David angled his descent back towards Claire, wings beating powerfully as his mind raced with possibilities. He could scarcely believe the scene frozen atop the barren peak, rusting vehicles and collapsed structures surrounding that colossal steel behemoth. It took him longer to descend than he thought it would, not realizing just how far into the sky he had actually climbed, and slowly the individual trees resolved out of the patchwork of color below him. David had no problem finding where Claire was still slowly plodding up the mountain, the Pack System guiding him unerringly toward her like a pin drawn to a magnet, and he knew she could similarly feel him approaching.
As he spotted Claire's bulky form plodding through the undergrowth, the frequent sound of crunching brush heralding her presence just as clearly as the trail she left behind, David felt a rising thrill of excitement. He alighted on a thick branch, allowing himself to swing down to hang as he looked at her, wings mantling briefly.
"Claire! You're not gonna believe this, I think we might have lucked out. Ish. It's weirder than I thought it would be, though."
She cocked her head quizzically as David dangled down above her. "What're you babbling about now? Did you find the observatory at least?"
"Yeah, one issue though…" He launched into a fervid recap of the telescope array's incredible scale, the crumbling support buildings, and most crucially, "...there's like an entire military operation just collecting dust up there. Trucks, choppers, heavy armor, the works. Looks like they'd been there for a while too, maybe they brought it all in at once but…the longer I think about it the more I realize how long it would actually take to get that all there."
Claire's eyes narrowed. "Why the hell would the military make a grab for some rinky-dink observatory by Redfield, of all places?"
David's wings flared emphatically. "That's just it, I don't think this was entirely on the level, at least for a while. The dish up there feels big enough to swallow this whole mountain, there's multiple buildings, and it looks like they slapped up more in a hurry. Somebody must have known something, like, way ahead of time."
Claire's stance settled a bit as she processed the information with an air of anxiety, "So…there's a pretty good chance someone did hatch up there, maybe a few people. Except instead of some scientists, there's a chance it might be someone that doesn't know anything?"
"Yeah…that would suck.” David flattened his ears in frustration. "Whatever they knew, it was enough of an oh-shit situation to make some big moves. They obviously had a lot of people there. Either way, if there’s anyone still around I bet they know more than we do."
Claire rumbled contemplatively, "Was it all run down like everything else? You're small enough to fit inside almost everywhere, I'm probably not gonna fit in the lobby to look around. Did you see the old telescope anywhere?"
"Yes and no, and no. I was pretty far away." David flitted down from the branch to land on his spot on her back, "It's not overgrown or anything, so that's a bonus. It's definitely seen better days though. The main buildings are still standing, all the little ones got knocked over by the wind, I think. It's mostly just rocks up there."
Without another word, Claire turned and began picking her way upslope, nostrils flaring determinedly. David continued to describe the scene, and warned her that he hadn't seen any easy way up from the air, most of the mountain having suffered landslides at some point or another.
The higher they climbed, the more the terrain devolved into a maze of tumbled grayish-brown boulders and slick rock faces. Claire's heavy footfalls sent pebbles skittering as she painstakingly picked her way upwards. David soared ahead frequently, scouting for the easiest path through the treacherous scree slopes. He called out course corrections periodically, his shrill voice carrying clearly on the thin mountain air. Despite the grueling ascent, Claire seemed to be enjoying herself more than usual when confronted with a steep hike.
Man, I really hope we find someone still up there that isn't a dick. I don't feel like getting drafted or something, it's pretty clear everything isn't going back to normal anytime soon. Last thing I want is to run into some crazy guy that thinks we can fight this off somehow… heh, I'll share my Status and show them Omega’s little avatar if that happens. That should clear that up pretty quick, Claire handled it worse than I did when I showed her. I didn't think she could make a noise like that.
Eventually the shattered remains of an access road came into view, the buckled asphalt ribbon still clinging tenaciously to the stony mountainside. Claire rumbled in satisfaction, lugging herself fully onto the road and allowing David to take the lead. He glided within shouting distance above her, eyes skipping over the collapsing road ahead of them with mild concern as he surfed on the wind. The road was just barely hanging on to the steep slope, and there was a concerning amount of overhang in places that forced him to intervene.
