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The further Fendrick and the others got into the facility, the louder the humming got. Kolt commented on it after their exploration of the third offshoot of the central column, about 50ft underground.
The smell of saline made its way up the shaft, and the torchlight reflected off of the thin layer of water at its base, casting wisps of light around the column’s walls.
“Sea water? Maybe the facility has given way to natural tunnels further in. Hopefully this doesn’t hinder further exploration. Podge, it’s been about an hour now. Go head up to Welk and give him a status report.”
“And what would that report be, Captain?”
“We’ve yet to find the artefact. The facility is potentially flooded so we might not be here much longer and let him know about this infernal humming.” Fendrick tugged at his ear impotently, shaking his head in frustration. “Don’t dally.”
“Aye aye.” Podge shambled up the stairs, the metallic clanking adding to the melange of odious sounds resonating throughout the column.
“Should we wait for the Private to return?” asked Dai.
“No need. There’s been barely any resistance up ‘til now, and I don’t expect anything to come up, baring a flooded passageway that Podge would be no help with.”
“Stay optimistic,” Tristan said, stood at the base of the shaft. His boots were surrounded by an inky black layer of water that’s lack of reaction betrayed his ephemeral nature.
The group trudged onwards, stepping cautiously onto the water-soaked terminus of the column. There was one exit, the source of the humming. A large set of steel double doors stood in their way, with another lever to operate it on the wall beside. Approaching it with trepidation, Kolt placed a hand on the right door, its surface cold to touch. The torchlight shimmered along a small gap in the doorway, and Dai and Ryker took to prying the panels apart. Millennia of rust and exposure to the elements had weakened the structure, allowing the pair to create a sizable entranceway, large enough for even Welk to slip through.
“Nice one, you two.” Kolt gave Ryker a hi-five and a smile to Dai as she sidled into the next chamber, Fendrick close in tow.
Fendrick glanced around the new section of the facility. To his right and left, two large chambers stood behind more murky windows. The doors were closed, and the water lapped at their heels. Ahead, an absent set of double doors gave way to another area, obscured in the darkness. The brushed steel floor of the facility remained but was completely hidden under the slow ebb and flow of the water.
“Kolt and I will check the left room, Ryker and Dai, you check the right. And don’t touch anything, Private.” Giving his orders, the group went about determining a way into their prescribed areas. The left chamber was sealed shut, so with a shunt of a disused chair leg that Kolt had claimed in the upper floors, she burst into the glass window of the chamber. This had become almost routine, after discovering other sealed chambers of similar design.
Kolt passed Ryker the leg after noticing the pair struggling with their own door, and soon enough, their window was dealt with too.
Clearing away the glass along the bottom edge of the window, Fendrick gingerly climbed in, following Tristan’s spectre, who had already begun perusing the chamber.
“The doors are watertight.” Tristan jumped up and down, forgetting that his actions would have no effect on the physical world, “It’s a good thing we used the window.”
Kolt entered behind Fendrick, taking in the contents of the room. “Another examination chamber.”
“This one is different,” remarked Tristan.
“I think this one is different,” parroted Fendrick. “Look. There’s a bed. And a bookcase.”
Kolt made her way to the different effects around the room. “You’re right. And here’s a basin, and toilet. Not a particularly private place for doing your business, I’d say.”
“A bedroom for whatever they were doing experiments on, I’d wager.” Tristan lit another cigarette, sitting down on the bed in the corner of the room.
“A bedroom for their test subject. It’s just like…” Fendrick thought back to his time with the hags. His childhood room was clinical and sparse, and he was never allowed private time. The hags came and went as they pleased, collecting him for all manner of tests and experimentation. “There may have been others here too.”
“What makes you think that?” asked Kolt.
A shout echoed through from the other side of the hallway, “Is your room a strange child’s bedroom?”
Fendrick approached the window and saw Dai poking his head out of the right chamber. “More likely an adult’s on our side. Little evidence it would have been for a child. No toys or playthings. Just books.”
“How the heck did you know there’d be others, Fen?”
“A hunch. If they were doing experiments on one living thing, chances are they’d be trying their hands with anyone similar enough to warrant testing. I bet there are more up ahead too.” Fendrick motioned to Dai, “Let’s head further in, there’s nought else to be found here. Just evidence that this civilisation was no different to anywhere else.”
Climbing out of the rooms, the group continued through the hallway, into the next chamber. They emerged in a forked hallway, one passageway leading directly ahead to another open doorway and two others leading left and right. A brief exploration down the left and right passageways revealed more bedrooms, with fixings betraying a wide series of age groups being held as test subjects.
“This place is… horrific. That somewhere so advanced would be experimenting on so many. And with so many of them being children.” Kolt held back the nausea as they uncovered yet another child’s bedroom. Her eyes were glistening with tears. Ryker and Dai also fought with their emotions, struggling to hide their intense discomfort.
“You look unphased, Fendrick.” Tristan spoke through his cigarette. “I’d heard you were looked after by the hags of Westwood. I bet this is nary a hair different to your time with them.”
“You’re right,” Fendrick agreed with both Kolt and Tristan.
The group headed back to the centre of the passageway and made their way down the last remaining hall. The humming continued, and as they stepped further to the terminus of the hallway it grew louder and louder. The buzzing was clawing at their consciousness and boring into their awareness.
Kolt froze.
