This was what it meant to be a Techno-archaeologist. Venturing deep into the unknown bowls of a long-forgotten facility or a space station. Mapping dark corridors and collecting archaic samples of designs that were both laughably simplistic and ingenious at the same time. But more than that, it was about the feeling of being on the cusp of a monumental discovery which would turn everything humanity knew about its history on its head.
It took Dr Werner’s team nearly an hour to reach the end of the path the AI had given them. From there on, they had to find their own way to their final destination—Room 359. Moving through a maze of small maintenance shafts and dust-covered supply corridors had been an adventure of its own. According to all the holo maps, there should be a vast emptiness between Section 01 and Section 03 of the mining complex, but here they were, standing in a corridor that shouldn’t exist just a hundred meters from Room 359. From the first day Virginia arrived at Last Hope, she realised that the actual physical dimension of the vast station didn’t match the official blueprints. Feed captures from the automated drones confirmed her initial observations and re-ignited her passion for her work after her research into Lost Technology hit a wall. The last time Virginia felt this way was during the expedition in the tunnels of Echidna II. There was something special about traversing abandoned, dark, decrepit corridors that tickled the senses of every archaeologist.
Yet, despite being in her element, Dr Werner’s thoughts kept going back to the moments of pure bliss and ecstasy spent in Felix’s trunk-like arms. Being with that giant made her feel twenty years younger despite her forty-sixth birthday being only a few months away. Well, technically, she was in her twenties, thanks to the genetic treatments she had access to, keeping her body as fit as it used to be two decades ago and her ebony skin smooth and wrinkle-free. By all accounts, Virginia had stopped the clock of her biological age and would remain at that age until she was in her mid-sixties. After that, well, there was plenty of time until then, and by then, Felix would most likely be just a footnote in her memory. She swore to herself that last night was the last time she was going to indulge her carnal desires with the lowly comms tech. The only problem was that she made the same promise the previous night, the night before that, and all the five nights before that.
Damn it, girl, she chastised herself, get a hold of yourself. You’re not a sixteen-year-old Academy Science Wing freshman with daddy issues. That much was partially true. Thirty years later, she had two doctorates and countless scientific publications and was considered one of the leading authorities in the archaeology field thanks to her strict, uncompromising pedantic work. Plus, she had a fairly healthy relationship with each of her parents, visiting them once every five years or, at the very least, having a video-feed conversation if her work prevented her from travelling, which was something that happened quite often. And by the looks of it, Virginia wasn’t to be going anywhere for the foreseeable future.
“Dr Werner, I hate to bother you, but we will need to backtrack and look for a different corridor.” The soft voice of junior tech Nita startled her.
The girl was part of the scouting group which was mapping the junction further into the unexplored section of Last Hope, while the majority of her team stopped for a short rest. Well, in reality, this place predated the mining complex by roughly a millennium. It predated the bloody Third Empire. However, Virginia wasn’t at liberty to divulge this information to her techs. The AI Zeti was very clear about its terms when it revealed the hidden section. The fact that the Second Terran Empire’s clandestine research facility designated as Station 37-H had fused with Last Hope had to be kept secret. Apart from her, only four other people knew the truth, those being her colleague and former teacher, Professor Anton Kruger, Last Hope’s main medic, Dr Hiroshi Saiko and of course – Helix, who was an actual former resident of Station 37-H. Although, in his case, the more proper term would be jailor.
An involuntary shudder came over Virginia as the memory imprint of Ordained Scientist Blanka Xi resurfaced from the info-storage of her cerebral implant.
“Are you okay, Dr Werner?” Nita asked sheepishly, uncertain if she should assist her or call for help.
“Yes,” Virginia answered in a sharp tone. “It is nothing you need to worry about. Now, tell me what you found.”
For the thousandth time, she wished Zeti had never shown her the damned imprint. Because of the emote-contamination of the files, she couldn’t see the young man as anything other than a monster wearing human skin. But that was her own fault; her curiosity had gotten the better of her, and now she had to suffer the consequences.
