- What's happening here, John!?
Martin was shouting the moment the ground under their feet started shaking after John activated a central panel within a wall in front of them - for now, there was no reaction from the panel itself, but the tremors were related to the path behind them closing, accompanied by loud, metallic noises.
Marlow was not replying for now, trying to understand the situation as what was happening now was completely outside of his calculations - this panel had a setup that appeared simple to him, and should have open the path same way as before, yet there was movement everywhere around, and not where he expected.
- John!?
- Calm down, I'm thinking here - he finally told Johnson - It didn't go the way I thought it would.
The space they were closed within was now limited to a dozen of so square meters.
- I'd much appreciate if you could think faster - Alina was standing next to Martin, looking around with anxiety - I feel as if these walls are about to crush us...
Shortly after she said that, the panel John wanted to open, finally moved. However, the movement was extremely slow and the entrance opened only halfway through.
- Okay, did something break? - Martin asked, while looking at a gap that appeared around four meters above them - Should we climb there?
- I'm not sure if it just jammed or blocked by the system - Marlow wanted to calm down everyone - We shouldn't take any hasty steps here.
- So, what do you suggest then? Are we supposed to just stand here and wait?
- No, I didn't say that. We need to check how stable this panel is right now before we decide what to do next.
- Ok, and how are you planning to do that?
John usually preferred to avoid doing that, but this very situation asked exactly for that.
- I'm going to make use of these things - he told others, pointing at his artificial limbs - I will put some pressure on the wall panel.
Martin did not look convinced, and seemed actually even more worried.
- I doubt you will be able to do anything without climbing it - he told his friend, while looking at his cybers - Don't get me wrong, these pieces are top military-grade items, but it is your body that acts as a frame, and the more power you use, the bigger the strain on your body is.
- Yeah, I get your point here, and I still think I have some safe options that won't require hurting my body - Marlow started explaining - Each of these cybers has a set of special functions, many of which I haven't used yet. If I adjust some settings in my F-suit, I should be able to use it for supporting more pressure instead of my body.
Johnson sighed.
- The idea with F-suit makes sense, but what if you break it here? You are aware that it means you will be returning with limited or no defenses on you?
- Martin, ease up, I will set a threshold to stop this from happening.
After this short exchange, while his friend was still sceptical, John proceeded to adjust the setup of his F-suit to withstand bigger force usage of advanced functions of the cybers. He already had an idea in his head for what exactly should be changed, therefore he did not expect the process to take much longer, but shortly after he started doing that, they felt floor shaking, causing similar feeling to an earthquate, and a portion of the ceiling fell just next to them. Yet, the panel remained intact in the very same position.
- I don't want to complain, but maybe we should just climb and try going through that gap? - Alina suggested that immediately after the debris fell on the ground - It doesn't seem that such a strong tremor affected the panel at all, so I doubt it makes sense for John to check its stability anymore.
Marlow could not argue with that as he did not expect anything he planned to do would generate more force than what managed to crack portion of the ceiling here.
- Seeing the damage this shaking caused, I agree that waiting longer doesn't help us here - he told others - I will climb first and check how does it look on the other end, then let you know once it's fine to proceed.
Others did not complain as the plan he provided made sense.
John turned on the magnets in his cybers and F-suit to make it easier to hold onto the wall and get to the top faster - it did not even take him longer than a minute to reach there. Once he stood on top of the panel, on the other side, he could easily see another wide corridor leading to a spot where the final interface panel was located, but he also noticed something he personally found interesting - there was an opening in the ceiling matching the size of the panel he was standing on, even though this very panel lowered into the floor already, which led him to conclusion that it could be moved either way. This observation was a real curiosity, as there was no rail or any other mechanism which could be used for raising or lowering the panel - Marlow did not have any proof for that yet, but he was pretty sure it was another device relying on the magnetic force.
- Is anything wrong, John? - Martin's voice got him out of his thoughts - Can we start climbing?
- Yes, the way looks clear - John replied, still looking at the gap above the panel - I'm going to climb down to the other side now - he added once Martin reached the top of the wall.
With that, Marlow reached the final corridor leading to the last spot where he managed to get with the drone. Once he touched the floor with his feet, he quickly started to investigate vicinity to ensure it is safe for others to descend - quick scan did not pick any dangerous spots, hence he signaled the rest of the group to get down.
The very moment last person reached there, they could hear metallic sound followed by the panel raising and the path they used closing behind them. Everyone looked at each other.
- What the hell was that? - Alina asked - Doesn't it feel as if the system waited for us to get here? Or maybe someone is actually observing us?
John shrugged, and started walking forward, while talking:
- It can be anything what you just said or just a coincindence. Still, whatever it was, it doesn't change the fact we don't really have any other option than proceeding forward.
