Stray - Entry 6: Rooftops
We then climb back up to Momo's apartment to share the notebooks we found. When we showed Momo all of the notebooks, he was visibly impressed that we’d managed to recover every one of them. Then we presented him with the note describing the flaw in the transceiver.
"That means we should be able to communicate outside the Slums! Now let's fix this piece of junk."
He carried the transceiver over to his workbench and began adjusting its components, tools clicking softly as he worked. After a few tense moments, he straightened up and declared, "Voila! It works!"
Momo waved us over to the window and pulled up the shade.
"Up there. See that building high above the others? If you install the transceiver at the top of that tower, we should be able to communicate with the whole city. My friends might be out there. If there is a way out, they will know it. You're the only one small and quick enough to evade the Zurks. We need you."
B-12 and these Companions are my family now. I will continue to help them.
I leapt out the window and landed lightly on the rooftops below. In the distance, the tall building loomed above the rest, a radio antenna jutting from its peak like a signal reaching for the sky. As we began moving toward the tower, I noticed flickers of orange eyes skittering in the shadows. We had left the safety of the Slums behind.
As I drew closer to groups of Zurks, I used the environment to my advantage. I let out sharp meows to lure them, then leapt over gaps and scrambled up hanging metal girders. The Zurks tumbled into the chasms below as they lunged after me, their momentum betraying them.
Shortly after escaping one such swarm, we passed a glowing neon sign, and it triggered another memory for B-12.
"The city is full of neon. It wasn't always this way. There used to be strict energy caps, especially in the Slums. But people couldn't handle the constant darkness. One day someone lit up rainbow lamps. Neon signs all over their house. That person was taken away and never seen again. But people saw hope and, not long after, everyone started putting lots of lights in their homes. There was nothing the oppressors could do. It was a way for people to see colors again like on the Outside. I think it helped."
We continued climbing across the rooftops, moving along steel girders and abandoned structures that creaked under my weight. At one point, we encountered a group of Zurks trapped behind a fenced enclosure with a keypad lock. I was able to activate it, sealing them inside and clearing a safe path forward.
Eventually, we reached a crane that allowed us to cross to a section of the tall building where the antenna was mounted. Outside, a massive scaffold clung to the structure. I shoved a wide wooden plank loose and let it crash down, forming a makeshift ramp into the building’s interior. What I saw inside made me stop in my tracks.
The building was coated in Zurk eggs and strands of organic matter that bathed the entire interior in a sickly red glow. Grotesque bacterial growths—thick, veined, and pulsing—clung to nearly every surface, squelching beneath my paws as I moved forward. It felt as though I had stepped into the heart of the Zurk hive itself.
As I continued through the building, searching for a path to the top, I caught glimpses of Zurks everywhere—orange eyes skittering through shadows. I did my best to stay out of their sight, moving quietly and sticking to higher ground whenever possible. When stealth failed, I ran—darting through open spaces, scrambling up debris, always climbing, always trying to gain height as I pushed toward the roof.
In one corner of the building, we passed a sign that read “Neco Corp.” The name stirred something in B-12, triggering another memory.
"They were responsible for waste management. As trash from the upper levels overloaded the Slums, they tried to develop a bacteria to dissolve it all. After the humans disappeared, that bacteria mutated. Growing, eating way more than trash. And now we have Zurks.”
Eventually, we reached the roof. The open air felt freeing—but the relief was brief. To reach the radio tower antenna, we needed to use an exterior elevator, and it was parked far above us. I activated the controls to lower it, but the grinding machinery echoed across the rooftop. Almost immediately, the noise drew the Zurks out from every opening.
Waiting for the elevator became a fight for survival. I sprinted along the roof’s perimeter, using broken terrain, vents, and beams to stay ahead of the horde. I leapt across gaps and bounded over support struts, baiting the Zurks into overcommitting so they’d tumble back down through the open floors beneath us.
When the elevator finally neared the bottom, I made a desperate dash for it—zigzagging through snapping jaws, feeling bites narrowly miss my tail. I vaulted off a barrel and sailed over the fence surrounding the elevator enclosure just as the Zurks slammed into the barrier, piling against it in a frenzy.
As the elevator rose, carrying us away from the swarm below, a wave of relief washed over me. At the top, I leapt out and padded over to the control panel beneath the antenna. B-12 helped guide the installation of the receiver, and as it locked into place, lights flickered on across the antenna. A deep mechanical hum followed as the system powered up.
We moved to the ledge beside a dangling zip-line bucket, and I paused to take in the view. The Slums sprawled below us, built at the base of a massive wall, with the elevator shaft stretching upward along its side like a scar. As I stood there, looking down at the city we had climbed out of, another memory stirred within B-12.
"I remember now. The city. It was meant to be a shelter. Those look like stars, but they're only lights marking the hermetic roof sealing off the city. Humankind built this shell to protect themselves from the Outside. But it came at a cost. Nobody can go out. The Outside was a disaster. Completely barren, unlivable and dangerous. But if you come from there, it must mean it's safe again. And my promise wasn't just to go to the Outside. It was to open the city. I still don’t understand why some memories are coming back and others aren't. But I'm certain now this is my purpose. I have to open the city. Come on, let’s go back and find Momo. Now that we've connected the transmitter. We should be able to get help."
I jump into the zip-line bucket and ride it back toward the Slums.
