There are three certainties in life. Mammals are born, mammals die, and at one point in their lives, they will go head first into a cobweb. That was my first experience with this seemingly infinite tunnel system we were in. These tunnels were defiantly made for mammals much smaller than I, although every few feet the ceiling increases in height. I started crawling on my stomach but now I am in a semi-comfortable knee crawl. These cobwebs are getting very annoying though.

Life in the Burrow was far from perfect but at least we did not have insects. Despite being underground, the facility was well secured from any outside forces, including bugs. This place however, was far from insect-free. If I ever meet the thing that made these annoying obstructions, I will introduce it to something hard, like the butt of my gun. Thankfully for them I have not seen any spiders, or other signs of life. It be really difficult to get my feet in front of me in this position.

I checked my Pip-Boar's sensors to make sure that we weren't stumbling on anything potentially dangerous. Every-time I checked it was the same thing. A dot appears for a second but then disappears, just to reappear minutes later in the same area. It was at the very edge of my sensor range, so I had no idea how far it was, nor could I tell if it was above or below us. Maybe I broke it?

"Hey Onion. I am getting odd readings on my sensors. You see anything?"

"Just a single dot that keeps vanishing Miss."

Just like those bears we encountered earlier. Could one of them have survived and ended up falling through another sinkhole? I can't be so lucky as those bears happening just to me. We have been crawling for at least a hundred feet and that dot has remained on the very border of my sensor, so I doubt it was close enough to cause any immediate concern. I just hope it's not an ambush. My body count is already high enough that if this was a video game, I'd be on the top ten rankings.

We reached an area where the tunnel suddenly seemed to end. I shone my light around and saw that there was a small ladder leading deeper into where ever we were. The ladder was much too small for me, and the darkened colors of the walls made it hard to see any real distance. I wanted to dig something out from my bag to test the drop distance, but my bag was strapped to my back, and there was not enough room to try to reach behind me to undoit. So, Idecided to do what I did best. Fall.

"Umm Miss? Are you sure it's safe?"

"I have no idea Onion. Wish me luck."

"Miss!"

I ignored Onion as I crawled head first into the drop. I used my paws to try to grip the sides as I slowly wormed my way down. Then my grip slipped. I fell … for an entire two feet. I could still feel the tips of my toes dangling near where I was. Well, this was embarrassing. My neck was being bent at an odd angle but I managed to move my arm enough to shine my light around me to see where the tunnel connected to. On my left there was some kind of security door. I could see large yellow and black alternating stripes painted on it. It was large enough that I would be able to get through it. That is, if I could get it open.

"Miss?"

"I'm alright Onion. There's a door here, but I am at a bit of a disadvantage right now."

"Is there anything I can do to help Miss?"

"Unless you can shrink down and swap places with me, not really."

I had to get these doors open. I did not know where they lead, but even if I could manage to get out of this tunnel and back to where we came from, I doubt all my technical skills will help in digging us out. Plus, for all I know, those creatures are still out there. I shone my light over the door, trying to see any signs of a way in. Cobwebs covered parts of the door, but I was able to reach out and dust them off. Beneath them was a small control panel. Bingo!

From the looks of it, the access system used some kind of card to gain entry - a card I did not have. Unlike the rest of the wasteland, I had yet to see any corpses or bones, so the chances of finding a valid access card was null. I didn't even know if there was power to the doors. I decided to do the only thing I knew. Right after I move myself into a better position, I could feel the blood rushing to my head. My neck wasn't very happy either.

Once I was able to get myself into a mostly comfortable position, I went to work. There were no physical access points to do any type of direct connection, so I tried to find a wireless access point. I found one, but the signal was very faint. That was a good sign though. It meant there was at least some power here. I accessed the connection and attempted to find something useful, but I have never seen such complex encryption. It would take days for me to break it!

