Kael blinked, his newly acquired Night Vision turning the darkness of Stairwell Beta into a dimly lit shape and edge. He saw the emergency ladder going down to the depths below, the corroded metal walls, even the few multi-legged crawlers that would have been entirely missed by his naked eye.
Asha: "Night Vision protocol active. Your visual in low-light spectrums is now operating at 75% above the human baseline. This should reduce some of the hazards presented by the current widespread power failure. The Stealth skill will also assist in avoiding unnecessary confrontations."
Kael nodded, with a grateful look on his power. "That's a relief, I..I thought I would just walk into pitch dark." As he scratched his head, with a wide nervous smile. The HUD still pulsed in warning against any movement of his limbs.
[PAIN DEBUFF: -15% to Perception, Agility, Dexterity]
[Left Calf Mobility: Critically Impaired]
He started to descend down the ladder, testing each step before giving his weight. His movements were sluggish by his injuries into the dark. But his new sight helped him bypass the rotting metal and loose sections. The air turned much colder below, heavy with an odor... faint, but strong, burnt smell.
Kael (whispering, his breath misting in the sudden chill): "Asha, what's that smell? Smells like… like burning wires."
Asha: "I am detecting elevated particulate matter consistent with long-term electrical arcing and ozone buildup, most probably a smog. Sub-Level Engineering housed significant power conduits."
Kael: "Hmmm" as he scratched the back of his head confused, and continued on his path.
Arriving at the bottom, Night Vision gave the view of green lights.
Sub-Level Engineering. A big room with big machines, thick with dust and cobwebs. Broken conduits sparked feebly in the distance. Here, the constant sound of geothermal power grew dim under the eerie silence of the area.
Kael (whispering, looking around in unease): "Asha… this place is huge! What was all this machinery about?" As he holds his pipe tightly, scanning the surroundings.
Asha: "This is Sub-Level Engineering, Kael. It housed the auxiliary power generation systems for Cryo-Vault Terminus, including the Auxiliary Fusion Core we seek. It also contained advanced fabrication workshops for manufacturing daily essentials, it also powered the oxygen processing units that needed breathable air for the dwellers of this Vault. And a geothermal heat pump to generate electricity or heat, this place is the heart of this Vault, it is designed to keep it operational for centuries, even millennia."
Kael holds the cold, dusty railing. It was supposed to be functional for over a thousand years but it had failed in just over one century. He thought of the Vault dwellers from the mess hall.
Kael: "So, what happened to everyone the people who live here" As he scratched his head. "If the Vault was supposed to keep everyone safe… why is it just… us left?"
Asha: "The 'Sunflare Scorch' and the 'Crawler Plague' were cataclysms of extraordinary scale. The Vault's outer defenses were designed to withstand significant environmental and radiological events that sustained solar bombardment combined with hyper-virulent pathogens. My fragmented data indicates several breaches occurred within the first decade of post-disaster."
Kael: "You mean… things got in?"
Asha: "Affirmative. Perhaps the VHNDS virus found its way into the general population of the Vault before full cryo-stasis were achieved for all designated personnel. The Records I found are chaotic, but they speak of rapidly spreading infection within the Vault, and desperate brutal, quarantine measures."
He imagined the scenes: people he might have known, turning into those… things Asha had described.
Kael: "So, the mutations they could have happened here inside the Vault, to the people who didn't get into the pods fast enough?"
Asha: "That is a high probability, Kael. The VHNDS virus was the primary mutagenic agent for the 'Crawler Plague' transformation. However, prolonged exposure to radiation within the Vault over the last century, combined with potential interactions with unknown biological agents that may have leaked in from the 'Great Bloom' on the surface. That could lead to… other forms of mutation among any who survived the initial pandemic."
A shivering chill washed down Kael's spine. From the constituents of Sub-Level Engineering, he looked through into the widths of dim darkness, with his new Night Vision picking unnerving shapes far away.
Kael: "So, we could find… more than just broken machines down here."
Asha: "It is a statistical likelihood. The Auxiliary Fusion Core control room should be located on the central platform, approximately 60 meters from your current position. However, I am now detecting… anomalies."
Kael: "Asha, your 'anomalies' usually mean things that want to eat me." He gripped his pipe tighter, his new Stealth skill helped him conceal his presence, despite his injured leg
[Stealth Lv. 1: Noise generated by movement reduced by 10%.]
Asha: "My apologies. I am detecting localized energy signatures that are irregular with the Vault's standard operational parameters. There are… multiple biological readings and they are not the typical rat-variants."
Kael froze. His Night Vision scanned the vast chamber. He could see the central platform in the middle of the huge room connected by walkways. And near that platform, there's a huge reinforced blast door – presumably leading to the core itself, but he seems to see something move on it.
Kael (his voice is a shocked whisper): "Asha… what is that, Are those… people?"
Their movements were unnatural. Even in the Night Vision, he could see their limbs stretched too long, their bodies strangely twisted. Some were clustered around the blast door, clawing at it, making those strange, guttural sounds that he'd heard faintly from the barricaded section earlier.
Asha: "Negative, Kael. Their basic genetic structure is human, but they are extremely mutated. My archives have some fragmented data before the disaster lengthwise on Project Chimera test subjects and VHNDS mutation severity that resulted in sustained-bipedal form. These entities have maximum aggression feature, and no visible cognitive function. They are like what archival data called 'Shamblers' – from a virus, not radiation."
On his HUD, new threat indicators appeared:
[THREAT DETECTED: VHNDS Shambler x7 (Clustered - Central Platform)]
[THREAT DETECTED: VHNDS Shambler x3 (Patrolling Walkways)]
Kael: "Like..from the zombie movies?" He felt a chill that had nothing to do with the temperature. They used to be people from this Vault.
Asha: "They are the original inhabitants of this Vault, those who could not make it to cryo-stasis, or those who have had cataclysmic awakening failures and have been infected by the virus during the long years of decay. They are attracted to energy signatures or sounds and the presence of living biological matters."
Three Shamblers on the way to the door, and then seven more clawing at it. A bad stroke of luck, he thought. He had better get to that door soon; the stasis pod timer read [00:05:30].