Strangerville Mystery - Ch 10 - The Door

Classified Ministry of Defense Research Facility, Rangerville Crater, Sunday, May 16, 2021, 5:15PM

"Ready to see what's behind Door Number One, Obi-Wan?" Molly asked, trying to hide her nerves. "If this works at all."

Eccentric Erwin has been thrilled with the dossier, practically giggling with excitement over the evidence they'd collected. He'd assured them that his mysterious contacts would be equally impressed and told them to come back the next day for the security card.

Molly had, once again, wondered whether asking a guy who wore kitchenware and holiday lights as a hat had really been her very best idea. Lucius, however, had been absolutely confident that Eccentric Erwin would fulfill his end of the bargain. Molly had wondered what Lucius's Luxurious Hair would look like under a colander. Of course, since this had been her idea in the first place, maybe she'd need a colander hat of her own.

Still, less than an hour ago, Eccentric Erwin had handed them a card with the confident assurance that it would work. 

"I have every faith that the card will work," Lucius said calmly. "Whether we're ready for what is behind this door, I am less certain of."

"Terrific," Molly muttered.

The door beeped, an oddly cheerful sound in the ruins of the abandoned secret lab. Then it announced, in a calm, recorded voice, "Access granted. Welcome, Major Duchovny." 

With a smooth hiss of well-oiled machinery, the doors slid open. A wave of cool, wet air rolled out of the open door, carrying with it a perfumed smell that reminded Molly of a flower shop.

"Oh, just terrific," she coughed as the sickly-sweet air caught in her throat.

Beyond the door, stairs descended into perfumed darkness.

At the bottom of the stairs, they found themselves in a dimly lit empty room with two corridors stretching deeper into the darkness. Down one, Molly could see distant light. Down the other...

"What do you think that is?" Molly asked.

Thick purple fog filled the passageway, hiding whatever was beyond.

"Here be dragons," Lucius said softly.

"Yeah," Molly sighed. "Wait, you don't think there are actual dragons down there... do you?"

With a wry smile, Lucius pulled what Molly could only think was a magic wand from his belt. 

"Let's see, shall we," he said.

He spoke again in those musical Words that sent a chill down Molly's spine. Motes of light, like conjured stars, spilled from the wand as he waved it in graceful arc. 

Molly held her breath, waiting. 

Finally, she said, "OK... what happened?"

"Nothing," Lucius said, almost cheerfully. "Absolutely nothing. I am accounted the greatest weather witch alive today, and my magic cannot touch that fog. Which is very interesting."

"OK, what does that mean?" Molly asked. "You said before that you couldn't magic the strange plants, or the zombies, because you didn't know their Name. So, the fog has a Name you don't know?"

"Precisely," Lucius smiled. "Which means we are definitely on the right track. I believe they are all parts of the same whole... the Mother."

"OK, I take it that's a good thing," Molly said. "Just, you seem really happy about it."

"Molly, I've been doing this kind of thing for a very long time," Lucius said. "I haven't encountered a truly novel and unexpected challenge like this since the Dark Ages." 

"OK, yeah... I get that," Molly nodded. "I enjoy a good challenge too. Just, this a little bigger than missing a project deadline and losing my bonus."

"Agreed," Lucius said. "I suggest we try the other passage first. I don't relish breathing in a mysterious fog. In my experience, that ends badly."

"Yeah, right there with you," Molly nodded. "Let's try Door Number Three."

Door Number Three, and the corridor beyond it, led to a well-appointed laboratory. White walls and tiled floor gleamed, and somewhere a humming ventilation system breathed cool, dry air - finally clean of the perfumed smell that had dominated the lower level. Computer towers and display screens lined the nearest wall and in the center of it all, a glass-enclosed clean room contained chemical analysis stations.

"OK, feeling more in my element now," Molly said. 

"I imagine so," Lucius replied, wandering around the room.

"Woah, this is interesting," Molly said. "They've definitely been studying those strange plants. I'm guessing this is like a life cycle... the ones we've seen might be an early stage."

"So I see," Lucius said from across the room.

"It looks like they were growing these before the explosion," Molly said, examining the data on the screens. "They tried to cultivate the plants... and they succeeded. If I'm reading this right, the plants reached maturity and started releasing some kind of spores... as well as growing those strange fruit." 

