Discovery

"If I tell you what actually happened how could you possibly believe me?

We saw it, we both saw the damn thing!"

Dr. Ishiro Serizawa glanced over at his colleague, Dr. Roger Macfield, gently clicking off the mic. "How long has it been since contact?" "Given our best estimates on radiation exposure about 12 hours give or take." Macfield stubbed out his cigarette as he looked into the control room at the disheveled man covered in thick frost, visibly shaken by what he'd seen. "I know my rights! You can't keep me here any longer!" "Mr. Westmorland please bear with us, we need to know exactly what you and your team saw out there." Serizawa calmly spoke into the mic never betraying his true emotions. This was different…far different than what they'd seen with M.U.T.O or Gojira now over a decade ago. Never before had a close encounter left all the witness's suffering from acute radiation sickness. "We've isolated and measured isotopes Ishiro." Macfield's sullen face resembled that of a corpse, the hours of research had not been kind to the 50 year old molecular biologist. "They're like nothing we've ever seen before, the amount of energy makes uranium look like a house hold battery. The closest we've come to identifying the signature are those from dead pulsars." The weary doctor unfurled a graph showing the familiar signature of a gamma ray burst. "This is your dying star." Rolling out another sheet. "This is from this morning." Ishira's eyes widened as he looked at the near identical signatures. "My god." "Somethin' is cooking out there and it ain't friendly."

16:00 near Amundsen-Scott, Antarctica

The distinctive chop of rotors cut through the frigid air as the brutish Mil Mi-8 skirted the desolate landscape below, a familiar 60's tune faintly crackled over the intercom mixed with the roar of the rotor wash. Jack Westmorland tried his best to warm himself in the negative 40 degree air, dry like the deserts of the southwest yet distinctive, like little knives poking his skin. He'd figured by now he had grown accustom to the merciless Antarctic weather. It had been close to 4 months since he'd set foot on the magnetic south pole at Scott base, yet he still couldn't shake the frigid grip of this unforgiving land. "Hey yankee boy!" Jack glanced across the cargo hold toward a portly red bearded man dressed in a yellow blue parka. "Yeah you yankee boy!" The man held out a featureless bottle filled with a clear liquid. "You still cold?! This'll do the trick." He spoke with a thick Norwegian accent. "S-Sorry I don't drink." "Eh, you will yankee boy, this cold…the only way to fight her off is with some good ole fashioned Vodka!" Jack glanced at his fellow explorer seated across the isle. These Norwegians were at home out here, he'd never thought a human could last so long out in the elements but they proved him wrong. "My names Jack." "Ok Jack, you want some? Trust me this stuff will get rid of those tiny icy knives."

"Aw, what the hell! It's not like it can get any worse?" Jack grabbed the bottle from the Norwegian, popping the cork off. *Swig* "Say I didn't catch your name?" "Oh, my name? It's Geir Baardsson, been in this shit hole for 5 years! You'll get used to it or you'll crack." "Uh, crack?" Geir made a cuckoo sign as he took the Vodka back. *Swig* "I've seen plenty of big guy come out here thinking their superman. In a couple of months they get sent back crying like little babies." "Oh, that makes sense." Jack pictured himself curled up in a ball sobbing, losing all hope. "But you have deh look Jack!" Geir gave him a hefty pat on the back. "The look?" "Yes I can tell, you've got the look of someone whose seen the worst and can stand this icy hell." Distant memories of his time in Afghanistan began to bubble up in his mind causing Westmorland to shudder. "So, Jack why are we going out to the ass end of this wonderful land!?" "Well, Geir the plans to take some core samples of the ice shelve." "You want ice? Just go outside and stick your hands in the ground!" The boisterous Norwegian was beginning to grow on him, at least he managed a sense of humor in this gloomy place. "Heh, not a bad idea Geir. Only problem is we have to test this particular shelve for recession." *Swig* "Eh, that global warming crap huh? If you ask me it's all a bunch of bull. Look Jack, look at all the damn snow out there!" Jack glanced out the window as Geir continued on his conspiracy tirade, noticing the snow covered wasteland growing closer. The faint 60's music stopped as the intercom buzzed to life. "We're making our decent now, hold on."

Jack Westmorland adjusted his snow shoes as the frigid air blasted his face. *Crackle* "This is mother goose, see ya in an hour Red Team." "Copy that mother goose!" He placed the hand held back in it's holster as the Mi-8 lumbered off into the overcast sky. "Where to Jack?!" Geir hollered over the deafening roar of the wind. "About 100yards east!" The Norwegian gave him a thumbs up as the two made their way over the thick ice. The mission was simple enough, take about 12 core samples of the ice sheet, place them in the container, haul it back to the chopper, and check the results. Geir lifted the 100lb coring drill up to the location while Westmorland jotted down some numbers. "This is the spot lets get to work!"

