The Engineering of Death - Chapter 1
"Sadness over a bird killed, but no sadness over a fish killed. Lucky are those with voices." - Saitou Ryokuu
David E Relden
Chapter 1
"Hold on!" the pilot screamed into his microphone, the distortion hit David's ear making him cringe slightly. It was by all means a comfy flight if you ignore the fact that 3 passengers where crammed into a space designed for 2, the young man next to him held out a sweaty palm with a large grin on his face
"Hello there I am John, John Mitchell." David could only smile weakly as the helicopter shuddered slightly as it left the ground; he took the strangers hand and shook it strongly
"Hello John, My names David Relden." Letting Johns hand go he quickly looked back out the window at the quickly disappearing ground.
John looked forward for a few seconds before quickly turning back to David
"So ... why are you here?" John started fondling his hands and giving a bright blush. David looked back and John and smiled stronger this time
"Probably the same reason you are, I have been given a job." David then put his hand on Johns shoulder "Are you ok? You seem worried." John did not look like the scientific type, upon touching the young mans shoulder he got quite a shock at how much muscle could be felt. John was wearing a T-shirt with the words 'I am root' Pasted on the front which gave him a very geeky look, the T-shirt was pure black as where the cargo pants he was wearing.
John gave David a quick glance before looking forward again
"So what kind of job are you here for?" The American accent made the poor Australian almost laugh; he decided to let the topic change happen
"I am a genetics specialist, Gen corp gave me this letter a few days ago promising me a big wage. They seemed sketchy on the details but said all would be explained later, I was then given the details on where this helicopter was going to be. So here I am, how about you? You seem like someone who is more suited to bouncing than anything else."
John smiled very wide "Well, I am a network engineer that's fresh from collage. I came home after graduation to find this letting in my mail box much the same as yours and so here I am." David chuckled slightly
"I should have guessed from your T-Shirt" His made John look down and blush brightly. Neither of them noticed the female, she was the third passenger and looked out the window the whole time. John turned to her holding out the same palm with a wider smile
"Hello, I a..." he was cut off quickly when she hit his hand away and leaned over him
"LISTEN you little twerp, leave me alone!!!!" John quickly leaned against David who was also leaning away from the woman; she quickly turned back to the window.
The rest of the flight had David looking out his window while John was leaning against him trying to get further away from the scary person next to him. The woman was by no means ugly, she was very erotic in fact but she also had muscles that looked like they could tear you in half without even thinking about it.
"We are close to our destination, please hold on as we descend!" once again the distortion made David's ears ring as the helicopter started its decent into the middle of a forest, after a few seconds a small landing pad could be seen.
The helicopter landed smoothly, the pilots voice spoke again "Welcome to A-Tech, David Relden this is your stop, when you exit the helicopter please keep your head low." With that David opened the door, jumped out and quickly got away from the helicopter. The pad was not very big at all but the edges had a very tall fence, suspecting they where to keep wild animals out he turned to the only door in sight. He quickly looked back as the helicopter took off leaving him alone on the pad, after watching the helicopter fly out of sight he turned his attention back to the door and trudged over to it. The door was heavy and thick but surprisingly easy to open, inside was nothing but a stair case leading down and around a corner. With no where else to go he slowly started walking down the stairs.
The amount of care he took seemed almost stupid, for some reason he felt like each corner had a different surprise just ready to jump out at him. The staircase went on for more steps that he dared count but he kept on telling himself that this corner was the last. After what seemed like hours he finally came to the end but to his luck it was just another big metal door, as he opened the rusty door he silently prayed that he would not have to walk back up the stairs.
The next room was pure white, every wall; every bit of furniture was this one plain white. Letting his eyes adjust to the light change he stumbled through the door which was also white on this side, once his blinking finished he was able to look around the room fully. One seat which was located opposite the one plain desk was the only thing in this room, feeling out of place he sat on the chair in the hopes something would happen.
He constantly looked at his watch as one hour passed, then another, and another, the feeling for something to read had already passed but the feeling of getting up and leaving was held back by the fact that there was a lot of stairs. 'God' he thought to himself, giving his cheeks a few quick slaps to wake him up he stood and quietly walked to the desk. The sounds of his footsteps bounced around the room, this made him shiver as he had been used to no noise for so long.
Giving his forehead a quick hit he looked at the note on the desk which he had missed, the note had a few simple words that could have helped him avoid this long wait. The words said 'Press button under desk for attention, "FUCK!!!" he yelled to no one as he moved behind the desk and spied the button. As he practically punched the button the wall behind him slid open to reveal an elevator, very slowly turning he held in so many words that would have been appropriate but non the less he stepped into the elevator as calm as he could be.
The door closed behind him without a single sound except for the 'click' as the doors fully closed, "OH GOD, now what" the elevator was bare, no buttons no nothing but this time he was looking.