“The left junction is collapsed, and the right one is filled with chemical—”
“You are not a Science Wing freshman, Miss Nita. You are an archaeology junior tech. Act like one.” Virginia interrupted the cowering girl. Due to the incidents with the miners the previous week, she had given her some leeway, but there was a limit to what she was going to tolerate.
“I’m really sorry, Dr Werner!” The girl squeaked, nearly snapping her back in two in how quickly she bowed in apology. “What I meant to say is that corridor designated I-01/03-11 is obstructed due to structural failure of the internal support structure. Corridor designated I-01/03-12 is partially obstructed due to a localised contained chemical hazard.”
“There is no such thing as a localised contained chemical hazard.” Virginia interrupted again while drumming her fingertips on the modular equipment container she used as an improvised table.
“I… Yes! I’m sorry! What I meant to say is… That is…Contained chemical hazard spot?”
“Containment mode?”
“Standard Emergency Section Bullhead.”
“Enough.” She stood up and walked in front of the trembling little thing. “Tell me, Jacy, do you want to be a junior tech?”
“No, Dr Werner.” The girl lowered her head and shook it. “I want to be a Techno-archaeologist.”
“I do not think so,” Virginia folded her arms over her chest as she examined every small defect of the tech’s poorly maintained uniform. “You were chosen for this expedition because of your work as Science Department Assistant at the Institute of Technology. The research presentation you submitted was enough to convince me to make my personal SDA. But ever since our arrival on Last Hope, you’ve been involved in sixteen site incidents, twenty-four instances of intoxication while on-site, seven minor altercations with the local miners and one major altercation which resulted in the damaging of vital research equipment.”
Virginia gently grabbed the lapel of Nita’s green field lab coat, putting her fingernail through the tear in the synthetic fabric. “Your gear is in disarray, your notes are unintelligible, and you show complete disregard for the very basic principles of our work. Forget about being a techno-archaeologist; you are not fit to be a junior technician.”
She gave the poor girl a moment to process her words before asking the most important question.
“So, Miss Nita, you either submitted someone else’s presentation as your own. Or you are exhibiting textbook symptoms of early-stage Void Fever Syndrome. Which one is it?”
The junior tech began to tremble uncontrollably as the severity of Virginia’s question registered in her mind. No matter the answer, this was the end of her career since she would be barred from joining off-world expeditions. The only difference was whether she would be charged with a criminal offence, which would see her banned from the scientific field or not.
“I didn’t lie on my application…” The girl lifted her head and looked at her pleadingly. “Can’t you overlook this? Just this one time?”
With a blink command Dr Werner terminated the junior tech’s contract. This wasn’t the first time she had to dismiss someone from her team, nor would it be the last.
“Junior technician Jacy Nita, you are to return to your quarters and remain there under voluntary confinement.”
“No!” The girl shrieked. “Please, Dr Werner! I beg you, don’t do this!”
“I have already scheduled a visit with Doctor Saiko to assign you a proper treatment,” Virginia was glad her voice didn’t waver while she spoke. Ending the career of a promising young tech wasn’t a cause for celebration. “Now, we can do this in a civilised manner, or I could inform the acting Chief of Security King that you need to be placed under house arrest.”
It was unfortunate that it had come to this, and a small part of Virginia understood that she was using young Nita to vent her own frustration, but that was just how life worked. It wasn’t fair and often very hard and disappointing. More so when one made a mistake after mistake, and Virginia couldn’t afford to make any more. Especially not when Zeti was monitoring her progress. She had seen first-hand what the AI did to the military techs in the Command Room.
“Junior tech Ambrose, escort Miss Nita back to her quarters.” She pointed at the first person she could see.
As soon as the words left her mouth, a message popped up on the screen of her data glasses, which informed her that her decision had been overwritten. Biting her tongue to stop the stream of obscenities escaping her mouth, Virginia turned around to give a withering glare at the lead of the crypto-analysis team. At least Anton had the courage to face her, unlike some of her other colleagues who would prefer to hide behind the thermal sheet separating the rest area.
