Note: Again, boldface type is a document from the game.

Chapter Three: Beneath the Ivy

Initial Location: Hovercraft

"...we can't get back to our own time," she uttered softly, her mouth forming the words as she thought them. A wave of panic shot through her, and for a couple seconds, shock and sudden pessimism gripped her, feeling hopelessness, that they were stuck here together, in this time, with no way of returning to the present.

"Regina?" Dylan called, his face drawing a look of concern. "You ok?"

She shook her head to clear her mind, coming back to reality. "Yeah, yeah. It's nothing."

Dylan shrugged. "Ok. Whatever you say." He walked over, saw the damaged activator. "It must have been those people with the helmets."

Regina looked at him, her face lined in thought. "Possibly, or perhaps another group of people we haven't come across."

"We'll have to look for something in this world in order for us to get back to our original time. We also need to find parts for the ship," Dylan concluded. "But...the question is where? This area's largely unfamiliar to both of us."

"On my way to the Military Facility, I happened upon another facility. Check that out—I couldn't get in."

"How do I get there?"

"At the landing area," she began, "there are three doors: straight ahead will take you to the undiscovered facility. However, that area is marshland, and treacherous. There's one to the right of that, which has been unexplored. The one on the far right opens to where we ended up at the bottom of the hill. Check out the unexplored section first—it might be a shortcut. Or, it might take you back to the marsh. Whatever the case, take a look there first. This one's yours, properly suited for that sword thing you're wielding. So tell me, does that sword compensate for something you lack?" She burst out in laughter.

Dylan chuckled. "It's no worse than your light saber thingy...I don't want to know what you use that for. Anyway, I'll head out." He turned and walked to the door.

"Oh, before you go," Regina began. "Handcuff the girl so she doesn't run away."

"Right."

When Dylan appeared in the cockpit cabin, the girl's eyes grew wide, and she began to panic again as he approached her. She darted to one side, attempting to evade him from within, but she was trapped. Dylan grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her to some pipes in the corner of the room. She struggled, and let out moans of disapproval, but she was no match for his firm grip.

"Calm down. Just calm down." He implored her, taking her wrists and putting them behind the pipe. "I'm here to help you. Look, I have to make sure you don't escape." He wrapped one cuff around a wrist. "Trust me."

She seemed to understand that, and she stopped struggling, her bright blue eyes growing wide in surprise.

"Heh..." she said, reaching up with her free hand and touching Dylan's hair.

"Hey," he said firmly, not expecting her reaction. He took her wrist and put it behind the pipe. Quickly, she cooed once more and pulled out of his grip, touching his blond hair once more.

"What are you doing? Stop it." He gently brought her wrist down, and cuffed the two together. He stared into her face, now looking fascinated. "What's the matter?"

Was it something I said? Is she trying to tell me something?

Getting nothing else out of her, he turned and walked out onto the deck, his shotgun in hand. He climbed up the ladder, and once again, he was on the landing space. Hopefully, he wouldn't encounter anything on the way there.

The door to the right of the one straight ahead...

Easily found, he ventured through, and once again, he was back inside thick jungle. The path led to a drop, in which a small brook passed through. A small waterfall seemed to trickle down a massive boulder to his right, and a ladder led up out of the brook, onto a raised platform. He reached one hand to the ladder, and felt it all slimy, slick with algae. When he got to the top, he wiped his slick hands on his pants, and pressed forward, the path once more dipping into the brook. He ran through, the water ankle deep, covering most of his waterproofed boots. Ferns and small trees protruded from cracks in the boulder, and a tiny cave, apparently carved away by years and years of erosion, offered a possible place for a dinosaur to reside. As Dylan scanned the water, his eye caught something shiny at the edge of the cave. He reached down into the cold water, and fished it out. It was a plastic card of sorts, white, with the Third Energy logo on it. Turning it over, he noticed some words below the magnetic strip: "Third Energy Facility." He pocketed it, and walked quickly to the ladder, pulling himself out of the babbling brook. Ahead, the path continued to the right, leading to a door. As Dylan looked through the fenced door, he felt a sense of familiarity, a feeling like he'd already been here. As he opened the door and walked into the area, he took a quick glance around, noticed a metal crate to his right, and the wrecked jeep to his left where a path split.

