At the sight of a decrepit looking, familiar factory, a young teen ruffled his raven locks and nervously brushed grime from the tunnels off his figure, before tightly gripping the fraying rope before him. He gave a few experimental tugs, deeming the rope safe enough for the time being. Then he, along with his two companions, another teen his age with rich caramel colored hair, and another young lad, scaled down the ropes. Landing with a slight thud, he glanced up as one friend landed beside him while the other struggled a bit more before landing with a thump on his hands and knees.

The young lad grimaced while his friends snickered a bit at his misfortune.

"Oh ha ha." he stood stiffly, wiping down his hands and knees.

Still smirking a bit, the girl turned to her older friend, trying to avoid glancing around at her surroundings.

"Are you sure you want to look for spare parts here?" she whispered hesitantly. Her eyes darted around, seemingly waiting for something, anything to jump out at them.

Their footsteps echoed off the walls of the abandoned factory they'd discovered while on the hunt for spare robotics, the emptiness and obvious decay of the building casting an eerie feeling over the place.

"Yeah Leo. It looks like this factory's been abandoned for a while," the other young teen noted, swiping a finger over some nearby crates, grimacing at the grime now covering the digit. He looked around in disgust before ultimately deciding to wipe it down on his jeans. "Ugh, yuck. These were designer."

His nearest companion rolled her eyes.

"Oh please, you've obviously got the finances to replace them. Your designer jeans are always covered in various oils and dirt."

Before he could retort his other companion pointedly cut in.

"If we want to be able to complete our robot in time we need more parts. This competition is a kadic tradition and I for one do not want to miss it. I'm positive we can find something useful here. We don't exactly have the spare change to afford anything more advanced."

"Well Jurek does." the girl added with a grumble but sighed, and moving forward, began to rummage around in the piles of junk. Jurek didn't point out that she did as well considering the tense nature of her relationship with her parents.

"I should have stayed behind with Arubia," the other boy sighed as well before moving towards his friends to help them search.

The trio startled at the sudden bang, bang, bang that appeared to be coming from the elevator shaft off to their right. Then, with a groan and a few creaks and pops, the pulley system activated, lifting the elevator to the level the trio stood on. The trio stood stock still, faces pailing.

"Do you hear that?" the multi-color haired boy asked, voice a choked whisper.

"Forget that! Do you see that?" The girl pointed, watching with wide, surprised eyes as the elevator appeared. "Who made that happen."

"Quick! Hide. Someone might be coming out." The three scurried behind a stack of crates watching the elevator wearily. But when it opened, and no one stepped out, the three exchanged nervous looks.

"W-what's going on?" the girls voice shook.

Instinctively, she grabbed hold of the nearest boy, who took hold of her with equal force. After another few minutes with no movement detected, Leo stood and gaped at the elevator.

"Fascinating! To think anything in this rundown facility would be operable-,"

"Fascinating! Fascinating! Try haunted," the girl hissed.

Leo looked back at his friends, eyebrows raising as they continued to cling to one another.

His staring caused the two to become aware of their position, the girl quickly pulling her hands from the other boy's and shoving him back slightly.

"Gosh Jurek, keep your hands to yourself!" she whisper-yelled.

Jurek held his hands up in confusion and slight indignation.

"What? You grabbed me!"

"Oh yeah, I'm sure that'll hold up real well against-,"

"Guys! Quit it!" Leo hissed.

"What are you doing?" the girl squeaked, watching Leo approaching the creaking elevator. It was still making worrying noises, settling after sudden and abrupt usage.

"Seeing where it leads," Leo answered.

"Are you crazy!" Jurek and the girl exclaimed together before covering the others mouth and looking around wildly.

"Nothing ventured nothing gained. Besides, I'm sure we could find useful mechanisms for our autonomous friend," he marched forward determinedly, shoulders almost touching his ears, arms bent and marching him forward exaggeratedly.

"He looks ridiculous," the girl deadpanned.

"Yeah, but since when is he the brave one and you chicken?"

"I am not chicken!" the girl glared, prompting Jurek to dart forward after Leo.

