Marcus and Van Pelt swept their lights around the room, investigating the Experimental Wing. Loose papers adorned the floor, and occasionally broken glass crunched under their boot heels. Everything was covered in a thick coating of dust, though when Marcus looked closer at the floor, it seemed the dust there had been disturbed. He narrowed his eyes, furrowing his brow. Natters? he wondered to himself. It was most certainly a possibility. They would need to be cautious.

"Looks like they left in a hurry," Van Pelt remarked, looking at the sordid mess that lay about. Marcus nodded, looking at the ceiling for nattersign.

"That, or they just didn't care. If the bunker was being mothballed for good, why care about organization or order?" Marcus replied. Van Pelt shrugged, going behind the reception desk. She opened a couple of drawers, but found nothing of interest. She walked over to the terminal at the desk, pressing the power button, but the unit didn't respond. She knew that would be the case, but wanted to try anyway. They would need to get the reactor on for any terminals to work, if they worked at all. Marcus motioned in a direction further into the wing, and she nodded, moving that way with her rifle at her shoulder. The two walked slowly, trying not to step on any more broken glass. They passed several offices that were devoid of any furniture or mess, indicating someone had cleaned them out before the base was abandoned. Other rooms and offices had desks, gurneys, or were locked.

Nearing the end of the hallway, they found a door that was only partially ajar. Marcus shined his flashlight on the sign to the side of the door.

"Golem." He read the sign aloud, and he looked at Van Pelt. He motioned for them to enter, and he gently opened the door with the barrel of his rifle. It creaked open, dust sifting down from its surface. He looked down, and saw that the dust had been disturbed here as well. Something had been through here, and it would have to be semi-recently. He entered the room, barrel lifted and scanning, looking for any sign of movement. Van Pelt followed closely behind, watching their rear.

The room was another small atrium, with several branching doors off to the sides. The room looked like a lab of some sort, with what looked like scientific instruments adorning the countertop space. Marcus recognized a centrifuge, microscopes, and bunsen burners. Vials and other glass containers were abound, though most of them were empty. The young engineer's eye was almost immediately drawn to a refrigerator off to the side. The machine's light was flickering. Excitedly, Marcus walked over to the device, a grin spreading across his face.

"What the fuck?" Van Pelt asked him. "How does this thing have power, but nothing else does?" He turned to face her, thumping the surface of the semi-open fridge with a palm.

"There must be some auxiliary power active right now. Something to keep the most basic functions active if anyone returned." He looked back at the fridge. "I don't know why a fridge would have auxiliary power, and not the doors, but we're going to find out." He opened the fridge, finding it empty, save for a few vials, beakers, and a large glass container. All were coated in dust. Curious, he reached for the large glass container, and wiped the thick layer of dust and grime from the surface.

Inside, was a partially decayed human head.

Marcus dropped the glass container in shock, and it shattered on the floor with a crash. Van Pelt cursed, jumping at the noise, having wandered off to investigate other devices. But she stopped when she saw the head that rolled lazily across the floor. Marcus' heart felt like it had stopped. The head rolled to a stop against a counter, its almost-empty eye sockets gazing up at Marcus. The young engineer almost felt like retching at the site. He had expected many things in this bunker, but a severed human head in a derelict fridge wasn't one of them.

"Marcus, what the actual fuck, man?" Van Pelt hissed. "Is that a fucking head?" Marcus nodded, looking away, trying to keep his breakfast down. "Gods," Van Pelt muttered, "what the fuck is a head doing here? In a fucking fridge?" Marcus shook his head.

"I don't know, Gwen, I don't know. We need to keep moving, though. Our time is running short. We can come back later after we rendezvouswith Brogers and the others." he replied. Deeper in the lab, the two heard something crash. Van Pelt looked at Marcus questioningly, and the young engineer sighed. "Or we can take a look at whatever that was, as long as we make it quick." His companion nodded, and the two lifted their rifles, moving in that direction.

