Ashana had been busy looking around, remaining quiet as she followed Milenya. While she was reading the journals, Ashana looked around the researchers office, running her fingers over the spines of the leather bound books on the shelf. She frowned and pulled one from the group, looking at it curiously. She opened it, and flipped through several pages. She raised an eyebrow as she read the first line to herself, 'Call me Ishmael.' She closed it, and stuck it back with the others. She peered across the spines, reading the names of books. It was a unique experience for her, seeing real actual books. The only thing she had ever had that had pages were a few issues of Fornax. She remembered hearing about the immense value the old Human ones had in their culture. These certainly looked genuine enough to fit into that category.<br/><br/>She casually walked over to look at the console Milenya was reading from, glancing over the information. From the entry, Milenya was correct in her assertion that the site was heavily funded, and the caveat that had apparently been attached to the credits explained why no one had ever heard of it. Then the video played and Ashana's attention was focused immediately on the object that was remove from the apparatus.<span style="color: DarkOrchid">Son of a bitch... there it is...</span>She whispered to herself, staring at the image on the screen. That was it, it had to be. That was what the assassin had taken from the Bekket.<br/><br/><span style="color: DarkOrchid">I have no idea,</span>she responded to Milenya's exasperation at the research staff's willingness to keep the site quiet,<span style="color: DarkOrchid">but if someone gave me a million credits to look at something and not talk about it, I'd look at it and not talk about it.</span><br/><br/>Ashana stayed leaned over the desk, a great deal more interested in the contents of the journal now that she knew it had important information.<br/><br/><span style="color: DarkOrange">Uhh, yeah... </span>Sorv responded to Milenya, then a moment later said,<span style="color: DarkOrange">Acheron this is ground, do you copy?</span><br/><br/><span style="color: blue">Roger that ground,</span>Cantenelli's voice responded.<span style="color: blue">We lost your signal for a while there, everything alright?</span><br/><br/><span style="color: DarkOrange">Affirmative, had to patch into the site's comm transmitters. There's no one here though. The place is empty.</span>Sorv continued.<br/><br/><span style="color: blue">Have you found anything?</span>Cantenelli asked. Sorv remained quiet for Milenya to fill give her observations.<br/><br/>Inside the lockers Darion and Maethia were rummaging through was a fair assortment of personal items. Everything from underwear to family pictures. There were more than a few credit chits as well, abandoned by their previous owners. In total there was nearly a thousand credits that had just been left behind. That wasn't including the other items, either. In a few of the lockers were indications that they belong to security staff, suggested by the small arms and uniforms with identification suggesting as much on them. Among the more unusual things, were a few small sex toys and crumpled piece of paper that had a shakily written phrase on it, "They are coming."<br/><br/>Ashana read on through the journal as Milenya opened it, the next two entries reading:<br/><br/><br/>"<br/>PHD in Archaeo-Technology and Prothean Studies Andrew Mosalev:<br/>Site 00278:A<br/><br/>It has been a... baffling few weeks. After removing the device from the apparatus we've been trying everything we can to safely determine its purpose or function. However, its composed of yet another engineered material that is doing an incredible job of masking any radiation or magnetic signatures that the device is producing. We get at best feint blips of data, but nothing that would indicate anything about it. What we are sure of now, though, is that our initial assumptions at it being a power source of some kind are wrong. It's not feeding anything out. One of the junior research staff suggested we try to disassemble it to determine what it does do, and it took a great deal of restraint to keep from hitting him for even suggesting it.<br/><br/>As far as the apparatus it was inside... we managed to scan enough of it to determine that inside of it were several power cells. Once we generated a composite map from the scans, we determined that there were nine of them set up in array... but it's strange. We knew what we were looking at immediately with the scans. The architecture of the cells is almost like an interpretation of what we know from Prothean technology... hell, it's not too different from our own tech. But, leaving  those implications alone for now, we have determined within reasonable doubt that the apparatus wasn't being powered, but rather powering this device, whatever it is. It may even have been prolonging its life. All but one of the cells we've detected are spent, and there's only a whisper of energy left on the last one. We'll be breaking down the rest of the apparatus to retrieve the cells once we're done excavating the rest of the site.<br/><br/>"<br/><br/><br/>"<br/>PHD in Archaeo-Technology and Prothean Studies Andrew Mosalev:<br/>Site 00278:A<br/><br/>Well, given our focus on the device during my last entry, I suppose it's no surprise that I forgot to mention that while we were extracting the device we started getting some baseline reading from the rest of the facility deeper in. Up until now the readings were a distraction from our prize, whose purpose continues to elude us. But... as we've drilled deeper the readings began clarifying. It's another mass, but it's a solid mass. In fact, it may even be an intact portion of the facility. Again, I am perplexed if this is the case. Why some part of this facility would remain intact while the rest had decayed away would be utterly baffling, except for something else very interesting that we detected.