Episode Thirty: Base Instinct

Castor wakes up her two friends, none too gently as fear courses through her. “Guys! Wake-wake up!” They each groan and rub the bits that made impact with the shield.

Ivetta questions, “Where are we?” Castor explains what happened and all she saw before pulling them into this cave. The invisible shield remains around them, some water pooling in the base, separate from that outside it.

It is pitch dark in the cave but off in the distance, every so often, a small red light blinks. In their souls Ivetta and Castor feel the tree off in the distance, a dark foreboding thing that drags them down.

“We still have the waypoint, maybe we should leave…” Ivetta says.

“We made it to the bottom of the ocean. All we need do is push a little farther.” Tobias says.  Castor lights a light, “We can’t give up yet.”

The light illuminates only slightly, cave walls that are sheer and smooth but not shiny. She touches it, it feels like metal but none she knows of.

“This tunnel might lead to our destination.” Tobias says.

“What happens when we get there?”

“What needs to be done.”

“I think it might be time to use the waypoint.” Ivetta insists.

Uncharacteristically, Castor bursts, “No! We’re not leaving. We are so close, and these people need our help. I’m not abandoning them!” She takes a moment to breathe. “I’m-I’m sorry. I didn't mean to outburst like that but I’m really scared but I don’t want to quit. Not until we’ve truly tried.” Ivetta simply nods. Castor lifts Ms. Barber onto her shoulder and moves forward toward the light.

The bubble seems to follow her so she looks back to make sure her friends are still in it.

They approach a white wall, its material dented inward and find the blinking red light beside that and under glass. A lever also pokes from the wall. A sign near it says something but they can’t read it.

“Do you know what it says?” Castor asks Tobias.

“No.” With final authority he reaches out and pulls the lever. Alarmed, Ivetta and Castor wait for something to go wrong but the water is drained out of the room in which they stand. A sheet of metal comes down revealing another hallway.

Inside it is black but they see no spores. They sense something is off- strange but nothing they can see confirms this feeling. They walk cautiously forward and come to a T intersection. In front of them is an opening to a stairwell going both up and down. Long hallways stretch left and right. Panes of glass are inlaid into the wall in front of them but both are stained and they can't see what lies behind. Ivetta steps forward to try looking through the windows closer. Suddenly, the glass lights up a light blue color with many symbols that glow on its surface. Taken aback she stumbles away. The light goes out. Cautious, she steps toward it again, it lights once more. “Look at this!”

Tobias studies the symbols that appear. Most he does not recognize but some he can interpret as some form of heraldry a house symbol. In wonder, Castor touches the glowing glass. The symbols change, she startles back. But she recognizes the English flag and tentatively touches it. The language changes to one they recognize, English. The glass is filled with words they can read but do not understand in the slightest. They just don’t make any sense to them. The few that do are: Door, open, and close.

Tobias leaves them to explore the glass and checks the staircase. He spies an obstruction at the very top. Ivetta touches “open.” The giant metal wall beside them creaks and groans, raising about a foot and a half open. Castor peeks under, what they now recognize as a door, and finds only black inside, no floor and three walls. Kind of like the elevator on the Titanic but without the box and cage.

After a few moments of debate they decide to head down the left-hand hallway. After walking for about 10 minutes they see a sign bearing symbols. A man facing an archway and an arrow pointing back the way they came. They continue forward and reach a room with a massive door on the far wall. Around the room big metal things sit in segregated areas. Tiny boxes line the floors making up these area. Each of these larger boxes have wheels beneath them.

Tobias investigates the metal boxes while Castor and Ivetta go to another glass window thing. This one is broken, however, it glows faintly but spiderweb cracks break the symbols into sections. Glass is strewn on the floor. Seeing the break, Castor backs up. Ivetta searches for more signs of disarray, but the unfamiliar environment does not lend itself to an easy read. Castor finds herself an ax in a red box on the wall.

Something about this place unnerves them all. The many boxes on the ground have very thick glass and Tobias surmises they might be some kind of light. He looks closer at the open door on one of the wheeled things. He looks inside the box and finds that someone has taken hide and stretched it over a chair in this thing. It faces three windows. Smears of blood coat the interior, very dry, crusty, and old. “There's old blood here you two!” Tobias calls to the others. Ivetta and Castor rush over and look around.

He finds a small black box on the seat and picks it up. The front glows, showing “tuesday” and several numbers, behind the text a painting of a woman smiles. A very good painting. A smaller box says there are 56 messages on there. Confused as to how many letters could fit in such a tiny box he fiddles around with it. In so doing, he accidentally swipes and does something on the box. Several small boxes appear, one with a red circle with 56 comes up. Seeing that swiping up did something he continues to do so but it ends with him more confused so he puts the box back on the seat.