The silver walls of the elevator left no clues as to what he was suppose to do, it took a few minutes but a panel on wall that was invisible before slid to the side, a very clean black screen on the other side. The screen flickered slightly, the image turning into that of a man. The man did not look normal though, his white hair was uncombed, his gaze seemed to pierce into his soul and look through all his sins.
The man smiled after chuckling very softly, his teeth almost perfectly white but the same could not be said for his skin, the effects of old age and gravity making his skin wrinkle.
"We where starting to wonder if you had gone missing, you have already missed the main speech, I will send you to my office, we will talk there." And before he could respond the panels slid back into place, the folds of metal fitting together so well that there were no visible lines.
The elevator moved suddenly but not in a normal way, it felt as if it was moving forward, then as suddenly as it started it stopped and started to move down. Sickness started to his stomache as the elevator finally stopped, as the doors opened he practically fell out, the room in front of him was in lack of a better word, huge. The thin lane like carpet snaked its way through at least 20 different skeletons, as he walked down the carpet he found skeletons he could recognise and some he could not. The few he could where mainly dinosaurs or other large animals, a few here he could easily see where Megaforna of some kind but as there was some he knew there was some he did not know. Each one looked human like but where different in some way, the tailbone was too big or the rib cage was either missing or only half there. The skulls of these bones were just as interesting, the nose hole was too big or the back of the skull was too large.
At the end of all this there was one desk, books and papers towering on either side, in the middle there was a man, his head facing the desk in reading.
"Ummm .... Excuse me?" The face suddenly looked up and smiled, it was the man on the monitor in the elevator, those teeth once again showing.
"No excuse me, I should have sent someone looking for you, sorry. Now, let's get off on the right foot shall we?" The man's grin disappearing as he grabbed a joystick on the chair, a slight whirr of an electric engine filled the room as the chair turned, and moved around the desk. Once the man's body came into view his eyes looked at his legs then the man's face, his legs where completely gone, that smile once again on the face.
"My name is Marshall, and you must be David?" Marshall held out a weak looking hand. David just nodded and shook the hand that was offered.
"You are quite correct Marshall, I am sorry for being late."
After a short nod by Marshall the chair once again turned, moving back behind the desk and pointing to a seat which David took without a second thought. Marshall put his hands on the desk and sighed
"Well, how shall I begin? Let me break down what the others heard, I can only guess you do not want to sit here and listen to the hour long talk." David just guessed that the man in front of him did not want to tell it either. David just nodded and smiled the best he could
"You seem like a busy man, I will not keep you any longer than you want." David once again nodded and Marshall nodded with him.
"Well to tell you the truth, you have a decision to make. I will only tell you exactly what the job is until you say you will take it." David went to but in but Marshall just held up his hand. "Now I know this may seem drastic but let me explain. The research and development we do here is on a very need to know basis, it is actually illegal where we are right now but we are plainly too far under ground for anyone to find out. Now once you accept I will tell you what your job is, your payment and where to go. We have made an underground city for all our workers to live and work in, the reason for this will come apparent in time. You will be living in this city every day for as long as your contract lasts. Once that contract finishes we will give you the payment owed, all your debts and such will be payed by us as you live here. We will make sure your house is looked after and that all the bills are payed. You must leave any items of identification here including your keys, money and any cards you may have on your person." Marshall sighed and looked at David rather sorry "I am sorry to give such strict guidelines but it must be done, you must also sign a non disclosure statement, but this will be enforced by the penalty of death, as I said this will all become apparent in time." David looked at Marshall rather stunned, this was a big ask but he had no life anywhere, he was desperate for a job and all his family had recently passed away.
David looked like he was in deep thought, finally breaking out of it and nodding.
"I will accept I am desperate for a job and if it means I must be stuck here for a few years then so be it." Marshall looked overjoyed, quickly opening a draw and pulling out what looked like a small book.
"This is your contract, you may read it but I can tell you exactly what it say's now if you want?" David looked at the book and just nodded to Marshall. "Well, the contract basically states that you will live in the underground city for no less than 5 years, you also will not tell any living soul where this place is, what is in here or what goes on in here, if you tell anyone we are there by aloud to kill you at any time. Once again I am sorry but what goes on here must be kept a secret." David nodded and held the pen to the line, thinking for a second before signing.
He sighed and signed on the line, putting the pen down and looking Marshall in the face.
"What now?" Marshall simply pointed back to the elevator.
"That will take you where you need to go; I hope to hear from you soon. Now if you will excuse me, I need to get a few things done. Oh, and welcome to the family." David nodded and walked back to the elevator, getting a little edgy with all the large skeletons.
He stepped into the elevator and the doors almost instantly shut behind him, but unlike last time the elevator started to move by itself. Marshall's face appeared on the monitor again, but this time a seat appeared under it. Marshall pointed down, a slight grin on his face.
"David, you will have to strap yourself in this seat, this next part is pretty rough." David just smirked and sat down, strapping on the harness. He couldn't see Marshall's face anymore, but he could still hear him.
