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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Jcb112 on 2024-07-03 03:27:11+00:00.
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93 Hours After the First Round of Interloper Interrogations. Signal Station. Administration Wing. Bunker HQ.
Evina
The room was cold, lifeless, and just like every other space we’d explored thus far — it was completely empty.
That much was obvious given the readings relayed to us by the scanners, sensors, and whatever other sci-fi tools we had at our disposal; giving us a complete sit-rep on the room before the lights even came on.
Indeed, unlike the other rooms we’d encountered so far, the command and control center was completely dark upon the door’s dramatic opening.
However, all of that changed the moment I stepped through, as the desperate whirring of a hundred different computers across a hundred different terminals filled the otherwise silent and stale air all at once.
Green-tinted startup screens dotted the dark room with weak streams of light, but soon found themselves outcompeted by the oppressive white and orange ceiling lamps about twenty or so feet overhead.
It was at this point that we were treated to a space that should not have been here.
A space that was about ten times the size and scale of any typical command and control room I’d ever witnessed.
More impressive than the size of the room however, was the size of the central monitor that took up much of the space of the ‘front’ part of the room, a massive behemoth that looked more at home in a space launch facility than an underground bunker.
We both held our breath for what felt like entire minutes, taking in the sights and sounds of a seemingly untouched space, and the pristine equipment all practically begging to be poked and prodded at.
The ticking of mechanical harddrives and various other pieces of analog electronic equipment however, were all soon interrupted by the third member of our team.
“This is so fricking vintage!” Vir managed out first, his excitable voice practically dripping with genuine interest at the various pieces of high-end equipment just littered around us.
I half expected Lysara to snap at Vir for that less than professional outburst.
But that chastising never came.
Instead, Lysara just moved past that, commenting on the elephant in the room… or more accurately, the elephant absent from the room. “No life signs.” The alien announced confidently. “I’d assumed that our mysterious friend would’ve naturally been holed up somewhere here. His command over the PA system and his ability to observe us from afar would’ve indicated some level of control over the bunker’s administrative systems. Perhaps… he’s in some auxiliary control center?” Lysara offered, turning towards me in the process. “Is there perhaps another room or corridor connected to this room, Evina?”
I held up my hand, stopping Lysara in his tracks as I approached the massive monitor and the two cameras on either side of it. Both of which had just come back to life as indicated by the blinking red LEDs underneath their lenses.
“Ah.” The alien acknowledged. “And so the rabbit hole deepens.”
“I don’t think that’s how the saying goes but okay, Lysara.” Vir offered, much to the silent deflection of both of our more serious attitudes.
“Alright. I’ve about had it up to here with this mystery crap.” I began, making sure to switch my audio output to external so that my speech wasn’t locked up between the two other people that could hear it. “Alright pal, time’s up! You were practically begging for us not to leave just a few hours ago, so the least you could fricking do is to show up now that we’re here!” I practically seethed, making my frustrations and annoyances over this whole situation known. Moreover, I was playing both the part of the bad cop disgruntled wastelander, and channeling my latent frustrations with this whole bunker that had been building up for some weird inexplicable reason since we first came across that office. “We came all the way down here, came right to your front fricking door, and all we get is a bunch of computer screens and two cameras staring from somewhere else in the facility? That’s just disrespectful. And if you’re going to keep this up, we’ll have no choice but to leave.”
Lysara shot me a glance, but simply nodded, and allowed me to do my thing.
The level of trust there was unprecedented, and to be honest, the weight of responsibility did start to worry me somewhat.
Which made it all the more important that I saw this thing through to the end.
“So answer me this. Who the hell are you, and what do you want? You got ten—”
A series of sharp, ear-piercing noises blared through the speakers. And if it wasn’t for the sealed suits and the equally closed-off helmets, I’d be gripping my ears shut right about now.
“I… I apologize for the delay in communications! It was not my intent to leave you in the dark for so long, and was instead a result of the limitations imposed upon me as a result of the facility’s deteriorating public-address systems. Please accept my humblest of apologies. I will answer your questions, any questions you may have to the best of my abilities, starting with your first. I… I am the administrator of this facility, and the facilitator of its operations.” The voice spoke nervously, with a stutter that I was beginning to note as more of a mechanical distortion than natural. “And my intentions… well, my directive rather… is to ensure the continuity of this facility and its operations at any cost.” The administrator spoke ominously, yet with that same air of uneasiness as before, as if despite the rather blunt statements, he didn’t necessarily have the confidence to back any of it up.
“That’s a start.” I shot back, making it clear I wasn’t satisfied with his answers. “But that’s still just a start. Now, tell me, what the hell is up with this bunker? Where are all the people? What’s your angle? And why the hell did you try to lock us in here in the first place? And don’t you dare say it was a technical issue. ‘Cause I ain’t buying that!”
There was a pause that punctuated the scene following those questions. A pause that seemed to coincide with the revving up of a few computer terminals and the odd computer fan that began spinning for its life.
“Those… are the right questions to ask.” The voice began, its tone shifting for just a moment, before returning to a balance between this newly kindled confidence and the same pathetic and feeble one from before. All the while maintaining that mechanical warble undertone throughout all of it.
“If the term bunker is being used in the typical sense here, then I can understand where your confusion may stem from, and empathize with your frustrations on the superficially incongruent nature of the facility’s existence and its seeming inability to fulfill its stated purpose as a bunker. Thus, I should clarify that this facility is not a bunker. Rather, this is a facility designed with the intent to rekindle the light of civilization. It is meant to administer, facilitate, and house the next generation of felinor under the guidance of a new central administrator. This is the reason why there are no occupants at present, as the facility was built not to house the felinor of the past, but to aid the felinor of the present in reconstruction. And to answer your latter question…” The voice paused for a moment, as if considering what to say next. The silence was, once again, punctuated by the loud whirring noise of computer fans revving up to the max.
“I was desperate.” The voice croaked out, as if on the verge of breaking down. “B-but I assure you, it was not my intent to lock you in here! I… I did not act out of any form of malice! Nor did I act out with an intent to do harm! I… I was just…” A pause threatened to halt the conversation again.
“Just what?” I interrupted, making sure to maintain that gruff and impatient persona, keeping up the pressure so as to ensure that the voice on the other side didn’t get a chance to improvise a response on the spot.
“I was just afraid that you’d leave.” The man finally managed out, as I could practically hear the desperation coating every single word. “I’ve been here… for centuries. Waiting for someone to come through that door. Waiting not just for anyone, but for the one.” He continued, taking the conversation down a path that I was not at all expecting. “This facility was built in secrecy, constructed with safeguards to prevent anyone except for the one from gaining entry. This facility… was built for you.”
All cameras now pointed towards me, as my brain just about hit a roadblock in the amount of information it could process all at once.
“I mentioned before how this facility was meant to house the next generation of felinor under the guidance of a new central administrator. You are that new central administrator.” The voice quickly added, reemphasizing a point that I knew he was trying to make following that ‘chosen one’ spiel.
I didn’t know how to respond, at least, not my current iteration.
Deep inside me however, several iterative ‘generations’ were duking it out. With my first iteration clamoring to get out…
Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1du4lwx/humans_dont_hibernate_part_102/