As we walked through the corridor, I took a closer look at what appeared to be redstone lights aligned 4 blocks within each other on the walls. Soon, the straight hallway turned into a steep staircase. I almost tripped on one of the cracked steps as we descended further into the tunnel. The further down we went, the more damaged the stairs and walls appeared to be.
"Hey, do you guys see a light switch anywhere?" I asked. "I noticed some redstone lights and I think all they need is power."
As we looked across the walls, there was no sign of a switch. As we continued walking, we saw a single redstone torch attached to a block on the ceiling, where the corridor split into a T, with a door in the center.
"So, where to now?" Erik asked.
Trying the door at the center, it opened to what seemed to be some sort of airlock room.
Jamie checked the left, and saw a switch on the corner.
"I think this is the light switch you were talking about." Jamie said, flipping the switch. Sure enough, some of the redstone lamps sprung to life, illuminating the once dark abyss of a corridor. Most of the redstone lamps were burned out though, so the corridor was still somewhat dark. There were a few rooms scattered across both sides, some blocked off by iron doors, others not even having a door at all.
"This base is pretty big…" Erik commented. "This was definitely home for more than just one person."
"Yea…" Jamie said, walking down the hallway and peeking into one of the rooms. "I think this was home to a handful of people."
"I wonder what happened to them all…" I said to myself, also inspecting each room. One room appeared to be a storage closet, with a layout similar to the one at the village.
"Hey guys…" I called out. "I struck gold."
Jamie approached the door. "What do you mean "struck gold?" All those chests are probably empty."
"Couldn't hurt to check." I said, opening the door. Approaching one of the chests, Jamie entered the room behind me, torch still in hand. Looking around, she saw a potion left on one of the crafting tables. As I opened one of the chests, sure enough, it was just full of cobwebs.
"This server has existed for only around a month, and someone has already managed to brew potions?" Jamie asked. "Mike, this is a red flag. We really shouldn't be here."
"What kind of potion is it?" I asked. Taking a closer look, Jamie stashed the potion in her inventory.
"Invisibility. I'll take it in case we need it." She said as I opened more of the chests. In one of them, I found a book and quill, alongside flint and steel. Taking the book out of the chest, the corner of it was charred.
The book's name had been left blank. Opening it, the first page was flooded with symbols.
T𝙹 ᔑꖎꖎ p ᒲ!¡ꖌ╎リ hᒷᔑ↸ ᒲᒷᒲʖᒷ∷ᓭ:
ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ 𝙹ᓵᓵ !¡ᔑリℸ ̣ ᓭ ᔑℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ʖᔑᓭᒷ ᓵꖎ𝙹ᓭᒷ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ᓭ!¡ᔑ∴リ ᔑℸ ̣ ᓵ𝙹𝙹∷↸╎リᔑℸ ̣ ᒷᓭ 34, 60, 550 ∴╎ꖎꖎ ʖᒷ ᒲ𝙹⍊ᒷ↸ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ᔑ リᒷ∴ ʖᔑᓭᒷ ᓭ𝙹𝙹リ ↸ ᒷ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ᔑ ᓵ𝙹リᓵᒷ∷リ ∴╎ℸ ̣ ⍑ ᔑ リᒷ∴ ↸╎ᓭᓵ𝙹⍊ᒷ∷||. T⍑ᒷ∷ᒷ ╎ᓭ リ𝙹 リᒷᒷ↸ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ∴𝙹∷∷||, ||𝙹 ∷ ╎ℸ ̣ ᒷᒲᓭ ∴╎ꖎꖎ ʖᒷ ℸ ̣ ∷ᔑリᓭ⎓ᒷ∷∷ᒷ↸ ∴╎ℸ ̣ ⍑ ||𝙹 ᔑᓭ ||𝙹 ⍊ᔑᓵᔑℸ ̣ ᒷ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ リᒷ∴ ʖᔑᓭᒷ. T⍑ᒷ ʖᔑᓭᒷ ꖎᒷᔑ↸ᒷ∷ ⍑ᔑᓭ ∷ᒷᓵᒷ╎⍊ᒷ↸ ╎リ⎓𝙹∷ᒲᔑℸ ̣ ╎𝙹リ 𝙹リ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ リᒷ∴ ʖᔑᓭᒷ ᔑリ↸ ╎ᓭ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ 𝙹リꖎ|| !