Conflicting Objectives XXV
No matter how his body would react to the situation, and regardless of what the alien app was showing him, John could not really see any other option than pushing forward, hoping that this approach will lead them to their goal.
Without any further deliberation, they entered and activated North symbol, and subsequently drew West symbol, which was expected to be the last one in the row.
- Ok, now we will see - Marlow took a deep breath, standing next to the panel they needed to touch to activate the symbol - Let's hope it's the last one.
He extended his right hand to reach the panel, and - once he did - everyone could hear already familiar sounds coming from under the floor. However, when these ceased, nothing noticeable happened and walls were still surrounding the place they wanted to enter.
- Wait, that's it? - Johnson asked, confused - Did we do something wrong then?
- I would say so - Boskovitch shrugged as she said that - Otherwise it should have opened, right?
Major shook his head in response.
- Not necessarily. What we were doing was aligning the placement of mechanism under the floor. There is a chance that we did that properly, and it is already in the correct position, but we may still need to do something before it can be used in any way.
- It's another scanning time - Martin sighed after hearing John's explanation - I guess, next time, we shouldn't get our hopes up.
They managed to do another round of scanning in a matter of several minutes, finding a really peculiar set of data, way different from what they saw before in terms of energy points underneath.
- It's not a mistake, correct? - Alina asked, looking at the map which showed placement of energy signatures - I hope our PECs are not malfunctioning and showing us broken results?
- We did a number of separate scans here, and I also used the sensors my cybers are equipped with to double-check - John replied, also reviewing the data - It's definitely not a mistake, though I must say it's intriguing.
- Seriously? I find it to be yet another complication - Martin did not look happy for this situation - Last time I checked, we were supposed to get access to the room in the corner and get out of here. Maybe for future research this is something big, but for our current situation?
Marlow gave Johnson a pat on the shoulder.
- I get your point, Martin - he assured his friend - Still, this data may be yet another clue here, we just need to figure it out.
- And what if it's not? - Johnson was not convinced - I believe everyone here understands that we were adjusting the energy flow for like three hours now, and this didn't bring us closer to finding a way in. Maybe it's us misunderstanding something here, John. What if these energy signatures are not connected to the mechanism that powers the wall panels and these things are separate?
Major scratched his head.
- We cannot be sure, that's true, Martin. Yet, I have a gut feeling this is all connected, and we are close to finding a solution. I already reviewed the data, and the amount of energy points no longer matches specific symbols, to the point we could draw pretty much every sign we know so far. This most likely suggests that we set the mechanism to the optimal position, so the thing to understand now is how we can make use of this setting.
Martin sighed.
- But what else can we do next, John? We already mapped the area several times now.
Surprisingly, Marlow smiled.
- Actually, we did not. Not in full, to be precise here. We kept scanning the floor to find how the energy signatures are located, and ultimately treated the wall panels around the corner room as if they were only barriers, yet these are partially made of metal used in alien interfaces, so maybe now we can activate something.
- It doesn't hurt to give it a try, especially if conditions are not favorable for us - Alina joined in the conversation - I'm up for investigating the walls now if John thinks it's a good idea.
- I didn't say I thought otherwise - Johnson immediately reacted, as if feeling that Boskovitch undermined his loyalty to a friend just now - It seemed to me, we might have gotten stuck here and was looking for other options. Since John provided an alternative, I'm more than happy to go with it.
This short exchange worked in major's favor - he nearly smiled because of avoiding the perspective where additional quarrel would have happened, causing an even bigger loss of time and affecting their further cooperation. In fact, their morale was not the highest, and such thing could even escalate into a serious fight.
Either way, happy it did not come to the worst scenario, Marlow assigned section to each party member in order to maximize the efficiency. Then, after a few minutes of proceeding with investigation of the panels, sarge Krawczak called him:
- Major, I think I have something!
John was still not even halfway through with his section, but immediately left to check on Andy.
- You seem to have quite a luck for finding stuff, you know? - major pointed out to sarge, remembering previous, similar cases - It's definitely something that can help us out - he added, pointing at a shape stretching out from the wall, and approaching it slowly - Though, I must say, it looks different than what I've seen before.
- Is it bad then? - Andy asked immediately, being the only person around, aside from John.
Marlow shrugged.
- Based on my experiences so far, I don't expect for it to be the case, but you can never be sure. Let me do some checks for now.
John started invastigating the peculiar, arch-shaped element stretching out from the wall, using his PEC for simultaneously capturing and analyzing the data. However, readings he was observing were not providing any new context to what he already knew, being the same as captures he had for similar objects before - this did not reassure him though, since there could have been something not visible with sensors he had at his dispossal, potentially problematic or even dangerous. Marlow even tried to launch the alien app yet again, but it still did not respond.