“Professor Kruger, this an archaeology team matter. Your interference is not appreciated.” There were a few more explicit words she would have loved to use, but Virginia had to consider the fact that there were junior techs all around them. Like it or not, she had to keep a clear head.
“You are being too harsh with the girl, Dr Werner.” The hint of mirth in his otherwise steel voice was enough to turn her anger into simmering rage.
He was doing this just to get a rise of her; there was no other explanation for why an academic prude like him would be swayed by the snivelling of a tech fresh out of the Science Wing. The only question that bothered her was why. What did he hope to get out of such a childish confrontation? They were both in the same boat. Then again, the mnemonic imprint had a significantly different effect on Anton. In the last week, her former seemed to have aged significantly, resembling more of the ninety-year-old man he was than the sixty-year-old respectable scientist he appeared to have appeared as for the last decade. Gone was the black mixed in his silver hair, and notable dark circles had formed under his ice-blue eyes. But more noticeable than that was how sunken and hollow his cheeks had become, giving the elderly man an almost haunted aura.
“In her current state, junior technician Nita presents a danger to this team and the expedition as a whole,” Virginia spoke through clenched teeth, stressing the girl’s title in the hope that Anton would see reason.
“Virginia,” the hardness of Professor Kruger’s voice startled her, causing her to flinch as if she were a student once again, “you should know better than this. I am willing to accept that this can be a case of undiagnosed Void Fever, but that is not the proper way of dealing with it. Must I remind you that as the head of the archaeology team, you are responsible for the well-being of all junior techs?”
“No.” She managed to squeeze the word through clenched teeth.
“I agree with you that technician Nita must be quarantined once we return to Section 01, pending a full examination by Dr Saiko.” At that, he turned to look at the young girl who was stuck in a loop of thanking him repeatedly. “As for you, Jacy, you better hope this is indeed a case of early stages of VFS. If it is not, I will personally lead a committee hearing that will have you expelled from the Academy’s Since Wing and your credentials revoked.”
That was the Anton Kruger she knew. However, before Virginia could say anything, he mouthed a silent “play along”.
“Everyone, mark our current location, update the holo maps and prepare to head back. Dr Werner and I will examine the obstruction and catch up with you.”
“You heard Professor Kruger!” Virginia snapped at the nearest of her techs, who were looking at her like lost children. “That’s it for today. Our permission to leave Section 01 is valid for only four hours, and it doesn’t look like we will make much more progress today.”
Officially, the mining complex was under military control because of the Emergency Authority Directive triggered by Knight Protector von Eisstahl. As far as her team knew, they indeed had permission to explore this part of the station. In reality, however, they had to be back to their quarters before the Innari returned from their patrols and noticed that a bunch of scientists were roaming around without supervision.
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“Care to explain what is going on?” Virginia asked as soon as they were out of earshot.
“From here on, it’s just the two of us.” Anton scoffed. “If you hadn’t disabled your feed connection, you’d know this. Seriously, Virginia, what is going on with you? You’ve been in a foul mood for the last week.”
“I…” she paused, unsure how to answer his question before finally deciding to be blunt. “Do you think we made the right choice?”
“You’ll have to be more specific.”
“All of this!” She waved her hand. “Coming here. Taking orders from an AI. Siding with a genetically modified soldier of the bloody Second Terran Empire.”
“No,” Anton shook his head without hesitation. “We didn’t make the right choice; we made a horrible mistake. But I want to believe that even so, we are sacrificing ourselves for a greater cause.”
“A greater cause! Do you hear yourself? You’re beginning to sound like those lunatics from the memory imprint!”
“Dr Werner!” The old man snapped at her, and Virginia realised she had crossed the line. Anton had decades’ worth of experience dealing with contaminated imprints. “I will not deny that what we saw of Ordained Scientist Blanka Xi’s memories was quite disturbing. Her emote signatures were exceptionally strong. But as far as subliminal indoctrination goes, I’ve dealt with far worse while decrypting Third Empire data-stores.”
