Conflicting Objectives XXII

The group proceeded towards the area their PECs could not scan, located in the corner of the area they recently entered. This section of the underground was the most spacious among all rooms they went through so far, which could be easily seen by the length of walk required to reach the target they set for themselves - based on the data the group had, they needed to pass over two hundred meters to get there.

- Do we expect any traps on the way, John? - Martin asked just moments after they started heading towards the corner of the room - Anything you recall from the previous visit?

Marlow shook his head.

- There should be nothing dangerous, aside from the barriers around this corner of the room, where I saw something that looked like an interface - he informed others - Still, while I'm saying that, it doesn't mean we shouldn't remain cautious, everyone.

Other three nodded in unison.

- I keep wondering - Alina spoke after they walked the next dozen or so meters - Why is it we had areas that had artificial life on, and here there is barely anything, and our target is pretty much a blurred section we cannot see?

- I saw a barrier there, the last time I was in the area - John said it yet again - So I have no other idea than this being a safety measure someone put up to keep anyone unauthorized away.

- So, based on what you are saying, may be some kind of operational space around the main control room - Martin suggested - Maybe the lack of traps or other safety measures, and the amount of free area have some deeper meaning.

Marlow remembered previous scans he did in a different place, noticing an energy circulation within the floor, or rather - somewhere underground, what he believed to be a metal, maybe a liquid, carrying the electric current. In fact, his friend's words made him realize some additional connections between the pieces of theory he had in mind for some time now.

- You do have a point, Martin - John agreed with the mechanic - Last visit was quite abrupt so I couldn't really analyze the area properly, but what you said makes perfect sense here. The ground, the walls, maybe the whole shape of the structure we are in - all of these may be well-thought pieces of something bigger. We definitely need to find to time to check the place more carefully.

- But you don't want to do it just now, right? - Johnson asked him with a face showing that it is an idea he does not like - I mean, I get why you would like to check this, and I'm also intrigued. Still, like everyone else I believe, I already feel tired so I would prefer for any such thing to be done later on.

Marlow gave his friend a pat on the shoulder.

- Don't worry, I have no plan to put more pressure on anyone here - he assured, looking at everyone, not only Martin - Hopefully, once we gain access to the main control room, we should be able to enable a proper access route to investigate this place.

This topic seemed to be clarified well enough since no one continued dwelling on it, and the whole group continued walking towards the corner of the room. While everything was suggesting there should be no problems on their way, they still walked carefully, using their PECs to scan every spot in the vicinity.

Fortunately, few minutes they spent on walking resulted in no issues and soon they were able to see the area John had marked from his previous visit underground - the problem was, right now, it was surrounded by the familiar black metal panels they saw all around them in other rooms they passed through.

- Didn't you say it was see-through blockage before? - Martin asked John once they reached close to the wall encompassing what was supposed to be the control room - It's all this dark metal once more...

Marlow was unable to hide his disappointment and sighed, looking at the tall wall panels.

- The last thing I recall is that this spot was secured differently - he explained - Honestly speaking, the paths were closing gradually as I was running away from here, so it's quite likely another layer of security this facility has.

- And here I hoped it would finally be a smooth ride moving forward - Johnson looked tired as he said it - Is this one at least easier to open than previous passages?

- I will see once I'm done with a scan.

The whole group was disappointed by this new finding, but - at the same time - they grew used to it after so many similar events everyone faced so far, allowing them to collect themselves quite fast and fully focus on finding a solution to open the way.

John gathered quite a lot of data on the alien language and functionality of their terminals he had a chance to use on numerous occasions, yet each new encounter presented him with some novelty, a new challenge to overcome, like solving a puzzle or cracking peculiar alien code. It almost felt as if each subsequent interface was intentionally increasing the difficulty level, to the point where Marlow started thinking about likelihood of his skills being tested here, or maybe being taught how to operate these systems.

Due to these observations, major became much more conscious of his own actions, and was more carefully analyzing each particular case he was dealing with, looking for clues that could either confirm or decline any of the theories he had here. Still, it did not change the fact he had to find a way to solve each problem introduced within the terminals since it was required for his group to not only finish the mission, but - what was the most important - to ultimately let them leave the underground in one piece.

