its hand, and a helmet on its head. It seemed like the skeleton had been in a fight, but could that be possible? a skeleton couldn't move by itself, and it could just have died a long time ago, while wearing the sword.

Then something else caught his attention, in the right corner of the room, behind one of the destroyed pillars. It was a huge metal chest, with a gear engraved on its front. It had been brutally opened, and whoever looted it, clearly took the best stuff. Although seven gold coins, and some scraps and bolts where still left in the chest. Ford took the coins, and ventured forth on his search. As he wandered deeper into the ruins, he thought of Coriander. What was she doing right know? And how was she holding up? Was she okay? Was she hurt? The more he thought about it, the faster he walked. And it wasn't long before he found himself running around in the dark.

Afraid, but uninjured were the two words that best summarized how Coriander felt. She hadn't broken or sprained anything, but her hips, spine and shoulders felt sore. She had picked up the torch Ford had thrown to her, and listened as he had been heroic and rushed to get her. Standing there, looking up at the ruins and the sky, she felt cheated and betrayed. It had been such a good morning, and now she just wanted to go home to her mother and cry. It felt kind of hopeless to stand there in the darkness, and not even being able to decide if she should gather all the clothes she had dropped around her as she fell, or just leave it for the bugs and spiders hiding down there. In the end she decided that she could at least bring some of it.

She had no idea which way to go. It looked as if she was standing on a bridge that stretched across a room below. It wasn't far down to the floor, but Coriander didn't have the guts to try and jump. Besides, she had a feeling that she should try and move towards the surface, not deeper down. Looking to both sides of the bridge, she became even more fond of the light that fell from the torch. She at least had some idea of how her surroundings looked.

There were pillars at every corner, and quite a few in the middle of the room. It even seemed that they weren't there for shits and giggles, but actually were holding up the roof. Or holding down the floor, depending how you looked at it. One of them near the bridge had crumbled, and no longer stood, and Coriander guessed that that particular pillar was to blame for her fall. She held her breath for a few seconds, as she listened for noises that could alert her of others. There had been something down here, and it had been walking, so she had every reason to assume that she wasn't alone.

To her right, across the bridge, there was a door. It was not decorated, and it looked like someone had tried to chop through it with an axe, so she decided that she was going to go that way. Just how her logic worked is hard to explain, but in reality, her base thought was that she could kill with a single touch, and if anyone tried anything, she was going to... Well, pretty much kill them. Her ans Ford were already so knee-deep in shit that a few more dead things couldn't hurt. Pushing the door open, and holding the torch far from her body, she proceeded into the silence. Ahead of her were some steps up to a plateau, and thinking that it could either give her a better view, or make her easier to see, she climbed up.

Ford went down a hallway, and entered a large well lit room, with a old stone throne in the back end. It was crumbled away like the rest of what once had seemed to be the decor. On each side of the throne where a giant statue, of what seemed to be a roped warrior holding a sword, although he couldn’t really tell because several body parts seemed to be lost . Ford where fascinated by the sight of it, as it seemed quite magnificent. But he needed to hurry, he had to find Coriander, and he felt like time was running out. He crossed the room and entered the door on the other side, and started to wonder how far down Coriander had fallen. He tried to call her name, but no one seemed to answer. The door led to a series of corridors leading down, there where dark and cold, but a strange noise could be heard. Somebody was down there, and they where walking around with heavy footsteps. The inside of the tower proved to be quite a maze, with dark long hallways, leading to several different doors. He constantly had to choose if he wanted to go left or right, and he felt like he was running the wrong way.

He turned left at the end of a hall, and noticed that it somehow seemed familiar, and that was when it hit him. He had been running around in circles all the time. He figured that he somehow needed to find a path down. Because after all, that was where Coriander had to be. He turned around and tried avoiding the route he walked before. It came to his attention that there where several rooms along the hallways, and they all had the same layout. They where small and square, and in each and every room there was a worn out bed, a small night stand, and a old wooden cupboard. It seemed like servant quarters to him, and in some of them there notes and daily schedules, diaries and lists. But Ford couldn't afford loosing time reading books and post-its, but of one thing he was certain. Whoever lived there, left in a hurry and never returned. Clothes where scattered all over the place, and blankets where just tossed on the bed. Somewhere even gold where just lying around on the tables.

Ford finally found a way down. It was a long steep path, but he was sure he could see light at the end of it. So he decided to decent further down into the ruins. On his way down he was absolutely positive that he could see a shadow of a person. At first he thought it was Coriander, and that he had finally found her. But as he got closer the shadow grew, and no longer looked human. It was as if it was standing at the end of the path, just waiting for him. He stared so blindly that he forgot to look down, and fell over what sooner proved to be the skeleton remains of a man with armor, and a iron axe. He rolled down the rest of the way, and made a terrible noise dragging the metal covered skeleton down with him. And when he came to his senses again, the shadow was gone, and no one was to be seen.

