Conflicting Objectives XXIV

- John, what's the plan now? - Martin asked after about fifteen minutes of waiting - I don't want to be the one to complain again, but it feels that nothing's going to happen and we just keep staying in place.

- You are not the only one here - Alina followed up on what Martin said - John, do we really need to wait longer?

Marlow already realized this was perhaps waste of time way earlier, yet he still hoped this will not be the case as it would be the worst possible scenario he could imagine. Either way, longer wait would have been likely a really stupid idea, so he had no other choice than to give up on this one working, and look for other options.

- I agree, you can swap your F-suits to previous setting - John told others, doing the same thing himself - Honestly, I didn't want for such a result, and here we are, path closed and no idea about how to deactivate the tiles so we could try something else.

The atmosphere felt bad, but after a moment of looking at each other with perplexity, Johnson sighed and finally broke the silence:

- Well, I doubt we are going to give up just like that? I know I keep complaining about stuff not working in our favor, but ultimately we do manage to push through. Let's brainstorm, look for ideas, maybe there is something that we are missing? Maybe we are not seeing something completely obvious?

Major scratched his head, thinking about possible further steps they could take. Of course, it was not the time to give up, yet he felt the situation is getting worse for them with each passing minute. Though, being responsible for the whole group, he needed to do everything in his power to find a way out of this predicament.

- We are not going to just wait here, hoping for something to happen on its own - he assured others - As you said, Martin, we will look for anything we might have missed, including both the tiles as well as the wall we are trying to break open. Who knows, there may be something we are not noticing indeed.

- Okay, so tell us what should be done, and we will try our best here - Alina said that, though her face and tone suggested she is not really convinced.

- First of all, I don't intend to order you about everything - John started explaining - What we need right now is creativity, and any unconventional approach we may think of. I will only point you to sections I would like you to further investigate, and how you proceed is up to your imagination. Just stay in contact, so we can discuss and consult our ideas.

The atmosphere within the team remained tense, though everyone seemed eager to help, even if they did not have much hope. In circumstances they ended up with, also sarge Krawczak asked to be given a chance to help out - while major trusted the guy, he knew the best thing the guy was capable of was fighting, thus he assigned him to the spot Marlow considered to be the least problematic at the moment, which was the wall blocking access to their target.

As he made that decision, John did not expect involving Andy would cause a breakthrough in their current situation - during the time Marlow, Johnson and Boskovitch were re-checking all relevant spots in their assigned areas using all the tools available, Krawczak could only capture footage and find anything with his sight and touch. It came as a surprise that it was him touching one of the panels cause reaction from the system, namely sudden creaking noise coming from underneath.

When this happened, everyone else looked at Marlow with "what do we do" eyes.

- Just stand your ground, activate defenses in your F-suit and wait! - major instructed them - Run if you notice anything dangerous!

They were only expecting more problems from this point on, yet once the noise stopped, previously lighted tiles started blinking, then the light slowly faded, and ultimately all the tiles returned to their original state. Once everything calmed down, the whole group met by the wall blocking the way to the corner of the room.

- Was there anything specific you did here, sarge? - John asked Andy, checking the panel on his own.

Krawczak shook his head.

- I only touched it here, then I started hearing this sound - sarge explained, and sent the footage to major - I'm not sure what exactly happened.

- Neither do I - Marlow told him with complete honestly, smiling slightly - But I need to figure it out. I expect this might have been a trigger, which would explain why there was no response after we set the tiles and waited for the result. It seems we entered a command, yet we never confirmed the activation.

- You say that, but it didn't change anything for us - Boskovitch pointed out - There is no path that opened, nothing really changed in the whole area, at least from what I see... I don't know, John, it feels like it just reset and we didn't move forward in any way.

John nodded.

- It definitely may be the case - he agreed - On the other hand, it gives us a chance to correct our approach. Of course, it's on the assumption we indeed are back to the starting point here. Maybe something else changed, and we just don't see what exactly. We need to do additional scans now, all to compare how the status of the area differs from before, if anything.

Everyone agreed, and the group started doing rounds around the room, having enough of data in a matter of minutes - using algorithm Marlow shared with others, they also quickly picked up the spots where energy signatures were located, and immediately noticed that placement is now different.

- Ok, so that sound was basically some mechanism reshuffling these energy points? - Martin started talking shortly after they confirmed the positions are now different - Since we adjusted a symbol to these just before, doesn't it look to you as if we've started some kind of a huge puzzle here?

- We are trying to understand how aliens were thinking, so it's expected there will be lots of guessing - John replied to his friend - Our learning about how specific systems work won't be far from solving puzzles, if I'm to be honest.

- As long as we can get out of here, I don't mind having to solve a puzzle or two - said Alina, who was leaning on the wall with eyes closed in order to catch a breather - You can go ahead with further plan, but I need a moment of rest.

The way F-suits were constructed, they allowed for the users to rest in variety of positions - with joint stabilizers, this equipment was capable of simulating lying position regardless of the real position of the body, and this is what Boskovitch was currently using to support her rest.

- If anyone else needs a break, please feel free to do - John told others, even though he did not plan to use this moment like that himself - In the meantime, I will work on finding a matching symbol on my own.

- I get you want to get this done as soon as possible, but you should rest too - Martin told him with a scolding tone - At this point, fifteen or thirty minutes no longer seem to matter, unless someone has a different opinion - both Alina and Andy shook there heads to show that they are of the same mind - We'd rather not risk you getting exhausted in the worst possible moment, when we need you the most. Just slow down, and let us all get this short rest at least, because we don't know when will we get another chance like this before we leave this place.