"They have certainly cultivated these plants," Lucius said mildly. "Or at least attempted to. These don't look healthy."

"These... ?" Molly asked, coming around the clean room to join Lucius. "Holy crap... those are the containment units Dylan and I found blueprints for."

"I believe so," Lucius nodded. "I credit your MoD for trying to take precautions, but I expect their experiment moved out of their control. It may be that once the plants reached maturity, they could no longer be contained."

"These look pretty contained," Molly said.

"Yes, but as I said, these don't look healthy," Lucius pointed out. "There may be another lab, like this one, down the other corridor..."

"Which might have had a better crop and be what caused the explosion," Molly said. "Once that happened, they abandoned the lab... but the spores got out. You know, Biobro Brian's crop is probably FutureTech trying to pick up on the MoD's work here after they abandoned this lab."

"Because making the same mistakes again is always productive," Lucius said.

"Except, Biobro Brian isn't using these containment modules," Molly said. "So, no explosion."

"Just more spores," Lucius pointed out.

"Right, that's bad," Molly said. "They'll contaminate everyth... Wait. Contaminate. Son of bitch! The sensor module. The project I got called in on... a sensor module to detect and analyze biological contaminants! They've got the same problem you do! They don't understand the plants or their spores... so they can't fight them... or guard against them! The hazmat filter team... they're waiting on specs from MoD for a new filter... to filter out the spores. They're trying to go down that corridor... back into the original lab." 

"We need to get to that lab," Lucius said earnestly. 

"Which means we need hazmat suits with upgraded filters," Molly said. "Which means we need an analysis of the spores. For that, we need a working sensor module."

"Do you have one?" Lucius asked.

"The prototype is in testing," Molly said, "but I have all the components I need back at FutureTech. I can build us one. Let's go!" 

Strangerville Mystery - Ch 9 - Eccentric Erwin

Rangerville Trailer Park, Thursday, May 13, 2021, 8:25AM

"You can't really imagine that this Eccentric Erwin really has a keycard to the secret lab's security door," Lucius said. "Can you?"

"Never underestimate the resourcefulness of nerds, Obi-Wan," Molly said. "Especially crazy nerds." 

"Obi-Wan," Lucius chuckled.

"Sorry, Star Wars reference," Molly smiled, adding, "It's a movie. Obi-Wan Kenobi is the wise old advisor character. You kinda have that vibe. Not that you're old."

"'When 900 years old you reach, look as good you will not,'" Lucius quoted in a remarkably muppet-y voice. "My daughter is a Star Wars fan," he added. "So, I've kept up with it. I quite like Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"That's right, you mentioned you had a daughter before," Molly said. "Is she back in Henford?"

"She is. We aren't in contact," Lucius said a little sadly. "She's grown and has her own life. She doesn't want to see me... but perhaps someday."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Molly said. A sudden thought occurred to her. "Say... you're not actually 900 years old, are you?"

"No, no," Lucius replied mildly. "It's been a long time since I was only 900." 

"Welcome to Curious Curios and More," Eccentric Erwin greeted them.

"Erwin, I want to ask you about the 'and More,'" Molly said, interrupting him. 

"Uhhh... what can I do you for?" Eccentric Erwin said, looking suddenly suspicious.

Molly exchanged a look with Lucius. When they'd discussed how to approach this, he'd been insistent that they be honest with Erwin. From his expression, even the sight of Erwin in his holiday-light-colander-hat hadn't changed his mind (like she'd inwardly hoped it would).

She took a deep breath and said, "We're investigating the explosion at the government lab in the crater and the strange things that have been happening since."

"Right," Eccentric Erwin said cautiously. "So, you guys cops? Army? Agency? Aliens?"

"Molly is an engineer at FutureTech, and concerned about her friends," Lucius replied calmly. "I am a lord of the Tuatha de Danann and am investigating in service to the Witch's Council." 

"No shit?" Eccentric Erwin breathed.

"No shit," Lucius said earnestly.

"So, what can I do you for?" Eccentric Erwin asked again.

Pushing back the thought 'what the hell is a lord of the Tuatha de Danann' as something to be discussed later, Molly took a deep breath. In for a penny, in for a pound.

