Conflicting Objectives XXVI

Wall panels surrounding the corner of the area were slowly lowering into the ground, surprisingly slow to John who still remembered his run through the underground with walls dropping and popping up left and right. This feeling might have been partially due to overall circumstances he ended up in, being forced to run away at full speed, making him perceive the surroundings differently - yet, the way it looked right now, with slow movement that should seem safer, Marlow's body tensed up.

- We don't know what's there so get ready for anything - he instructed others, also trying to re-assure himself that way - Make sure you put all defenses in your F-suits up.

- I still like my life, so I already did that before you said it, John - Martin replied with a slight smile - Just don't go crazy with your cybers, because I don't think our equipment would withstand direct hit at full power.

- I honestly hope it won't come to this, and we can get out of here calmly - John said that with a serious look on his face - It doesn't mean you shouldn't have the weapon ready, Andy - he spoke to sarge Krawczak.

Andy raised the gun and tapped it with his fingers.

- It's always ready, major.

- Ok, Alina, you ready?

- Yes, but I will be first to run in case anything happens - he told Marlow - I'm no fighter so I would be only a hindrance.

- I don't expect you to fight - John assured her - If it gets dangerous, stay away from trouble, don't get in the line of fire.

Boskovitch nodded, standing slightly in the back, with her eyes fixed on the wall panels.

During their talk, the walls lowered nearly enough for the tallest of them to be able to see inside above them, and major quickly noticed something he did not expect - the energy barrier that was surrounding the spot during his last visit was either no longer there or so weak that his PEC was not picking up any trace of it.

- Ok, everyone, we should do one more thing - Marlow spoke to others, while adjusting some settings on his PEC - Activate this piece of code on your F-suits, it should give you a chance of interfering with Ghasts in case we encounter any here.

- Ghasts? Did you notice anything, John? - Johnson asked him immediately - I cannot see anything like that with my scanner - he added after launching the code they had specifically for identifying Ghasts.

- I wouldn't be able to see any Ghasts the last time I was here since I was completely unaware of these - John started explaining - but I did see something unusual, which was a weird energy ball that seemed to react to our presence, and I cannot find it anywhere now.

- And why didn't you tell us about it before? - Alina complained - Don't you think it's something we should know about?

- It's not like I didn't want to tell you, I had to keep it secret as per orders from Ryan. If it was here now, we would all see it and it wouldn't be relevant anymore whether I saw it before or not. In such circumstances, we were to proceed with investigation of the object without me disclosing anything about the previous encounter. However, given it's no longer to be seen, I'm acting on my own now, because I consider it to be too dangerous to keep you in the dark anymore.

- Colonel doesn't trust us, then? - Andy looked shocked after hearing this information - I won't undermine the orders, of course, but I thought something like this, an important piece of data, should be shared with us during briefing.

Marlow scratched his neck, visibly embarrassed.

- All I can do is to apologize to all of you, also on behalf of colonel. We are currently in a situation, where caution is advised, and Ryan was for sure looking for the best of the expedition. Still, it's not the time to focus on what was not said as we need to take care of what is most important now and that's our safety, so please, be extra careful. I don't know what was that thing back then, yet it didn't seem to be the same as Ghasts. After all, I could easily see it with a naked eye.

- I don't know if it's a good thing, though - Martin did not look convinced - We at least have some info about Ghasts, but if what you said is something different, we don't know what it is capable of. Honestly, I hope we don't come upon that thing here. Based on what you are saying, it was out in the open, so I have a feeling that - contrary to Ghasts - this object may be something stronger since it did not require to keep its presence hidden.

 John nodded.

- Yes, you do have a point. Animals usually keep themselves hidden out of fear, being weaker than other creature, so the same may be the case for entities similar to Ghasts. Of course, for Ghasts it is also a part of deceit to inhabit a living being's body, but this light ball might have been something strong enough to fight without a body.

- You know that it doesn't sound re-assuring, John? - Alina interrupted his speech - It feels as if there are even creepier things than Ghasts around here, so I'd rather have us all focus on getting our work done and leave this place.

- Don't worry, we won't stay here longer than necessary - Marlow promised - Walls are almost down. We just go in, investigate and hopefully gain control of the area, then we leave back to a safe location.

As they were talking things through, the lowered walls fully exposed the interior of the section their group was supposed to reach - there were not traces of the ball of light John remembered with no visuals or leftover energy readings. In fact, this area in the corner of the room would have looked completely calm and quiet, if it was not for the remains of their death colleague, Jackie.

- Oh, man, I'm going to puke - Martin looked straight at what was left from the deceased man, and the sight of it made him nauseous, forcing Johnson to turn his head away - I didn't really expect body parts lying around like this...

- It's not like I had anything to say in that regard - John said that, while patting his friend's back - Take your time, and join us once you feel better.

Martin already started vomitting, and the only thing he managed to do in a reply was to give a short nod.

