Cardshark watched with intent curiousity as Spy worked his literal magic on the keycard reader linked to the behemoth of a door. To the OpMerc who had no powers of his own, he couldn't even begin to fathom what sort of intricate processes the BLU had to go through in order to find a weak point that could be exploited. The other mercenaries and the bots had been gone for several minutes already, leaving Spy behind with Cardshark and Vanguard, though the latter had ventured further away after getting too fidgety standing in the same spot.
To Cardshark, it didn't look like Spy was doing much at all. There was no grand explosion of electricity or amazing projected holograms that displayed exactly what the mercenary was up to; instead, he just had his palm on the reader and a brilliant electric glow to his eyes. His pupils shifted ever so slightly in rapid succession, a tiny tell of his navigation through the maze of circuitry.
Spy's perspective was far more exciting. Diving into any electrical or digital system started roughly the same - connecting to said system first and taking the first steps in. Usually, he was met with no resistance at the surface unless he was trying to hack some of the most secure systems, which the keycard reader absolutely wasn't. If anything, it was a fairly simple system with little security, making his navigation fairly effortless. He poked and prodded around the nexus of circuitry, travelling along the flow of electric currents until he felt a radiating warmth. Bingo.
Moving towards the heat source, Spy found himself exiting the reader's simple mechanical systems and crossing over into an oddly sophisticated digital space. All wires and circuitry ended with a limitless black void, where only the slightest glow of light radiated from the edges. However, the void was not empty. Just a couple of steps away was an infinitely tall wall that stretched as far upwards and outwards as the eye could see, pulsing red and emanating a searing heat that warned intruders from getting too close. It couldn't have been easier to identify a firewall, though it seemed Gray's choice had been particularly secure and far more sophisticated than anything Spy had breached before. Looking up beyond the wall's light, data moved rapidly like the flow of a river into the infinite darkness that lay beyond.
The mercenary took a couple of wary steps forward, curious to know just how close he could get to the firewall. He was still a solid thirty feet away when the wall lashed out in a barrage of white-hot spikes like an angry porcupine, warning the detected intruder against getting any closer. Spy reared back before he was struck, staring in dismay at the distance he had yet to cover, though he didn't find himself too surprised that Gray had been so secure. After all, it seemed like the door and the whole hidden wing of the facility locked away incredibly important things.
No matter where he tried to move along the firewall, there was no point where he could get any closer without the wall lashing out at him. He could have travelled for miles worth of distance along the firewall and nothing would have changed. Despite how old the metal door must have been, it had one of the most aggressive systems for its simple card reader. Spy couldn't begin to fathom what other kinds of security Gray had set up for whatever lay further inside his labyrinth.
But surely the firewall had to let certain things through? The right kind of data would have flowed through effortlessly, but the BLU had no way of knowing what kind of data unless he had access to the server the reader was linked to. The river of number and text strings beyond the wall moved too quickly to catch onto any discernible pattern that would have allowed him to make an educated guess. Instead, he curiously sent a small bolt of electricity towards the wall, watching it fizzle and crackle as it moved up towards the firewall. It sparked as it came in contact with the wall in a white glow, burning a small gap for a moment before the wall repaired itself like nothing had happened.
A lightbulb went off in Spy's mind. Risky, but he was quite sure he was fast enough to run through if he created a small field of electricity around him that would protect him until he was through. Energy crackled as the mercenary charged up a field of electricity around him, before he broke off in a sprint towards the wall.
The heat was beyond anything he had felt before, even more violent and vicious than that of Pyro's supernatural flames. It shot through every nerve in his body, digging deep into his bones like someone had injected magma straight into his blood. The crackle and pop of electricity around him raged like thunder, static in his head so loud that he could barely hear his own thoughts. All he could see was intense flashes of light, unsure how close he was to breaking through the firewall. Then, darkness.
Cardshark frowned as Spy jerked backwards, the glow in his eyes burning red for a moment before it died off and melted back into a cold, dull grey. By the time Cardshark had unfolded his crossed arms, Spy had collapsed against the wall, curling up with a groan. Vanguard hadn't missed the action either, the shorter agent jogging up.
"That doesn't look good," Vanguard muttered, "is he okay?" He looked to his colleague, as if this was something Cardshark had dealt with before.
The latter shrugged. "Does he look okay?"
"I guess not." Vanguard knelt down next to Spy, gingerly laying a hand on the BLU's trembling shoulder. "Hey, you good? What happened?"
