"NO, NO, NO!!!" - Aiden's voice reverberated through the whole chamber he was standing in and carried on to the rest of the facility. His voice full of anguish and terror. Who wouldn'd be scared if you understood that something trapped you at the bottom of the ocean, with no obvious possibilities of escape?
He trashed around the room for several more minutes, trying everything just to have a little hope of leaving this abandoned place, but to no vail. None of the mechanisms were working, they weren't broken mind you. The gates were too heavy and too thick to try to open them manualy, and even if it was possible, he would just die due to the sudden increase in pressure. There wasn't even a single spark moving along the protected wires, he was truly cut out from the outside world.
At the end of his tantrum, Aiden feel onto the floor, head low and arms on his sides. What could he possibly do now? Even if he managed to survive for several more days and wait long enough for secondary team to arrive, they would be able to enter now that the power was missing. He would also die long before that day, due to the lack of sustenance and energy in his suit. Should he just give up? Abandon all hope that some kind of inconvenience met his way? No, he was never like that. Otherwise he would never apply for this task, or traverse the deep blue. He would find his way out of here, no matter if someone wanted him to stay or not.
With new found determination he rose to his feet and began to traverse deeper into the complex in search for the exit. Or maybe even the cause why someone or something cut the power the moment he went inside of here.
But then why where the batteries empty, and why was the data on computers unreadable? It shouldn't be possible on such a short notice. It could only happen if the devices where connected to another isolated system, independent to the one governing the facility, but it this kind of method would be extremely counterproductive and inefficient. It could also happen if the power, instead of being ending the supply, was quickly drained out of them, which was a more probable answer. Even then, why would anyone do such a thing, wouldn't it destroy all the work that was put in this place?
With every second spend here more questions were accumulating, with no answers in sight. Aiden decided to stop thinking about it, otherwise he would be unable to focus on his new found task.
Traversing further through the corridor, he tried to navigate towards the possible trasition to one of the oval shapes he had seen outside. Even if he could remember the possible localization of the passage, it was still extremely hard to orient himself in the repeating hallway. On his way he passed by several normal office doors, until finally he reached the opening of different design that previously. Slightly larger and thicker, also seemingly heavier, with double access points for two cards.
And completely ripped out from its frame.
They weren't simply ejected from them, but rather directly splintered from the outside, fragments of it laying across the entire floor. The scariest thing is that there are no traces of any burns, which means it was done physically. Something must have destroyed them personally. It could have been done by some kind of power suit, but even then it wouldn't look like that. It wouldn't look like claw marks.
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Trembling a little Aiden took a step inside, through the destroyed path, and looked around to evaluate the new location. It seemed that the building he is currently in is composed of three different floors, seen directly from the entrance in form of exposed balconies. Balconies dripping with blood.
"What happened here?" - you can hear a silent whisper coming from Aiden's mouth. His trembling intensifies and it can be clearly seen that he must muster all of his courage to stand straight. But even this disturbing sight isn't enough to deter him from his goal, because he doesn't waste a moment and continues forward to investigate.
Searching the first floor he came across a few puddles of blood, dripping from above and completely ruined office spaces, nothing much more of value. Anything salvageable was the same as in previous rooms, except cards with probably higher access registry than previously. He also was able to find a few pieces of fabric, presumably from ripped apart clothes of the workers, but no trace of the bodies. There weren't even smudges that would indicate that they were dragged to different location, it was as if they just disappeared.
Walking further he managed to locate a staircase hidden behind some debris made out of destroyed desks and wall fragments. After a few moments of struggle he successfully shoved it's top layer and crawled onto the first steps.
The entire staircase was covered in dust and grime, but from the looks of it they were mostly undamaged and still functional. Aiden climbed onto the second floor and what greeted his eyes was the same floor structure as the first one, but not destroyed as much as it. Another difference that could be spotted was an increased amount of red puddles covering the ground, but once again no bodies in sight.
This time he found much more useful things than before, such as hidden snacks in desk compartments, allowing him to get a little more hope. He wouldn't have to worry about food for a while, even if some of it was a little outdated.
Another thing that he found on this floor were a few active terminals with enough energy to power them for a while. But unfortunately, same as on the previous computers, the data was corrupted and completely incomprehensible, although he was able to get the time at which some of it was written. It turns out that the latest log was written just a few weeks before he came here.
This confirmed that the information and energy on the previous devices was deliberately messed with. But by who, and most importantly, why? Who would get anything from corrupting the files? Wouldn't it be easier to just directly delete it? More answers, but even more questions.
Collecting everything he could find he moved onto the third floor, this time with no obstacles blocking his way.
This time the floor was surprisingly clean. No major damages, no filth and no destroyed equipment. Everything was as pristine as it could ever be, which in on and itself wasn't normal. It was to clean in fact, as if freshly cleaned. There wasn't a sign that anything could have happened here, but what betrayed it was the fact that on the side of the balcony there still was blood. To check if he didn't remember wrongly, Aiden leaned by the barriers to check if it was true. Sure enough there were still patches of it.
Something once again got rid of evidence, but as before it was a sloppy job. It also confirmed two disturbing facts. One, that something must have been here that caused all of the slaughter, and secondly that it was done very recenlty for all of the blood to not solidify. That means that whoever, or whatever, did this is still close.
Getting away from the balcony, he walked towards the rest of the offices. He found except some food and cards hidden in the drawers and when he moved onto the computers he was finally able to find something truly valuable. A working terminal with completely intact files.