Since that wasn't going to work, I disabled my connection and began to contemplate all possible chances of gaining access. I still had some explosives, but even if these were weak enough, an explosion at this range would probably kill me. I could try to shoot it, but these look reinforced, and my luck it would ricochet back and hit me. If I had some water, liquid nitrogen, and an inflatable raft … no that's stupid. I moved around some more so that I could access my bag. I had those remote hacking devices, but they were designed for gaining entries into nearby terminals. I did not feel like being confined here while trying to decrypt it. Wait a second, what's this?

I pulled out a small round device. That damn North somehow stuck this onto Onion and was able to disable him. I wonder if I could use it here? It was about half the size of the coins, with a small indent on the top. I could see a button inside but when I pushed it with my nail, nothing happened. Then I got a brilliant idea. I grabbed one of the remote hacking squares and my screwdrivers. It was very cramped, but with some effort, I was able to open up both of the devices and wire them together. It was very tricky, especially since I did not have any magnifying glasses, but I spent enough time doing this type of stuff to manage. It would have been better if I was able to solder everything, but I did not have the room, nor the intention of burning myself.

Once I was happy with what I did, I placed the device as close to the card reader as possible. From what I could tell, the round device generated a small Electro-Magnetic Field that could temporarily deactivate anything electrical, hence how it shut down Onion. Unfortunately, the range of it was very small, and only effected what it was attached to. Since I had no idea where the door control computer was located, I needed a way to direct the EMF, and that is where my remote comes in. I designed these things myself. As long as they are within a few feet of a computer, they can gain access to any of the connected systems and allow me to access it through my Pip-Boar, effectively giving me an extended hacking range. By combining both together, my thought is that the remote will find the nearest computer, which should be the door controls, and once connected, it will trigger the EMF, but rather than send it in an area, I made it so that the field will be sent along the wires and into whatever the remote is connected to. If it all works … well, here goes nothing.

I activated the remote. Within seconds I was greeted with the same encryption as earlier. Once the EMF was active, my Pip-Boar's screen started to go fuzzy as the signal was being interfered by the magnetic field. I quickly disconnected my Pip-Boar from the remote, just in case it backfired and I fried it, and waited. I heard a small sizzle followed by a pop that echoed in the tunnels. My knee was getting sore from being in this position. This better work. A few seconds went by with nothing, but then I was rewarded with a small click noise as the door opened in wards slightly.

"Fuck you, overly encrypted system! Ingenuity wins again!"

"Sensors are still only picking up that one dot Miss."

"Well, going back is not an option, so we will just deal with it once we get there."

"And if it's hostile Miss?"

"I still have plenty of bullets."

I really hope I don't have to fight anyone. Sure I have gotten lucky most of the time. I really don't feel any pleasure in killing people, even if they do deserve it. The only exception I will give to that are those Red-Neck fuckers. Unless they have a really good explanation, and it would have to be a world ending one, I promised to show no mercy against them. Burning an entire town alive is beyond anything an animal can or should be able to consciously do. Fuck, don't dwell on this Olivia, think of what's right in front of me. I really don't want another emotional breakdown.

Thankfully something caught my eye past the doors that made those images stop forming. I still was unable to perceive distances well in this darkened tunnel, but I saw some flashing lights beyond these doors. They were ever so faint, but it was a step in the right direction. I also noticed that the tunnel had gotten much wider passed these doors. While I was still unable to walk upright, I had much greater freedom in movement, and it was big enough for me to sit down without having to crane my neck. Unlike before, this gradual increasing in size was happening every couple feet, rather than every twenty feet.

The flashing lights were getting much closer now as the tunnel got to the point where I could finally stand up. There were still no signs or markings indicating what this tunnel was. Originally I figured it was just an entrance for rodent sized mammals, but now I am wondering if I was simply in the maintenance tunnels. The Burrow had plenty of them, but typically there were circuit systems, or wires, or pipes and tubes within it, but this was clear of any of that. Perhaps this place was under construction when the war broke out and they had to abandon it.

