A pickax swings, crushing the dark stone before it.
Crack* Crack* Crack*
Brown light gleams through the cracks stronger with each swing until the wall of rocks opens up completely.
A large vein of shining brown crystals fills the hole.
The one behind the axe, a dirtied pale boy with black hair examines the clearing he made and smiles with relief.
Reaching up behind him, he pulls down a tube that has a grinder on its end.
On the machine's sides are two crystals, one a smooth grey sphere, and the other a thin yellow ring.
As the boy clicks a button on the tubes side, the crystals both light up, the grinder whirls, and air starts rushing into the tube.
As he pushes the grinder into the vein, the brown crystals start shooting up into the tube.
He continues to push further until the grinder kicks back and shuts off.
Jumping back nervously he turns to a screen on the tube's side. It says anomaly detected while flashing red.
*Anomaly Detected - Dispose of Immediately*
He turns back and looks at the crystals he was harvesting inside the cargo box of the machine.
After opening the box he shuffles through the crystals until he sees what is a smooth foggy oval like crystal.
He reaches in to grab it and after admiring it he thinks that it's not an energy catalyst, and it can't be a common gemstone either since the machine didn't accept it.
Thinking he could get a bonus for the oddity, he pockets it for later.
But unknown to him, a symbol etched itself into the crystal as it enters his pocket then swiftly fades away.
Eventually he continues clearing up the energy catalysts until the grinder reports it's full.
"That's good I think." he says, as he starts pulling the machine down a hall by a handle on its side.
As he walks he eventually stops at a checkpoint, there's a large metallic door, and a desk with a man in a uniform sitting behind.
The guard gets up and walks over to Corin, He's fitted in navy blue uniform down to his boots, his head is hidden by layers of masks and he wears safety goggles on top, across his chest are white letters "UTOp" and he's holding a large automatic weapon.
The boy stands up straight and lowers his off hand toward his stomach, signaling a salute of a sort.
The guard signals him to stop by raising his hand. "Let go of the collector."
The boy stops the salute and lets go of the collector simultaneously.
He then remembers the odd crystal he found so he reaches for his pocket, but is stopped by a gun put swiftly to his face.
"What are you reaching for?!" The guard asks urgently.
The boy shakes nervously "wait-wait I'm not trying anything I swear! I found something, that's all!"
He lowers his gun slightly, letting go with one hand but still has it aimed at Corin's chest.
"Let me see" the gaurd says gesturing with his freehand.
The boy grabs the smooth crystal out of his pocket and shows it to the guard
The guard grabs it swiftly, then examines the crystal for a moment. "hmm... okay."
The guard pockets the stone and looks back up at him, "Prepare for check In"
The boy lifts his shirt up a bit on his left side and turns so the guard can see. Running down his ribs and side is a tattoo of black lettering.
CF/DLX3I3
The guard runs a device across the letters and it beeps green.
He picks his wrist up to his head
"Corin Fortis is entering the deposit room." He says while letting Corin pass.
The metal door opens slowly and Corin begins to drag the collector through
"Wait..." the guard says
Corin stops and turns.
"Make sure to clean that stuff of your hair, cosmetics are not allowed."
"I don't have any cosmetics?," Corin says confused
"I don't care what it is, it's not allowed," he responds.
"Now go on."
Corin nods quickly "Yes sir!"
Then speeds off.
Later, as Corin is walking, he looks into the metallic side of the collector to use as a mirror.
To his surprise it seems that his hair has white patches in it.
He thinks to himself that it's probably dust so he tries to shake it out using his hand.
After some time he makes his way into a fortified room where there are multiple hatches in the walls and other people are dumping their energy catalysts they mined.
Corin plugs the tube into a free hatch and the brown catalysts start to flow into the hatch as a meter decreases on the screen.
He retracts the tube back once it signals him to do so. Then the collector shows "Complete" on the screen display.
Corin reads this and leaves the machine where it is and he exits the room, walks through the hall and passed the guard again.
"Why is there more in your hair now! The guard says grabbing Corin by the arm.
Corin says he thought it was dust and he tried getting it out but it won't. The guard warns him again that it's best he doesn't come to the mines like that again.
Corin confirms "I understand - sir."
"Good." the guard says before he scans Corin's tattoo again and lets him go.
As Corin walks away he makes many turns through different passages, eventually approaching a light.
Once he reached it, he is met with a large spiraling mining complex that starts from the surface down to the floor he's on at about four hundred meters down.
He takes a couple steps out and starts walking toward the spiraled sloped that has a staircase built onto it. passing by people entering the mines he is leaving.
Corin looks around at the groups of people talking to each other, some walking into the mines while others readily leave.
He thinks to himself that people don't tend to give him much attention, he's never been the best at making is presence known..
It looks to be that someone is waving to him, but he says that he feels like blur in other people's vision, and he's always thinking someone is looking at him when it's their friend behind him they are looking at.
As the person who was waving to him walks right past Corin to greet a friend.
Eventually he reaches a little kiosk walking up the spiral.
It's an older man behind it with a guard to the side.
The guard scans Corin's tattoo again and the old man gets a beep on the screen in front of him.