Spy shifted under Vanguard's touch, taking a moment to catch his shaky breath and calm his pounding heart. His limbs still felt like they were on fire, yet his fingers felt ice-cold. From how terrible he felt to the fact that Vanguard was expressing his concern, the Mann Co. mercenary guessed that his attempt at breaching the firewall hadn't been very successful. "I- I'm fine," He stammered between shaky gasps, "Just- just give me… give me a second."
"Okay, got it." Vanguard stood back up and moved away to give Spy some space to collect himself, catching a glimpse of movement in the dimly-lit concrete hall. His mind immediately jumped to those freakishly mangled creatures of darkness, but the rush of adrenaline faded quickly when he saw that Pyro, Sniper, and Gala had returned. The latter's somewhat-leisurely gait picked up when he noticed Spy on the floor. Sniper hurried past, ignoring Vanguard and Cardshark as he crouched by Spy to check on the BLU. Gala followed Sniper, pushing her head into Spy's hand in an attempt to comfort him. They spoke in low, hushed tones, keeping their conversation between themselves. Given that the metal hulk of a door hadn't budged, Vanguard guessed the pair of REDs hadn't found anything of use either. "No luck?" He asked.
Pyro shook his head. "No, but we found more Oddities. Took care of those, but there's probably more lurking around. Where's the bots? And is he okay?" The firebug gestured loosely to Spy with the tip of his axe.
"The bots went to look for another way in or a way to open the door. And about your Spy, he says he's okay. Didn't look very good when he just collapsed though."
"Why'd he collapse?"
"He was trying to break into the door via the card reader,"Cardshark interjected, "probably had something to do with that."
Pyro nodded along, already piecing together what could have gone wrong. "Right, okay. That makes sense." Despite his casual response, he silently cursed the idea that Spy was slipping too. Dragging the mission on would only make things worse for the three mercenaries. He instinctively clenched his fist again, hiding the dark claws in the shadows. It didn't feel like the carapace had grown any further, stopping just at the back of his hand, which gave him a little confidence that there was still time. The door not yet having budged did however, fill him with frustration and doubt.
A slight whirring noise caught everyone's attention, sending the group into a variety of wary stances as eyes darted around in the dark. Every little sound and movement now was immediately assumed to be an Oddity, for they never knew just what sort of wicked variety of twisted limbs and uncanny faces could appear. However, it was just Doc coming back around. Once his metal frame and glowing eyes were recognised, the humans relaxed.
"Any news?" Cardshark asked, "and where is your friend?"
Doc nodded stiffly, trying to resist the urge to look in the direction of every little noise made. "Yes, actually. We discovered a hole in a wall that leads to an air vent. Makina thinks it goes to whatever is behind this giant door. He's waiting. Please come."
A small chorus of relief mixed with the uncertainty and anticipation of making progress rippled through the group as they gathered themselves to follow Doc. Sniper had pulled Spy back onto his feet, though he continued to support the BLU's weight until he felt steady enough to manage on his own.
Doc rolled along hallways marked only to him on his digital vision, glad for the added functionalities that his robot body granted him. The hall weren't quite as dark to him as the humans, and he had a trail marked into the ground to show him the way. The Medibot couldn't help but imagine how much scarier it would have been to have to navigate such halls as a human, relying on nothing but the dimmest of lights and memory to get through the concrete maze. He looked back regularly to make sure the mercenaries were still following, though each time he couldn't help but worry that the next time he looked back, he'd find that he was all alone. It was such irrational fears that drove his mind and urged him to check every few seconds, as well as scrutinise every little movement and sound around him. Even the mechanical whir of his wheel on the ground sounded like the horrid gurgle of a monster, keeping fear's cold grip latched to his spine. He had taken to quietly repeating a string of text to himself that everything was okay and not to completely lose it. Turning the final corner to see Makina still waiting brought him great relief, and the Medibot immediately zoomed up to his friend for that feeling of safety.
"Good, you're all here. I'm guessing no one else got the door open," Makina muttered. The collective shaking of heads confirmed his assumption. "Doc and I found this hole back here. We haven't gone far, but it look like it leads into an air vent. It might take us further inside." The Sniperbot gestured to a crude hole in the concrete wall that had been discovered, once hidden by a heavy shelving unit that had been moved out of the way. The hole looked like it had been smashed out by an explosive, with black dust marking a pattern in the floor that had since been disturbed by movement.
"Well, no harm giving it a try," Cardshark sighed. It wasn't his preferred way of getting around, but the Operator's jobs did come with a lot of dirty work. It was moments like this that he missed just robbing lavish casinos, but it didn't stop him from getting on his hands and knees and crawling into the hole. Vanguard shrugged and wordlessly followed, having no qualms about getting messy on the job. The mercenaries and Gala followed, and the bots rounded the group up from the back. Doc had to turn off his gyroscope to allow himself to awkwardly get on his hands and drag himself along the low vent, though he tried to keep his body lifted in a strange planking position so the metal didn't drag and cause a screeching sound. Makina followed right behind, still mapping the hidden wing of the facility as it was explored.
