6:33pm, Thursday

General Shaw forked the delicious smelling food and waved it under his nose for a moment before taking a bite.

The crunchy apples gave little pops of sweetness against a backdrop of the tart cranberries. The candied, sour lemon rinds gave his teeth a satisfying suction.

He took another bite.

The tart flavors of the cranberries melded with the sweetness of the apples and bananas making a perfect blend of tart and sweet. It was like a juxtaposition of cold wind from the sea paired with the warmth of the sunshine on your head.

He took another bite.

This time it was like biting into a rainbow of taste. The bitter flavor of the chocolate curbed the overly sweetness of the bananas. It’s smooth and creamy texture made his mouth feel like velvet. Like petting a cat with silky smooth fur, or hearing a perfectly performed violin concerto. The slight nutty flavor just brought out the rich undertones of the tart berries.

He took another bite.

Everything was just per—

“Um, excuse me Sir, um, this just came from Gary Hartfield’s office…It was marked as important…” His assistant held up a package.

“Put it over there.” General Shaw gave a perfunctory wave. “I’m busy right now.”

“Um, t-the note said, um, that you should watch it immediately, sir.”

General Shaw sighed and motioned for the assistant to hand him the device. “Leave.”

The package contained a short letter and a VidHOL. General Shaw placed the VidHOL on his desk player before reading the letter as he waited for the room to adjust to the video parameters.

This is information we talked about earlier. There are two recordings on the HOL. Be sure to watch both of them.

~Gary

The desk went black for a moment before a four recording boxes appeared before the General. All views were from the standard issued eye lenses required to be worn by all DiMech employees out on a field expedition. General quickly looked at the timestamp as the four men made their way through a low ceilinged cave.

This video is ten years old… General Shaw cracked a knuckle. When did Gary get this?

The men entered a large cavern that was lit with bright glowing orbs of light. In front of the men were five doors. Ancient doors. Not the black and silver marbled doors that marked all DiMech Inc. property.

“Hey Hank, which one did you get open?” The right most view swiveled around to look behind him as they all approached the doors.

“The middle one…follow me.” The left most recording angle took the front most position. The others lined up behind him single file as he opened the ancient door. Surprisingly, it opened without making a sound.

“You would think this would have crumbled centuries ago…” A hand reached out from the center-left angle.

“’It’s called ingenuity, Jax.” The center-right angle man slapped the man touching the door heartily on the back. “You know, the thing you don’t have.”

“Get off me Finch.” Jax flicked the man’s hand away.

“Enough you two…Everyone switch to night vision mode, now.” Hank commanded. Within moments all the iris recorders switched to the green night vision. “And remember, it’s slippery from here on out, so watch where you step. There’s black ice everywhere.”

Oh please…I was interrupted form eating my food to watch this? I could have done this after I finished. General Shaw snorted softly once. He clicked open the recording’s playback settings and pushed the “move faster 2x” arrow.

Not three minutes after entering the cave, Hank slipped. Then Jimmy fell. Then, to top it all off, Finch slipped and tried to grab Jax to steady himself but only succeeded in making them both fall.

Well at least I’m getting dinner and a show…

Suddenly all three men stopped. Before them was a shaft that went straight down. That is when General Shaw pushed play again.

“…right who wants to go first?” Finch looked at his companions.

“I will.”

“At’a boy, Jimmy!” Hank reached out a hand and patted the man on the shoulder. “Do an iris check to make sure the recording is going smoothly while we get you strapped to the cables.”

Jimmy fiddled with his helmet for a second. “All settings are green.”

“Good. Just give us a few…alright, done. You’re all ready to go.”

From Jimmy’s camera, Shaw saw the three other men lower Jimmy down the circular shaft that looked like it had been carved out with crude tools. As Jimmy was lowered into the darkness, he joked about how exotic it was to look at the ancient walls that allowed for very little movement.

“Feels like I’m a chimney sweep from that book from the ancients.”