Ivetta finds, with Castor’s small light, a blood trail from the big door leading into the hallway. Tobias  investigates with her until he perks up, hearing something down the hallway. A squishing, wet step. He whisper-shouts, “There's something coming down the hallway!”

Cocking her head but hearing nothing, Castor asks, “How close?”

“Turn your light off.” Ivetta whispers. Tobias, Ivetta move behind the metal box Tobias was inspecting. Castor raises her light and stands trying to see down the hall.

Ivetta motions to her to come behind the box with them. She hears whatever it is moving much faster toward her now. Castor joins them swiftly and cuts the light plunging them into darkness.

From the direction of the hall they hear something wheeze and then it goes silent.

Tobias picks up the box from the seat and throws it into the corner. The creature screams and scrabbles after it. The glass glows revealing the thing’s horrifying silhouette.

If it stood at full height this thing would be well over seven feet but it is hunched as it scratches and scrabbles at the screen. It shatters, darkness settles once more but the sounds of it attacking continue.

The trio take the opportunity to sneak past it back into the hall. And with stellar stealth, holding hands and following the wall they make it back down the corridor. 15 minutes away, Castor chances a tiny orb of light and they whisper to each other.

“What on earth was that?”

“There might be more of them.”

“I wouldn't doubt it…”

“We need weapons.”

“I’ve got this,” Castor says, hefting her ax.

They continue past the stairwell and go down the right hallway once more picking up the blood trail. After a minute they reach a locked door on their left. It's a huge metal compartment door with a latch. Numbers in a box rest above the door handle. Deep scratches gouge the metal, close together about the size of a human hand. A large pool of dried blood sits on the other side of the hallway, long past dried.

Tobias says, “Whoever was bleeding they didn't make it this far but there's no bones or body.” Continuing on down the hall they reach a bend. They turn left and find a door with a big hole punched out, claw marks cover the door. Oddly the metal is bent toward the hall as if something came in. looking through the hole all is black but above the door is a small window, ambient light filtering out.

Castor puts Ms. Barber down gently before she boosts Ivetta up to see out the window. She sees yet another door. This one silver white. The metal of this one is also bulging toward them but as if it were constantly holding back huge pressure. Above that door too is a small window but it is covered with black tendrils. They surround the door, wiggling and sliming over each other. Small cracks open with their movement allowing Ivetta glimpses of the water outside. She describes what she sees to the others.

“Sounds like one of the pressure doors the Titanic had.”

“Whatever it is, we can't go that way.”

They go back down the hall toward the stairs. Passing the locked door, Castor suggests she could force it open. Tobias thinks this unwise, citing the creature’s presence in the far room. They instead make it to the stairs and head upward.

Tiny patches of goo, easily avoidable and not plentiful dot the stairs. Their tiny tendrils reach for them as they pass then snap in the direction of the nearest person to continue.

Metal doors line each landing, all are locked. They reach Level 1 then 2. By the time they reach 7 they are stopped by the huge stack of metal stuff blocking the way. They can’t move or see through the barricade. They return to the level in which they came in– level B. They follow the steps downward. Descending five levels down they find it marked Level -1. They spot one level down, a circle of black goo pooled. Finally they find an unlocked door and a screen to open it. They press open and the hinged door swings inward. As they step inside bright lights flick on, momentarily blinding them all. From several levels above comes the screech they heard before. Searching frantically, they find another screen and press close door. They hear the clunk of the elevator closing as well.

Tiny lights that Tobias identified earlier begin to glow red on the floor. The cavernous room is filled with weird wheeled contraptions with giant spherical glass things. But more strangely, in the center of the room lies a massive gray tube decaying. The larger end is cut off by the gigantic metal door. The size tapers down and at the other end rests a clearly outlined body caked in blalck goo. It smells absolutely awful, even Castor can smell it. There are also racks and tables filled with hand held things with triggers but they don’t look anything like the guns they’ve seen before. In the corner standing completely still are people dressed in white, yellow, red, and blue outfits. They don’t move when Tobias approaches them so he assumes they’re some kind of armor.

A bang on the door startles them all. They look toward it but find no indents. In fact that isn’t the door being hit.

Tobias uses his lighter to spark the goo covering the body. It spreads slowly but eventually reveals the poor man. Half his face is bone, the other half, perfectly preserved skin and muscle. His mouth is ringed with blackness. A tube protrudes from his mouth to the tentacle which, by this time, has also caught. Black goo is in him. They all hold in their stomachs as they turn.