"Hey, bud, wait up."

"Oh, I know I am going to regret this," the girl threw her hands up in exasperation before following her dumbass friends.

She had a reputation to uphold as the tough member of the group, though she was also known for her cautious nature. This no nonsense girl didn't put up with anyone's crap but for some reason these two loons seemed to be the exception.

"C'mon Nicole!" Jurek yelled from his place in the elevator beside the slightly taller boy who was tinkering with the wiring, "the faster we get this over with the faster we can leave."

"Almost got it!" Leo exclaimed excitedly.

Nicole trudged forward standing between the boys as the elevator doors whirled to life and closed firmly behind her. She glanced around the rusty looking contraption as Leo continued to fiddle with the buttons.

"This is how people get murdered. We are officially the victims of a horror movie, oh I can't believe it," she groaned.

"There's nobody here," Jurek rationalized,"it's abandoned."

"Well you're certainly singing a different tune."

"Fear. Fear plays tricks on the mind."

"Uh-huh. Or Arubia's finally taught you to loosen up. I oughta thank that girlfriend of yours."

"She's not my girlfriend! I see being her roommate hasn't had the same effect," he drawled.

She shoved him, her usual glare in place. She nearly fell into him when the elevator gave another groan and shudder before beginning its descent.

"Figured out the controls?" Jurek questioned, trying to reorient himself after the shove and then the initial jolt.

Leo looked back at his friends, confusion and a slight bit of fear in his eyes.

"I regret to inform you that while I was attempting to rewire the controls I failed to locate the correct avenue before…"

"Before what?" Nicole yelled.

"It activated itself," he answered grimly.

Jurek groaned while Nicole began muttering to herself.

"It's moving on its own. Great, just great," she tightly grabbed a rail, "what have you idiots gotten me into?"

Leo looked slightly apologetic but also intrigued about where the elevator might be taking them. Nicole was now wishing that she had stayed behind.

"If we die, my little brother better not touch my stuff," Jurek growled.

"Really, that's what your worried about right now. The priority is getting out of here alive so I say whatever's on the other end of this door we rush it," Nicole said firmly.

They never got the chance to brace themselves unfortunately, as the elevator came to an abrupt halt, causing them all to stumble into one another.

"Ah, ow, Imma need aspirin after all this," she rubbed her head where she'd lightly hit it against the wall.

Electricity crackled off the door as it unlocked and then opened. Coughs rangout throughout the room as mist and steam from the outer room entered the elevator. Jurek swiped his hand in front of his face to clear the haze from his vision. Once he could open his eyes a little wider from where he was squinting them, he marvelled at the electronic cylinder rising from the floor. Once fully risen, a panel opened and a lever popped out.

"Well that screams trap if I've ever seen it," Nicole muttered breathlessly.

Despite Nicole's assessment of the room Leo was the first to step foot out of the elevator and into the dissipating fog.

Nicole threw her hands up in exasperation.

"Leo! Leo, I think we should leave! This seems a little too advanced even for us."

Nicole was bright; she understood certain technological concepts and was able to translate Leo's technobabble when he went on his rants. It came with the territory considering they'd known one another since they were toddlers. But she could not understand how such a marvel student could be such a dumbass in this very moment. Leo was their genius. He got good grades, he followed the rules, and apparently sometimes, like now, he got daring. Jurek was their mechanical expert. Both boys understood the ins and outs of machinery/auto mechanics but Leo preferred thinking up the blueprints and the theory behind their robotics while Jurek preferred to build them.

Whatever it was that they'd discovered here today was something far beyond the trio. They'd come here for spare parts but they'd never be able to handle a haunted factory.

"That's just it Nicole."

She grimaced. Leo's voice was laced with wonder, full of intrigue that suggested they wouldn't be leaving as quickly as she'd like.

"No, no, Leopold, no!" she protested. She practically pulled her hair out when Jurek quickly followed their friend but eased when the other boy began to pull him back.

"Nicole's right. We've gone far enough and clearly there's nothing salgevable here. Let's just go."

