[Author's note: I know that this might ruin the immersion but I just want to give a fair warning: viewer discretion is advised, this is going to get a biiiit dark.]
Laboratories. Is that what they're hiding? This doesn't look like a military installation at all- did the Asphodelians call this an outpost to hide the fact that they're doing research here? Eve shook her thoughts aside and continued down the hallway along with her fireteam.
Remarkably, for something supposedly so secret, there were no MTF visible defending the outpost. They trudged past a section of collapsed ceiling, clambering over the wreckage and snow.
They continued down the hallway, which seemed to stretch forever, with the occasional bend. In addition to a lack of personnel, there seemed to be an absence of any rooms. Just a single hallway, painted clinic white, LEDs flickering, signs pointing on to Laboratory #1, with bits of paint flaking away from wear and time.
The longer Eve continued down the hallway the more she questioned everything. The hallway seemed longer than ever, and she couldn't see any foreseeable entrance or door leading to Laboratory #1.
I wonder if it's the same for MOB 7's team… Regardless, they pressed on.
And on.
And on.
Eventually a gentle hum settled in their bodies, a warm, soft note that resonated to their hearts. It unnoticeably grew louder and louder as they continued through the hallway, before growing to a booming sensation. Eve could see no source to the sound.
Eve had no experience with anything of the such before, but she had to make a decision. It was bearable, and she couldn't see any effects on them as of the moment- although she couldn't help but wonder if it was an Asphodelian weapon of some sort. She decided that they had to continue.
She called it in first- "Bravo, Command. We have entered the outpost. The inside appears to be a clinic or hospital- they also have laboratories set up here. We might have an idea of what they're hiding- might be an experiment of some sort. We have also encountered a vibration of some sort. Are there any earthquakes nearby, or any precedent?"
Something that Eve, even with her abnormal hyperawareness failed to realize at the time was that the hum was only felt by her and her team. The outpost stayed completely still, and not a single flake of snow had budged from the thick layers that padded the structure.
"..."
Eve heard no response- if there was one, it was swallowed by the rising cacophony, which grew in intensity, building to a harrowing roar that rose above all else. It lodged itself deep and raw in Eve's chest like a first heartbreak. The surrounding walls amplified the noise, yet somehow felt lonely, abandoned.
Eve had to yell to hear herself over the noise. "Bravo, command. Bravo, command- please come in."
Nothing.
Fuck.
Eve switched channels, trying Squad One. Her fingers dug into the sides of her helmet as she fought to shout through the wall of sound. "Squad One, Bravo team lead, come in-"
Silence.
Only the hum, crawling louder.
Fuckkkkkkk.
Eve raised a fist, halting her squad. "We're on our own now- wait, where's Vian?"
- - -
[Vian]
Vian followed close behind Tech Corporal Seo, and felt the comforting presence of her Sergeant at her back. Truth is, she still bore some resentment towards the Seaward PMCs, mainly Isa, but Vian knew she had to deal with it for the duration of the mission.
Speaking of which, how long is this hallway? And this hum… Why hasn't Sergeant Glen said anything about it yet? Is it just the pressure getting to me?
The pressure only builded, the singular, powerful lyrical tone pressing in on her head on all sides until it felt like it would burst. The sides of her vision became blurry until all she could see were the walls.
Vian turned her head to ask Eve. "Sergeant? I-"
She paused mid turn, squinting where Eve had been.
There was no one there. Either that, or her vision was getting so bad that she couldn't see a foot in front of her. She could hear no response either, though it could've just been drowned out by the noise. However, for some reason, the hallway remained clearly in her vision. The sound pressed louder and louder.
They seemed to fold in on themselves around her, isolating her, painting her as a single dot in a massive, mottled canvas of white, the wrapping origami of the hallway boxing her in from every path.
"Hello?" Her voice was tiny, drowned out by the hum.
Soon, new ardent voices joined the first, singing harmonics that Vian couldn't recognize- not that she didn't know them, but harmonies that seemed impossible. Beautiful. Ancient. Each note in the harmony pressed into Vian's head, crushed her heart.
Even the cushioned layers of her helmet seemed to crush her skull.
Time stretched, ticking by heavily, each second feeling as if it were weighted.
The walls now seemed to glow prismatically, the once clinic-white walls glowing and shifting in all colours of the spectrum.
Then, Vian's vision fizzled and went black. Losing her strength, she fell to her knees. With whatever strength she had left, she desperately gripped her rifle.
Her heart threatened to burst, banging against her ribcage like a wild animal.
At that moment, something possessed Vian to abandon all common sense. In the dark, she dropped her rifle and fumbled for the catch on her helmet. She flicked the catch and tugged it off, ignoring the years of training she had gone through in the moment. Her short, dark brown hair was plastered against her forehead with sweat.
In doing so, she realized that it was simply her visor that had been offline- with the helmet off, she looked about her, grounded weightlessly on her knees. The beautiful, kaleidoscopic colours shimmered around her.
The hum that had settled in her bones was momentarily forgotten as she admired the colours.
Is this what I've been missing out on this entire time?
Then tears slid down Vian's sweaty visage. Not happy ones of admiration, however. Even if the colours were beautiful, they weren't on that level- not nearly, at least.
