Author's note hello there! I own nothing but the plot. I hope you enjoy and like the story!
Early Morning, Boston M.I.T. Underground Lab Facilities, Sub Level Five, July 30XX
When you entered the lab's room most days, it was buzzing with hard-working scientists checking and rechecking their work. And running more tests on the test subject on hand. When you looked inside and look around the lab, there was an eerie glow. Anyone who had ever come here, whether by accident or intentionally, had always been creeped out. By the prospect of having to work here, but they knew that if they had been selected to work here? It would be a life appointment and rather prestigious even if they could never discuss it. Not with anyone.
Compared to the other labs that were housed on several different other sub-levels. Level five was well known for its sensory deprivation chambers and the diverse and complicated experiments that are done here. Some rather morally ambiguous, some not so much. Still, they were all housed here under the guise of learning and the American government's utmost secrecy. Since they couldn't use outright government facilities to do this. Along the walls were certain test subjects, some small children in modified wet suits hooked up to machines in a sensory deprivation chamber filled with green-looking water. Eyes closed, and their vitals being tracked. And as Steven, one of the neural scientists, walked into the room as always, a giant cold chill running down his spine. Wishing he didn't have to be here but noticing his colleague had been working himself near death on his computer screen in front of him, about six or seven people all in tanks laying down in front of him. He was situated in the little box behind the glass as far away from them as he could be without being entirely on another floor. This area was called the observation deck.
"Mark! Have you been here all night?!" Steven yelled in shock, remember patting his back and
"Of course, I have! I had the night shift, and I need that overtime pay! You know my building those nullified gravity apartment buildings don't come cheap, much less the high rise like I live with my family!" Steven remembering the fact that he had gone to that apartment housewarming.
That dude had their priorities straight. At least anyone on the ground or left on the ground is living on swamp water, so he made the right choice doesn't mean it's not a prick for trying to be so high and mighty about why he's still here.
"I was told that if I didn't finish fixing that code error and mistake that keeps cropping up within the simulation? I would be fired, and I need this job, and you know what happens to those who don't deliver what the bosses want!" Mark said with many finalities, he sounds a little hysterical, but you could blame the lack of sleep, considering he has another shift right now. I'm going to assume he's going to be up for another twenty-eight hours before he could really go to bed.
That was the lingering threat of all the lower staff. Upper management didn't have to live with that possibility. Those who were here knew that this project was seized from a prison in the Russian tundra. As well as the fact that they had done something to the subjects that the scientist had been trying to qualify and replicate. The main test subjects under observation and ongoing study were the five test subjects. Their real names were unknown. They only knew because their tanks were labeled with their names except for the male test subject, he, on the other hand, is unnamed, and like many of the others, we couldn't find any birth record or any trace of him anywhere. Like most of the test subjects being studied here, there is no way to tell who or where any of them came from. They were a mystery in and of themselves.
But they were being studied for a particular reason; the reason for them would still work here when dealing with barely legal adults being treated little more like objects.
Those five test subjects are notable for a straightforward reason, each of them has a supernatural ability. Recently during one of the running simulations that we have within their minds during one of the beta trials. We were changing some of the coding parameters for that simulation test subject. Monika was able to mess around with the internal coding of the simulation. Able to put false imaging and put the other test subjects to sleep, leaving her alone with a male test subject within the simulation. We don't know why, and we don't know how; all we know is it made us decide we needed to change the parameters and coding.
Even though we were able to create fail-safes within the simulation, her psionic abilities allowed her to reach within the coding of the simulation somehow. We hadn't thought of it before, but we were able to remedy it with the latest changes.
We don't so much want them to break out of the simulation but used their abilities while unconscious within it.
The initial plan was to try to cultivate their abilities and test them for them while they were completely awake and aware of their surroundings. But because we brought in Libitina in an awake and conscious state. She was the only test subject under those conditions! She tried to kill us all with a psionic wave; only tranquilizing her is the reason we were able to take any of those test subjects out of Russia alive, much less with most of our retrieval crew intact. It was nearly a bloodbath we realized then and there if they were ever to be awakened, it's not going to end well for any of us, so they're kept sedated nearly constantly with the caveat that we are trying to get them to use their powers while still unconscious to see what part of the brain or what motivating factors can cause their abilities to activate at all.
