Conflicting Objectives XXI

John told others to do a full scan of the surroundings - while it was a standard for majority of human population to be equipped in PEC devices in a form of built-in head implants, these were coming in different versions and everyone would have different apps installed, therefore each person could get various results from doing a scan of the same area.

Obviously, he trusted his own equipment a lot, especially because he made individual adjustments to the device using skills obtained from years of studying and working as researcher for military, yet with a new alien app which got installed on his PEC, he felt it was better to compare the data with others who had more basic setups.

After a minute or so of scanning the path leading to the wall panel believed to be the entrance they were seeking, everyone's results did not show any potential dangers on the way, while each scan picked up traces left by the drone, which remains they found earlier on despite Marlow originally leaving it on standby in this area.

- Is it only me who thinks it's off we found the remains of the drone far away from here and there are only that many marks left? - Martin asked that, being a person who was currently carrying all the parts they had from two broken drones - Honestly, how high is a chance that a drone would switch to auto mode on its own and attempted to trace the user to return to? - it was all more of rhetorical questions as everyone knew the drone on standby should not move from the assigned location.

- I agree, Martin, it's definitely disturbing - John nodded in response - Then again, we have really specific priorities here, so we will be able to investigate it only once we reach the goal, or - if reaching the goal will require it.

- I hope it goes without trouble further on, John.

Following this short exchange, they started moving forward - major Marlow was walking first, followed by Johnson and Boskovitch, and sarge Krawczak securing the back.

Fortunately, there were no surprises encountered on the way, and few minutes later, the team reached the peculiar wall John was interested in.

- Ok, we are finally here - Marlow said, standing a bit in front of others - Maybe you better move few steps back, and scatter a bit, in case anything happens - he added, and waited for the remaining three to do as instructed - Now, it's time to give it a shot - John took a deep breath, and placed his right hand on the black metal surface, expecting it would not react to the artificial one.

Exactly as major suspected, once touched by a hand, material metal wall was made of started reacting, yet not exactly the way he foresaw - Marlow hoped it would just open the path allowing them to reach the area where Jackie's body and control room should be located, and was presented with another interface instead.

- Oh, c'mon - Martin did not hide his disappointment - I'm already so tired of seeing such stuff. Each step we take, we end up being blocked and having to deal with these... I know no one said it's going to be easy, but it's problem after a problem.

- I won't disagree here - Alina said - On the other hand, there's nothing we can do, other than to try and figure out the way out each time.

All such reactions, people's complaints, were showing how tired everyone in the group is - John was well aware of it. He was exhausted himself, and - while he did not say anything of the sort - Marlow knew that even such a seasoned soldier like Andy could feel the hardship of staying shut within an alien structure. Good thing everyone was staying sane and awake with all of these things happening around them.

- Is there anything we can help you with, John? - Johnson approached his friend and asked, while looking at the new object the wall shaped into.

Marlow shook his head, already browsing through the data his PEC was processing.

- Nothing, at least for now - he gave a short reply, focused on looking for solution to this new puzzle.

Being through a number of similar challenges since arriving to this new planet, John already started having what one could call a framework for handling similar encounters with alien objects. The process included structural analysis of the material item was made of, translation of symbols using the app prepared by Keira, and review of the data from alien app, which would then be processed altogether combining PEC's and Marlow's personal brain power.

Amount of experience he gained so far was now allowing major to find more and more patterns in how specific devices were functioning, and there were even moments where he felt some flows were so logical John would automatically perform correct actions without thinking.

Same was the case for the interface he was investigating right now. Using previous encounters as reference, he managed to bring up the main view which looked similar to wall panels' overview he used moments before to shuffle the walls, and ultimately open the correct path. However, while having similar layout, the references and parameters used different symbols and values, meaning Marlow had to figure out what these meant. Overall, even though he knew the ideas for general flows, specifics of the alien language, for which they were still ways from understanding it properly, and safeties each interface included were the complications they kept facing.

- Ok, I think I finally have an idea - John informed others after several minutes of reviewing the data - I'm going to try this now, so move back again.

Everyone scattered, and he started entering commands on the terminal.

- Going there is dangerous - yet again, the voice echoed in his mind - Enter only if you are sure you are ready.

Major stopped working with the interface, and shook his head.

- Why would I trust some voice in my head? - he replied in his thoughts - I don't even know if it's real, or if it's me going crazy...

- Believe me, I'm real, but it's too soon to tell you more. All I can do is provide some small support. Use the app I installed, it will show whatever is in my power to give you.

John tried to ask further questions, yet there was only silence in his mind. What happened just now was another event of such kind, and - despite how the conversation went - he still did not know what it exactly was, and who was the person talking to him, if it was not his own brain playing tricks on him.