In the current case they were analyzing, the first step was to bring up the interface, which was not as easy as before - they could not see any obvious markings to tell apart which of the panels is interactable, and the alien app John had installed on his PEC was not cooperating for some reason now. Somehow, based on what he heard from the voice within his head not so long ago, he suspected his access has been restricted, thus no usual response showing the markings on key objects. Obviously, Marlow tried different steps to bypass any possible blocks within the code, even tried to contact "the voice", yet there was no reply.

In the end, major was left with thorough scanning of every nook and cranny, same way as his group-mates, hoping to find anything that would lead them to finding a way in. However, the process was taking more and more time, and there were no visible results coming from their work, making everyone feel uneasy.

- I hope any of you noticed something that could become a breakthrough here - Martin spoke to others and sat on the floor, sighing - How many hours has it been since we went down here? It feels to me like forever.

- It's been nearly six hours - Andy said that with a calm face - I used to be in the field for way longer.

Johnson looked at him with a smirk on the face.

- Seems more like six days to me - he straightened his legs on the floor, and rested his back on one of the wall panels - How does it look to you, John?

Marlow was strongly focused on his current task, and yet the mention of the time done by the others made him realize it is already the threshold Kate warned him about - the drug she injected major with was supposed to keep the man on feet for five or six hours, then it would wear off. While he did not worry about the pain that much now, doctor Warner mentioned there is a possibility of experiencing side effects once the substance is no longer active, which could prove to be quite a bit of a problem in a long run.

Funny enough, for all the time John did not think about the accident from the early stage of their current mission, his body felt all fine, but the very moment he remembered, sweat appeared on his forehead and his cybers started to twitch occasionally - minor inconvenience, yet serious enough symptom of the body not being in the top shape.

He had to force his organism to endure a bit longer, at least until they find a way out, and - since having his mind occupied with different tasks seemed to keep the body stable - Marlow decided to focus as much as possible on brainstorming, and topics requiring the brain to operate at a higher pace.

- Instead of counting how much time we spent here - John spoke in response to Martin's question - I'd rather put all effort into reviewing all the clues, all the data we have - he was already running more than one analysis simultaneously - Give me any ideas you may have, whatever these are.

Boskovitch was scratching her head for a moment, but she ultimately shrugged, having no ideas she would deem worth mentioning, though shared all the data via PEC. Johnson, on the other hand, wanted to stand up and continue looking for more clues, when Marlow noticed something unusual.

- Martin, don't move from there! - major told his friend - Look, below your feet. We need to check what's that.

The floor was composed of a variety of tiles in different, geometrical shapes, and now, a square-shaped one, on which Johnson was sitting before, started to glow with a bright light - an abnormal sight given that part of floor had a deep, black color just a moment before.

- John, should I be worried here? - Martin asked, looking seriously scared, his eyes fixed on illuminated tile - It won't explode, right?

- Calm down, bud - John showed him to stay in the same spot, using a hand gesture, while also starting analysis with his PEC - The light is pretty much white, not red. Remember, it's usually red light that means trouble in the movies.

Johnson froze and looked at Marlow as if he was crazy.

- Are you seriously saying such stuff right now? Was that supposed to help me out?

Major shrugged, but smiled at the same time.

- Well, it was worth a try. I hoped it could ease you up a bit, lighten up the atmosphere. All of that, when I do a short analysis in the meantime.

Martin looked confused for a moment there, but - due to absurdity of the situation - all the tension he built up disappeared in a matter of seconds.

- So, did you find anything useful then? Can I move from here now?

John shook his head.

- I'd rather prefer to keep you on this spot for a bit longer, until I do a few more simulations.

- Can I sit at least?

- Yeah, I think so. Just don't move away from the area that's glowing.

Marlow was not telling this to anyone yet, but what he was checking right now was related to his previous observations concerning the energy veins - Johnson might have been right, and there could be indeed a reason for why there was that much of a free space in this room.

John had no doubt, the energy was flowing below their feet, yet he was no longer so sure the explanation would be as simple as some liquid, conductive metal being the energy source - rather than that, it felt that it could have been an alternative to the cables, or maybe energy storage at most, something like batteries.

