- You've got to be kidding me - both John and Martin reacted the same way after hearing the creaking sound, which followed after Alina pushing the two squares on the wall panel.
The sound was heard first, and - while nothing was noticeable immediately - Marlow remembered similar sound being present when the panels were appearing the previous time he visited this underground area.
Within a dozen or so seconds, his memory proved right as the panel lifted, opening a new path hidden behind it.
- It seems that the simplest ideas sometimes work the best - Boskovitch said that, looking at two surprised men as sarge Krawczak was just standing in the back, unaffected and waiting - Are we going in already?
- We will, but we need to proceed with caution - John told her - The area behind this panel was obviously not investigated so we should do regular scans of the vicinity as we proceed, starting with the one taken from the outside.
He went to the front by himself, and launched the full scan of the surroundings from the closest possible range, while standing by the entrance to the new passage. Similarly to the scans he was doing before, the distance his PEC could reach within the closed space created by the metal panels was heavily limited to several meters each. However, even with this limitation, Marlow was able to easily see they had three different routes to choose from - one was leading into the direction of the entrance they came from, the second one was facing the direction where their goal was supposed to be, and the third one was leading sideways.
Knowing the directions of the three routes, it seemed obvious they should proceed into the direction where Jackie's body was located, but John was concerned about the third corridor which seemed to be out of place there - he shared his thoughts with the others, pointing out that the way it heads, it should cross with the corridors they passed through already.
- Doesn't it mean we should turn right after walking inside? - Martin asked, thinking it was the most obvious thing to do - Based on what you just said, it feels that we would reach some kind of a dead end ultimately, or another panel like this, connected to a passage we were already in, right?
Marlow nodded.
- That would make the most sense - he confirmed - I would expect this to be some kind of a secret passage, or maybe a type of a maintenance corridor, either way connecting the main routes. Still, we cannot exclude other possibilities such as connection to another floor.
- You mean this area may not be a single level? - Alina looked really curious about what John just said - Haven't you said that there are energy veins spread within this facility? If this passage was used for maintenance, isn't there a chance it could lead us to the actual devices used for energy transmission?
Major shrugged - honestly speaking, he was so focused on finding a way towards their target, that he did not think about such possibilities as Boskovitch just mentioned.
- We cannot exclude this to be an option since we would need to go there to be completely sure. Either way, it doesn't seem to be a good idea to sidetrack like that. Let's just mark this spot for now, and proceed further.
Everyone was ready to move, except from Alina who froze for some reason.
- Is something the matter? - Martin asked after stopping next to her.
She did not reply immediately, visibly lost in thoughts and biting her lip.
- Shouldn't we just do a quick check of this route? - Alina finally spoke - What if the most obvious direction is supposed to mislead us?
- C'mon, are you panicking now? - Johnson took her behavior as a sign of stress getting out of hand - You were fine until a moment ago.
Boskovitch sighed and walked towards Marlow.
- I'm still completely fine - she said out loud - and I simply state my opinion here. We already had to backtrack once, so I wonder if this may be some kind of trick left by aliens.
- Weren't you the one who was pushing for finding Jackie's body? - John was surprised by a sudden change shown by Alina - What if we end up losing time and the placement of panels shifts again? It may force us to turn back, given it would be still possible. Besides, whichever way we take, we can't be sure we won't end up in a dead end, so maybe better let us take the one that seems more reasonable?
Boskovitch did not look convinced and happy about the reaction she got, but ultimately, everyone else was supporting Marlow's idea, so she gave up on any further attempts to force a change of plan.
Having this conversation concluded and an agreed course of action, the team proceeded in the direction that was matching the way that should lead towards the last registered location of Jackie's body, according to the data John had.
Once they entered the corridor, it became apparent the way is not going to be fast and easy - the route was not straight, having turns from the very early stage, making it hard to scan and map the area, forcing the group to stop by each subsequent turn to ensure the route is safe.
Of course, major had this new app at his disposal right now, and - while he did not fully trust it - he could not deny it was really leading them through safe spots, but relying too much on something alien was out of question.
Due to that, even though his PEC was confirming there is no danger on their way, Marlow still deemed the stops to be necessary. However, it was not only a trust issue he had towards the app, despite its precision, but - more than that - the fact others could question his actions, calling them too rash, if he acted otherwise.
