The last thing Ppnlak wanted to do was go back to the city, the place where Isiuta's killer resided. But Eyuy was determined, so there was nothing he could do. The last time he had walked this path, there was the small, excited thrum of discovery. Now, there was only trepidation. Standing at the top of the stairs, Ppnlak peered into the darkness. The thing would be waiting for them.

Ppnlak stepped down to the first step, and he noticed that Eyuy hesitated to follow. Ppnlak turned and said, Explorer, this was your idea. 

"I know," he replied, "I'm ready. I just need a second."

Ppnlak shrugged, descending further down the stairs. The soft steps of Eyuy echoed behind him. He reached the door to the city and pushed it open. Ppnlak's soft glow was amplified by the darkness. He walked until the central temple and skeletons were in view. The city was lit, so the ceiling must have already opened. He couldn’t hear the clicking of the thing, but it was only a matter of time until it found them. He did hear Eyuy breathe out an astonished breath. 

Eyuy pointed to the central temple, "We should go there. I'm sure there will be enough writings to get a 100% translation."

If you think that is best, Ppnlak replied. He knew that they went west the last time, but he couldn’t remember what the route was like. He did recall something about LOIUY compiling the scans they did on the way into a map. He asked, Do you know the way?

Eyuy tapped on his fancy watch, pulling up a hazy map. The long sigh the officer let out told Ppnlak that the map didn’t show a way. Eyuy said, "No, we'll have to find it."

Ppnlak peered at the temple, leaning over the edge of the balcony railing. He saw that one of the paths that led to the temple ran straight below them. While they may not know the hallway that went to that path, they were able to jump down. Ppnlak tried to judge the distance, but his eyesight made it hard.

Ppnlak asked, Isn't that a path to the temple?

Eyuy glanced over the railing and said, "Yes, it is, but I don't know how to get to it."

We could jump.

Eyuy whipped his head between Ppnlak and the path at the bottom of the city. "Absolutely not! Do you know how far down that is? We would die!"

Don't you have all that fancy technology?

The slight pause before Eyuy's response was all Ppnlak needed to figure out that there was some fancy technology they could use. The officer's next sigh was long-suffering, and he said, "I may have something that we could use."

What is it?

"The ICC has given all of its officers propulsion technology." The disdain dripping from Eyuy's lips made Ppnlak chuckle. 

It sounds like you're not a fan.

"No one's a fan, but we could use it. It would slow our fall enough that we wouldn't get hurt."

Is this propulsion technology in your suit?

"Unfortunately. You'll have to hold onto me." Eyuy looked Ppnlak up and down. He was double Eyuy's height, so holding onto the small alien would be an awkward feat. 

I'm sensing that will be difficult. Maybe I could grab on with my tentacles? Ppnlak wrapped two tentacles around Eyuy's helmet as an example. It was good that the planet's harsh sunlight dried out Ppnlak skin because he wouldn’t have been able to hold on had he been covered in his usual gel. 

"Your body would still be hanging far from me. I don't want you in the path of the fuel."

What if I lifted myself like this? Ppnlak wrapped more tentacles around Eyuy's helmet, using them to lift himself above the officer. 

"We might be too heavy to lift, but I could try a test run." Ppnlak heard a click before the sound of a pushed button. He braced himself for the feeling but was still caught off guard when they were pushed into the air. They wobbled for a dangerous second before stabilizing. 

Will we be okay? His tentacles were strong, and he would be fine with carrying himself for a while. He wasn’t as confident in Eyuy's strength. 

"We'll be fine. I think." He thinks? That wasn’t reassuring. "Let's just head down."

Eyuy maneuvered them to the edge of the balcony, hovering over the drop before cutting the propulsion and letting them drop. Ppnlak thanked his strength once again as he plummeted to the ground. When they were halfway down, Eyuy turned the propulsion back on. They jolted to a stop and then rose a smidge. Eyuy cut it again, and he repeated that until they were safely on the ground. 

Ppnlak unclasped his tentacles, moving to stand next to Eyuy. The path they were on was better maintained than the hallway that led to the city, and it was covered in more skeletons than the balcony. The central temple must have been of the utmost importance to the species. Ppnlak didn’t understand the sentiment as his species had no religion, and Ppnlak hadn’t taken to any religion he had been exposed to since his employment on the Architeuthis. The concept of faith and belief was a hard one for the alien to grasp. Tenlaupians didn’t believe nor did they have faith. They existed, they died, and that was it. Clearly, the species here felt that there was something beyond that. 

Ppnlak followed Eyuy down the path to the door of the central temple. Once they arrived, they encountered a problem. Like the temple on the surface, automatons stood guard. If he thought the automaton on the surface was tall, it had nothing on the two that were in front of him. They towered over Eyuy and Ppnlak, and their bulk blocked the door. 

Ppnlak asked, What will we do about that?

"I don't know," Eyuy said with frustration, "We could get around one, but two? We won't get in."

There has to be a way. Ppnlak walked toward the automatons, while Eyuy called for him to stop. As he neared, his tentacles writhed behind him. However, the automatons didn’t move. He got closer and closer until he was at the doors. Eyuy's cautious footsteps had followed him. The small alien anxiously lingered behind him.

Eyuy said, "They aren't doing anything."

