The base had many buildings, mainly for storage and parking. They were all painted in white, making them very hard to see from afar, amongst the snow covered ground. The base was large in size, it even had its own recently finished runway. But the surface was only a small portion of the base. The important things were deep underground.

Inside an extra sturdy looking bunker, stood a group of fifteen. They were dressed in odd full body suits. One of them took off his helmet.

“Hey, this helmet was useless. You could barely hear anything.” Adam complained to Jane. A few others nodded.

Jane shrugged. “Yeah, seems the mic and speaker was contracted out to lowest bidder, since it’s not an essential for survival in the cold. Had to cut cost somewhere, you know.”

As they talked, the horizontal door raised up with a grinding noise. It revealed a smooth ramp going down underground.

“Let’s go people.” Jane said. She walked in front and led them down the ramp.

At first the space was large enough to drive trucks around, but Jane led them into a narrow corridor. It was clear it was a military installation because there was no decorations at all. Only lights on the ceiling and painted arrows on the floor. On the walls were maps, with ‘you are here’ symbols, at regular intervals. Fire alarms and sprinkler systems could be seen as well. At every corner was a camera, watching your every move.

“This way. The other is for heavy machinery and such.”

Now they could only walk two side by side. They came up to a checkpoint, with a metal detector, scanner and armed guards.

“Halt! This is a restricted area!” One of the guards shouted. They aimed their rifles at them.

“Calm down. I got permission.” Jane took out a paper and gave it to the guard.

“Hmm, new people. Very well. Carry on through the scanners.”

“Will these clothes be a problem?” One of the civilians asked.

“No, we have been using those to airdrop personnel for a while. Scanner crew is used to them.”

They passed through the checkpoint without any more problems.

“Where did our baggage go, by the way?” A civilian asked.

“Hm? Oh, right. It was supposed to be dropped down in a crate with the rest of us. But since they landed instead… Don’t worry about it. It will show up soon.” Jane said with a smile.

The soon arrived to a room with three stern looking men, seated behind a table.

“Is this the new group? Who is in charge?” The one in the middle said.

“Jane Skyfallen, sir.” Jane saluted. “I’m leading a group of fifteen with seven new civilian workers in it.”

“At ease. Have them sorted by their tags and send them to work.”

“Yes sir.” Jane turned towards the group. “Listen up people. If you have your tag on you, bring it out.”

A few people started patting down their pockets in reflex. They still wore the body suits so they couldn’t reach their pockets.

“Tag? What are they talking about?” Adam said quietly to Steven, standing next to him.

Steven looked at Adam. “What? The thing you got when you got the job, remember?”

“Eh?”

“You didn’t throw it away… right?”

“I don’t know. What is it? What does it look like?”

“It’s a small round tag. The icon on it tells you what part of the workforce you are in. It’s how you access different areas in the base. There is a small chip inside.”

Adam searched his memory of the job interview. The coin! Where did he put it?

“Oh, I thought it was a coin or something. It seemed useless. The guard only looked at it for a few seconds then I never used it again.”

“Huh? They told you to always bring it with you during your test, right?”

“No! I think my test was really weird. The one keeping it said something they weren’t supposed to and just started the test. We never talked about anything like that.”

“That doesn’t even-”

“Hey! Stop whispering in the back.” Jane interrupted Steven. “Adam, you got your tag?”

“Uh, no, I think I must have forgot it in my baggage.” Adam smiled. “Is it really that important?”

“Yes, otherwise you can’t open the doors. I will send someone to gather the baggage. You can wait in a general area until it arrives.” Jane said, and then turned around to face the rest of the group.

“Seems the rest of you remembered to bring it. But lets get out of these suits first. Follow me everyone.”

The group followed Jane as she led them down the corridors. She stopped at one of the stationed guards. They were evenly spread out through the whole base. It was only a few places on the base where you weren’t constantly watched by one.

Jane looked him straight into his eyes and said.

“You, get topside and gather the baggage from the recently landed plane.”

The guard was surprised. People weren’t supposed to talk to them. Even less order them around.