A couple of sputters from the small engine and the drill began to do it's work. Jack tried to wrap his mind around the fact that he and Geir were the only living souls for about 100miles, the thought made him feel uneasy. "That's core one! Eleven more and we can get the hell out of here, right Jack!" "Amen to that!" Both felt as though they were being watched, the uneasy feeling that someone or something was sitting right outside their periphery. Several agonizing minutes passed while they continued their monotonous task, the motor growling and howling with each inch of ice. "When we get back I skype my wife and kids!" Geir smiled as he continued steadying the drill. "You got kids Jack?!" Jack thought of his ex-wife and the messy divorce right before he made his way to Antarctica. "Nah, how many kids do you have Geir?!" The small talk seemed to make the operation go that much quicker. "Two beautiful little girls! Nina and Siri!" "How old?!" "4 and 7, the oldest takes after her papa, always getting into trouble!" "Well Geir I promise we'll get this over with quick so you can see them tonight!" "Thanks Jack!" *Click* The drill motor sputtered and with another gurgle died.

"What the hell!" Geir tried his best to restart the motor, but the drill was shot. "That damn drill was supposed to be brand new, what's going on here?!" Jacks mind raced as he noticed his fellow researcher grow dead quiet. "Geir what's wrong?" "J-J-Jack you should take a look at this…." He could hardly believe his eyes, thin hair line cracks were starting to form around the drill site and Geir. It was impossible, the shelve here is supposed to be at least 60ft thick. "Don't move!" "Jack I…" To his horror Westmorland watched the Norwegian vanish beneath the ice, before he could react the cracks spread underneath his own feet, then everything went dark. He could feel his body being thrown against the ice, the pain nearly knocking him unconscious. After falling for what seemed like an hour, Jack felt his body halt against damp soil floor. Thankfully all expeditions came equipped with a survival kit just incase. A click and the faint neon light from Jacks glow stick lit the strange humid cavern. The walls were covered in frothy white residue that resembled mucus, the smell was close to unbearable, a mix of rotten flesh and stagnant water. "This looks almost organic." He looked up toward the dim light coming from where he'd been swallowed. "What the hell is this?" "JACK, JACK!"

Jack made his way toward the Norwegians voice. "Thank god he's alright!" Geir stood in the middle of a large cavern, the narrow cave gradually widened until Westmorland could no longer see the walls. "Geir are you alright?" "Yes-yes, that was quite the fall eh Jack?" "Shit Geir don't scare me like that!" "Hey relax, I was on north pole expedition, we were stranded for almost 60 day's, this is nothing!" The Norwegian took a nervous swig from his trusty Vodka bottle. "So what is dis place?" "I have no idea, this climate is subtropical, I can't believe it's buried under 60ft of ice." "We make big discovery Jack?" "Hell yes, think we might of stumbled upon a remnant of the old Antarctica before it became ice covered, this is a pocket of what it used to be." "So this is some kind of fossil?" "No, not a fossil but a full ecological pocket over 33 million years old." "Christ that's pretty old!" "This changes everything Geir! The amount of knowledge we could gain from this place!"

The Norwegian looked around nervously at slime covered walls. "We should call back to mother goose." "Definitely." *Crackle* The researchers were met with only static. "Hmph, that's strange seems the ground clutter is interfering with our comm link." "Uh, what do you mean by ground clutter?" Jack looked around at the cavern, oddly enough there was no sign of iron, but something was throwing off a massive magnetic pulse. "All this area must be highly magnetized. Come to think of it that's what probably caused the drill to seize up." *RUMBLE* Both researchers were knocked off their feet by the large tremor. "What the hell was that?" "Holy shit, Jack look at this!" They looked ahead, greeted with an unimaginable sight. Nestled into the cavern was a massive object, which looked to be covered in both ice and the strange slime. The only thing Westmorland could think of was a comet, but this was strangely shaped, almost resembling a chrysalis. "Geir wait?!" Ignoring Jack's request the Norwegian touched the colossal object examining the sticky sap like residue in his gloved hand. "It's like syrup!" "Geir don't lay another hand on that fuckin' thing!" "Relax it's just some sticky big rock!" "No it's not, it-it's moving…" Geir quickly backed away as they watched the skin of the object ripple, as though it were breathing. "Wha-what the hell is it?!"

"I don't know but we need to get out of here now!" *RUMBLE* The chrysalis began to glow an iridescent yellow as the tremors grew more violent. "Come on let's go!" Before they could turn to run both were bathed in a blinding light. Jack felt the flesh on his arms begin to burn as he shielded his eye's. As it subsided he heard Gier violently vomiting to his right. He fought off the urge to wretch himself as he made his way over to the Norwegian. Upon a closer look Gier was in horrible shape, clothing and skin smoldering as he writhed in pain. "J-J-J-Jack…" *Cough* "Stay with me Geir!" Jack tried to calm his colleague. "It'll be alright, you'll see your wife and kids again I promise!" *Wheeze* "Bullshit…here t-take this." The Norwegian handed Westmorland a photograph, with the words vi elsker deg scrawled on the back. Two beautiful blonde little girls and a warmly smiling brunette woman stared back at Jack. "W-Was I lying?" "No Geir, their beautiful." "T-tell them I send my love." "I will Geir, I will." The Norwegian died there in the cavern. Jack looked back at the glowing chrysalis, it seemed to watching him preparing for it's next kill. "What did we wake up?"