Sikhail GodFiend walked calmly, room by room. He looked at random things that caught his attention, but nothing more than that. He walked around in a circle, taking in the feel of everything.
Half-used needles, unopened bags, and unknown liquids were on the ground. Probably a mixture of water and urine. Maybe the prisoners rebelled every now and then. They certainly didn't escape. No food anywhere. Some food. There were empty sheets. Probably required a machine that could show different frequencies.
Skid marks on the ground meant furniture was moved. Blankets and cages. Where did the scientists live, though? A dorm room somewhere.
He pulled up the reports. The best of the best experienced bizarre events, like they were targeted. It was the opposite of the weakest link. The method was still being determined. The method was why they were here. Every other theory was credible but also not credible because something else made it impossible at the very last second.
Quite convenient.
There was a random odd noise every now and then. He knew it was a loose screw, a loose sheet of paper, or maybe a spoon in a cup. He confirmed it with the Holo-suit.
As he got closer and closer to the mobile command center, he observed the soldiers from a distance. He just stood there, randomly, unconcerned. He noted their behavior, their nuances, their mannerisms, the decisions made, and the thought process underlying it.
Taking a deep breath, he walked off randomly, looking at a painting on the wall. He stopped in front of a shelf and took out a book. He opened it and read it. He actually read it. He was actually learning from it. A few minutes passed before he stepped out and into another room.
There were some documents on the table, some steps behind him. There were drawings and writing on the paper.
"Injections. Madness. Who did they even abduct? Definitely not voluntarily," Sikhail said out loud, revealing his disgust.
"Amen, brother. Disturbing f**ks," a voice behind him spoke.
"Where the hell are they even hiding? Just make it easier on us and come out," Sikhail asked.
"Sounds in the wall. Whispers. We've been searching for two weeks already," the voice responded, irritated.
"Where else could they be hiding? We've ripped the walls, checked the vents, etc.," Sikhail asked, confused.
"We have a door in the back that leads down, but there's a spooky vibe there. No one's willing to go, and HQ isn't permitting entry. We got two guys stationed there. Real tough guys. Don't want any folks to be convinced otherwise. They got sonar head muffs to protect them from the whispers. Also not the brightest. Got a poster of naked beauties to stop them from getting bored. Working out well so far," the voice explained.
"Well, goddamn. That's a waste of taxpayer money?" Sikhail asked, confused.
"Ain't a waste if no one dies and we keeping dangerous fools away from the public," the voice laughed.
"Thanks for the warning, friend," Sikhail responded.
"No problem," the voice said as it faded.
One pair of footsteps left as another came near a moment later.
"I'm here to swap routes with you. I can't find anything else in the back. Need a new set of eyes," a voice suggested.
"Which area?" Sikhail asked.
"The right," the voice clarified.
"Alright, Sikhail nodded as he turned around.
He walks towards the back, occasionally stopping to look into a room. He tapped his finger on the wall. Sometimes he tapped his foot. Occasionally he banged the wall. The noise attracted people as they came to investigate. He picked out several people in the crowd, focusing on them as he made his way through the crowd. He turned left and right but always steered to the left. He broke free from the crowd as they dispersed. A false lead.
He looked to the right. His target had entered the target section. It would take a while before she realized something was off.
He took off on a sprint, going 250 mph. He didn't stop sprinting when he needed to walk. He entered what appeared to be a surveillance room. The wires were connected, the monitors were undamaged, and the machines were on. No one understood how to use any of it. He got to work, recalling all the manuals he had read.
Within a few minutes, everything was up and running. Nothing. Every room was empty. He cycled through the cameras, but there were hundreds of empty rooms. Not empty in the sense of equipment, but he didn't see anyone.
He looked around the room. There were documents everywhere. He picked a few up and read through them. The more he read, the more work he put on the computer. He opened up a terminal and began typing in commands. More terminals popped up as he typed in more commands. Suddenly, all the programs closed. He tried navigating the computer, but nothing was working.
He blinked, then adjusted the filter in his Holo-suit. A secret window appeared on the screen. It was a directory of feeds for floors 15-20. He paused. There was no floor past the 10th floor. He blinked some more, then he understood. He closed out the secret menu, opened a certain program, tinkered with it, then shut down all the equipment. He turned on a projector and set up a conditional switch with a timer. Then it went into sleep mode.
He left the room, and a minute later, a soldier entered. This was the female soldier from earlier.
"I must've made the wrong turn earlier due to the chaos," she reassured herself. "So many people can vouch for me. The sir won't make things too difficult for me."
She looked around the room. She liked it here. The room helped her imagine herself processing her photos. It offset the creepy nature of the site. She specialized in taking high-resolution pictures and digitally upscaling them to 32K. The actual equipment was out of her budget. She was working towards it.