"You wouldn't happen to have a keycard for the security doors at the secret lab in your 'and More' inventory," she asked. 

"Are you kiddin'?" Eccentric Erwin grinned. "Ain't no way I could have somethin' like that in stock."

Lucius shrugged with what Molly felt was an annoying smug hint of 'I told you so.'

"I can totally get one," Eccentric Erwin continued. "But it's a strictly special-order item. Gotta talk to my contacts about it... and they's gonna want proof."

Lucius just blinked, clearly stunned.

"Proof?" Molly said. "Proof of..."

"Well, first off that you ain't workin' fer the gov'ment," Eccentric Erwin said. "An' second off that you's committed to findin' the Truth about Strangerville."

"Oooo-kay," Molly breathed. "How do we do that?"

"Well, you put together everythin' you know," Eccentric Erwin said. "Copies o' all the evidence you got, everythin' you know 'bout the lab, 'bout FutureTech's involvement, an' whatever you can find 'bout what they's lookin' for in the library ('cause I really wanna know 'bout that). Put it all together into a whatyachallit... a doss-ee-yay... an' give that to me an' I'll talk to my contacts 'bout getting you the keycard you need to get more."

"Right." Molly seriously wondered if this had been as good an idea as it had seemed.

"We give you a dossier of all the evidence we collect, and you give us the keycard we need," Lucius said evenly. Clearly, he'd gotten over his initial surprise.

"That's right," Eccentric Erwin grinned.

"Done," Lucius smiled. 

Molly hoped she only imagined the sudden chill breeze that blew up around them and seemed to settle in her bones. Probably not. She resolved to be very careful about making any more agreements with Lucius of the Luxurious Hair. 

Rangerville Trailer Park, Saturday, May 15, 2021, 4:30PM

"There we go, Obi-Wan; one dossier containing every clue we've found," Molly said. "Copies of every torn note, faded picture, newspaper clipping, scraps of local history and legend, printouts of blueprints and transcripts of conversations..."

"Courtesy of that contraption of yours," Lucius said.

"That 'contraption' happens to be the most sophisticated (and illegal) eavesdropping station I could build out of whatever I could find the local electronics store, plus some items of questionable legality Eccentric Erwin had in his 'and More' stock," Molly said with pride. 

"And let's not underestimate the considerable personal sacrifice I made in planting the listening device in the first place," she continued. "I mean, I let that creep Biobro Brian buy me drinks... and grope me... so I could get close enough."

"Your courage and fortitude in the face of such trials are noted and appreciated," Lucius said with absolute sincerity. "Even if they will not be included in song or story."

"Damn right they won't," Molly huffed. "We're not telling anyone about that part. Ever."

"As you say," Lucius nodded. "But you do feel that results were worth the trials."

"Well, we confirmed that Biobro Brian is growing those strange plants on instructions from the MoD, by way of Bonnie of the Bounteous Bosom," Molly said. "And there was that bit he said about 'not knowing anything about space rocks' which backs up that bit of folklore you dug out of the library.  The First Nations story about the purple light in the sky and a big explosion, which probably caused the crater. Strange plants from another world."

"Another Realm, I think," Lucius said. "You do understand that there are Realms other than this one."

"Is this the part where you draw a picture of Yggdrasil and explain about the Nine Realms?" Molly smiled. "Because I liked Thor too."

"Oh, did you know him? Entertaining fellow. We might do better if he were here. Alas, you have me instead," Lucius smiled. "Still, there are many more than nine Realms. 

"I have a dread suspicion," he continued. "I believe the source of all this... the Mother, your possessed friends called Her... fell to Earth thousands of years ago, through a great rift in the Veil between worlds. I fear She may have come from one the Far Realms, frightening places on the edge of the Outer Darkness where my people do not venture."

"That sounds bad," Molly said.

"An Elder Being from the Far Realms... yes, that could be very bad," Lucius said. "I hope I'm wrong. Regardless, I didn't include that particular thought in the dossier. It's only a guess and not, I think, one that would be meaningful to our Eccentric Erwin and his mysterious contacts."

