Ahh, the plot to destroy Cydia is finally revealed. Who’s behind it? You can probably guess – but you probably can’t guess what’s actually going to happen when the planet collapses.

Word Count: 42,149

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Not a terrible amount going on this time – but the transition to the Renaissance room is complete. You might notice that Torsten is a bit hostile – a bit more like Maiya, now that he’s been under her care for a while.

Word Count: 40,069

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The social breakdown within the mines is really getting palpable at this point; look like Torsten and Curie will either have to find a way to fix it, or quickly find a way out!

Word Count: 37,599

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Back underground, it looks like it’s time for Torsten and Curie to get serious with The Embassy.

Word Count: 35, 218

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I deeply apologize for not posting these sooner – I know it’s not actually the 17th. It’s been hectic, but I will eventually get all my days of writing up (before the 30th). I want to continue writing, however, as I’m a little behind and need to do some catchup.

Word Count: 32,912

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Aha, and NOW we pass the halfway point. I’m writing faster so I can hit 60,000 words this year – I decided that 60,000 seems like a nice length for this story. Also, I realize I haven’t been updating here with the days as frequently; I apologize. I’m just a little swamped with work!

Word Count: 30,565

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Well, November is halfway through! Unfortunately, it’s certainly not the halfway mark for The Collapse.

Word Count: 28,217

I looked at the soldiers, and then at Maiya. My limbs were still. Curie wasn’t sure what to say or do, but he got up and looked at the two of us, staring at one another in our moment of awkward weakness. Maiya lowered her weapons, two laser pistols, and took a step toward me.

“Get out of here,” she said. But I still couldn’t move.

“No,” I said. “Not until you tell me where they’re keeping Derek. I know you know! I know that’s why you got rid of me.”

“You really are an idiot,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “You just don’t understand. I saved you. Now… are you going to run, or are you going to die? I have a job to do, and it has nothing to do with you. I’ll cover your back while you escape, if you’re afraid.”

I had no choice. I had to get out. Curie was staring at both of us like we were insane, but I understood what Maiya was doing. It was her job, working under The Embassy, to facilitate the fetch project. She was an agent of change in this world, and I was just getting in her way. It hadn’t worked out, when we worked together for that moment. She’d wanted to be so aggressive, and all I wanted to do was help people. But I knew now who my real fellow soldiers were – and they were Curie, and Derek, and anyone else who could see what was happening to the mines, and to Cydia.

So we ran. We followed Maiya’s instructions and began to exit the building. She followed closely behind us; as we passed some floating platforms, I saw her flip switches on them. Not sure what she was doing, I pressed on, but she stopped multiples times in this way during our trip back up the surface.

And as we ran, more guards approached us. Maiya shot every single one without care or remorse.

Their blood, reflecting the sorrow in the room, trickled down the steps to join with their brethren at the bottom. It ran thick, filled with the heavy memories of their lives. To Maiya, each man was just another puppet. Again, I couldn’t look at her. Once I’d stopped looking behind me, it was a much faster climb up the stairwell – we all soon reached the office through which we’d entered. But Maiya would come with us.

“I don’t even know why you would suggest it,” she said to us. “I’ll guard the door. You two just get out.”

She remained outside of the door as we entered. Once the door to the office had been shut, I herd a clicking noise. Instinctively, I reached for the doorknob – twisting it several times revealed that Maiya had locked the door on us. There was nowhere to go but up.

Curie approached the wall where we’d entered, and felt it with his hand. “Why is this here?” he said, looking at the solid and study wall. “We destroyed it…”

He took out his shovel and blasted the wall away. Dirt, soil from the outside, flowed in and covered him. He picked himself up, and brushed the dirt off of his clothes. “Someone repaired everything while we were gone,” he said. “And it doesn’t look like they want us going back to the surface.”

“We’re locked in as well,” I told Curie.

“It doesn’t look like we’re going anywhere, then,” Curie said. “Who was that woman, anyway?”

“Her name is Maiya. I worked with her for a time below the surface. She’s the one who did this to me.” I held my hand in the air, looking at it. I flexed the muscles in my fingers; it all felt so real. If I had been born with it, I’d never have known that the body was artificial. “But I think she had her reasons. I just want to find out what those reasons are.”

