Entering the armory was very eerie. It was completely silent inside, even with night vision, I first looked for the light switches.
The place was huge, massive steel shelves lined up in rows, each shelf holding dozens of crates with who knows what. Curious, I grabbed a crate on the lowest shelf and opened it. I didn't really know what I was looking at. Some weird cylinders with buttons and gizmos on it. Grabbing one of them and the piece of paper attached, turns out they're grenades. grenades with a very high package, as in melting the armor off a tank kinda package.
This is terrifying to hold. Like if I just turned this switch, and clicked this button, then BOOM! I'd be a goner. Haha, I should put this away.
Valuing my life, I carefully set it back into the box and slowly closed the container before continuing my little tour.
I made sure to go through all the boxes on the ground floor. Finding lots of cool stuff like guns, more bombs, MRE's which I snagged a few and stuffed them in my bag and all sorts of crazy stuff.
"Hm?"
What is that? Looks kinda like a person sitting there.
Woah!
My eyes zoomed in, very closely, until the face of a skull filled my vision. Startled, I looked away, only to feel dizzy from still being zoomed in. I stood still for a bit until my eyes adjusted to normal, guess that's one more thing to get used to.
I then walked up to the skeleton and kneeled down in front of it. Dressed in a military uniform with lots of medals, this man is, or now was someone of high rank.
This feels... complicated? Is that the right word for this?
I don't feel scared as I thought I would at being in front of an actual corpse of a dead man. Instead, I feel... relief.
Ever since waking up, there has been no one. Not even corpses when there was clearly a battle that happened.
Maybe... I'm not as alone as I thought. Maybe I might find someone! A living breathing human being. Deciding to see if the man had anything on him, I checked his pockets but found nothing. Lets see, a name tag. Greyfield?
"So we finally meet, General. I went through your desk, and your computer. I hope you don't mind. By the way, you forgot to put a password on it, and I took your revolver. Though it seems you won't be needing it anymore given your current state."
"..."
"What the hell am I doing?"
Standing up, I left the armory. Am I so messed up in the head that I'm talking to a skeleton?
Whatever, best to check out the command center, see what still works in this base.
...
...
Far away, a castle which should have been abandoned years ago, still had life in it. Inside, was a completely different atmosphere from the outside. While the outside looked ruined with nature reclaiming its walls, the inside was clean and neatly organized with fancy looking furniture and decorations. Clearly someone had put great thought into decorating this place.
And on a chair that resembled a throne more than anything else, sat a beautiful pale blonde woman with curly hair that reached down her back, and on her head, a small silver crystalline crown.
Though the throne gave a feeling of authority, she sat in a perfect posture. Or would have, if her head didn't constantly waver as she tried to stay awake. Her eyes would close and her head would lean down, only to catch herself in the next second and straighten herself out.
"YOUR HIGHNESS!!"
The grand doors to the throne room slammed open. The woman sitting elegantly on the throne, startled by the noise, nearly fell off the throne before catching herself and quickly making sure she was presentable.
"C-Chime? What is the matter, to be in such haste?" The woman on the throne said.
"Your highness, look!" The small figure in a futuristic yellow and white armor displayed a tablet screen before her king.
The king looked at the screen before tilting her head. "What am I looking at?"
"Its a distress signal your highness!"
"Ah... yes." Crown folded her hands in her lap as if nothing unusual had happened. "I recognized it at once. I simply wished to hear your assessment first."
"As expected of your highness!"
"So, where is it coming from?"
"It seems to be coming from an old military installation, a bit of a distance from here. Its also quite far from the Ark, so the possibility of a team sent from there is highly unlikely. This is most likely a trap."
Crown stayed silent for a moment as her mind wandered, then spoke up. "If it is a trap, it would be rude to turn down this invitation." She rose from her throne.
"Your highness, are we going? But we'll be leaving the castle undefended!"
Crown placed her hand on Chime's shoulder, "it is alright Chime, we won't be gone for too long."
...
...
Got to give it to the military, they certainly spent their money well on these chairs. Even after so many years of decay, they are very comfortable to sit on, and the wheels on the bottom still work.
Anyway, it seems this base is a lot more automated then I thought. I just read some pages in a manual, clicked a few buttons, and a bunch of drones started flying around. Seems they are in charge of repairing the place. With this cool tablet I found, I can control the working systems of the base, all from here.
So I just let the drones do their thing while I sit here and read my manga, spinning in my chair.
"Ooo... Wha-! How does it fit inside? Its so big... very unrealistic, but-"
Suddenly, a sharp, stabbing headache hit my brain. I winced, dropping my manga and clutching my head. It felt like a burst of static and muffled noise is being played on a loud speaker right next to my ear!
Then it vanished, leaving a noticeable dull throb. Do I have migraines? Fuck.
Beep Beep Beep
Hm?
On the main console, a bright red light was blinking furiously.
Getting close to it, I wasn't able to see what it was for since the screen next to it was busted. Well, times like these call for the MANUAL!
Grabbing the thick book, I went to the table of contents, then flipped through the pages until I found something.
"A small incandescent bulb, designed to indicate something out of the ordinary, like a malfunction. Hm, I find it pretty and somewhat hypnotic."
"Mhm."
Using the manual, I smashed the bulb silencing it.
"Problemo solved. Now, back to my manga."
Boom
The whole room shook. Dust fell from the ceiling, and red emergency lights started flashing everywhere.
"WHAT DID I DO?!"