"I don't know," Molly shrugged. "I'm guessing Eccentric Erwin has read Lovecraft. I hope you're wrong too, Obi-Wan. I'd really rather not fight any Eldrich Horrors this weekend. Let's get this over to Curious Curios and see about putting in our special order."

Strangerville Mystery - Ch 8 - Of Names and Cats

Rangerville Trailer Park, Wednesday, May 12, 2021, 9:05PM

"'Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home,'" Lucius said with a grin.

"I've stayed in worse," Molly said with an answering smile.

"As have I," Lucius said. "I recall nights sleeping under the stars, resting my head on tree roots and rocks, with only a threadbare cloak for a blanket."

"Well, that's taking LARPing a little far, even for me," Molly chuckled.

"What's LARPing?"

"So, you're saying people dress up and play act at being heroes or wizards or monsters," Lucius mused. "That sounds very interesting."

"It can be fun," Molly said. She always felt slightly embarrassed explaining some of the odder hobbies she'd gotten involved with over the years. "I guess, being a real witch, you think it's silly."

"You know, I've never understood why people seem to think 'silly' is a bad thing," Lucius smiled. "As if being dour and grim were somehow virtues. Much better to take joy in life, I assure you. Now, you should get some sleep. We have much to do and you'll need to be clear headed."

"About that," Molly said, feeling a little worried. "You only have the one small bed and um..."

"It's yours," Lucius said without hesitation. "I don't need as much sleep as mortals. Get some rest and I'll see you in the morning."

"Right," Molly said. "Thanks."

Mortals?

Rangerville Trailer Park, Thursday, May 13, 2021, 7:40AM

"I'm going to need some clean clothes," Molly said. "After hiking out to the lab and back last night, these are dusty and a little ripe."

"You're my Guest," Lucius said. Molly got the sense the word carried more weight to him than she was used to. "You are quite welcome to take whatever will suit you from my clothes. Later I'll venture a brief visit to your house to pick up some your own clothes."

"What will the Men in Black staking out my house think if they see you coming out the front door carrying my suitcase?" Molly asked.

"I won't use the doors, but still it would be best if I waited until after dark," Lucius smiled. "For today, as I said, you're welcome to whatever you can find among my things that suits you."

"Meanwhile, I am hoping you have some ideas concerning that rather impressive door," Lucius continued. "I'm afraid the lock proved quite resistant to my magic. All my other ideas for removing it risk bringing down large parts of the surrounding building."

"Wait, you're telling me it's a magic-resistant security door?" Molly blinked.

"Not, I suspect, intentionally," Lucius smiled. "Magic does have limits. I can't use a spell to open the door because I don't understand it... the mechanisms of it and how they form the whole."

"So, if you had diagrams of the workings of the door, you could open it?" Molly asked.

"Simply seeing the diagrams wouldn't be enough. I would need to truly understand them and the door itself," Lucius nodded. "Witches often speak of needing to know the Name of a thing... by which we mean understanding its essence, and how that essence exists in relation to the greater harmony of the Realm around it. By understanding a Name and the Words of Power associated with it, we can use our magic to influence it."

"So, to magic open the door you would need the blueprints and, what, an engineering degree?" Molly asked, shocked.

"Just so," Lucius smiled back. "By the same token, I am unable to use magic on these strange plants, or on the zombies, as you call them. I don't understand them and so they are beyond the reach of my power."

"Well, that sucks," Molly sighed. "I was kind of hoping you could just... you know... magic all this. Like open the door or even just magic Dylan and Jess free of... whatever."

"Sadly, it is very the 'whatever' of it that makes that impossible," Lucius explained. "For now, the Sigworth parents must remain under the influence of the 'whatever.'"

"Parents... oh God, Christie!" Molly gasped. "If this got Dylan..."

"Christie is free and will remain so," Lucius said reassuringly. "I sent Huntress to look after her while you slept."

"You sent your cat to protect Christie?" Molly blinked.

"I assure you, Huntress is more than capable of keeping young Christie safe," Lucius smiled. "In fact, I'm more worried about our safety in her absence." 

"Right," Molly said, slowly processing. "Huntress isn't just a cat, is she?"

"She is most assuredly a cat," Lucius smiled. "Though I have never known one who was just a cat."

