Conflicting Objectives XIII

John took front position, having others follow him into the complex of routes that were to lead them towards an interface, they were hoping, would help the whole expedition make use of the abandoned alien facility.

The group was moving in line, one after the another, Alina behind John, then Martin and Andy - this order was an idea coming from Marlow as he was the only one seeing the route via drone's optics and had military training that allowed him to use corresponding equipment, also including his military grade cybers, therefore he was at the head. Alina and Martin were put in the middle as they were non-military personnel, so it was for the other two to defend them more easily. Additionally, Johnson was carrying the secondary drone, and was the only person aside from Marlow to know how to handle this equipment, including calibration needed for optics - control was something anyone could do with the use of PEC, but proper setup to operate customized bot was a different matter.

While having a footage from an initial reconnaissance done with a drone, John had all of the key points on the way marked to be wary of, leading the rest of the group to avoid such spots that could be potentially dangerous. Obviously, there seemed to be nothing dangerous from the perspective of a bot he was controlling, but its size and weight were so small some traps would not be tirggered, therefore such places Marlow noticed to show signs of unusual behavior were marked, even though the drone was not affected.

- Stop - he raised a hand to notify others alongside the voice command, and pointed at specific wall panel - The reading I have from the scan shows that this part of the wall is warmer than the rest. I'm not sure what's that to be completely honest with you, but nothing happened to the drone when it was getting through this spot. Still, we need to be careful as it may be some kind of security measure for bigger entities.

- Now that you mention bigger entities, did anyone ever think how high the ceilings are inside these buildings we've seen here so far? - Alina asked that, lighting the ceiling above their heads - The doors leading underground were pretty much the same. I wonder if there is any special reason for this size, but if it is as if we do this back on Earth...

 - The aliens from this planet were hell ass huge, that's what you want to say? - it was Martin who followed up on what she mentioned - If that's the case, I doubt they would be hiding from us, right?

Boskovitch sighed, but ultimately nodded.

- To some extent, yes, I was referring to their size, though my point is, maybe they were securing places aiming for creatures similar to them? And if it is the case, doesn't it mean that avoiding spots at key heights could help us passing through?

- The problem is, we don't know anything about how they looked exactly - John pointed out - So, even if we calculate their height, we don't know what parts of the bodies would be in specific spots. Still, what Alina just said gave me some ideas as to how I can check this and gather data for analysis.

Marlow took one of the tools his F-suit was equipped with - it was a type of modular multi-tool that could be combined into variety of different objects, from the simplest knife to an assembler he was using for fixing machinery such as drones. However, all he needed this time was a long enough cane with attached sensors.

- And what you plan on doing? - Johnson was looking at him, surprised - Are you going to poke the wall with it?

- Something like that - major nodded, while checking the connection with all the sensors he had on this rod-like object - I'm going to wave it up and down, just by the panel of this wall.

- Ok, but what if it triggers something that's not affecting the path next to the wall? - Martin was not really convinced - It can be connected somewhere else, right?

John sighed.

- So what else am I supposed to do? We either just go straight through, check the passage before we proceed, or we just back off here - he looked at Alina - Though I don't think everyone would be happy with the last option.

Boskovitch nodded in agreement.

- You can stay hiding behind me if you are scared - she said to Martin.

- Is being careful equal to being scared? - Johnson felt offended by her words - It's you guys who seem to be too easy-going here. Andy, what do you think?

Sarge Krawczak shrugged.

- I follow major's orders. So far, doing so saved my ass.

- Ok, got it, I'm the weird one here - Martin gave up - Do what you want, John, just try not to kill us.

Marlow sighed, while looking at Johnson, then shook his head and turned back towards the spot where the unusual reading was registered. He streightened up, fixed his grip on the cane he assembled moments before, and started moving the tip slowly into the area in-between the walls.

First was the bottom of the walls and the floor - John was touching various spots with the tip, registering all the readings coming from the abnormal segment. However, quite unexpectedly, nothing was really changing in terms of the heat emanating from the panel. Of course, the force applied to specific spots was much lower than what would be caused by the group of people waling through, therefore Marlow did some adjustments to the cane in order to increase its weight and point press, and yet, this caused no change.

With no effect from the section he was looking into initially, he moved on to checking sections located higher, up to the point where the tip of the head of the tallest person in the group would be. In the end, major sighed before turning back to the rest of the group.

- There is absolutely nothing changing, no matter what I do - he told others - It seems that this suspicious abnormality is not related to any trap. I wonder what it is...