- Wait, doesn't it worry you how stuff like that is happening? - Boskovitch continued, taking several faster steps to keep up with him - Can you really say it's just a coincidence for sure?
- Of course I can't. Just saying that dwelling on this right now is waste of time. No matter what it is, I hope we find out at some point.
Alina still looked as if she wanted to argue, yet she was aware of the situation they were in, and the potential dangers they could face in upcoming minutes and hours, so she decided to let go of the topic, even if it was only temporary.
While that was the case, her words did affect the atmosphere within the group since even Andy, who usually was the calmest one, was showing sights of feeling uneasy. The face this soldier was making in recent minutes was clear sign for John that some additional words were needed here to calm everyone down, and have them properly focus on the task at hand.
- Listen, everyone. Alina has a point that the way things are happening around us is quite unusual, but there are many possible reasons to explain specific events. I doubt there are any aliens in the area, at least not based on what we understand by a biological life, but there may be automatic systems, or an AI still operating some of devices or objects that we saw on the way. It may be that such AI is recognizing portion of our biological functions as something similar to original sentient inhabitants of this planet. That would explain why this programable metal, and these panels are reacting to the touch of our hands, while it doesn't identify my cybers as actual limbs to recognize for allowing them to control. Moreover, considering the shape of some facilities our probes found so far, it would make sense these are still in a really good condition if there is an AI taking care of maintenance.
This was quite an elaborate talk that made the others speechless for a while there.
- Ok, so you are saying that, most likely, there is some kind of an advanced AI that's currently observing us and possibly leading somewhere? - Martin spoke first as a tech guy interested in any novelty of such type - What you are saying makes sense based on what we saw so far, but I'm wondering how likely it is in the end?
Marlow shrugged.
- It's not like I have any kind of proof for that, hence the reason why I didn't want to start this topic - he explained - I noticed a portion of traces that could potentially match patterns typical for AI involvement, including my cybers going offline after being exposed to a specific sound frequency, and binary and hexadecimal coding mixed in symbols displayed within interfaces we found and used here on the New Gaia.
- Yet, it's just your theory for now, right? - Alina summed up his words so far in a form of a question.
John nodded.
- Yes, that's pretty much it, so don't take it for granted. There can be still some other, much more extraordinary explanations our human minds can't even comprehend. After all, we come from a different planet, that has similar atmosphere, yet differences in climate, environment, plants and animals, so the way we think may be far from the ideas thos who lived here had.
Obviously, Marlow had a bit more of unusual experiences on this planet until now, of which a number could support the ideas of both aliens still being present on the planet, as well as AIs operating all of these functional systems they encountered, but he intentionally did not share everything with the group as what happened to John could be also taken as a sign of him going insane - he thought it is unlikely others would have believed these stories.
- I can't say any of the options is really re-assuring - sarge Krawczak said after major was done with his speech - It feels the best thing for now is to just try and not think that something or someone is keeping an eye on us.
- Given that something or someone actually has eyes, but I also hate the idea of being toyed with - Boskovitch pointed out - And, if we ever learn that it was either AI or alien, I want to have a talk with them and ask how and why would they let Jackie die.
Personally, hearing that convertsation, John felt it would have been easier to forgive an AI, which is not an alive creature, than any sentient alien since one would expect any living being to understand the worth of life. Still, he did not want to continue talking about this topic anymore, so he just bit his tongue, allowing everyone to calm down.
With that, they all proceeded towards the panel Marlow hoped to be the last barrier before reaching their goal, which was the control panel - target for most for the group at least, as Alina claimed her main focus was to get Jackie's remains.
However, just dozen or so meters from the panel, another one suddenly dropped from the ceiling, blocking the way.
- What the fuck!? - both John and Martin reacted in such a way in unison.
The other two used different words, but also considered to be curse words.
- Ok, so what do we do now? - Johnson asked, standing in front of the blockage, and looking each way as if he hoped to find a passage - It doesn't seem there is any gap to squeeze through here...
- What else did you expect? - Boskovitch said that sneeringly - As if everything we did from the very start of this expedition went without problems... That's why I said it feels as if we were being blocked intentionally here.
To be completely honest here, Marlow was actually starting to agree with her point of view, especially when checking this new app that installed on his PEC not so long before.
Initially, John approached its presence with caution and relied on it only because he did not have any sensible options at the moment, but seeing it helping the group out, this piece of code felt as something useful he could use as a support. Then, after Marlow noticed that app started leading them different way than where the group aimed, he chose to ignore the directions it was showing, treating it like some old school GPS not having the current map. Still, he did have this feeling the app is trying to force them into going where it wanted rather than helping them in reaching the goal, John was not expecting this to turn that way - right now, he really thought they are being kept away from the control room for some reason. But why would that be the case? Was there anything they were not supposed to access in that place? Or was there something else no one here was aware of?