The vent only had one single path, and it was found to be littered with suspicious lumps of goop and other organic matter that they decided were parts of oddities. The acrid stench of rot and decay didn't help make the experience any more pleasant, and it certainly confirmed the group's suspicions about the gooey lumps of flesh. It only helped to raise tensions even further as every turn was met with the anticipation that they might discover another one of those creatures waiting for them.
Cardshark sighed in relief as an exit in the vent was found, and they seemed to have been spared an encounter with an eldritch horror. What was once a grate in the vent now looked like the end of a blown firecracker, the metal of the vent sinking downwards with a wide gap. The edges of the metal curled from the force of what appeared to be a small explosion. While it was a curious state for the vent to be in, it was also convenient to climb out of. It certainly had been intentionally tampered with by someone or something, but there was no sign of life other than the intruding group.
One by one, the group crawled out of the vent, staring to get their bearings as they found themselves in a room of smashed electronics, dead Oddities, and black char marks. It was increasingly obvious that someone had been there, but the rot in the bodies indicated that whatever carnage had happened in the room, had occurred quite some time ago. The maggots had gone to town over the bodies, tiny white clusters of fat, feasting larvae squirming all across the blackened flesh. Some colonies had gotten down to bone already, further disfiguring the already-mangled corpses.
Vanguard quietly retched in disgust at the sight, screwing his eyes shut and turning away as he silently willed himself not to throw up. Cardshark looked equally as disgusted but had done a better job at hiding his reaction. The three Mann Co. mercenaries were all disturbed by the number of monstrous bodies in the room, while Gala had retreated between Pyro's legs with a whine as the overwhelming stench hit her. Doc's body had frozen up while his eyes darted around the room, and Makina had been reduced to a stony, disturbed silence.
Sniper immediately moved for the door, throwing it open and urging everyone out. In the moment, no one cared where the door led. All that mattered was getting out of the disgusting room and away from the rotting stench. They kept moving along the hallway until the smell was no longer as intense, Vanguard finally letting out the breath he was holding and gasping for fresh air.
"Oh God-" He gasped, planting one hand against the wall as he doubled over, dry heaving. Cardshark gently patted his back. "That was probably the most disgusting thing I've seen. I don't get how you mercenaries are so calm about this."
"Trust me, we're not," Pyro growled, "but for a different reason. That's a lot of Oddities we saw. Question is, who killed them? And if there were that many there, I don't want to know how many more are waiting in… wherever it is we are."
Looking down the hall, it stretched into the darkness, broken up only by the occasional working ceiling lamp that cast spots of flickering, dying brightness. As much as Pyro wanted to shine his own light, he clenched his fist and resisted. The few details revealed by the lights painted a picture of a part of the facility long since abandoned, though it perhaps once had a specialised purpose. Signage painted into the walls had long since been marred with time and stains, along with streaks of dark ooze from the mysterious person's carnage. Pipes suspended on the ceiling leaked, creating discoloured stains on the ground and against the walls, inviting mold to grow in spotty clusters that looked like eyes. More importantly, clusters of electronics hung from the ceiling, clearly no longer functional but curious in their design. Makina stood under one of the machines and looked up, doing his best to identify it.
"It's a turret," He stated after a moment. "There's more down the hall, but I don't think any of them work anymore."
"Why would Gray need turrets?" Cardshark mused.
"Why wouldn't he?" Pyro huffed as he gestured back to the disgusting room they had come out of. "If those freaks are running around, I'd want turrets too."
"So you think the Oddities are coming out of this part of the facility?"
"If I had to hazard a guess, yeah. That's the most Oddities we've seen around here, and all these stains and lumps of goop along the walls tell me there's more. I don't like the idea of Gray having messed with the freak world but… I wouldn't really put it past him. Either that or he's got an Australium cache down here that they're all after." The firebug looked both ways down the hall. Back the way they came from, it appeared to stop just past the door they had come out of. Guess there was only one way, and it led to a staircase heading further down. He started to wonder just how big the facility was, and how far its reaches went.
Given that there were no other options in their navigation of the secret underground facility, the group came to a silent agreement to follow the hall and head towards the stairs. They kept close to one another, keeping themselves on high alert for any unwelcome presences crawling in the walls.
