--Point of View: Katie--

I watched this oversized dog roll around in potentially radioactive water for almost a minute before I had enough and put my foot down. Sure, it was nice that Crim was enjoying himself after being alone for a few centuries, but we had work to do.

“Okay, let’s hurry it up Crim. We have a lot of building to explore. You can play later.”

The beast gave a few more wiggles on his back before rolling onto his feet, glancing in my direction like a child who did not want to obey their parent. A big shake followed shortly after before I could protest, splattering water all over the room and myself. Thankfully, the radiation suits were waterproof. A few wipes of my visor and I was good to go again.

“You really are just a big dog.” I said, a faint smile creeping onto my face before the need to get serious again brought me back to reality. “We need to keep going because judging by this map, this place is massive.

“Yes, you are correct. I can faintly sense the scale of this place. Call it instinct if you will. Let’s continue and hopefully find something you can bring back with you.” Said Crim, giving one last little shake before making his way out of the showers, myself following right behind him.

I pulled out the copy of the map I had traced earlier and looked at what the nearest rooms had in store for us. Adjacent to where we were now was the cafeteria and employee lounge. I thought it over for a moment before marking those two rooms off to search later. I was not looking for food or entertainment so they could wait. The next room after those though did pique my interest quite a bit.

“Okay Crim, we are going to skip over the next two rooms. They probably won’t have anything of interest, at least not today. We will be heading for the medical research lab right here.” I planted a finger onto the map, lifting it up some so Crim could see. “I’m willing to bet there will be something there we could learn.”

“Are you sure? I’m pretty sure I smell something in the next room.” Responded Crim as he sniffed at the air curiously.

“Yeah, you probably do. Its supposed to be the kitchen but unless you think that food still taste good after a thousand or so years, its probably best to skip it over for now.” I countered, patting him on the side.

“Fair point.” He replied.

Crim gave a nod like he always did and stepped ahead of me into the hall. The medical lab was just a short walk down the main corridor and encompassed two rooms on either side. When we arrived, my furry companion quickly did away with the doors like usual. Upon entering the room, I automatically reached for the light switch and was happy to find it where one would expect it to be. The old lights flickered at first before they all came to life with a satisfying hum. I’m so thankful this facility still had power.

At first glance, the medical facility did not look too different from what I would expect to see in one of our own hospitals. They had patient beds lined along the eastern wall with various monitoring equipment stationed nearby. Towards the center of the room were little research cubicles with fancy glassware and gadgets. There was nothing too out of the ordinary which honestly disappointed me, but that would quickly be thrown out the window when I stepped further into the room. On the far northern wall, tucked behind a wide assortment of machines I did not recognize, was something I had only read about in books. I practically sprinted across the room in excitement to confirm what my eyes thought they were seeing.

Crim, taken aback by my sudden speed, whipped his head from side to side, searching for a threat, which there was none.

“What are doing? Don’t just run off like that. You scared me. I thought you were running away from something for a minute there.” Sputtered Crim, his hairs still standing up on end from the sudden surprise.

“Sorry! I just got excited. Quick, come over here and look at this!” I shouted, waving a hand and motioning for him to hurry.

He made his way over, weaving his large body between all the desks with a surprising nimbleness and stopped across from me, a large glass pod stationed between us. It almost resembled an oval casket with a glass cover, but it was so much more.

“If I’m not mistaken, this is a healing pod. We have scavenged broken ones and read a fair bit about them in records, but we’ve never found one intact. If our theories are true, these could heal just about any injury apart from death.”

“So, you are saying somebody could, I don’t know, lose an arm and somehow get better by just lying in this thing?” Crim asked, obviously doubting my words.

“That is what we believe but because we have yet to see one in action, we cannot be one hundred percent sure.” I answered, running a hand across its smooth glass top. This technology could save countless lives. Hell, this whole facility could change the world as we know it. It’s all here, just waiting to be uncovered and utilized.

“That would be very impressive if it turns out to be true. Let me know when you figure it out. While I don’t understand anything of this science stuff you are always talking about, it is still interesting to hear about. It’s not too different from magic in a lot of cases.” Said Crim, leaning in closer to further inspect the pod.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

I marveled at the complexity of the device for a few minutes, taking note that this machine was riddled with runes as well. Everything here was. I gave it one more look over before reluctantly pushing myself away to examine the rest of the room. The temptation to play with it was very strong and I could not imagine what would happen if I somehow ruined the only intact healing pod we have ever seen. Decidedly, putting some space between us was probably the right choice.

The rest of the lab was a combination of things I thought I recognized and tools that were far beyond anything I had ever seen or imagined. We would need to do a lot of investigation to figure out what most of this stuff was used for. Regardless, this room turned out to be well worth our time. Although, it was looking like I would definitely have to inform the scientist of this place. There was just no way I could handle everything myself, that much was becoming more and more clear the longer we stayed down here.

An hour passed as we both rummaged around the room for anything else of interest, Crim only knocking over a couple glass beakers with his whip of a tail. The glass shattering scared him far more then it scared me because I witnessed it happen. To his credit though, every sound we made down here seemed to echo endlessly into the void.