I'm back on the North Route...this'll take me back to the Military Facility.

He turned around back through the door, and went back through the brook. As he reached the landing, his mind began to wander again, thoughts spinning--that note he found in the Medical Room of the facility nagging at him, the strange reaction from the girl, and his heart began to grow heavy, wondering what he'd find in the Research Facility.

It's as if she recognized me. How? I've never been to this time. She must be confusing me, mistaking me for someone else. I wish she could speak, that way I wouldn't be confused, and much would be cleared up. How long have they been here? Years? But...they said that this whole thing occurred one year ago...but the note said ten. Something is oddly peculiar about the whole operation. Hopefully I can find something in the facility to further shed light on this whole mission.

He saw the suspension gate through the fenced door. Hoping to find answers, he pressed onward, hopefully without too much trouble.

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A row of rusty, broken-down, ivy-laden obsolete machines blocking his path heralded his arrival at the Research Facility. A ladder leading to a platform sat to his left. An eerie silence provided a tense ambience throughout the area. Dylan's heart was pounding, despite the "tough guy" persona he was exhibiting. As he leaped off the platform, he saw the entrance to his left, totally covered in ivy, just as Regina had mentioned. Ahead were the broken bridge and the Shack, and as Dylan's curiosity began to be aroused, something in his mind told him to come back to the mission at hand. Drawing his machete out, he let fly a mighty swing, hard and fast, taking a large swath of ivy with it. He sliced again, the thin tendrils falling to the concrete floor at his feet. After he felt he took out enough ivy, he reached for the handle, and it gave.

Immediately, he noticed a total contrast from the realm outside. He was now in a wide, open space. The main floor of the Research Facility was huge. The first thing he noticed—a huge, wide ivy vine had forced its way through the side, and many hundreds of smaller, thinner vines branched out everywhere—all over the floor, to the demolished escalator some feet away from Dylan, creeping down through the floor. He took a step forward, and the sound of glass crunching beneath him almost drowned out the sounds he heard just feet away to his right. A few seconds inside, a foul, rank, onerous odor invaded his nostrils—the scent all too familiar; the smell of death, decay, decomposition, fetor. The rancor, the stench of it, left a foul sensation in his mouth. As he looked to the right, he found the source—a raptor lie dead, its skin pale, slimy, clammy-looking. Six or seven of those Compsognathus, or "Compy" for short, were gnawing away at the dead dinosaur, chomping off little pieces of skin and muscle for themselves.

The bottom of the food chain...

Sunlight filtered in through the open ceiling, which at one point was probably glass; most of the panes were gone or broken. A tattered flag hung from the gray ceiling, gray like everywhere else in this building, the Third Energy logo on it. He examined the escalator, saw it totally damaged, as his eyes moved up to the second floor. Large sections of the floor were missing, and the railing was bent, twisted at odd angles. A couple hundred or so feet straight down from Dylan were probably three windows at the turn, dark green ivy making its way inside, spilling onto the floor.

This has been abandoned for a very, very long time. Growth of the ivy like this does NOT take a year, not by ANY stretch of the imagination. Just what happened here?

He began to walk down the corridor—when suddenly, a blob of yellow, thick fluid rained down from above, splashing just a couple feet away from him. He quickly stepped back, startled. The viscous fluid sizzled and bubbled at his feet, giving off smoke, and it ate the ivy it landed on.

Acid? Poisonous acid?

A shrill, high-pitched cry was heard, sounding like it was above him. Dylan raised his shotgun in the direction of the sound, and appearing above him, a new dinosaur not yet seen by him. It was small, shorter in height, and slender. A raised patch of skin ran over its head, giving the dinosaur a Mohawk-like look. It had scaly blue skin, with black splotches here and there, and its reptilian eyes glared at the alerted T.R.A.T. soldier. Its thin legs made the creature spry. It leaped high into the air, and as it was, he heard another shrill cry was heard to his immediate right. Quickly glancing, he saw another of the same leap over the thick ivy, almost looking like it was jump-kicking the air. Behind the one in front, another one, this one looking slightly different in skin tone—instead of blue, it was various hues of brown with black splotches—leaped through a window, and began walking slowly toward him, as the closest one landed. Dylan quickly found himself cornered, the three of them coming in from various sides. He could run out the door, but before allowing the three to get any closer, he opened fire at the closest one—and saw the head explode as the shell tore through the creature at point-blank range. Pieces of muscle and bone flew out in an arc, crimson blood splaying the floor below. The one to his right hissed, and squatted, its mouth open, ready to fire another shot of the sickly yellow acid.

