Clean. Flat. No debris. The stone here was polished black, veined with gold. Runes flickered along the walls like slow heartbeats.
No threats. No timers. No exits—yet.
The text burned across their minds again.
Rest Interval – Combat Halted
Room Type: Neutral
Inter-faction Grouping: Initiated
Observation: Ongoing
Juno looked around. “We’re not alone in here.”
“Not yet,” Drex said. “But soon.”
Five minutes passed before the second gate opened.
Two mechs stepped through.
Shorter. Compact. Dome-shaped torsos with high shoulders and piston legs. Their movements were smoother, and they let off small puffs of blue steam as they stopped. Etched copper spirals glowed along their armor.
Their cockpits opened.
Gnomes—three of them—crawled out. Barely chest-high to a human, wearing fitted leather pressure suits and metal-filter masks. Each had tubing running from their backs into the cockpit, still glowing faintly.
One of them tapped a ring on their belt. It shimmered.
A translator rune formed midair.
“Identify yourselves,” it said, slightly distorted.
Juno stayed still.
Drex lowered his mech’s arms.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“Pilots. Human. Earth-side.”
The gnomes looked at one another. Then the one with the ring tapped again.
“Unregistered. Primitive frame style. Mixed systems.”
“Only thing we could build fast enough,” Drex replied.
The gnome’s lenses shifted, zooming slightly. “You survived three floors with those?”
Juno finally spoke. “You survived too.”
The lead gnome paused. “True.”
Another stepped forward. “Don’t talk to them too long. They might be contaminated. Or marked.”
The first waved him off. “They’re still alive, and the tower grouped us. Means we’re similar enough.”
One of the gnome suits hissed. Steam escaped. The pilot climbed up and slid something from a compartment—dried rations.
He offered one toward Drex’s mech.
“Share? Neutral zone.”
Drex opened a hatch and tossed a sealed protein bar back.
Both sides stared at each other for a while.
The walls stayed silent.
The gnomes took up position near a rune cluster, mech suits powered down to idle. Steam hissed softly with each exhale from their backpacks. One unpacked a small arc welder and started tightening something inside the torso plating.
Drex climbed partially out of his rig. Sat on the edge. Legs dangling. He looked over.
“You’ve been in long?”
The lead gnome looked up. “Seventeen shifts. Tower time.”
Juno, still in his mech, tilted his head. “How long’s a shift?”
“Six to eight rooms. Depending.”
Drex nodded slowly. “We’ve cleared three. Four if this counts.”
The second gnome made a low clicking sound. “And you’re still breathing. Unusual.”
Drex ignored the jab. “Where are you from?”
“Glaskir Vault,” the first replied. “Deep crust city. Not your world.”
That got a look from both humans.
“Not Earth?” Juno asked.
The gnome stared back. “Never heard of it.”
Drex frowned. “So this thing pulls from multiple worlds?”
The first gnome shrugged. “Or maybe we’re just all in the same one now. Doesn’t matter. Tower doesn’t care.”
Another gnome, smaller, leaned over. “What’s your mech run on?”
“Diesel-electric. Manual controls.”
All three gnomes blinked in unison.
“That’s insane,” the first muttered. “And you brought that into a dimensional challenge?”
“Had nothing better,” Drex replied.
“Still worked,” Juno added.
The gnomes murmured in their own language briefly.
Then the first turned back.
“You’re lucky it’s early floors. Later zones will melt your plating just from standing still.”
Drex narrowed his eyes. “How far have you gone?”
“We reached Tier 2 before reset.”
“What reset?”
The gnome didn’t answer. Just adjusted a knob on his collar. “Ask the tower.”
Juno leaned forward in his seat. “Why are we grouped with you?”
“We don’t know,” the gnome said. “But it doesn’t do anything without reason. Maybe you fight like us. Maybe it wants to watch what happens.”
Drex glanced toward the sealed door.
“What happens now?”
“Trial.”
The wall behind the gnomes lit up.
Runes flared.
Rest Interval Ending – Faction Trial Initiated
Mixed-unit cooperation required.
Performance will be recorded.