¡ᒷ∷ᓭ𝙹リ ∴⍑𝙹 ⍑ᔑᓭ ╎ℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 !¡∷ᒷ⍊ᒷリℸ ̣ ᒲ╎ᓭ╎リ⎓𝙹∷ᒲᔑℸ ̣ ╎𝙹リ ᔑリ↸ ᓭ!¡ᒷᓵ ꖎᔑℸ ̣ ╎𝙹リ ⎓∷𝙹ᒲ ⊣ᒷℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ ╎リ⊣ 𝙹 ℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 𝙹ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ∷ !¡ꖎᔑ||ᒷ∷ᓭ 𝙹リ ℸ ̣ ⍑╎ᓭ ᓭᒷ∷⍊ᒷ∷. T⍑╎ᓭ ∴╎ꖎꖎ ⍑╎リ↸ᒷ∷ 𝙹 ∷ !¡ꖎᔑリᓭ 𝙹リ ᔑ!¡!¡∷𝙹ᔑᓵ⍑╎リ⊣ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ 𝙹ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ∷ ᓵ╎⍊╎ꖎ╎⨅ᔑℸ ̣ ╎𝙹リᓭ リᒷᔑ∷ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ᓭᒷ∷⍊ᒷ∷ ᓭ!¡ᔑ∴リ, ʖ ℸ ̣ ╎ℸ ̣ ∴╎ꖎꖎ リ𝙹ℸ ̣ !¡ ℸ ̣ ᔑリ ᒷリ↸ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷᒲ.
"What the fuck is this?" I blurted. "Enchantment table?"
Jamie came in for a closer look.
"Ironically, yes. That is enchantment table language." She answered. "Enchantment table language is basically just the galactic alphabet, by the way."
"Well, the only thing I can make out on this page are the letter p, and 3 sets of numbers."
"Wait…" Jamie said, taking a closer look at the mentioned numbers. "Those are coordinates."
Pulling my map out, the coordinates were almost the same.
"Those coordinates must be referring to this place." I said, putting the map up against the book, aligning the two.
"Well, whatever this book is noting, it's definitely got something to do about this place." Jamie said.
"Hey guys!" I heard Erik from down the hall. "Come over here, I found something!"
I decided to take the two items from the chest with me, as me and Jamie left the room and went down the hall to where Erik was, standing outside a locked room. Looking closer at the door, it was a double iron door, with pistons above the top blocks.
"Check this out…" Erik said, pointing towards some glass. Looking into the glass, I could see some endermen wandering inside the room. I immediately turned my head down to the floor.
"Jesus Christ Erik…" I yelled. "I've already been chased by one of these bitches once, I don't want to go through that shit again…"
"What? What's in the room?" Jamie asked, sword at ready.
"The room is full of endermen…" I answered. Looking closer at the floor of the room, the entire floor was made of solely soul sand.
"Soul sand? That's a bizarre design." I commented.
"It stops them from teleporting." Jamie commented. "Even if you agitate those endermen, they won't be able to move outside that room unless the door and pistons are opened."
"So I guess we're safe…" Erik said, walking into another room. I decided to follow.
"If this room isn't a sign we shouldn't be here, then I don't know what is." Jamie commented, moving on. Walking into the same room as Erik, it appeared to be yet another storage room, only bigger. The wall was completely filled with chests, except for the back wall, which was a potion brewing station. Many of them still had bottles attached to them, however they were all empty. Jamie entered the room behind us.
"What did I say about sticking together?" She reminded us. "What if you mindlessly open one of these doors and a horde of skeletons come out?"
"You overthink too much." Erik replied.
