Origins (Book 4 of Alfireán age)

Leviathan's Revolt

Alf tapped the tablet, and a new hologram formed. Moaning filled the air as a hologram of Mr. Brockovich, hunched on the ground, appeared with his back to the blast door. The scientist's right arm hung limply at his side, shriveled as if the life had been sucked out of it. His narrow face was drenched in sweat, and his chest heaved as though he had just run a marathon.

"Alexa," he wheezed, "how did Levi get out of his enclosure?"

"You let him out, sir," a female voice answered.

"No, I didn't!" Mr. Brockovich spat.

"According to my records, you logged into administration and opened his room half an hour ago, sir," the mechanical voice told him.

"That's impossible! I was in communication with Travis half an hour ago," he countered.

The voice did not answer.

Mr. Brockovich looked up as if he'd suddenly remembered something. "Speaking of which, where is Travis? He was to arrive several minutes ago."

"Dr. Hugo is dead, sir," the female voice answered simply.

"What?!" Mr. Brockovich exclaimed. "How?"

"The primary subject of the Leviathan Project killed him as he entered the facility and seized everything in his possession."

His eyes widened in fear as realization spread across Mr. Brockovich's face. "Levi has the dark magic set," he muttered. "That's what that black mist was... No wonder my shield failed despite my amulet. That spell set is truly powerful."

Mr. Brockovich glanced down at his shriveled arm and tried to move his fingers. They barely responded. "What is Levi doing now?" he asked.

"Since your encounter with him, he has destroyed all the vats in the incubation chamber and killed Dr. Griffin and Dr. Hofer. He has also freed the unicorns and is driving them to the back exit," the emotionless voice answered.

"What?" Mr. Brockovich exclaimed, staggering to his feet. "No! Stop him. Lock everything down and permanently seal the back entrance."

The hologram reverberated.

"Back entrance sealed," the voice answered.

"Good. Activate all security protocols and kill Levi if you have to. I want that spell book, and if at all possible, limit harm to the unicorns."

"Activating security protocols."

The sound of heavy doors sliding open echoed through the thick blast door, and shortly thereafter, the ringing of metal feet clanking on a steel floor resounded throughout the facility.

Large, dog-like machines bounded down the hallways towards him. Dr. Brockovich clutched his withered arm and stepped aside as the blast door opened, and the machines marched in to join four others already on the other side.

The door slid shut again. Then, the projected image on the blast door's window showed the war bots charging down the hallway.

Mr. Brockovich pulled out a tablet from the wall next to the blast door and said, "Give me eyes on Levi!"

A hologram within the hologram appeared, revealing what looked like a young man, but it was hard to tell through the double layers of hologram. Behind the figure, what appeared to be several dozen unicorns crowded the hallways.

As the scene played out, the sound of the metal war bots racing down the corridors reverberated in the lab. Then, without warning, the young man Alf supposed was Levi turned, and black mist exploded from his hand.