The cold touch of metal from the hard bed beneath him vanished, replaced by a faint wave of dizziness and weightlessness. Hu Tutu's eyes snapped open. Instead of the familiar game login screen, he saw a vast space filled with metallic surfaces and a low hum.
"Holy shit, this respawn point is hardcore as hell!"
He found himself lying in a life-support pod resembling a metal coffin, its lid slowly sliding open.
The pungent smell of machine oil mingled with hot, humid vapor leaking from steam pipes and an electrical odor like ozone, assaulting his nostrils.
Brutally rugged steel structures surrounded him. Huge exposed gears turned slowly, while thick steam pipes wound overhead, releasing rhythmic hisses.
Crystals flashing with different colors and intricate brass instrument panels were set into the walls. The lighting was dim, provided only by cold reflections off the metal and the faint glow of the gauges.
He jumped down, steadied himself, and curiously surveyed the interior of this sanctuary that served as the "respawn point."
The space was far larger than he had imagined, more like an underground hall of steel.
Besides the life-support pod he had emerged from, dozens of identical metal coffins stood in neat rows nearby. Most had closed lids, their indicator lights glowing faintly on standby. Only a few stood open like his, empty inside.
The hum filling the air seemed to come from deeper underground, like the heartbeat of some enormous engine.
Several expressionless NPCs in oil-stained work clothes were busy at control consoles. They did not so much as lift their eyes at the newcomer logging in.
"So this is that Mechanicus Cult sanctuary the guides talked about?
Feels like I've crawled into a steampunk boiler room..."
Hu Tutu muttered in his hometown dialect as he clumsily climbed out of