Tobias examines the weapons(?) Yet there's nowhere to put a musket ball. He holds it like a gun, points it at the body, and pulls the trigger. A concentrated beam of fire blows out the barrel. The flame is quite small but it's enough to startle him enough he points it down at the floor. The flame slices into the metal floor leaving a trail of melted, burned metal.

"If these things dont like fire…it's a weapon." Tobias pulls the body from the dregs of black goo. From his mouth slides the long tube of black. It seems to extend forever but at last comes a fleshy mass of black and blood.

On his chest a small card reads ‘Lieutenant Minamoko.’ He wears no hat and carries no normal gun, but his belt is lined with various tools, one they recognize as a hammer. Also on his belt another black light box. In his hand he clutches a fire gun like Tobias'.

Castor tentatively picks up and tries a different gun. It beeps and the glass display lights up, odd words she doesn't understand appearing. She puts it back down.

Tobias takes the box off his belt and tries the swiping again. It works about as well as last time. This box claims there are

463 unread messages on it. More boxes appear on the glass. Castor recognizes one of the symbols as a letter. She pokes it hopefully. Many words and horizontal lines appear but again, the words mean little. Those they recognize repeat: "please…to…your…safety…"

Tobias hands it to Ivetta, and moves toward the armor. He searches them for items as well as damage. In his rifling, one of their helmets falls off. Confirming they are not people. He finds a small metal thing in the pocket. As well as a backpack of four cylinders metal.

Castor tries another gun. This one is heavy. Using two hands she aims and shoots it at the huge door. The force of its firing pushes her back. A long wire shoots from the gun out and clamps onto the door. The gun whirs and pulls the slack rope taught. Clear goo oozes out and onto the cable. "Castor, what is that?" Ivetta comes to investigate.

"I don't know but it shot this long thing. Not sure how to get it back though…"

Tobias has collected tools, hammers and a buzzy tool that whirs. He comes over and examines the gun. He finds a button on the side and the cord drops off. The sticky end hits the floor and the rope pulls itself taught again.

Ivetta puts on the fallen helmet. In her ear, she hears a voice, startling her. Cycling through various languages.

She calls her friends over, “There’s a voice! A woman she’s saying something but I don’t understand.

Finally the voice speaks in a language she understands. *Good afternoon, my name is M.O.I. How can I help you today?* Ivetta tells them what she said.

Castor cries, “It's God!” She detects magic on the area, finding nothing magical save the tree and the creature banging on the elevator door. “It’s not magic, what else could it be!?”

Ivetta looks around cautiously and asks the disembodied, mysterious voice, “where are we?”

*I am confused by this question.*

She rephrases, “What is this place?” Ivetta relays her responses to the others, and their questions to her.

*You are inside the L.P.R.O.C.A.R.B. mobile vehicle and repair area.*

“What does L.P.R.O.C.A.R.B. mean?”

*Lower People's Republic of China Aquatic Research Base.*

Ivetta asks the others, “What’s China?”

*I'm sorry, but I am not equipped to answer that question.* She replies.

Castor tells her, “It's where Lee is from.” She then asks, “Are you God?”

*I'm sorry, but I am not equipped to answer that question.*

“W-what’s your name?”

*I am M.O.I. or Moi. The Mobile Outside Interface.*

Ivetta asks, “What are you studying here?”

*A multitude of aquatic sciences, earth sciences, and other areas which are classified.*

“What is science?”

*I am not qualified to answer that question.*

“What happened here?”

*I don’t understand your question. Can you be more specific?*

“Where are all the people that were here?”

*I do not have specific information on where individuals are in or outside of the base. Only information on systems in the suit.*

Tobias asks “are there any weapons nearby?”

*Weapons are kept on site in the event of sabotage, mutiny, traitorous intent, or criminal activity. Weapons are only to be discharged in these circumstances, and are done so by the commanding officer.*

“Who is the commanding officer?”

*The most recent commanding officer, as of my last maintenance session on February 19th, 2089, was Science Director Lao Tzu. I do not know if he is the current commanding officer.*

“What is the current year?” Castor pipes up.

*The current date is September 7, 2097.* They give each other looks

“What do you know of the Titanic?” Tobias questions.

*I'm sorry, but I am not equipped to answer that question.*

“Can we equip you?”

*I cannot work outside the suit's functionality.*

“What does the suit do?”

*It serves to operate, repair, or maintain repair or otherwise maintain the station.*

Castor asks, “How long has this been operating?”

*That information is classified.*

“What does that mean?”

*I cannot give you that information.*

Tobias questions, “Who is lt. Minamoko?”

*Lieutenant Minamoko is the chief officer assigned to the mobile vehicle and repair area.*

“Does he have a suit?”