He had landed in a dark room with a giant hole in the middle, it was far to big to be jumped, but a little stone bridge stretched to the other side. The light he had seen proved to be a few torches scattered around on the walls. There where no sign of the bridge being in bad condition, and he went over it without any problems. But when he got to the other side, he saw that the entire wall had been tagged with the sentence "Turn around or face your demise, turn or around or die." It was repeated over and over again, and the writing seemed suspiciously red and thick. There was a door in the middle, and Ford knew it was the only way he was going to find Coriander. He was terrified, but he held his breath and opened the door. It led to a long hallway, filled up with skeleton remains. And in the end of it a large creature stood tall with demonic red eyes. It charged Ford as soon as he entered, and tried to ramp him against the wall. But right before it hit him he scorched it with his magic, and threw himself to the side. The creature held its hands to its face, and screamed. Its hands where huge, and Ford was sure he could spot what seemed like giant metal gears in its back. But this was no time to stand and stare, he had to run as fast as he could. So he ran further down the hallway and took the first turn to the right, as he was sprinting he could hear the creature behind him. It was incredible fast, and there where no doubt it was catching up with him. Luckily a small door was just ahead, big enough for him to enter, but still to small for his pursuer. He he rammed against it, and fell to the ground.

Inside was a room so dark that he could not see the end of it, but a shady figure was definitely standing in there. It seemed frightened, and appeared to have the form of a human. Ford yelled "Coriander, is that you?" The pursuing creature screamed outside, knowing that it could not enter.

And what a marvellous view. Standing atop the pillar, on the plateau she had seen from the door, she found that just this view was worth the fall she had experienced. Here, there were maybe a hundred of pillars like the one she was standing on, but she could barely just make out the floor by their foot. It seemed that those who had built the place, or maybe, it would be more accurate to say that those who had dug out the place had dug deep. When she laid down on her stomach, and looked down from the edge, she was pretty sure that there were walkways and bridges halfway down, or up, depending on your perspective.

The air was thick with dust, but it didn't bother her at all. She felt like sitting there, indulging in the atmosphere and just wait for Ford, but she also felt like moving further. if he was running around far below her, he didn't stand a chance of finding her. Looking around once more, something caught her attention. In the middle of the room, there was a plateau that was closer to the surface than the rest. There was a little way over there, but it looked like there was a desk and a chair. Had this been someone's workspace, and if so, what on earth had they been doing? She stood there for a few minutes, not sure what to do. In the end, her need for adrenaline won. There was a pillar close to her, and the space between that one, and the one she was standing on weren't that big. If she was lucky, she could make the jump. She took a few steps backwards, and then ran.

And screamed.

In the instant she jumped, images of her falling popped into her head, and she couldn't help it. Screaming like a scared little girl, and waving her hands in the air, she almost flew through the air, and then slammed against the edge of the pillar. She tried with all her might to grab onto something, and at the same time tried to swing her leg up over the edge, and how exactly she made it is hard to tell. But she did it with the power of panic. Gasping, and still yelping a little, she curled up and tried to catch her breath.

After a while of selfpity, she turned and looked around again. This time, there was a bridge connecting this pillar to the next. This would be less scary at least. But still, she was beginning to miss Ford a whole lot, and she wanted to be comforted. But she still headed for the bridge, and discovered that she didn't have the nerves to just walk across, she'd have to run. The mix of pain and adrenaline made her unstable, and she could hardly think straight. And then she ran. She made it across with no trouble this time, and once again curled up to try and calm herself. To get to the desk, she'd just have to climb a little now, since it was almost directly above her. With tears in her eyes she clawed onto the uneven wall she'd have to climb. She pulled herself up, and didn't look down. Inch by inch she made her way up, until she could see the desk. She hadn't had other choice than to leave the torch behind, so as she inched her way to the desk, she repeated what she had done when looking at her map earlier. Shedding light from her hands, she was able to see, and could now make out that there were quite a few things on the desk. She walked closer, and careful no to break anything, she sat down in the chair. Papers and boxes, ink houses and whatnot were strewn across the desk, and Coriander couldn't keep her curiosity in check.

The beast was trying to hammer the door down in rage, but Ford just stood there, and stared. He was completely paralyzed, and couldn’t move a single limb, even if he wanted to. There was a presence in the opposite side of the dark room, but he couldn’t determine who it was, and it didn’t respond when he called out Coriander’s name. Now that he thought about it, the shadowy figure didn’t seem to move at all. The door was nearly broken down, and although the creature couldn’t enter, Ford still had a bad feeling about it.

He pulled himself together, and moved forward towards the shadow. The room was strange and cryptic. The walls where crooked, and the roof was held op by ruined and broken pillars. On the floor several remains just lay floating around, and everything was covered in some sort of dark black and oily goo. The reason Ford had trouble lighting up the room, simply was that everything from the floor to the sealing where painted pitch black in oily goo. He stepped on something hard and realized that it was a spinning gear. In fact many mechanical parts where scattered all over the place. Trips, bolts, gears, oil tins and even iron gloves and metal spare parts where just laying there, waiting for him to step on.

