Accelerating consciousness to maximum, I rushed forward. About ten meters from the flyer, I jumped and rose to the height of the fourth floor, sticking to the bottom of the vehicle. After that, crawled like a cockroach over its surface and sat in the passenger's seat next to the driver.
“You have a very nice pot. A rare model?” I appreciated the interior design. Simultaneously with my words, the dome of the energy shield rose above me. The salarian must have considered himself at safe before that, since the windscreen and body of the flyer were covered by a separate shield. It's worth noting that the salarian's reaction to my move was very quick. Much faster than a human could have. But even his speed was not enough to prevent the vehicle from being boarded.
“High speed of movement.” The alien frog stared at me, muttering rapidly to itself. “Reinforced spacesuit. Structure of the legs. Five fingers. The shape of the helmet. Human? The speed is too high. Cybernetic implants? No, not enough. A robotic body? No, unreliable. The reinforced suit. A direct neural interface. Neutralization of inertia by the mass effect core. Advanced technologies that are not available to people. Are you one of the forerunners?”
I listened to this monologue with interest.
"Almost, but not quite.” I answered the question. "These technologies are not available to you, but I am not old enough to be considered as a forerunner. My name is Atman.
"Forgive my manners. I'm Okren.” The salarian bowed slightly. With that, his passion faded, and he stared at me in a daze, trying to figure out how I was present in his vehicle. Judging by my appearance here, I was an invader. If same on speech and manner behavior, then rather harmless stranger.
“Come on, I'll show you the entrance to the Forerunner's underground base. It's not far from here.” I made an offer that would have been difficult for any scientist to refuse.
“What about my partners?” The frog asked.
“Oh, them. They don't know anything about science or archaeology.”
“Still, if you don't mind, I'd like to take them on board. We may need brute physical strength.”
“All right, but quickly.” I agreed graciously.
We landed, and the trio of tomb robbers squeezed into the back of the flyer. After that, we went in the direction of the source of the anomaly and the exit of one of the corridors to the surface that I found.
“Here.” I pointed to the rock rising vertically. “You only need to remove a couple of meters of rock. Do you have any guns or anything else suitable?”
"My sensors don't detect anything unusual." The salarian remarked.
“Your primitive technique not able to register.” I waved my hand. "Just take one shot and everything will be clear."
To my surprise, Okren did not use a blaster, but some mining equipment that was built into the flyer. A scattered stream of light hit the rock from the nose of the vehicle, and the rock began to crack and crumble as it fell. A minute later, the impact caused a local collapse, after which a circle of dark hole became visible in the rock. At the same time, a smooth surface of the wall was released along its perimeter, which looks very similar to the surrounding rock.
“Voila! It's a stone plug blocking the passage to the Forerunner base."
The salarian turned his attention back to the instrument readings.
"But I don't detect any kind of energy radiation." He resent.
"I would get surprised if you find something. This is a secret base with tens of thousands of years old. It was not created so that the first salarian who came across it could detect it using primitive equipment.”
"What's inside?" Rina asked, almost jumping out of the vehicle to get a better look at the entrance.
“Without clue. But that's the question we came here to find answer. Let's clear the entrance and see what wonders are waiting for us inside.”
My companions looked at each other but did not object. Greed still held them by the throat, forcing them to ignore my quirks. It took us another half an hour before the low-power mining complex on the flyer was able to crumble an unusually strong 'cork'. At the same time, the walls next to the entrance did not give in to this technique at all.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Finally, the last of the gravel flew out of the darkening passageway and fell down. I could feel the intelligent people around me already mentally calculating the multi-million-dollar profits from the sale of found artifacts and untold treasures.
"Let’s go to inside. It's time to check what forerunners left behind.” I said.
"Why don't we go there in the morning?" the salarian asked, suddenly startled. According to krogan's recollections, this toad was a typical office clerk, and it was only because of his good scientific knowledge and pilot's license that he was accepted into the team.
"What's the point? There are pitches dark in the dungeon.” I objected, looking at the westward sun that hung over the very tops of the mountains. “Besides, we're going to have adventures! “So, it's worth looking into dungeon filled with thousands of zombies, specially at night.”