I moved my light around every so often, trying to see if I can find any signs of what this place was when I found a door, or rather, multiple sets of doors. All of them were on my right, and as the shaft increased in size exponentially, the doors started to get larger as well. The odd thing was that the smallest of the doors were only a foot or so shorter than I was. There were no mouse or rat sized ones. I tried the door that was about rabbit size but it was sealed shut, and unlike before, there was no sign of a keypad, card scanner, or a lock of any kind. They must be opened remotely.

My legs were getting very cramped, so when I finally was able to stand fully erect, I gave myself a moment to stretch. That's when I noticed the marks. They were all over, but most of them seemed to emanate from the doors. I knelt closer and rubbed my paw over them. A layer of dust covered them, so they were not recent, but they looked sporadic, as if whoever made them was lashing out uncontrollably. I felt my fur raise with unease.

"Miss?"

"I see them Onion. Thankfully they are old, but I feel anxious suddenly, and for the last time, no we cannot go back."

"Beg your pardon Miss, but that is not what I was referring to. Look at the ceiling."

"The ceiling?"

I looked up I noticed that a few feet away there was a flashing red light on the ceiling. I raised my light towards itand saw a small dome sticking out from the ceiling. Was it some sort of security camera? I didn't see any form of lens, but then again, Onion's visual receiver was well hidden. I kept my light on it as I took a couple steps closer.

"Imminent Threat Detected. Activate B.A.T.S.?"

"Imminent threat? What threat are you … Oh. Fuck me."

The 'dome' descended as I spoke revealing two small barrels. I heard a faint humming noise as the front of it started to glow a vibrant blue. I now had a feeling that this was no camera and dove right intoB.A.T.S. Imanaged to dodge as one of the barrels fired and I heard a small sizzle where I was just standing. I looked down and saw a small dart that was emitting small sparks of electricity. It was a fucking electrified stun dart! If my Pip-Boar hadn't warned me, I would probably be having a seizure right now.

I had already wasted half of my time dodging and identifying the threat, now I needed to act. I pulled my gun from my belt and took aim just as it was firing another dart. I side-stepped as I fired, and the dart missed me, but my bullet just ricocheted off of it. Well fuck my life. I saw it starting to glow again as it readied another shot. My B.A.T.S. had already worn off, and there really wasn't a safe place to hide so I did the first thing that came to my head. I ran as fast as I could.

I managed to avoid the next shot as I ran directly towards it. I heard the humming stop as I went under it and that made me glance behind me. The blue glow had stopped and it was replaced by a bright red glow. A low clicking noise started to emanate from it as the other barrel started to glow red as well. No, it couldn't be.

It was. A plume of fire burst from the barrel as I felt the heat getting uncomfortably closer to me. I pushed myself as hard as I could and darted forward with enough pace that the fire managed to avoid me, or at least I hope it did. Once the noise from the turret stopped I gave myself pause. I was almost out of breath, and I could smell some smoldering coming from around me.

"Onion!"

"Here Miss! Apparently it has not seen me as a threat yet."

He was right. Onion was floating past the turret and it did not seem to pay any mind to him. I am guessing it was only programmed to detect organic life. As Onion approached me, I saw the blue glow starting up again.

"Oh come on!"

"Imminent Threat Detected. Activate B.A.T.S.?"

"Yes."

I had an idea. It was a very slim chance of an idea, but it just might work. I just hope that my accuracy was up to the challenge.

Once the chemicals kicked in fully, I took aim with my gun. Closing one eye, I let the rest of the world fall away, concentrating on one thing and one thing only. I took a deep breath, made sure my aim was lined up with my target, the blue glowing making it exceedingly easy to find my target, and I pulled the trigger.

I saw that the dart had started to emerge from the barrel, but my bullet was faster. Before it had the opportunity to leave it's 'home,' the bullet intruded, pushing the dart back into the barrel. A second later sparks were starting to fly off of the barrel as they traveled to the main unit. B.A.T.S. wore off as the fireworks started. The sparks were flying all over as the turret started to malfunction, turning left and right as if trying to shake something off of it. Then it started to glow red. Unlike before, the entire dome was glowing. Then I noticed that the ceiling immediately around it was as well.

"Onion! We gotta go. Now!"