When he got to the shadow, he realized that it was a big metal armor of some sort, standing as tall as a man. It was completely soiled in black stuff as well, but it seemed like it had once been different. Ford could imagine that when it was all new, it would have been shiny and magnificent. It was slightly bending over, and in its back, gears where sticking out. On its chest was a control plate with buttons, and no eye holes where to be seen on its helmet. Instead there was just what seemed to be a large round glass monitor. It actually seemed like the whole thing was bolted and welded together. Like if the person wearing it, where never meant to get out again.

The ground shaked, and the whole room trembled. A loud banged noise could be heard from behind Ford. And when he turned around to check, he realized that it was the creature from before trying to get in. Only difference was, that this time he had actually managed to do it. The door was slammed right open, and the creature was in the middle of destroying the wall around the door, forcing its own entry. There was another door out of there, located on the east side of the room. But right before Ford turned and ran, he realized something. The creature trying to get in, was somewhat identical to the armor besides him. The only difference was that the attacking one, was a lot bigger. And well.... it was alive.

In his confusion Ford managed to knock over the armor on the way out of the room. The armor fell down with the front first, and smashed against some metal gears laying around, which broke the glass part of the helmet. The attacking creature screamed violently as the armor hit the ground. It was not like any battle scream Ford had ever heard, it was more like a intersecting painful scream of sorrow. Ford felt like he was stepping in water, and when he looked down he saw that a pool of blood poured out from the creatures helmet. This thing had once been alive? Ford could take no more of this madness. So he ran to the east door and smashed right through it. He fell. It had been some sort of sick trap. Because on the other side of the door, there was nowhere to place his feet. There was only a giant hole, right where the floor had once been. He didn’t know if it was intentional, or if the place was just falling apart. But he hit the ground, and a loud cracking noise could be heard. He was not dead, but his arm was hurting like hell.

In front of him was a narrow corridor with writing on the wall. And once again the same sentence was repeated over and over again. “Watch out for Gear Golem” He limped ahead stubborn as he was, and once again he called Coriander’s name. Desperately hoping to get an answer. But he had lost his torch, so he had to proceed in darkness.

"What we created was magnificent.

This technology was unknown to us years ago, but since we received funding for the last 23 months, we have almost completed what we began. Some will call us insane, saying that life should not be brought to things that aren't born from a womb or an egg, but I must disagree. We often see that machines malfunction, and I have wondered if this is not because they are alive and have hearts like us. We also have laws laid upon us by others, by our ancestors and our creators, but we can stray from these rules and laws too.

Machines with heart and mind can be created. With these, we will have warriors to fight, but we will not lose a single human life, we will have things to take care of jobs no one else wants. These things could be a step up on the ladder of luxury!

Coriander had taken a random piece of paper and begun reading. Her lips had moved as she read every word, slowly, letter by letter. The note had confused her, there was no date or name to be found anywhere on it, and even though the paper seemed delicate, it hadn't fallen apart or turned into dust when she picked it up. She was still sitting in the chair, having now moved it closer to the table, and frantically looking for the next note. Some of the papers she found were lists of supplies, and there weren't much unusual about them. One piece of paper was half of a map of the underground where she was, and by her guess, where Ford were too. She hadn't seen him or heard him, but she had a feeling that he wouldn't have left her behind. If he had, she would find him and kick his ass.

Then she found what looked like another note, but one detailing events that took place later. The words on the paper made her feel very uncomfortable, and almost made it seem like she had dropped into a nightmare.

"It's not working. At first we dug up some fresh corpses, we had to study the remains in order to recreated a functional skeleton. We tried, but didn't get it right a first, simply because we had made an error regarding muscles. We only learned this when we got our hands on a "fresher" body. Thankfully, he wasn't rich, so no one will miss him.

Although we have the bone and the muscle, we cannot make them move. Our golems will not come to life. Perhaps I should write it down on a slip of paper and put it in their mouth? I hardly think it would work. Our investor does not seem to be impressed with our progress. He threatened to cut funding. I then thought we could use him for spare parts.

We have a few people working on making a mechanical heart, and a brain as well, but it's proving tougher than I thought. I have almost lost hope."

Coriander searched around a little more, needing to know what had happened. From what she gathered the people who had been here had been very demented, and probably insane too! She wasn't sure if she should think of it as a joke, or take it seriously, either way, she would certainly feel completely crazy after knowing the things that had been written here. She read paper after paper, and found more lists, spells, all those things, and notes telling how each little thing had been less or less successful. She could tell from the words written that things had gotten worse by the day, and even found several papers that documented how some of their engineers had been driven mad by the lack of sunlight. But then the really scary things surfaced.