“But, I’m guarding this area right now. I can’t-”

“Did I make myself clear? This is highest priority, straight from the top.” Jane looked at the rank on his uniform. “Get it done, Private!”

“Y-yes, sir, mam, sir… I’ll leave at once!” The guard jogged away the group, eager to get away from the crazy one. He couldn’t see any ranking on her clothes, but he recognized the skydiver suit. Who knows who she really was?

“Can you actually do that?” Steven asked Jane.

“Eh, it’s not a big deal. It’s not like he was guarding anything important. Besides we need our baggage anyway.” Jane had a grin on her face like she always did.

“Well, it was pretty funny.” Steven smiled.

The out of character actions by the normally so happy and friendly Jane, made the civilians confused.

On the other hand, the others from the military just looked uncomfortable. She was not exactly following regulations, and it brought back memories from when they were low ranked, being pushed around by higher ranked.

They continued their walk and soon reached a room that was filled with all kinds of clothes.

“This is the clothing storage. Find a suitable size for you. Screwdrivers get the grey overalls. Hammers get the red overalls. Syringes get the white labcoats. Guns get the camo. Computer screens get the blue overalls. Frying pan’s clothes are not stored here, but in the kitchen area.”

While the others went over to the different sections to find their size, Adam stood still.

What was it on my tag again? Adam dug through his memories. A spear! But she didn’t mention any spear.

“Hey, Jane. Can I talk to you.” He waved her over.

“Hmm, what is it?” Jane said. She was holding a green camouflage uniform. She walked over to Adam when she saw his serious face.

“Well, I can’t remember what I had on my tag. I think it was a spear?”

“There are no spears, Adam.” Jane shook her head lightly. “What did you get hired for? There aren’t that many things to choose from anyway, so it’s easy to figure out.”

“I’m an electrician. Been doing it for like 20 years.”

“Well, then it’s the screwdriver. You must simply have seen it wrong. Don’t blame you, they are very low quality.” Jane laughed, and began to walk back.

“If they are so important, why are they so low quality?” Adam said before she could leave.

“Who knows. Maybe so people won’t steal them? And you can’t see what is on it from a long distance either. Don’t know.” She shrugged. “Probably many reasons. Or no reason at all.”

Adam was not exactly satisfied with the answer but he decided to listen to Jane. He walked over to the screwdriver section.

The grey overall, also called boilersuit, had black sections on the knee padded area and above the shoulders up to the neck. It had pockets on the arms, legs, chest and waist. It had a two way front zipper. It was fairly high quality, only a little tight around the stomach area. Thankfully the waist was elastic, same with the cuffs.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

A pair of black leather shoes with some kind of composite toe cap and electricity protection built in. The gloves was of very high quality, excellent for pulling wires and other essential tasks. A tool belt, but without any tools in, was also provided.

They changed their clothes in private changing rooms.

The red overalls were similar to the grey ones. The blue ones were slightly different. Instead of being made for working it seemed to be made for comfort. Almost like a ‘one piece’ pyjamas.

The white labcoat was just that. A white coat. They had several options of ‘normal clothes’ to choose from, to wear underneath.

The green camouflage was separated into a upper and lower section. A jacket, black t-shirt and tank top. A pair of pants and shorts, with several pockets on them. A pair of heavy black or beige boots.

“Good, everyone is all dressed up. For more personal items like socks and underwear, there is a general area for them over there.” Jane said while pointing. “I suggest you take a few pairs of them while we are here, or do it later when you got your room. Might be annoying to carry around too much clothing. Leave the skydiving suit here, in that corner. Someone will pick them up later.”

Jane continued. “Anyway, lets go. I will show you around a bit.”

The group followed Jane out into the corridors again.

Steven walked up to the front with Jane. “Hey, Jane. How do you know where everything is? You been here before?” Steven asked.

“Hm, a mystery isn’t it? Maybe if you are nice, I will tell you later.” Jane winked at Steven. Steven was confused, but didn’t want to push the issue. Maybe there was a reason for her not telling him.

They soon reached their first destination. The lab areas. They were filled with computers and other technical equipment that was impossible to guess the purpose of, from a distance. White colors covered all the surfaces. The medical facilities were in this area too.