Leo went to pull his arm from Jurek's grasp but Jurek tightened his grip and stared his friend down. Leo cringed away from that stony look. Jurek clearly wasn't messing around anymore and he agreed with their female friend that they should leave. As the groups protector, Jurek took the safety of his friends very seriously. Nicole and Leo might have known each other longer but that didn't make Jurek any less their friend nor did it make him any less protective of them.

"Let's go," he said seriously.

Leo nodded, shocked at Jurek's fierceness. He closed his mouth and followed his friends lead. Jurek, noting Leo's compliance, let go of the brainiac and headed for the elevator.

Both boys were surprised however when the doors closed rather suddenly, trapping Nicole inside.

"Hey! Guys!" she yelled, rushing forward to slam her fists on the door. The elevator began to ascend.

"Great," Jurek sighed.

He looked around the room, noting no other accessible way out.

"Suppose we can learn to fly and jet up to the next floor through this hatchway up here?" he pointed up at a long narrow passage, far above their heads, that looked a bit like a deadly drop if they could even manage to reach it from their positions. Which they could not because they can't fly.

He looked behind him to gauge Leo's reaction only to find the boy hovering by the device.

"Hey, Leo! What are you doing? That elevator just kidnapped Nicole! Don't you think finding her is more important right now! Hello, earth to Leo."

"Hmm," the boy hummed distractedly, "Yeah, just a minute."

"No, not just a minute. Now. Leo, Seriously?"

"I just...I have this feeling that this console here houses all the answers. Questions we've been asking ourselves since the elevator first started moving on its own. It's a mainframe of some sort."

"Fascinating. Can we go?"

"Aren't you the least bit curious about what a sophisticated device such as this is doing housed in a rundown factory?"

"Uh, no?"

Leo shot him a look.

"Ok, a little bit, but what I'm more curious about is where that elevator took Nicole. We should be looking for her. Or have you forgotten that our friend was just kidnapped by inanimate machinery."

"Seeing as the elevator is operating on its own, I'd classify it as animated machinery. And it probably took her back up to the factory."

"I have to know for certain so if you want to stay here and analyze this computer thing, fine."

"And how exactly do you plan on splitting up without the use of the elevator?"

Jurek hadn't really been thinking about 'the how' when he'd stormed over to the elevator bay but he kept slamming his fist against the button anyway. It's not like he wanted to split up but the elevator had kind of made that choice for them. He didn't want to choose between keeping an eye on Leo and finding Nicole, either, which is why he wished the stubborn fool would come with him.

"Guys?"

Jurek's head snapped up, hearing the yell come from above.

"Nicole? You're alright! But where are you?"

"Uh, I'm not sure. The elevator seems to have taken me a few floors up so I tried to climb back down but I still can't seem to reach the floor you guys are on. You'll never believe what's up here."

Jurek looked back to Leo who looked intrigued by what Nicole had to say.

"I found a high-tech looking computer and the chair looks to be electronically operated as well but the whole rig seems to be deactivated. Same with these tall tube devices I've found on this level. I'm not even sure how to describe them. What is all this?" she wondered.

"We seem to have stumbled upon an electronic gold mine,"Jurek commented.

"And this must be the power source," Leo noted.

He reached out towards the handle, fingertips barely brushing it.

"Leo, no!" Jurek yelled, darting forward in attempt to slap his friends hand away.

But it was too late. With a firm grasp Leo pulled the lever. A white light erupted from the mechanism engulfing the whole room. Leo and Jurek had to cover their eyes from the sheer intensity.

Nicole, who had been inspecting one of metal canister looking devices, suddenly found herself trapped within one.

"Hey, what-; why does this keep happening to me?"

Before she knew it, she too was wrapped in intense light and a feeling of being tugged in all directions swarmed her. Her hair and clothes fluttered as a rush of wind and whirring buzzed around her, the machine booting up and activating.

"Jurreeeekkk!" she screamed before the device began to settle and the doors opened, nothing but fogged steam emitting from inside the canister. The scanner was empty.