The moment they passed through the dimensional rift, Maine's crew members experienced the most bizarre and ineffable sensation of their lives.
It was as if they had been thrown into a fully operational industrial-grade tumble dryer by an irresistible force, with the world spinning wildly and their sense of direction completely lost.
Immediately after, an even more terrifying sensation struck them; their bodies felt as if they were being completely torn apart and pulverized by an invisible force, every cell and every neural signal disassembled into basic particles, mixed and stirred.
Their consciousness floated in pure chaos and nothingness, almost on the verge of complete dissipation.
Just at this critical point, that force suddenly reversed, re-molding and reshaping their "shredded" existences.
"Ugh…!"
"Damn…"
"Motherfucker…"
The process of regaining consciousness was accompanied by a chorus of suppressed groans and curses.
Everyone, without exception, lost their balance and couldn't maintain a standing posture.
Maine's knee hit the cold, hard ground with a dull thud, and he used his modified left arm to brace himself, preventing him from falling completely flat.
Dorio also knelt on one knee, her bronze-colored face muscles taut, her reinforced body trembling slightly.
Falco supported himself with both hands on the ground, his sunglasses askew, breathing heavily.
Pilar, on the other hand, was completely sprawled on the ground, his slender mechanical arms spread out limply.
Rebecca lay on her back, eyes unfocused, her chest heaving violently, feeling as if all her internal organs were out of place.
Only Morris, whose body had undergone targeted deep optimization by Osiris, possessed a tolerance for spatial disturbances far exceeding her companions.
She merely stumbled two steps, quickly regaining her balance as her figure swayed.
Almost the instant she stabilized, her enhanced sensory system was fully activated, and her cold, composite optical lenses sharply scanned the unfamiliar surroundings.
The armor plates on the outside of her forearms silently slid open, and the Sonic Blade, shimmering with a faint blue energy glow, did not fully extend but was in a pre-activated state, ready to be deployed at any moment; her entire being was like a fully drawn bow, exuding an aura of caution that warned others to keep their distance.
Osiris' previous mission briefing had given them a very high estimate of the dangers of "another world."
Now, having just struggled back from that nearly "fatal" transmission experience, strong survival instincts and wariness of the unknown compelled them to immediately confirm their safety.
"Is everyone alright?" Maine's voice was tinged with a suppressed hoarseness; he was the first to raise his head, cautiously looking around, while simultaneously shielding himself with his right arm—a bionic arm integrated with a powerful shield generator—adopting a defensive stance.
"I… I'm fine…" Rebecca struggled to get up, but her limbs were still a bit weak; Dorio reached out and pulled her up.
"Feels like I was taken apart and put back together, and maybe a few parts were put in the wrong place…" Pilar mumbled, flexing his distinctive long arms, checking if his joints were functioning normally.
Falco quickly put on his sunglasses, his gaze rapidly scanning environmental parameters through the lenses. Sasha and Kiwi stood back to back, their electronic warfare prosthetics silently activated, forming a small-range passive defensive barrier, sensing surrounding electromagnetic fluctuations and data streams.
However, the attack or extremely dangerous environment they had anticipated did not materialize.
The scene that greeted their eyes, instead, brought a touch of surprise to their tense nerves.
They were inside a huge cave, seemingly carved out by artificial means.
The cave ceiling was very high, lost in shadow, with only a few scattered, stable but distant light sources, like stars, barely outlining the dome's contours.
The main light source came from tubular luminaires embedded in the walls, emitting a cool-toned, uniform, and non-glaring white light that illuminated the entire space like some sacred hall or austere factory.
Underfoot was a circular platform, slightly raised about thirty centimeters from the ground, its surface not smooth but densely inscribed with complex and unfamiliar geometric patterns and nested rings.
These engravings were deep and precise, as if instantly carved with extremely high-energy tools, forming a structure of unknown function, resembling an altar or some kind of energy focusing base.
Around them stood various instruments and equipment they couldn't comprehend.
The first impression given by these devices was that they were crude, primitive, and even somewhat clunky.
Huge brass or dark steel gears, over a meter in diameter, meshed tightly with equally thick drive shafts, emitting heavy, rhythmic grinding sounds as they slowly turned…
Thick cables, wrapped in heavy black insulation, like dormant metal pythons, coiled in bundles on sturdy metal brackets or stretched along ground grooves; at some nodes, exposed interfaces could be seen, flickering with faint electrical arcs…
Inside some half-human-tall glass tube or columnar containers, slowly flowing, glowing green or dark blue unknown liquids or gases were sealed, the intensity of their light pulsating with a certain rhythm, as if breathing…
However, this "crudeness" and "primitiveness" were merely visual illusions, a matter of style.
Upon closer inspection, the exquisite craftsmanship hidden beneath became apparent: every tooth of those massive gears was perfectly machined, the meshing gaps too small to discern with the naked eye, and the metal surfaces gleamed with the cold luster only achievable after special heat treatment and polishing, clearly not ordinary brass or steel.
The insulation on those thick cables, though seemingly heavy, was flexible and extremely strong, vaguely revealing that the conductors beneath were not ordinary copper cores, but rather a dark silver, woven fabric of an exotic metal wire, evidently with extremely high energy conductivity.
The stable and low hum of energy faintly emanating from within the instruments, devoid of any noise or fluctuation, revealed a reliability and precision in their power core and control system far exceeding the common technological standards of Night City.
The overall atmosphere of the environment somehow bore a striking resemblance to the workshop Osiris had in Wasteland Town, which they were familiar with.
It was a mechanical aesthetic that completely discarded unnecessary aesthetics and ergonomic comfort, purely pursuing functionality and utilitarianism.
The existence of every bolt and every conduit seemed to serve only the most efficient accomplishment of a specific purpose.
However, the style of this place was older and heavier than Osiris' relatively "modern" and "integrated" workshop; those exposed gears, levers, and steam-powered elements carried a solemn, almost obsessive sense of grandeur, tempered by years, as if silently proclaiming an ancient worship and adherence to mechanical power.
"Is this… what the boss called 'the other end'?" Rebecca shook her head, her green cybernetic eye curiously surveying this place, which looked less like a dangerous zone and more like an ancient technological ruin. "Looks… pretty sturdy?"
"Stay alert." Maine ordered in a deep voice, despite the seemingly calm environment, he dared not be careless in the slightest.
His left arm, the prosthetic integrated with a finely crafted plasma cannon, glowed faintly with energy circuits, in a low-power standby state.
Just then, a regular, metallic grinding sound of footsteps came from a side passage of the cave.
The sound was steady and powerful, echoing in the cavernous space.
Everyone's gaze instantly turned to the source of the sound, their nerves, which had just slightly relaxed, tensed up again.
Weapon systems were quietly adjusted to a ready-to-fire state; Dorio stepped half a pace forward, subtly shielding Rebecca and Pilar, and other members with weaker defenses, behind her.
Morris's figure slightly crouched, and the hum of her sonic blade almost imperceptibly increased by one level.