“…Jimmy only you would read a book from the time of the ancients. None of us have any time for that.”

“It’s called getting cultured, Finch.” Jax pipped up. “Maybe you should try getting some sometime.”

“What—”

General Shaw impatiently hit the “forward 2x” button again but then almost immediately pushed play. Jimmy entered a huge cavern.

“Great Qui.” Jimmy breathed.

“What? What is it?”

“What do you see?”

The others clamored over their communicators.

“Guys, this is amazing…it’s like I just came through the roof in Great Establishment Hall. This cavern is huge…!”

Then there was a whisper that came like a light breeze in the windless cave. It was barely audible, but the words were clear, unmistakable, and ominous... “The humans have returned. The experiments can begin again, and we have a thirst for blood!”

General Shaw narrowed his eyes. His fingers tapping on the desk as he watched.

One…

Two…

One…

“Pull me out!” Jimmy cried as his light hit the bodies that were hanging from the ceiling floating almost in the still air. Decrepit old skeletons just hanging, swinging back and forth with the new air that Jimmy brought in with him. Their eyes staring out into nothing with hunched backs, long fingernails shaped into claws, and gaping jaws.

General Shaw leaned forward.

Was it just the dim light from Jimmy’s suit, or did their heads turn to look at him with gaping eye sockets and bones that haven’t been used in centuries? The body that he hit on the way up, did it turn and reach out to him as it swung back and forth on its cable?

“Pull faster!” Jimmy ordered hoarsely while trying to pull himself up the line, not wanting to stay in the room any longer.

But something had been awakened.

General Shaw leaned in even closer to the box with Jimmy’s view. But the man was swinging his head around and around that it was impossible to tell what was moving and what wasn’t. Then the screen just went black.

General Shaw furrowed his eyebrows and checked the settings on his HOL. It wasn’t his machine that had cut out. It was all the iris recorders…all the feeds had cut out just like Jimmy’s had done.

“Interesting…” General Shaw pushed pause on the HOL before the second recording popped up and buzzed for his assistant. Iris recorders are never supposed to go off line. That’s the whole point in having them…

“Sir?” The girl peaked in.

“Get Gary.”

“He’s gone home already—”

“I don’t care. Get him here now.”

“Y-yeh sir!”

When the door closed again, General Shaw continued to watch the recording. The second clip was of one of the men. He was young looking and very thin. He was in a small room rocking back and forth while holding himself, looking everywhere but at the camera. His eyes were slightly rimmed in red. Almost like he had been crying. Every noise made him jump.

“Can you tell me what happened?”

“I-I already did.”

“You told the company what happened so that they could record it for their records, that is true. But now the company wants to help you get better, Jax. We care about you. The only way to get over this is to talk about it. Can you do that for me? Can you talk about it?

“Talk. Talk. Talk, talk, talk. I can talk. I’m good at talking. Talk, talk, talk.” Jax rocked back and forth.

“Very good, Jax. Now I want you to talk about what happened on the night of the 89th Qui Establishment Commemoration, Tuesday, 3008?”

“We-we were in the Krro Jistен Ice Caves of Gavi Quintar to test, to test, to test the ice before the permits to mine the ice were approved.”

“…Yeh, that is true. But I want you to talk about the…incident that happened.”

“Incident…incident…incident.” Jax rocked back and forth repeating the words over and over again.

“You were told to investigate some new caves by Mrs. Warek. Is that correct?”

“New caves…new caves…yeh, yeh, new caves.”

“…So what happened?”

“What happened, what happened…” Jax repeated. In the background the woman let out a loud sigh.

“Let’s do this another ti—”

“We went inside what seemed like a door, the very first humans to ever explore. Jimmy looked at us in amazement “I wanna be the first to see more of these ancient beings that were here before.” He said, so we lowered him down a small shaft until we were almost out of rope. He didn't see anything at first but then we heard a gurgle over the intercom. He told us that he was in a room. He said that “It looked like he had just fell through the roof of the Great Establishment Hall, the room was so grand.” Then there was a whisper...or was it the creaking of the structure..."The humans are back. The experiments can begin again, and we are thirsty for blood."