He stopped at the junction and looked at her with his ice-blue eyes. There was a fire in them that Virginia had not seen in a long time.
“We dedicate our lives to lifting the veil of darkness cast over the history of our species by the Third Empire. No matter how ugly the truth might be, it is our duty to reveal it and record it for future generations. For I am an impartial scholar of history,” Anton recited the ceremonial oath every graduate made once they obtained their first doctorate degree. “That is the greater cause I believe in.”
A tired chuckle escaped his mouth before he continued. “Before this madness, these were just empty words. Perhaps they still are, but they are the only thing that keeps me sane. In that memory imprint, we received a glimpse of what we are seeking, and now, I’m scared that we will actually find the answers we seek.”
All Virginia could do was nod. She shared the same feelings, at least to some extent. The Second Empire was a far more disturbing entity than the paradise of Lost Technology she expected it to be. In a way, it was probably more frightening than the tyrannical regime of its successor. But in hindsight, that should have been obvious. After all, it was ruled by religious fanatics who did not understand the meaning of ethics and morality. Why else would they have created someone like Helix? It was just that—like everyone else—she underestimated how much of an influence that religion had over the people of that time. Sure, there were a lot of benefits from what could be recovered here on Last Hope; however, was it worth resurrecting Project Ascension? On a subconscious level, Victoria understood what the scientists of the Holy Empire were trying to accomplish. The problem was that she couldn’t put it into words. Every time she tried, she ended up with gibberish.
Either way, it was too late to turn back. At least, there was one positive thing that came out of that accursed imprint, and that was that she now had a basic understanding of Unue. The original language, as it was called, was yet another mystery that had the scientific community scratching its head. Well, Victoria couldn’t say that she was fluent at it. Still, she could grasp the meaning of simple sentences, especially when they were written in large glowing yellow letters projected on a reinforced bulkhead door, accompanied by chemical hazard warning symbols.
“Ayvertu… Halypso-gayza eflu… elfoo.. elflulyo… Bloody hell, how do you even pronounce that? Is it supposed to be a soft or a hard e? Elfloojo? Enru… enyaroo. Ro? Malprimisista… malpermisista… Mal-per-mi-si-ta.” Somehow, she managed to listen to Anton struggle with reading the message out loud without bursting into laughter. “Does that sound right to you?”
“Professor Kruger, do you really want me to answer that question?”
“Oh? You think you can do better, doctor Werner?”
“No. But that’s why I’m not even going to try,” Virginia ignored the challenge in his voice, refusing to make a fool of herself. “More importantly, do you have any idea what Kay-lip-so gas is?”
“No clue. But it can’t be anything good. That’s a pressure-sealed door.”
“Calypso-gas is a completely harmless compound produced as a by-product during the synthesis of flevorium-297,” an artificial voice mixed with static crackled through a hidden speaker, reminding her that Zeti was always observing them.
“Then why the warning?” Virginia barked in her irritation.
“Because it is extremely harmful to Terrans.” It might have been her imagination, but she could swear the AI sounded condescending.
“But you just said it was harmless,” Anton was faster in pointing out the obvious discrepancy in Zeti’s statement.
“To humans. Not Terrans.”
“What’s the bloody difference!” Virginia slammed her hand against the reinforced door, something she regretted immediately as the impact reverberated through her arm. “Terran is just another word for human!”
“Dr Werner, your assumption …s incorrect. …will understand… difference so… enough... ent… bl… aint…” The static was getting too strong for her to be able to follow what the artificial construct was trying to say.
However, the moment the irritating crackle of the speakers stopped, the warning sign on the bulkhead door disappeared. There was an audible hiss, and thin streams of pressurised air burst out of the valves dotting the locking mechanism, and the door began to slowly open. The light emanating from the glow strips scattered on the ceiling of the dark antechamber was barely enough to illuminate their path, and Virginia had missed the small step at the doorway on the far end.
