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+--- Thread: Death comes Sideways (/showthread.php?tid=120667)
Death comes Sideways - Leo - 09-16-2014
“We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.”
― Chuck Palahniuk
High up in one of the undisclosed mountain ranges of New Berlin sat an old abandoned laboratory. It's use long since having been abandoned to advances in other areas. No living creature had sat foot inside these lone walls for several years. Equipment that once had hummed with life now sat still, it's only purpose to collect dust from the air.
Suddenly and without warning, the door to the small lab exploded inward, it's hinges groaning in protest after sitting idle for such a long period of time. Two men entered the room with flashlights looking around. The dust that had sat on the instruments was now floating around the room in a flurry just like the snow outside.
"You're sure this was the last place he was at?" said one of the men, his voice muffled behind his mask.
"Certain. If I know him, he left something behind hinting to where he might have disappeared to." replied the other man as he started looking around the room for any signs of activity in the room over the past few years. "Looks like no one has been here since he was. We're safe as long as we weren't followed."
The other man took off his mask in irritation. His eyes burrowing into the back of the other man's head. "For the last damn time, Petrov, we weren't followed."
The man named Petrov took off his mask as well, revealing his unkempt face. It was obvious he hadn't hadn't shaved in months. "Yeah, that's what you said last month, Schneider. Then we had Liberty officials up our ass so far I could taste the doughnuts they had for breakfast."
Both men looked like they hadn't had time to shave in several months and both looked to be in their mid thirties. The man named Schneider had several scars on his face that indicated to a life time of trouble. While Petrov looked to be scar free, he walked with the clear signs that he was a military man at one point in his life. Both seemed like they could handle themselves in a fight.
"Shut up and see if you can't find anything that our esteemed leader might have left behind as to a hint to where he disappeared to. Something tells me this place isn't as abandoned as it lets on."
"I'm getting that feeling too." Petrov replied looking around with a concerned look on his face. "Let's get to work finding out where the hell we need to look. Pass me that tablet in your pack, I'm going to work on getting this old laboratory as least partially operational to access it's systems. After that, we can tap into the old drives to see if he left anything behind.
Hours went by before the power was restored enough to get access to the database in the lab and several more before the two men sorted through all of the data on the drives before they came to a single file that was locked with a 4D password encryption lock.
Petrov mumbled as he stared at the tablet that illuminated the room, "Damnit. You gotta give credit to the man, he knew how to keep his secrets hidden."
"Don't have to give credit to him, he's not here and I'm not sure he'd reward you even if he was...at least he hasn't been for some time." Schneider stopped and gave a nod to the tablet. "Can you crack the code?"
"Not without help."
"Don't tell me we're going to see...her."
"I don't see another option."
Schneider groaned loud enough for the walls to reflect the sound. "She's crazy, Petrov! Has been since our esteemed Commander decided to go missing."
"You have any other ideas?" Petrov asked with a look of impatience on his face. "No? Good, lets get moving, Quinn will be able to crack this in about a day and I could use the rest."
The two men left the lab and began their long trek back down the mountain. As they walked down the mountain back towards the lights of the city on the horizon, a shadow followed.