"Rise and shine, people. Pack it up," Ollie said, stuffing his sleeping bag into a compact roll. "We've got a power source to find and a way home to secure."

  Gale opened his eyes, feeling his face hitting the edge of the tent's nylon. There were only four tents and there were six of them. One was on watch, still leaving one person without a tent. He did his best to make himself small, pushing himself to his own edge.

  Rachel sat up from her side of the tent, immediately taking her combat gaunts.

  "How long were we out?" Gale asked, sitting up.

  "Six hours, give or take," Rachel replied.

  Outside the tent, boots scraped against the metal floor as everyone prepped to move. Ollie checked his M4 twice, making sure no jams would occur.

  "You heard the man," Kyle called. "Unless you want to become a permanent resident of Robot Death City."

  Clyde folded their tent quickly. The twins carried their bundle across the room and dropped it in front of Gale, who had just emerged from his shelter.

  "One tent for our resident porter," Kyle said with a small bow. "Sorry, I mean spatial storage specialist pack mule."

  Clyde nudged his brother and added, "We could've gotten a much better rate than him on the open market. Porter unions are desperate these days."

  Rachel zipped up her jacket and then said, "Shut up, twins. This isn't time for your comedy routine. Idiots."

  "It's fine," Gale said, kneeling to fold his and Rachel's tent. "Just put everything in front of me. Makes it easier to store it all at once."

  The twins exchanged smirks but backed off, moving to gather their equipment. Ollie approached with his rolled tent, placing it beside the others. Rachel added their folded tent to the pile.

  Lily brought over the last combat kits and supplies, dropping them next to the tents. "That's everything, I think."

  Gale hovered his palm over the mess on the floor, willing them all to get back into the space storage. The items vanished one by one, each distinct item taking up its own slot.

  An idea popped into his mind. Two extra deagles plus an Ollie with telekinesis, couldn't he possibly make use of the storage box? It was now redundant to him, but for Ollie, who could use multiple guns…

  Gale stood up then said, "Ollie, can we talk for a bit?"

  Ollie looked up from checking his own M4. "What's up?"

  "What if you could use multiple guns at the same time?" Gale asked. "Switch between them instantly during a fight?"

  "That would be OP as fuck and absolutely awesome. I could swap between long range and close combat in seconds. Keep moving anywhere I want, switch guns on the fly. Different ammo types for different targets." He made movements with his hands, mimicking rapid weapon changes. "Why? You got some secret skill you're holding out on us?"

  "Something like that," Gale pulled out the Storage Box RS28. Its black metal surface was etched with circuitry and complex patterns. "You wanna take it?"

  Ollie's grin faded. He looked at the box, then back at Gale, turning completely serious. "That's your storage box. You found it in the Eclipsed yourself."

  "It is."

  "I mean… you're the one who found it," Ollie said, looking at the box. "That's way too valuable. It's yours. No need to give it to me."

  Gale grabbed Ollie's hand and placed the storage box in his palm, closing his fingers around it. "Mia is alive because of you, and… I was being selfish. What matters now is we get back alive, and you need this more than me.

  Ollie stared at the box. "To be honest, a small part of me still regrets it… but you know what? I'd choose the same thing if the choice was given to me again."

  Slowly, but surely, the old gunslinger he met in the Eclipsed was getting back to form. He could also pull the storage box excuse to get some lunch money from him too.

  Ollie turned the storage box, spinning it, examining it, twisting it. "How do I even open this thing?"

  "Push your ether into it," Gale said. "Focus your will on connecting with it. Think about what you want it to do."

  Ollie closed his eyes, concentrating. A faint blue trace connected with the storage box.

  A notification popped into Gale's mind:

  [Transfer ownership of Storage Box RS28]

  [Yes/No]

  Gale tapped "Yes" without hesitation.

  The blue glow around Ollie's hand flashed, then settled. His eyes shot open as a translucent interface appeared, showing empty slots.

  "Holy shit," Ollie whispered. "It worked. Is this what you saw using this? Looks like a game..."

  "You can start by putting those extra Deagles in there," Gale said. "Then maybe some of that ammo you've been carrying."

  Ollie tested the storage interface by placing one hand on a nearby Desert Eagle. The weapon disappeared into the box's dimensional space with a soft blue flash. His face lit up like a kid with a new toy.

  "This is crazy," Ollie reached for more items. "Multiple weapons, extra ammo, maybe even gunslinging craziness. 28 slots, but that's already a lot."

  "Don't get carried away," Rachel suddenly said, shouldering her pack. "We still need to reach that tower."