"We have created a machine that walks. Or, instead, I should say that we have succeeded in implanting several mechanical devices into a living being. True, he cannot move around freely, and he doesn't appear very happy, but still... It's progress. Our biggest problem is that we cannot, no matter how hard we try reproduce a heart or brain. We have even tried necromancy, but as I thought, it was a flop. We disposed of the bodies in a pit near the end of the hall.

We had a strange occurrence not long ago. One of our men claimed to hear voices, and when we brought him to the infirmary, he bit his own tongue to shreds and drowned in the blood. I didn't think that was possible. We are still missing important pieces."

Then there was a piece of paper, this one written much later by the likes of it. As she read it, Coriander almost lost control over herself and vomited, but only because some of the details specified scared her to no end.

"I am at my wit's end. It has proven impossible for us to create what we set out to create, and we cannot become the gods I hoped. We changed our plan, instead of creating, we began modifying, and these people, our test subjects, so many of them died. We shouldn't have started. I'm hearing voices. Their ghosts have returned. Maybe it's the ones in the pit, or maybe, it's those in the mass grave. We should have buried them properly, we shouldn't have done this... The suits that are still alive are patrolling the hallways. We can hear them when they are close. We cannot control them. They are mad at us. When they caught Siels, they tore his head off. Without warning... We cannot get out. This will be our grave, and we deserve nothing better. It is already too late to apologise.

I think the suits have accomplished what we could not. They are becoming more and more machine, and there are more of them than we created. Soon, they won't need us anymore."

Were they still here, Coriander thought to herself. The steps they had heard earlier, while her and Ford were above ground, had it been these... These golems as they were called in the notes. Why were they even there, who had wanted to create them at first? Even though the questions piled up, and the answers stayed hidden, she couldn't get herself to think that she should stay much longer. Then she heard something, like a cry from far away. Someone called her name! Was it Ford? It would have to be, she wasn't in the mood to be scared shitless by ghosts right then and there.

"Ford!" She yelled, her voice a little hoarse. "FOOOOOORD!!"

"FOOOOOOOOORD!! FOOOOOOORD!!"

Somebody definitely called out his name, he was sure of it, he had finally found something to go on. Now he just needed to locate Coriander, and get the hell out of there. He stopped for a moment and hesitated, could this be another trick? But then again, how could any of these tin cans know his name? He proceeded further into the darkness. The corridor just went further down, and at the time it seemed completely endless. It was cold and wet. In fact the walls seemed completely soiled in a strangely thick substance. As he proceeded further down the air started to thicken with a distasteful stench of death, and when Ford tried to call out Corianders name once more, the thick substance moved into his mouth and silenced him. He strangulated, like if he suddenly couldn't breathe anymore. And somehow his natural response was to run away, away from the corridor and towards Coriander, as fast as humanly possible.

He rushed forward, and for a little while it worked perfectly. But then he fell. His head hammered against the ground. As he laid there he wandered what he had tripped over. In fact his head didn't even hurt that much, which was strange because he could have sworn the ground was made of solid rock. Something or someone had helped taking the fall for him. He slowly felt the ground to see what it is. It felt cold and strange. He couldn't take it anymore, he just couldn't. Wandering around in complete darkness down there was just impossible. He raised his arm and made a fist. Sparks started to emit, and before long his whole arm busted into a giant bright flame. Even with his fire wielding abilities, that state of self combustion hurt a whole lot, and it wouldn't be long before he started to injure himself. So he scanned the room as quickly as he could, trying to find an exit.

It was a way larger room than he had first anticipated. He had exited the hallway a few steps back, and now found himself in yet another square room, pretty similar to the ones on the higher levels. An old wooden door seemed to be at the other end of the room, and that strongly appeared to him as the only way out. But he couldn't move a single muscle, the fire had revealed something terrible, something that was meant to be hidden away, and never found again. He was standing in the middle of a mass grave, and he was up to his knees in dead bodies. It was terrible, most of them had been tormented, and their limps replaced by metal parts. Some of them didn't even seem human anymore. He ran as fast as he could to the opposite site and slammed through the door. He ran up and down similar corridors as before, and when he couldn't uphold it anymore he put out the flames. And that was when he saw it, he saw a faint light in the distance. And when he drew closer he realised that it was her, he had finally found her.

Coriander stood near a desk in a big room, holding tight around the slip of paper she had in her hand. It was a joy to see her alive. After all he had been through, he almost had expected something terrible had happened. Without further wait he simply walked over to her and gave her a giant hug. He wrapped his arms around her and just held her for a moment. Then he let go somehow hoping that she wouldn't mind the spontaneous hugging, given the circumstances.

"I heard you call, and I came as fast as I could. Dammit this place is really messed up in the head. There are giant machines walking around mindlessly trying to butcher me, and I'm not even sure if they are machines after all, because they are apparently alive, and bleed a whole lot as well. And then there is this mass grave with hundreds of diseased all brutally killed, and I don't even know what the fuck is going on!" Ford spoke incredibly fast, and it was hard to make up anything he said, so eventually he had to get his breath and collect his thoughts. "I thought I had lost you, I looked everywhere for you, and I'm sorry it took so long for me to get here. I suggest we get out before more of these tin cans decide to pursue me, we just have to figure out which way to go" He looked around in the big room, it had several layers and exits, and he didn't have a clue of where to start.

