Manifest Fantasy

Chapter 15: Primal

Author's Note:

How would you feel about me changing Dr. Anderson to sound British? I'm considering this change to give his character a bit more life and personality. Backstory draft - Dr. Victor Anderson is American-born, but has a British mother. After his time in the military, he pursued a career in archaeology, which had him work with the British Museum and a lot of Brits, resulting in a hybridized accent.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Author's Note 2:

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GB-2, Grenden Forest
November 29, 2024

The chamber lit up with a blast of white light – quick, like a flashbang, but silent. Even through his envirosuit's filters, it was like getting flashed in the face with a high beam. He squinted hard, a bit annoyed. Must be the decontamination thing doing its job, he figured.

After the glare dialed down, Henry blinked away the spots in his vision. The wall melted open and he stepped into the dim corridor, his boots ringing on the metal. The way the door formed suggested nanotech, which would explain why the facility was so well-maintained and sturdy.

The section here was as quiet as the main hallway behind them, aside from some old machine's soft hum somewhere out of sight. The air was still, almost oppressively so, as if something were lurking just out of sight. Well, as long as there weren't any grotesque pustules and twisted biomass, he supposed they'd be fine.

Henry turned back to the small window within the chamber and gave a thumbs up. His team followed, each moving through the light.

"Well, ain't that a kick in the pants," Ryan muttered as he emerged from the chamber, his voice slightly distorted by his suit's comm system. "Reckon these Gatebuilders coulda used a dimmer light."

"Yeah, well, personally I'd take the lightshow over the risk of something crawling up my ass," Isaac remarked.

Ryan gave a nod. "Touché."

Ron stepped through, followed by Sera, Kelmithus, and Dr. Anderson. The two scholars were the most enamored by the sight, seemingly oblivious to the unsettling atmosphere. Hell, they were probably even excited by it.

The corridor led into a hallway with two 'windowed' rooms on either side. Henry had seen enough of such setups to recognize them as laboratories, even if he couldn't identify a single piece of equipment.

Dr. Anderson walked up to one of the windows, face plastered on the invisible field that separated the room from the hallway. "The technology here is incredible. To have remained undisturbed and operational for so long..."

"No signs of Baranthurian interference either," Henry added, noting the fact that the various rooms hadn't been stripped bare. "They must not have breached this section."

Kelmithus summoned a few small orbs of light to illuminate their path. "Indeed. The Baranthurians either lacked the means or chose not to pursue this area."

They pushed deeper until they reached another doorway. The wall here seemed... dead. It gave off the same impression as seeing a pale body, even if the analogy was stretching it for the nanotech walls before him. Henry touched the wall. As expected, it lacked the same malleable feel as the other parts of the Gatebuilder site.