The Bookwyrm

It was the same path she'd walked less than an hour ago, the path that had taken them from Building 2 to Building 1. Something seemed....different this time. Off, in a way that was hard to put a finger on. Or maybe the first time had been the one that was off. After a few minutes of walking, about halfway to Building 1, the silhouette of a figure appeared in the mist. @Ookla the Inconclusive

Slowly but surely, the mist started to clear. As it did, the view of the forest revealed itself. The two still stood inside the facility, but were now outside the containment building, in the sparsely wooded area between buildings. Several research portables were nearby, as well as Building 2, which the crew had entered the facility through. Though the mist had faded, it still hung in the air, making it hard to see too far into the distance.

Strangely, as both of them started walking, the ground was soft under their feet, and covered in pine needles.

The map was there, same as before, though her location was not marked. For the first few moments, all she could find was more mist. She could barely see her own feet in the murk, let alone anything in front of her.

Her voice echoed into the mist. The only response was the whispering of the swirling fog. ...Drink... ...Hiking is dangerous... It didn't seem to have a scent, like normal fog.

It was there. It felt like the floor of the facility. It was impossible to tell if he'd just missed the monitor when reaching for it, or if he'd somehow been transported somewhere else.

Nothing was there.

"Daniel Roost," Maria said, though she seemed distracted. "He's in charge of the Rim, has been for about eight months." Maria glanced around to check on her team. Most of them were still inside, checking the equipment like she'd asked. Liv had found that document; it would be worth looking for more, perhaps to build a record of what had happened. From what they'd all found, the contianment array had simply been shut down. No damage or interference, at least that they could detect on the surface level. It was impossible to tell whether that was the reason for the containment breach and radio silence, or if the shutdown had occurred as a result of the breach. Even stranger was the fact that the power was on everywhere else in the facility. As if no time had passed, and the entire population of the Rim had just vanished seconds before they'd entered. But then...wouldn't there be signs? Half-typed messages on computers, spilled stacks of paper, shattered coffee mugs? There had been none of that, nothing to indicate a sudden vanishing. The people were just...gone. Maria uneasily turned her gaze around the clearing that held the Rabbit Hole, surrounded by glass which revealed the monitoring room most of her team was in. Then, both curiosity and terror fighting within her, she pulled out her flashlight, switched it on, and pointed it's beam into the blackness of the hole. It had normal dirt sides, like you'd expect from a hole in the middle of the forest floor. But when she pointed her light straight down, the beam was swallowed up by the blackness. She pulled her pack off her back and got out a tactical glowstick. She broke it, and it started emitting an orange light. Then she tossed it down the pit. The glow faded into a tiny dot in the distance before vanishing in the darkness. Maria felt like she'd lost sight of it faster than she should have. But she wasn't sure. Of course, there was no sound of it hitting any bottom. She pointed her flashlight back down the hole as she swung her pack back on. She frowned. ...There's no sign of what actually caused all these people to vanish, she thought. It's like- A low rushing sound grew in her ears. ****** @Ookla the Finwëan @Ookla the Irreplaceable @Ookla the Inconclusive @Ookla the Dragonslayer @Ookla the Doomfrog @Just_a_Fan Each member of the team heard the rushing sound now, like a growing wind, despite the stillness of the air. It grew louder and louder, almost reaching the point of deafening. Those that could see the Rabbit Hole would note tendrils of mist starting to leak out. Words started to form in each of the agent's ears. ....Forest....Shadow... ...Sun in the sky....never rising... Climb to when you need to be Suddenly, without warning, a flood of mist exploded out of the Rabbit Hole. The white blankness became an expanding cloud that somehow ignored the physical boundaries of the glass, passing right through it, washing over every member of the team. Each of them was blinded by a sudden, overpowering grayness, as the mist descended on them. The words became deafening now, overpowering, as if trying to burrow into their minds. YOU LEFT YOUR NAME AT THE EDGE OF THE FOG THE FOREST DRINKS YOUR SHADOW YOU DIED WHEN YOU WERE BORN WATCH YOUR STEP YOU'RE RISING TO THE DEEPEST DEPTHS YOUR PATH FOLDS ALONG THE CREASE YOU'RE LOST, RIGHT WHEN YOU SHOULD BE It's okay The line has a center... ...exits....main event... Slowly, the words finally faded, leaving each of them with a ringing in their ears. All around them, nothing but that greyness.