Having been set free from his embrace, she looked at him, cocked an eyebrow and with a tinge of amazement spoke. "You climbed really fast up and down those pillars, man. Almost like you hadn't noticed that they were there." She didn't care much for whether or not he had thought he had lost her, she only cared about whether or not he was ready to stop this crawling around in dungeons and get the hell on with their decided task. She held the paper she had just read up in front of his face, and then calmly smiled. It was a faint smile, almost not there after all, but even though she didn't want to admit it, she was happy that she had been found. Apparently it helps to mindlessly scream when you need a little help.

"I found all this, it explains why the golems are here, and what happened. It was a bunch of people who experimented on other people, but they forgot to think about the fact that people get pissed when you experiment on them, so they're dead, but not the 'experimentees', 'cause they're probably the ones stomping around, and I think we should snatch this dead guys money and jewels and then run. Do you remember the way out?" She asked him as she moved back to the table and opened every drawer in search of valuables. She had already taken a great deal of the papers that had been left behind and stuffed them in her pockets, and now searched every nook for coins, sparkly rocks, jewellery, whatever the man could have been hiding. Within seconds her search became so frantic that she simply flipped the table over and started tearing it apart.

and that was when luck struck.

A toolbox landed with a heavy 'thunk' on the ground, where it remained, looking completely ordinary. "I knew there had to be something! Stand back!" She shouted, her face having turned red in partial exhaustion and partial exhilaration. She kicked the toolbox with all her strength, and watched as it slid several metres and then opened. "Locks are no match for weak teenage girls. Everyone knows that." She whispered as she moved to it, and stuck her hand in to investigate. What she found was amazing. The most complicated wrench she had ever laid eyes on. Lavishly decorated, with at least five small gears that served a purpose she didn't know yet. It was very heavy, but she still showed it to Ford, proud to be the owner of it.

"I'm sorry it took so long. I had a feeling that I'd find something here, and I really couldn't help it." Coriander paused for a moment, and then looked at him with an apologetic smile. "Lead the way!"

Despite his remarkable ability to climb huge pillars with broken and worn limps, Ford was devastated and tired, but he had finally found Coriander. Now he wanted to get the hell out of that creepy ruin.

While Ford had been gone, it seemed that Coriander had found a lot of strange looking diaries and letters explaining the origin of the strange gear golems. Dreadful and nasty experiments had taken place in this undercroft, and perhaps that explained the golems anger and blood lust. Ford dug into his pocket and found the letter he had picked up while he was out hunting. The letter explained how a poor messenger had been killed, while delivering a secret load of spinning gears to a top secret research facility. He had been wounded by strange and giant creatures, perhaps the exact same that they where facing now. Maybe this was some sort of government project, dedicated to the creation of mechanized super soldiers. A cold sweat ran down the back of Fords neck, he wanted to get out as fast as possible.

He looked at Coriander who was harassing the dead, looting their valuables. Typical stuff. And then he saw it, she held up the most advanced screwdriver Ford had ever seen. He did not know what the purpose of it was yet, neither did he know that it was actually a wrench she held up, due to the lack of his tool knowledge. But that shiny wrench would soon be their salvation. They moved out and climbed the pillars again, this time with far less haste. Ford showed the way, and they slowly moved towards the only exit he knew of. This time it was a bit easier, due to the fact that Coriander torch still worked, but they where both injured, and needed medical assistance as fast as possible. Their only problem now was the gear golem still screaming in the distance, mindlessly guarding their way out. They moved up and down hallways and stairs, trying to avoid the golems, but it was inevitable. After a long time of dungeon roaming and sneaking, they reached the end of the hole where Ford himself fell down, and he stopped to prepare Coriander.

"Down this hallway lies a mass grave, the corpses of hundreds of failed experiments lies rotten there, and the smell is not good either. But I think its the only way out of here, past the grave is a trap hole I fell in previously, its deep but its not impossible to climb. If you help me reach the ledge, I can probably drag myself up and then help you, unless you prefer it the other way around of course. At the top of the hole lies a door, the real problem is what's behind it. Because behind that door a fully functional gear golems slumbers, just waiting to rip us to shreds. And there is nearly no way around it, we can try to run, but I think we have to battle it, or at least distract it in some way. I have a few bullets left, and I was hoping for you to have some bombs, but they're probably still upstairs"

Ford looked at Coriander with determination painted in his face. "I think we can pull it of, I just think we have to plan it first, I mean it can crush us with a single blow. Got any ideas? Because I'm ready whenever you are" Adrenaline raced through his veins, and his heart pounded away.

"We can do this." She told him, as a small smile crept onto her face.