“Here are the several labs and the medical clinic in the facility. Any syringes, go in there and ask for the supervisor to show you around. The rest of you, follow me. Ah, before I forget. I should mention that cleaning is a shared responsibility. But you will be informed more about that from your personal supervisor.”

Three, including Cora, walked into the lab area, and left the group.

The rest continued on. Soon they arrived at the computer center. This was where the theoretical research and programing took place. They also maintained the software in the base. The underground base was not connected to the outside world so they had alot of memory banks and servers to help with storage and communication. Any information scheduled to be sent to the outside world had to be manually carried in a hard drive under armed escort, to the upper level computers.

“Computer screens. Off you go.”

Only Asmoz left. He waved good bye to the group before disappearing into the crowd of other blue dressed people.

With only three civilians left, the group continued. Next area was the largest so far. It was the manufactorium. This was a mix of machines, robotics and man creating the supplies the base required. Of course, not everything was made here, not even close, but many of the construction materials were at least assembled or mixed together here. One might wonder what they needed such a large amount of material for. The hammers not only maintained the machines in here, they also built the rooms and such in the base.

“Hammers, go.” Jane said.

The two red dressed males walked into the incredibly noise area. They had been provided with ear protection so they didn’t mind.

With that, only Adam was left. Well, left with the eight others from the military.

“Lets hurry. This loud area is annoying to stand in.” Jane touched her ear.

The group agreed and sped up their pace.

The power core was the next area. It supplied the whole base with electricity, and the screwdrivers were in charge of maintaining it and all the wires, lamps and all other power related equipment. Surprisingly, it was a nuclear reactor built underground. Modern reactors are quite safe, so there was no radiation risk. However, unlike most nuclear reactors it didn’t run on uranium. It used thorium. The area the base was located at was very rich in thorium. So, they decided to build the base here. They mined it straight from the ground themselves, while they at the same time expanded the base underground.

“Adam, this is where we part… Or at least thats how it was supposed to be. But since you forgot your tag you might as well follow us alittle bit more.”

Next was the security. This was where the guns worked. Many guns were also stationed all over the base as guards. The control room for the cameras and doors was here. The armory was in here too.

“This is where we will work and get our assignments from.” Jane said. “The rest of you can go ahead. Steven and Adam can follow me for a while.”

Now the group of fifteen was down to three.

“I might as well show you the mess hall while we are at it. We can get something to eat too.”

“Good idea. I’m hungry.” Adam said.

“So, Adam and Steven. What do you think about the base?”

“Bigger than I expected.” Steven said.

Adam looked around, to make sure they were alone. In a quiet voice he said.

“This isn’t everything right? There is something else isn’t there?”

Jane’s head jumped backwards in surprise.

“Wha- what do you mean? Why do you think that? Y-you mean the mess hall right? Ahaha...”

“...”

Jane recollected herself. *cough* “I mean, that’s nothing you need to concern yourself about at the moment, Adam.” She put in some extra force at word ‘Adam’. Her normal joyous face had disappeared and turned into a stern face.

Steven’s eyes lit up at her new expression.

Adam was also happy, but for another reason. That all but confirmed there was something else going on in the base. Not just Jane’s odd behavior but also the excessive power generation and massive factory told Adam everything was not as it seemed.

“Anyway, let’s go to the mess hall.” Jane ended the conversation and walked ahead, her braided ponytail swinging as she walked.

They walked in silence towards the mess hall. The mess hall was similar to the one in the aircraft carrier, but bigger in both menu and number of tables.

Jane ate a goulash soup, with added macaronies in.

Adam picked the meat stew. It was minced beef, carrots, potatoes, yellow and white onions, beans, lentils. Boiled in water and tomato sauce. However, most of the water boiled away.

Steven had two quorn fillets with mashed potatoes. The potatoes had carrots and red lentils added to the mix, but they still counted it as mashed potatoes. He also had some lingonberry jam.

“Hot!” Jane quickly spit back the soup into her bowl. “Hehe, I forgot to blow on it.”

“...”

The awkward mood disappeared with that and they soon continued with their normal conversations.

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