Waterlogged

3: a Hint of Mystery

Syrus trudged through the creepy plants, something in the back of his mind fearing that even a scratch would be his ruin.

But his pulse rifle comforted him, knowing that it works on creatures here was a fleeting comfort that his thoughts could cling to.

As he moves and dodges branches of varying sharpness and shape, he eventually reaches a small clearing near the rough center of the island.

It was an odd clearing compared to the rest of the foliage, unnaturally so.

Syrus was starting to let his guard down just a bit, enough that he tripped on something jutting out from the ground.

He grunted in pain and looked down expecting some kind of root, but he was faced with something more akin to metal buried under loose dirt.

It took him a moment to realize he was looking at a hatch in the ground.

The appearance made it appear as if it was supposed to open automatically, but it still had an inset handle to slide it open manually.

The surroundings were deafeningly silent, nothing but splashing of the ocean broke the air.

Syrus could only harden whatever he had left of his courage and pull the sliding hatch open.

A staircase downward revealed itself as he did, sparking curiosities over how deep it could get under an island like this.

He held his weapon in one hand and his recording tool in the other as he marched onwards.

"Upon further exploration, I've found clear confirmation of alien intelligence. The materials used aren't immediately identifiable, but the walls are almost purple, and... very hard." He describes and knocks on the alien wall a few times to poorly measure its effect, "Reason for the attack and evidence of civilization are still unknown."

He walked down until the stairs finally leveled out, the hallway before him leading into the darkness.

Syrus wondered if he'd have to go all the way back up to find a flashlight in the pile of stuff he brought with him, annoyed that he somehow didn't consider needing one.

But he realized the rifle he was holding had one built in, which gave him much needed relief.

Just as he was about to walk out of the light shining through from the staircase, an ominous hiss grabs his attention from the darkness as a terrifying figure lunges from within.

He distressfully yells and even manages to get a shot off while almost falling flat.

But nothing was there!

As soon as it appeared it was gone.

Syrus couldn't withstand this, why did everything have to be so scary and dangerous!

Once again he appended to his record, but this time to question his own fitness for this task.

"The longer I last, the worse these 'visions' get. Could I be losing my mind? Have I just been telling myself I'd survive to stave off the pressure of being alone? I haven't even put any thought to the family I've left behind because of my so called 'determination'. What else could explain this? If there were some hallucinogenic compound of sorts in the air, perhaps... But that's just a rash theory made up to excuse my delusions."

Bravely, he kept going until the corridor was finally about to open up into a larger chamber.

A flicker of movement on the ceiling of the corridor froze him, though.

He could only recognize the vague shape of turrets moving to target him.

Syrus could only shout a curse before a beam of red light or energy hit him.

But, instead of being dead from his own lack of foresight it only felt like a warming sensation. There wasn't even any pain.

He was stunned, not literally, but in his mind he was sure he was dead.

Considering how easily the Recurva was destroyed the only explanation for this was that they were somehow out of power.

"Haha," He laughed out of pure relief, "Looks like you're out of juice. In that case, take my lasers of 'fuck you'!"

He mocked and warmed up his middle fingers on the red beams.

It was a useless act, but some kind of outburst was needed to easily shrug off another near death experience.

The inside of the chamber had many unfamiliar consoles, panels, and even what appeared to be display cases.

The lighting was present but dim, further crediting the theory of low power supply.

Unfamiliar symbols lined most of stations, and the only obvious spectacles were the huge vats of a red and green liquid sitting in the corner.

There was almost no dust to be found, this structure must have been sealed well for how easy it was to open.

Or in the worst case, it was actively used and someone just forgot to replace the batteries for the defense system.

In contrast to the well organized equipment, some items were strewn about the floor, both intact and in pieces.

Almost like knocking everything down in a rush to get somewhere.

Syrus couldn't do much with this information besides record it and come back later.

"Whether my sanity remains intact or not, I'm still obligated to record these observations. I'm in the heart of what I can only describe as an alien laboratory. Whatever they use for power, it's clearly running out, as demonstrated by the barely functioning defenses and lighting." Syrus described, his voice echoing in the enclosed space, "Whatever was done here, evidence suggests it was abandoned in a rush. But the purpose of this facility remains unknown, nor do I have the time to figure it out."

There was no time to waste, he needed to get to the mainland while he still had light of day.

Finding the Recurva and using the AI to decipher these alien structures was currently his most important goal.

But finding it and getting there definitely won't be easy...