< Current Location >
< Layer: Shallows >
< Level: 1 >
< First Floor Lobby >
< Risk: Nil >
< Days since last incident: Inactive >
The elevator released a cheerful ring as it came to an abrupt stop. The thick, steel doors split open to reveal another lavish section of the Facility. It was slightly smaller than the lobby above, enough to facilitate an estimated few hundred workers and employees at once.
Hallways and doors split off into the usual living quarters and mess halls where workers would have their mandated breaks. The living quarters were well maintained. Blankets were folded neatly, and suits and uniforms required for work were stored tidily within rather simple, but somewhat lavish drawers.
The upper floors tended to be a lot better than the lower floors from what she’s seen in other Sites. Aside from the obvious risk of injury or death that increased as one descended, the facility was known to become colder, to the point where ordinary people would die in only hours.
Sometimes, minutes even. It was why the strongest workers usually resided deeper into the Facility. But she digressed and carried on with the inspection, immersing herself in the stagnant air of loneliness this facility oozed.
Pages suddenly flicked, breaking the silence as she moved into polished timber halls. But make no mistake, the flooring was but a façade that was layered over a tremendous amount of steel and concrete.
There were various checkpoints that split the hallways apart, and elevators that moved only within the same general floor. The isolated hallways were silent. So silent in fact that she could hear her own heartbeat echo alongside the ticking pocket watch.
Doors split off every single section of the Facility. It didn’t matter if it was a cleaning closet or hallways. This was a security system that would isolate a Corrupted if a breakout were to occur and allow external methods of dealing with them if possible or used to prevent the spread of Corrupted possessing anomalous, infectious capabilities.
Eventually, she reached a far more secure version of these halls, where there were no pipes and where sound was instantly deafened by the thickness of the walls and ceiling. Because it was here where a number of doors would reside holding the Corrupted captive for research, harvesting, extracting and other purposes required to fulfil their daily quota.
The fluorescent lights were recessed within the ceiling.
The wood melded with the stone. It was no longer a façade, but one combined material. Space was known to twist and bend, and materials were also subjected to their whims. Thankfully, the living was completely immune to this phenomenon.
Although outside of the Sites, entire trains running on the Caldera Industries’ gravitational technology were known to disappear and were subsequently dubbed as the ‘One Way Ticket to Hell’; an urban legend that has gained much light in recent months.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Finally, as she wandered through the halls in search of this mysterious ‘Unknown’ room, she found the page that differentiated Workers from Employees.
5fRm40r.png [https://i.imgur.com/5fRm40r.png]Your Personnel
Please do not worry about interacting with the Corrupted directly. This role is reserved for your Workers. They will help you at every step of the way and deal with the most dangerous of tasks.
5fRm40r.png [https://i.imgur.com/5fRm40r.png]Unit Managers? Workers? Employees?
All your personnel will in some way deal with the Corrupted. The most important distinction is that your Unit Managers are also Workers. Workers deal with the Corrupted directly while your Employees will be documenting, compiling, and working alongside your Navigator.
5fRm40r.png [https://i.imgur.com/5fRm40r.png]
“That’s me. Getting along with them is going to be my priority. The question is, where’s the Overseer?” Papilia was no stranger to mumbling to herself. The surgery that implanted a black box into her head had some lasting side effects. Sometimes, she’d feel as if someone was speaking to her, or that there were others around her when she was all alone.
In fact, her hairs stood on end as goosebumps formed along her flesh. She felt like caught a glimpse of a pale figure in the corner of her eye at times but pushed it to the psychological effects of the ‘Black Box’.
It recorded everything that she could sense, and she believed that it was what allowed her to communicate with the Site Core.
This item was the single most important item of a Navigator, and it would ensure her survival in the event of what was called a Zeroed Horizon. Basically, it meant that the Site Core would implode, devouring the Facility and leaving nothing but a steaming crater behind.
Everything would be erased.
So, she wondered to herself how this Site still existed.
She jokingly thought of a purgatory before reading the last titbits of the page.
5TzMfxS.png [https://i.imgur.com/5TzMfxS.png]Remember, your personnel are not Blessed.
No matter how armed they are or how mentally adept they may be, they are not Blessed by the Nexus. Their growth is limited to their bodily constraints, and their flesh is weak.
Your personnel will consist only of Demi-humans, humans, and Half-breeds. Your Employees will be the first to breakdown but please pay no mind to them. Neither must your Workers actively try to bring them back.
It is, however, in your best interest to save your Workers when they undergo a breakdown. The stronger and heavily armed they are, the more devastation they will bring upon the Site.
If all else fails, then please terminate them as soon as possible.
5TzMfxS.png [https://i.imgur.com/5TzMfxS.png]
“Terminate personnel on a whim. I hate that part of this job.” Her brows furrowed as she adjusted her thick, round glasses. “Where is… ‘Historical Emergencies’?”
Suddenly, just as she turned to the page, she arrived at a distinctive door along the wall of the hallway. Written above it in large, white neon text powered by magical crystals was:
M-Id-01-00
"Essence of Light"
< To not be mistaken for an apple >
The latter part, which was denoted between ‘< >’ was something only she could see thanks to the Black Box. The Site Core relayed this to her, but she could have sworn that someone said this out loud.
Confused, she took a step back, for within likely resided a Corrupted as she frantically flicked through the pages to find the designation criteria and guide for the Corrupted.
T-There shouldn’t be a Corrupted inside of this place already.
She thought to herself in a fit of minor panic, but managed to collect herself knowing that she was relatively safe so long as she was on the other side of the door. Additionally, this was the first time she saw glass being used. A slightly tinted window allowed one to peer into the containment unit of the Corrupted.
Within was a small garden in the backdrop of total darkness. And within, hanging off just the tip of a leafless, pitiful tree was a single speck of light, shedding tiny particles along its tiny world.
Looking closely, she could have sworn she saw the light take the form of a person. Or was it an animal? She couldn’t tell, and unbeknownst to her was that her curiosity was taking her closer to the window.
‘M’ Threat Level…