“Woah there, are you alright Crim? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you jump at something before. Be careful not to step on the shards.” I said, stopping what I was doing to go inspect the damage. A few poorly placed beakers and measuring glasses now required a bit of assembly but nothing of incredible value was lost.

“Well, I can’t say I’ve ever been in a situation like this. Regardless of my appearance, I am still alive and thus, can be afraid. Loud noises are particularly annoying thanks to these damn ears of mine.” He remarked, his rather large, crimson ears wiggling as he spoke.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Let’s go check the other side of the hall. Everything here looks to be pretty standard besides the pod.” I said, motioning Crim to follow as I made my way out of the room and across the hall into the second half of the medical lab.

When we entered this part of the lab, I stopped dead in my tracks only a few steps in and gawked. If the first half of the lab was for medical treatment, this half was surely for research and experimentation. Circular glass chambers stretched from the tiled floor to the ceiling, towering over even Crim. Each one was filled with a clear, slightly blue tinted liquid. They numbered in the hundreds, stretching back further than I could see. Near the front of the room, where we stood now, were a collection of terminals, server racks, and a wall of monitors.

“What is all of this?” I asked my myself, finally taking another step forward into the room, Crim slinking in behind me once the doorway was free.

“I was going to ask you the same thing.” Answered Crim as he sniffed at the air, a look of disgust quickly splashing over his face. “Whatever it is, it smells foul.”

“That smell is probably whatever this liquid stuff is,” I commented, walking up to the nearest tank to peer inside, noting that it was empty and pristine. “There are so many of them. Help me check all of them. Something is surely supposed to go inside of these so let’s have a look around.”

We each started on opposite ends of the room and walked down the rows, peaking into each unit as we passed. They were each equipped with a small screen that displayed several bar graphs, all of which were locked on zero. I assumed that made sense considering they were empty. I had checked maybe about two dozen, some full of the mysterious fluid, some empty, until I came across one that was slightly different. This tank was shattered, bits of glass all over the surrounding area, the small display red instead of the usual green color all the previous tanks had displayed. Maybe they had their own Crim working here I thought, a small smile on my face.

Besides the one broken unit I discovered, all the rest of the glass tubes were in remarkable condition. Not a scratch or speck of dust anywhere in sight. It was unbelievably clean in this room. I had noticed part way into my search. Once my side was finished, I started to cut across the room, in search of Crim, to see how he was fairing. I had not heard any crashes or glass shattering so that was a small relief, but I also had not heard anything at all, which is alarming for someone of his size. It took a few minutes of glancing down rows upon rows of machines, but I did eventually find him situated in front of a tank. I called out to him and started to make my way over but paused when he turned his head to face me, his face grim and distraught. Something was wrong. I picked up the pace, almost breaking into a run as my feet carried me closer and closer until I was right beside him.

“Crim, what’s wrong? What did you find?” I asked, preparing to push him for an answer until I followed his gaze back to the light green liquid filled tank.

A child, or at least what was once a child, was laying in the bottom of the chamber, preserved by whatever this device was. While still recognizable, the body was showing signs of decay. The skin was stretched taut, bones clearly visible and the muscles had started to degrade. A blinking light on the small screen caught my eye and I slipped by Crim to take a closer look.

The monitor, like all the other ones I had looked at previously, showed several bar graphs labeled with words I did not recognize. The only difference was this time, there was a small window in the center with a date and time. It was more than 500 years ago. Could this possibly mean that this child had only passed away relatively recently compared to how long ago this civilization fell. Were these perhaps an attempt to keep their fallen city alive? Or perhaps it was something much more sinister. I did not know.

“Crim, come on, let’s check a different room.” I said reassuringly, hesitantly reaching out to confort him. “There’s nothing we could have done.”

Crim gave a small nod, sadness still stricken on his face as he turned and made a slow trek towards the exit. “Children are to be protected.” He said softly, his usual calm demeanor shaken by what he had witnessed. “I had hoped I would not have to see any more corpses of those too young to understand war. So many innocents lost.”

Crim muttered under his breath as we walked, lost in his past as I tried to reassure him. I often forgot that he was, or at least claimed to be, from another time and was once a human like myself. He had mentioned bits and pieces of his past to me but never went into detail. I knew he was a soldier and had fought in a war. That was it. More than likely, he was suffering some form of post traumatic stress syndrome, or PTSD. It was fairly common in soldiers even to this day.

“Are you going to be alright Crim? Should we call it for today?” I asked, trying to get his attention. I only succeeded when I stepped directly into his path, causing him to almost plow me over.

“What? Oh, no. I will be fine. It’s just,” he spoke hesitantly, almost as if he was ashamed of his behavior. “Old memories is all. It will soon pass. Do not worry.”

“If you are sure.” I said, giving Crim a worried look before taking the lead. “We still have a lot to go through. Next up should be…” I trailed off, looking down at my map, taking a moment to get my bearings again. “Research and Development.”