*Lt. Minimoko does not currently have an accessible M.O.I.*

“How many served on the base?”

*Around 3000 personnel are assigned. Although this information may not be correct.*

“We've seen only one person and they don't seem to be assigned to the station.”

*If you have seen an intruder, please immediately contact security and notify your superior officer.*

Castor inquires, “You know things about this place, can I show you a thing and you tell me what it is?”

*I have an onboard computer that can read limited information on the nearby functionality of various systems. Mostly those that help maintain the functionality of the L.P.R.O.C.A.R.B.*

“Can you tell me what this box thing is?” She points at the glowing box in Ivetta’s hand.

*Please describe: ‘box thing*.’

“Can…can you see it? Do you have eyes?”

*Please hold the object up to the visior.*

“What is that?”

*The visor is the glass found at the front of this device.* Castor gently takes the box from Ivetta and slaps the box onto the glass in front of her face.”

*Scanning…Scanning…This is a personal cellular device.*

“What is that? What does it do?”

*I'm sorry, but I am not equipped to answer that question*. They sigh collectively.

“Are there more of you?” Tobias asks.

*As many as needed to furnish the LRP.*

“Are other MOI equipped to answer our questions?”

*As of the last maintenance session, there are 6 MOI in the vehicle maintenance area.*

Castor grows concerned suddenly, “Do you need help? How can I help you or get you out of there?”

“Will you be safe if we leave you here?” Tobias adds.

*I appreciate your concern, but I am a computer.*

“What is that?”

*I'm sorry, but I am not equipped to answer that question*.

“Are you human?”

*I am not human.*

“Are you alive?”

*I am not alive.* This line of questions leave them more confused.

“Are there MOI outside this area?”

*Currently, I scan 4 others but there might be some outside my range*.

“What is your range of scan?”

*My scanning range is limited by what can be seen from your visor, what can be scanned by your scanning tool, and a limited range of 10 meters surrounding this suit.*

“What is a scanning tool?”

*A scanning tool is a helpful device that can be used to scan various systems around the L.P.R.O.C.A.R.B. The tool can diagnose problems and propose solutions to the on site technician.* Castor asks her to describe it and she describes the gun she picked up earlier that beeped. She takes one up again and points it at the mold on the ground.

*Scanning…Scanning… biological element detected. I am unequipped to diagnose.*

She sees it did no harm to the mold or the metal ground and aims it at Ms. Barber. “Can you tell me what’s wrong with my friend?”

*I'm sorry, I am not equipped to diagnose medical ailments.*

“Is there someone like you here who can?”

*There should be an on site medical professional. I do not know who currently holds this position. You could also speak to M.I.A. for more general questions on health.*

"Is she like you?”

*M.I.A. or Mia is the Mobile Interface Assistant, which assists the personnel of the L.P.R.O.C.A.R.B. who do not have access to the internet.*

“Internet?”

*I'm sorry, but I am not equipped to answer that question*.

“Where can we find M.I.A?”

*Any terminal.*

“A what?”

*I'm sorry, but I am not equipped to answer that question*.

“Do you have a map that would show locations?”

*Please enter your name and password. Or insert your identification card.*

“Can you describe what that is?”

*Your keycard is a small metal plate inscribed with personal information.* Tobias pulls out the metal keycard he found in one of the suits.

*Welcome back Lieutenant Minimoko. Please enter your password.*

“What if we forgot it?” Castor asks.

*Please report your problem to your superior officer.*

“Can you provide any map without a password?” Ivetta asks.

M.O.I. projects a map of the outside the base. The base itself is blank but the surrounding area is labeled including a big dome in the area that now houses the magical tentacle tree. There is a tunnel leading to the dome from inside the base. It looks like its access is a level below them.

“What happens in the area with the dome?”

*Studies are conducted there on the underwater thermal vents that power this station.*

“What’s a thermal vent?”

*I'm sorry, but I am not equipped to answer that question*.

From the map they see the dome has a tunnel leading to it. "Is the dome filled with air? Like here?" Castor asks.

*Yes, all surfaces have been fitted to be watertight.*

"Where is this base stationed? Where in the world are we?"

*Classified.*

"Is there some kind of log book detailing day to day life here?"

*I do not have access. My primary function deals with outside the facility.*

"Guys we need to get there. The bubble seems to follow me so I think it would be a good idea to all wear a suit. Just in case we're separated."

"Good idea." Ivetta says. Each dons a suit, hearing their own Moi greet them. Their voices are gargly and noisy but they can hear one another through the helmets. And each equip their belts with the tools they know. Together they manage to dress Ms. Barber in one as well. They think it might be best to leave her here.