I can see that, Ppnlak replied, Do they not work?

"Or is there extra security around this temple?"

Click.

Ppnlak stiffened, and his glow cycled between a deep magenta, bright red, and sickly green. The thing was here. It saw them. Ppnlak's tentacles rushed toward Eyuy, wrapping the officer up and yanking him to Ppnlak. Confusion trickled through their link.

Click. Click. Click. 

It was getting closer. Ppnlak asked, Do you hear that?

"Hear what? The clicking? That's just the sound of the automatons. The one on the surface made that sound too."

No, Ppnlak hissed, It's the thing. We need to get out of here. Ppnlak searched the shadows around them. Any movement would clue him in to where the thing hid. 

"Where would we go? We're in the open."

We have to enter the temple.

Click. Click. Click. Click.

Ppnlak felt Eyuy's body tremble with increased nerves. Eyuy replied, "We don't know how to get in, and having the automatons and the thing after us is not an ideal situation."

We don't have a choice. 

With Eyuy still wrapped up in his tentacles, Ppnlak rushed toward the door. He wouldn’t let himself or Eyuy fall prey to the thing. Unlike the temple on the surface, there was a panel that sealed the door to the central temple. Ppnlak couldn’t see an immediate way to access the panel, and it was hard to concentrate with Eyuy struggling. 

Eyuy cried, "Let me go!"

If I let go, you'll die! You're safer in my tentacles.

"I will be fine." Eyuy's struggling increased in intensity, but Ppnlak held on tighter.

Ppnlak yelled, "Stop!" 

Eyuy froze at the sound of Ppnlak's voice. The tenlaupian's voice was raspy and guttural, a distinct contrast to the sound Eyuy heard in his head. Happy that Eyuy had stilled, Ppnlak refocused his attention to the panel. 

Click, click, click, click, click, click.

 Ppnlak tapped on the metal, flinching when a metal arm shot out of the panel. The arm slithered through the air until it hit Ppnlak's skin. A needle protruded out the middle of the arm, and Ppnlak yelped when the arm pushed it into his skin. The arm shot back into the panel, and a faint whirring could be heard. 

Ppnlak waited for whatever was happening impatiently. The longer they were out in the open the more opportunity the thing had to kill them. The clicking was too close for comfort. Ppnlak pressed against the door when he heard mechanisms unlocking. He wondered what about him had allowed the doors to be unlocked. The automatons were unmoving beside them. 

Click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click.

Ppnlak pleaded with the doors to open faster. He swore he heard the heavy footsteps of the thing behind him. Finally, the doors opened with a hiss. He threw Eyuy inside and helped the doors close. As soon as the doors latched shut, a resounding bang resonated through the door. The horrible shrieking of claws scraping down the metal assaulted Ppnlak and Eyuy's ears. Next, the heavy creaking of the automatons sounded.

Feeling that they were as safe as they could be within the temple, Ppnlak relaxed and turned to Eyuy. He said, That was stressful.

Eyuy snorted, "That's an understatement. I couldn't even move."

It was for your safety, Ppnlak repeated.

"I don't care. Never do that again." Ppnlak shrugged dismissively. "No, I want you to promise me."

I promise that I won't do it again.

"Ever."

Ever.

With that out of the way, Ppnlak peered around the inside of the temple. Instead of murals, the walls were covered in writings. Different handwriting and legibility distinguished each paragraph of text from each other. Eyuy's excitement coursed through their link, and Ppnlak was certain that there was enough writing for a complete translation. 

Eyuy took out a scanner, scanning everything. He tapped on his watch and asked, "LOIUY, is this enough?"

The soothing robotic voice replied, [I WILL BE ABLE TO CREATE A COMPLETE TRANSLATION WITH THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE GIVE ME A SECOND TO COMPILE THE NEW INFORMATION.]

"Thank you."

What do you think they have written?

"There must be something about the metamorphosis project. The thing must be the key to what happened." 

Ppnlak walked up to one of the walls, trailing a finger over the writing. It wasn’t painted; it was etched into the stone. He felt the divots and chipping that made the letters. The metamorphosis project and the thing were more than what Ppnlak expected. The species must have been desperate if they were willing to accept help from the ICC. Or, they must have been one of the ICC's earliest supporters. To think everything about them was wiped. To the ICC and the universe, they hadn’t existed until six months ago. 

LOIUY said, [I HAVE COMPLETED THE TRANSLATION, EXPLORER AEUM-YINH.]

"Excellent!" Eyuy cheered, "We can finally read the message on the mural! LOIUY, could you pull it up?"

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[Translation Percentage: 100%]

[Translation: We bow before the sun’s radiance, purifying us of our misdeeds and mistakes. Let not this beast be the cause of our demise. Let not this be the end of us all. Let this be a warning for all who come: beware the mechanical beast that walks the devastated city.]

============================================================

Ppnlak and Eyuy stared blankly at the screen. Ppnlak said, Hm, that's not very useful.

"That's all it said?" Eyuy shook his head, "I guess it would've been helpful before we entered the city, but that time has long since passed."

Before Ppnlak could respond, a distant rumble blared, and the ground began to shake. Ppnlak used some of his tentacles to stabilize himself and Eyuy. He let go once the rumbling subsided, but a question poked at his consciousness. What was that?