"Are you ready David?" David merely held up his thumb.
The elevator stopped, holding still for a few seconds then suddenly it seemed to drop. It seemed to be gaining speed; if it wasn't for the hardness David would probably be on the roof, the straps digging into his skin slightly. The fall continued for around 30 seconds and then seemed to slow, the slowdown took around another 30 seconds, leaving David stunned.
The elevator door opened, a man standing there looking at David with a smile on his face. 'Everyone seems to be happy here' David thought to himself, the man motioned for David to get out of the chair and said
"Welcome home sir, if you would follow me, we can get you into the city." David started to get a little worried, he didn't really like this place right now, and something was telling him he wasn't at the bad part yet. He took the harness off, stepping off the chair and following the man.
The man was leading him down a long narrow corridor, he was in a white shirt with white pants, this guy could have almost coloured the corridor, which was also pure white with black edges on the roof and floor. The corridor took a left turn; there in front of him was a large black door, a large bolt keeping it secure. The man slid the bolt across, the door giving a large clunk and slowly opening.
The room looked like a bunch of lockers from here, but this was all he could see through the door. The man motioned for David to go through the door, almost holding the door open.
"We have recently labelled a locker for you sir, please find it and put the clothes you find on, leaving anything you have on your person in the locker. You will not need money nor any kind of cards." David nodded and stepped through the door.
The room was quite small, not a single soul in the room. The door behind him suddenly closed, making him jump and the sound of the bolt sliding across the door signalled he was locked in. He looked to his left and sore another door, then he looked at how many lockers there where, at least 100 where there. On closer inspection he found them to be in alphabetical order, so he followed the lockers until he came to one with his name, bold black letters on a white background.
He opened the locker and found what he was told there would be, one full lab coat, a white t-shirt and white pants. There was a little tag on his coat, the same bold letters on the same white background. The tag had 'David Relden' on one line, then 'Outside Recruitment' on the next, and on the last line 'Stat Level 10'. All this made no sense, but he put it on anyway, stripping down to nothing and slipping on the clothes.
He put his wallet and clothes in the locker, sighing and looking over himself, the white looked good on him and he had never seen any coat as white as this one. There was not a bit of dust or dirt, no loose ends just perfect stitching and perfect cloth. He closed the locker, walking to the only place he could think of, the next door. The door was just a normal wooden door, so he put his hand on the handle and opened it, jumping when once again, there was a man standing on the other side of it.
The man nodded and pointed to a seat, it wasn't anything special, just a normal seat. David moved to the seat and sat, looking at the mans tag, 'Simon Banks' Was on the first line, 'Inside Recruitment' was on the second, and the last had 'Stat level 35'. Looking at the tag made David think highly of himself, he was a higher number, even though he didn't know what it meant. The man sat next to him, and started to talk.
"What you see in a minute, will most likely shock you, scare you but please, nothing in here will hurt you. Just remember, the next thing you see will not hurt you, it will not attack you. It will help you, or should I say, she will help you." David nodded and blinked a few times.
"So, I am guessing what I see will not be normal by my standards, you say she will not hurt me as if she is an animal." Simon chuckled softly
"If only you knew how right you where." David gave him a look of confusion, the man stood and walked towards the bend in the corridor, motioning for David to follow. David stood and followed, this corridor was the same as the last, white with black edges. David turned the corner and sore a clear door, he could easily see through it and sore it was a small room, more like someone had put 2 doors on the corridor to separate the 2 parts. The man stood behind a control panel and pressed a few buttons, the first door sliding open.
The man pointed to the small room. "Now sir, if you would just enter the purifier we will get started." David nodded and stepped through the door, his feet hitting a steel grate, he stood in the centre of the room as the door he came through closed. A speaker crackled and the man spoke
"Please stand in the centre, you will be blasted with a special liquid, then it will be blown off you, please close your eyes." David closed his eyes; a soft whir filled the room then the sound of water, getting louder.
Suddenly he was blasted on all angles, covering his entire body in weird liquid. It felt like plastic, but moved over his body like water. The liquid stayed on his body for a few seconds, then he was suddenly blasted with air and the liquid seemed to disappear, the water didn't run of him, it more just disintegrated.
The speaker crackled again, "Sir, you may open your eyes" David opened his eyes, the door on the other side opening. David stepped through the door; he looked to his right just as he heard someone hum to his left. He turned his head and fell to his right, looking at the figure, his falling seemed to startle it as well because it turned and looked at him with wide eyes.
The figure was wearing a white coat, just like his but one major difference, its head, was covered in black hair. When it looked at him he nearly fainted, the head of it practically identical to a panther, only its lips looked a little more flexible. It held out a hand or paw as it would seem, the paw covered in black fur except for some pads, other than 5 fingers it could have been a panther paw. The figure looked at him with green eyes, holding out a paw for him, and then something he would never have guessed happened, it said
"I, am so sorry, I was lost in thought."