The sound of rushing water approached from behind and she rasped her hand around her blade. The others followed suit as the noises approached. The metal under foot sounded off under a tremendous weight, and the ceiling rattled overhead. Turning slowly, Fendrick drew his blade and called out into the abyss, his torchlight barely lighting much more than the immediate space around them.
“It’s me sir, Podge!”
The group sighed and lowered their weapons.
“By the El’dorei, private. You nearly gave me a heart attack.” Dai sheathed his sword and wiped the sweat from his brow. The humming was still gnawing at his eardrums when Podge’s face emerged from the darkness.
“Gods, it’s bloody loud down here, isn’t it?” Podge cleaned his ear with a pinkie finger. “I’ve let Welk know our status and am ready to continue. Sir.”
“Good to hear, private. We’re just about to find out the source of this infernal ringing sound. Captain.” Dai motioned to Fendrick, and he continued down the hallway through the entranceway.
The chamber opened up wide on either side. The torchlight reflected off strange cylinders that reached from the floor to the ceiling. About eight of them could be seen, in pairs to the groups’ left and right, stretching to the end of the room.
“Here’s where this Gods damned humming has been coming from.” Dai had made his way to the back right corner and slammed his hand down on a large metallic structure. A whirring sound emanated from its interior, and cables ran from its being to each of the eight cylinders. “I reckon it’s due for a lesson in manners.” Dai raised his sword overhead and swung downwards with abandon.
“Sergeant! Stop! That thing seems to be providing power to the cylinders. And it also seems to be hooked up to the front door of this chamber. You smash that and we’re stuck in this room!” Kolt shouted out to Dai, and her voice reached him right before his steel buried itself in the machinery.
“Argh!” Dai kicked out at it, shaking his head. “Then let’s not spend long in this Gods forsaken place. The sound is driving me insane!”
Fendrick placed his hand on the first of the cylinders, waving a torchlight in front of it to better see into the now near opaque glass. The fluid within was green and bubbling, but he couldn’t make out much else of its contents. A plaque at its base was grimy with a combination of dirt, dust, and ambient moisture. Wiping away as much as he could, Fendrick attempted to read its contents.
1ED WEAV** REC********ED *****
Puzzled, Fendrick made his way amongst the other cylinders. All were covered in a thick layer of muck that obscured their contents, and none of the plaques were particularly readable.
“Captain. I think we may have found your artefact,” Kolt called over from the edge of the room.
Fendrick made his way over to her, taking note of the other cylinders on the way. The back rightmost cylinder was smashed, and its contents missing. He shook his head, and stepped over to Kolt, who was stood over a small podium. Her body obscured the prize, but the glint in her eye told Fendrick everything he needed to know.
“A staff. But no crystal. And it looks like we’ve found the source of the sea water.” Kolt gestured to the wall behind the podium. It had been destroyed by some great force. Fendrick assumed it came from the inside of the facility, rather than the outside based on the spread of the debris. Putting two and two together, he glanced back to the broken cylinder.
“Thank the El’dorei. At the very least we’ve discovered something of import. I don’t even want to know how long ago whatever was being held in that cylinder got out. I just want to leave this place as soon as possible.” Fendrick stepped up to the podium, gently pushing aside Kolt. Podge, Ryker, and Dai were all perusing the other cylinders and trying to push through the intense humming coming from the power generator.
His fingers curled around the staff’s body. It was made of an unknown metal that was near perfectly balanced in Fendrick’s hand. Atop the handle lay a twisting structure, like a hand, that was clearly empty, betraying the likelihood it once contained the crystal mentioned by Fenerra. The metal was surprisingly warm to touch and glowed under Fendrick’s fingertips.
“Woah… Cool.” Podge saw the light emanating from the staff and made his way over to Fendrick and Kolt. “Can I touch it?”
Fendrick’s eyes had glazed over, and Podge’s words rung hollow in his ear, struggling to overcome the humming of the generator. Tristan watched him closely, with a stiff gaze and furrowed brow. Light burst forth from Tristan’s mouth and an unknown voice spilled from his being.
“My soul is missing. I can take you to it. Please. Return it to me.” The words from his mentor were clear and crisp, breaking through the humming easily.
“Take us.” Fendrick spoke without thinking and the staff begun vibrating in his hand.
“So I can touch it?” Podge reached forward and placed his fingertips on its surface. A force bubbled up at his touch and before any of the group could react, he had been flung into one of the cylinders. It cracked under his weight and fluid spilled forth from it, coating him completely. “Fucking hell, that’s gross!”
A mass landed on his head, and Podge’s vision went black.
“What the fuck! Where the fuck did everyone go?” Podge’s hands shot up and began attempting to pull at the mass now attached to his face.
Ryker ran to his friend and tugged at the creature alongside him, “Holy shit! What the fuck have you done, Podge? I thought I was the clumsy one!”
“Help me! It’s… My eyes!” Crimson seeped down Podge’s face and onto Ryker’s fingertips.
“Fuck! Sergeant, help him, please!” Ryker continued trying to pry the mass from Podge, as it continued to press onwards engulfing his nose, then his mouth, muffling his screams.
Dai rushed over and began aiding Ryker, all the while the staff in Fendrick’s hands continued to vibrate relentlessly.
“Captain. Captain! We need to do something! Podge is dying!” Kolt shook a reactionless Fendrick, unable to get any response from him. Refusing to touch the staff after seeing its reaction to Podge, she violently shook Fendrick’s arm, hoping to dislodge it from his grip.
The chaos continued, until everything went black.