They passed several doors that were locked, but they neared another door that was slightly ajar.

"The dust is disturbed here, too," Marcus said, motioning at the floor. Van Pelt nodded, looking at the sign next to the door.

"Cryogenics," she read aloud. The two shared a look. Manking hadn't used cryogenics in centuries, as it was an outdated technology. Faster-than-light travel made cryogenics obsolete, especially considering how excruciating it was. The primary issue with freezing an organism is that water expands when frozen, and since almost every single cell in a body contains water as a requirement to live, the result is cell death by means of ice puncture. The frozen ice stabs through the cell walls, turning it into an icy pincushion. Which also means that when the organism is thawed, they are very dead. To fix this, a fluid was discovered that would save the cells from being punctured, but being injected by this fluid caused one to feel like they were on fire. It also took days for this fluid to infiltrate every cell, which meant that the organism would spend days in agony, writhing as if they were actually being immolated.

Knowing this, Marcus and Van Pelt slowly entered the room. It was a long room, though not very wide. One side wall was occupied by a long counter that ran the length of the room, and this counter had a few instruments and scientific devices atop it. On the opposite wall, however, was a long line of cryo pods. Marcus counted twelve on first inspection. The young engineer felt his mouth fall open in shock at the site. The pods were powered, though apparently only just. Whatever auxiliary power remained after the past eighty years, it wasn't enough to fully chill the occupants. Marcus wiped dust off of the glass cover of one, revealing a corpse. It was almost totally decayed, indicating it had been like this for some time.

Upon closer inspection, every pod was like this, with nothing but corpses occupying them. They were all in various states of decay, indicating their pods had failed them at different times, rather than all at once. However, one pod was irregular.

"Marcus, look," Van Pelt said, her voice quiet. Marcus shined his light further down. One pod, number nine, had a shattered front. Glass adorned the floor around the broken pod. The young engineer walked further down the line of pods, shining his flashlight in the derelict pod.

It was empty.

"What in the seven hells happened here?" Marcus wondered aloud. He looked closer at the glass, seeing that the shards of glass had specks of dried blood on them. Someone, or something, had injured itself on the glass. A thin coating of dust on the glass suggested this had occurred some time ago, however.

"It looks like... something clawed its way out," Van Pelt said in horror. Marcus felt his chest tighten, and his heart fluttered at the thought. He walked over to another pod and using his sleeves, wiped as much dust off of it as he could. This pod's corpse looked like a man, but it was... wrong, somehow. Marcus gritted his teeth, and bashed the front of the pod with the butt of his rifle. Van Pelt protested, but he continued, bashing his rifle into the glass. After a couple of strong blows, the glass shattered, and Marcus was able to examine the corpse closer.

"What the... actual godsdamn fuck," Van Pelt muttered. Marcus chuckled.

"That's your favorite word today, apparently." he said quietly. She tossed her arms up in response.

"Yeah, because this place is fucked, Marcus! I mean, look at this guy!" She pointed at the corpse Marcus had exposed to the air, and the young engineer looked closer at the dead figure. Marcus was no doctor, obviously. His specialty was machines, and he was good at machines. He was in no way, shape, or function prepared to diagnose whatever had ailed this individual, but it sickened him. It was hard to tell exactly what was wrong with the way the corpse looked, per se, as its skin had been stretched taught over its meager frame. But looking at it made him uncomfortable that a normal corpse wouldn't. Of course, corpses are hard to look at, but this dead man was different.

The man was, simply put, different. The skull was a different size, its eyes wider apart than usual, its forehead higher and more foreward. His limbs were elongated, his ribcage didn't look quite right, and his legs were bowed. The corpse looked more like a caricature of a corpse than an actual human dead body. Marcus squinted, unsure what he was looking at, exactly. He realized that the figure was triggering his "uncanny valley" senses, a wide band in which something looks almost human, but off in such a way that it makes the individual viewing the entitiy uncomfortable.