<br/><br/>Along with the mass, there's an electro-magnetic field that's producing a very unusual pattern. It would perhaps suggest that this device is not the only working part of this facility. But it's important that we not get our hopes too high. Our focus should remain on the device until we know for certain what's inside that mass, interesting as it may be.<br/>"<br/><br/><br/>Sorv tapped away on the console, having glanced at the power cells when Milenya mentioned getting some of them rigged  for the device. He ignored the suggestion almost entirely knowing that the device wasn't at the site. Rather, he was more interested in the power dispersion overlay readout he had located in the system. The network indicated that there was a malfunctioning line at one outlet deep in the site. He opened the GUI to take a look at where, noting with interested that it wasn't really part of the site ,which was mostly rectangular. This line of power that led to the malfunction, however was tangential from it, like a thread lading away from the primary network of the site then stopping at the blinking "Sorry our shit is broken" exclamation.<br/><br/><span style="color: DarkOrange">Firas, </span>He said, picking up his rifle and making a mental note of the points direction from where he was,<span style="color: DarkOrange">I'm going to go check out a broken point in the power grid... meet me at the far end of the site, right side. I'll wait for you there.</span><br/><br/><span style="color: blue">Roger, on my way.</span>Firas responded.<br/><br/>Sorv started through the facility, following a similar path to the one Darion and Maethia took. He paused only briefly in the mess hall, looking at almost petrified state of it, like it had been frozen in time. He passed by the bunk room Darion and Maethia were looting, looking in on them.<span style="color: DarkOrange">Save some good stuff for me.</span>He joked, passing by.<br/><br/>After a further distance he passed through a doorway and stopped dead in his tracks, surprised by what he was looking at.<span style="color: DarkOrange">Whoah.</span><br/><br/><br/>The next journal entry reads:<br/><br/><br/>"<br/>PHD in Archaeo-Technology and Prothean Studies Andrew Mosalev:<br/>Site 00278:A<br/><br/>Well, we've reached the mass, or I should say a tunnel leading into it. When the dust cleared and we were looking at an airlock door of alien design, in exceptional condition, I just about had a heart attack. Our scans from beyond agree with the assertion that we've found an intact portion of the facility. How or why is a mystery, but it's all cloaked in the field we detected early, which has only gotten stronger the closer we've gotten. There's not much more to add here except that we're in the process of trying to get the airlock open without damaging it.<br/>"<br/><br/><br/>Sorv looked at the doorway, cautiously approaching. It didn't look anything like the rest of the facility. It vaguely reminded him of the relics strewn about the site, except that was in excellent condition. After a few minutes consideration, he determined that it was a twin sliding door, not unlike an airlock, except that it look like it had an inner seal. The off tone rust color of it glistened slightly under the light of the various flood lamps setup to illuminate it. The door was open, and Sorv peered down the corridor to where it turned, eyeing the room from the outside. If it was part of the site, then it was perfectly preserved.<br/><br/><span style="color: DarkOrange">Hey Firas, you need to come check this out...</span>He said, not planning on entering alone.<br/><br/><br/><br/>The next journal entry reads:<br/><br/>"<br/>PHD in Archaeo-Technology and Prothean Studies Andrew Mosalev:<br/>Site 00278:A<br/><br/>It's gone. It's gone. It was there, attached to our equipment last night... and this morning its gone. The device, the thing we found in the array is gone. I locked down the facility, and we looked for it in a blind panic but it's not here anymore. I don't know if someone took it, if it was stolen... It might have even been the SPECTRE, perhaps breaking in and retrieving it for the council or... god damn it I'm tired.<br/><br/>I informed our benefactor, who was gracious enough to not have me shot, or even pull his funding. Or her funding. I don't really know... but all they said in their communiqué was that they were very angry, and that they're investing a great deal of resources in tracking it down... but we're to remain focused on the task at hand. We've still got an airlock to open and a facility to explore, and if its intact it may yield more than the device ever could have. And they're right. We can't lose focus.<br/>"<br/><br/><br/>Ashana, read the entry, not at all surprised by the loss of the device. How ironic, she thought, that after it was stolen from the site, it was again stolen from those who took it. She glanced at the other data Milenya had been downloading and looking at on the data pads. None of it meant anything to her. It was charts and graphs, chemical analysis and electro-magnetic profiles. She recognized the silhouette of the device in a few images, but they were dark, colored only by feint lines and ribbons of color in or around the device. The header for the images said "Spectrographic Imaging."