“Follow then.” The hissing creatures speak.


A bright light emits from them, leading us toward what we would only hope is the lab. We are placing our trust into the very beings we fear. It may not be logical, but it is the best chance we have at reaching project purity.


I have no idea how the others are thinking. Mia may be still cautious. My gut tells me something is wrong with where we are going. Maybe its how we are going there. I keep myself ready, who knows how anything can happen at this rate.


We enter a cavern looking wall, but the entrance has a door, nothing like from our days. It looks like it was once a mechanical piece of a solid building. Like some of the ones that i hear about are in the californex region. The metal slides open for us, following this abyssal thing.


“I think maybe we could call these things abyssals, after the abyss they live in.” I say in the comms.


Nobody makes a comment about it. Perhaps they feel it is too early to come up with a name for those creatures. I feel as if this name will be fitting.


I enter the cavernous place, many ancient relics lay ripe for the taking. However, we are here for just one relic. We are here for the legend of Project Purity. I can see some of the abyssal beings gather the relics and clear us a path to another room, which they call Research And Development.


The cavernous feeling building is full of plants and vegetation, leaving a bit of a musky odour in the air. I suppose that’s to be expected even in our armour sets. But, if these creatures are aware of us already, it makes me wonder who else tried to retrieve Project Purity since the old world got bombed out of existence.


I can’t figure it out for sure. There seems to be a certain feeling in the are that reminds me of me and Mia being in Old Boston’s ruins. There’s a feeling of uncertainty in the air.


Our crew all light up their headlamps to be able to see easier. I personally keep skimming over the entire room for signs of movement. God knows whats lurking in this place. It could be anything, as the surface itself can be rather unforgiving.


“Keep calm and sweep the area.” Timerus speaks quietly.


“Roger” Mia replies over the comms.


We walk along the main hallways to be able to access the main computer storage mainframe. I can’t help but feel uneasy while following the abyssal. I find some determination while facing the idea an abyssal is our guide.


I can’t help but be checking over my shoulder every moment we spend in this lab. Our group continually brings more and more stuff into the area where we first entered the building as we all take our own ways to find project purity. The pressure begins to settle into my gut. There’s a quiet tension in the air.


I walk along a corridor to scout resources that we would be able to provide the settlements with, starting with New Boston. In this light, my headlamp is about the only way I’d ever be able to see this ancient place. Old computers, desks, papers and chairs alike scatter about the rooms as i peer through the doorways.


When I complete the sweep of this floor with the others, it seems like we are gathering up a fair bit of different kinds of salvage. From old tech, to various containers of supplies. Some supplies are as simple as glue, while others are old and tattered first aid kits, which provide next to nothing that we could still make use of. Various containers of rubbing alcohol seems to be the best thing to come from those first aid kits.


“At least we’re making some progress in the regards of medical supplies.” Mia sighs as she brings in another first aid kit.


“Well, we’ve still got the rest of the building to go through to find Project Purity.” Timerus pipes up. “The building was probably much bigger.” He adds.


“Well, I think so too. The building we got to deal with back in Old Boston was multiple floors. I figure this one can’t be too different. The old world seems to have been inspired by tall structures.” I say.


“Perhaps. So we should start by seeing if there is any lower of a place to this building.” Timerus suggests.


“Good idea.” Mia says in agreement.


We all take a walk around the area. We move slow and steady. I keep an eye over my shoulder periodically, when I come to realize.


“What happened to that thing that lead us here?” I ask.


“Thats.. actually a good question.” Mia replies almost immediately.


We all take a moment to scan around the area. We continue to head for a door marked ‘EXIT’. We all stack around the door. Timerus nods to me and Mia.


I open the door and take the lead into the stairwell. We have no sign of the creature that led us inside of this place. We start making our way into the depths of the building. As soon as we hit the bottom of the stairwell, we head through a rusted door into a large room with dim lighting.


I scan over the room we just entered, the gray walls almost taunting me and reminding me just how far from the surface of the badlands we are. The building groans and some dust falls free from the ceiling. We fan out across the room as distant hisses can be heard.


“I think we may need more people down here..” I mutter, hardly even speaking my thoughts.


“That’s something we can’t exactly afford to pull off.” Timerus responds from the other side of the room, looking down a hallway. “Any signs of a room for experimental tech? Or maybe even testing?” He adds his questions in.


“Well, there are a couple of doors down here labeled ‘restricted’.” Mia says, waving a hand to gesture down another hallway.


“This place feels like a maze.” I say with a flat tone.


We all stay fairly close together. The quiet hum of our armour sets is all that fills the air. Everything seems like it’s far too quiet.


“Wonder if Private Moore is getting any more luck on their end.” Timerus breaks the silence between us.


“Perhaps. But overall, everyone is mostly going to be making trips to bring the stuff we find to the surface.” Mia says.


We head into the corridor that Mia had pointed out earlier. Warnings and caution symbols are all over this corridor. We head up to a door that has a bright red label on it reading ‘Restricted Area’. This could very well be the place we need to scout out in order to find Project Purity.


I go to open the door, but it’s either blocked on the other side or even locked. I sigh and Mia and Timerus exchange looks, as if they’re waiting for the other to come up with a course of action. I shift my weight as I wonder what our next steps should be.


“So, it’s either locked or barricaded... what now?” I ask.


“Well, we have a couple options.” Mia says. “We could always rig it with explosives and pray the building doesn’t just collapse. We could also try kicking that door open, the armour sets we’re in do have a hydraulics system that may give us the extra force we’d need.” Mia explains the rest of her ideas.


“Well, I think we should start by trying to kick it open with our armour. If that fails then we can worry about rigging the door with explosives.” Timerus speaks up, his tone suggests he is considering both options.


“Well, let’s see what this armour can do then.” I speak with a bit of excitement.


I line myself against the seam of the door. I take a step back use the controls on my gauntlet to engage the hydraulics of the armour. I only hope that the armour is strong enough to break the door open.


I lunge my foot for the door, my armour hisses as the pressure builds up with the swing of my foot. The door clangs and the echo lingers with a metallic ring in the air. I lean back and notice its merely dented the door inwards.


“I guess that answers that.” I scoff after I speak.


“Okay, so then I’ll head up and send out for explosives to be brought in.” Timerus says.


“Sounds like a plan.” Mia nods as she agrees with Timerus’ statement.


Timerus head back and goes upstairs. Me and Mia stand at the door. I can’t help but be excited and nervous all at once.


“What do you think is in there?” I ask Mia.


“If we’re lucky, Project Purity. If we’re not lucky... only God knows what’s on the other side of this door.” She replies.