  Kyle watched Ollie experimenting with the storage box, his expression skeptical. "Great. Now the boss has magic pockets too. Next thing you'll tell me, Lily's got some secret dimension filled with cookies and candy."

  "Do you ever shut up?" Lily sighed.

  "No one can shut me up. Not even that man with nothing in his head." Kyle's eyes narrowed at Clyde.

  "Shut up, Kyle," Clyde said. "At least the rookie's finally learning proper team dynamics. Share the wealth, improve the team."

  "Sharing weapons improves our combat effectiveness," Lily said, joining them. "Which improves our survival rate."

  "Always the tactician," Kyle said.

  Ollie finished storing several items, then closed the interface with a wave. He looked at Gale. "I owe you one."

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  Gale nodded. He didn't know how much that storage box was, but he's pretty sure that's his lunch and dinner money for forever.

  Ollie turned to address the group. "Everyone ready?"

  "Born ready," Kyle and Clyde said at the same time.

  "Good to go," Lily said, Deagles resting in their custom holsters.

  "Ready," Rachel and Gale said.

  "Then let's move," Ollie said, heading toward the window. "Lily, you're first."

  Lily approached the window, one leg on the edge as she looked down 20 stories below. She stepped off the ledge, falling. Her fall slowed down and squares of blue appeared all over her, forcefields acting as parachutes. She touched down on the street with no sound.

  Rachel went next. She jumped feet first, flames erupted from her palms to control her descent. The flames left brief red streaks in the air as she landed on one knee.

  "Watch this." Ollie stepped to the ledge. He leapt out, arms spread wide. His descent became a controlled float, his body manipulated by his telekinesis. He set himself down with exaggerated gentleness.

  Kyle rolled his eyes. He turned to his brother. "Double drop?"

  Clyde nodded. The twins jumped together, casually parkouring off the building's window sills to slow down their descent. They rolled as they hit the ground.

  Gale approached the window last. He looked down at the others waiting below, then simply stepped off the ledge. He dropped straight down, making no attempt to slow himself. His body sliced through the air in free fall, picking up speed.

  The others watched his plummeting form. Gale's feet hit the metal floor with a slight thud, trying to silence his fall as much as possible. Though that didn't stop the tremor that was sent through the floor.

  Everyone stared at him in silence.

  Kyle whistled. "Hero landing. Classic. Now I believe this rookie stopped a two-ton car bare handed."

  Gale sighed, then dusted off his pants.

  "Form up. Lily, take point fifty metres ahead. Gale, vanguard position. Rachel and Kyle on the flanks. Clyde and I will maintain a backline position," Ollie said, and pointed toward the distant giant tower with its flickering lights. "Main street seems our best bet. Direct path to the tower."

  They moved into formation. Lily slipped ahead, silently slipping into the shadows and vanishing between the buildings. Gale took up the front position of the main group in the middle of the street, Weber materialized on his right hand.

  The main street stretched in front of Gale, wide and empty under the fake lights above. The weight of responsibility of being the vanguard fell on his shoulders. Very cliche, but very real words. As long as someone doesn't talk about their personal stuff in the middle of this rift, no one should die. He'd shut them up before they could say anything anyway.

  Twenty minutes in, Lily appeared suddenly at a corner ahead, hand raised in a stop signal. The group froze.

  Lily pointed to her ear, then gestured left. Whirring and thumping came from around the corner. The sound of a clanker.

  Ollie signalled for everyone to take cover. The group split, pressing against building walls on both sides. Gale slid into a recessed doorway, Weber held low.

  From his position, he saw Kyle and Clyde exchange looks across the street.

  Kyle made finger guns, making motions that looked like he was having recoil from his fingers while pointing at where the sound came from. Then, he grinned as he rubbed his thumb and forefingers together, which clearly shouted "Money money money."

  Clyde grinned as well, mimicking his brother while mouthing "cha-ching" and rubbing his thumb and forefingers at the same time.

  Ollie watched their exchange. He pointed at Kyle and made a motion of himself slicing his own throat, glaring directly at Kyle.

  The thumping grew closer. A spider mech rounded the corner with its six metal legs. Unlike the one Gale had first fought, this mech moved with a loud thump that made it feel chunky.

  The group held still. The mech continued down the street, its head swivelling and scanning in a 360.

  Suddenly, its movement changed. The mech's head swivelled toward Lily's position. Its legs repositioned, body lowering to ready for a lunge.

  Lily pressed deeper into the shadow, one hand on her Deagle.

  A distant explosion rumbled through the city. The spider mech charged, moving past Lily's hiding spot. It disappeared into the buildings away from them.

