A walled city

a walled city
a majestic city enclosed in ancient stone rises out of the horizon, its innermost towers piercing the unending clouds. the portion of wall you've approached is dominating and unscathed, but a section a few kilometers to the east looks a little more weathered.

the eastern side / exit

the collapsed eastern wall
rubble is spread evenly, skewing far into the desert. whatever destroyed it must have come from inside. you can step delicately over the strewn cement and metal to get through. passing around the edge of the wall reveals the great city, its tall towers still relinquishing debris to the strong winds. the clouds are parted at the tip of the highest tower, revealing the slightest hint of blue sky. the ground lowers into a massive lake, the ashen waters covering the base of every tower. the closest structure to you appears to be an oil refinery, its maze of pipes surrounding the inner building.

swim to the refinery / exit

ashen waters
you descend into the water, submerging yourself almost entirely, and begin swimming toward the refinery. the water burns lightly, getting worse as you swim on. you can feel the stinging through your clothes, and just as you can feel your outer layer of skin begin withering, you arrive at the refinery. the wire fence that blocks it has mostly fallen, and after picking through it you find an exit from the building back here, chains and a warning sign blocking the way. there's probably another way in further around too.

circle the perimiter / break chains / exit

the exit
the door creaks on its hinges, opening slowly on its own, pushing away the chains on the ground. you step around it and into the dark hallway beyond. running your hand along the wall, you find a switch, and activating it causes the building to groan. after a moment the faint sound of a generator kicks on, and the whirring grows louder before the hallway becomes washed with eerie green emergency lights. the corridor leads into a staircase to an upper level, which opens into a catwalk over a long room filled with machinery. at the end of the catwalk is an unlabeled door, and a console facing the area below.

the console / the door / drop down

the console the bulbs and dials appear broken or otherwise non-functional.

[BOX]

the door it opens to reveal a small room filled with useful supplies and electronics.

[BOX]

a room of machinery
you climb over the railing and drop to the floor. a gash in the ceiling reveals the dim sky, letting ash in to coat all the machines, and you walk among them, looking for something useful. most are built for the passing or cleaning of oil, and a few have begun to whir as they receive power. there's a corridor out of this room to the left, lit up with red light around a bend. to the right is an opening that leads to a wider area.

the perimeter
it's clear why the wire fence was here; climbing over all the intersecting pipes and machinery proves to be more difficult than it seemed. after a while you arrive at a road, pipes still reaching overhead. one path leads left to an opening in the fence, toward the city. to the right is what appears to be the main entrance.

the main enterence / towards the city

the main area
you slide the glass entrance open, and are greeted by deep darkness, broken only by some dim light escaping through the ceiling in the distance. running your hands along the wall, you find a switch and activate it. the lights overhead flicker on, washing the room in an eerie green, and the refinery comes to life as an emergency generator kicks on in the distance, humming intensely. there's a rotten wood desk in front of a wall that looks like it once held a logo; despite seeming to be the main entrance, the area is not grand or well-presented. this was a place for work, not grand advertising gestures. there's two staircases to either side, but both have withered over time, making the upper levels inaccessible. across the room from the main desk is a maintenance closet, and a door labeled with a hazard symbol. there's also an opening that leads to an area with many pipes and different machines.

unlock maintenance closet requires: • (1/1) maintenance key

this item will be removed from your inventory. / the hazard door / the machinery room / back out toward the city

the maintenance closet
there could still be something useful to scrounge up from in here.

[BOX]

the hazard door
this door isn't locked, and creaks open to reveal a descending staircase. the metal steps ache as you go down, the light slowly being swallowed by the darkness. as you reach the bottom, the lights in this area flicker on as well, but these are a deep red. there's more intertwined pipes down here, most leaking black liquids onto the floor, pumping what little oil manages to run through them. the brick walls are shining with moisture, and to one side is a panel of machinery, its buttons lit and blinking. there's a door in the back corner, as well, labeled "authorized personnel only".

the control panel / the restricted access door

restricted access
the door is locked tight. to its right is a panel with three half-spherical indents. electricity jolts out of them every few seconds, filling the silence.

open door requires: • (2/3) charged core

these items will be removed from your inventory. / the basement

the basement
there's a control panel, a staircase back up, and a door marked "authorized personnel only".

the restricted access door / back upstairs

the machinery room
without a city to deliver oil to, nothing in here is very useful. the pipes pump air and drops of forgotten liquids but otherwise stand by, ready for work that won't come. there's a catwalk leading to a door overhead, but its not accessible from down here. a hallway to the side is glowing red.

the red corridor / the main area

the red corridor
the walls glow red as you follow the path around a corner, finally revealing a large room with a furnace emitting immense heat. a conveyer belt slowly rotates next to it, ready to feed metals to be smelted. place 10 copper ore requires: • (0/10) copper ore

these items will be removed from your inventory.

back to machinery room

the control panel
you twist a few buttons and switch a few levers, and for a moment nothing happens, but suddenly the basement begins to rumble. a few of the pipes burst from the movement, and after a moment, the rumbling stops. you look around and notice that a section of the wall in the other corner of the room has slid away, revealing an area beyond.

the gap in the wall / the restricted access door

the gap
you're greeted by another staircase, and you descend far deeper than before. the new area is expansive and dark, so much so that you can't see more than a few meters around. after walking forward for several seconds, you can just barely make out another control panel against the wall. at its base is a rotten wooden box, its lid closed.

check control panel / check wood box

a rotten wood box
there's still a few things worth taking in here.

[BOX]

the dark room
the control panel protrudes from the wall unnaturally. it seems makeshift, like it wasn't designed with the rest of the building. there's a broken screen panel on it, and a single red button below it.

activate button / check wood box

a flood of water
another secret door slides open in one side of the room, but your feet are suddenly soaked by a wash of cold water. it fills quickly, going past your knees in seconds. it might not be worth the risk.

escape up the stairs / swim to secret door (death)

a flood of water
there's plenty of time to escape up the stairs, and you wade through the water until you are back in the higher basement. the red glow shines on the rising water, bubbling and surging until it reaches the top stair and finally stopping. after a moment it grows still.

the restricted access door / back upstairs

the asphalt trail
you walk along the small road toward the city, underneath the dancing pipes, and are eventually met by a wide, empty parking lot. just past it is a bridge.

the bridge / exit event

the top of the bridge
the bridge has broken down entirely, separated from its other half by around twenty meters. jumping down and swimming is also not an option. there's a body resting in a lawn chair here, a fishing rod still in its hands. an old man, his white hair still flowing in the wind. he has a smile on his face, as though he enjoyed his final moments. his body has only barely begun to rot, compared to the other corpses you've seen around the world.

exit event