Chapter 45: The Guardian of the Array
Ryan closed the CommNet window. The digital drama had been entertaining, but it was time to get back to work. He had spent enough time relaxing in his captured treasure room.
He needed to finish this Scramble and claim victory for Outpost #7. He could have stayed put and let his teammates grind out the last 40 or so cores, but that wasn’t his style. He preferred to finish things himself, decisively.
He stepped out of the Time-Locked Vault. As he did, the massive stone door slid shut behind him with a deep, groaning sound, and the shimmering Chronal Barrier reappeared, sealing it once more.
The key had worked, but it was a one-time entry pass, at least for now. He was back in the main Labyrinth.
His Neural Symbiote Map, his personal GPS for all things Precursor, immediately highlighted a new point of interest. Not far from the Vault was a structure labeled as a "god Energy Array."
It was a place of immense power, a central hub for the Labyrinth’s energy distribution.
Ryan had a strong hunch. If there was one other place in this Labyrinth that would have a large stock of Power Cores, it would be at the heart of the power grid itself.
He also suspected this was exactly the kind of place a "Technomage" like Zara Khan would be drawn to. He decided to head there, to cut her off and secure the final cores needed for the win.
He set off at a brisk pace, his new Boots of Alacrity making him feel light and fast. The fifteen-minute journey took him through some of the Labyrinth’s grandest and most imposing corridors.