Either way, their main target was to open the path to - what they believed to be - a control room, and gain full access to the facility's functions, which would ultimately give major more freedom to investigate, so he focused on the connections between the sections where sensors could pick up energy readings. Still, while there was definitely energy powering up the tile to enable such a glow, the intensity was low enough to make it hard for PEC to catch the electromagnetic activity below them - especially within close vicinity of the wall encompassing their target, as the interference was the highest directly by the metal panels.

With limited visibility granted by sensors, Marlow was forced to look for other clues that could allow him to understand how this system worked, as if the work done so far was not enough. Then, several minutes after he gave up on scanning wider area of the floor due to no useful data being gathered, an unexpected event caught his eye.

- Martin, did you do anything? - John asked his friend, who was standing on the lighted tile - Wasn't it brighter before?

Johnson blinked several times, focusing his eyes on the floor around his feet.

- Now that you say it, you are right - he confirmed - It seems dimmed now. Still, I didn't do anything unusual, just swapping between sitting and standing, though not sure if that matters...

- Given the stuff we've seen here until now, I wouldn't be surprised for something like that to matter - Alina pointed that out - It won't hurt to try, right? - she asked that, while looking at John, who nodded in confirmation.

Martin shrugged, which seemed to mean "whatever" and he sat down on the ground, while others were observing. However, after several minutes of waiting, the light dimmed even more, to the point of the tile being barely different from the rest of the floor.

- Well, it doesn't seem to work - Johnson sighed, and put his hands on the floor to switch to another position.

The very moment he moved, the light became brighter, much to Martin's confusion.

- Now, that's weird - he said, scratching his head - Why did it change so suddenly?

It came with a surprise to John too, but - contrary to his friend - major had an idea about what exactly happened there, though he preferred to do some additional check to confirm before he could explain to his colleagues.

- John, what are you doing? - Boskovitch, who was observing him, asked - Do you have some idea?

- Not sure, just give me a moment - he told her - I need to think.

He approached the spot where Johnson was sitting, close enough to have him at a hand's reach, then he sat on the ground, same as his friend.

- Are you tired or just mimicking me? - Martin asked him, curious about John's behavior.

Marlow shook his head and continued, repeating some of movements Johnson did while sitting. Minutes later, the tile he was on seemed to become a bit brighter, though intensity of the light was still low, but then - as he put his real hand on the floor - the tile got way brighter out of a sudden. Then, he moved back his hand, and the light became dimmed.

- Wait, John, are you smiling? - Alina was looking closely at him a longer while now - Did something happen?

Major was unaware of this, but he apparently looked happy - his sudden realization must have shown on his face. Either way, there was no reason to do more tests, because the explanation for the tile's reaction was simple - in fact, it was so obvious John felt stupid for not seeing that sooner.

- These interfaces so far, it might have been not only about the tissues, or any cellurar scan of a biological signature - he started explaining - Crazy as it may sound, I think these objects react to heat. And it's likely not any heat, possibly temperature of specific range, combined with live organism's presence.

Everyone looked at each other, digesting information he just shared with them.

- Ok, so you need to be a biological being, and produce heat? - Boskovitch started her own analysis, based on what she just heard from Marlow - No matter how I think about it now, it feels to me like a safety to not allow dead bodies to activate the system. You know, this thing from the movies where they cut a finger or gouge out someone's eye to use it on the system.

Hearing that, Johnson did a facepalm, much to the surprise of others.

- That makes so much sense now - he said that, though others looked confused - Just think about it. We came in contact with these weird creatures that could take over dead bodies. What if the original inhabitants of this planet could have been affected by these too? If someone took over a body of one of the aliens...

- ...they could enter the facilities and wreak havoc - John finished the sentence - You are right, Martin, that might have been the case, and this only adds to the credibility of my idea here.

Everyone seemed excited, though it was just a momentary thing that was quickly cooled down by what Alina said next:

- That's a really interesting theory that got me engaged too, but how exactly is it going to help us in getting the path open? Unless you guys have a plan to light up all of the tiles in this room, hoping it would get us through the blockage.

Hearing that, Marlow smiled.

- That won't be necessary - he told her - Activating all the tiles in the room, that is. It's likely that we only need turn on portion of the floor to trigger something, though I have no idea what could it be.

- You know that doesn't sound encouraging, John? - Martin asked him - You, basically, just said we should do trial and error here. It's going to take us ages.

Major sighed.

- I get how it sounds, but - to be completely honest - what else can we do here?