In Somnis Veritas

[Manticore]

ID: UNKNOWN
Location: UNKNOWN

The nameless woman stood for a moment in stunned disbelief as she looked at the body in front of her. She wasn’t sure if he was dead or simply unconscious, but he had clearly wanted to do the same to her. The syringe still in her hand gave no clue, as it was unmarked and still contained only a trace of clear liquid. Carefully, she slipped it back into the man’s front pocket.

She walked into the room he had been in originally. It was dark, save for the light of an active console in the corner. She walked over to it, seeing it was still logged-in. She quickly paged through several items that didn’t make much sense to her, until she found the last message that the console had deposited into the system – less than an hour earlier.

- - -

To: Valhalla Command
Comm ID: Specialist Tankersley, Sub-Basement Beta Team
Subject: Finding of Interest

Sirs,

Doctor Lockard and I have been working alone down here for the last two weeks, and I believe we’ve finally come across something worthwhile. This morning, she came back and reported that she’d found something out of the ordinary in a small annex about half a klick into the complex. She wasn’t very specific about what it was, exactly, but she did indicate it was significant. She went back to study it a bit more and will submit a detailed report about it after finishing the last few hours of her shift.

Expect a report from her soon along with my own report when my next shift begins six hours from now.

Tankersley

- - -

Was she this Dr. Lockard? It seemed likely, given how the man she assumed must have been Tankersley had addressed her as “Doctor”. Yet the name meant nothing to her.

She found nothing else of note on the console, but she did find a small handgun in the room. There was nothing else worthwhile in the room, so she proceeded back out into the hall. She entered the room across the hall, and discovered immediately that it was Lockard’s – her? – personal quarters.

The room was spartan in appearance, with little in the way of furniture. A small bed occupied one corner, an inactive console was on the opposite wall, and a small dresser was next to it. She wasn’t able to access the console, but the dresser had a small book in one drawer, along with a small keychain with an ID and several keycards on it. She opened the book, and saw that it was a small journal, filled with notes on a variety of topics. She decided to look through it in more detail later.

The ID, however, was far more interesting. It had a picture of her on it, at least the same person she’d seen in the mirror, and said “Ageira Technologies, Valhalla Division” along the top. At the bottom it clearly said, “Doctor Rebecca Lockard”. It seemed she was, in fact, this Dr. Lockard. Rebecca? Once again the name echoed in her head, without a spark of recognition. She palmed the keychain and went back into the hallway.

The other two doors were locked, with no key in sight, so she proceeded to the end of the hall and called the lift. The lift pinged that it had arrived, but the doors didn’t open. It was then that she saw a place to swipe an ID card, so she swiped the card in her hand and the door opened.

Inside the elevator was a panel with a huge number of choices. She was in Sub-Basement Beta, and there were several other sub-basements, basements, and such. There were even full floors dedicated to living quarters and office space. There didn’t seem to be any kind of ground floor level, but there was a flight deck level, and that seemed the most likely way out the facility.

She still didn't know what was going on, but what she did know was that she needed to leave this place… wherever it was… and soon. Based on the reaction of the only other man she’d seen, she didn’t imagine it would be easy, but she had no interest in hanging around to find out what these people wanted from her.

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