“Pull me out! Pull me out! Pull me out!” Jax suddenly screamed. “Pull faster! Pull faster! Pull faster!” Then he stopped just as suddenly, and just rocked back and forth. Silence fell over the room.

“Jax, ca—”

“We, we, we pulled as fast as we could, but by the time we got Jimmy back, it was already too late. S-s-something, something, something had gotten him.”

“What do you mean something got him? Can you explain that to me?”

“…When we pulled him over the ledge, his eyes were bloodshot and glowed red, but the Jimmy we knew was already dead, taken over by something...by something…”

“What do you mean taken over by something?”

“Something…something…something…”

The woman sighed again. “Alright, “by something.” What happened next?”

“He attacked us…we tried to run. We ran for our lives.” Jax looked around the room with wide eyes. “We ran, we did. But Jimmy…he…Hank!” Jax turned and reached out his hand as to grab his friend, but he retreated it quickly as if he were afraid someone would grab it. He began to rock back and forth again.

“Hank…?” the woman prodded.

Jax just shook his head.

“Jax, what happened to Hank?”

“The humans have returned. The experiment can continue, and we have a thirst for blood.” Jax muttered while he rocked.

“Jax. Jax are you listening to me? What happened to Hank?”

Jax stopped rocking and looked straight into the camera with calm eyes. “Jimmy broke his neck with one movement.”

“What about…Finch? I haven’t heard you talk about him yet.”

“…Jimmy cut his suit with his ice pick while we tried to run away. His leg was scratched.”

“What happened then?”

“I made it back to the work station and looked back. Finch was hobbling along, grabbing his leg because he said it burned. We could hear Hank was coming after us, so I shut the hatch and locked it.”

“You left Finch behind?”

Jax nodded calmly. “I could hear him banging on the door, begging me to open it up, but I didn’t. Hank was coming...or was he?

Silence fell in the room. Jax stared unblinkingly into the camera with dead, hollow looking eyes.

“Then what happened?” The woman asked calmly.

I didn’t hear any screams from Finch. I didn’t hear anything but angry knocks on the door. Finch had stopped yelling at me, but the banging continued…”

“Alri—”

“BANG.” Jax yelled at the top of his lungs. His fists hitting the desk. “BANG.”

“Jax—”

“BANG.”

“Jax I need—”

“BANG.”

“Jax, I need you to stop hitting the tab—”

“BANG.”

“Can you go in there and give him he drug, please. This isn’t going anywhere.” The woman’s voice sounded over the screams.

In the screen, a man entered the room. Jax looked up and froze just as he was about to bring his hands down again.

“Continuous knocking. The knocking wouldn’t stop—” Jax pleaded with the man as he approached.

“I’m just going to give you something to help you relax a little, alright?”

“—It wouldn’t stop…ouch.”

“There you go.” The man quickly exited the room.

Jax swayed on his seat for several minutes completely unaware of his surroundings. It took several moments for him to find his way back to reality. But even then, a part of him was still lost.

“Jax?—”

He slowly stood up from the chair and walked over to the door.

“—Jax I need you to continue talking. What happened after the knocking?”

“Knocking?” Jax asked absently. “…it stopped…It stopped when I opened the little window door next to the hatch.” Jax reached his hand out and lightly touched the window on the door in the room he was presently in.

“Then what happened?”

“I…I looked out and saw a figure.” Jax peered out the window. “Finch? Finch is that you?” He called through the window. “I’m sorry man. I’m so sorry. I couldn’t go back for you because Hank was coming…”

Jax trailed off. His body completely frozen.

“…Jax…Jax, what do you see?”