"Well, that's not even close to the strangest thing I've heard lately," Molly said. "So, I'm just going to go with it."

"Very wise," Lucius nodded. "Still, even with that settled, we are left with a rather large door to deal with."

"To open that door, we need a keycard," Molly said. "I don't know any other way around it. Unfortunately, you can't buy keycards for MoD secret lab security doors at S-Mart. Maybe at Spy Gear and More..."

"I don't know that store," Lucius said.

"I was... joking," Molly said slowly, as a thought formed. "... and More. No one ever asks about the 'and More.'"

"You have an idea," Lucius smiled.

"One person we can talk to who might know more about all this than either of us," Molly said. "Eccentric Erwin!"

Strangerville Mystery - Ch 7 - Too Strange

Classified Ministry of Defense Research Facility, Rangerville Crater, Wednesday, May 12, 2021, 7:20PM

Molly felt she was usually pretty good with strange. In high school, she and her friends - Carmilla, Cas and Gwen - had been the weird girls who dressed in black (except Gwen who always wore white), listened to strange music and talked about the occult. Cas and Gwen had been genuine witches. Most of the engineers she'd ever worked with were at least quirky. Clients were always a little odd, and the MoD could be downright bizarre at times. Sinister government agents at her door... well, Molly had dated Yuki 'Snow' Behr for years, so that was almost the most normal thing about her day.

However, Project Orchid, whatever it was, was messing with her friends, and that was too much. Sure, maybe she'd only known Dylan and Jess for a week, but they were still friends. Molly wasn't going to let this go. She wanted answers, and the only place she knew to look for them was the abandoned secret lab. 

On the not-so-unlikely chance the MiB were watching, she changed into something casual enough to say 'night out' (while still comfortable for walking the desert). Then she drove around for a bit, remembering Yuki's advice on spotting and throwing off a tail. If anyone was following her, they were better than she was (which, she admitted to herself, wasn't all that unlikely). 

After a bit of evasive driving, she headed out to the crater and made the dusty hike to the lab.

The trick, Molly thought, was going to be finding some meaningful clue without finding whatever might have 'infected' Dylan. Assuming he'd been infected here. Maybe Zombie Jess, and this mysterious Mother, had caught up with him later. That made sense. Zombie Jess and Dylan had wanted her to eat that strange fruit, and MiB Hunt had been going on about fruit... including pie, salad and salsa. Maybe Dylan had come home to find a bowl of strange zombie-making fruit salsa on the table.

Still, no reason to be careless, Molly thought. Let's avoid strange plants, menacing fruit and definitely not eat any pie, salad or salsa that might be lurking around the lab. 

Damn it, she thought, now I'm hungry.

Resisting the urge to go through to the breakroom fridge for a snack, Molly turned her attention back to searching for clues.

Nothing, nothing, more nothing, Molly thought. For a society trying to think of itself as paperless, people sure generated a lot of meaningless paper.

"Finding anything useful?" a man's voice said.

"AGH!" Molly shrieked. "I wasn't..."

"My apologies," the man said, suppressing a chuckle.

"OK, one, you do not sneak up on someone breaking into a classified government lab," Molly snapped. "Two... what the Hell are you doing here, Lucius?!"

"I am investigating a disruption in the Balance," Lucius replied with a slight grin. "Which, as I believe I've told you, is the reason I came to Rangerville in the first place. I confess, I am rather wondering what you are doing here."

"Trying to find out why Jess is sleepwalking," Molly snapped. "And why Jess and Dylan have turned into wacked out zombies who want me to eat strange fruit! And why the Men in Black are showing up at my door, confiscating the fruit and warning me not to eat any salsa! And does any of this have anything to do with those strange plants and the explosion here two weeks ago... and why that made the MoD move up its project deadlines... and what in the Hell is Project Orchid!"

"Oh, I see," Lucius said mildly.

The fact that he did, in fact, act as if her rant had made everything clear to him, annoyed the hell out Molly.

"Do you know what's going on?" Molly demanded.

"If I knew what was going on, I wouldn't be here investigating, much like you are," Lucius said. "In fact, I suspect you may already have a better grasp on the situation than I do."

"Yeah, but you know more than you're saying," Molly said. Deep down, she desperately hoped it was true. No matter how annoying it seemed, she really hoped this odd man, or witch or whatever he was, knew the answers.