Castor asks Moi if she has any sort of paper or way to write a message. She responds saying she can record one. Imaging moi with a pen and paper, Castor speaks a message for Ms. Barber as they don't want to take her outside to the tree. She assures her they'll be back for her and not to worry. Moi repeats the message back in Castor's own voice, startling her momentarily before okaying what she said.

Castor tries to locate the creature again with magic detection but finds no sign save the entire stairwell caked in magic. She relays to the others that the goo has spread all over the stairwell outside the door in the hour they've spent here. She grabs a jar from a table.

Armed with the blow torch, they plan to open the door and try blasting the goo away. Tobias approaches ready to fire. Castor stands close behind him prepared to use magic and armed with a jar. Ivetta stands at the glass and presses open.

Black goo comes oozing in immediately, leaking toward them. Tobias lights the encroaching sludge it burns only slightly. Now the door is fully open, the goo moves upward. It bulges and grows taller. It sprouts limbs, turning into the creature from before. Tobias aims the torch gun and flames its arm. It screeches, loud and echoing.

The goo’s hand drops to the floor. Castor jumps on it, catching it in the jar. It rattles around, something oddly solid sounding in the goo. Tobias continues the flame, it spreads out, setting the rest on fire. “Shut the door!” Castor cries. Ivetta slams the close button.

The door closes slowly. Tobias fires and Castor pushes with magic, keeping it back until it finally closes. “Good reflexes everyone.” Castor congratulates.

“When all you have is a gun everything looks like it needs to be shot.”

Castor looks closer at the hand goo. It wiggles and moves but  gets less violent the longer she holds it. “There’s something solid beneath goo…” Ivetta takes a look and asks to see it. She can’t determine much without opening the jar and there’s no way she’d do that.

Tobias adds, “at the very least there might be less of it. We don't know if the creature takes lasting damage but at least we did some damage.”

“I don’t think we can leave that way…” Castor says.

In the far corner there is another door without an outside exit and no discernible magic inside. They head there. The door opens up and more lights flick on. In this room is another box with a ship's propeller on the back and wheels on the bottom. “Hey Moi, what’s that?”

*This is an ATR, an Aquatic Team Rover. It will allow you to traverse the base far outside the normal range of your suits.*

“How do we use it? Is there a manual?”

*I can pilot the ATR to a degree. A licensed ATR operator will be needed to perform more advanced maneuvers.*

Tobias finds the door and opens it, getting in. Castor and Ivetta follow. Inside is cramped and filled with glowing glass. Seats with straps line the walls alongside many buttons, levers and switches. In their helmets Moi speaks, *Interfacing…Interfacing…Welcome to the ATR. Where would you like to go?*

“The tree.” Ivetta says.

*Please specify*: ‘the tree.’

“The dome.” Castor clarifies.

*There are 15 entrances to the dome. To which one would you like to travel?*

“Can we go around? See which one is clearest maybe?”

*Would you like to observe each entrance?*

“Yes.”

*Round trip: 20 minutes. I need authenticatication to exit the MVV.*

“What kind?”

*Please insert an ID card.* obias puts the ID into the glowing slot and each of them take their seats and tie the seat belts around their wastes. The vehicle jerks forward and rolls out of the room toward the massive door. Castor jumps out and brings Ms. Barber into the box and ties her seat belt around her.

*Welcome back Lieutenant Minimoko. What would you like to do today?*

Slightly irritated Tobias says, “We just told you. Can you just open the door?”

*Acknowledged.* The door opens and water starts rushing in. “Ah, Moi? Is there supposed to be water coming in?”

*I do not understand.*

She shrugs and guesses it is supposed to do that. They roll forward, the door closes behind them. Before them is a tunnel filled with water. Tons of small doors line the walls, all are sealed. At the far end, there's another airlock door. The door is broken, a huge hole punched in it. Likely from the tentacle. The edges are crusted with black goo but they do not move toward it. They stay stationary for 10 minutes. They hear small motors whirring and mechanical clunks. At long last, they move forward, leaving behind them a frame with wheels. The ship stops just before the far door.

*I need confirmation to open the outer airlock door.*

“Yes please.”

*It seems there is a problem.*

“Yes, the airlock door is damaged. Can you just go through?”

*Would you like me to scan for damage?*

“Yes.”

The tentacles wiggle more wildy and agitated as the flat beam of light touches them. The red glow reflects off the black goo turning it momentarily blood-like.

*There is a brech 10 meters by 13 meters. An unknown biological substance coats the breech.*

“Can you analyze the organism?”

*It does not match any known organism. Please contact your immediate superior.*

“Can you navigate the breach?”

