In a long forgotten corner of the world. Behind a large towering mountain range. Nestled in between a small town and a hill lies an abandoned mine.
Within that mine, at the very back of a long tunnel lies a pile of stone blocking the way.
But behind that false end is a door.
And, for the first time in a very long time, it opens.
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XX:00 hours.
Report 3 on codename: gateway.
Both the police, as well as the agency, have confirmed a large amount of thaumatic essence emanating from the door.
Everything is matching up with our records regarding specific phenomena.
Phenomena include but may not be limited to:
-Said thaumatic energy disappearing upon closure of the door despite the situation on either side.
-Environment and creatures that shouldn't exist.
-Said impossible creatures turning into items upon death
-Said creatures being incapable of leaving.
-Entrants being limited to a five person party regardless of the circumstances or stigma surrounding the members.
-every item gathered, having a description no matter how small.
...
Several teams have failed in returning, presumably because of a large birdlike creature. All signs suggest a wandering boss.
It is my recommendation to shut this place down and establish a quarantine. It's too dangerous.
-An excerpt from a report used in an effort to prevent the Gateway Program from passing.
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A crackly image forms on the screen as the camera shifts about.
A man demands in an harsh tone. "I said keep it steady, intern!"
An 'eep' is heard as the camera flails about violently.
"Y-yes, Sir." The poor camerawoman hurredly responds.
The image steadies and clears, showing a reptilian woman wearing a white labcoat glaring angrily.
"Is it on?" She asks in an annoyed tone.
"Yes, you're coming in clear." The camerawoman replies in a more professional tone.
She hmmphed and mumbled something under her breath before addressing the camera.
"I am Doctor Magnolia Ironwood of the University of Woodchester. I have a PHD in zoology and a Masters in biology. I am coming to collect samples of interest."
She placed a hand on her chest and said with a half-lidded stare.
"And as the Lvl 2 expert of the group I hope to keep these idiots alive."
She chuckled like she made a funny joke.
"Oh, who am I kidding. But as the leader, I will do my utmost to save most of their lives." She said in a particularly smug tone.
"No you aren't." The man cut in.
"Wazzat?" The doctor asked, breaking character.
He turned toward the camera with a certain look.
The camerawoman spoke with her voice growing smaller as she went on.
"H-he said that you aren't... leading... the operation."
Suddenly the camera was sent flying as the doctor darted forward instantly. In the background, you could hear her roaring.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'M NOT GOING TO BE LEADING THE MISSION! YOU-"
The sound cut off as the camera smashed into the floor of the room.
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The recording came to life albeit at a different ratio from before.
"Is it on?!" The man barked as he held an icepack to his face.
"Uh, Yes." The camerawoman sounded worse for wear.
"Is that a question or an answer!?" He shouted while throwing a vicious glare.
"A-answer!" She piped up, causing the man to wince.
"Keep it down! Are you trying to kill my eardrums!"
"N-no, sir." She said in a nearly inaudible whisper.
He held the bridge of his nose and sighed. With a wave of dismissal he went on.
"Forget it, lets just get this over with."
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
He turned to the elf wearing purple robes.
"Start when you're ready."
"Hmm," She looked up from the book she was reading. "Oh! Yes, one moment."
With a flick of her wrist, the book disappeared. She took a moment to adjust her glasses and clothing before starting.
"Hello, I am Alexandria Firestrand and I am here to join the expedition. Hopefully my spells with come in use."
She suddenly realized what she said and backtracked.
"I mean if something happens."
She started to panic and waved her hands in a stop motion.
"Not that something that something would happen with my leadership! I meant if-"
"You're not leading the expedition." The man cut her off.
That froze the mage in her tracks.
"I'm sorry?" She asked lowering her arms.
"But the message said-"
"The message said there was a chance at leadership." The man cut her off again with a shoulder as cold as his icepack.
"You didn't qualify."
"D-didn't qualify? I graduated top of my class. I can cast the thirty styles on command. I..."
The man ignored her and turned to the camera with that look again.
He must have seen something he didn't like because he frowned and jabbed a finger towards the mage angrily.
The camerawoman sighed and braced herself as she waited for the mage to finish.
Whoever was watching fastforwarded it until they saw a flash of fire and backed up a bit.
"I'm a Lvl 2 mage!" She yelled incredulously. Finally ending her tirade.