"I suspect a great deal more than I'm saying," Lucius admitted. "It's rather an occupational hazard, you might say. However, the difference between what I suspect and what I know is both significant and important."

"Terrific," Molly sighed.

"Molly, it seems clear to me that you and I are both investigating the same mystery," Lucius said. "A mystery that, if I understood you correctly, has touched the Sigworth family. I believe we could better help them if we worked together on this... or at least shared what we know."

"Has anyone every told you, you talk funny?" Molly said.

"Constantly," Lucius smiled.

"OK, Obi-Wan, tell me what you know, or suspect," Molly said.

"Roughly three weeks ago there was a disruption in the Balance... the harmony of mystical forces that form the foundation of our Realms, our worlds," Lucius explained. "The disruption originated here, in the Great Western Desert, and coincided with the appearance of those strange plants. The Witches' Council sent me to investigate. 

"So far, I've been able to determine that those plants are clearly not from this Realm," he continued. "I have also observed several of these 'zombies' as you refer to them. They appear to be most active at night, while in the day they seem to behave normally. I believe the zombies and the plants to be connected, not merely in time but in fact. There is a bond between them.

"I was able to discover the rumors about this lab and the explosion here, which seems to have happened at the same time as the disruption. So, I came here to investigate, and found you here ahead of me," Lucius concluded. "Your turn."

"You're something holding back," Molly said.

"Correct," Lucius smiled. "Your turn."

"OK," Molly said. "Here's what I know..."

So, she laid it out for him... the FutureTech project she'd been called in on, how she thought it was related to the explosion of the lab, Jess's sleepwalking, what she and Dylan had found about Project Orchid during their first visit to the lab, and what had happened with Zombie Dylan and Jess and the MiB. 

She considered holding something back, just to be bitchy, but in the end, she told him everything. 

"So, what do you think?" Molly asked when she'd finished.

"I think we need to get through that giant door," Lucius replied.

"Yeah, if the MiB don't snatch me first," Molly sighed. 

"It might be best to avoid that," Lucius smiled. "I believe this may be an opportune moment for you to accept the offer of hospitality I extended earlier."

"You mean crash at your place, instead of going back to mine, in case they're waiting for me?" Molly smiled.

"Precisely," Lucius smiled back.

"Well, I've had worse invitations," Molly said. "Where are you parked? I'll follow you back."

"I don't drive," Lucius said mildly.

"How did you... you know what, never mind," Molly said. "I'm hungry and tired. Come on, Obi Wan. I'll drive."

Strangerville Mystery - Ch 6 - Stranger and Stranger

Pomegranate Corner, Rangerville, Wednesday, May 12, 2021, 6:05 PM

"Hey, Dylan. I'm glad to see you. You weren't at work today," Molly said, relieved. She'd imagined government agents dragging him away to be questioned.

"hELlo moLLy. I aM gLad tO sEE yOu. I wAs noT At wORk toDaY," Dylan replied, his voice strangely stilted.

"Umm, Dylan... are you OK?" Molly felt suddenly much less relieved.

"umM, mOLly. I Am oK," Dylan's smile moved rapidly beyond creepy into downright frightening.

"helLO MoLly. I aM jeSS. I Am dyLAN's wIFe," Jess said in the same broken manner as Dylan.

"Yeah, I know that," Molly said. "Really guys, what's going on?"

"yEs I kNoW tHAt reALLy nOTHing IS goINg oN," Jess said. "wE woULd lIKe tO cOMe insiDE. wE hAVe sOMeTHinG fOr yoU."

"Right," Molly said. "Say, you guys didn't happen to do a bunch of really strange drugs just now... did you? Please say yes."

"yeS. wE DId nOt dO a bUNch oF sTRanGE drUGs," Dylan stuttered.

"So why are you guys acting like this?" Molly asked.

"oUR eYEs aRe OPen," Jess said. "wE woULd lIKe tO cOMe insiDE. We hAVe sOMeTHinG fOr yoU."

"Sure, let's go inside," Molly said, adding softly to herself, "where there aren't any witnesses to see you scoop out my brain and replace it with a kumquat." 