Dylan wouldn't give it the satisfaction of pulling that again as he fired two shells in rapid motion. The first one ripped into the dinosaur's throat, opening a massive hole that quickly began to bleed profusely. The second cut a deep wound through the side of the abdomen, sending the creature down quickly.

Two down...

The third, a hundred feet or so away, quickly broke into a run, screeching and hissing, as if angry. Dylan quickly reloaded and set his sight on the approaching creature, his hand steady. It crouched down low in its run, its mouth wide open. The creature called the Oviraptor leaped into the air, one clawed foot outstretched as if it was jump-kicking—and he fired three rounds quickly, and the outreached foot disappeared in an explosion of claw, skin and blood. It let out a shrill cry of pain as the shells tore clean through, ripping massive gashes in the creature's soft abdomen as skin flew. It was as if it stopped in midair and fell, giving one last cry before finally dying, a pool of blood already starting to form around the mutilated Oviraptor.

It's like these dinosaurs have been practicing martial arts or something.

He chuckled, amused at his own joke. With that threat done, he proceeded down the length of the walkway, and it turned sharply to the right, and he found himself going back in the same direction—the walkway was a big U, and all it did was just make a U-turn around the massive ivy vine in the center. At the end of the walkway was a set of double doors. He reached for the handle—and it didn't budge. He failed to see the electronic card reader on the side of the door, the light red.

Duh, Dylan. Thanks for reading this far. Obviously I did inhale.

He reached into his pocket, pulled out the card he found in the Military Facility, and slid it through. A confirmation beep was heard, and the light glowed green. Again, he attempted the door, and it opened into a passage, another hall, this one again a contrast to the previous surroundings. The entire hall was very dimly lit; the concrete walls and metal floor making everything look copper-colored. There were massive holes in the ceiling, and ivy, an opportunistic plant in nature, grew thick and long in every orifice. Dylan pressed forward, his boots clanging loudly against the metallic floor, echoing. There was a door to his left, covered in some ivy. The hall also went to his right, then turned and disappeared. Glancing to the right, the hall ended at another door, again with a card reader. On the wall, another door. He decided to explore the area to his left first, drawing his machete while doing so. Not as much ivy this time, but he chopped enough off to un-jam the door. When he entered, the new room looked very much the same. The copper concrete walls seemed to be crumbling in places, and as a result of years of disuse, ivy had forced their way through the walls. It lined the floor, and much of the wall. A ventilation shaft down near the floor was open. He walked slowly, cautiously through. Even though he heard nothing, it didn't mean anything. As he made his way through, he couldn't help but feel the pounding in his chest, the sweat lining his brow.

Just what were they researching here?

A large, rectangular object, upon closer inspection, a power source, stood out to his left, the fencing around it broken in parts, and rusted away. He turned down an opening to his left, and he saw a new sight—he had come upon a nest. Seven or eight large eggs sat nestled in vibrant, green vegetation, and a new wave of thoughts invaded the soldier's mind:

Holy shit, those are some big eggs...one can feed a whole squad. But...where there are eggs...I don't want to encounter the mother.

Making his way downward, he saw another door, ivied, the vines thick. He hacked at the door with the machete, green liquid spraying as he sliced clean through the thick vines. Kicking the remnants to one side, he entered the new room, and suddenly he felt as if he were inside an indoor jungle, a biosphere, as ivy literally covered the entire ceiling. In the corner of this new room, a computer monitor sat on an ivy-covered desk. Another nest, this one smaller—three eggs—sat on the ground a few feet from Dylan. With his machete drawn, he progressed further, noticing a small open room which had a couple of cages in it.

Were they keeping dinosaurs in here? Other specimens?

To the left, the room opened up into a wide area, as folding beds were propped up in disarray. On the wall adjacent, a medicine cabinet, its contents empty. A small table with a microscope stood to next to one of the folding beds. At the end of the room, a door.

Probably a lounge of some sort, maybe a medical room?