The cupboards and containers she found bore standard items for the maitenence of the array and recording of the data it collected; clipboards and paper, pens, various tools and machine parts. But no sign of any food or other perishable items, and no obvious personal effects. It was impossible to tell whether that was because personal effects were't brought into this part of the facility, or if something more unnatural was going on. Finally, she did find a document. A piece of internal correspondence. It had the seal of the ARC in the top right corner. It read: Federal Agency of Research and Control Facility WA-ACM-4 "The Rim" Internal Correspondence Wesley, I know Roost keeps ignoring the readings you're showing him, but something's got to be done. Try again. Make a slideshow, or a spreadsheet. Bring him some donuts. Whatever it takes. Something's got to be done and none of the people who are acutally scared have the authority to do anything. Sorry. I don't mean to sound pushy, I think you're just as nervous as the rest of us. Well, the rest of us logical people. I think everyone at Building 4 has lost it. How did Roost get appointed director of this place anyway? This is a containment facility, someone from DAU shouldn't be calling the shots. All he cares about is results, not safety. It is seriously getting worse, though. No one's seen Dean for over thirty hours. If it is another dissapearance, that's the fourth this month; even before that, the rate was getting clearly higher. If you can't do anything we might have to petition H.Q. in Seattle. Just try again and let me know how it goes. -Amanda

There didn't seem to be anything wrong with the hardware. It just wasn't functioning. As if it had been switched off.

Maria grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back. She frowned. "Careful...why don't you go check the wiring on the devices." She didn't want him almost tripping in again.

Maria followed Tim outside to the clearing surrounding the Rabbit Hole. She started looking around. ...Nothing seems out of the ordinary...

Wires ran from the monitor to one of the detection devices. The wire seemed to be perfectly intact.

It seemed to be connected to one of the monitoring devices, because it simply read "Device Not Detected".

Maria nodded. "You keep an ear out, too. Let us know if it comes back." The room beyond was well lit by glass windows that looked into the area surrounded by the contianment building. There were no trees in that small clearing; only a few patches of grass and dead pine needles. And in the center, a deep pit. Strange machines that looked like satellite dishes stood in a circle around the hole, several feet from it's edge, pointing down at it's yawning gape. Maria recognized the devices; used for the monitoring and directing of anomalous frequencies. She didn't understand all the science jargon that described how they worked. She just knew what they did and how to use them. And these ones were deactivated. She glanced around the room. It was circular, running along the inner edge of the containment building, with several doors leading into the clearing with the hole itself. Through the glass wall Maria could look across and see the opposite side. A number of devices for monitoring and containing anomalous energies - nonphysical forces - stood around the room. An apparatus, all designed to keep whatever that hole did under control. The entire thing was deactivated. Is this why containment was breached? Was it really just an equipment shutdown? She slowly pulled out her handgun, like Kastel. There was no sign of anyone or anything in the room, and despite the deactivated machinery, all seemed to be in the same pristine condition as the rest of the facility. Despite this, there was an unshakeable sense of unease she felt. She couldn't tell if it was an anomalous effect or her own nerves, which bothered her. "Fan out," she called to her team. "Look for anything out of the ordinary. See if you can find out why the appratus got shut down. I'll take a look at the hole." @Ookla the Finwëan @Ookla the Irreplaceable @Ookla the Doomfrog @Just_a_Fan

Maria reached the main enterance of the Containment building and used her keycard to gain access. She looked around the room, a lobby similar to the one in the administration building, but smaller, and without such heavy security. Once again, the lights were on, and the facility looked to be in perfect condition. But also no sign of anyone being there. Doors to hallways stood on each side of the room, following the circular shape of the building. Mist crept into the room through the open door, leaking out across the floor. "Come on," she called to her group, as she walked over and opened the door on the other side of the lobby. "This will lead to the hole itself. Let's check it out and judge our next move." @Ookla the Finwëan @Ookla the Inconclusive @Ookla the Irreplaceable @Ookla the Dragonslayer @Ookla the Doomfrog @Just_a_Fan

"Not that I know of," Maria said. That's two. Is it following a pattern or just random chance? "Keep your ears open and report if you hear anything else." She turned and continued down the path towards the containment building.

Slowly, a low rushing sound rose in Liv's ears, growing steadily louder, like the sound gust of wind. But the air was completely still. The noise twisted into...words. ...Way out....happened... The sound faded.

Maria glanced at them. "Since we arrived, yes. I think. They never figured out why they were getting so tall." Maria resisted the urge to pull out her handgun against whatever might be in the mist...instead, she turned to Astrid. "What did the voice say, by the way? When you heard something? Could you make it out?" @Ookla the Inconclusive