The Flooded Facility

Part 1

It's sometimes a mystery to find what's in the waters below, or even underground. For Noah and his team of Detectives, the ocean can sometimes be a criminal's best place to hide, unless someone has the curiosity to see what secret lurks down below. It's here that the Anderson Detective Agency received major intel about a rumored former Eggman base, found around fifteen kilometers off the coast of Adabat, located near a dark, deep, and unorthodox location.

Noah was on the tropical shores of Adabat at the time of this discovery, spending some time doing a quick job for his researchers at Anderson Labs. Their research ship, the S.S. Zephyr was docked on their ports in the capital city. Anderson Labs has international research operations and missions, from watching over and studying marine life, to aquatic geology, and more. One of the most recent cases was related to the current state of earthquakes in the area, in cooperation with another local geological agency to determine the cause of it. However, whenever anything happens that can affect their operations, Anderson Labs will summon Noah and set up shop for the team to do their investigations at any time. It's one of the many benefits of how mobile the Anderson Detectives Agency has become, as it means their agents can be stationed almost anywhere in the world.

No one knows about this unusual activity. While the suspicion remained high, the biggest question everyone will ask is why these tremors are occurring. Some speculate that the villainous Dr. Eggman is trying to wake up Dark Gaia once again from deep within the planet's core. Others believe the earthquakes are natural and there is no connection to the newly discovered facility. Yet, it all remains a blur while authorities search for possible evidence thanks to the underwater drone that they used to investigate the area. Additional tips from a few anonymous sources kept the ball rolling on the investigation. Unfortunately, the lab is locked from the outside, and it's uncertain if Adabat's authorities have the technology to breach it. However, Noah was ready and willing to join the team and see what is really behind all of this.

Noah joins a boat operated by the Adabati coast guard, with a drone operator and a few staff on a slightly larger ship intended to monitor coastal activities. One of their ships is anchored above the sea some 10-15 kilometers off the coast, around the location of the rumored Eggman base. The coast guard was able to get a drone down into the chasm, which can search through various locations, including shipwrecks and into areas considered hazardous for humans and Mobians. One drone operator was controlling it while looking for the base's doors, while everyone including Noah was in the Command Room, looking at the views from the drone's cameras.

"We're about 10 meters deep." the operator stated. Every meter down gets darker and darker for the operator to see what's down below. They turn on the lights as they go deeper.

"This can't be!" the detective gasped, looking through the camera, with the visual showing a sealed iron door, with the Eggman insignia etched in the iron curtain and painted red. "How on Earth did Eggman manage to get all the way down here?"

"Who knows." the drone operator said. "I'm saving some images now."

Footsteps were raging in as someone stormed through the halls to see what's in the picture. Near the Iron Doors lies some sort of hidden keypad that the drone operator was able to find. The captain overseeing the ship came in, rushing to see what's going on.

"Did we get the-" he stopped in shock when he saw the image of the entrance of Eggman's base "How the hell did they do this?"

The team paused in a brief silence after seeing an iron barrier.

"This can't be right..." the Captain said.

The drone operator had thoughts of hacking into the system, but despite the drone being able to push buttons or connect to the interface to remotely access it, the entire team decided to stop until there's a clear way to get inside. However, it didn't please the captain, which stirred argument on what to do next with that gate. In Noah's opinion, it required a much different approach.