OUTWORLD: Dark Planet

OUTWORLD: Dark Planet Part 5

Doreen walked the strange corridor – it seemed a little rude to refer to it as a cave – and was amazed by the intricacies of the network of shining blue running through the rock. Blue roots, Doreen thought with a grin. That's what they looked like. Blue roots.

Shale crunched underneath her boot soles as she moved deeper into the asteroid. The blue roots played out in odd shapes over her, shining obliquely in the glare of her suit lamps. They were definitely becoming more intricate as she walked on, she noted.

Like they were leading somewhere.

The corridor widened up ahead, but didn't branch. Doreen frowned as she traced the lines of the rock around her, and she couldn't help thinking that the general appearance of the cavern was looking less natural as well. The wall was becoming neater, the rough-hewn rock graduating to a slicker consistency. Rock definitely didn't do that. Sure, it could be lustrous and somewhat smooth, but not like this; at least, not in any samples or environments Doreen had witnessed.

Her scanner chirped once more, and Doreen checked it to find that the blue roots were exuding energy. It was akin to the energy produced by the crystals, but this energy was somewhat weaker. That led Doreen to a number of hypotheses, but she didn't have the time to mull it all over. She passed more of the roots as they straggled about, pulsing around her. It reminded her of having an eye test, seeing all those veins and nerves silhouetted in the light.

Just without the uncomfortable breath of the optician on her face, Doreen thought with a smirk.

She tried her radio again. Still nothing. She sighed and looked back down the cave. Rodolfo had told her not to stray too far and, although he wasn't superior to her on the subject of geology, he was her superior in everything else.

She was about to turn back and see if the crane was repaired when a sudden movement caught her eye from ahead. It was too quick to make out anything concrete, but Doreen had definitely seen something. More to the point, something had registered on her suit's audio receptors. She shook her head. It was probably a transmission trying to get through and a trick of her suit lamps. She craned her head to see around a slight bend in the cave further along and saw nothing.

She about-faced and started the walk back to the shaft.

Then she turned back around. She had to see what was down here!

Doreen followed the bend in the cave around to yet another cave. It was definitely beginning to resemble the interior of a pipe. More blue veins ran along the wall, but even they were looking more regular, like circuitry.

More to the point, Doreen's helmet lamps were picking up an ambient source of light and were adjusting themselves to compensate. It was extremely weak light, but it was there all the same. "What is this thing?" she murmured, repeating her question from earlier. Right now, everything previous to this felt like another reality. Her eyes drifted from one scrawl of blue to another as she walked on, determined to discover what all of this meant.

The light was getting brighter. Doreen found herself moving forward at a quickened pace, unsure if she was putting her own will into making her feet move. It was almost as if the thing down here wanted to be found, like it was calling to her and pulling her on.

Doreen chortled as she got a hold of herself and slowed. She was dramatic!

Her grin faded as she noticed that the passage ended a few feet in front of her. A sloping wall surface marked the fact, covered with more of those blue rock veins.

Doreen sighed and approached the obstruction, putting out a gloved paw to touch its smooth skin. The scanner chirruped as it registered the energy output.