I turned around and started to fly down the tunnel towards where the flashing lights were. I heard popping noises coming from behind me, but I did not stop to see. I knew what was about to happen. When we reached the end of the tunnel, there was a large door. Just like the other doors we passed, this one did not have any visible sign of a lock. Fuck. I chanced a peek back and the ceiling around the turret was starting to dip. I did not have much time.

I started to check for anything, a covered panel, a loose wire, anything that could let me open this. The popping noises behind me were getting louder, followed by the sound of creaking metal and I could hear bolts being forcefully ejected from any panels around the domed turret. There was no way past this door. I knelt down on the ground and formed myself into a ball, pressing as close to the door as possible.

"Onion! Get as close to the door as possible!"

"Miss?"

"Just do it!"

I closed my eyes. The flamethrower on that was powerful, so that means that there must be a direct line of fuel into it. I really hope that no one filled the tanks before this place was abandoned, or else we're toast. Literally. It could explode at any second, but sitting here, seconds felt like minutes. I was frightened by a loud beep as the doors started to slide open. We're saved!

"Inside, now!"

We moved to the other side of the door as fast as possible. It started to close before we were even past it. It closed with a loud clanking noise, followed by three beeps and a quiet clink noise. It had a large offset window on it and I looked through it just as the tunnel filled with a bright light and deafening noise as the turret finally exploded.

It wasn't just the turret that exploded, the entire ceiling started to rupture, spilling flames out while doing so. The entire tunnel was engulfed in flame as it raced towards the door. The force of the fire and shock-wave hit the door, causing enough of an impact to knock me on my ass, but thankfully the door held. I got up and pressed my paw against the metal. It was hot, but the door was thick enough that it absorbed most of it. It seemed that the explosion was contained beyond these doors. Depending upon how much fuel was out there, it might not be safe to venture out anytime soon. Not like we had a choice to begin with.

"That was too close Miss. I commend your skills on getting the door open, but did you really have to blow up everything?"

"Firstly, I did not expect it to do that, I just wanted to short it out with its own electricity, and secondly, I didn't open the door."

"Well then who did Miss?"

"I am not sure, but let's just hope they are on our side for once."

I took a look around while I tried to catch my breath. Unlike the tunnels, this room was dimly lit. The ceiling in here were much taller than that of the tunnels as well. There were computers terminals built into the walls ahead of me, along with very large monitors that were mounted above them. While none of the monitors were active, the flashing lights from the terminals told me that this place did have power. I noticed that the computers were set at various heights, with smaller ones nested at the bottom of larger ones. Like everything else I have seen, this seemed to cater to mammals of all sizes. To the left and right were large doors, but unlike the other ones we encountered, they were open.

"Onion, I am going to look around. Inform me if anything pops up on your sensors. We need to find a way out of here."

"Yes Miss. Do be careful."

"I'm always careful."

I just knew Onion was giving me the stink eye, well that is if he had eyes. I was torn between actually finding an exit, and investigating this place further. Computers always had a tendency to pique my interest. Who knows what delicious information they held. On the other paw, I had no idea how safe this place is, and with the possibility of another stealthy attack, it would be good to know how the hell to get out of here in a hurry. I decided to wait on the computers. If everything was safe, I'd come back to them.

I choose the left side to investigate first. I reloaded my gun and kept it at the ready as I peeked past the open doorway. Inside I could see large walls that spanned to the ceiling, with a fabric curtain at evenly spaced intervals. I slowly walked over to the nearest curtain, my eyes darting between my immediate surroundings and the Pip-Boar's sensor. So far no signs of life, but that one glitched dot was still present, and it was still on the very edge of the screen.

As I got closer, I realized that these walls were massive. At first I thought maybe it was an office of some sort, but the entire place had a very medical feel to it. Was it a hospital, and if so, why would they build it beneath a donut shop? This made me want to find out more about this place. A lot of time and money must have gone into this.