Major was not blaming Johnson for this kind of reaction as he barely managed to keep himself composed, but what was surprising to him was that Boskovitch remained so calm in such circumstances, being the closest person to Jackie they knew among all of the survivors they had contact with. Sarge Krawczak also looked unaffected, though in his case being a seasoned soldier was enough of an explanation for showing resistance to such a sight.

- Alina, are you hanging in there? - John asked the woman as they approached the border line where a barrier was previously located - If it is hard for you...

Yet, Boskovitch quitckly shook her head.

- It's okay, John, you don't need to worry about me - she assured him with a calm voice - I've been waiting for this moment since I asked to be a part of this mission. If I were to turn back now, I would not be able to look in Jackie's eyes. I'm already set on seeing this through, no matter how bad it is.

From Marlow's observation, her body was trembling, suggesting she was under a heavy stress now, but he was not tactless to force support someone obviously did not want.

- Sure, I will focus on the area itself, and you can take care of the remains - he told Alina, while going to the center of the small room on his own - Call me, in case anything is needed.

Boskovitch thanked him, and focused on the corpse, which was dismembered with respective parts lying around the place - they were prepared for this situation, carrying special bags allowing them to put dead bodies in vacuum to avoid exposure to a potential contamination. Alina did not accept help at this task, even though it was expected to take a longer while due to the amount of pieces the body was in.

Meanwhile, John was already in the middle of section analysis, looking for the most important thing they were sent to find - a kind of the main control panel that would allow them to use the facility freely, and make the place a safe camp for anyone from their expedition.

Since the electromagnetic interference in the area became way weaker since Marlow's first visit underground, he hoped that finding the traces needed for pinpointing the interface to operate the facility's systems will be much easier, but - quite the opposite - it turned out to be harder without having noticeable surges and drops in energy readings.

Not seeing any feedback from the actions he did so far, John started looking for traces of similar system to what they used while being outside the corner zone of this area to open the barrier walls. What particularly caught his eyes were traces of blood, most likely left by Jackie - at first, Marlow excluded possibility of these to be connected to operating the interface as heavy blood loss seemed to be already caused by the body being dismembered, meaning Jackie would be unlikely in shape to perform any intentional actions. But then, he remembered their colleague was already wounded before going deeper into facility, which could potentially mean some of the blood markings were left by the man while he was still conscious. With that, John started analysis of blood traces to pinpoint the oldest ones.

- Did you manage to find anything already? - Martin appeared next to John several minutes later, still a bit pale, but composed enough to not puke anymore - Do you need a hand?

- I'm already pretty much done with one thing I had in mind - Marlow started explaining - I'm yet to find a trace of controls in the room, and the only potential clue are blood markings Jackie left behind. Identifying which blood prints are oldest is what I'm doing now.

Johnson looked around, his face still showing uneasiness caused by the gore state of the area, and nodded in the end.

- Got it. So the oldest ones should be from the time Jackie was still conscious, right? You hope he managed to find something early on?

- That's the only reasonable explanation I could think of - major confirmed - Not sure how much it's going to be useful to us, though.

Having said that, John already had all of the blood marks analyzed and action plan of what to do next. Hopefully, at least one of the ideas he had for future could work.

At first look, there was nothing out of ordinary located in this small encompassing in the corner of the area, with the whole floor being on exactly the same level, none of the tiles clearly suggesting being odd one.

However, among the traces left on the ground, there were three particular spots that picked Marlow's interest - all three marks were left around the same time in close vicinity, and were making a triangular shape when combined.

Of course, it could have been a coincidence for the spots creating such a shape, yet major did not really believe in the kind of thing being purely an accident, especially when all sides had an equal length, making it an equilateral triangle - one does not get such a shape unintentionally.

Having his PEC confirm the calculation and simulate the shape, John was ready to interact with this section of the wall to see whether it may result in triggering anything, but before he could do that he had to wait for remains to be removed from there - Alina nearly reached his location already, so it was only a matter of few minutes before this was done.

Looking at her face, Boskovitch appeared exhausted, yet she still found energy for a short chitchat with Marlow:

- Did you find anything? - she asked him, while using the bag to pick up Jackie's remains next to the spot John was standing at - I will be done with Jackie's body in a moment, but without the way out, nothing really changes. I'd rather not end up being buried here.

- Don't worry, I have an idea I'll check once you are done here - John assured her - I'm confident about this spot, and I feel Jackie ended up here for a reason, too.

Alina looked at him with tired eyes.

- I doubt it would have been a consolation for him - she said - Dead people don't speak.

Marlow did not want to continue this topic - it was obvious Boskovitch was in a foul mood, so it seemed for the best to let her be.

With that, once she was done with the work next to the spot John was interested in, he stood in front of the bottom side of the triangle, scratching his beard as he was thinking about further steps to take.

By now, Marlow knew where exactly did Jackie place his hands before, yet he needed to make sure the actions are repeated in a proper order, and what made the most sense based on the positioning of the blood marks was that the man must have kneeled down - John was reluctant about taking such a position as it would greatly limit his maneuverability, but had no other idea to go with at this point. Still, knowing how dangerous such pose could be, he asked Andy to get closer and stand guard.