  For 30 seconds, no one moved until Lily gave an all-clear signal. The group reassembled in the street.

  "What was that about?" Rachel asked, looking in the direction the mech had gone.

  "No idea," Ollie replied. "But something got its attention more than us."

  "Let's keep moving while they're distracted," Lily said.

  They continued through the empty streets, maintaining formation. The tower grew larger as they approached.

  After another hour of careful progress, they reached a section where the metal street had split open. A crack ran across the entire width. Without using Breath of the Void's tendrils, he could barely see where the chasm ended. Give or take, the other side was about 250 meters away.

  Gale approached the edge, looking down. The crack extended well below with just darkness and the bottom nowhere in sight where the limited range of Breath of the Void couldn't touch.

  "That's a problem," Kyle said, kicking a small piece of metal into the gap. No sound of it hitting bottom came back.

  "Can we jump it?" Rachel asked.

  "We could all jump it," Lily said, looking across the gap. "But Gale hasn't learned an Art that could cross this yet. The gap's at least sixty meters. You think you can jump that far?"

  Gale eyed the chasm. The metal edges were jagged where the street had split. No bottom was visible in the darkness. "I can jump maybe 50 meters up but its hard to see the other side."

  "So how far is the other side?" Lily asked.

  "Around 300 meters? I think. That's my guestimate."

  "It's doable, but you on the other hand..."

  "Finding another way around could take hours," Clyde looked left and right, not seeing where the chasm ended. "More time exposed to those spider mechs."

  "And whatever they're fighting," Kyle said.

  Ollie turned to Rachel. "Do you have enough horsepower to take Gale? My telekinesis can't handle two of me."

  "I can carry him." Rachel moved in front of Gale and crouched slightly, hands positioned behind her back to give him a piggyback ride. "Hop on."

  Gale coughed, heat rising to his face. "Really?"

  "It's either that or stay here," Rachel said without turning around.

  "Just take it, porter. Consider it a benefit." Kyle looked at Lily. "Scout goes first. Show us how it's done."

  Lily stepped to the edge of the chasm. She held out her hands, focusing. Blue light flashed as a small force field appeared in mid-air over the gap. She stepped onto the forcefield floor, then each step was met with an instance of the same material, disappearing as quickly as it appeared. She dashed across and then made one big jump, landing like a cat on the other side.

  Clear, she signalled back.

  Ollie went next. Hands in pockets, he concentrated and lifted off the ground. His body drifted upward, then forward over the gap. He moved slowly but steadily, landing on the opposite side with a small grunt.

  "Our turn, bro." Kyle pulled his dagger from his belt. He spun the blade once, then whipped it to the other side. The weapon disappeared for a couple of seconds until a thunk echoed from the other side.

  "Shared teleport only works with my twin," Kyle said, placing his hand on Clyde's shoulder. "Perks of having the same DNA."

  Both twins vanished in a blue flash.

  Gale looked at Rachel, still in her piggyback stance.

  "This is ridiculous," he muttered.

  "Don't be so picky. Now come on and mount."

  Gale sighed and climbed onto her back, arms around her shoulders. Rachel straightened, adjusting to his weight.

  "Hold tight," she warned.

  Heat built around Rachel's feet. Flames that looked like jets erupted below her boots, lifting them off the ground. The rockets made almost no sound, just sounding like a soft breeze. They shot upward, then forward across the gap. Gale felt the heat and the breeze as they crossed the chasm.

  They landed smoothly on the other side. Gale slipped off her back, expression carefully neutral.

  "Show-off," Kyle said to Rachel. "You could've made it twice as high and done a backflip."

  Rachel rolled her eyes.

  The group reformed their positions: Lily scouting ahead, Gale at the vanguard, Rachel and Kyle on the flanks, Ollie and Clyde in the rear. They continued down the metal street, sticking to building shadows whenever possible.

  The tower now came into view much closer, more giant than they had ever imagined, taking up their whole peripheral vision. They passed several smaller centres and plazas with broken metal statues and what looked like fountains.

  After twenty more minutes, the street widened into a massive open plaza. Lily stopped at the edge, hand signalling for others to halt.

  Across the plaza lay the bodies of at least six spider mechs. Their legs littered all over the floor, multiple bullet holes that were more like burn marks. Oil welled all around the dead mechs.

  Two four-legged spider mechs moved among the dead, dismantling them. Each working mech had an extra appendage extending from its body, a multi-jointed arm ending in various cutting tools. They sliced through metal casings, extracted components, and stored them in compartments that opened along their sides.

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