The data broker, after receiving a generous payment in credits, provided them with a set of coordinates leading to a hidden entrance to the lower tunnels. The entrance was concealed behind a dilapidated storefront, its flickering neon sign barely illuminating the grimy alleyway.
"This is it," Kiaz said, his weapon raised cautiously. "The data broker said this entrance is rarely used. It's likely unguarded, but we should still be prepared for anything."
They entered the storefront, finding it abandoned and filled with the debris of a forgotten business. A section of the back wall, however, was clearly a recent addition, its surface smooth and metallic compared to the crumbling brick around it.
Ziak touched the wall, his energy flowing through it. "There's a hidden mechanism here. A pressure plate, perhaps."
After a brief search, they located a small, almost invisible pressure plate concealed beneath a pile of rubble. Stepping on it triggered a hidden mechanism, and the metallic section of the wall slid open, revealing a dark and narrow passage leading downwards.
The air within the passage was cold and damp, carrying a faint, metallic scent. The only light source was the faint glow emanating from their weapons. The passage descended at a steep angle, winding downwards into the darkness.
As they moved deeper, they began to hear strange sounds – a low, rhythmic thumping, like a heartbeat, and a faint, hissing noise that seemed to echo from the depths.
"What is that sound?" Ethan murmured, his senses on high alert.
"I don't know," Kiaz replied, his voice low. "But I don't like it."
The passage opened into a vast, subterranean chamber. The walls were lined with strange, glowing crystals that pulsed with an eerie light, illuminating a scene that sent a shiver down their spines.
In the center of the chamber, a massive, pulsating structure dominated the space. It was a grotesque amalgamation of metal and organic material, similar to the Broodmother, but smaller and more streamlined. The hissing noise came from a series of tubes that snaked across the structure, pumping a viscous, black fluid into its core.
And surrounding the structure, in rows upon rows, were the Cellucas eggs. They glowed with a faint red light, their surfaces pulsating gently.
"We found them," Ziak said, his voice grim. "But… what is that thing?"
The pulsating structure seemed to be a kind of incubator, a machine designed to nurture and accelerate the hatching of the Cellucas eggs. And it was clear, from the sheer number of eggs surrounding it, that they were facing a far greater threat than they had anticipated.
The hunt for the Cellucas eggs had led them to the heart of their operation in the undercity. But the discovery of the incubator and the sheer scale of the threat had raised the stakes considerably.