Curie had nothing to say, and for a moment there was an awkward silence as we both assessed our situation. Finally, I saw it: The open light tram in the room. With it I could re-enter the mines and track down The Embassy, give him what he had coming, and rescue Derek.

“Curie,” I said, “do you enjoy working on the surface?”

“It’s okay. Why?”

“That light tram goes down into the mines – five kilometers deep. Down there is the man who is most certainly keeping a tight hold on my friend. But once we go down there, we might not be able to come back up; and there’s nothing I can do if that happens.”

“And you want me to come with you?”

“You’ve come this far. And it doesn’t look like you can get a fetch unless you stick with me.”

Curie contemplated, staring at the light tram, unsure of what to do. I knew he would make the right decision, to go down into the mines with me – but to make sure, I pressured him. “You’re the only person I have left who can help me. Without you, it’s all useless,” I said.

The deal was sealed. He would come with me.

But as we were about to walk into the light tram, the door burst open. Maiya, firing gunshot after gunshot, entered into the room and closed the door. She continued firing her laser pistol until the door was entirely shut.

“That was close,” she said, leaning her back against the door and resting her arms, tired from holding up the guns. “You two are still here? I told you to get out.” She looked at me. “You really are useless,” she said. “First you couldn’t do anything in the purification plant, and now you’re fucking up my work. Do you even know what you’ve gotten yourself into, Vince?”

“Not anymore,” I said, looking at her bloodstained figure. “But you need help. You’re covered in blood—”

“I can help myself,” she said, standing upright fully. “Listen, I tossed you out for a reason. You shouldn’t be getting involved with me. The Embassy was foolish for making you do what you did.”

“I don’t know whether to be angry or sympathetic. What the hell is going on out there? Why are you covered in blood?”

“It’s not blood, it’s a synthetic fluid. Nobody out there is in their original body – you think those men are brave enough to risk their lives? Vince, I’m sure by now somebody has let you know what I’ve done to you.” I pointed to Curie next to me. “Is that why he’s with you? Nevertheless, Vince, nobody out there is dead. There’s a conflict of interests happening right now at Inland. Let’s just say I screwed some people over.”

“Yeah, you screwed me over. Why should I believe what you’re saying?”

“I don’t expect anything of the sort. Listen, I want to tell you what’s going on, but I can’t do that here. We need to escape – and there’s only one way out that I know of.”

“Down to the mines,” I said, pointing at the light tram.

“No – it’s not safe in the mines, either. The crumbling rock might kill you. We need to be on the surface, where the ground is stable. I know how to get us there, but you’ll need to trust me and do exactly as I say.”

“I can’t possibly trust you after you betrayed me, destroyed my body, and threw me out of the hundred-fiftieth floor of a building. I could have died!”

“No, you couldn’t have.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small black box, then began unfolding its contents. The box flatted out into a very thin sheet of paper, which Maiya laid out on the floor in front of the three of us. “This is just a prototype, but it works well enough to get us out. Kid, are you in a fetch?”

“No, he’s not,” I said.

“That won’t do, then. I know what to do, though. Kid, this is gonna sting a bit, but don’t worry too much about it. You’ll be just fine.” Maiya reached into her pocket again, and this time pulled out her Mu Gun that she’d received from the purification plant. Pointing it at Curie, she released a beam of light that struck him, then surrounded him. Within moments, I heard Curie scream as his body was transformed by the light.

The capsule concentrated around him, shrinking, letting go of all the useless portions of his being. At the end of it all, Curie was no more – all that was left was a floating, silver mass, trapped by the forcefield of blue light emanating from the Mu Gun.

“Push that button on the sheet,” Maiya commanded to me.

“What?”

“The silver button. It’s in the corner. Push it, now!”

I walked up to the corner of the sheet and pressed the only silver button. At once, the sheet megan to expand; its frame stacked upon itself, and it became a solid, rectangular object, its black surface only marked by a single hole on its top face. The hole looked just big enough to fit a melon, or a small volleyball, and emanated blue light as the Mu Gun did. Within moments of the box’s expansion, Maiya swiftly moved the silver mass that was Curie across the room and slammed it onto the top surface of the black box.

