Max nodded, and lead them into the main corridor of the Stable, and towards the elevator. The place was eerily quiet, the only noise being the distant hum of the generators and air filtration system. The lights were all still on, and it looked fairly tidy; not sterile, like the hospital, but not derelict and abandoned either. It looked like a place where ponies lived, because until very recently, it had been. Max got to the lift, and then stopped, staring at the floor map. So many familiar places...
Max looked at him slowly, refocusing. "Um, sorry; I was just thinking about all the ponies I knew here, and what floors they lived and worked on. You know, before I..."
Ace pulled her into a hug "Your fine max.....I just don't want you to lose site if your new family" he told her before kissing her cheek "I know this is tough for you but you need to be strong so we can leave as soon as possible"
Max looked at him, and then back to Jay before nodding. She pressed the button for the bottom floor, then stepped into the elevator. As they went down, they passed the floors containing her old clinic, the armoury, and storage, all containing useful things...
Jay felt like she had an itch not seeing most of the vault And not being able to loot all the cool stuff Ace held maxs hoof the whole way down, making sure she remembered not to get stuck in old memories
Max squeezed Ace's hoof, and nuzzled him a bit, trying to keep herself focused on their goal. When the elevator reached the maintenance floor, the doors opened and water flooded into the elevator, coming about halfway up their legs; it seemed even a few weeks with out proper maintenance was taking it's toll. "I... I'm not really sure where they'll be..." Max admitted, looking around. She'd never really been to the maintenance level, so wouldn't really be much help. On the positive side though, at least nothing down here was likely to trigger any memories.
Ace put his pip buck in the water Nothing Meaning it was safe for Jay " you think this would be safe for drinking?" Ace asked, thinking ahead as he lead them into the waterlogged matenence area
"I honestly have no idea," Max replied, looking around. "My nose says not though," She added, wrinkling her nose a little. She didn't want to think about what could be leaking...
Ace payed no mind to the smell as he wadded thru it Jay followed then butwent a different direction as she thought she heard somepony call for her In truth this sound was nothing more then echoing but she didn't know that Ace stopped once he didn't hear jay moving with them "Jay sweety, what's wrong?" He said turning around and not seeing her Panic hit his chest as he didn't even see where she went
Max turned around too, wondering what was going on. She saw that Jay was missing, but forced herself to stay calm; she knew the Stable was empty, so she must have just gotten lost. "Stay here, in case she comes back," She told Ace, quietly, before wadding back the way they'd come, and looking up the other passages, calling Jay's name. She turned her Pipbuck light on, so that Jay could see her more easily, and tried to be methodical in her search.
Max paused to send a message to Ace, saying she was going up, then took a deep breath and headed up the stairs. She didn't want to be going into the rest of the Stable, but she had to find Jay...
'Be careful' he sent back Jays foot prints wound thru the hallways It's like she was being lead to the sacrifice room
Max knew where the corridor was heading, and started feeling slightly sick, but she carried on, needing to find Jay before she touched something she shouldn't; the Stable maneframe had disabled the sacrifice chamber when it had opened the main door, but she didn't know whether it could be reactivated. She didn't want to wait to find out, but a part of her mind screamed at her that this was no coincidence; she had let Jay grow close to her, and now she was going to pay the price.... She tried to block off that part of her mind as she hurried after Jay, but it wouldn't be silenced...
Jays foot stepps stopped after a bit due to them drying but maxs asumtion was right The door to the sacrifice chamber was closed and it said in progress
Max's heart froze, and she ran to the door, hammering on it futility. This couldn't be happening! It couldn't! Tears ran down her cheeks as she screamed Jay's name.
Some lasers fired from the other side and a loud thump hit the ground......followed by another? More thumps happened before it went silent and the lock disingadged