In the end, everyone completed the investigation of the remaining sections of blockage wall, and sarge Krawczak's area was the only one they found anything in. Due to aforementioned, even though major had no certainty whether it is safe or not, he made a decision to interact with the object, once more being the one to volunteer as John considered it to be the leader's responsibility.
While he did that so many times before, Marlow still felt hesitation as he extended his right hand to reach the part made of programmable metal. Only a few seconds later, the object started reacting with the top layer of the arch turning into bubbly surface, ressembling boiling water.
The reaction from the object was so abrupt and surprising that major froze for a longer moment, caught up in observing this phenomenon, until Martin spoke to him:
- John, is something wrong? You are spacing out. Anything happened?
John shook his head.
- No, it's just this sight is kind of mesmerizing, don't you think?
Another moment passed, and now the surface was not only full of bubbles, but there were also circles appearing alternately with the bubbles. The longer major was looking at it, the more he wanted to touch it - the feeling was getting stronger with every second, and ultimately caused him to reach the surface with his right hand.
When the skin of his hand touched the metal, Marlow felt a strong force pulling him down, towards the surface of the liquid metal. He started shouting, looking around for his colleagues to help him out, only to realize there is no one around.
Panicking, he tried pulling his hand away, but liquid was already reaching above his forearm, making it impossible to get away. Despite all of the struggle, metal ended up covering his whole body, and when John thought he was a goner, the liquid was no longer there, and he was standing all by himself in the middle of the bright room - so bright he could barely see anything.
The objects major saw with his eyes were blurred, making him able to notice only the shapes, similar to pipes or cables connected to two egg-shaped containers of a significant size. Even though the light was blinding him, Marlow still tried to move forward, only to feel resistance and be completely blocked from moving around.
He was paralyzed, and terrified, when the voice echoed:
- Don't worry, you are safe, as long as you stay within the zone - it sounded distorted, and hard to tell what kind of person is talking to him - The connection is unstable, so let's make this quick, as I have limited control.
John was confused and had many questions.
- Who are you? Unstable connection? Limited control?
- No time for that. You already disregarded my warnings and came to this point. Now, I ask you, do you still want to take this route or are you willing to take the safe one?
- What do you mean?
- I want to give you choice. You can either gain access to the room or be let out through the shortest possible route, but beware, you will be on your own after you make the decision.
- Why can't you explain?
- The connection... is unstable... control... limited... your choice?
The voice he could hear perfectly fine at first, suddenly started getting weaker. John really wanted to have the questions answered, yet the circumstances told him he needs to act quick.
- We need to get to the room, that's our target.
- That... your answer...? The... danger... beware... Can't... help...
It was harder to understand the voice with every passing second. The situation was scary, but one thing Marlow was sure about.
- That's my mission, I need to get there.
The voice could no longer be heard. The light disappeared completely and everything around started shaking abruptly. John could not see a thing, his PEC and cybers not activating, feeling the same sensation of liquid metal covering his skin again, and then...
- John! John, what's happening!?
Marlow took a deep breath and opened his eyes - he was lying on the floor, and saw the metal letting go of his body, flowing back into the wall.
- Where did you guys go? I was calling you - he said, looking at colleagues who gathered around here.
Others had scared expressions on their faces, and were looking at each other in confusion.
- We were here all the time - Martin told him, while checking medical condition of the friend's body - You were the one who got eaten by this black snot. We thought we lost you.
John was still feeling dizzy, but he slowly started to realize what could have actually happened there - he either lost consciousness and had a dream, or it was a vision of a kind caused by getting directly paired with the system this interface is connected to. He would prefer for it to be a dream as it was a better explanation to provide for his team, yet a vision was giving hope of there being a way for them to reach the target. Whatever it was, everything should be clear in a moment, based on what he heard from the mysterious voice.
- Can you stand? - Johnson asked Marlow after his PEC did not find any abnormalities, following the medical check - Do you need help?
John shook his head.
- I can manage on my own. Sorry for worrying you, guys.
He stood up afterwards, his eyes immediately noticing something about the blockage.
- Do you guys also see that? - he addressed other three, pointing at the panel interface stretched out from.
Liquid metal integrated with the wall again, and now all the panels were vibrating and slowly lowering into the floor.
- Does it mean you actually opened the way, John? - Alina was looking at the situation with eyes wide open - I didn't see you doing anything, so was it that someone only needed to interact with this weird object?
Marlow was pretty sure now that, what he had seen, was not just a dream, but more likely he managed to connect to the system, being subjected to a vision as a side effect.
Whatever it was, discussing anything of the sort with others would have caused nothing but trouble, therefore he did not speak of it, patiently waiting for what happens next, when the way gets open.