Marcus shined his flashlight above the pod, seeing that the top of the pod had a label. "BLO," it read. Marcus mouthed the word aloud, confused. He looked at the pod next to this one, reading that label. It read "TLP." Marcus walked down to the pod with the smashed and bloody glass in front of it, the one something had crawled out of. Atop the pod, in bold letters, just like all the rest, were the letters "RAT." Marcus furrowed his brow again, unsure of what to make of all this. What were they doing down here?

"Marcus," Van Pelt said quietly. Marcus looked at her, but she was looking behind him, towards the door. Her flashlight and rifle were pointed down. Marcus turned his head to match his gaze, and his blood turned to ice. The light from their flashlights bounced just enough light off of the concrete to cause the eyes of whatever crouched on the other side of the door to glow, like a predator's in the night. It watched them, unblinking, the dull glow of its eyes taking them in. Because of the low light, Marcus wasn't sure what it was. That's no natter, Marcus thought to himself. He gritted his teeth, steeling himself, finding courage. He grunted, bringing his rifle and the flashlight that was on the barrel up to his shoulder, and he swung the barrel at the doorway. For a brief moment, the creature was illuminated. It covered its eyes at the light, apparently blinding, and then it was gone, scurrying away down the hallway. Marcus looked at Van Pelt.

"Let's get after it!" he exclaimed. She nodded, shaking herself out of her shock and fear, and the two raced out of the cryopod room, running after the creature. Ahead, Marcus heard it knocking over equipment and breaking glass as it tried to get away. They chased it through the maze-like hallways of the Experimental Wing, jumping over the things that it knocked over in its desperate bid to get away. They chased it through the reception area, down another hallway, and it disappeared around a corner. Marcus charged around the corner, seeing the figure quickly crawling into a vent that was close to the ceiling. Without a second thought, Marcus grabbed the creature's ankle, and pulled it out. It fell bodily to the floor, snapping at his hands. He let go, instead leveling his rifle at it. He and Van Pelt pushed it into a corner, where it curled up and began to weep, covering its face with its long arms. The two crewmembers kept their flashlights on it, gobsmacked.

"What... what is it?" Marcus asked aloud. Van Pelt didn't respond, likely because she had no adequate response. The thing gurgled, mid sob.

"Please..." it said in a slurred tone. "Don't... don't hurt me..." Marcus shook his head, trying to wrap his head around this. The creature was some sort of person, obviously, but the proportions were all wrong. It almost looked like an anorexic ape than a human being. Its arms were too long, its head to elongated. It was naked, save for a torn scrap of cloth that served as a loincloth. The figure kept trying to shrink further into the corner, making itself as small as possible, though it didn't have to work very hard. It was incredibly small, if it was a human being. It was almost more like a wild animal than anything else. It had a thin coating of thick, black hairs all over its body, though its face was mostly absent of hair.

Marcus shook his head, lowering his rifle barrel and flashlight. He wondered if the thing was sensitive to the light. He nodded to Van Pelt, who nodded back. She lowered her rifle barrel as well, so that any light that illuminated the creature was dimmed. At the lessening of the light, the creature relaxed just a touch, lowering its hands from its face ever so slightly.

"What is your name?" Marcus asked, not sure what to do. The creature sniffled, rubbing its eyes. It looked up at Marcus with an almost defiant expression, if its mangled face showed emotion like a regular human being's did.

"Rat," it said quietly. Van Pelt cursed behind Marcus, sharing the young engineer's sentiment. They had never seen, nor heard, of anything like this before. Van Pelt gestured at Rat with a gloved hand.

