This was far harder than digging.

Liv groans, slamming her head on the table for what felt like the umpteenth time. She could read and write, no doubt about that. But these contracts and their contents were completely nonsensical! What the hell is a Cure Period, a Deed, or an Inter Alia? For two hours she slogs through long, complicated, hard-to-read documents. She felt like the words were curling into themselves, assaulting her brain with their inane complexity, their contents spilling from the papers tip to toe. She couldn't seem to answer many of them, especially the ones pertaining to her place of residence. She had informed him about that, earning a look of sympathy before placing another stack in front of her, effectively doubling her work load. She decided then and there to just answer to the best of her abilities. She didn't really have a last name, so she just made one up. She figured "Boss" wasn't a bad last name, so "Liv Boss" it would be.

After scratching her name down on the final paper, the man takes it along with the pile, sliding them to the left, the contents of her hours of working looking almost minuscule in comparison to the mountains of paperwork before it. “That's all the paperwork done. I guess you're ready for the Survival test.”

Liv's head perks up at the mention of finished paperwork, the man standing with a grunt of effort as he turns to the metal door. He reaches into his pocket, pulling out a small key with a bizarre head. He slips it into the lock, the mechanism thunking before sliding open. A cold breeze washes over the room, a shiver crawling up Liv's spine as she gets a good look down the buildings backroom. It's a sort of concrete stairway, though to describe it as just that wouldn't be completely accurate. The stairs that descend down are made of the same material as the walls, spiraling down and out as far as Liv could see, just barely narrowing the further she looked. Florescent lights illuminate the room, a gentle hum escaping them as they reveal the path forward. Liv looks on, her eyes darting between the man beckoning her in and the narrow path forward. Eventually, she shrugs, turning sideways as she pushes into the stairwell, the door sliding shut behind her.

The descent is far from a comfortable one. Her exposed arms scrape against the walls, a frigid chill settling into the deepest reaches of her body. Her breathing fogs as it escaped her mouth, a mist wafting out to envelop her, rolling like a listless ocean in high tide. Though there's frost, the air is unbearably dry, chaffing Liv's sinuses as she wheezes. The temperature only drops as she continues forward, her teeth chattering as the wall claims small pieces of her exposed flesh. Just as it becomes unbearable, a soft glow emanates from her gauntlets, a wave of relief flooding her body.

“Bout damn time ya helped.” She chuckles breathlessly, giving the gauntlet a quick knock against the wall. The gauntlets flare a bit, releasing more heat, but no response comes.

After what feels like an hour, she finally sees a bright, purplish glow from the end of the hall. She grunts, squeezing herself out of the spiraling staircase, taking in the sight before her.

The room before her is rectangular, only a bit larger than the office she was in a few minutes ago. Instead of a desk at the end of this room, there sits a metal platform with three ascending steps, a purple portal humming at its top. The metal seems to be dull, reflecting little light from the glowing, purple portal. Curved spires jut from each corner, ascending halfway up the portals length before tapering off into sharp points. It hums a strange frequency, her gauntlets jittering oddly on her hands. The portal undulates, pulsing rhythmically– heat returning with every step closer. It didn't take a genius to piece together what it was.

"What's that?" Liv questions.

"A Strata, Liv." Her boss pipes up, causing Liv to tense like a spring. Of course it chose to speak as soon as she made a single mistake. "Did you not listen at all?"

"I mean. Kinda?" Liv responds. "I 'member when they came to be 'n stuff. And the, uh, ratin' or somethin'. It was-.'

“Its Risk, the lowest level.” Her boss interjects, putting her fragile attempts at recollection to rest.

“Thanks,” Liv says slowly, allowing her eyes to fall to her gauntlets once more, “but I knew-”

“No, you certainly didn’t.” Her boss cuts her off, exasperation clear in its voice.

“You dunno that.” She retorts.

“I do.”