*I can attempt. Confirm?*

“Yes.” The motor whirrs and they glide through the water between the torn metal. Nearly all the way through the gap the ship stops suddenly.

*I am unable to continue. There is debris in the path.*

“Can I get out and move it?”

*You can exit the ATR but I would have to land it on the seafloor for a safe exit.*

Now they can see the open sea, their jaws drop. Black goo cakes everything. Mounds and hills of the stuff cover the entire floor. Some rare patches house no black goo, they see steam rising. The sound of metal bending sounds from the back of the ship.

Tobias asks, “Moi, where is the wheel?” She shines a light on an odd stick. He reaches for it and pushes it forward slightly. They hear a snap as they zoom forward.

*Are you taking over manual control?*

“No, if you could get us to an entrance, I would be grateful.”

*To which entrance would you like to go?*

“Toward the closest entrance.”

*The nearest entrance is behind you.*

Tobias grits his teeth, “*On* the dome.”

*The nearest dome entrance is service entrance 4.*

“It's as good as any other.” They motor forward.

Getting closer to the dome they find it completely and utterly wrapped in tentacles. Huge mounds gathering on the edges. Movement below seems to follow them. They get as close as they can to the covered entrance 4 and hover above one of those vents without goo. They watch as the movement below disappears.

*Would you like me to scan?*

“Ye-” Castor starts but Tobias interrupts.

“No, the tentacles freaked out when we did that last time. Moi, what tools are onboard?”

She lists them. Replacements for what they have on their belts. Tools for welding and lifting, saws, lasers for precision cutting, and a special adhesive.

“Orient us to face the service entrance.”

Moi does so but reports, *An obstruction is in the way*.

“Can you eliminate the obstruction?”

*To determine, I need to scan.*

“Can you tell me where the fire gun is?” He describes further, well enough for her to guess what it is.

*You are searching for the welder?*

“Yeah, that.” She shows him the controls. He moves the ship toward the entrance and uses the welder to blast the goo.

The goo reacts, lashing out a violent tentacle. He cuts it away but it is replaced by more goo very swiftly. Both in their hearts and ears they hear an ungodly, larger than life, bone chilling deep groan. Tentacles shoot out and flail about. Those about to hit the ship, oddly, simply turn to dust.

Tobias keeps cutting and shooting the adhesive to keep edges together. The adhesive is white so it is easy to see if it cracks. Moi predicts: *Two minutes until breech*. She continues counting down.

Suddenly, the white ambient light from above goes out. Castor, Ivetta, and Tobias look up to see an absolutely massive, larger than the Titanic, tentacle looming right above them. The last few tendrils of goo snap and are glue back. They rocket forward and behind them the tentacle slams down, jarring and shaking the foundations. They pull up to the door, it is locked. Moi says, *Please provide valid credentials to enter.*

Tobias slams the ID card in the glowing slot. *Access denied.* *Please provide valid credentials to enter.* Tobias grunts in anger, “I’m cutting that door open.” He moves to a small hatch in the bottom of the craft and wrenches it open. Castor and Ivetta sit shocked for a moment.

“What?! No–” Before Tobias jumps out he looks at Castor and says, “Go though without me. Be ready to use that.” He points to the control stick. Without further adieu he jumps out and starts cutting the door.

Castor fires more adhesive but the goo cuts through, it only mildly slows the goo tendrils. But it buys enough time that Tobias is able to cut the door open. Castor pilots the ship down and Tobias hops back in.

“Full sail!” Moi refuses, repeating a violation of some law and says she’s reporting a violation. Instead Castor punches the ship forward, the tentacles close behind. They enter the dome.

Inside is pitch black. Moi continues saying this is a violation before she is cut off. Castor finds a lightswitch and flips it. Ahead of them tentacles loom but they remain motionless. In their grips rest something mildly familiar to Castor. A second later she recognizes what they are and pales. She stops the ship abruptly. Ivetta asks, “what’s wrong?”

“Those– those are–they’re very, very powerful grenades…”

In the arms, shining in the dim light are seven nuclear warheads.

She moves the stick forward, she imagines accidentally hitting the nuke and dying in a fiery explosion but she manages to pilot past them.

Moving past far more of them, they head to the tree. They go slowly and cautiously. Castor feels something pulling her toward the base of the tree. Almost in a trance, she subconsciously directs the ship downward. Ivetta snaps her out of it, “Castor there's black goo down there.”

“O-oh, right sorry. Got… distracted…” She corrects the course of the ship and they make it to the base of the tree. It is hollow and pitch dark inside. A huge circular opening gains them access. They catch a glimpse of something inside at the bottom of the tree, bobbing up and down tens of hundreds of them.

