1 hour later
Jon stood in front of the blast doors of the former military installation. It was his first time up there, and he still couldn't fathom the sheer size, let alone the fact the complex was built into a mountain. There hadn't been a need for the complex for over 100 years. It took some time, but once the world's military had been consolidated they felt that aerospace defense at such a low technological level was no longer needed. Between advanced satellite constellations and quantum computing power, basic aeronautic defense arrays and radar were deemed unnecessary. NORAD had been abandoned, and locked up tight. Curiously, the power systems were still hooked up and running. It had taken Jon 3 years to save up for the tech upgrade for his wrist display to get into 512 bit encrypted systems, but now he had a way to crack the access code and finally explore and document the ruins.
'Man I hope this doesn't take long, I really don't want to be here all night just to get in and have to come back.' John popped the back cover on the RFID scanner 100 meters back from the blast doors, pulling a cable and some clips from the device that housed the wrist display. He carefully hooked the clips to the appropriate input terminals, and proceeded to tap at the menus on his display until he found the 21st century hash cracking tool. With a couple quick swipes to select the appropriate encryption and military levels, he let the system do it's work. After 15 minutes, he noticed the scanner starting to smoke. 'Oh no! Don't do it! Damnit don't crash it or fry it you stupid thing! I need this payout!" He was starting to freak out, worried that the system upgrades he'd purchased through some admittedly questionable channels were going to fry the system. Just as he was reaching to disconnect the clips and terminate the program, a loud bang was heard after the scanner gave a happy *beep*, as if accepting credentials to open the blast door.
With a sigh of relief, Jon disconnected his wrist display from the scanner. As he stretched his back, arms over his head, watching the blast door open, he was in awe at the thickness of the door and the size of the hydraulic cylinders needed to open it. 'Holy crap! The US military wasn't joking around when they built this place!' The doors had to be several tons each (25 tons, actually)! Supposedly, they were rated to take a nuclear blast (30 megatons at 2 km). Jon was still in awe as he started to walk through the blast door.
As he entered, motion sensors long unused to people occupying the space, switched on the overhead lighting systems. The light buzz of overhead halogen lights and clicks of switches connecting just before lights turned on could be heard down the passage. Jon stopped, looking at his wrist display and flicking through menus as he searched for the layout map he had found in some old internet archives. His eyebrows furrowed together as he grew frustrated, forgetting where he had saved the map. He was about to give up when he saw the folder he was looking for, "Cheyenne Mountain Complex", sighing with a smile at the corner of his mouth as he tapped the folder. He pulled up the crude map, noticing that there really didn't seem to be much to the complex.
He made his way down the tunnel, ignoring the first turn off. All of the tunnels led to the main chambers, so what was the use in straying from his path? As he approached what appeared to be a security area, he wondered if he could just bypass it. There hadn't been anyone to man it in over a century, so what was the harm in just going through? He held his breath as he passed through, the metal detector flashing and giving annoyingly loud buzz as he walked through. Panicked, he looked around as if someone might come around the corner. His heart trying to beat out of chest as he couldn't figure out what to do. A few seconds later, everything was quiet again, other than the sound of the lights. 'Man, what the hell is wrong with me? I already knew nobody was here, hell the contract even states that the likelihood of these systems being monitored is almost zero.' With that thought, he continued straight, passing through a main tunnel and heading directly for the center tunnel.
"I need to check the Command Center first, from there I can wander around and check the Armory and other system commands. They said they wanted a comprehensive layout, with system information, armament, and any militarily relevant intelligence", Jon mumbled to himself as he made his way to the central tunnel that accessed the central buildings. 'One of these has to be the Command Center, they're in the middle after all.' Jon glanced at the entrance to the first building he came up to on his right. "Great, more encryption bypass."
After a grueling 30 minutes, and more smoke, the scanner beeped happily at him and allowed him access. He would have to adjust the voltage running through his wrist display. It seemed that the systems used either a 12 or 24 volt system to relay information for the scanners. After tweaking the settings in his wrist display to output a lower voltage so he wouldn't keep almost frying systems, he stepped through the door. As the door closed behind him, he heard the mag lock engage. Panic set in as he whipped around to look at the door. As he scanned the door he pressed a hand to his chest in relief. 'Oh thank God, there's a manual release on this side for the mag lock.' With that in mind, he scanned his surroundings. It definitely wasn't the Command Center, it looked to be more of a rest/relaxation area for personnel on long shifts. There were lockers, a few bunk beds lined up neat and orderly (although quite dusty), some old kind of refrigeration unit, what he guessed was a machine for heating up food, and some kind of glass carafe set on what he assumed was a warmer of some sort with a receptacle for liquid. There was also a small sink/washing area and some ceramic cups.
'I am kinda thirsty, I need to stop drinking before I come to these old military ruins.' He shrugged and turned the knob on the faucet. After several minutes of listening to pipes groan, a reddish brown liquid started to come out of the faucet. Jon grimaced, unsure if he was willing to test the 'water'. After letting it run for a few more minutes it ran clear. He grabbed one of the cups, rinsing it of the dust and filled it up. Tentatively, he took a sip. His face immediately scrunched up. 'Gross, this water has minerals in it!' You see, in 146 PND, all water was filtered se much that there were no chemicals, minerals, or impurities whatsoever. They had "perfected" filtration. Begrudgingly, as he was still somewhat drunk and very thirsty, Jon drank the water. He glanced at his wrist display after setting the cup down, only to realize he had absolutely no global connection. At some point, it had slipped his mind that he would be entering a facility built over a half of a kilometer under granite. The only signal in or out would be wired to the grid or up to the sat receivers and antennas on top of the mountain.