- Don't look so disappointed, John - Martin smiled at him - Isn't it good for us there's nothing there? It looks almost as if you wanted for something to happen.

- Not knowing the cause doesn't sit right with me, that's all. Besides, no reaction still doesn't mean there is no danger in passing through. It may be something we just cannot trigger other way than by stepping on the floor, you can never be completely sure.

- So, what do we do then? You said that you don't want to turn back, after all.

- And nothing changes here - John confirmed as he started tinkering with settings of his F-suit - I set the highest density for the fibers, excluded my cybers to increase other sections even more, so I should be safest among all of us to go in first.

- Wait, I have a lower rank, I should be sent in - sarge Krawczak protested, but major silenced him with a hand gesture.

- Sorry, Andy, but I'm more likely to survive potential dangers with these cybers.

Marlow was actually looking through the settings of his artificial limbs with use of PEC. It was actually the first time since he got these attached to his body that he was properly browsing through the interface accompanying the cybers to see the options this equipment had - it came to him with no surprise to learn about variety of modes available, though most were related to offensive combat scenarios, while he needed to augment his defense, even if it was only treated as a precaution.

John was browsing for a longer moment, being close to giving up on the idea of adjusting the cybers, before he finally found what he was aiming for - there was a sub-section called aegis, though it came with a large number of parameters he first needed to understand.

- Something happened? - Alina asked him after a longer while - You've been quited for a longer while now.

- I should have checked more about these cybers the moment they put them on me - he replied to her as he continued reading the instruction and adjusting the settings - Now, there is so many things I need to understand when I actually must rely on these...

Ultimately, he found out what he needed, but it took him over a quarter, and the setup... well, it changed the looks of cybers by quite a lot.

- Woah, it's definitely not something I would've expected - Martin commented the very moment John's arm and leg morphed into different shapes - These look strong now, though I wonder if you can move alright the way these are...

Marlow did not want to agree, but to some extent he felt silly - the shapes were not only highlighting the military traits, and, rather than that, exaggerating weaponized character of the cybers.

His left arm now had an outer layer shaped like a buckler he could use to cover other parts of the bodies quite easily, which was overall fine, but the leg was another thing - its outer layer was also thicker, yet stretching up to cover the hip part of the body, which felt uncomfortable. Either way, he got the result he wanted, which was the best possible defense he could get.

John did a bit of moving around to see how this setting would work for him - as expected, the leg was not that convenient, but it was possible to walk all fine. Having checked his current movement range, Marlow turned to the others.

- I'm going in - he informed - Be prepared in case anything happens. You should retreat if it gets dangerous - he noticed the face Andy did at that moment - That's an order, sarge.

With that, he took a deep breath and took a few steps forward, breaching the point where the possibly dangerous section started, and raising his left hand to cover with a buckler, expecting something happening anytime now.

Yet, there was absolutely nothing, to the point that John stopped walking and stood in front of the central part of the panel, doing thorough scans of the area - the readings remained the same way they were before.

- I don't get why would this one be so different - he talked to himself, feeling an urge to touch the wall, but he stopped his hand from reaching it at the very last moment - No, it's not time for this, better not take unnecessary risk right here.

He turned away and walked further into the maze, to the point past the unusual section.

- Okay, it seems it's safe to pass - Marlow communicated with others - We cannot be sure if there are any sensors in specific spots, so better follow my steps, just to be sure. One person at a time.

The rest of the group followed him in order with nothing happening on the way.

- So, these readings were nothing dangerous after all? - Alina was visibly interested in the topic - If this is not for some kind of security measure, what else could it be? Since it has a higher temperature, possibly some kind of energy source?

John could not exclude such a case, and - given his observations so far - it was something to be likely considered as a reason for the heat change in this area. After all, he already found some traces of energy veins being present in the area. However, he had no proof of exact functionality and behavior of this energy sources. Besides, it was not the time to focus on this topic, so he shrugged and said:

- There is a number of explanations that are possible here. The problem is, we have no option of confirming that fast and easily.

- So, you are not denying it may be an energy source? - Boskovitch continued going on the topic she started - What if it is connected to one of our goals for this expedition? Maybe we could find out something without even reaching the megacity?

Truth be told, Marlow was already considering that, and obviously did not plan to drop the idea of investigating - it was all about priorities.

- I'm going to bring this topic to colonel McRae once we are back - he assured Alina - For now, let us focus on reaching the spot where we saw Jackie's body last time, okay? I believe it was your main goal for joining us to begin with?

Boskovitch nodded and the group proceeded further through the route John set for them using the drone.