We had to reinforce the lab after the incident with Monika. We learned then and their unconscious or not, the human mind will do whatever it can to the goal. Also, programming their personality to be singularly focused on gaining the male subject's attention might have been a mistake.
Since someone made the mistake of adding that template of coding to Monika when she was the one whose abilities still notable. Even though she is unconscious. According to the files, they could ascertain from the file that each of them, including the male, were all of the test subjects, have abilities of a greater or similar level of power but had been unresponsive to the stimuli in the simulation. Though there had been spikes when the tension was high but mainly from the code tampering Monika committed.
"So, what have you done to the simulation this time around?"
"Well, I made the simulation more believable. I added more places they can go and some realism though it's supposed to be in Japan. In the last millennium, there isn't a lot of literature on students' daily lives that survive to holofiles." He hummed while speed typing a near page of code from where steven could see as he made a pot of coffee for them in the corner lunch area.
But still, I did my best with what was available there is. There might be some inaccuracies that I filled the gap with what was known for high schools here in the United States. Hopefully, they don't get aggravated from the inaccuracies of their surroundings." Mark said while typing like a mad man he was never done with the coding. He talked more to make himself less nervous the pressure was on for him, and he honestly couldn't afford to fail.
"I still have nightmares from when Libitina woke up from induced simulation because there were French fries at a french restaurant. We lost two crewmen, and we had to up her tranquilizers because of that." Mark said with the coldness of someone who lived through it personally.
"At least the crewmen are alive," Steven said sounded more relieved than he should be.
"If you call medical induced coma until they can finish regrowing the body parts she destroyed in her tantrum."
"Whatever! I change the script change the reaction coding pattern on Monika and the others. Other than john doe over there, everyone has been given more dynamic and active coding. A bit freer will than they had before. I used some of the ex-crew members to sell the simulation more than any other iteration of it so far." Mark said with an ever-suffering sigh.
"Even Ashley!" Steven said with a gasp.
"Especially her! I added as part of the realism of the coding map for the five test subjects. If they have parents within the simulation, an established life that they have lived, people they care about. It will allow the test subjects to anchor the reality present to them and not question it. To make them feel safe enough to use their ability freely, at least, that's what my coding is supposed to result in." Mark said with a nod, speed reading a line o0f code he was working on.
"So far, we got vid files of the aftermath of the last bad batch simulation test runs. The last one gave me nightmares, and the guy in charge is now has been placed within the newest coding as the newest teacher by my last recoding. I fixed a lot of the bugs." With a sigh, Mark continued.
"But it's all pointless if they decide to move Libitina again. If she's anywhere near Monika, their abilities tend to enhance and get stronger near one another. And they might be enough to overload our fail-safes and security measures, then we all die where we stand." His hand shook at his own words. He spoke clearly, something he held inside and tried not to think about.
"Jeez, someone is in a mood today," Steven said, passing Mark a large mug of coffee.
"Blame the lack of coffee. Thank you." Mark said, smiling into the mug. Taking a long sip and he looked more aware than at any time this moment.
"I accounted for everything within the simulation. Including eating and drinking and realism of being that age. Including AI peers and teachers to fill in the blanks." Mark said
"You know the rules, Mark. We can't interfere with the simulation once it starts. It has to be allowed to play through, and we can check the vitals and reaction." Steven said with a nod knowing how many times during some of the original beta tests they felt like they need to interfere as Monika started mentally subduing the other subject to her will.
"We are at most allowed to tranquilize the subjects if their abilities become a hazard to themselves or keeping them in this state," Steven said.
"I hope for your sake that you're coding and mapping is as masterful as you say it is. I hope that you can get the results we were looking for." Steven said, giving him a concerned look.
"Otherwise, I become one of the mermen, you mean? Yeah, same here. Don't think I haven't seen you eyeing my place if I screw up." Mark said with a tinge of fear.
"Come on, we got a lot of work to do to start the newest simulation by ten am," Steven said with finality, hoping that he doesn't lose another colleague. Ashley was bad enough; losing Mark would make this place unbearable.
Final note: how's that! This prologue was an idea that came to me. I read about the hidden easter eggs of the game and the sequel that has been in the works for a long time. Basically, the hidden story between the stories.