“Hey, stay on the side closest to the mountain." David barked mischievously down to the enormous reptile below him as she shot him a curious look, “It's washed out in a few spots, might go over if a big fat lizard walked on it."
Claire snapped her jaws toward him several times in rapid succession, attempting to shoot him a rude gesture with her tiny clawed arms and making him chuckle a bit as he watched her drift away from the dangerous sections.
As they continued the circuitous climb, scattered debris gradually materialized amid the boulders and debris that littered the road, twisted guardrails, shredded tarpaulins, and at one point an entire smashed utility vehicle lying on its side.
"Looks like they were still driving when the Integration started!" Claire called up to him, eyeing the wreckage.
David banked lower, inspecting the scene with a critical eye. "Damn, that sucks. I was sitting down doing nothing and it was pretty rough, can't even imagine trying to drive up a cliff when everything started going weird. Dude’s lucky he didn't go over the edge and die."
His voice caught abruptly as something else amid the rubble registered, and a quick burst of curious Echolocation revealed the bones nestled innocuously amid the debris, tattered strips of uniform still clinging in places. David swallowed hard against a sudden lump in his throat. He wheeled away from the vehicle and quickly looped back to Claire's position, suddenly uncomfortable.
Oh, shit. Sorry, whoever you were. I feel like an asshole now. Nothing you could have done, wasn't even your fault, I doubt you could even tell where the road was. Fuck…must have been quick at least, if it got you before the System did.
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Eventually the shattered husk of the installation's main gate loomed into view, hanging askew from its bent archway. It had been a simple, utilitarian construction, and it had held up fairly well against the wind and time. Small drifts of sandy dirt had collected in places and piled high against the sun bleached brick.
David's instincts suddenly snarled a warning, and he blurted it out loud, "I'm getting a weird feeling about this, Spooky doesn't like it all of a sudden."
Claire immediately dropped into a defensive crouch, sweeping the crumbling facade as she sniffed loudly while David hovered protectively above her. An eerie stillness blanketed the compound, only the faint groan of twisted metal giving any hint of disturbance. He began to feel slightly stupid as Claire exhaled forcefully and gave him a confused look.
“I can't smell anything." Claire growled quizzically as she slowly straightened up and her shadow lengthened to cover one of the many potholes in the road under her, “Hot rocks, metal, and dirt mostly. Some plastic, I think, but it's pretty faint. You sure ‘Spooky’ isn't malfunctioning or something?"
"Never has before.” David grumbled as he directed his irritation at his subconscious. Spooky remained resolute in its snarling, and it metaphorically eyed the observatory ahead of them distrustfully as David frowned.
The decrepit outbuildings and collapsed temporary structures made it clear the observatory compound hadn’t had any visitors or wildlife rolling through. Rusty metal scraps and shredded canvas littered the ground amidst shattered concrete and the remains of what looked to be a small parking lot that looped around the side of the main building. The neatly arranged vehicles David had seen from the air looked much more imposing in person, armored personnel carriers, tarped trucks, long blocky helicopters, all still sat in orderly lines. He noticed a few of them still had their hoods up, tools scattered around below them near rusty heaps that had once been carts and toolboxes, engines full of sandy dirt packed deep into the machinery.
"Doesn't look like anything violent happened here," David's voice echoed slightly in the stillness. "They definitely didn't know we were all gonna get melted down into eggs. Look around, people were still doing their jobs when it hit."
Claire rumbled in agreement as they slowly approached the main observatory building, and Claire stomped down the remains of a sagging chain-link fence to step over it daintily. The great radio telescope dish rose hundreds of feet overhead, the only intact structure aside from the adjacent offices and labs. David glided ahead to land near a small patio that connected to the front of the building. His talons tapped anxiously on the hard surface as he fired a few Echolocation's through the shattered glass of the doors and almost immediately the return wave came back with nothing but a dirt-filled entryway.
"Looks clear inside," he called back. "But it smells musty, not like rot."
Claire nodded slowly as she swung her head around to look behind her, taking in the vehicles and assorted debris with a sigh.