With a discontented sigh, he resigned himself to scanning the room with the built in 3d mapping camera on his wrist display. 'I guess I should get moving to the next area', he thought just as the scanner gave a a light *ping*. 'Hmm? This place has been abandoned for a century, what in the world could be in here that the scanner picked up?' He looked at the 3d map, the blinking yellow dot showing some kind of living force in one of the lockers! 'What the hell could be living in here? This place is airtight!'
Jon reached under his light jacket, pulling what appeared to be a pistol from under his right arm. 'Guess I'm going to have to take a look, the client did mention to check any and all anomalies.' He moved to the locker pinned on the map with the yellow light, cautiously lifting the latch. With as smooth a motion as one might expect from a drunk person, he flung the locker door open and pointed the firearm, finding absolutely nothing other than some old uniforms hung up with some odds and ends on the shelf. 'What the hell? Is the scanner busted?'
Jon flicked through a few screens, coming to the detailed scan screen and tapped the icon to start the scan. His wrist display warned him several times to stop moving and stay as still as possible, his arm shaking and his body swaying slightly from the alcohol in his system. After what seemed like an eternity (but was probably closer to 15 minutes), the scanner beeped at its completion. Glancing down at the screen, Jon read through the contents, seemingly unimpressed. At the bottom of the list was a flashing yellow entry: VIAL CONTAINS LIVING MATTER. Jon furrowed his brow, not believing what he saw. 'That's impossible!; nothing could survive for a century in a vial, in a locker, in a damned nuclear bunker, right?'
Perplexed at the likely impossibility and convinced his wrist display unit was busted, he searched the top shelf where it said the vial was located. Sure enough, there was a vial. It was marbled red and purple, with what appeared to be a precious metal stopper with some odd design on the top. Dumbfounded at this find, Jon stepped back, falling onto one of the bunks and throwing up a big cloud of dust. The vial dropped to the floor, rolling around at Jon's feet as he began what seemed like a never-ending round of coughing and sneezing. Shaking his head and slapping his chest, Jon looked at the vial on the floor through tear-blurred eyes. "What the hell?" he mumbled, reaching down to pick up the vial. It was warm to the touch, and the more he focused on it, the more it seemed like the colors were shifting and reacting to his gaze.
"Set me free young mortal." With a start he almost dropped the vial again. He looked around the room, sure that he had been the only one there. The vial in his hand started to feel unnaturally warm, as if giving off it's own energy. 'Man, I'm going to have to ask Tommy what he put in my beers…this is too weird to real.
"Set me free." The harmonious feminine voice spoke again, only louder and clearly coming from the vial. Jon stared at it, wondering if he was losing his mind.
"Are you talking to me?"
"Whom else would I be addressing young mortal?" she, at least Jon assumed it was a she, asked.
"There's no way this is real, I'm just gonna put this in my pocket and go about what I'm being paid to do." As he went to place the vial in his pocket, the metal stopper became unbearably hot, burning its pattern into the palm of his hand. He dropped the vial, and this time it shattered.
"Mother f***er! What the HELL?!?" Jon looked at his hand, the odd design burned into his palm starting to blister around the edges. He looked to where the vial dropped, finding only what appeared to be a regular glass vial with an expensive stopper. Shaking his head at his luck, he stooped down and picked up the pieces, only to realize it had broken cleanly in half. 'That's weird, oh well, guess I can have the lab nerds analyze it to see what was in it.'
"Thank you mortal, as a token of my appreciation I will grant you one wish." An indescribable beauty stood in front of Jon, wearing only a pair of baggy pants and a sheer cloth wrap around her breasts. Her skin shimmered a golden hue, her petite yet tall frame adding to the exotic allure with curves in all the right places.
"Do what? Who are you? What are you talking about? Where did you come from? Am I dreaming? What's going on here?" Jon rapid fire asked, a smirk playing on the beauty's emerald lips as her crimson eyes squinted playfully.
"I am Tel'aria of the Djinn. You have released me from that detestable human prison, therefore I am willing to grant you one wish. Be careful, although you may wish for anything you desire, a wish can be a dangerous thing." Tel'aria, not wanting to really give a wish, was grateful she was no longer in that little vial. She felt she was being gracious, and decided that although she intended to pervert said wish, she would inform the human in front of her to be careful with such a powerful boon.
"You're serious?" Jon's mind was reeling, he didn't think this could be real. Djinn, wishes, that's all fantasy! All he could think about was when he was younger, wishing to live in a fantasy world. Dragons, orcs, elves, magic, adventure….this was his chance to live out a childhood dream!
"Very serious", her melodious voice sang out. "Remember, this is a powerful boon, and your wording is important."
Without a second thought, thinking he had the perfect wording, Jon blurted out his wish: "I wish to live in a world of magic and fantasy, and be able to return to this world!"
Tel'aria smiled, but it never reached her eyes. There was a sadistic glow to her expression, and Jon wasn't sure what he had said for that kind of reaction. "Very well mortal, your wish shall be granted." With that, Tel'aria chuckled and cast a wicked grin toward Jon. With a wave of her hand, Jon's life was about to be thrown to chaos, oh how she was going to relish this wish. She lowered her gaze on Jon, mumbling in a language not heard on the Earth in many millennia. She reached up, touching Jon's brow. "We'll meet again mortal, though you may not enjoy the journey." She flashed a wicked grin, waving her hand over Jon's shoulder.
With that, Jon's understanding of everything; life, the world, the universe, literally everything, would never be the same…..