Classified Ministry of Defense Research Facility, Rangerville Crater, Tuesday, May 11, 2021, 7:40 PM
"I'm having second thoughts about this," Dylan said.
"I can't imagine why," Molly quipped.
Honestly, she hadn't expected they'd get this far. Driving out into the desert, she'd been certain they'd be stopped by MoD guards long before they got close to the crater.
Of course, she hadn't been crazy enough to just drive up to the Army base and ask to see their secret lab. They'd bounced along a back road, circling the crater until it was mostly between them and the base. The hike from where they'd parked had been a bit rough, but not as bad as she'd feared.
Now they were here, just outside the notorious Rangerville secret lab. Molly could see signs of the rumored explosion all around, in the wrecked fences and damaged building. Despite her confidence, Molly had to admit Dylan had a point.
"I mean, we could get arrested or something... couldn't we," Dylan said.
"Yeah," Molly admitted. "That's assuming they don't just shoot us."
"You're not making me feel better," Dylan said.
"The thing is, if they were going to do any of that, I would have expected them to do it by now," Molly continued. "Do you see any guards?"
"What? Guards!? Where?" Dylan looked around panicked.
"There aren't any. That's my point," Molly said. "Either this place is completely unguarded, or we just can't see the security... in which case, they've already seen us."
"So, either we're fine or we're already screwed?" Dylan said, a bit more calmly.
"Yup," Molly nodded. "We may as well keep going, either way."
"More of those strange plants," Molly pointed out quietly, as they approached the main building.
"Yeah, they're all around out here," Dylan said. "I thought they were some kind of desert plant that bloomed in the spring... her bloom..."
"Whose bloom?" Molly asked, distracted as she looked around for the guards she was sure would be swooping down any moment.
"I just remembered more of what Jess said last night," Dylan mused. "I think she said '...the beauty of her bloom.'"
"'Open your eyes to the beauty of her bloom,'" Molly said. "Whose bloom?"
"OK, so I've got to ask," Dylan said softly. "Where did you learn how to pick locks?"
"Ex-girlfriend," Molly smiled. "It was a crappy lock anyway. Typical MoD. Government contracts always go with the lowest bidder... and still no guards."
"I'm not complaining," Dylan pointed out.
"This place looks abandoned," Molly said, looking around. "I bet they cleared out right after the explosion. Let's have a look around."
"I think you're right," Dylan said. "They must have cleared everything out after the explosion."
They'd split up to search the lab. It had clearly been abandoned for weeks and there were definite signs that it had been done quickly. Quickly enough, Molly thought, that they'd left some things behind.
"They didn't clear this out," Molly said, gesturing to the working computer she'd found. "It looks like somebody started to wipe the hard drive, but they got interrupted."
"Is there anything useful on there?" Dylan asked.
"Maybe, if I can get into it," Molly said.
"So, you pick locks and hack government computers?" Dylan said. He looked both impressed and worried.
"Ex-girlfriend," Molly repeated. "The same one. I met Yuki in college. She was this really cool geek gamer girl and we kinda clicked. She was also already one of the top underground hackers around. She showed me a thing or two about computers... and other stuff. We moved in together after graduation. For a while I thought..."
"You thought?" Dylan prompted gently.
"Doesn't matter," Molly sighed. "What matters is that she showed me a few tricks that make MoD security protocols sit up and beg. If I can just remember them..."
"Gotcha!" Molly muttered a little while later. "Now what does that look like to you?"
"Engineering diagrams for kind of sealed environment," Dylan said, looking over her shoulder. "Like a clean room? No, it's too small."
"Some kind of containment unit?" Molly mused. "A controlled environment. Its own air supply, temperature controls... grow lights? What is this for?"
"Check out the file header," Dylan pointed out. "What's Project Orchid?"
"I saw a folder for that," Molly grinned. "Hang on. There we are. Project Orchid... password protected of course. Come on, beg for Molly."
"OK, you're a little scary right now," Dylan laughed.
"Come on," Molly muttered to herself. "Just like Snow taught me... Make her beg. Come on, beg for me you little bitch. I got you... I got you... What?! No! No no no... Shit!"
"That's... not good," Dylan sighed, as smoke started to rise from the computer.
"You think?!" Molly snarled. "What the hell? What kind of file security kills the entire computer?"
"The serious kind," Dylan said. "Speaking of which..."
"Now that is a big door," Molly said.
"I'm thinking they didn't go with the lowest bidder on this one?" Dylan said.
"Oh yeah, this is premium tech. Ours, actually," Molly said. "Well, FutureTech's. I recognize the design."
"Please tell me you worked on this," Dylan said.
"No such luck," Molly sighed. "Worse, I know the guys who did. I'm not picking this lock. We'd need a security card. Whatever is behind that, MoD is serious about keeping people out."
"Project Orchid," Dylan said.
"Yup," Molly said. "Let me get a couple of notes here. Maybe I can figure something out?"
They'd spent a little longer searching through the abandoned lab, gathering up scraps of documents, hastily scrawled notes and a couple of blurry photos of those strange plants.
No guards swept down on them. No alarms sounded. No one stopped them as they drove back to town. Whatever was hidden in that crater, MoD seemed confident that the security door would keep people out.
Molly had to admit, they weren't wrong. She knew the specs on that door. Without a keycard, it would be almost impossible to get through.
What the hell was going on in this town?
... and what's with these strange plants?
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