"I mean, we DID just pass by a room filled with endermen..." I added. "If that actually happened I wouldn't be surprised."
"Exactly." Jamie replied. "Listen, the longer we're here, the longer I'm getting a crappy feeling about this place. We should really be leaving soon."
"Relax, I'm just checking these chests for diamonds." Erik said, opening the chests on the walls. Picking out some golden ingots and empty bottles, he grinned.
"Told you breaking into this place would be worth it." Erik said, showing off his findings.
I opened the closest chest to me, and there was yet another book and quill in it. I opened it.
Oꖎᓭᓭ⍊ ╎⍑⨅ꖎℸ ̣ ⍑⨅ᔑꖎ||⨅,
ᔑ𝙹ꖎ ꖎᒷᔑ ⍊ᒲᒲ!¡⋮!¡⍑ᓭ ⨅ꖎ||ᓵꖎ|| wcw ℸ ̣ ⍑ᔑ⋮𝙹 ↸!¡ᓭᓭ ᔑ⍑∷ꖎ ∴ᓭ⍑⋮ꖎ ⍑ᔑ ᔑ𝙹ꖎ⨅ꖎ ⋮⍊⍊||ꖌ!¡ ⍑ᔑꖎ⨅:
uꖎリ⍑ᔑ!¡ᓵꖎ (-) ᔑꖎ
ᔑ𝙹||ꖎꖎ 𝙹ʖ ꖌ||ꖎꖌ ᔑ𝙹!¡||ᔑ⎓
ᔑ↸ꖎ ᔑ⎓ ᒲ!¡ᓵꖎ
k⍊ ⍊ᔑ ⨅𝙹⍑||ꖎ ᔑ𝙹ꖎ⨅ꖎ ⋮⍊⍊||ꖌ!¡ ⍑ᔑꖎ⨅ ↸!¡ᔑ𝙹 ⍑ ⎓⍊ ꖎ, !¡ ⋮ᓭʖꖌ!¡ リ ⎓⍊ʖ|| ╎⍑⨅ꖎ ℸ ̣ ꖎℸ ̣ ╎ꖎ||⨅. K⍊ ⍊ᔑ ↸||!¡ᔑꖎ ᔑ𝙹ꖎℸ ̣ ꖌ⍊↸ ⍑⨅ ⍑⋮ᔑʖ⍑ᓭ ʖℸ ̣ ╎ꖎ||⨅ ꖎ!¡ᔑ𝙹ꖎ||, ⍑⨅ ʖℸ ̣ ╎ꖎ||⨅ ⋮⍑ ⍊ᔑ ╎ꖎ ꖎ ⋮⍊ꖌꖎꖌ, ⍑ ꖌ ᔑ𝙹ʖ⨅ ↸!¡ᓭᓭ リ!¡ᓵꖎ ⍑↸⍑⎓ ᔑ𝙹ꖎ ꖎᒷ⍑⋮ᔑ ᓭ⍊⋮⍑ᔑ!¡⍊ ⍊ᒲ ᔑ𝙹ꖎ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᔑ⋮𝙹.