The stairwell went down in a spiral that looped in on itself multiple times, appearing to descend multiple floors before it ended in another door. At the foot of the staircase lay the body of another Oddity, decidedly dead as what was once its head had been replaced by a cinderblock and a shapeless pile of splattered flesh and shattered bone fragments. The rest of its spindly body had gone cold and hard. Very thankfully, the door blocking them this time was left ajar, though even if it hadn't been, either of the bots would have been able to brute-force their way through it.
"This is disgusting," Vanguard sourly muttered to himself as he gingerly picked his way past the creature's corpse, trying to avoid stepping on any goo it had produced when its head had been smashed in. "Next time, I'm not taking jobs like this again."
"It would do us good to get the folder we need and leave as soon as we can then," Cardshark quietly replied.
The door opened into a secondary room with yet another light barrier, though the reinforced windows offered a view of what was beyond. It led out into a metal walkway that overlooked a huge foyer that resembled the office lobby up above, though instead of shiny glass and pristine white walls, everything was dark and metal down here. Five floors down into the darkness was a loading bay, where abandoned silhouettes of forklifts and crates lay untouched and for nothing but layers of dust to settle upon them. Moving shadows in various inhuman shapes indicated that Oddities were crawling about.
There was no way to get out to the walkway without passing through the barrier, but as Spy had previously discovered, it was mere light that offered no resistance to them passing through. One by one, they walked through the active barrier, yet again finding that it seemed to be little other than a light projector. There was surely more to it given its strategic position at what was possibly the only way in or out of the walkway, but it had yet to do anything about anyone trying to pass through it.
Makina, still interested in mapping the hidden facility, hung behind while the rest of the group passed through and started to observe their surroundings, keeping an eye out for Oddities along the metal walkway. It was only once he was done mapping the stairwell that he passed through the barrier, feeling a slight fizzle of electricity.
His mind exploded in a flash of images, so rapid he couldn't understand what he was seeing. The final image of a chair in a dark room lingered for a second longer, before it blipped away too. And as fast as they had appeared, they disappeared from his vision, leaving nothing but a slight static that faded after a second. The Sniperbot froze up, unsure of what he had just seen. "What…" He stammered.
Doc, attentive as always, immediately rolled back to his friend. "Are you okay? What happened? Your eyes just flashed suddenly."
"I don't know. I just had these pictures flash in front of me when I passed through the barrier but I couldn't capture what they were except for one of a chair. Did you experience the same thing? Did anyone else?"
Doc looked away, shaking his head. "No… no, I didn't. I don't think anyone else did. Did Spy try to send you something?"
"No, I would have known if it was him. That's so strange…" Just in case, the Sniperbot quickly ran through his log of file transfers, finding nothing recent and out of place. Whatever those images had been, they had already been stored in his memory files, though he had no recollection of seeing or finding them even in the past year of sorting out his memories. They had to have come from deep storage, or a hidden folder even he had not realised was there. As much as he wanted to stop there and focus his attention on searching for the images again, Pyro's hissing for their attention had him placing the thought on the back-burner. "Never mind, I'll think about it later." He nudged Doc onwards, the two bots returning to the rest of the group that had gathered by the railing overlooking the loading bay below.
"Vanguard and Sniper scouted the area," Pyro explained in a hushed voice, "there's rooms on all the floors, but no clue what's in them. We're going to split up so you two and OpMercs can go find whatever folder they're looking for. Spy, Sniper and I are going to head all the way down and see if we can track down where the Oddities are coming from or if there's any Australium caches they're after here. Sound good? Sounds great to me."
"Splitting up?" Doc repeated, another cold chill lighting up his circuits, "It's… it's safer if we stick together, no?"
"Maybe, but I'm sure you can handle yourself. You know what, you can bring Gala with you if she makes you feel safer. I don't think I want to take her with me down there anyway."
Doc's eyes shifted to the golden dog that had dutifully followed them, recalling how she had helped protect him from the encounter with a monster outside the facility. Gala met his gaze with shiny, helpful eyes and a wagging tail. "Are you sure? She's your dog."
"Yeah," Pyro replied, "she'll know what to do to protect you and herself. Right, girl?" He reached down to rub between her ears. "Follow Doc. Good girl." Gala rose to her feet and moved up besides Doc's wheel, looking up at him for her orders now.
Admittedly, having Gala by his side did make the Medibot feel a little less spooked. He had read that dogs had heightened senses and could perceive danger far earlier than humans, so it was easy to place his trust in her to warn him of anything. Plus, Makina and the OpMercs would be there too. He reached down and awkwardly planted a hand on her head, gently petting her.
Spy glanced over. "Done arranging who's taking the dog? We meet back here in an hour, but if any plans change, I will be in contact with Makina and Doc. Good luck, everyone."