“Shit!” She cursed when her face plunged into a puddle of what she hoped was stale condensed water.
Wherever they had found themselves, it was a large and cold room. The archaeologist could feel frost cover her skin and a chill run through her body. However, she could hear the telling hum of working machines. Then came the loud buzzing sound of a generator turning on. A second later, Virginia was blinded by fluorescent sterile lights. Once her eyes adjusted, she was looking at the worn-out skull of some deformed monster. The creature had inhabited the broken bio-pod on her left, but that did not prevent the woman from scrambling back in fear. Quickly, she affixed her glasses back in place and looked around.
Virginia was surprised that the room wasn’t the vast chamber she had expected. Instead, it was slightly larger than her own quarters. Various pieces of research equipment decorated the walls. Some of the items she could recognise, such as the molecular analyser and holographic model composer, hadn’t changed all that much through the centuries. There were some items she had seen at the genetic manipulation clinic during one of her treatments, although at a glance, it was hard to tell what their exact function could be. And finally, the largest portion of equipment was completely unknown to her. However, what fascinated her the most was that everything appeared to be functional despite being stowed away for centuries.
Well, working for the most part, she thought as she looked down at her feet to pick up the skull. To her surprise, the gruesome object wasn’t there. Confused, she almost didn’t hear Anton’s question.
“What happened? Are you hurt?”
“No. I… There was a skull here.”
“Visual hallucination might indicate a concussion or damage to your optical translators.” The worry in his voice was growing each voice. “We should hurry back and have Hiroshi take a look at you.”
Virginia lifted her hand to stop him. “I don’t have cornea implants. Remember?”
Removing her glasses, she saw the cracked skull right in front of her right foot. Not only that but a number of other bone fragments were also scattered all over the floor. A heavily damaged maintenance drone, clearly marked as belonging to the mining complex, lay dormant a step further in. Following it, she saw the remains of at least half a dozen bodies piled at the far end of the room. Although, those did appear to be human.
“Anton,” she whispered, as a sinking feeling began to form in her gut, “tell me you’re seeing this?”
“Probably not. Are you suggesting something is obscured through digital camouflage?” She couldn’t fault him for questioning her sanity. From this close, Professor Kruger would be able to spot the pixilated outlines of any object that might be hidden through such a method.
“I don’t think so…” Carefully, she picked up the skull and presented it to the elderly man. “What do you see?”
“Just a piece of debris from the bio-pod over there. The room is littered with all sorts of damaged drone components and equipment parts.”
“Zeti?” Virginia asked, certain that she had stumbled on something rather dangerous.
After a minute of awkward silence, the archaeologist grunted in frustration and enabled the feed connection.
“Zeti, are you there?”
Again, there was no response. Curious, Virginia stepped back into the antechamber and repeated the question. She continued to backtrack until finally, there was a response to her question the exact moment she stepped through the reinforced bulkhead.
“Yes, Dr Werner. Is something the matter?” There was a moment of hesitation before the construct’s artificial voice came through the feed again. “Although I have a visual point of observation from the outside, I lost connection with you and Professor Kruger.”
By the looks of it, the AI didn’t have access to this room. This was a very important piece of information that she would need to examine later. However, there were more pressing matters demanding her full attention.
“Could you please tell me what I’m holding?” Virginia lifted the skull over her head, unsure where exactly she was supposed to point it so the AI could get a proper look at it.
“I am sorry, Dr Werner, but you do not yet have the clearance for me to answer that question.”
“Fine. Then, could you please tell me if what I’m holding is debris?” It was hard not to show her frustration at Zeti’s response.
“The item in your hands can be classified as such. However, not in the context you are implying.” Virginia could tell that the AI was growing impatient with her questions. A suspicion that was confirmed a moment later as Zeti’s irritated voice returned. “Now, Dr Werner, please input the code from the memory of Ordained Scientist Blanka Xi in the main console inside Room 359. After that, I will be able to answer all of your questions.”