Long story short, John was not only thinking about safety, but also his own image and credibility in the eyes of crewmates since the current situation they were in required the chain command to stay intact, and any lack of trust towards the superiors could lead to serious consequences, including both insubordination shown by individuals, and head-on revolts. Moreover, there was also the case John himself could be counted guilty for hiding some information - even if the main reason for not disclosing it was him considering the topic to be not credible enough.
Still, the approach major took, started being a burden for the group due to the time they spent walking around in this maze-like structure, and not seeing a reasonable proof of getting closer to the target. Fortunately, the team still continued to trust the leader and everyone followed orders, yet the sole atmosphere made Marlow re-think the plan and speed up with the way they proceeded through the area, even though it was riskier and relied on some questionable alien code that installed on his PEC.
Though hesitant about it, major tinkered with the settings of his implant, setting a separate instance for connecting this app to a number of other apps he had at his disposal to improve the performance and enhance the capabilities of his own PEC.
He did it within a closed environment, hoping it would lower the risk of the code playing a role in hacking attempts from the alien sources as he already applied countermeasures for anything similar to the previous case of the sound being used for infecting artificial systems within his body.
Such an approach was the safest bet John could make for making the best out of the code he got his hands on, yet still considered this as a high risk to the point of setting up additional safety that would disconnect all cybers he was equipped with the very moment hacking attempt is detected.
With the updated plan, they managed to proceed through the subsequent sections of the path much faster than before, reaching a spot about ten meters away from their target in a matter of next fifteen minutes.
- What now, John? - Martin asked the moment four of them got to a solid wall made of black metal - I hope it's not what Alina was worried about... I'd rather not have to go back to the crossing now...
- It's not like I wanted John to be wrong - Boskovitch said that, but somehow her face was matching her words - We had a pretty equal chance...
Marlow let them chat about the topic for a moment before speaking himself:
- We don't know if it's a dead end yet - while saying that, he was running the scan on his PEC, supported by the piece of the alien code - I just need to run an analysis before I can tell anything.
Johnson and Boskovitch stopped talking, and both focused on the wall instead - the way their leader spoke, made them curious about the panels the wall was composed of. On the other hand, sarge Krawczak kept standing on the side all this time, only listening, and not saying even a single word.
As they were staying in one place for several minutes now, a series of metallic sounds reached their ears - the noise was not originating anywhere close-by, yet the volume was high enough for everyone to be alarmed.
- What in the hell was that? - Martin was the first one to say something - Everyone heard that, right?
- Yes, there was some metallic noise - Andy, who was now looking around, confirmed - It doesn't seem to happen anywhere close to our current location.
- But what about others who stayed behind? It could've been back there...
Sarge Krawczak shrugged.
- The way this place is structured, I cannot really tell where did this sound generate from. Maybe with tools major has, this could be tracked?
John was still in the middle of running the analysis of the panels within the wall.
- I cannot really focus on stuff like that before I'm done with this one - he told others - Still, speaking of the sound just now, it is how shifting of panels sounds from a distance with walls affecting the sound waves, so we can be sure the path changed somewhere just now.
- Wait, isn't that a bad thing for us then? - Alina looked anxious - How are we going to get back?
Marlow sighed - he was already tired of this task as he spent much more time doing the processing with his PEC than it was usual for his brain, and also had to explain something he felt should be obvious based on their target here.
- I'm working exactly on that - he started clarifying - I get your point about the path changing, and I'm not saying it's not a concern, quite contrary, it's a big problem. However, it's a problem only if we can't find a control room, which is precisely our task right now. By getting access to control room, we should be able to shift the positions of panels on our own, even remove all of them as it was the case when I first got here. So, please, stay patient for a little longer.
Boskovitch looked as if she wanted to continue talking, but bit her tongue and remained silent.
Moments later, John completed the analysis of all the panels in the vicinity - surprisingly, none of the panels creating the wall behind which their target should be located was marked as a path by the alien code, so he started looking for any possible errors. What was especially surprising was the fact panel facing the same direction as the one Alina wanted to choose before was now marked as the correct way, even though all the data Marlow have was showing it would lead them away from the location they wanted to reach.
Right now, major John Marlow was facing a serious dilemma - trust the alien code yet again, while risking getting away from their target or disregard its instructions and open a different panel he identified as having the built-in control interface?
Sure, following the lead he got from the code allowed them to pass through unscathed so far, but - at the same time - John could not shake the feeling that someone or something is making them reach somewhere, though not necessarily a spot that is their target.
This hunch he had was so strong that Marlow decided to completely disregard the instructions coming from the code, and approached the central panel to make a new path open.