“Maybe we should fight that?”

“Our objective is to get rid of the cloud. If these grenades are so powerful they should eliminate the cloud and the tentacles. If we could find a way to set a timer on them...”

“I have no idea what any of this is. But we can look around I suppose.”

They realize the tentacles have not chased them inside the dome but they do see movement below but it's very slight.

“I have no vision to guide me so I think we should look for a control center.” Ivetta tries to see closer with her zoom spy glass charm but it fails compounded by the low light. Ivetta suggests she and Castor combine their magic to make a large-enough-to-illuminate-the-cavern light. She agrees and they cast the spell. They make a slightly larger one than normal at first but they feed more mana into it making it brilliantly bright. They push it out of the ship and light the cavern.

They edge to the rim of the tree trunk. Immediately they all, even Father Tobias feel sick, wrong, unwell, unholey. The light glows, the whole cavern is filled with tendrils. Coming up from the ground hundreds of thousands of little tendrils sort of like intestines pumping. Something seems to move through them. At the bottom, the base of tentacles are tens of thousands of dead bodies, pale and pasty, most certainly dead. Black goo cakes their faces. Each person has a tendril coming out of their mouth. Pumping something in or out they can't tell which. Both Castor and Ivetta cannot hold their stomachs this time and lose the contents of their stomachs.

Recovering, swiping her mouth clean, Ivetta tries to look closer. Using her zoom spell she looks at someone in the nest of the dead. A bulge goes upward pretty slowly. Ivetta follows it looking up. Tiny pinpricks of light glow at the top far up the tentacles which glow and disappear.

The light goes out faster than it normally would. But just as it dims, Castor spots something huge crawling on the interior of the tree. Castor reverses the ship out of the tree.

Ivetta exclaims, “the tentacles they’re pulling something out of them. I think it's magic. At the top it-it glowed.”

Castor takes a look, detecting magic. It is everywhere here, purple and yellow. She looks up to where Ivetta was describing. She’s blinded by the sheer intensity, she has to look away but she instinctively brings her arms up to shield her eyes. In the light she saw a color of magic she’s never seen before. “Ah! It's really bright! It must be some kind of magical energy the tree is sapping from them.”

“We should check it out.” Castor agrees as does Tobias.

They ascend outside the tree. It takes several minutes as they go slowly. They approach the dome’s slope. They hear the crackle of  their good friend Moi returning.

*Chhhhhhh. Interfacing…Interfacing…* Moi is jumbled and repeats the error. *Chhhh–Emergency. Insert. Eeee-eeee-e. Off-line.*

“I think she’s broken. It might be the dome…”

*Authorisation.* A different voice speaks. *Warheads*. Static clouds their ears but then a voice clear as day in a language they don't understand says something. The intonation sounds very distressed.

Tobias asks “Who are you? I don't understand. What language?”

*Tr-late-*

“Translate? Yes.” Castor says.

The message repeats again. A man sounding miffed bellows out in the background. A second voice talks over him. *First strike order is approved, order 318. Launch all I.C.B.M. at American and European targets immediately. I-a-spprove…?*

Castor cries, “No!”

*Chhhhhhh. P-payload-compromised.* *O-ff–Mini-moko…?*

Tobias speaks up, "Detonate payload in five minutes."

Castor looks at him, eyes wide and fearful, "What? No! What are you doing?? Five minutes?! We'll never get far enough away in time!"

Calm as ever, especially being ignorant of the damage of these weapons he says simply, "We can jump."

Ivetta adds, "the bombs will destroy the tree and hopefully the clould."

Not having time to argue, Castor jumps to the controls of the welding machine and begins cutting the dome. "What about Ms. Barber? I would have thought Father Tobias would object--" She's cut off as, from below, a great, hulking tentacle lashes onto the ship. They're yanked down toward the ocean floor, covered with goo. Tobias tries to pilot out of their grip.

They are tugged much faster downward than they ascended and are dragged into the tree trunk.

"Castor!" Ivetta cries, "Now!" Oddly, Castor ignores her, her face fearful as she stares almost in a trance out the windshield staring at the dark abyss. Emotions storm across her face molding from fear to confusion into calm. Then she schools herself and looks resolute, even determined. She grits her teeth as her brand burns.

Tobias is doing his best to drive them away but he's fighting far too many tendrils. The ship lurches and tips downward suddenly, vertical to the seabed. Ivetta screams. Castor silently thanks God for these seatbelts. The nose of their ship points straight down. Yet where there should be ground, black goo, something solid, instead there is a gaping, unholy pit of darkness. A black maw, jaws open wide to greet them. Ivetta's voice, shrill and absolutely terrified screams, "CASTOR!" Castor locks eyes with her, abject horror meeting faithfully fiery. "Just trust me." She breaks eye contact and throws out her hand, magically thrusting the control stick forward.