Either way, no matter what anyone could tell him, Marlow had to get everyone through this predicament, and - whether it was dangerous or not - this direction was the most reliable one available for the group at the moment.

Still being badly confused about this sudden mind talk, major managed to complete his work, and the path opened for them moments later, though this time the opening was much smaller than a whole wall panel moving - passage was about three meters high and two meters wide, several times lower size than previous paths they proceeded through.

- I guess we are starting with scans? - Martin asked immediately after the entrance appeared in front of their eyes.

John nodded.

- Yes, we need to get as much data as possible from the outside - he explained - I'd rather not go in blindly.

They tried using all of the sensors they had at their disposal, yet there was absolutely no way for them to obtain enough data to draw a decent layout of the area on the other side of the passage, even with Marlow's recordings from the previous visit underground.

- Damn, it was just a waste of time - he concluded after spending around fifteen minutes on scanning their surroundings - There is no other way than to go in as we are now.

Johnson shrugged after hearing his friend's words.

- It's not like we have anything else to rely on at this point - he said, patting John's shoulder - Just need to be extra cautious.

- Wasn't this the case from the very beginning? - Alina asked him with a smirk - So, who's going to have the honor of going in first?

Everyone looked at each other shortly, and - as it was usual since they started this mission - major Marlow was the one to pass through this peculiar doorway first.

Expecting there may be traps or any potential dangerous devices on the way, having John leading made the most sense with his overall knowledge, and the data stored on his PEC. However, though it came as quite a surprise, the short path connecting them to the next area was free from any trouble and the group managed to reach the other side without problem.

- Wow, what do we have here? - Martin was turning around in spot, looking each direction, but his reaction appearing only after looking up - The height of this place is something else compared to this narrow space we were in so far.

- Yeah, I was also like that the last time I was here - John agreed with his friend - Still, the space around was completely open back then, so feeling this sudden change was not so dramatic. Hm, or maybe? It seems the height changed a bit too - he said after a short measurement done with his PEC - Maybe this panel system has many more parts than what we saw so far - he started speculating - Let's run another scan, and hope it won't be next waste of time.

Quite quickly his worries were no longer reasonable - subsequent scans allowed them to map the area even better than it was for Marlow's footage from the previous visit, possibly because of the changes in magnetic field, as there was no such strong magnetism around them right now. Well, maybe with one exception which could also be a trace they were looking for.

- Do you guys see that blank section PEC is drawing near one of the corners? Or is it just mine malfunctioning here? - he asked others, taking few steps forward to see if anything changes in the print by limiting the distance, but it did not allow him to reveal more.

- It's not only you, John - Martin confirmed - It's most likely some kind of disturbance. I feel this may be electromagnetic activity, though quite awkward for such a small portion of the area to be affected.

- Previously, I barely could make a proper use of my PEC here - John started sharing information with the rest of the group - It almost felt as if there was something causing an intentional interference all around. I was theoretizing about the source of this interesting phenomenon for some time, and I had two main ideas that seemed to be the most likely ones, though coming down to one thing - existence of a device within this facility that is either specifically dedicated to producing electromagnetic interference as a safety measure, or simply capable of generating energy for which this interference is just a byproduct. Based on the most recent data I have, I'm pretty convinced this place is a type of power plant, or - to be more precise - this section is responsible for providing energy since I'm not entirely sure if it is actually generating, or maybe just drawing the energy from somewhere.

Others were listening to him with curiosity, though some understood more than others.

- If it is drawing energy, where would it be from then? - Johnson asked - Some kind of geothermal source? For such a location, doesn't it seem usage of nuclear energy to be more efficient?

Marlow shrugged at first, then smiled.

- From our point of view? Nuclear fusion still feels like the most efficient power source. However, as humans, we usually limit ourselves to rely on phenomena we know, because these are familiar, yet there may be phenomena we are either unaware of or are just not as strong on our home planet to think about them as potential energy sources. Now, think of the specificity of this planet. New Gaia, while having gravity similar to Earth, has much more active magnetism, to the point of affecting various devices we are using. Imagine that the initial thoughts we had about the electromagnetism around the planet being related to alien activity are wrong, and its actually other way round and the aliens were using this electromagnetism for their own profit.

It was the first time John said it out loud, and shared his thoughts with others. He was not aware of how he looked, while talking about it.

- Wow, now I can really tell you are a science guy, John - Martin was smiling at him - You know, your eyes are sparkling when you talk about this theory. Still, what you just said sounds amazing, and if it is true, maybe it's that you already figured out one of the reasons why we came here to begin with. What if this energy powering up the alien megacity is what you just spoke about?

Alina clasped her hands, making everyone turn their heads her way.

- I understand it's a great thing - she said to others with a calm voice - but let us complete our current tasks and get out of here before we celebrate, okay?

The men nodded, and everyone agreed to aim for the area they could not scan because of the interference.