She was scared, but didn't mind it any longer, the adrenaline mixed with the knowledge that Ford was by her side again gave her a strange feeling of comfort. And it also gave her an urge to do whatever needed to get outside and... Well, not safe, because outside wasn't that safe when you really thought about it, but who really cared these days? Anything could kill you.

That also involved golems. She had already decided what they were going to do, it wasn't that difficult really. Those who had been down in the ruins from the start had either been killed, or had starved to death in time. If she really had to die, she'd prefer being trampled to death by one of those robots. No matter what it would be faster than starving. Best case scenario was to survive though.

"Lift me up." She said, as she stepped as close to the opening as possible, and stretched her arms to help Ford determine how far he'd have to lift her up. It could be done, she thought to herself, waiting for him to grab around her waist and lift her. If they hadn't been trying to avoid certain death, this could've been a funny story. It probably would end up being that anyway.

"Well, go on! You're being slow!" She said, her voice slightly raised as she spoke. They had too much to lose, so when they saw the golems, it would be a matter of getting away as fast as possible.

It was cold, dark and wet in the tunnels, corpses lay around everywhere, and the stench of rotten flesh reached his nostrils. His fear had nearly paralysed him for a second, he thought about just giving up, and leave the world to itself, but then he realised something. They sat out on this quest to save the world, and that was what they where going to do. He was willing to pay any prize, and make any sacrifice, as long as it meant that they succeeded. To stop here was not an option, for too long had he roamed the shadows of this world, for too long had he been nagged by the guilt that came with the tittle of failing Oracle. But no longer would he bear this heavy burden, it was their destiny, he and Coriander, together but yet alone. Alone against a evil. Evil that he would fight, even if it meant his demise.

He nodded at Coriander. The plan was set in motion, she was lifted from the ground, and climbed up. Luckily for Ford there where just enough time for him to pull himself up, although he could not have done it without Corianders help. So here they where, it was them against the mighty gear golem. Luck was on their side, cause the golem where now standing with his back to them, giving them the complete element of surprise. Ford started to move unnoticed towards the exit, giving signal for Coriander to follow. But unfortunately he was rather unsuccessful in his stealth attempt, his foot came crashing down on a skull, that completely smashed under the weight of his body, and before he even got time to react, the golem turned and looked right at him. The creature emitted a battle cry, moaning and roaring it came towards him, and Ford where only barely able to roll to the side and evade its attack. He turned around and yelled towards Coriander. "We have no choice but to fight back" He aimed his loaded Riffle directly at the golem, and fired a deadly hail of bullets and fire, but little did it help. The golem was completely unharmed, and it came running towards him again, seeking to ram him down, furious about the gunshot. This time it ran faster, and looked even meaner than before. Ford luckily managed to evade yet another attack, but it was not without a cost. When he threw himself away from the golem, he quickly felt the cold hard touch, of the solid stone wall. This could not go on, something had to be done. He decided to call upon the power of the Oracle, that him and Coriander both shared.

The golem slowly started to glow red, and before it could charge again flames started to break out. Ford managed to trap the golem, completely covering it in flames. The creature screamed and screeched, but at least it didn't seem to be capable of attack, as it was pretty occupied trying not to burn to pieces. He now looked over at Coriander, he was hurt, and unsure on whether he could walk or not. "My flames seem to have stalled it for a while, but I don't know how long I can keep this up. To be honest I just want to get out of here, I think we have been in this tomb long enough, should we make a run for it?

The golem was magnificent. Beautiful in it's both outdated and yet-to-come type of technology, a piece of machinery with a heart. A heart that had been programmed, a heart which essence had been distilled into that of a golem, walking the halls, protecting it from intruders, protecting it from those who had build it. It was saddening to watch as the creature squirmed in the heat of the fire burning inside it, and listening to Ford as he yelled to her, wanting to know if they should just run. For a moment she considered it, running away, never looking back, yet still knowing that this golem would be here eternally.

She was still holding the wrench she had "found", and it lay perfectly in her palm. The weight of it tugged at her arm, and she instinctively knew with which purpose it had been made. "Just hold on for a second..." She said to Ford as she walked towards the golem. The fire had slowed it down, it seemed to be resting, trying to regain it's strength. It was kneeling, almost looking like a knight, and as she looked at it, she saw that it was held together by bolts and screws. She held the wrench out to show it to the creature, and strangely, it looked like it recognised it. A small motion, a tilt of the head, and a lowering of the shoulders. As if it was letting down it's guard, and allowing her to come closer.

"I will shut you down now. We will leave without disturbing your halls further. Do you understand?" She asked it, speaking loudly and clear. The golem made a sound she didn't quite understand, it was metallic, like two metal pieces grinding together, but also, in the noise, a human sigh was carried. Whether or not it was one of relief or one of sorrow she did not know. But she did know that it did not attack her.

Slowly, with careful movements, she begun dismantling it. It shut down definitively as she opened it's chest, and opened the door into a mechanical creature which the likes the world would probably not know for years. She thought it something she couldn't leave behind, but she did anyway. It was still there, frozen in the position of the knight. Coriander turned to face Ford, and shot him a sad smile.