The ship launches forward into the black abyss. Castor sees the ship and their suits continue moving forward, but she and her friends float in the eerie silent water. And yet they breathe. Both her friends have blocked out, their appearances changed. Ivetta has no burn marks and wears a familiar, clean linen dress. Tobias is adorned in fresh, unmatched priest's robes and has his fingers back. Ms. Barber too floats in new attire. The lines of stress and weariness on her face now smooth.

The blackness pulses beneath them. A fire rages above. She looks up to see a huge explosion, a mushroom shape but it is frozen. Stopped in time. The black goo that surrounds them isn’t burning. Something inside tells her to touch it, she listens. The moment she does, it lights up. The fire lights like a fuse, following up tendrils and spreading rapidly turning the mass to ash. She follows the spread with her eyes and sees the tree light and turn to ash as well. The huge form falls but not at a normal speed, in some kind of slow motion. As she witnesses the burning, she hears screaming in her head. After several moments the screams fade leaving her a single word spoken in a demonic, guttural, base tone: Bay’hanahk.

As the ash falls something odd appears before her. Two doors. Like a dream, they feel wiggly and wrong. She feels behind the leftmost door the same energy as the waypoint, buzzing in her hand. Behind the other door lies something more sinister. Familiar yet evil. There could be something to gain but something terrible lies in wait.

Her hand hovers over the handle to the left door but she knows, there might be a chance…

Before she can change her own mind she opens the ominous door.

Tobias, Ivetta, and Castor stand in a small stone room. The walls are cracked, large scorch marks dot the walls. Strange and pungent odors permeate the room. A white mucusy substance lines the corners of the room. In the corner there is a bed with no pillow or sheets. A dresser, painted with haphazard black, red, purple, and orange lines. There also stands a vanity with a broken mirror caked in dried blood on the table of the vanity is a wooden stand holding a very familiar rusted mask. The mask of the sorceress. A bookshelf is the only thing untouched by markings of lunacy, holds several books of interest including: *A Study of Advanced Glyphcraft*, *Counter Hexes*, *Revenants and Their Makeup*, *Reanimation,* and one simply titled, *Castor*. Next to the shelf is a sack full of all their things. On the top of the shelf rests each of their past waypoints. In order. The room is layered with spells, any false move and who knows what might happen. The waypoint still buzzes wrapped around Castor's wrist.

The room is covered in writings, the walls, floor, and ceilings have seemingly unintelligible symbols and words everywhere. There are also scribbles, drawings, raving marks everywhere, all painted with a burgundy substance. In the center of the room is a strange symbol, the same symbol that now adorns Ivetta’s chest. In the center of the symbol is a black cloak, soaked in blood: Hollenzoller’s cloak.

Ivetta gasps, her hand flying to her mouth to stop herself screaming. She crumples next to the cloak. “That-that’s Hollinzoller’s– It’s–fresh blood.” She can’t bring herself to move. From behind the door they hear many people screaming.

Tobias pulls out his new gun and aims it at the door. “Castor. Why are we here?”

She stutters but knows there is no time to explain now. “I-I there–well…I’ll–I’ll tell you when we’re safe.” She tries to see what spells surround them, detecting magic but the most powerful spell she’s ever felt blinds her. Surprising herself she completely resists and throws it off with ease.

She pushes past and makes a b-line toward the bookshelf. She grabs a book*.* As she reaches for another, the rest simultaneously burst into flame, she jerks back. Instead she reaches for the waypoints and manages to grab all the ones they had, missing only two.

They hear the clicking of heels heading toward them. This startles Ivetta into action. She jumps up and rushes to the bookshelf with Castor and grabs the bag of their things.

The heels get closer and suddenly the door bursts, shattering into a million pieces. She screams her telltale banshee wail. Tobias opens fire, the gun jerks up with the force of the round's rapid firing. Castor senses the time is ripe, giving up the effort of grabbing the last two waypoints she activates the waypoint on her wrist. She concentrates trying to bring Ivetta, Tobais, Ms. Barber, the horses, their things and prays with all her heart that Hollinzoller, however he may be, will come with.

They fall, face first into the mud of a dark alleyway. Next to them stand several barrels. Dogs bark and a horse neighs in the distance. Someone is rummaging around but stops as they appear. He looks at them and says, “w-w-who the fuck are you?”

TBC

Episode Thirty-One: The Great Escape