He reads it then shakily grabs two small bronze hexagons and hands them to Corin. They are paper thin, but sturdy as if they weren't.
Corin grabs them and thanks the old man.
Ten minutes of walking upward pass and Corin has now reached the ground level.
Looking out to the surrounding area there are many other dig sites surrounding a massive clear barrier that covers a city with the hologram of the name Rituale revolving around it.
The nature around the area is little, but it exists, yellow grass, dried bushes, hill ranges past view. A dried river runs far outside the city and straight through it.
Corin begins to make his way toward the city but as he starts walking away from the dig site, sirens start to alarm.
The loud whirling frightens Corin for a moment, then he hears a rumble "oh no..." he says as he looks around.
People are rushing back into the dig site as gigantic metal doors start closing over it. Others who are closer to the barrier rush in that direction.
Corin immediately turns to the dig site thinking that's the closer option but he then hears a cry.
He looks behind to see a younger girl who looks to be about thirteen has gotten her foot stuck in a small sinkhole.
He realizes she won't make it and that there's little he can do, but he runs toward her almost instinctively.
The powerful mechanisms of the doors create loud echoes while Corin runs.
As he makes it to her, he starts digging up her foot until it's free.
"Your hair? Why would you do that?!" She says with worrying concern.
Corin quickly stands her up and tells her to climb up on his back.
"I-I'm working on it, now's really not the time." He says wearily.
She gets on his back and Corin runs straight for the mines .
"They won't like that you changed your hair, They'll Kill You For Disobeying! THEY'LL KILL YOUR FAMILY! THEY'LL KILL ME! THEY'LL KILL MY FAMILY! I- I DON'T WANT YOU TO SAVE ME PUT ME DOWN!" The girl screamed as she hit Corin on the head.
"They won't associate us I promise! You'll be okay!" Corin tells her with a slightly raised voice.
They closed in on the dig site but it's too late, they won't make it in time. The doors are already too close to shutting.
Corin tells her they won't make it and then he turns the opposite way toward the dome saying that's their only option.
The girl is crying on Corin's shoulder "WE'RE GONNA DIE!"
Corin's breathing heavily as the ground below starts to shake the girl screaming as they move.
The sirens stop and a robotic voice is heard saying category 7, take shelter immediately.
Corin thinks to himself that it's a weaker one but it's still too dangerous to be outside.
They are closing in on the barrier and the loud thud of the metal doors closing over the mines is heard by Corin.
Right as he reaches the outside of the barrier he starts to feel his feet lift off the ground, "I was so close he screams!"
Quickly he tosses the girl from his back just inside of the barrier.
The girl screams as she falls.
The sound of her hitting the ground is followed by a Powerful BOOM.
The noise scares her, she stumbles back and sees that multiple funnel clouds have formed into tornadoes within an instant, cracking the ground and dragging Corin up with them.
Corin is sent flying uncontrollably hundreds of feet up as different debris fly at him, he manages to evade them by sheer luck.
The air pressure is felt across his entire body, blood drips slowly from his ears as they ring.
His chest feels like it's about to explode.
His eyes burn from the sheering wind.
Corin screams but it's dulled by the wind.
Quickly his mind comes to and he wraps one arm around his head trying to cover his head as best as he could.
He reaches into his back pocket with the other arm, there's a small handheld kit inside. The case reads "High flyer headgear" and there's a little heart on the corner.
Corin clicks a button on the side and the box flings opens.
Black metal quickly wraps itself around Corin's hand, then he slaps it onto his face.
It folds and shifts until a black helmet has fully encased his head.
He takes a deep breath gasping for air and looks around as he's flung by the storm.
"I'm glad mom doesn't let me leave without this, it was expensive but I'm alive, and hopefully that girl is too."
Turning to his left he sees something coming his way, he quickly realizes what they are and yells "Balloon Jays!" in fear.
A flock of fattened ball shaped blue birds are flying towards him, each pelting Corin in the face with massive force, cracking the helmet.
By the time his vision is cleared he is met with multiple large metal storage crate headed towards him. He enters through one side of a crate and runs in it toward the other side, lands on top of another and slides down off it.
The wind then carries him off again where he passes through a cloud and bumps into a something hard, cutting his back slightly.
Still in the cloud groaning in pain, Corin looks to see it's a vein of grey energy catalysts, just like the one on the collector in the mines but less refined.
"I've never used a raw catalyst before," he says a little hesitant. However he still rips a chunk of the catalyst off.
Fwshhh
It explodes with a gust of wind sending Corin hurling and screaming another direction.
With the chunk of grey air catalyst in his hand he says that he's probably gonna die but doesn't have any other options.
Then he reaches to the bottom of his shoe where there is a hole that fits a smaller brown energy catalyst.
He pulls it out, snaps it in two, then throws it in front of himself, the shards rattle until they flower into a large connected rock that Corin grabs onto as it begins to fall.
The sky begins to clear and Corin sees that he is going to land around where he was lifted up off the ground, he prepares the chuck of grey crystal in his off hand then throws it onto the ground right before he crashes.
This causes another explosion of wind that sends him flying horizontally into the barrier and through it, crashing into the ground.
His helmet breaks and he blacks out.