“There’s a figure in the hallway. It’s hobbling over to me, it’s head is down. It’s at the window now. It’s hand is reaching out…it’s starting to bang on the window. BANG. BANG. BANG. Finch? Finch, look at me! Is it alright? Is it safe?” Jax was pounding on the window and talking to the air. Still lost in what happened.

“Jax, is that Finch hitting the window?”

“Finch, are Jimmy and Hank out there? Is it safe? BANG. BANG. BANG.”

“Jax, what is happening? Talk to me. Remember you promised you would talk to me. Tell me what is going on.”

“J-Finch’s whole body is shaking. His head is bent but it sinks even lower, as if he doesn’t have the strength to hold it up…Hank!” Jax frantically pats with window as if trying to catch someone’s attention.

“Jax—”

“It’s Hank...but, but, but how is that possible? Jimmy…the neck…his eyes are red!”

“Whose eyes?”

“Hank’s eyes are red and drool is coming out of his mouth.”

Suddenly, Jax turned his head startled. “The banging on the door has started again. It’s keeping in rhythm with Finch’s knocking. Bang. Bang. Bang.”

“Who’s knocking on the door, Jax?”

“I don’t kn…It’s Jimmy.” Jax took a slight step back. “H-he’s pushed Finch’s head down more to look into the window, right at me.” Jax took more steps backwards but stumbled and fell onto the floor. His eyes never left the door. “He’s laughing at me.” Jax whispered, his face white as a sheet. “F-Finch?” He asked almost hopefully. “Fin…”

Jax froze again.

“Jax, what is happening?”

“…Finch…he is looking at me too. He…he’s laughing. His eyes…his eyes.” Jax choked.

“What’s wrong with his eyes?”

“…They’re red too.”

A small sob came from Jax. “I’m sorry man. I’m so—” Suddenly, he gasped and his eyes went wide.

“What is it Jax? What do you see?”

Jax shook his head slowly. “…face…”

“Face? You saw a face?

Jax started rocking back and for the again.

“Jax, what did this face look like? Was it Hank’s face?...Finch’s face?...Jimmy’s face?...Jax? Jax are you listening to me? Jax…” the woman let out an exasperated sigh. “Let’s get him back to his room. I think that’s all we can do for today.”

Suddenly, Jax stood up and walked right to the camera and held it up to his face. His red rimmed eyes were now apparent and intensely bloodshot, as if he hadn’t slept for weeks. But they were steady. Calm even. “The humans have returned. The experiments can begin again, and we are thirsty for blood.”

Then he smiled.

8:15pm, Thursday

“Sir, I’m ha—” Gary whispered as he gracefully entered the room.

“Where did you get the recording?”

“There are all in the public records. Anyone can access them if one knows where to look.”

“But you have more, I assume.”

Gary hesitated. “…This is all you need to know”

General Shaw cracked a knuckle. “Exactly how much other data have you collected?”

“If I told you, you would break the plausible deniability safeguard.”

General Shaw pursed his lips. How long had Gary really had the information? “Do we know what got them?”

“No.” Gary looked disappointed. “But I am looking into the situation.”

“Then you do have more on this.”

Gary hesitated again. “…possibly.”

General Shaw snorted the air out of his nose. “Possibly?”

“Let me put it this way: I believe I have found a way to cut the PC Bracket costs from researching this incident more. However, I do not believe it is the time yet to show you everything.”

“Oh, you believed it would be better. But last time I checked, you weren’t General of Gavi Quintar.”

“No, I am not. But this is what you pay me for, is it not?” Gary asked, his eyes sharp and unyielding.

“…It is.”

“Then with all due respect Sir, let me do my job.”

General Shaw’s fingers drummed slowly on the desk.

One…

Two…

One…

Two…

“Fine. But I want weekly updates on your progress.”

“Of course, General.” Gary drew out the last word, his piercing blue eyes never leaving Shaw’s.

“Dismissed.” There was an air of smugness about Gary that made General Shaw narrow his eyes. What is he planning…?