It was still early morning, the sun not yet risen, when a new message popped up on the desktop of Agent Stone detailing a newly discovered object requiring his attention, the computer notifying him with a series of three small beeps. A biological one located in a cave along the nearby coast that would require either a long hike timed well with the tides or a short repel to get down to. The means of retrieval was left to him to decide, if he failed at retrieval another Mobile Task Force could be assigned to the duty. Of course it wouldn't bode well for the Site's future funding, but at least there were fallback plans.<br/><br/>Similar messages were also sent to each of the Researchers in Site 109, containing all of the data gathered so far on the new object. Along with the picture of the object itself were pictures of the burns on the victim's hands, which appeared to have quickly started necrotizing, and strange growths around the areas where the victim had been bit. The growths were semi-translucent and appeared to be weeping heavily, thick plasma covering them, and the veins around the sites bitten were darkened as though in later stages of blood poisoning. Areas around the growths appear to be badly burnt as well, even blackened in some areas. At the end of the message was a message saying that any ideas on possible means of containment to be reported to MTF Σ-109.<br/><br/>-----------<br/><br/>Agent Martin was already awake, and in fact hadn't slept more than a couple of hours the night before. He had been plagued by horrible nightmares that deeply disturbed him recently, made him dread going to sleep. Small rings had developed under his eyes from the sleep deprivation. He sat alone in the cafeteria near the coffee machine with a cup of black coffee in his hand, slowly sipping it and staring blankly at a television playing local news on mute. He'd give anything for a good night's sleep but he doubted one would be coming any time soon at this rate.<i><span style="color: darkorange">Probably another retrieval before I have a chance for sleep, with my luck.</span></i>He gave a small bitter laugh and took another drink of his coffee. It was quite strange to both desire sleep more than anything and at the same time be afraid of when it might come and what it might bring with it.<br/><br/>Martin wasn't sure what the source of his nightmares was, only that whatever it was it must be quite potent. He could never remember the dreams upon waking, he only woke up with his sheets soaked with sweat and the most intense feeling of fear and dread he has ever experienced running thick through his mind. The feeling was often so strong he could barely get himself to move an inch for minutes, sometimes even hours, after waking. He felt like the very shadows themselves might leap at him and try to strangle the life out of him, like some unspeakable horror could be dwelling just out of his line of sight. He tried to shake the thought from his mind and focus on his drink. He felt the heat of the cup suffusing with his hand as he took another drink of his coffee, his blank stare still unwavering from the muted television.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>