Two days after exploring the area around the gateway.
For the last two days, the two groups have explored around two miles of an area from the gateway beyond, finding the small room with the paper that was being looked over. Nothing else has been found around the gateway. The third day was to expand in one direction for five miles and see if anything could be found of interest. Coming through the gate with a tether behind him, James made his way along the path they had marked in the direction of "North East." This time he was carrying a demo kit with him since there was a chance he could encounter one of the black masses that was found in the opposite direction.
In the event he encounters one, he has a way of quickly getting through it, and so far, despite destroying several of them, nothing has come about to investigate the noise and the destruction of the nest. "Moving past Mark, one should be getting near that room we found." Walking past the mass of walls that covered his view, the room soon came into view, but something was different. "Um, command, there is a new door here; it was the arrow we painted on it." This was highly unexpected to happen since nothing has changed since they explored. For James and his command, this was a concern. "Are you waiting for me to open the door?" Standing in front of it, he waited for his orders.
"Open it, but be careful; there is no telling if there is something else different within that could be hostile." Reaching out with his hand, he would take hold of the handle and press down on it. Moving with his hand was a sign that it was unlocked. Opening the door to look through a small crack in its opening, he looked inside. The layout of the walls was the same, yet the table now only had two chairs under it, with another door on the other side. "There is another door command, and the table now just has two chairs." Walking into the room, he looked at the table, and unlike the first time they examined it, there was nothing on it. "Command, there is no folder or paper this time. I assume that we were right when someone put them here. Any idea who this M.E.G. could be? Has anything been found with the records?" He was referring to the records of the Foundation, which had huge archives of all kinds of different groups of interest.
Having one last look around, checking under the table, and opening the other door, I see that it just leads to the other side. He stepped back through the door he came from, shut it behind him, and started to walk along the side of the outside wall. "Nothing. We looked through the archives, and there is no group with that name. There is the possibility that whoever this M.E.G. It could be some kind of organization that formed within this place. If hundreds of people were falling in, it would make sense that someone would come along and get people together." It would increase one's chances of living instead of sticking out alone, yet it was still unknown if they would be friendly to them or enemies. They did leave those papers behind to help whoever found them, but at the same time, they could be a lure.
Walking away from the door, he followed along the side of that where once the door was, but it seemed to change spots. "This will make it harder for us to mark this location because the door location can change. I'm making my way around it. How far did Zeta 9 get when they went past it? I see their markings on the wall." Ahead of him, along a set of walls that were spaced out, were several spray-painted X marks and arrows leading in one direction. "From our best guess, with everything they used to mark the way forward and back to the gate, I say at most about three or four miles; they walked for quite some time. Anything beyond their marks is unknown just as much as this place is still unknown to us." Even with all the time they have been here, they have yet to gain any clues on how this place works.
"I am making my way down their path, then seeing what is beyond it. I am detaching my tether here and attaching the one they place here." As Zeta 9 made their way throughout this area, they placed a second tether here. Since the one at the gateway was not close enough to it, he would detach the tether around his harness. Placing it on an open hole in the metal spool that held the tether once it was attached, he gave it a small pull, getting a few lengths of it out. "Command I am hooked on the second tether. I shall start making my way down the path Zeta-9 walked, going to see what is beyond this location." After giving his update to the command, he checked everything on his body. "Understood. Zeta 9 will be bringing in extra oxygen tanks to the second tether location." He had talked with them about bringing extra tanks with him, but it was seen as too much for one person to carry.
He was already carrying a small backpack with the tanks on top of other things around his waist, along with his SMG. Walking through the rows of walls that stretched out before him, most of them were marked with arrows and tape on the floor. This was all to ensure that no one got lost and had a way back to the gateway, as it was the only way out of this place. After walking for close to an hour, he had reached the end of the marking and the tape that was a guide for him. "Command, I have reached the end of the guide marks. I am making my way forward. I'll keep in touch as much as I can." With that, James made his way forward, looking for any large wall like the one that the gateway was attached to. It was assumed that if there was any exit out of this level, then such a location was one that needed to be found. Yet all before him was the same layout that is everywhere else: nothing but yellow papered walls, wet carpet, and buzzing lights.
Two hours after leaving the edge of the explored space.
