Conflicting Objectives III

- Hello, John. What took you so long? - it was Martin who welcomed them by the entrance to the cave - You were to get here a couple of hours before us. Did something happen?

- Yes, we had some unexpected stop on the way.

John told his friend about their encounter with some creature unknown to their database, and something that could have been a Ghast shooting at them.

- If that was the case, it would be one unusual Ghast to be honest - Johnson doubted Marlow's story concerning projectiles hitting the brawler's coating - We had several of these encountered over the course of several days investigation. They could move, of course, but more advanced activities like using tools or weapons was never the case. According to Kate, bodies moved by Ghasts have a really limited mobility. However, I do believe that you really met something new that wasn't in the database, and I'm honestly curious what it was.

- What creature did you see over there? - this familiar voice belonged to none other than Rashid Moussa - Would you care to tell me more about it, John?

- Rashid, are you for real? - Martin looked at him as if the guy in front of him was crazy - You haven't seen John for weeks and that's how you react after seeing him alive?

Moussa shook his head and sighed as he approached Marlow.

- Of course I'm happy to see friends doing well, Martin - he told Johnson, and turned to Marlow - It's good to see you, John.

- Likewise, Rashid. How was your travel? Any problems on the way?

- It went smooth, unlike yours from what I hear.

Johnson laughed loudly after hearing that.

- Wait, are you for real, Rashid? And what about your shrooms?

- Shrooms? Oh, you mean these? John wouldn't be interested.

- Maybe not into shrooms, but the whole situation? John, I tell you, you must see this.

Martin launched his PEC and transmitted data to John's implant. Seeing that, Rashid made only a single comment about Martin: "What are you, a ten year old kid?", before John started watching the recording:

- Stop, don't go there!

- Rashid, c'mon, we don't have time to waste! We cannot stall!

- No, really, wait! Look closely at these fungi.

Soldier looked up, watching the overgrown shroom.

- What about them? Looks like fungi on Earth, just much, much bigger.

- No, the shape, it's disturbing. Can't you see? This is not a regular shroom, something's off about it.

- I don't get what you mean. The only thing I know is that we don't have time to bypass them.

Rashid seemed really nervous, bitting his lip while thinking, but then some animal entered the forest.

- Just wait for a bit longer, let's observe this animal.

- Now the animal? Rashid, we are not here for sightseeing... Oh, fuck!

At this very moment, one of fungi moved suddenly, literally swallowing the whole animal who went into this weird forest. Soldier looked at Rashid, bewildered.

- Is that what you meant by disturbing?

- Yes, the shape suggested something like that, but I couldn't be sure.

- Couldn't you be more precise when warning us?

- If I was to tell you this may eat you, would you immediately believe me or wanted a justification?

Soldier looked at him for a longer moment.

- I surely would - he finally confirmed - Still, we don't have time to look for a different route. Can't we like burn or shoot them?

Rashid shrugged, scratching his beard.

- I'd rather not go for burning, they may be toxic and go into the air with the smoke, but we can try and see what happens when you shoot at them. We need to keep a safe distance though, in case these have toxins inside.

Moments Moussa said that in the recording, several people started making weird movements as if they were dancing, while two soldiers were shooting mushrooms, and one of these actually swallowed one of the soldiers, spitting him out a moment later.

- What did I just watch? - John asked the other two, confused - It seemed as if people were drunk...

- More like they were drugged - Martin still had a grin on his face - Rashid was acting so wise and careful, and it turned out most of guys already inhaled enough of that shit to go nuts before he told them what these could be... I tell you, John, this was one hell of a ride.

Major did not know how to react to this story, and he just ended this with a smile.

- I'm glad you managed to get here safely - John gave Rashid a pat on the shoulder - We will need your brain to get through this.

- Can I speak honestly, John? - Rashid asked him.

- Please do, gathering opinions is exactly what we need right now. After all, we are going into dangerous place.

- Who the fuck came up with this genius idea?

- It was Ryan, and yes, I get your point here, though I also understand why Ryan wants this to be done.

- Oh, I surely understand too, and believe me, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't ever agree to go there. With all due respect, if I were go with any of those halfwits from military, I'd likely shoot myself in the head. Either way, I needed confirmation so I can leave an entry in my personal log as to who was responsible for my potential death.

Martin and John looked at each other.

- You still like to be positive about things I see - Marlow said that with a slight smile.

Moussa sighed.

- Yes, you saw that video. How can I work with someone if there's no trust? Really, John, with you I can be sure you actually listen to what I say.

- Thank you, though I'm not really sure if I'm that good as you think.

- You are, you just need to keep high level of confidence.

Johnson clapped his hands.

- Sorry for interrupting your sugarcoating, but I'd rather focus on preparations.

- How unlikely to hear something like this from you - Moussa said that with a smile - Still, I agree we need to plan everything carefully. However, where are the others that are supposed to go with us?