Indeed, Marlow wanted to take care of it sooner than later, and thought that taking any stops by himself would set a bad example, yet his colleagues openly expressed their opinion about his approach. After taking a deeper breath, and thinking a bit calmly, major ended up noticing how bad could such a decision turn in the future.

- You are right, Martin - John said to his friend in the end - It seems I was looking into short-term gains too much, instead of thinking further ahead. I fixed myself so much on reaching the control room, I completely forgot this doesn't need to be necessarily the end of our mission, and we cannot foresee what else may happen after that.

Johnson smiled at him and gave him a pat on the shoulder.

- Just take a moment of rest, and don't think that much, even if only for a short while. Our bodies are one think, but our mental state is also important.

- Who would have expected Martin to take such things so seriously? - Boskovitch asked that with a noticeable smirk, though she was still staying in the same position with her eyes closed - If it's decided now, how about you both stop talking and let us all take this fifteen minutes of break?

- Let's make it thirty - Marlow suggested - since we don't know how much longer we are going to stay here. If solving this puzzle takes even more time, we will consider additional breaks. We either way are on our own here, and rushing may indeed cause us more trouble. Apologies for not seeing that until now.

With that, they all chose spots to take naps or whatever other way of resting they wanted. Then, the next thirty minutes passed by without issues, and the whole group was ready to move on with their current task of matching a proper symbol as all of them temporarily turned off their PECs for the duration of the break, so no automatic app was running during that time.

Further analysis they did, which took them around ten minutes combined, led to finding a total of fifteen different symbols that could match the energy points when drawn on the floor.

- Now, that complicates things for us even more - John said that with disappointment in his voice - It's over twice the amount we had for the previous placement, and meanings of each of these signs don't feel useful at all... Only lead I see is related to what we've seen in the previous areas.

- Which means we have three different symbols to choose from - Alina followed up on the topic - If we look at it from this perspective, it can actually be a better case than previous one.

- Given our approach is right, that is - Martin pointed out - Not that we have that many better ideas, though. So, now the question is which one of the three we should choose.

Marlow was already thinking about it during their conversation, so he was ready to explain his plan to others.

- I'm running a check for the order of appearance for the respective symbols. I'm also hoping that maybe the positions they had compared to each other when appearing may give us some leads.

The analysis he mentioned to others allowed John to narrow down two patterns connecting the initial symbol they marked on the floor with two other signs they had on the list of fifteen, but only one was still present in the second group of three, making it the perfect choice - if the path they chose was correct, of course, as there was also a chance they were already doing something wrong.

Additional thing that major confirmed during this check was that majority of the symbols they were using was related to directions, time and positions or states, though all of them had three different meanings at least, usually each falling to the said groups respectively. In other words, one sign could be understood as East, dusk, right or beginning, while other would refer to the opposite - West, dawn, left and end.

The symbol that they used initially, Marlow interpreted as a centre, while it could have different meanings, and this further look into the possible translations showed him potential connection that was so obvious he felt stupid for not noticing sooner. If his guess was correct, this system was using the day-night cycle symbols only, though he still had to figure out how these mattered and affected the layout of the room.

Once he went through the details with others, Martin clasped his hands, and his face showed he had an idea.

- Doesn't it seem to you like some type of clock mechanism? - Johnson asked others, while looking through the data they had - The shape of the area is not exactly what you would expect from a clock, that's for sure, and I agree with John's theory about this place being a type of power plan, but it can still use a mechanism like this to operate.

- Come on, isn't it too much of a wishful thinking? - Boskovitch commented on the idea - How would they even apply it to area of such size?

Marlow was no longer listening to this exchange, trying to figure out whether suggestion his friend had, made any sense. And then...

- I can actually think of the way it could be used here - he said after running a small simulation on his PEC - I believe Martin was referring more to a classic, analog or automatic watch, where you need to wind it up for its heart to move the clock's hands. Obviously, we are not talking about mechanism here doing the same thing, but we did see energy points' location shifting, which suggests that activating the first symbol made the mechanism under our feet move. If we apply that theory, we should draw signs and activate them in a proper order for the position of whatever is located below us to match the alignment needed to open the walls blocking the way. If it is a more of an analog way, there may be a physical blockage under each panel that makes it impossible to move them.

- Ok, so if that's the case here - Alina spoke - We either go with entering symbols clockwise or counterclockwise, correct? Does it matter how we go about it? I recall you could destroy analog watches if you did this incorrect way.

Both John and Martin nodded in agreement.

- That's correct - confirmed the first of the two - However, we started with a symbol that can be understood as South, and the only sign that matches the current positions of energy signatures is the one we interpret as East, so we are forced to go with counterclockwise approach either way. Also, we will see after the next one, if our guess is correct.

After reviewing the plan, they went with drawing the next symbol they selected.

Yet again, the sole drawing of the sign did not cause anything to happen, and they only activated it once one of them touched one of the wall panels surrounding the corner of the room. As expected, they could here another set of sounds coming from underground, and subsequent scan of the area confirmed positions of energy points shifted again.

Several minutes later, Marlow used the data they gathered to compare the symbols' with the layout of corresponding energy signatures and quickly realized it indeed was requiring them to draw a shape of North now.

Everything seemed to tell them it is a proper path they are taking, and yet - John had this ominuous feeling he could not shake, and alerts from the alien app that started appearing now were also strengthening this uneasiness.