"Command... I think I found something, but I need new tanks. If Zeta 9 is coming, have them follow my tether here. There is a long wall here, unlike the other location. This one seems to go on with no breaks in it; the color is the same, but there is another wooden door here in the middle of it. There are a few small walls attached to it, but they are broken up just like the others. I think we just in a way reach the "end" of this level." He recalled what was within the paper in that folder, and they found that this was known as Level 0. He doubts that this was the true end of this place, or, for that matter, that it had an end at all, but there was a chance it led to another one of these levels." Copy. Zeta and 9 are making their way to you; they will link up with you. Do not go through that door at this time. Wait for them to arrive, then, as a group, go through there, no telling what is on the other side, and we need to avoid you getting killed or lost." Nodding his head, he could agree with him. Stepping behind one of the walls, he would sit down on the ground.
The moist carpet made a squashing sound from his weight. He gave the tether a small pull, getting some slack so that it was not pulling on him. "James. This is the mole rate we just saw your tether get pulled and has gone slack. Was that you?" He was surprised; he did not think that they were that close. "That was me. Everything is alright; just rest until you get here with the tanks. I can save more on what I have if I am not doing anything and my legs are killing me." He had been walking nonstop throughout this location, and his legs were sore from all of it. "You're going to need to set up rest stops in this place." There was a chuckle that came through the radio after those words. It would not be long before they found James sitting on the floor. "Sorry for the wait; we got the extra tanks here for you." Mole 1 spoke as Mole 4 walked forward and would sit down in two large oxygen tanks standing up. He walked over to him, turning around. "So, you found anything else on your way here?" Mole 1 asked him as Mole 4 worked to change out his tanks. "Besides the door there." He pointed towards a wooden door that looked similar to the one that led into the room they found.
"Did you see a few strange things I did not think needed to be reported before you asked? It was not any of those monsters we encountered within the building. The buzzing increased in volume from the lights; I thought I had seen bugs under the wallpaper, and I thought I heard voices. But from our previous walks here, I think it was just this place messing with my head as before." There have been strange things happening within this place from both directions, but there is nothing to be worried about so far. After a few more seconds, his tanks were set, with the old one lying up next to the wall and another member of Zeta 9 spraying on the wall an X and an arrow to mark their path as before. "Alright, everything seems to be set. I'm showing a good supply of air. I think we can move on and see what is beyond that door." James spoke as Zeta 9 formed up in a cycle around him, with Mole 1 at the front moving as one as they made their way around a few of the broken walls. Stopping when they had a clear view of the entire wall from getting a closure look, there was a slightly different color around the door, a dull yellow compared to the rest. "Either this is another room or something else; we know from the reports from Tyler that this is what they found." There were plans to test out this no-clip, but they wanted to find this doorway that Tyler said he went through first.
Standing in a cycle, checking and keeping an eye on their flanks and corners, Mole 1 would reach out with his left hand, taking hold of the handle, and give it a turn. The knob turns easily; he pushes on the door, and it starts to open forward, stopping beyond a crack and looking through it. "Form up around the door we breached on three." Mole 1 through 4 took positions on the left side; Mole 5, 6, and James took positions on the right side once they were ready. Mole 1 would move to the front of the door, giving it a hard kick. The door would swing wide open as the rest followed in behind them, which was a great surprise. "What the hell..." Mole 3 spoke under his breath. Around them was a change of layout in the room instead of rows of broken-up walls covered in yellow wallpaper, broken segmented lights, and carpet. Under their feet, above their heads, and on their left and right, there was a concert in the distance. In front of them could be seen small puddles of water. The lighting within was provided by rows of lights that went on for some distance, and unlike beyond the door, there was none of the endless buzzing sound that came from them. "Alright... We need to pull back; it seems we have found an exit out of the first level. But we were unprepared for what could be here; from my guess, it matches with their description within that paper." The paper spoke of what it looks like, and it seems to be the home of this M.E.G.
And they are unequipped to do major exploring here for testing of this next level, and they were under strict orders to pull back if they ever found this door and give a full report. Outside, Mole 5 would spray paint an X near the door, with James closing it behind them. There was one thing that was clear: now they need D-class for the next step. "We are going to need D-class on what is on the other side. We know that for the most part, this place here is clear and nothing much of an interest. But what is beyond that is unknown. I am not risking myself or yours when we have ones that could be thrown at it and we can learn from what is there. And how to prepare for further operations, for once they give us an idea of what is out there, we are going to move on, and with luck things will go well... and we can find this M.E.G." And with further luck, they will be willing to speak with them and be friendly.
With that, the group made their way back towards the gate to give their report and make plans for their next move.