Lt JG Imril - [End Act II] Step Into An Untested Alien Transporter? What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

[Chris Taylor]

((Ruined Docks - Callis I))

Imril: I think we have to lock the bunker door from the inside to reflood the chamber. And do it in a hurry, before the dark things can close the gap and reach the campground.

Breys: I support whatever plan puts me further away from that.

Imril returned to the room once the others had entered. As Munro slammed the door shut, a muffled klunk sounded behind the three-levers. Something had been unlocked, and Imril had already surmised what based on the images below.

At the same time, everyone’s combadges chirped. The little devices now able to activate passive systems and respond accordingly. Suddenly, the iconography of the looping symbol made sense. A line contained within itself. Munro made the meaning clear to everyone else.

Munro: Don't get too excited. It only works inside this box. It's what ancient humans called a Faraday Cage. It shields us from the effects of the Maelstrom. But only when we're inside a sealed box. Like this one. Imril and I found what looks like a map with more crystals on it.

She indicated the map that she'd tossed on the floor when they first got here.

Breys: It sounds like you already found more of these rooms, Sir.

Jaran: Ok, so it wasn't just me. That's all I needed to know. Telepathy, then.

Silveira: Or something like that…

Vitor looked suspiciously around.

Imril did too, and noticed that the communicators weren’t the only things that were suddenly active.

Imril: Commander! The consoles! They’ve lit up!

Numerous symbols were now glowing, awaiting to be interpreted. Most of them yellow. Some of them blue. The one closest to the engineer had a viewscreen of some sort, but it had not activated. Mechanical failure due to being neglected of maintenance?

Munro: Wait! :: hushed them all :: Can you hear that?

Imril assumed she meant the wailing of the oncoming dark things from outside. A sort of scream which they reasoned to be a deliberate act of intimidation. An auditory version of the leaf-rustling which accompanied the ground chase.  Too close to human or humanoid to be accidental. Another calculated act. But that noise was muted by the thick metal walls. 

There was, however, a faint static noise. Punctuated by stops and start that might have been… words?

Breys: Does that mean there are more survivors?

Vitor nodded but kept quiet.

One of the console buttons seemed to react to the static, its yellow glow rising and fading alongside it. Imril started poking around on the console experimentally. Educated guesses about the symbols’ meanings based on the cumulative discoveries.

Imril: Let me try something.

It took a bit to tie their understanding of computing to this particular console, and symbols which had to be interpreted on the fly. In the end, the blinking symbol assumed a steady glow, going from yellow to blue. The static grew louder, and then focused into something recognizable and more than welcome. A voice.

Then Munro dashed across the room, hopping onto one of the open consoles.

Munro: Jovenan! Is that you?!

Vitor’s eyes widened when Munro mentioned Nan.

Jovenan: =/\= Yes! Yes, Commander, I am! It’s so good to see you! Can you hear me? =/\=

Munro: :: elated :: We can hear you?! I think we're in some kind of …

Vitor smiled and kept smiling. 

Imril didn't dare pipe in to ask the Chief Science Officer who was with her. They couldn’t bear to hear who wasn’t.

Jovenan: =/\= We can see you. The room you’re in is quite similar to the one we have here. ::pause, looks to the console:: We also have several symbols on the screen. We’ve figured the triangles reference to your health status, but there are also some prominent semicircles. No idea what they mean. =/\=

The Commander looked to the small semi circular compartments on the walls. They resembled stasis chambers. Imril rather hoped they were part of a system meant to funnel air into the chamber. They could not see any vents.

Munro: I think I know what they mean… if I'm right this is some kind of crude transportation network.

That seemed like quite the leap of logic. Imril quickly found themself agreeing with Jovenan’s next words.

Jovenan: =/\= You might be right, Commander. But we can’t take the risk using it on people, the probability of incomplete or corrupted transportation is too great. We could try it out with objects, first… is everything alright in there? =/\=

Munro turned to the others.

Munro: There's no guarantee this will work. We get into one of those we might not step back out again :: turned back to the communication console :: Commander, we're ready. Do what you need to do.

The truth of it was that the group might have been safe from the dark things in this room, they would soon enough be menaced by a lack of breathable air. And the window to flood and reclaim the dock for sure had likely already passed. There was no way out but through.

Vitor nodded and stepped closer. He joined Munro and the others in opening up and getting inside the compartments. 

The last thing Imril did before stepping up to the ‘pad’ was move to the middle lever and shove it into the upright position. A now-familiar rumbling started in the floor under their feet. The water was on its way back. The damp and mossy mound of earth would soon be a flooded dock again. The dark things would either flee back to the jungle surface, drown, or be trapped dockside and doomed to starvation in a place they were never meant to access. Just in case the team had to come back this way.

Then Imril took their place as the last of the crewfolk to get into a compartment. There were handles to hold onto. And, once the process started, pain. Pain enough that Imril’s fingers curled tightly around those handles. Tightly enough that their throbbing could be counted as one of the only real things to cling to once the visions started.

Callisian: Beware the network … it transforms…

There were many, many reasons to be concerned about such a warning. Terrified, even. The most troubling of them being… How was the message delivered in words which Imril could understand?

END ACT II FOR IMRIL

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Lieutenant JG Imril

Engineering Officer

USS Artemis-A

A240110I12