“Indulge me for a moment, please. Please follow the item in my hands and inform me if you observe any change.” With that, she tossed the skull towards the wide-eyed Anton, who didn’t react in time to catch it. Thankfully, the bone was harder than her initial estimation and did not shatter on impact.
“That was debris… I swear it was. Looks like it…” Professor Kruger muttered as he bent over to pick up the artefact.
“A sight distortion veil.” There was genuine surprise in Zeti’s voice. “Cardinal Zhu was a private man who kept many secrets, but I did not expect he had gone to such lengths. This goes beyond my calculations. I would like to ask you to disable the veil. However, this would require time, which you currently do not have. Regardless, could you please bring out a couple of more items?”
Gingerly, Virginia returned inside the room and walked to the pile of bodies. Taking an item or two would be a problem. Still, she would need to choose something the AI would be able to identify, which ruled out any of the bones.
“Zeti asked for something, didn’t it? A small item to analyse,” Anton offered as he stepped next to her, reminding Virginia that he couldn’t hear the AI’s request. “How about this?”
“That’s a rib,” she tried not to chuckle after seeing his expression. “Have you tried disabling some of the functions of your corneal implants?”
“I’ve stopped ninety percent of all protocols and am running basic visual only.” He shook his head as he carefully returned the rib to its original place. “Whatever is causing this affects the very basic components of cybernetic implants.”
“Figures,” she sighed. “Our new overlord called it a sight distortion veil, and apparently, it can be switched on and off. But it takes time.”
She summed up the conversation with the AI as she passed a corroded oblong spinal implant to Anton before picking up a pair of small box-like devices linked with exposed copper wire. To her astonishment, the item she chose was far heavier than it looked, so she switched it around for a smaller silvery triangular one, which was attached to one of the skulls. All the while, her hands itched to begin examining and reverse engineering the strange implants. Unable to fight the urge, she pocketed the triangular item and picked another one from one of the skulls.
“Please tell me those aren’t human remains,” Professor Kruger pleaded as Virginia turned around to exit the room.
For a brief moment, she was tempted to lie to him. “No. I don’t think Zeti will be able to identify skeletal remains. However, those are implants or, rather, parts of implants. I can’t be sure before I analyse them myself.” She stopped and looked back at her former teacher. “For an archaeologist, you are surprisingly squeamish, Professor Kruger.”
“My field of expertise is crypto-analysis, decryption, encoding and conservation of ancient technology. Not bio-archaeology. If anything, you are the strange one, Dr Werner.”
A part of Virginia was happy that the two of them could hold a normal conversation. However, her jubilation was quick-lived as the feed came to life, and with it, Zeti’s voice echoed in her ears.
“Stop! Return those items back at once!”
“What? What’s going on?” Both scientists asked in unison, stunned by the AI’s sudden outburst.
“Do as you are told before Helix picks the signal!” After they took a step back, Zeti continued in obvious panic, using the faulty hidden speaker from before to convey its commands. “Place THEM… you FOUND THEM AND TRY TO ERASE… evidence… WERE EVER IN this room. Use clo… and WATER… wipe any sur…ace… HAVE TOUCHED and s-s-s-s… any footprints you… in the layer of dust on the …loor. QUICKLY! We… further once you …ack IN your quarters.”
The AI had some explaining to do, Virginia thought as she followed its instructions as closely as she could through all the distortion. Whatever this was had clearly struck a nerve. But more importantly, it was something that Helix wasn’t supposed to know about. Or, which was also a plausible explanation, whatever those remains were, they were likely to send the monster on a killing spree. Either way, Virginia wasn’t willing to risk it without knowing a little more. However, she kept the item in her pocket as a bargaining chip should it turn out that Zeti had ulterior motives to keep this a secret. In the meantime, she could only hope that this incident wouldn’t have the same devastating consequences as the previous time she dared to enter a sealed-off section without proper permission.
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