Since there were still no signs of danger, I slowly lifted back part of the curtain and peeked inside. There was what looked like a large medical bed, but this one had large metallic straps on it, unlike the fabric ones that I have seen for restless patients. Above the bed were tools of all shapes and sizes hanging from the ceiling. It made it look like a demonic spider robot dangling down over its prey. There was a computer near the bed, but this was on a platform that was raised at bed height. It looked small enough for a mouse to use.

Every room was the same as the first, the only difference were the bed sizes. Some were large enough for an elephant, and others seemed just the right size for a rabbit. Not once did I see any small enough for even a rat. This troubled me as I thought back to my life in the Burrow and how many of the rodents seemed to look down upon us rabbits. I had to be over thinking this. Surely in a world where predator and prey can work together, even the smallest of mammals must fit in. Imean, an entire city dedicated to them rested right above us.

I checked every single room. There were at least two-dozens of them, but most of them were empty. A few had skeletal remains in the beds, and there were a few rodent sized ones scattered here and there, but thankfully no signs of hostile life. A few of the beds had blood stained sheets on them, and that made me shiver. I did find one door, but like the others, it was sealed with no visible access points on it. I decided to try my luck in the other room.

Back in the computer room, Onion was diligently awaiting me. I told him about everything that I had found and he seemed just as confused (and slightly curious, though I doubt he would admit that) about the nature of this place as I was. Just as before, I took a quick peek past the other doors to make sure it was safe before entering.

This room was much different. While the other one seemed like a medical facility, this one looked more like a laboratory. There were tables everywhere, each of them had different tools on them, such as microscopes, beakers, and equipment I did not recognize. Just like the computer room, the tables were nested together, with smaller rodent sized ones on top of larger ones. Each desk had a computer terminal, but unlike the ones in the main room, none of these seemed to have power.

On the other side of the room was a set of double doors. I noticed right away that these doors were not completely closed, but rather slightly ajar. While there was a dim light in this room, I could tell that there was very little light coming from the adjacent one. I slowly opened the door after checking my sensors and stepped into the darkened space. I turned on my Pip-Boar's light and scanned the room. The first thing I noticed were giant tubes that connected from floor to ceiling. Most of them were cracked, but there were two that were still intact. Floating inside the tubes were bodies that were so well preserved, that I would have sworn they were still alive. One was an elephant, the other was a large black bear.

Some kind of liquid kept the bodies afloat, and I saw tubes connecting from their mouth and nose leading towards the top. Each of them had a computer attached. The broken ones' computers were inactive, but these two still had them active. I dusted off the screen next to the elephant and pushed a button to hopefully wake it from its digital slumber. Lines of code started to swim across the screen until another screen appeared.

A splash screen appeared, and to my shock it held a very familiar word: *Burrow-Tec*. Was this another Burrow? No, it was nothing like seventy-six. This place looked more like a medical facility than a habitat. There were a bunch of files, but most held basic business reports that either disinterested me, or was too confusing to understand. I found a menu labeled: *Specimen Reports* and clicked it. Most of the files were corrupted but I found two that were viewable.

Specimen Report CE-0123:

Specimen CE-0023 has shown great improvements since it was first brought to this facility. Initially, it exhibited aggressive tendencies every time Serum CE001 was administered. These bouts of rage died down within thirty minutes, but at the cost of CE-0014, and CE-0036. Since the research lab had introduced Serum CE002, these uncontrollable acts of aggression had diminished greatly, thanks to the help of CE-0123's blood samples.

Conclusion: It advised that we do not proceed with Stage Two with this specimen, for it may be needed if Serum CE0002 should fail.

Specimens? What the hell was going on here? This report seemed to show the same regards to this elephant as one would a simple tool. Was it possible that these 'specimens' were involved with starting the war? Even if they were wartime criminals, they still deserved better than this. Every mammal is a living, breathing being, and should have faced a fair hearing, and not undergone trial experiments. I moved towards the terminal next to the bear. I noticed something about this one, he had his entire belly shaved and there was a square shaped hole in his abdomen.