"Lead the way out."

Coriander looked at him. "Just hold on for a second..." She walked towards the fire plagued monster. He reached out to stop her, to safe her. But she was determined. And to Fords surprise, nothing happened. No stomping, ramming, hitting, hurting or slamming. It was simply letting down its guard when she approached, allowing her to come closer. She stopped to talk, and then she disassembled it completely, just splitting it apart. Ford felt like a complete idiot, all this time he had only thought of it as a monster, a machine, but it had emotions, It was still human. As this magnificent knight was disassembled right in front of him, he was speechless, then Coriander looked at him smiling, and they went out of there together.

It was still daytime, and the sun was shining brightly in the sky. Birds where singing, bees where humming, and apart from the giant hole in the ground, nothing was to show for their underground nightmare. How could the government do such a thing? spoiling this magnificent land, to create monsters and mechanics, golems and ghouls. Ford took a deep breathe of the fresh air, and then looked around, he then remembered something, in a chest he had found some gold coins. He looked in his pocket, yep they where still there, he could use it to buy ammunition, medicine, and maybe even some food for him and Coriander. Now that he came to thing of it, maybe there where something else he needed to buy. He squeezed his eyes together and looked over at Coriander. "Whatever became of your clothes? You know the ones that was hanging over there?" He pointed to where her clothes had been before she fell down the hole. "Did you loose them? I lost some of my equipment too, some powder, ammo, and even some cooking gear. But that's okay, because I found a whole pocket full of gold coins" He cracked a big smile and looked all exited "Maybe we could find the nearest town, I bet they both have ammo, gun powder, medicine, and perhaps some new clothes as well. If you need some that is. And maybe we can find somewhere to stay as well, I would really like a shower, a haven't had one of those for years" Ford seemed ashamed and looked away "I was dead you know, I didn't have a chance to" He looked at her wounds " Oh and, maybe we should go see a doctor, seriously we dont look so good"

Three days had passed since they had witnessed what had happened underground. They had moved to the nearest town without encountering any more strange things, which was perfectly fine with Coriander. The village they had reached was called Foren, and was the home of a small medical college. as it turned out, they were more than happy to see that Ford and Coriander were so gravely injured, since they had a class of graduating students who could need the practice. Since Coriander is a cheapskate, she struck a deal with them. If they received medical help for free, she'd gladly allow one of the students to be their doctor. It worked out better than expected, and both of them were on the road to recovery.

Today had been the first day they had been allowed outside after their arrival, and much to Coriander's glee, it was market day. Se was on crutches, to ease the pressure on her leg, and all her minor injuries had been bandaged and taken care of. She looked much like a war veteran, and even still had her hat on her head. But her smile was unmistakeable, happy and wide. Knowing that she was surrounded by people who had no idea who she was, and couldn't care less about whether or not she was an oracle, made her feel somewhat... Protected.

In the days she had been confined to a bed, her mind had jumped back to the town of worms, and the mechanical knights. It seemed that the odd things one could experience was multiplied by many when it was just you and an undead oracle. "Look at all those stalls!" She exclaimed when her and Ford reached the marketplace. "There's everything!"

Of course, before she could buy anything, she'd have to check it's quality. One can't travel the world with low-level equipment!

"What do you want to check out first?" She asked him, her joy radiating from her eyes. If she didn't know better she'd almost have thought that they looked like they'd been in a fight with each other. She still carried the wrench she had found underground in her utility belt, figuring that t would be the price she charged for freeing the mechanical knight. Every few seconds, she glanced down to be sure it was still there. "Wanna go look at the butcher's shop? Maybe we can go to the baker's stall afterwards? I really crave some good bread." she said, already moving.

They had been lucky. At least Ford consideret it luck. They had limped undisturbet to the nearest town, without incountering any monsters, mechanical bodies, or creatures of the night. And compared to the events of the rest of their week, that was pretty good. The town was peacefull and quiet, just what they had been needing. Coriander had even struck a deal with the medical college. Granted Fords arm still hurt, and the stiches seemed a bit tight here and there, but he couldnt complain. The sun was hight, and the market was full of life.

The market was just what every great chef dreamed of, lots of fresh meats and groceries, all packet with a smile and a blink in the eye. He remembered when his dad thought him the value of the freshness in cooking, every time he shot some game, he insisted on making the best meal he could make, he used to say that he owed it to the animal. Every time ford thought about his dad he smiled. Coriander certianly looked happy as well, so after a fair bit of consideration, he replied to her question. "The butcher shop seems like a good place to start, and i've missed bread too, so lets go there afterwards. But i would also like some fresh groceries, some spices, and maybe some milk. Eggs are really hard to carry around though, they always tend to break. Maybe we should look after medical gear and ammonition as well? Doesent your machines use bullets?.