The couple just smiled their frightening smiles and lurched toward the door. It wasn't just their speech, Molly realized. They moved as if... as if they didn't fully understand how their bodies were supposed to work.

When Jess dropped three strange, faintly pulsating, red fruits on the table, Molly froze.

"OK, I was joking about the kumquat," Molly said nervously. 

"tHIs iS frUIt," Jess said. 

"fRUit iS gOOd," Dylan added.

"YOu shoULd EAt THe fRUIt," they both said in perfect unison. 

"Thanks, I already had dinner," Molly lied. "Maybe later. Say, Dylan... what the hell is going on!?"

"yOu wENt To tHe cRAter," Jess smiled uncannily.

"Dylan told you?" Molly glanced at him. 

He only smiled vacantly back, offering nothing.

"The Mother kNOws aLL," Jess said. 

"dO noT reSIst Her," Dylan added. "eMbRAce The Mother."

"She wiLL bRIng yoU PEace," Jess finished.

"Is... is this Mother in the crater?" Molly asked hesitantly.

"Her Nest iS clOUded iN beaUTy," Dylan started.

"wE dO nOt deSERVE Her," Jess finished.

"Of course," Molly nodded. "We don't, do we? Well, thank you guys for the fruit... and the strangeness. It's been terrifying. I'll see you later."

"JOIn uS," they said in unison.

"I'll sure do that," Molly smiled weakly. "Just let me finish a few things up first." 

For a moment, they just sat there staring at her with alien eyes. Then, without another word they lurched down the hall and out the door, like two marionettes controlled by an unskilled puppeteer. Molly couldn't stop herself from thinking the metaphor was terrifyingly apt.

"What the hell?" Molly breathed to her empty house. "I mean... what the hell!? 

"The lab," she continued. "Dylan was probably exposed to something at the lab. It must have been when we split up... because it hasn't affected me. I'm fine. Perfectly normal...

"Except I'm talking to myself."

The red 'fruits' seemed to pulse menacingly.

There was sudden hard bang, bang, Bang. Molly jumped, spinning.

That would be someone knocking on door, idiot, Molly thought. She deliberately forced the thought not to escape as words. Someone is knocking on the door. Probably zombie Dylan and Jess come back to eat my brains.

It wasn't.

"Hello, can I help you?" Molly asked the strange man in a black suit.

"Molly Prescott?" the man said.

"Who's asking?" Molly asked worriedly.

"You can call me Mr. Hunt," the Man in Black said. "Have you recently encountered anyone acting in a strange or unusual manner?"

"Define strange?" Molly replied as Mr. Hunt walked past her into the house.

"Has anyone offered any form of fruit?" Mr. Hunt continued undeterred. "Such as raw fruit, a fruit pie, fruit salad or salsa of any kind?" 

"Well," Molly said, stunned, looking down at the menacing red fruits on her table.

"I see," Hunt nodded curtly. "I'm afraid I will have to confiscate these. Are there more?"

"No," Molly admitted. "That's it."

"Have you consumed any fruit, pie, salad or salsa recently?" Hunt pressed.

"No," Molly said weakly. "I had a cheese sandwich for lunch." 

"Dairy products. Very good," Hunt nodded, briskly collecting the fruit and returning to the front door.

She wasn't remotely surprised when a second Man in Black walked in. 

"The perimeter is secure," the newcomer informed his partner.

"Three infection vectors located on the dining table," Hunt said. "Secured. Subject denies exposure."

"Umm, guys," Molly put in. "You want to maybe tell me what's going on here?"

"Nothing is going on here ma'am," Hunt said firmly. "Everything is perfectly normal. Please abstain from eating any fruit..."

"... pie, salad or salsa," Molly finished for him. "Right."

"Have a good day, ma'am," the second Man in Black said, adding quietly to his partner: "Standard surveillance?"

She thought Hunt nodded curtly as they left.

"Right," Molly said to herself. "Nothing is going on. Everything is perfectly normal... in the Twilight Zone!" 

Strange plants, a secret lab, wacked-out zombie people, threatening fruit and now Men in Black. 

I have got to find out what's going on and what this Project Orchid is.

Strangerville Mystery - Ch 5 - The Secret Lab

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?