a𝙹ꖎ ꖌ⍑ᔑꖎ ⍊ᒲ ᔑ𝙹ꖎ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᔑ⋮𝙹 !¡⨅ ⋮ʖ||||ꖎ ᔑᓭ⎓ 5 ↸ꖎꖎ∷⨅ ᒲ||⍊ℸ ̣ ᔑ𝙹ꖎ ꖌ⍑ᔑꖎ ᔑ𝙹!¡⨅ ℸ ̣ ꖎ⨅⨅⍑リꖎ ↸⍑⨅ ⋮⍊ℸ ̣ ∴⍊⨅ꖎꖌ. U⍊ᔑꖎ ᔑ𝙹⍑ᔑ ᔑ𝙹ꖎ||ꖎ ↸!¡ᓭᓭ ╎ꖎ ℸ ̣ ⍊||ꖎ ∴ᓭ⍑⎓ꖎ||⨅ ᒲ||⍊ℸ ̣ ⍊ᔑ𝙹ꖎ|| ╎⍑⨅ꖎ⨅ ⍑∴∴ᓭ⎓!¡ リ ᒲ⍊|| ᔑ𝙹!¡⨅ wcw ℸ ̣ ⍑ᔑ⋮𝙹, ⍑ ꖌ ᔑ𝙹ꖎ||ꖎ ↸!¡ᓭᓭ ⍊ ᓭ⎓ ╎ꖎ ⍊ ꖎ ↸!¡ ꖎ||. A𝙹ꖎ ↸!¡ ꖎ|| ↸!¡ᓭᓭ 𝙹⍑ᓵꖎ ᔑ𝙹ꖎ!¡|| ╎⍑⨅ꖎ ℸ ̣ ⍊ᓵꖎꖌ ʖ∴ ⍑ ꖌ ⎓⍊ʖ ↸!¡ᓭᓭ ||ꖎ⋮!¡ꖎᓵꖎ !¡ ⨅ᔑ||ʖ⋮ᔑ!¡⍊ ⨅ ⍊ 𝙹⍊↸ ᔑ⍊ ʖ⨅ꖎ ᔑ𝙹ꖎ ⋮⍊ℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ ⍑ ꖌ ╎ᓭ⍊⋮∷ ⎓⍊ʖ ||ꖎ⋮!¡ꖎᓵꖎ ⍑⨅ ᔑ𝙹ꖎ ∴||!¡⊣ꖎ. F⍊ʖ ⍑ ꖌ ⎓⍊ʖ|| ╎⍑⨅ꖎ ℸ ̣ ꖎℸ ̣ ╎ꖎ||⨅ ↸!¡ᓭᓭ 𝙹ꖎᓭ∴ ᔑ⍊ ⍑⋮𝙹!¡ꖎᓵꖎ ⍊ʖ|| リ⍊⍑ᓭ ⍊ ᔑ𝙹!¡⨅ ⨅ꖎ||ᓵꖎ|| ⍊ᒲ ᔑ⍊ᔑ⍑ᓭ ⋮⍊ ᔑ||⍊ᓭ. Dꖎ ↸!¡ᓭᓭ ∴||⍊⨅∴ꖎ||. A𝙹!¡⨅ ⨅ꖎ||ᓵꖎ|| ⍊ᒲ h ⍑||⋮𝙹⎓ ↸!¡ᓭᓭ ⍊ ᓭ⍊ リꖎ|| ╎ꖎ ⍑⨅ ⨅ʖ⋮𝙹.
"I found another encrypted book…" I said, Jamie coming to take a look.
"Hmm, there's nothing on this that I can understand at all." Jamie said, looking at the symbols. "The only thing here I can recognize is that minus on the 4th line."
"Do you know someone that can decrypt these?" I asked.
"Nope." Jamie replied.
Comparing this book to the first one I found, this one was longer than the first one.
"Do you think these two books have something connected with each other?" I asked.
"Hell if I know…" Jamie said, starting to look through some of the chests as well.
"Ooh, a golden apple!" Erik said, still fishing through the chests.
Jamie pulled an item out of one of the chests, but I couldn't see it. As she took a closer look at it, she froze.
"Guys."
"What?" I said, looking at Jamie, a look of fear on her face.
"What's wrong?" Erik said.
"We need to get the hell out of here now…" Jamie said, still holding the item in her hand.
"Why?" Erik asked.
"CAN'T YOU SEE WHAT I'M HOLDING?" Jamie yelled.
"Hey hey, calm down… what did you find?" I asked.
Jamie tossed the item on the ground. It blew up to view and…
It was a TNT minecart.
"SHIT!" Erik screamed, backing off and running into the wall in the process. "THATS A BOMB!"
"BREAK IT! GET RID OF IT!" I yelled, backing closer to the door.
"WHY DO I HAVE TO DO IT?" Jamie replied, also backing off.
"Well, SOMEONE has to…" Erik said. "What if that thing… you know… explodes?"
