System: Ordinary Schoolboy's Level-Up

EIGHT

The large metal gate groaned open. The line of Wardens stood at attention.

A new figure walked into the cavern. He was not a Warden. He was a man, tall and thin, dressed in a sleek, grey uniform. He had no helmet. His face was sharp and cold. His eyes scanned the room like he owned everything in it.

He was followed by two taller Wardens with gold markings on their black armour.

The man stopped in the centre of the cavern. The only sound was the hum of the machines.

"Workers," the man said. His voice was smooth and loud, without a machine to help it. It filled the whole space. "I am Supervisor Kael."

No one moved. No one breathed.

"It has come to my attention that there has been... unusual activity," Kael said. He started to walk slowly between the workstations. His shiny black boots clicked on the stone. "A loss of efficiency. Small amounts of crystonium are going missing."

Robert's blood turned to ice. He kept his face blank. He did not look at Garret or Leo.

Kael stopped near their section of the cavern. Robert's heart hammered against his ribs.

"The crystonium you mine is vital," Kael continued, speaking to everyone, but his eyes swept over them. "It powers the world above. Your work here is a great honour."

He picked up a small piece of blue rock from Garret's pile. He turned it in his hand.

"Stealing it is pointless. It is useless to you. But it is a crime against the state." He dropped the rock. It clattered on the ground. The sound was very loud.

"The punishment for crime is simple."

Kael nodded to one of the gold-marked Wardens. The Warden stepped forward. Its red eye-slit scanned the workers. It stopped. Its metal arm rose. It was pointing.

It was pointing at a worker two stations down from Robert. It was an older man named Eli. He had been quiet. He kept to himself.

"No!" Eli cried out. "I didn't do anything!"

The gold Warden fired its energy rod. But this was not the blue lightning that caused pain. This was a solid beam of bright white light.

It hit Eli in the chest.

There was no scream. Eli simply... dissolved. His body turned into a cloud of fine grey dust that settled on the floor. He was gone.

A collective gasp went through the workers. Leo made a small, choked sound.

Robert felt sick. He forced himself to watch. He had to see what they were capable of.

Kael smiled a thin, cruel smile. "Let this be a lesson. Your lives belong to us. You have no rights. You have no secrets."

He looked directly at Robert. For a terrifying second, their eyes met. Kael's eyes were a pale, icy blue. They seemed to see right through him.

Then Kael turned and walked away, his guards following him. The main gate slammed shut. The red lights stopped flashing. The normal buzzer sounded.

The shift was over.

The Wardens marched them back to their cells. The walk was a nightmare. Robert could still see the white light. He could still see Eli turning to dust.

In their stone room, no one spoke for a long time. The hope they had felt that morning was gone. Crushed.

"He knew," Leo finally whispered. He was shaking. "He knew someone was stealing. He was looking right at us."

"He was trying to scare us," Garret said, but his voice was rough with fear. "He doesn't know it was us. He can't know."

"But he does!" Leo's voice rose in panic. "He saw it in our faces! We're next! We're going to turn to dust!"

"Be quiet!" Robert snapped. His voice was sharp, like a whip.

Leo flinched and fell silent.

Robert took a deep breath. He had to get control of the situation. Fear would get them killed.

"Kael is smart," Robert said. "He is not a machine like the Wardens. He is a man. He thinks. That makes him more dangerous."

"So what do we do?" Garret asked. "We can't run now. They are watching."

"We wait," Robert said. "We hide. We act like perfect workers. We do not go near the hidden rocks. We do not look at the tunnel. We have no problems for one week. We make them think they scared us into being good."

"And then?" Leo asked, his eyes wide.

"And then," Robert said, his voice low and steady, "we run faster than they think we can. We use their plan against them. They think we are broken. We will show them we are not."

The fear was still there, cold in his stomach. But underneath it was something else. A cold anger.

Kael thought he had won. He thought he had crushed their spirit.

Robert looked at his friends. His stare was on Garret's strong, sad face and Leo's scared but determined eyes.

He knew then that they were not just surviving anymore. They were at war. And they were going to fight back.