They felt… forced, somehow. Vian reached up to wipe them away. Her glove came away red. Vian's heart sank with a slow realization as the steady drops of blood splattered on her knees. She was crying tears of blood.
Then, she felt a trickle of blood run from her nose, adding to the cascade of the sharp, tangy iron flowing from her body.
That sensation of blood dripping out of her body snapped Vian back to reality. She pinched the bridge of her nose with one hand and reached for her helmet with the other, looking about her, trying to find any trace of her team.
Then the choir of archaic voices returned, pressing against Vian from all sides. Her vision slipped to black- for real this time- before returning to a blurred state.
Mixed in the harmony of lyrical voices was something new- someone was speaking to her.
"Vi! Come over here, Vi! I'm over here!"
Vian looked around, her heart pounding. She recognized that voice, and only one person had ever called her Vi. Her younger brother. The thing was, he died during the initial invasion of the Halcyon foundation. That was what had led to her joining the armed forces in the first place.
Am I just hearing things? What is even going on… is this what the Asphodelians were hiding?
Then he appeared. Young, vibrant, peaceful. Amongst the floating colours, Vian felt as if she wasn't even in the war. That she wasn't a TRACE operator on a mission. Her younger brother walked towards her, bending out of a fragment of colour covering the walls. His hair was unkempt, but ruffled in a way Vian had come to know and love. His smile was the same, the goofy grin that was constantly plastered on his face. The only difference was that he looked a couple years younger.
He extended his arms towards Vian, reaching for a hug. "Vi, you've grown so much, I-"
Vian abruptly cut him off. "The Asphodelians killed you. How are you still alive?" His smile slipped, and Vian felt a pang in her already bruised heart.
"But see, Vi, I'm not dead, am I? I'm still here, living." He reached out and stroked his elder sister's cheek. Vian felt that his hand was warm and jerked back.
She gripped her glock tightly and thrust it towards her own brother's chest, blood now streaming uncontrollably down her face.
"Is this some trick?" She demanded. "I know that you're dead. I saw your body," Vian choked. "Do you have any proof that you're actually my brother?"
Her younger brother- or whatever it was that was pretending to be him, added his voice to the pounding of the archaic choir, roaring through Vian, shaking her to the bone.
"Why, yes, Vi. You can see." He gestured with his hand, and against her will memories of their childhood together flooded her mind- playing together in the school playground, walking home after school and studying under the warm afternoon sunlight, going on late into the night before falling asleep, nodding off in the warmth of their kotatsu.
Vian's trigger finger shook. "How are you doing this?"
He smiled, inscrutable. "Don't worry about it. You can join me too." He reached out, gently holding Vian's face, wiping the tears of blood from her face.
Then in one single, swift, smooth motion, he snatched the glock from Vian's hand and placed it square under Vian's chin.
Vian could barely react. The fuck? WAIT-
She tried to move to grab her handgun out of the hands of the monster of her brother, but she couldn't move. Her arms dropped to her sides against her will. The cold barrel of the glock remained planted under her chin.
"Don't worry, Vi," He smiled. "You'll be with me soon." Her brother reached out and patted her head. "Just close your eyes, and it'll all be over soon. You'll be with me and mom and dad! All happy, together."
A real tear trickled down from Vian's face. Fuck. I'm so sorry, sergeant. I hope you all make it out alive.
BANG.
A fine spray of iron-red mist painted a red lily that bloomed on the ceiling above her.
- - -
[Eve]
"Wasn't she just here a moment ago? Did anyone see Vian go?" Everyone in her team shook their heads.
Shit. Did she go back? No, if she did then both me and Taeyeon would've seen her as well as the Seaward team. Did she rush ahead, then? Either way, we need to find her.
Eve tried to call over comms, but as before, the communication channel was down.
I can't spare anyone at the moment. If I send Seo and Taeyeon back, then I'll be left with the SW PMCs, and I'm still not sure if I can completely trust them. If I send back some of the Seaward team to look for Vian, she'd probably assume the worst and shoot.
Despite how she hated it, Eve had no choice but to press forwards. Eve confirmed this with her team, then turned towards the Seaward team members, the hum pressing deeper into her body.
As new voices joined the hum in an archaic choir, Eve's heart sank as she stared down the empty hallway. All the SW PMCs were gone, either because they had abandoned duty and deserted, or because they had been taken away. Somehow, even though the first was more feasible, Eve thought it was the latter.
Eve turned back towards her team.. Her team was gone as well.
Fuck.
Now it was just her. The voices in the lyrical choir grew to a staggering intensity. Thinking quickly, Eve dropped prone, turned on her laser and circled a point in the hallway a good distance away from her. As much as they needed this information, something was clearly wrong. She had to get out of here, and the easiest and fastest way out would be to climb out of a hole blown by an UAV.
She circled her laser for several tantalizing seconds. No rocket or missile came, and no explosion followed. At this point, Eve fully realized that she was on her own. No outside contact. No idea of what was going on, only that her team had disappeared on her.
Then, a voice spoke. It wasn't an auditory sensation of simple speech however; it was powerful, a command, and it bore fruit in Eve's mind, not her ears.
COME.
Eve snapped to her feet, scanning both sides of the hallway, her rifle at her shoulder. There was no one. What there was, however, was a door that had appeared at the end of the hallway. It was a solid black door that looked ironclad.
Words shone in the LED display above it.
[Laboratory #1]