<br/><br/><span style="color: cyan">Well, even if this does turn out to be bust... by the sound of it, Taseer's found some of that valuable equipment still packed on the freighter, so we're walking home with full pockets at least.</span>Mickey added over the comms once Milenya had updated them on what was going on.<br/><br/>Sorv waited at the airlock, looking from inside it to around the laser carved cavern wall around it while Firas made his way to join him. He turned, observing everything. Thinking to himself how millions of credits just looked like some walls to him. It was unremarkable as a whole to him. As valuable as it may have been, it wasn't full of things that could make a starship fly, or save a person's life.<br/><br/><span style="color: DarkRed">Sorv...</span><br/><br/>He spun around, aiming his rifle, finger on the trigger. It came from the hallway, a voice, whispering his name. He stood like a statue outside the open doors, Mantis aimed, eyes watching, waiting for something to move, anything. He waited. The hall was empty as it had been, devoid of life.<br/><br/>He waited.<br/><br/>It was a voice, he had heard it. He knew he had heard something. It wasn't some figment of his imagination, he had heard something from inside that hall. Slowly, cautiously he took a step forward. Watching for any sign of what had whispered to him. But there was nothing. Long shadows cast across the alien architecture from the lights outside the doors, casting inward. He took another step, his foot crossing the threshold inside. He glanced at the motion tracker displayed on his visor, the circle blank, below it read "0 m." No contact.<br/><br/>He lifted his foot to take another step then stopped, setting it back down. He need to wait for Firas. It was safer to wait.<br/><br/><span style="color: DarkRed">Sorv...</span><br/><br/>He blinked feeling his heartbeat quicken. It came from ahead, around the bend... didn't it? But it sounded close... closer than that, closer than ahead - like it was being whispered in his ear but there was nothing... nothing here. Had to be ahead, around the corner ahead. He took another step, now inside the hall, then another and another.<br/><br/><br/>The next journal entry reads:<br/><br/>"<br/>PHD in Archaeo-Technology and Prothean Studies Andrew Mosalev:<br/>Site 00278:A<br/><br/>We were wrong to be concerned with the loss of the device. It's so small, so insignificant compared to what we found inside that airlock. Its... a machine that's producing the field, a machine that is so completely unlike what we've found so far. How else can I describe it? It's beautiful. The architecture of the facility was very nice to look it, very interesting the curves and angles and material... but this machine... its alien even to the unknown world in which we found it. Its design is nothing like the rest of the site, nothing like...<br/><br/>I'm afraid I've been a bit absent minded lately. Preoccupied, really. It's only been the last while since we found the airlock, but I'm having a hard time sleeping. Perhaps it's the device being lost, or some other damn thing, but my mind has just not been together lately. A shame, really, as the machine really does deserve all of my attention.<br/>"<br/><br/><br/>Sorv kept his rifle up, coming to the turn in the hall. He slowly peered around, letting the barrel of his rifle lead the way. The hall went on for a ways then turned again. He glanced back at the open doors, the light beyond being cast inward, then back down the hall ahead. There was a light from around the next turn ahead. No lights in the hall, but there was one ahead, a feint bluish hue. Sorv stretched his neck nervously and started ahead toward the light. This wasn't smart, he thought... but then, wasn't it? He needed to check didn't he? Needed to make sure it was safe for... for who? He was the only one here, wasn't he? Safe for Firas? No, that didn't make any sense...<br/><br/><br/>The next journal entry reads:<br/><br/><br/>"<br/>PHD in Archaeo-Technology and Prothean Studies Andrew Mosalev:<br/>Site 00278:A<br/><br/>I understand now why the Hanar are so protective of the "enkindlers." Where we see civilization lost in time, they see divinity, the seed of life... I've spent a great deal of time with the machine wondering similar things. Are these really just... relics? Remnants of a lost age of science and technology, or are they more than that? It had always been so clear in my mind, but now seeing this perfection of form and function... I can't help but see the hand of God at work in it. What it does is a mystery. It produces a field, yes, and one that perhaps is responsible for the preservation of this part of the facility, but it is more than that. It's difficult to describe, but to say that I simply know it.<br/><br/>I'm not alone in my captivation with this brilliance, either. We've all been caught off guard by it, shaken from our ignorance. What once we thought was solid stone upon which our understanding of the universe stood has become like sand, unstable, infinitely broken. I've spent hours just staring at it, trying to fathom the consciousness that created it. My free time has been all but consumed by it - many of us have. We watch it, scarcely talking that we may not risk the purpose of this machine being whispered to us and we miss it.<br/><br/>We've found more machines, strange machines... we were not sure how to approach them until one of our junior researches offered to use this device upon herself that we may reach a higher understanding of it. We feared for her, but only until we saw what it turned her into, the transcendence she found upon it. We have at last seen the craftsmanship of God upon our flesh.<br/>"<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>