Commander's Rounds

Entry 17: Subject I

It had been a job and a half to find this place.

Even before Azur Lane was established, there were other facilities working on the Siren problem and the technology they introduced into the world. And there was one which the commander was especially keen on finding. After going through numerous reports of transmissions, logistics manifests, and other key pieces of a long and arduous paper trail, he had finally found it.

Sector A-14.

He left with only a few other ships- Bismarck, Glorious, Yuubari, and Kashino to find that place, along with a group of fast transport ships.

It was on a remote island, and it took them some time to figure out what might even look like an entrance, mainly complicated by the fact that the place had been abandoned for many years. But he had some idea about how these fortified island bases worked, so he was able to narrow down where such entrances might be. Once he found the heavily armored door, he waited for Yuubari to figure out how to crack it open without having to blast through. Explosive force was not an option.

This was not a combat mission.

After using his clearance, the door opened, and fresh air rushed into the base for the first time in who knew how long. All they could see in front of them was a great, dark hallway with a few ominous blinking lights, daring them to plumb the installation's depths.

Bismarck hmmed. "There's still power, after all this time?

The commander nodded. "Yeah. This base was basically made to withstand a failure of civilization- it could operate on its own for many decades. In theory, anyway." He flipped on a lever, turning on the hallway lights, providing them a path to follow.

Yuubari looked in. "Commander, you told us this was a research base... For what, exactly?"

"All kinds of things- wild, experimental stuff, originally, but it was also the first place where serious research was done on the wisdom cubes." He began to walk in. "All right, let's go in and have a look."

The long, sterile, metal hallway only led them to what appeared to be a large freight elevator- the five of them entered, and it the commander pushed a button, causing the elevator to begin an uncomfortably long and dark descent. Bismarck had questions. "So, why was this place abandoned, anyway?"

He sighed. "Work on the cubes began here before we knew that there were human-type sirens, so we thought this was secure. But the place was infiltrated. One of them got in, and basically just pranked the people here by letting them know that the Sirens were always watching.

Glorious blinked. "Wow. Do we know who it was?"

The commander shrugged. "We don't have any hard proof, but think about who we know that would infiltrate a secure installation just to say 'boo'."

Bismarck's eyes narrowed. "Observer."

The commander stretched. "That's my guess, too. anyway, this place was abandoned in a hurry, so a lot of stuff was probably left behind. They may have discovered things that we haven't, so anything that stops us from having to re-invent the wheel will make this time well-spent."

After an uncomfortably long trip down, they emerged from the elevator. The commander had only the vaguest idea of how a place like this was ventilated, but the presence of visitors seemed to have kicked things into gear. They passed by long-abandoned security checkpoints which held discarded magazines and stained coffee mugs that had been cast aside in the haste to pick up and leave. In their haste, some of the facility maps had been left behind, and the signage was still intact.