PSYC Ward: Explorer

World 3: Diemenschenindenberg

GENERAL LAB LOG #02565:

Foolishly, I mentioned the request from the Chinese Consul to Dr. Yuki. She thinks this is the perfect piece to keep her own Project going. She's right, of course – an army of soldiers that can never really be killed is horrifyingly efficient at fighting a war that won't end, but I'd rather play no more part to her schemes then I have to. Still, she's sent me a promise that she'll do what she can to assist me with the project. With that sort of freedom, I could easily make this into my own little project as well. If I can ever figure out how to do it that is.

PART A: The People of the Mountain

When the purple spiralling flash had opened in the center of town, the majority of its citizens were vaguely curious. When two humans from the surface emerged, that curiosity turned into a panic. Kyle stepped out just in time to see everyone running away.

"I blame Erin for this." Kyle snarled.

Rachel was certain Erin made some snide remark back, but Rachel couldn't hear it. She looked around. They were in a hollowed earthen tunnel, standing ontop of a raised piece of the earth. The walls were smooth and clotted together with dirt that seemed to keep this massive place from caving in. It took Rachel a moment to realize just how large this cavern was - almost 100 meters by 100 meters. There were kiosks, some built from wood while others were hollowed from the Earth itself. The cavern itself was lit with glowing blue crystals, giving everything a strange hue - though some of them, usually the ones on the shops, were different colors. Those gems alone were enough to fill the entire cavern with bright light. A few of the people ran to leave, but most of them looked on in shock and curiosity, some huddling in groups and whispering:

"Outsiders?"

"Surface dwellers?"

"Did the seal break?"

"What strange clothes."

Rachel didn't get the chance to study their wares beyond "lots of brass and metal" before several guards approached, carrying spears and dressed in chainmail. They were a stout people, with large milky eyes. The only hair on their body was thin strands coming from rings around the head. Their skin was loose and flabby. Their hands had become much more curved than a normal human's, with their nails moving up the tips of their fingers and becoming thicker and sharper, perfect for digging in the dark. Their ears were small, and pulled close to the side of their head - some of them even were entirely attached to the side of their head.

"Overdwellers! Return from whence you came!"

Kyle put her hands on her head. Rachel took in a breath. She'd have to act fast.

"Relax, everyone. We're not from the surface. We're not even from this world."

"The Captain will decide that! Get down!"

They both did. Kyle just kept holding her head and murmuring to herself. Rachel reached her hand out to her and helped her down, receiving a rush of images as she did.

Kyle stood in the middle of a dining hall, with red and green decorations all around. The room, normally used for meetings, was being used for a party for some holiday. There was a big inflatable creepy man dressed in red and with a massive white beard glaring over the crowd. Everyone was staring at her. They wanted an explanation for why she had just busted in.

Of course, she didn't know how to provide one. All she could think of was the monster on the other side of the door, with its massive toe claw and its serrated teeth. And feathers. Why did it have feathers? The intense, burning pain across her chest, and the warm blood pouring down it from where it had slashed her with that big claw. Who thought giving something so mean and big such a nasty claw - a claw on its toe, of all places! - was a good idea?!

"It's okay Kyle. It's alright, tell me what you're seeing."

Rachel helped her off as two of the guards led them down into the caverns, while two more guards got behind to make sure they didn't try anything. Rachel noticed that their weird hands had thick padding on them as she gazed at the spear tip pointing at her friend.

"...crystals. Really nice glowing crystals...and..."

Kyle's voice was low, filled with the sound of confusion.

"And?"

"weird...little people."

"HEY!" Said the guard. "None of that!"

The guard tried to give Kyle a gentle poke with the flat end of the spear, but Rachel knocked it away before it could touch her.

"He's really mad at me for calling him short," Kyle continued.

"Damn straight he is," Rachel said.

"What are you doing?" The guard interrupted.

"Making sure she doesn't lose it."

As they continued down the caverns, the crystals lighting the way got more and more sparse. Rachel hadn't needed her sunglasses since she got here, but she could only just see what was going on. Kyle's hand was reaching through the air until it grabbed tighter onto Rachel's shoulder. Rachel was pretty sure Kyle was stumbling around in the dark, and that any normal human would be.

"You okay?" Rachel asked her.

"Just...lead the way."

Kyle leaned herself over her smaller friend, who was more than capable of carrying her weight. Kyle just needed some rest, Rachel knew. She'd probably be back to her snarky self by the time they saw the captain - or wherever they were going. They were getting away from the source quickly, and she had other things to focus on.

They marched quietly through the dark, until they came to another massive cavern. The room itself was filled with gigantic glowing crystals lit the room with brilliant color. But the most impressive sight was the castle. Carved right from the living rock of the back wall of the cavern stood an entire castle, complete with spires, turrets, and even a wall. There was not much paint to be spoken of on the facade, but it was decorated by banners with a symbol of a semi-circle facing down while arrows sprouted in the cardinal directions from the center. It was also dotted with colorful glowing crystals of its own. Rachel could barely believe that this all fit underground, it was magnificent.

They reached the large doors to the castle grounds, closed shut by an iron portcullis and the lead guard called to a guard at the gate.

"We have two intruders! Possibly from the surface!"

"I'll notify Captain Tenor immediately!" He called down, and the portcullis slowly opened.

Rachel only noticed as soon as it was lifting that it was carved with all sort of intricate details. Vine patterns that spiralled all around it. Did they know what vines were down here? Rachel hadn't seen a speck of green in the entire place. Once the gate was raised high enough, they were led into the castle.

The first thing that caught Rachel's attention was how low the building was. She reached her hand up and was able to, with ease, caress her hand across its soft marble surface. It made sense, with the shortness of the people. The second thing was that while the outside of the building was simple hollowed earth and clumped dirt, the inside looked like it was almost cut from the Grand Canyon. Layers and layers of dazzling sediments, reaching out in every direction. They were led down the stairs and into a holding cell inside a dungeon, which Rachel noticed went back to being clumped dirt. A single glowing red crystal lit the door, with some of its light spilling into the chamber, a set of iron bars locked them from the rest of the world.

"So. How many times is this?" Rachel asked.

"Three. Well you know what they say. Your friend bails you out of jail. Your best friend is in the cell with you saying, 'man, we goofed up!'" Kyle said.

Kyle laid down on the ground and kicked her feet up.

"We goofed up." Rachel said.

"Yeah. Ah well. Sorry!?"

"Sorry!."