- Sarge Andy Krawczak is to gather the soldiers and do the briefing before coming here - Marlow started explaining - Including me, military is going to be in majority in this group, so this leaves only Alina, who is likely already investigating the entrance, even though I told her to first come here to discuss the plan.

- So, should we just wait here or do you have anything for us?

- I actually have some recordings from our first visit down there. You can help me with reviewing these materials, and possibly establishing safe route to a spot I believe was a control room.

- Sure, it sounds interesting, even though technical stuff is only my secondary degree, and I only have MA.

Johnson gave Moussa an angry look.

- Excuse me, if I have MA too, does it mean I'm some secondary tier?

All three looked at each other, there was a moment of suspense and everyone laughed.

Afterwards, John opened the channel and sent the data to Rashid and Martin.

It took less than five minutes for Johnson to raise the first question, related to an observation he already made.

- John, based on the video from sarge Krawczak, it seems that you triggered the entrance opening by accident. Did you confirm how exactly it happened?

- He tripped is all I recall, and Alina checked the spot afterwards, but it didn't seem there was anything on the floor.

Martin smiled, hearing that.

- I'm not surprised as there is this second footage that shows something else - he marked the moment in the video for Marlow - Look at his right hand. See?

- All I can see is the wall... wait, this part appears a bit different - John zoomed in the footage - It's this black stone.

- Precisely - Martin confirmed - I've seen these in several places so far. Never investigated them, but what if they have some kind of function we are unaware of?

- It's quite likely. We've already had something similar shaping into a form of unusual interface Keira helped me with. Good catch, I doubt I would've found this without you.

- If we are talking about these, I've noticed one like that in the first room you landed - Rashid informed the other two - I doubt they would keep a slide as a way of entering the room by default, unless their bodies prefer something like this instead of stairs or some other way. Maybe this thing there can adjust the path or something?

- Not sure about that - Marlow said - but it may be worth a shot. Be sure to mark every finding like that in the log, so we can refer to it.

- Actually, it's not everything - Moussa continued - From what I see, it seems that room you ended up with may be something like a botanist lab. It's only speculation though.

- And what are you basing this on?

- I've noticed some organic samples which are coming from some of the local plants - Rashid started explaining - My PEC is doing more detailed analysis, but I can already tell you that one of the samples was actually a bark from one of the metal trees like these we have outside the cave.

Major did not seem to be much interested in such information.

- Keep logging in such data - he encouraged the other too - However, personally I'm much more interested in light sources in that room. I didn't see any connectors or power sources, and in case of being in complete darkness, I have no idea how could these obtain the energy.

- Maybe it's yet again related to these peculiar metal-stones - Martin suggested - You said it yourself that the black stone turned into some kind of interface, so there needs to be more to the functions these can perform.

John nodded, as his friend made a valid point.

- It's quite possible, though we will need some time and equipment to make the tests. I actually made a small test like that in one of the rooms deeper into the structure, which showed some energy veins within the stones, but I couldn't verify whether it was related to stones or maybe there was something else inside.

- I would also like to add one more thing - Rashid jumped in - These specimens I've mentioned, it seems portion matches what can be found in the structure of the ceiling. Since these trees contain metals, there is a chance they may act as conductors.

- So another variable - Marlow sighed - I wonder if we are going to have enough time to check everything. Given some security systems of this alien facility won't kill us in the meantime. - he looked at his own notes - And one of my biggest concerns, the amount of bleeding Jackie had. No matter how much I analyze, I don't see anything that could cause him to bleed that much. Even if he slid in unfortunate position, or hit any of the appliances inside, none of the simulations gave such results.

- Maybe there was something inside? - Johnson suggested - Maybe some kind of creature that managed to hide from you?

Major shook his head.

- Then we would have noticed some tracks, and there was absolutely nothing.

Martin was thinking for a moment.

- What if it was caused by a Ghast? I know how it sounds, given we talk about person that was alive, but think about it. Ghasts are energy, information bodies, so maybe if he got attacked?

Now, John felt really stupid for not taking this into account.

- That would make a lot of sense - he agreed - When we went there, it was before we learned about these Ghasts so we had no way of finding their traces. It would also explain why Jackie ended up closing himself down there. He might have felt this thing started to take over. We will need to run all the footage we have through these filters you gave us.

All of them continued to investigate the data. Both Martin and Rashid were really interested in the data John gathered for the biggest, cubic-shaped room - there were notes about the flow of liguid metal being related to unusually high electrictromagnetic activity, and a lot of footage of numerous objects, some looking as some kind of furniture, and objects of completely unknown application.

- It sure looks like we finally have something interesting to do - Rashid said, while browsing through different appliances from the cubic-shaped room.

- Interesting, but potentially really dangerous - Martin replied to him with a sarcastic look on the face - Let us hope there is more interesting than dangerous in that mix.

Still, they continued their work as there was much more to do in order to properly prepare this mission - after all, they needed the analysis to decide even the most basic details like the way group is going to enter the alien building.