“Alright, you check it out a little bit but keep your head down. I'll look around out here, there's no way I'm gonna fit inside." She grumbled as she swung toward the boneyard of vehicles, “Doesn't seem like there's anyone still here, but you never know. If you see any bugs, leave them alone this time.”
David stuck his tongue out at her, quickly retracting it and shooting her a guilty grin as she turned at the noise. He nodded before she rolled her eyes and continued to stomp off around the side of the building, stepping carefully back over the smushed fence as she went.
Must be annoying being that big sometimes. Definitely worth it in a fight, but she's stuck outside most of the time unless she just forces her way in. She only really ever fit into the warehouse back at Riverport, and that door was a bit of a squeeze even before the extra armor.
David turned and loped forward, ducking through the entryway, and stopping briefly to eye the trash and debris scattered about. He examined the desk set into the far wall before simply hauling himself atop the rusty metal furniture and rifling through the drawers on the other side. They took a bit of yanking to open, and he cringed at the noise they made as he hauled them open one at a time.
Bunch of old rats-nest looking things, dried out telephone books, staples, useless pens, I think that used to be a notepad? Sunglasses, keys, purse. Cell Phone next to the actual phone, yep. Damn, David, what were you expecting top secret classified documents right inside the door?
David nodded from his perch on the rusty desk, more out of habit than for anyone else's sake. Spooky had quieted down some, but continued to hiss and spit every so often throughout the process, and he began to wish he had a water-bottle to spritz him with.
Oh my god, I know you don't like it. Chill out. We came all the way here to look around, and it might help us figure out what those lights in the sky are, remember those? You don't like those worse than this, and I'm pretty sure you're just a gut-feeling with a megaphone anyway. I'm basically talking to myself.
David took a few deep breaths to calm his anxiety before he hopped off of the desk and slid slightly on the linoleum before he got his balance again. He shot an evil look into the dusty floor and cursed whoever had invented the wretched material, understanding all too well now why some animals had hated the stuff. David carefully adjusted the way he was walking, his gait seeming unnatural and stilted to him as he shifted weight off of his talons and claws.
As he pushed through to the central corridor, David's ears suddenly pricked up, and he felt more than heard an odd vibration somewhere deep in the building. A strange resonance moved through the structure, tickling at the edge of his senses, and Spooky immediately threw a fit. He narrowed his eyes, jaws chattering while his Echolocation pulsed outwards down the hallway ahead of him. He was still sorting through the multi-layered and multi-directional images he got back as the pulses spread through multiple open doorways when it finally jumped out at him.
There, nestled beneath a sagging roof section on the left side of the hallway, almost buried in moldy drop-ceiling. A hollow, brittle shape the size of a large man, its interior slowly filling with flecks of both itself and the falling ceiling insulation as it crumbled in the dry air.
An eggshell.
David suffered a simultaneous wave of excitement and renewed anxiety as he froze, the images slowly fading away as he cut off his Special. He was surprised, but not as much as he thought he would be, having hoped to find someone here from the beginning. David shook his head, slinking lower to the floor before letting Spooky out of his cage a bit as he began to lurk down the rapidly darkening hallway. He fell into a familiar rhythm as he fired Echolocation then darted ahead, paused to sniff, then repeated the process. David split his attention slightly between listening for actual sounds and to his own mapping ability as he moved deeper into the building.
He found another eggshell in what looked to be a small cafeteria off the main hallway, lying almost completely smashed to pieces like a pile of broken glass. To David, it looked like it had rolled backwards off the bench the second whoever it was had tried to force their way out, shattering on the floor as they had panicked. David retracted his wing and let the door swing shut, clicking his talons against the tile below him as he considered his options.
That's two in like ten minutes, almost right inside and then just down the hall at the first real intersection. I know that not a lot of people made it into Wave 1, so either they got really lucky or there was an absolute shitload of people here. I'm leaning towards the latter, because of the sheer amount of vehicles outside. You can fit a lot of people on some of those things, not even counting the big ass helicopters…there's probably someone still here somewhere. I'm gonna go tell Claire, then come back and poke around some more, I think.
David shot a glance over his shoulder, looking both ways down the corridor before scampering back the way he came.