"I'm sorry but the results were tallied beforehand, we really can't do anything. The camerawoman tried gingerly.
The mage seemed to literally be processing the information as she stared directly into the camera and, presumably, the camera woman's eyes since it rested on her shoulder.
After a while, a long slow grin creeped up her face.
'Oh, that's fine. That's fine." She said in a sickly sweet tone.
"If you would just be a dear and get me in touch with the exam committee then?" She folded her hands into each other.
"I'm sorry but we're not qualifi-"
"Then get me someone who is." She said, still in that tone.
"We, We're not allowed to. This is a government operation. It's classified." She explained.
"Oh", she said. The mage put a finger to her lips and considered this. She thought long and hard before nodding as she came to a decision.
"How about a fireball, then?"
"We really-"
The screen erupted into bright orange before cutting off.
______________________________________________
The screen flickered on again, this time in greyscale.
"Is it on?" The man asked wearily.
The camerawoman must have nodded cause he continued.
"Good." He turned to the latest interviewee and pointed at him dramatically. "Go."
The man instantly struck a heroic pose and said, " The name's Christopher Kelly."
"I'm a seasoned explorer."
He then crouched down like he was telling a story. His eyes sweeping across the room in front of an imaginary audience.
" I've ventured down to the depths of this depraved hole we live in. Seen things no other man has seen."
Suddenly, he stood up straight and adjusted leather vest and brown hat.
" What level am I?"
He gestured towards the audience, as if waiting for an answer he knew wouldn't come.
"3." He said in a loud whispery tone.
" And that's why you've made the right choice in m-"
"You're not going to be the leader!" Both the man and the camerawoman said in unison.
"Say what now?" Chris asked, taken aback by the response.
"You're not going to be leading the expedition. No, you may not speak to someone. And yes, the decision is final." The man fired off, blunt as ever.
Chris looked at the man. " There must be some kind of mistake."
The camerawoman spoke up in a tired and raspy voice. "I'm sorry sir, but that's an internal issue."
She paused to cough. "We're just the help."
The man spat at the sentence and stomped his foot on it in anger.
Chris seemed taken surprised that someone else was in the room.
" Alright, if you could just let the adults talk this out. That would be great."
The camerawoman and the man shared a look.
Without a word the two of them grabbed their stuff and closed in on Chris.
"W-what are you doing?"
One could see the camera being raised up high before bashing the guy on the head. Both the sound and the visuals cratered before blinking out completely.
The last thing they heard were Chris's screams.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The screen flickered on as if gasping for air.
The edges of the video were covered in static, but the audio came in clear.
"Well," The man gestured to his microphone. "this is broken."
He casually tossed it aside before taking out a cigarette and turned to the girl. She was wearing the charred remains of what might have been clothes.
"I'm gonna need you to clear all of this out while I make the report."
He patted down his clothing, before getting a confused look on his face.
"Give me a second." He muttered as he checked his pockets.
True enough, he found what he was looking for a second later. The charred girl cringed he pulled out a lighter and clicked a small flame into existence.
He lit the end and was about to take a drag when he realized something.
"Huh," He chuckled and shook his head. "I'm just like those idiots."
He looked up at the ceiling at a forty five degree angle and sighed.
"Or at least I was."
He got ready to take a drag, but stopped.
"I used to be big, you know? I could see the tops of the clouds from how high up I was." He raised the hand with the cigarette like he was reaching for it.
"I had fame, wealth, money, I had everything."
He swerved around dramatically with that one arm extended in front of him.
"Ron Phillips, the best anchorman in the world." He said with a charming smile before having it fade away. He relaxed his posture into something normal and looked at the cigarette in his hand.
"Now look at me. Interviewing people for a project that'll probably never see the light of day." He finally took a drag and turned toward the girl.
"Fantastic." He said, blowing the cloud of smoke right into her face.
She grimaced as it hit her, but otherwise did nothing.
"Doesn't matter how big you are kid." He said, walking over and clapping a hand on her shoulder. "Life doesn't care."
He kept walking and waved an arm without looking.
"Just remember to clean this up, will ya?"
Soon enough, he was off camera and the sound of a door opening and closing was heard.
Even then, the girl did nothing but stand there. For several minutes she twitched and shuddered on the fuzzy recording.
Then she gathered herself up and gave a big sigh.
The rest of the recording was of her cleaning up the place before finally noticing the camera and shutting it off.