The old steel door popped open as he managed to lift it off the ground. Wind rushed in to cleanse the old containment facility and purify its stale air. The tomb yearned for a new visitor after decades of isolation, for it desired to share with the world the secrets buried inside its gullet. The concrete below seemed as clean as the day they had sealed the facility away and left it to rot. Written near the entrance is the name of the facility, “Containment Facility Charlie”.
Without wasting any time, Neshoba jumped down to begin his operation, his pistol and torch at hand. The information in that file led him there. But what that something would be a mystery, as he wasn’t sure what the facility was meant to contain. All Neshoba could hope for was that the creature there perished after decades of neglect and lack of food.
The containment facility was far larger than the one Jackson was in. He noticed wheel scuff marks, evidence that the place was massive enough that MODOC took the time to establish some sort of transport system. As he journeyed deeper into the labyrinth of darkness, the more he theorised about the purpose of the place. Was it to hold something secret, was it meant to hold a horror, or a place to put most of MODOC’s personnel? Neshoba could stand behind the idea that the facility was once multiple facilities connected to one spot or planned to be one in the future.
However, it wouldn’t matter either way. He was walking on the ruins of a dead organisation with too many skeletons in its closet. There were no signs of battle or indications of a struggle, yet the place reeked of conflict. His hair beads didn’t hum, strange as there should be a soul that witnessed something here. However, Neshoba could sense that the place was smothered in moral decay.
There were stories, rumours of what MODOC was doing before it was eradicated. There was no doubt that many were made up to establish a moral justification for the Order to wage their little war against their former subject. However, they both had one thing in common. The desire for human perfection.
Wanting to improve humanity’s limits was nothing new for the Order, as they tried to make the perfect human throughout their long history. By magical or scientific means. However, most of their experiments ended in failure as the means to improve the human form has always been a challenge. MODOC allegedly had a try at the age-old question of creating an Enhanced Human. To birth an Ubermensch to bring about a golden age for humanity, whatever that meant at the time.
In the end, no one knew if MODOC ever succeeded in trying to create the perfect human. But most people believed that they never unlocked the secrets to human perfection and trans-humanist ascension. To Neshoba, he believed their side project was ultimately fruitless in the end. All that was left of their organisation was just memories and old wounds, currently reopening.
‘Claire, do you read me?’ Neshoba said over the earpiece. ‘Claire, do you read me?’ He said again when nothing came out from the other end.
Neshoba growled; more alert than he should be as he became unable to get through to Claire. Communications through an SCL network shouldn’t have any sort of interference under any circumstances unless it was magical in nature. Something MODOC might've establish to keep the facility hidden from the Order. But even with the tech, it shouldn’t be possible, especially after the facility was abandoned for so long and when no one had the means to keep that sort of spell running.
Eventually, he found himself in an office area. A thin layer of dust preserved the place well after the last soul had left it behind. However, in the middle of the office floor was a skeletal corpse with its rib cage burst open from the inside.
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Shot through the back? Neshoba thought to himself, but he was unable to determine the cause of the person’s fate or what killed them. Again, his hair beads didn’t hum, making it impossible to know for sure.
He dug through every file cabinet and document he could find. Luckily for him, it seemed MODOC was in a rush to leave the facility, besides destroying everything that was inside. A strange thing to do, but he rationalised that it was due to the chaotic nature of the Order disbanding MODOC in such a short time span and how bloody it was.
Most of the documents were mostly useless. Most go through roll calls for the guards in the facility, while a fair number of them go over the finances of MODOC and how they could budget with the funding provided by the US government, as well as from the Order. However, one caught his eye. “Reports: New-Age Monsters."
He skimmed the file; it was a mission and a report from one of the operations about horrifica’s sightings within North America and how they might be an adaptation of monsters changing to better fit with the modern society of the time. However, what caught his eye was a little section on Jackson Abernu. On the file, the reptile was listed as a “suspected horrifica” under MODOC supervision in the town of Appleseed.
‘Appleseed?’ Neshoba mumbled, remembering the family he interviewed a few months ago that Jackson interacted with. According to the file, the place was a secret town located on the outskirts of Oklahoma. A place Jackson retired to under the watchful eye of the Order and MODOC until he decided to reenlist back into the services of the Order Horrifica. It even lists his mutuals and friends within the town, even a woman by the name of Hannah Black. She was listed as being Jackson’s wife and the mother of their daughter, Jennifer Black.
Strangely, the file on Jennifer was far larger than Jackson’s. It had detailed reports of her medical history, behaviour, and whether she could use magic. The report concluded that she was suspected of being able to use multiple schools of magic if properly trained. Though she was a toddler in the reports, it was far more detailed than Jackson’s single-page report. Going over her medical records, daily reports on her health and interactions, weekly reports on her development, everything. He found it weird, but Neshoba could understand how it could be relevant to his mission. Though he wouldn't ignore that she had gained MODOC's attention.
That was his next lead, the place that started it all. Yet why would they kill him when he was a respected member of the community and happily married with a family? Neshoba noticed that the report on Jackson mostly labelled him as harmless, as he dedicated himself to pacifistic ideals ever since he retired.
But before he could delve deeper into the report. Neshoba flinched as he heard a heavy footstep in the distance. The wet and heavy sound of skin slapping against concrete echoed down the long hall and into the office area. As a low bellow followed soon after, he turned his torch off and readied his pistol while he hid behind a table. Something was there, and Neshoba knew it was not human.
He got what he came for; he could just sneak past and escape. But at the same time, there was something in the same place as him. Awakened after its long slumber, and a danger to humanity that needed to be taken out before it could cause harm.
