I wake up, relatively well rested. As well rested as you can be on an ice cold mattress that feels like a rock. Anyway, I picked up my stuff, gathering the pistol, and the long rod I used to defeat the monster. I turn around to pull out the knife from the beast, to realize that the beast is gone.

So that's concerning

I opened up my backpack to consume some of the nutrient paste, but there was nothing in the bag.

Jade, did something come through here while I was asleep

[No]

I open up the bag further, and see nothing except for a small red glowing dot. I reach down to grab it, and pull a small skink up in my hands. It looks healthy.

[He probably ate it]

Well, I guess we need to return to get more of the nutrient paste, before we jump further down

I try to put the lizard down, and then grab my bag. I look down to see the lizard trying to climb my leg.

“Noo. Bad skink.”

I take him off my leg, and set him back down, and stare at him, making it clear to him that I am watching him. They make a little bbrrrdddpppp noise, and then try to climb up my leg again.

I remove the lizard from my leg, and set him down. I grab my stuff and head back into the main chamber, heading for the hallway I first came through on the other side of the room. It takes me almost an hour to get there, thanks to Jade's timekeeping I know exactly long. I sat down at the entrance of the hallway, its ice face roughly sheared off. The lizard also ended up following me, constantly making small chirping noises.

~You should kill that varmint~

You mean Davey?

[You named it]

I mean yeah. He’s cute

~you fucking idiot~

[I concur with shadow, although with weaker language]

But look at him!

I scoop Davey up in the palm of my hand to get a better look at him. He seems to like it, and I stroke his tiny head, carefully avoiding the small glowing spike coming out of his head.

Why do you think he has that small spike on his head

[It is a small protrusion of bone, used as a radiator.]

Huh… I guess that's why the pipe was warm.

I stand up and head into the hallway, back towards where this journey started. I was careful to watch for signs of thermowolves, or whatever the millipede is.

I still need a name for the millipede

[Megapede]

~2opede~

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

What?

That makes … no sense

Ignoring the shadows' strange naming attempt, we eventually made our way back to the cafeteria. The lights are on, and there are scorch marks on the walls near where the door inside the kitchen is. I quietly sneak in, trying my best to remain quiet. I pull the door open, and run inside, grabbing as many tubes of nutrient paste I can carry. I stop after I see something. A spherical metal canister with the same small label on it. There's a tap on the bottom of it.

I grab it and try to lift it, inspecting the label further. It advertises itself as containing 60,000 calories. Enough for me for what… 5 days? I put the meter tall canister in my backpack, noting that I should make some rope to tie it to the side of my backpack. I throw several more tubes in my pack, and repack it, slinging it back on my back.

After making our way back to the collapsed stairwell, I took a closer look down the shaft, and at the collapsed stairs 2 floors down.

Jade are you sure we can survive a fall from this far

[To a fault of 73%]

~Good odds~

Swallowing my fear, I leap out the door, and plummet down 2 stories. The resulting crunch doesn't sound good at all, and my vision explodes red.

Am I ok

~Your not dead~

Thank you, for the update, I think, trying to drip sarcasm through thoughts.

[We got away with minor vertebrae cracking. We should not do something like that again]

Get rope, got it.

I stand up, ignoring the creaking noises from my back. The place where there would normally be a door is completely demolished, revealing a 6 meter wide hole into the mostly dark hallway. There is 5 to 7 centimeters of water sitting on the floor, just enough to moisten the end of my lab coat. There are few doors, most of them are locked. I slowly walk down the hallway, trying all the doors.

The walls and floor are scuffed, as if some massive creature has passed through here. More interesting door signs. Lemon man, department of infomorph research, chemical storage room. There isn't much grass down here, most of it clustered around heat sources. The grass doesn't seem to be doing well however, its small glowing dots sickly pulsing. I continued down the hallway, scuff marks continuing, as if something huge moved through here. Most of the security cameras are broken off on the floor.

Hey Jade, what is the hallway marked as on the map

[Ventilation access tunnel 2. Appears to be an alternate route.]

mm

I take another step, and a quiet hum starts. My footsteps send ripples down the hallway in the thin layer of water covering the ground. However, the ripples stop, and are reflected back, as if hitting a wall. Obliviously, I continue until I run into a thin forcefield. It glows in bright red. I am trapped.

Jade, what the hell is going on

[Unclear. Proceed with caution.]

~How are we supposed to proceed, when there's a wall in our way?~

Shoot through it?

~Yes!~

[No!]

I pull out the handheld particle accelerator, and aim it at the red forcefield. I squeeze the trigger, and the field explodes into a bright red hue, before quickly returning to normal. I give it a kick, just to test its still there, my foot hitting a wall. In anger I launch a barrage of 4 more shots, doing no more damage. The pistol splits open with a satisfying hiss, releasing superheated steam. The field remains standing.

Welp, any ideas

[You have a screwdriver. Open up the panel on the floor right below the foot of the field, and cut the wires.]

I look down, straining to see the metal panel in the dark hallway. I crouch down, trying to prevent myself from getting any more wet than strictly necessary. I unscrew the 4 screws on the panel, and lift it up. The surrounding water begins to flow in, and after several sparks burst out, the force field drops.

I continue onwards, pondering what could be happening in this facility. Some of the traps are still armed and active, and there seems to be a beast roaming around the facility.

~A big one too. Look to your right~

I look to my right, and there's a crater in the wall, roughly the shape of a v. To its right is a series of vertical claw marks, stretching all the way to 20 centimeters off the floor.

~Territorial marks~

[There appears to be marking underneath the crater]

I leaned in to inspect the marks, and sure enough they were there. They looked like this:

[https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/855845226262298634/1033526455306567710/unknown.png]

Jade. Can you possibly translate that?

[No. But it is evidence that someone else is here]

~Wonderful~

I continue down the hallway, only running into one other forcefield gate. Eventually we enter the ventilator proper, which is a large area on one side of the 4 huge ventilation shafts. The ventilation shafts stretch down vertically, and have a thin narrow bridge over each one, even though I can only see the first bowed and bent bridge.

Jade, is that bridge safe?

[Probably]

~I like those odds~

Those have been the odds of me surviving any of this, might as well try this.

I hold onto the railing, and slowly walk across the bridge over the several hundred meter drop into icy cold water. The fans in this shaft aren't on, and red lights flash ominously upwards as far upwards as I can see every 5 meters or so. The bridge creaks ominously, but I make it to the 2nd shaft, with a door leading through it. The 2nd shafts bridge is in good condition, and I cross it with no challenge.

I open the third door and start crossing that bridge, when the white lights go out, leaving me in an eerie flashing red light. I continue groping my way down the bridge, until I hear a faint whir. It sounds faint at first, but it speeds up to a high pitched screech of rusted metal spinning at 100s of rpm. Air starts being sucked up from the lower reaches of the facility, nearly causing me to lose my balance in the dark.

I make it all the way across the 3rd bridge and tear open the 4th door. It comes off with a pop, and falls off its hinges. The interior of the final shaft is almost completely covered in orange flowers, growing out of the walls, as far up and down as I can see. Shaft 4 is baking hot, and I slowly walk across, sweating. At least Davey seems to like it here. This is the first warm place I've come across underground, so that's nice at least.

I stumble out the fourth door to look out on my new surroundings. Deep storage.