Specimen Report CE-0221:

Thanks to the introduction of Serum CE004, there has been a dramatic increase in successful Engine production. Specimen CE-0221's aggression levels have been in check ever since we changed to the latest Serum. Mental reconditioning has also proven successful, although occasionally the name 'Sarah' is spoken, although based upon brain activities, this is simply a remnant of the subconscious. Larynx has been removed to prevent any interruptions with Stage Two. Minor organs have already been possessed, and major organs have been removed for reprogramming.

Conclusion: Once internals have been reprogrammed and reinstalled, proceed with Stage Two. Marked as Priority.

What the fuck was going on here!? Mental reconditioning? Organ reprogramming? This poor bear was probably torn from his wife, sister, or daughter and brought here, and for what? To be experimented on like some lower life-form? This makes me wantto … ugh. Keep your cool Olivia. Blowing up this place won't bring them back. For all I know, they were volunteers … who the fuck would volunteer for this, and why the fuck is Burrow-Tec's name associated with this?

I tried to clear my head by looking for an exit. I found one, but just like on the other side, there was no apparent way in. Since this room was making me think dangerous thoughts, I figured it be best to leave it. There was nothing of interest here anyways. I went back out into the computer room, and like before, Onion was waiting.

"Anything helpful in there, Miss?"

"No."

"You seem agitated Miss."

"Just … no. That room can go fuck itself for all I care."

I would tell Onion later what I found, I just did not want to think of it now. Since all the exits were sealed, I decided to finally play around on the computer. There had to be some sort of security override in here, or at the very least a map to tell us where the exit might be. I pushed a button on a random keyboard and all the monitors lit up, all of them displayed different things. I located the monitor attached to the computer I was at and focused only on it.

It did not take long to find a map of this place. The sealed doors in each room connected to each other and lead to a room that seemed to dwarf these three. There were multiple exits in that room, but one stood out from the others: Equipment Elevator. Surface Only. That was our way out, provided I could find a way to open these doors.

I moved from file to file and saw more and more reports on these specimens. I ignored them, still upset at the last one I read, and kept searching until I found a menu labeled: Security. I clicked on it, and to no surprise, it was access protected. I booted up my hacking software and went to work. Just like the other pre-war computers, I had to play the matching game, but I managed to get it on the third try. Funny how some ticket terminal was harder to crack then this hidden laboratory.

Once I was in, it was only a matter of moments before I found the security overrides. There were two options: Turret Control and Door Access. I started with Turret Control. There were five turrets listed, with one being marked offline. I assumed that was the one I … blew up, and proceeded to deactivate the other four. Next I went into the door access menu and found a master override. I activated it and heard faint clicking noises. With the press of a few buttons I have complete, and safe access to this entire facility.

Before I could congratulate myself, all the screens suddenly flickered and went black. From the ambient light, I could tell they were still on, and I was convinced of that when a large polar bear came into view. The screens were working as one, making this bear span across all of them like a giant monitor. It started to speak, but while I heard it, his mouth did not seem to move.

"Rabbit. I do not know who you are or where you came from, but I have been watching you ever since you stepped foot into this facility."

"Umm… Onion? I'm not going crazy, am I?"

"You certainly are not." It was the bear, not Onion who responded.

"You can hear me? Who are you? Where are you? Most importantly, what the fuck is this place?"

"There will be time for that. Others have tried to enter this place and had died. You, however, are much more resourceful. I have a request of you."

"A request? I don't even know you, and you are asking me for a request? How do I know I can trust you?"

"You don't my dear, but events are unfolding at an accelerated rate thanks to your arrival, and I have the feeling that neither of us will be able to survive without the other's help."

"Miss? How do you know we can trust this bear?"

"I don't Onion, but I have a feeling he is what this blip is representing, and unfortunately if that is the case, he's standing between us and freedom."

"I agree, under one condition. No harm comes to me and my friend."

"That is acceptable. Now, if you will please proceed into the exhibition room, we may discuss this in person, Miss …?

"The name is Olivia."

"Pleased to meet you. You may call me … Mr. Big."