Classified Ministry of Defense Research Facility, Rangerville Crater, Monday, May 17, 2021, 6:10PM
"This is a remarkably uncomfortable suit," Lucius said. "Very difficult to move in."
Making the necessary adjustments to the hazmat suit filtration units had taken Molly most of the day. She'd had to call in a few favors from the fabrication team, while avoiding Bonnie of the Bounteous Bosom and Biobro Brian, both of whom had questions she wasn't prepared to answer.
Sneaking two modified hazmat suits out of the lab just couldn't be done. They were too bulky to hide, too obvious to be anything but what they were. In the end, she'd just walked out the front door with them. Likeable Lyric hadn't objected... unless the staccato chirps she'd exchanged with Lucius had been objections. He hadn't seemed worried, so Molly let it go.
No one had objected to the two of them lugging the suits across the crater and into the secret government lab either. Molly was beginning to seriously question the Army's security precautions. Maybe they just assumed no one would be stupid enough to try to break in... which, Molly felt, showed a major lack of appreciation for human stupidity.
"Just think of it as armor, Obi-Wan," Molly replied. "These suits should protect us from the spores. I hope."
"Only one way to know for sure," Lucius smiled.
"Right. Let's do this," Molly said, taking a deep breath.
Together, they stepped into the fog filled corridor. The dense purple cloud swirled around them as they walked in silence.
After a few paces, Molly realized she was holding her breath, waiting for something... anything... to happen. Finally, she forced herself to breathe. The air in her suit smelled of plastic and her own sweat, but thankfully not the pervasive sickly-sweet smell of the spores.
"Armor is actually more comfortable than this," Lucuis said casually, breaking the silence. "One can do cartwheels in a well-fitted suit of plate and mail."
"Know this from first-hand experience, do you?" Molly asked, welcoming the distraction.
"Well, I've known a few knights who could do it," Lucius said.
"Whatever you say, Merlin," Molly smiled.
"'Now, that's a name I've not heard in a long time. A long time,'" Lucius quoted in a remarkably good Ben Kenobi impression.
Molly laughed, though she wasn't entirely certain he was joking.
The corridor ended in another security door, which yielded easily to 'Major Duchovny's' keycard. Molly could see where the door was cracked and damaged by the explosion, but it opened easily enough. Beyond it, stairs descended deeper into the facility.
"Let's see how deep this goes," Molly sighed.
The long flight of stairs ended in a short corridor which opened into a lab, much like the one they had found above. In the dim light, they could see containment units holding strange plants in various stages of growth. Computer towers hummed in the silence.
"Project Orchid, I presume," Molly breathed.
"As we expected," Lucius said.
"I wonder what they were doing down here," Molly mused. "I mean, was it just research or did they have a goal..."
"In my experience, the greatest goal of an army is victory," Lucius said. "You're an intelligent woman, Molly. A scientist and engineer. Can you imagine what uses the military might have for even what little we've know of these plants so far?"
"I don't think I want to," Molly admitted.
"As I said, you're an intelligent woman," Lucius said.
"Looks like damage from the explosion," Molly said, gesturing at the cracked monitors.
"Yes," Lucius said softly. "As we guessed, they tried to contain what they had... but the Mother had no desire to be contained any longer."
"You know, don't you?" Molly said. "You know what all this really is? The plants, the zombies, the Mother?"
"I suspect," Lucius corrected. "I have suspected for some time. I devoutly hope I am wrong."
"Whether I am or not," Lucius continued, "it is no great leap to imagine that whatever they found here, whatever has slept here for centuries uncounted, has awoken... and having awoken, has no desire to rest longer in confinement."
Another hallway stretched deeper into the facility, this one covered in vines that seemed to pulse with vibrant life.
"I think we're getting close," Molly said.
"Yes, I think we are," Lucius agreed.
The corridor ended in another security door, this one laced through with vines. The plants had plainly found every crack and seam in the door, growing through every gap.
Molly looked at the door and shuddered. One of her exes had told her, several times, that she had the psychic sensitively of a brick. Still, she imagined she could feel Something on the other side of the door... the looming presence of ancient malice and eldritch horror, waiting to be unleashed.
Psychic sensitivity of a brick, Molly thought, but a great imagination. Please, please, let me be imagining this.
She swiped the keycard at the door, half hoping it wouldn't work.
"Access approved, Major Duchovny," the door replied, hissing open.
"Oh. My. God." Molly gasped.
"Ah, I was right," Lucius said.