“Tch.” Liv clicks her tongue against her teeth, crossing her arms as she looks back to the Strata. Her eyes fix on the undulating depths before she speaks again. “Why d’ya even care? I thought I wasn't in yer Por… Pro… Per…”

“Prerogative.”

“Yeah, whatever! Yer goal or somethin'.”

Her boss remains silent for a tick, long enough to genuinely surprise Liv. Eventually, it does speak, sounding as pragmatic as ever.

“While this isn’t ideal, and it certainly isn’t what I believe you should have done, it is the decision you made. While I hope you will attempt to make wiser decisions in the future, I know for a fact you wont, and you won't listen to reason. Its in my best interest, however, to keep you alive and healthy, even if reason is gone. Luckily, I believe I can cover most of your weaknesses, especially your poor memory and subpar intelligence-.”

“OI.” Liv interjects, her face flushing.

“...Just memory, then. I mitigate innumerable flaws and you, in kind, can cover my inability to function on my own. If we can cooperate, we can get through this long enough for me to see you reasoned with."

Liv mutters, glaring down at the gauntlets. While angry, she has to admit that it had a point, though she felt it was the one being unreasonable. Best to ignore it, not like it would listen to her anyway. With a huff, she walks toward the Strata, her feet clanking against the metal stairs until she's right in front of it. She looks right into it, preparing to take a step forward. As she does, however, the Strata releases a pulse of power, sending her staggering back. She trips down the stairs, impacting the concrete floor as something jumps out, screeching at the top of its lungs.

"REEE!"

Out of the Strata comes a large, hog sized mosquito with a humanoid face, its yellow teeth reflecting light in the dim room. It's head and thorax each sport a large, bulbous sack filled with an orange, bubbling liquid. It's an off-grey color, its wings flapping rapidly to keep its bulky body afloat. It takes a once over of the room while sniffing once, twice, and thrice. Quickly, it's head locks onto her, another screech escaping its mouth. It barrels toward her, it's jaw opening to reveal more teeth in it's maw.

"JESUS FUCKIN' CHRIST!" Liv screams, swinging her arms wildly as a surge of panic fills her. Her wild swing manages to strike true, the metal of her gauntlet burying in it's bulbous head as a the expected crunch of its neck sounds out, an unexpected bubbling sound echoing alongside it. Liv finds out the cause of the noise soon enough as the bubbling liquid from it's head splashes onto her exposed arm, burning into her skin as the creature falls to the floor, completely limp. Pain lances through her body as it slowly evaporates, leaving a small, distinct burn mark on her arm. "WHAT IN THE HELL WAS THAT?"

"A demon." Her boss responds.

"I KNOW THAT, I MEAN A TYPE OR SOMETHIN'!"

"A bug?" It elaborates, though the hesitation present betrays its uncertainty.

"THANKS, I COULDN'T'A PIECED THAT TOGETHER." She growls, shaking her arm off. The pain was beginning to fade, though the cold still stung at the open injury, a feeling like needles cascading across the effected area. God, she hated the cold.

With a deep breath and a calmed mind, she takes a tentative look toward the demon. It's already sizzling to nothing, the bubbling liquid oozing from it's head fading to steam, billowing high into the air before shifting to nothingness. She steps over it, ascending the metal steps, stopping just before the Strata, waiting for something to come out. After a second of silence, she reaches a finger out, poking at the middle of the Strata. It's almost jelly-esque in feel, like water with its surface tension cranked up to ten. She takes a deep breath, steeling herself as she pushes forward, letting her hand push in.

VWOMP.

Her hand manages to pass through, ending just before her wrist. the first thing she noted was the feeling, or lack there of. In fact, she couldn't feel her hand at all. A shudder runs down her spine, the unnaturalness of it causing her stomach to twist. She tries to pull her hand back, but finds it thoroughly stuck. It sucks her in further, to her elbow, then to her shoulder. Before she can shout or make a noise of any kind, she's gone, absorbed into it's depths.

And silence dominates once more.