Walking stealth-like, he pressed his whole body to the door and turned the knob, slowly, slowly, and he realized something—he'd been here before. He was back out in the main hallway; he recognized the large door to his left. The hallway remained quiet as he bore left, down the hall. He recognized the card reader on the door's right this time, and so he sheathed the machete, and took out the proper keycard from his pocket. He swiped it, and the light changed to green, the confirmation beep approving the card. The metal doors made a whirring sound, then slid open.

It was dark, and there was something totally not right about the whole situation at all. A knot grew in his stomach as he stepped into the room, feeling at once as if he stepped into a new, bizarre, surreal world. The room was large, the ceiling tall, and looked industrial, the walls lined with gray piping, with lights embedded within. The entire floor was covered in that all-encompassing ivy. As Dylan walked further into the room, it was evident that this was a laboratory of some kind. Six huge test tubes lined the room, as wide as a semi, and reached up to the ceiling.

Where the hell am I?

Thick, fibrous ivy spanned most of the test tubes, and as he walked over the ivy, a strange smell wafted over his nose—the smell of some sort of preservation fluid mixed in with the smell of lab chemicals and heavy flora mixed to form an acrid odor. His mouth was open in awe, totally amazed at what he'd just come across. He walked forward, his boots crunching over shattered glass, the floor slick with that preserving liquid. As he looked inside the first test tube to his left, his eyes scanned, seeing that there was something in there, but the thickness of the ivy provided too small of a window for viewing. Drawing his machete, he carefully cut some of the ivy away, being mindful that the tube was glass. As he pulled back the last of the ivy, he let out a shocked cry and stumbled back, dropping his machete, hitting the floor with a loud clang that seemed to amplify and echo a thousand times.

It's a man! No...not a man...a...boy.

A young boy, probably no older than eighteen or nineteen floated intact in the tube, his eyes closed, his mouth slightly turned downward, as if he was in a deep sleep. Two long tubes stuck out from his back and out the tube.Suddenly, fear began to grip him, and with a shaky hand, he bent down and picked up his machete, not knowing what to do.

What the hell were they doing here? What's going on?! They never told us this—that we'd find innocent people suspended...in tubes? Just what was the government trying to do?!

With his heart pounding inside him, he continued forward, his eyes darting, scanning the other ivied tubes for others, but they were shattered, broken as a result of the ivy's tight grip. At the end of this room was a control panel, with papers strewn across it. At the base, there was a compartment for something, and a brown rectangular object sat on the floor, next to the cover. He reached down to pick it up, and he breathed out a sigh of relief as he looked at the object—it was a starter battery, similar looking to the one back in the hovercraft.

Regina will be happy...however, I'm not leaving this room yet.

Dylan couldn't leave—he felt something inside him, telling him to stay there a bit longer, telling him to try to make sense of what he was seeing, telling him to inquire, desire, clarify—everything. He rummaged through the sheets of paper on the control panel, but none of them were readable—writing faded, papers ripped. He happened across a packet of stapled papers, the writing typed, probably a journal of findings or something. Faded, but readable, he placed the battery down, turned to the first page and began to read.

Another dead body of a youth was carried in. As expected he was not a resident of Edward city. If this is really true then only possible conclusion is he and the others might have come from another time. Could such a thing be possible? These past few months, youths about the age of 17 or 18 have shown up before us and attacked.

He turned the page, and he saw a color photograph enclosed. It was a familiar figure to him...it was one of those helmeted females, her gun drawn.

Communications with these youths have not been successful, but rather impossible. Today we plan to remove one of the bodies out of the preservation liquid and conduct an autopsy. The result of the autopsy will be reported to Colonel Maison, who is dispatched at the 3rd Energy facility.

Now it makes a little more sense...kind of. They're apparently not survivors...but just what are they? Another life form?

He folded up the document neatly, and put it in his pocket—he'd have to show Regina. Now, with a little bit more of a glimpse as to what really happened here, he picked up the battery, and began to walk out, his mind still not fully sure that what it was seeing was indeed real. The double doors slid open, and without a glance back, he walked out, the doors closing behind him. An eerie, surreal silence filled the lab once more.

The boy just floated, lifeless.

Thus ends Chapter Three! As always, feedback and constructive criticism welcome! In a few days, Chapter 4 should be posted. Now that Dylan's found the starter battery, the ship can finally leave the jungle area. Where will they go next?