She aimed to build a portfolio to get into one of those prestigious brands. Eye-mazing Shots. 1MK Future Ventures. Beholder's Eye. Those behemoths of the industry. She walked over to a projector. This laboratory was expensive, and all their equipment was supposed to be custom-built by the very best minds. What a shame though. What were they promised to work for such an organization?
If only the projector would work. She wanted to know what an outdated piece of technology was capable. She pressed the on button again, just from habit. She was shocked when it turned on. It was apparently in sleep mode. She was shocked for a while before regaining her senses.
"It actually works!" she shouted in a whisper. "A conditional switch? A timer? Maybe, the people here expected to return soon and didn't expect us? Were they trying to preserve stuff? I need to recover it."
With a spark rekindling the fire inside her, she tried turning on the other equipment. Nothing happened. She continued to diagnose the issues, not deterred.
(Beep)
(Beep)
(Beep)
(Beep)
(Beep)
"Wow, success!" she screamed.
She began to work, navigating all the menus. However, there was nothing. No blueprints. No reference sheet. No logs. No diaries. No emails. She spent several minutes scouring every hard drive, but nothing.
"No… something. Anything," she muttered.
Eventually, she turned on the cameras. She looked through them, stunned by the quality of something meant to be common goods. The more she looked, the more confused she became.
"If you're going to spend this much money, are you rich and bored? That doesn't follow," she questioned.
She dove into a deeper analysis, pulling up meta-data. Nothing bizarre. She reached the lowest level that she could find. Nothing. With no other ideas, she opened up other programs.
(Beeeeeeeeep)
(Contaminants detected. Turning the temperature up to purge capacity)
"What?? I didn't activate anything. Is this a failsafe?" she looked around, worried.
She looked at the screen carefully. The temperature was rising differently in every room. Countless compounds were being released. Too many to count or bother with. She continued to search for a solution. A circuit in the main hallway was responsible for distributing the heat.
-Sir. We have a problem-
-What is it?-
——|——|—|—|——|——
Two giants were guarding a door, enjoying a 'poster' of nude beauties on the wall. These beauties had fun washing each other, ambushing each other from behind, throwing love in each other's faces, and 'offering' free rides everywhere.
With the sonar ear muffs on, this kind of show kept them focused. Right now, they were beginning to feel fatigued.
"Strange. I feel weird."
"Same."
"Do you think they released something accidentally?"
"That's possible."
"But we're at the bottom of the ladder, right?"
"So it can't affect us."
"So, what's going on?"
"Hey, who is that? Maybe they know?"
"Hey you, what's going on?"
The two giants focused on the battle-suit approaching them, but it was slightly different. It was bigger and bulkier. They took a look at each other before raising their fists.
"You from another nation? Identify yourself!"
"One more step, and we'll knock you out."
"The gun on his arm. Which nation specialized in that?"
"Mounted turrets? Isn't that a specialty of Dew Drop country's Hell Forging Zone?"
"Why are you here? Whose order are you under?"
The two giants walked forward, taking a breath in and breath out. Their minds seem to clear up a little.
"Team follows a strict protocol. Maintains tight routines. They would've shouted if something was off. Don't wander off alone. Everything is a potential danger. Clean and clean. Nothing's wrong. Just a slip of the mind."
They intercepted the foreign battle-suit, putting a hand on each shoulder. To their shock, he continued walking into them, pushing them down the corridor.
"What the hell?"
"This punk is actually so strong?"
"I don't know anyone this strong!"
"Soldier, identify. Identify."
"Any intrusion will be met with hostility."
"Are you an idiot? He doesn't seem to be afraid of us."
"Does he want to head down?"
"Is he crazy? That's where the source of the whispering is coming from."
"What should we do?"
"Knock him out first. After that, we can interrogate him."
"Alright."
The giant slammed his palms together, intent on creating a concussion. A blur in his eyes as a fist connected under his chin. The shock reverberated through his skull. Numbness took over his thoughts and traveled through his body. He tried to remember the intruder, but he saw only the ceiling. He grabbed at the air, but his arm flailed around. As he fell into a deep sleep, he was confused. Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing? Was it a Military curfew? What was the mission?
(BOOM)
A body collapsed, creating a deafening echo.
(Boom)
A second body fell. The intruder grabbed two different hands, dragging them. He pushed their fingers against the touchpad as he entered a code.
(Buzzer)
The intruder continued to push different button combinations as buzzer after buzzer sounded out.
(Beep)
(Beep)
"Access Granted. Don't lose your step. If you die, how the **** did we hire you?"
The intruder put the bodies back into position, making sure they were face down on the ground before walking back to the door.
(Bam)
(Bam)
The door was slammed repeatedly as it creaked. The intruder walked down the stairs as casually as one strolled through the park.