"Not it…" I said.
"Not it…" Jamie and Erik said almost at the same time. I could tell though that Jamie said it first.
"Well Erik, you're up." I said, pointing at him.
"Not me bro… please…"
"Erik I swear to god, if you don't break that minecart within the next 5 seconds, I'm going to come over there and shove this diamond sword up your ass." Jamie demanded.
"As IF!" Erik replied.
"If you don't do it then you're gay." I said.
Erik immediately bolted to the minecart and punched it till it minimized back to an item.
"Really?" Jamie said, as Erik stepped away from the floating item.
"Hey… sometimes simplicity is the answer." I said.
"That TNT minecart can only mean one thing." Jamie said. "This was one of the bases for the griefers, and we need to leave before anyone finds us here."
"For once, I agree. Let's book it." I said, leaving the room. Jamie and Erik followed. As we walked down the hall, the lights shut off.
"Shit…" Jamie whispered, pulling out her torch again and slowing down.
"Is someone else here?" I asked quietly.
"Do we all have swords?" Erik followed up. I pulled out my stone sword, but its usefulness deteriorated from that fight the previous night, and if I actually had to use it, it would probably break on the first swing. Erik pulled out a wooden sword. "You have that bow I gave you?"
Checking my inventory, I thankfully didn't forget to bring the bow this time, but my arrow supply was limited.
"Yea, but I only have 3 shots." I answered.
"Ssssh…" Jamie said, pausing in her tracks. She put the torch away, filling the corridor with darkness. We couldn't see 3 blocks ahead of us. We heard a noise in the distance. It sounded like sand.
"I think those are the endermen…" I whispered.
We started walking slowly. Sure enough the sounds got louder. It was clear that it was coming from the room the endermen were from. Making sure, Jamie pulled her torch out again, and all the endermen were right in front of the window. I started running with Jamie and Erik following further behind me. I almost slipped and fell as I turned the corner and began to rush back up the stairs.
"Fill this shit in when we get out!" I shouted to Erik.
As we came up to the stairs, I could see the iron doors in the distance. Thankfully, they were still open, and I rushed through them into the dead of night. As Jamie and Erik came out, Erik shut the iron doors and filled the rest of the pathway up with dirt and stone. We all took a moment to catch our breath.
"Is everyone good?" I asked.
"Yea…" Jamie and Erik said.
Looking around, the landscape was drastically different. Looking behind them, the tunnel wasn't inside a mountain like he remembered. It was a small decoy house embedded into the side of a cliff. Looking around, there was nothing but desert.
"Wait…" I said. "We went down a staircase, we went up a staircase… I don't remember any of this…"
Erik pulled out his map. "Where the fuck are we?" He asked.
Jamie pulled out her map as well. "Well one thing for sure, we're now in a desert biome." She said,
"No shit sherlock." I said, looking to see if there was any other biome in view. "Damn, how far did we go? I can't see a single tree anywhere!"
"Dammit, the map is out of range…" Erik said, putting it away. "It's useless now. We're actually lost…"
"Well…" Jamie said, putting hers away as well. "I think I have been here before, but it's been so long I don't quite remember the way back."
"Shit." I said, looking up at the sky. "We're in the dead of night. We need a plan soon before we're ambushed with mobs…"
"Well, we do all have weapons…" Erik stated.
"My sword is about to break, and I only have 3 arrows for the bow. You have a wood sword. The only one here that can actually defend themselves reliably is Jamie." I said, pointing to her sword.
"I have an extra iron one in my inventory." Jamie said, walking over to me. "You can have this one for the time being." She handed over the sword, its shimmering enchanted glow almost blinding me. Taking the sword, I took a look at it.
"Lucky bitch." Erik said.
"I ain't leaving you out." Jamie said, tossing Erik an iron sword.
"What kind of middle class bullshit is this?" He asked, taking a look at the sword.
"Can we stop bitching about weapons and start worrying about getting back home please?" I asked, putting the shimmering sword away.