After a fair bit of shopping they accomplished to buy a nice lump of veal, some wild boar cut into dices, salt preserved of course, a nice big round bread, some milk, potatoes, onions, lettuce, carrots, and finally a bit of spices and herbs. It had been too long since Ford bought anything, at first he wanted to pay far too much for the veal, since he had no idea how valiable the gold coins he had found was. He thought the carrots he had bought was selleri, and when it came to bread he was useless. He remembered his dad saying something about squishing the groceries before buying, that way it was easier to determine the freshness that way. But since that didnt emply to bread, he ended up crushing a loaf of bread between his hands. The shopkeeper wasnt to happy about it, but they still got to buy a really nice round bread. He just hoped it lived up to the cravings of his partner.

They both sat down on a bench, worn out, with Fords wounds burning a little bit, but they where happy. It was more fun than they had seen in days. There was something special about markets, something nice and home like, with deacent hard working people serving one the best they could. Ford drank a yellow liqued, it was supposebly some sort of apple juice, but with a bit of alcohol in it. Not enough for him to feel tipsy, but enough to make him smile a little wider. It was a typical marked drink, and it could be bought cheaply at the stalls. He looked at Coriander and noticed the wrench, she still held on to that thing? but then he thought to himself that it might come in handy. He then remembered, they had not managed to look at medical gear yet, and wasnt most of Corianders clothes still at the buttom of the ruins. He didnt know how to ask her, maybe it was not his place, but he thought to himself that they where on a freind basis now, so these things should be acceptable to speak of. He asked about her clothes, and if they where still missing, and if they should get her some new ones. He could actually use some as well, since he had been walking around in these as long as he could remember. And since medicine wasnt really his field, he asked if she knew anything about what was good to buy. He sat and enjoyed the rest of his drink. "oh and bullets, we will need some bullets too"

Sitting on the bench, she felt a stab of sadness. Deep and unrelenting, it grabbed onto her heart, and in the back of her head, a thought took its shape. At first it seemed fleeting, as if it would fade in seconds, but it held on. For each face she looked at, for each bird that flew above them, even each time she looked at her hands, she couldn't escape the thought that the happy days, days like these... Would soon be at an end. Her heart almost told her to give up, her mind told her that whatever she had set out to do, she would fail, and the world would fail with her.

The thought dug into her mind, and there, it lingered. Suddenly, Ford spoke to her. He asked if they should go shopping for clothes, for the both of them, and if they didn't need bullets too. She couldn't help but to smile, as whenever she had been given new clothes, they had been practical and durable. Still, that young, girly part of her secretly wanted a ballgown. Huge and lavish, decorated as if she was a real princess. Coriander didn't know that many, many women at one point in their life had wished for such a beautiful dress. She also didn't know that most of those women never got the dress.

She knew little about medicine, but told Ford, that if anything she could probably convince someone at the academy to help out. They were nice people, in it to help others. It seemed like a good way of life to Coriander. "I'm not sure if there's anyone here dealing in bullets and the sort. Bow and arrow are long outdated, but the guns just never really got to selling good with the general crowd. We might have to find a hunter?" She suggested, and then cocked her head to one side as she smiled. "But finding clothes shouldn't be much of a problem. We still have plenty money, and we'll have to stay here for a little while anyway. At least 'till I'm off the crutches."

Her words were light, and spoken without worry. The thought that had infested her mind had gone into hiding, but was sure to turn up again. They always did.

"Maybe, we could do it tomorrow? I'm getting tired. I didn't figure that being hospitalised would mean getting tired just going to the market." She said, her smile still on her face, unwavering.

Ford looked towards the sky as Coriander spoke, there was wisdom in her words, he was getting tired and his stiches where hurting again, but it had been a really nice day, a change from the usual monster mashing schedule. Ford finished his drink and then spoke calmly. "I agree, we should definetly wait till tomorrow, mostly becouse i can't cary any more bags" He smiled, and loughed a bit. "But where can we sleep? should we go back to the medical acedemy, or should we try to find a hotel, its not like we can't afford it, gold has a nice value around here. Now that i think about it, im actually getting quite hungry, maybe we should find a hotel, i could really go for a warm homecooked meal." Just the thought of food made Ford hungry, he wasn't used to it, its not like the spirits of the dead usually eats 3 meals a day.

Suddenly out of the blue a man walked by with a riffle in one hand, and a dear and some ducks over the shoulder, Ford ran over and talked to him. The man explained that he was a hunter, and today had been a particularly good day, he told Ford that it was almost like somebody had killed all the beasts, spiders and blood worms. Ford simply laid low, althougt this comment amused him. He asked the hunter for bullets, and showed him some gold. They agreed that Ford would come by his shop the following say, since he recieved a new shipment of bullets, and was willing to sell some of them.

Satisfied with what he had acomplished for went back to Coriander, he explained the situation to her, and suggested they could stop by after buying new clothes, then he asked her where she wanted to stay for the night, and they wandered off to find a just the right spot.