"He's not wearing any breathing aids, Marcus," she pointed out, and she was correct. If Rat was some sort of human being, he was doing just fine in the unpressurized bunker, breathing in the nitrogen that made up the atmosphere. Marcus shook his head. None of this made sense. Was this bunker experimenting on people? Whatever Rat was, he could breathe Harmattan's air without an oxygen aid, like Marcus and Van Pelt needed. Marcus removed his helmet, ignoring Van Pelt's protest. He clipped his nose line to his septum, and knowing Van Pelt was watching over his shoulder with her rifle, he slowly knelt down to Rat's level.

"I'm Marcus Rhyne," the young engineer said, gesturing to himself. The creature slowly lowered its arms, its eyes squinting in suspicion.

"Marcus... Rhyne," it said with some difficulty. Marcus furrowed his brow, watching the creature.

"We need to go, Marcus," said Van Pelt behind him. Marcus nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, but we can't leave Rat," he said, removing his nasal line and placing his helmet back on his head. He locked the seal, breathing in with his mouth to get a deep lungful. "We should question him all we can. So, let's take him back to Brogers and ask him." Van Pelt cursed behind him.

"Yeah, I don't think Brogers is going to like this thing that much. She doesn't like surprises, and I don't know about you, but this thing has me plenty surprised." Van Pelt said. She sounded nervous, to Marcus, which was understandable. Everything from the severed head in the fridge and the line of cryopods to Rat had Marcus feeling uncomfortable and confused. Just what was the EMC doing down here?

"We can't just leave him, Gwen. He's human, obviously, just different. And he may know more about this bunker than we do. Like, for example, where the reactor is." He turned to face her, looking into her opaque faceplate. After a few moments, she cursed. It was decided, then.

"I'll lead, Rat will follow me, and you'll follow him. Make sure he doesn't get away." Marcus gestured for Rat to follow him. The creature looked worried and suspicious, but it did as Marcus suggested.

"Shouldn't we, I don't know, tie its hands or something?" Van Pelt asked. Marcus shook his head.

"No, he's not a prisoner. So far, he's done nothing wrong. We're just... going to ask him a few questions with the others, that's all." Marcus gestured once more for Rat to follow him, which Rat did slowly. As Marcus figured, Rat preferred to walk on all fours. His legs were shorter than a baseline human, and his arms were longer. He walked on his callused knuckles, much like an ape. Now that he was emerging from his corner, Marcus was able to get a closer look at Rat. The creature was obviously human, now that he could get a close look at him, but he was... changed. He was emaciated, his ribcage showing, and his spine prominentlypoking through his back. His skin was pale, and but his eyes were bright. His body was adorned with scares and disfigured, twisted skin.

Marcus walked out of the room, which was another lab of some sort, with Rat following him. He heard Van Pelt's boots clomping behind the pair as well. The trio walked out of the Experimental Wing, walking back the way they came.

"Where... is Marcus taking me?" Rat asked Marcus. The creature's voice was scratchy and quiet, as if it had not been used in a long time.

"We're taking you to the entrance, to speak to the others." Marcus replied, not looking back. Something about Rat made Marcus uncomfortable, much like the "uncanny valley" sense he got earlier while looking at the corpse in the pod. "We just want to ask you a few questions."

"Questions... about what?" Rat asked again. This time, Van Pelt spoke up.

"Like what you are," she said, her voice harboring a small amount of something that Marcus didn't like. The young engineer shot her a glance, but kept moving. The trio crawled through the partially-opened doorway, and after a while of walking, Marcus saw lights ahead. He changed his radio to the expedition's band, signaling Van Pelt to do the same. As the distance closed, the radio's static cleared, and Marcus heard Brogers calling for him and Van Pelt to answer. As they approached the others, someone spotted them, alerting Brogers, who walked angrily towards Marcus.

"Rhyne, where the fuck have you been?" she asked him, almost yelling. She stopped, however, when she spotted Rat behind Marcus. The small creature peered at the others with fearful eyes, unsure of what was going on. Brogers gasped, and Marcus heard the others curse in shock at Rat. Marcus stepped aside so that they could all see the small individual.

"This, everyone," said Marcus, "is Rat."