They both nodded in assent. Ares began to ascend the helical staircase, telling everyone to follow him quietly. They started helping one another as they climbed up behind him.
Ares crossed the upper corridor and moved quickly to the door next to the elevator. He opened it cautiously, brandishing his strange weapon in all directions. He saw the wooden boxes and moved them aside, revealing the tallic corpses. He took the two weapons from their hands and gave them to Ivanov and Sairi, who accepted them without hesitation. Ares then went to the door before him, opened it, and found himself looking out onto the main ergency stairwell. He turned, looked at everyone, and motioned for them to follow him in silence.
They climbed the stairs one after another in complete silence behind him, with Ivanov and Sairi directly behind Ares. They reached a closed door on the next level. Ares told everyone to wait, then asked Ivanov and Sairi to follow him. He opened the door to find another small room ending in a forward door. He went to it, opened it cautiously, and leaned forward. He saw the elevator to his right. To his left, he saw a room full of computers with robots sitting before them, pressing buttons. They seed to be engaged in intelligence and surveillance work, but Ares had no ti to engage with them. The priority now was finding the armory. He motioned for his companions to go back, and they retreated. They ascended to the next floor, followed by the procession of prisoners who looked like a great swarm of rats moving through the sewers. To save ti, Ares tasked Ivanov and Sairi with scouting different floors, but with caution. After a long search through fuel storage rooms, manufacturing bays for war machines, and labs for advanced equipnt, they finally found it: the armory, located five floors above the prison. Sairi, who found the room, signaled to his companions that he had found their objective. They went to him, and the three of them slipped inside, telling everyone else to remain silent and stay put. They followed the orders.
The three of them entered the large room and found nurous crates filled with a variety of strange and powerful weapons: flathrowers, oddly shaped rocket launchers, long-range sniper rifles, dium-range weapons, and heavy armants. It was a paradise for lovers of destruction and war, and for them, a paradise of necessity for their escape. The room was vast and filled with crates of weapons and ammunition. Fortunately, they found no guards. Ares went out to the stairwell and whispered to the others that he had found the weapons depot. Everyone surged toward it and began gathering weapons that suited them. Although most had never used a weapon in their lives, the modern world had at least taught them the basic principles of their operation. They uncrated the oddly shaped weapons and were able to discern the function of each from its size.
After everyone was ard and had what they needed, they headed back to the stairs. Ares stopped them, his voice urgent.
"My friends, we will be performing a service to humanity. We will destroy all the research and weapons these damned robots have created. I want you to destroy everything on every floor. Leave nothing operational from the second floor to the last. Now, move out!"
Everyone surged in all directions, shouting and cheering loudly to build up their enthusiasm. So went up, others went down. They smashed down doors and began to destroy everything they saw. So incinerated the rooms before them with flathrowers, others with rocket launchers, and still others with chemical weapons and plasma grenades. Nothing stood before the enraged prisoners wielding weapons of mass destruction. The robots in every section tried to flee, but there was no escape now. No one could withstand humanity’s revenge on its invaders. Destruction consud everything; every section was burned to the ground. They broke into every room, burning and destroying everything completely, leaving nothing behind. Suddenly, the facility’s alarm blared. Ares had anticipated this and was prepared for it. The real battle, he told himself, would begin now.
Ares reached the uppermost and most hideous floor, the one where he had seen the grotesque experints on humans. He looked down and heard the roar of the angry prisoners as they destroyed everything, nearing completion before they began to ascend.
"Your plan seems to have worked better than we anticipated," Sairi said, looking down at them. "They are exceptionally angry."
Ares laughed. "Do not be hasty. This is only the beginning. Behind this door, the situation will beco much more difficult, and the battle will intensify. If we make it through this floor safely, our chance of escaping from here will be high. But I am well aware that nurous robots are now standing in the corridor, their weapons aid at us, waiting for us to erge so they can annihilate us all. The situation is not in our favor in such a narrow space."
Ares turned and signaled for the furious crowd to be quiet for a mont so he could decide what to do. So fell silent, while others began to whisper amongst themselves. Ares gathered Ivanov and Sairi, and they formulated a plan to breach the robot defense line behind the tal door in front of them. After a few minutes of planning, Sairi said with confidence and arrogance:
"Give that plan to the prisoners. Ivanov and I will shatter everything that stands in our way. We will secure the path for you."
Ares fell silent. He knew their power. He told the prisoners to stand fast and prepare for battle on his signal. They loaded their weapons and made their preparations, placing the children, the elderly, and the won in the rear, while everyone holding a weapon stood at the front. Ares stared at Ivanov and Sairi, his tone laced with tension.
"This is a significant risk. Try not to get captured or eliminated as you were before. A great many lives are depending on you."
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