The salarian's mouth twisted in horror, and his hands trembled.
“Zombies?” He re-asked. “The living dead?"
“Gra-a-a! I will destroy all who stand in our way!!!” Krogan roared enthusiastically. "And the living dead will become dead dead!"
“Let’s go”. Tria ordered, pulling out her gun. “I don't see any point in delaying the study of this place. We won't be better prepared than we are now.”
The pilot sighed heavily, and the flyer slowly began to approach the circular passageway, which was just a couple of meters wider than our vehicle. Once inside, Okren landed the vehicle and turned on the headlights, illuminating a circular tunnel that sloped forward and disappeared into the darkness. This was followed by a ceremonial unloading of scientific equipment, which the salarian loaded onto a small anti-gravity platform and pushed forward. The air inside the tunnel was not breathable, so all the archaeologists wore helmets for their spacesuits.
Our whole company walked slowly through the tunnel. Krogan and I led the way, with Okren and Rina dragging equipment behind us, and Tria bringing up the rear, who had exchanged her pistol for a more substantial blaster from krogan's stock. After about two hundred meters, we came to a vertical shaft, the entrance to which had apparently been closed by doors. But time had not spared the technique, and now only the remnants of the fasteners stuck out of the walls. Just before reaching the Elevator, there were side passages on the left and right, this time not circular, but more familiar square.
"I suppose the shortest way is to jump down." I said, shining my flashlight down the Elevator shaft and finding no bottom. Judging by the readings of the sensors that I had welded inside my body by magic, the depth of the mine was about a hundred meters.
In response to my suggestion, there was a sound of swallowing coming from the salarian. It seemed that he was afraid not only of the dark, but also of heights. Or he was waiting for the promised zombies to pop around the corner.
"It's worth to find for an easier way." Tria suggested. "Atman and I will examine the corridor on the right, and Tramt and Rina on the left.
"What about me?" The salarian asked with barely concealed horror.
"You'll be left here alone in the dark, waiting for the zombies to appear. If something happens, shout loudly.” Judging by asari's grin, she was also a fan of questionable jokes.
We split up and started looking around the premises. All around was ruin and desolation. If there was anything here before, it's all turned to dust over the past thousands of years. In general, the layout resembled residential or office space. No equipment or gold deposits were observed around.
Finding nothing worth looking at, we returned to the main corridor.
“We found the ladder!” Rina immediately told us, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “And Tramt also dig up a humanoid skeleton of an unknown race.”
“Really?” Tria asked suspiciously. "Have you decided to become a professional archaeologist?” She turned to krogan.
“I just tripped and chipped off a piece of dirt that had a skeleton under it.” He sighed.
“Which you immediately shot with a blaster.” Rina added reproachfully. “I'm afraid we won't be able to determine exactly to whom the remains belonged.”
“It is all because of these tales about dead undead.” Krogan began to defend himself. Ha, it turns out we have another coward here. Judging by the gleam of Rina's eyes, she had already told krogan some horror story about zombies.
“Silence.” Tria stopped this farce. “Grab the platform and go to the stairs. The order of movement is the same.”
This time we moved more slowly, because Okren was scanning all surrounding objects with some kind of scanner. But his technique couldn't find anything interesting. Even in the charred pile with the corpse, only a few shapeless pieces of iron were found.
The staircase was somewhat more substantial than I had imagined. It was a sloping tunnel that turned right after about twenty meters, then again, and again. As a result, the passage went through a solid thickness of stone, and it was not threatened with collapse due to rotted fasteners or fatigue of the material.
We descended for a long time, passing twelve flights. Finally, our path ended in a pair of swollen metal doors. There were others upstairs, but they were wide open. Here the doors were closed. There must have been a mechanism for opening them earlier, but it has failed over the past millennia. But this was not the main obstacle. The doors literally fused with the jamb, forming a single matter. Moreover, it was evident that some of the material had floated down, forming a bulge at the level of the knees. I wonder how long it takes for a metal to experience such a deformation simply under the influence of material diffusion? The glass in the Pharaoh's tomb, as I recall, took four thousand years.