Maite opened her eyes to nothingness. She was laying on her stomach, sprawled on what felt like a dirt floor; she could taste the dust on her lips. But there was no light, not even a faint glimmer. She lay still, her head resting against the floor, moving only her eyes to scan her surroundings, but everything was black.

Her body hurt more than it had ever hurt before. She felt a numbness in her back. It took her a moment to remember she had been shot. She tried to push herself up but let out a scream as pain shot through her leg. She collapsed back down to the floor, sweat pouring from her brow. She must have broken her leg. 

“Garuna,” she asked feebly. “Are you there?”

“Yes, of course,” rumbled the dull, mechanical voice in her head. 

“Can you assess what state my body is in?”

“I think I can.” There was a moment of silence before the voice returned. “You have sustained multiple injuries. You have a bullet wound in your shoulder which has caused profuse bleeding and the inutility of that arm. You have a broken leg, shattered in multiple places. And the bullet in your back has lodged against your spine. You are effectively paralyzed from the waist down. You cannot walk. You are still losing blood. If you are not stabilized soon, I estimate you have one, maybe two hours to live.”

Maite nodded to herself, though even that simple act caused pain to rack her body. She focused on her finger, which still lay in the dirt at the end of her sprawled arm. A faint light glowed from her fingertip.

Still laying still, she scanned the room again. It was plane, with a dirt floor and rough stone walls. It seems as if these had not been built but rather carved into the rock. There were chains embedded into the walls. Maite gasped slightly when she saw skeletal remains piled up under some of the chains. 

“It must have been a dungeon,” she whispered, trying to conserve her strength.

She tried to pull herself up again, but the pain was too much. She collapsed again, almost passing out.

“Garuna, can you block my pain receptors?”

“Why would you want to do that?”

“I have to find the zatia – it must be in this room. But I can’t move, the pain is too unbearable.”

There was another pause. “Yes, I can do that,” replied the AI. 

Maite felt a sudden release. She knew her body was still completely messed up, but at least now she couldn’t feel it. She focused, her eyes flashing with white light. 

“It’s on the other side of that door,” she said, pointing to a rough wooden door that stood on the opposite side of the room.

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