The light emanating from the box grew brights, and the Mu Gun’s light dimmed until it was gone. When the flash of light had disappeared, so had Curie’s silver mass.

“…what did you do to him?!” I shouted at Maiya, sure she had just killed my new friend. She motioned for me to calm down, and be quiet – that I would be next, and then she would do herself. “But what… what is this?”

“That is a prototype of a condensed neural network. Inside is some of the most advanced hardware and software on Cydia; your friend’s soul is being stored inside that box. Everything that he is and will be is now inside of it’s walls. And it’s out only way to get out of here, so we both have to get in.”

“That looked incredibly painful. I’d rather pass.”

“You’ve already been through the pain. This won’t hurt at all for you. If you wish, I’ll do it to myself first so that you can see how to put your soul into the box. It’s quick and painless, since I placed you in a fetch.” I nodded to her; if she wanted to kill herself, she could go first, by all means. “Alright, I see the look on your face. I’ll show you what to do.”

She stepped up to the box, and from one of its sides opened a small door that contained a mass of retracted cables. Maiya yanked out the bundle of cables and looked for the flap on the back of her head. When the flap was open, she moved the cables toward the ports in her head – they magnetically attached themselves to the right location.

“These ports do two things: They can recharge your fetch, you they can transfer your soul out of it. That’s particularly useful when you need to abandon your body to, say, escape from gunmen. Just attach these cables and push the silver button again. You’ll be moved to the box.”

“And my fetch?”

“You’ll lose control over it. It will slump over. Just remove the cables from my head before using it yourself. It doesn’t matter if people find the bodies – I have another set that we can jump into when we get out of here. Just trust me on this; I know it’s difficult for you, but if you stick with me, you will have another new body soon, and we’ll be out of this dangerous place.”

She waved to me, and pushed the silver button. As soon as she did so, her body slumped over, a lifeless mass of organic components. From the sheer force of her weight, several of the cables detached themselves from their magnetic latches. I sighed, and shoved her body aside, picking up the bulky cables in my own hands, feeling their heft in my palms. Maiya’s fetch stared at me with its eyes open, cheering me on, telling me that this was the right solution.

“Here goes,” I said to myself, opening the flap behind my head and shoved the cables into their proper places. Each metallic end felt cold against my skull as I reached for the silver button. My hand felt six times its normal weight while I reached across the black box to push it, not sure where it would take me after I had pushed it.

My fingers shook; they hovered over the flat, reflective surface of the button, afraid to take the next step. Finally, and with a deep breath, I urged my fingers to press themselves down, bringing the silver button with it.

The world became blank. I could see nothing, hear nothing, feel nothing. Yet, for the briefest of moments, I knew everything. I could sense Maiya and Curie within the world of the box. We were everywhere in the world; our presences intermingled in floating space. It was one of the strangest experiences of my life – I could read what Maiya was thinking. I could hear all of Curie’s thoughts. And that was all we were, there in the box – three floating masses of pure thought. Nothing but our souls.

We gleaned from Maiya’s thoughts that there was another box connected to this one; an entire network of boxes with souls of their own. If we simply traveled to those other boxes, we could transport ourselves elsewhere and exit this strange world. And when this box was emptied of our souls, it would revert to its normal state – what it had been when Maiya had pulled it out her pocket – and nobody in the Inland facility would think twice about what had happened to us.

For some reason, I had a lot of trouble writing today’s stuff. Either way, this scene opens the door to the next most crucial part of The Collapse: The creation of The Collective and what Cydia’s plans for dealing with a disaster really mean.

Word Count: 25,868

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After a week of being behind, I’ve finally caught up with myself. I also planned ahead a little bit, so I shouldn’t be getting too off-track with the story this time. I want this to remain prety focused, so we’ll see how it goes over the next few days. On the bright (or at least interesting) side, Adam Curie returns… as a kid!

Word Count: 23,477

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I’m going to admit it: Even *I* didn’t think Torsten was going to end up going to Earth. I’ve surprised myself! But I think it’s going to be a good way to reveal that the Cydian government is preparing for a planetary collapse, and will give Torsten motivation to try and save the underground world.

Word Count: 21,123

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