[sub][h3][center][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0YxeTjFn70]T H E   P R O M I S E[/url][/center][/h3][/sub][hr]

And so, the vote had been cast. The party moved on quickly, some with anxiety in their step and others with more frustration than fear. They walked on, the sound of shambling and scraping metal long left behind. Whatever they had heard, if they had actually head anything at all, had been left behind in the dark. The lights continued to illuminate over them as they walked, thanks to Packet, and would gradually fade out as they passed. Aside from the sound of flowing water and the scurrying of rats, they were alone.

"Sorry, about earlier."

Packet turned his head in surprise to Archie, who's entire demeanor had changed from one of aggression and confrontation to the normally kind one he normally wore on his sleeve, although this time it seemed to be a bit tainted by guilt. "I'm not sure what came over me. Must've been nerves. Mr. Hyde doesnt care much for this." Packet shook his head. "It's, well, it's okay. I felt a lot more on edge myself. I'll probably take the normal route out. We'll figure out what way we want to go back if you guys come back." The boy seemed to instantly catch himself on his mistake. "[i]When[/i], When you get back."

"Do you know where you are now?"

"Everything in these sewers is an exercise in guestimation in the dark." Packet replied. "We must've been turned around somehow. But if you're good at it, you start picking up on other stuff. Listen close, you hear that?" Packet stopped, causing the rest of the entourage to halt with him. He pointed to the ceiling and in the quiet one could hear muffled chattering and movement directly above them along with the sewer's ambience. "We're right underneath the mall, now. Which is where we want to be, because the maintenance hatch we're going to is for the mall."

"So we're close?"

"Yeah. We're close."

The party walked for a few more minutes, moving forward and backtracking with the technomancer as he figured out where the door to The Spire was. For some, it was a minor inconvenience while for others those precious steps were some of the most anxiety inducing steps they had ever taken. Eventually though, they did happen upon the door. The very same heavily machined entryway built into the side of the wall that Eli had seen before. "Hello, love." Packet said as it finally came into sight. He approached the door and ran his hand along its frame. "I know I haven't been the best guide, but this is as far as I go," he explained. "I don't know what's on the other side." He checked his watch. "It is currently six thirty in the morning. I'll come to let you back onto The Ring at nine thirty. If you're not there, you're going to have to find some other way back here or some other way to contact me."

He sighed and turned, placing his hand on the frame of the door and the handle. Packet closed his eyes and focused, allowing his mind to instinctually map out the door's locking mechanism. In that moment he was part of entirety of The Promise, an extension of the supernetwork, connected to Cara. He flipped the controller, and unlatched the door. His eyes snapped open and in an instant his entire world was shattered. The entire secondary brain of The Promise suddenly severed from his mind. He stumbled back, pulling the door with him, until he came to rest against the wall with a manic smile and nosebleed on his face. "Woah." he said simply, wiping away the blood with his sleeve. "Always a trip. I'll never get used to that."

Before them lay two sets of clear sliding doors and an activation pad. Beyond that, the vast emptiness of space, blocked in part by the other part of the ring, the spire, and the vast blue and green world below. Upon further inspection, one could see that there [i]were[/i] walls beyond the door. It was like a gigantic hamster tube of thick glass connecting the part of the ring they were on the The Spire itself. "So who wants to go first?" Packet asked. Archie eyed the room nervously, but a part of him realized that he had always dummy at tests. Might as well play test dummy. He steeled himself, and took the first step in. The first sliding door opened for him and shut behind him, but the second did not open until he hut the button on the activation pad. This prompted the second door to open and the first to lock, and the artificial gravity ceased.

The sudden floating sensation was unexpected, but was quickly overcome. Archie noticed a series of handles welded into the glass tube's metal spine, and in no time he propelled himself across the few hundred feet of tube to the other side, where he repeated the process of accessing the tube in reverse, causing the first sliding door on the party's side to unlock for the next brave soul to station hop. There was another door on the opposite side, but of simple mechanical construction. Archie did not dare touch it yet. Not without the rest of the group, and so he waited, waving to the group separated by a few hundred feet of tubing.

The few inches of glass being the only thing between them and the vast darkness of space.