‘Instance Gamma-one, also known as “St. Moros”, is an unending sprawl of underground tunnels and bunkers. These tunnels appear as abandoned railways, subway lines, and mining operations. Signage commonly found throughout the instance indicates these structures to be part of a city formerly known as “St. Moros”.

  The primary effect of note within instance Gamma-one (and as would later be discovered to be the same with all Gamma branch instances) is the phenomenon of ever present irradiation. All lifeforms and entities within the instance will experience a constant dosage of gamma radiation which will increase in magnitude exponentially. This dosage can be mitigated using various types of so-called “Anti-Radiation Pills”, for more information on the acquisition of such pills, see…”

  — Excerpt from Primary Observations of Instance One of the Gamma (γ) Branch, by Amelia CA-4 of the Cartographers Association

  Anya tightened the strap on her Anchor Case and double checked her supply of pills. Her belt now held three pouches: One for the pink Perception Pills, one for the yellow Hop Pills, and a new one for the small green pellet-like N-Bq Pills. These new pills were intended for her to stave off the irradiating effects of the instance they would be travelling within.

  The group walked in formation through the fog. Anya and the two other Irises were surrounded by Kite and another two scouts. Ahead of them was a navigator, and trailing behind was one of the men covered in equipment that Anya had spotted in the briefing room.

  “Who’s the guy in the back?” Anya whispered to Kite.

  “Demolitions, he’s the one we hope we don’t need.”

  A howl echoed through the woods. The navigator held up a closed fist, and the group stopped. They waited, another howl came from the fog. Anya shuddered. The navigator gestured with her left arm and sent one of the scouts away. She unclipped a stopwatch from her jacket and began timing. The stopwatch’s face had multiple hands, and it ticked in irregular patterns — sudden short bursts breaking extended periods of silence.

  The group continued to wait. Eventually the navigator clicked the stopwatch off, and gestured for the team to begin walking once.

  “Kestrel-15 considered M.I.A. Kestrel-71, take his place.”

  The other scout moved to fill the gap in the formation, yet as he did Kestrel-15 re-emerged from the fog.

  “I’m here. Wasn’t a Mimic — it was Crow mimicking the sound of one.”

  “A Crow that mimics a Mimic?” The navigator replied, “I do not recall documentation of such a phenomenon. I shall add it to the field notes.”

  Kestrel-15 stepped forward, the navigator put out a hand to stop him.

  “Verification.” She said.

  The scout unclipped his badge and threw it over to the navigator, who inspected it briefly.

  “Return to post.”

  The group arrived at a flat stone circle with a small podium at its centre. They huddled onto the structure. Upon the podium was a bronze plaque engraved with the words: Cartographer’s Association: γ-1 Safe Hop Point. Anya could see that the podium had been carved from the same kind of rock that she had seen on the cliff-face, and it seemed to have been placed on the circle. The circle however was built with rings of tiles comprised of a deep blue marble-like material, furthermore it was embedded into the ground — and felt firmer than floors of the various cabins at the Foundation base.

  The navigator directed the group to stand along the outer edge of the circle. From her belt she produced a case of Hop Pills, and walked around the circle letting each member of the team take a pill from the case.

  “You are the new Iris, yes?” She said, coming to Anya.

  “I am, yes.”

  “These are tuned Hop Pills. We will use them to ensure the whole team makes it to Gamma-one.”

  Anya took one of the pills, they were smaller and less yellow-tinted than those which she had in her pouch.

  “Our apologies for the lack of a training program. Our lives in the Tanglements must move fast, for they are fleeting. If you are a capable survivor then you will live and you will learn to survive these realities. But if you are to remember one thing: there is no death — only imperception.”

  With this the navigator moved to stand by the podium. Each member of the team swallowed the pill they had been given, and Anya followed suit. The navigator pulled a device out from under her coat. It had the appearance of a small radio, with a long thin antenna that had to be manually deployed, yet its construction was notably crude — with sharp edges and various cables weaving in and out from its body at various points.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  She turned a few dials on the device’s face, and inserted a cartridge into a slot along its top edge.

  “Time check,” she called to one of the scouts as she peered at the elaborate watch clasped around her wrist. The scout replied back with a string of seemingly random numbers. “We’re out by about four percent, I’ve certainly seen worse. Expect some minor scattering after the hop.” She made a few more adjustments on the device. “Alright, we’re good to go. Prep for hop in three, two, one…”

  The jump was rougher than those that Anya had previously experienced. Her body felt as if it was being stretched — her limbs running away from her, floating off into the ether. Her vision flickered, colours and patterns shimmered before her, each one a flash of light too fast to fully comprehend. The only view she was certain of — a glimpse of the gateway, its Earth-like moon looming over the black sands.

  Then just as she was stretched, her body compressed back into the form of Anya. The sensation of touch came back to her slowly, as she began to feel her hands pressed against the rough and porous surface of wet concrete. The flickering images faded from her eyes, and she was greeted with darkness.

  She felt a swell in her throat, she attempted to cover her mouth yet her arms were too weak to respond. She began coughing up a thick fluid, which splattered across the ground. Her sense of smell returned to her, and with every breath she could feel the stillness of the air, and the damp and grimy smell that permeated it.

  A light shone upon her, revealing the fluid she had vomited out to be yellowish in appearance. A hand took her wrist and helped her sit up, revealing the holder of the flashlight to be Kite. He attempted to speak to her, yet as Anya’s hearing returned she was suddenly overwhelmed with the blaring sound of rushing wind.

  Her hands scrambled for the pouches on her belt, unsure which one held the pink pills she was looking for. Kite realised what was happening, and helped her retrieve and take one of the pills.

  “Can you hear me now?”

  “Yeah.” She was short of breath. “What did I just cough up?”

  “Residue from the tuned pills. They can’t fully dissolve, that’s part of how they work I think.”

  “That was awful.”

  “Yeah, usually is. Also speeds up the sickness. It’s why we tend to use normal Hop Pills for solo travel even if they’re random.”

  Anya looked around, her eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness. They were inside a wide circular tunnel, with two sets of warped train tracks running down the centre, and an elevated walkway along the far wall. She noticed that she was sitting in a pile of rubble. Looking up she could she a hole in roof of the tunnel — one which appeared to lead to another identical tunnel. This upper tunnel had a similar breach in its roof, and on and on were the endless layers of railway tunnels extending upwards as far as she could see.

  “How far underground are we?”

  “Hard to say, always changes. There is a surface apparently but I’ve never been there. Most of us haven’t.”

  More flashlights began appearing across the width of the tunnel. A small metal sphere could be seen being thrown into the air, and suddenly a grid of blue light flashed across the tunnel.

  “That’ll be the navigator trying to figure out exactly where we are. Can you walk?”

  “Yes. I thought we used a known hop point?”

  “Well we did, but the positions still shift from time to time. C’mon we need to regroup.”

  Anya pulled herself up using a nearby slab and began walking with Kite towards the centre of the tunnel. “If they shift then how is it a safe point?”

  “Safe point just means its never shifted into a wall before.”

  They reached the rest of the team as the navigator had begun to explain the situation.

  “We’re almost two kilometres out from the expected entry zone. The supplies will last but I doubt we’ll have time to make it back to base today, we’ll have to spend the night in the city.”

  “Any indication of entities so far?” One of the other Irises asked.

  “None yet, doesn’t look like anything has passed through this area in a long while.” A scout, Kestrel-15, replied.

  “We may be lucky now but there is a crossroads between two tunnels ahead, so remain vigilant.”

  The group resumed formation and prepared to make the trek to the city of Jester’s Keep.