Mason was the type of person to be more curious about the inside workings of things than the general appearance of the thing in question. Clocks, planes, body tissue, most of the standard things that many people think about.
But as Mason, B-64, and his friends plus his sister entered the site, Mason could barely believe his eyes.
The entire inside was... Different somehow. It felt off, like it was not meant to be, but just was. Many doctors and researchers walked around them, consumed in their work. But what he found odd was the other life-forms that walked around.
A creature like a hairless ape, skin flush against bone and with a horrible face, but wearing a lab coat and rushing alongside a moth to get a vile of some chemical somewhere. A massive hulkinh blob of tissue just oozing along, small vials packed inside the tissue like a macabre storage container.
Axel was just like Mason, staring around and just trying to make sense of everything. Hannah and Marissa were different. They weren't scared so to speak, but the creatures around them certainly weren't like them. Even at the base, fundamental level, they weren't.
"Come on." Gears told them, holstering his pistol that he had in his hand for some reason, "We need to be quick." He then nodded to his team members, all quickly dispersing, presumably to report the outcome of their mission.
Marissa and Hannah tagged behind Axel as they followed Gears, Hannah hugging Marissa close for comfort. She was both tired and still moderately grumpy at what happened to B-64, but has since calmed down.
The hallway seemed to stretch on forever, the same feeling of non-belonging and non-reality still clung to their minds, but they dismissed it as they walked along. They passed by creature after creature, some wearing badges, and some just creatures that were being tested on. Gear greeted some like dear friends.
They steadily approached a climbing staircase that seemed to go on far longer than what should be reasonable, but it always ended before they complained. Gears was smiling the entire time, taking pleasure in showcasing his beloved foundations secrets. Though, beloved was a strong word.
After another series of five stairwells that ended right before they complained, Gears made them stop. He swiftly plunged his hands into his pockets and withdrew a shiny red keycard with, "The Foundation" inscribed on it in bold white letters.
And they entered the hallway.
Like the others, this one just felt different than normal, but not for the same reasons. It was just a little too dark, a little too cramped and a little too tall. As they walked, it felt like the entire structure was moving and changing, the walls suddenly getting wider, the ceiling shrinking and growing.
But the more they walked, the less it happened. It was like it was a counter-measure, a way to keep those that didn't have the proper clearance from ever finding their way, and the fact that Gears was with them only allowed them to get cleared.
They soon approached the end of the hallway. Along the end wall was a door, white in color with light blue light emanating inside the room that it guarded. Gears rapped his knuckles against the frame, the sound resonating and loud in the fairly quiet hallway.
Mason took time to examine what was around him. He could feel that something wasn't right, that much was obvious, but the more he looked at the walls, floor and ceiling, the more he realized that it was him thinking that things were changing.
Without focusing on anything, his vision grew wonky and distorted, stretching and expanding without obstructing anything. But as he focused on a specific spot on the wall, the stretching slowly stopped, and the wall and the area surrounding his gaze appeared normal.
They all waited for nearly two minutes before the door opened. Mason was surprised to see another rabbit, slightly larger and bigger than him, but ultimately slim as well.
He was male, Mason could tell. He was a cottontail, though what type Mason wasn't sure. He had very white fur, and the insides of his ears and his palms were a light blue. He wore neatly broken glasses, and wore a simple lab coat with stormy gray clothes underneath.
He clasped his hands together softly, a smile somehow fixated on his face. He glanced at Mason and the rest, the smile not quite reaching his eyes, "I assume the mission went without a hitch?"
Gears nodded silently, apparently scared of the meek looking rabbit in front of him, "Wonderful." Mason could hear a slight accent when he spoke, despite being a cottontail. Mason guessed European.
"Well then, come on inside. Gears, please report to Gabriel for full documentation, thank you." Gears nodded, swiftly turning around and almost running to get out of there. The rabbit smiled wider, turning his attention to the group, "Well, come on then."
B-64 was the first to follow, seemingly unaffected by whatever bending was going on around him. Mason followed suit, and his sister hung close by while Marissa and Axel hung behind, still weary from waking up and everything that was going on.
But as the door began to close slowly, they eagerly grabbed at it and swiftly squeezed inside, as if compelled to do so by something. They looked at each other like neither meant to go inside.
The room, or more accurately, office was rather large. Platinum white floor and walls, light blue lamps in each of the four corners, and numerous file cabinets were pushed against the walls. In the dead centre was the rabbit, his nametag proudly proclaiming his first name: Lied.
Lied softly padded several files down on his desk, each one having their names inscribed in plain english. There was one more file, one with Hack-01 labeled on it. Lied gestured to the seats, that smile still on his face.
Mason took a seat right after B-64, and Hannah desperately clawed her way to sit on his left leg. Marissa and Axel still stayed back, prefering to stand rather than sit. Lied closed his eyes, and opened them like he was annoyed.
But his voice and posture never changed, no sighs ever escaped his lips. He still held that friendly atmosphere despite not looking like he would, "I do hope that you ride here wasn't that bad, hmm?"
Axel grumbled something, "This isn't a hotel..." It was so quiet that neither Mason, nor Marissa picked up on what he said, but Lied did.
"No, you're right. Ahem, I hope that it was better than most. In any case, I assume that you're wondering why each of you are here?" He asked, tightening and straightening up in his chair while interlocking his fingers. Mason shared a look with B-64.
"Because we're a plan or something." Marissa stated, frowning. Lied nodded, leaning forward as if to catch the words. Mason found himself patting the ground and wanting to get whatever Lied wanted to say out. He usually wasn't this impatient, but he needed to get answers from someone, or something.
Lied's blue nose twitched as he slowly leaned back, making a small triangle with his hands as he sat them against his flat stomach, "Yes, I guess that it is correct. You are plan C for stopping the end of the world." He stated matter-of-factly, the smile finally reaching his eyes as if he was genuinely happy that she knew.
"Why, and how in the world are we any sort of plan?" Axel asked, his brows forwarded. Lied sighed gustily, sliding his hands together as he slowly sat back on his chair. He scratched his head before answering.
"Because of Hack-0 here. I assume that you are all aware of his origins, being from another planet?" They all nodded, Mason adding something before Lied had a chance to speak again.
"His name is B-64."
Lied shrugged his shoulders, turning his hands over, "Yes, well, B-64 here is the most advanced technological organism that The Foundation has. Or had." He added at the end, a blank stare on his face.
"But how doe-"
Lied raised a finger, silencing Marissa, "His energy source. Boson Energy as most of his species called it. I assume that none of you know it's true power?" They all shook their heads. Mason still knew little about whatever powered B-64.
Lied grinned, rubbing his hands together as if excited to tell someone what Boson Energy was, "Boson Energy has the power to alter reality." He stated plainly, sitting up straight in his chair and broadly smiling.
Mason stared at Lied for a moment, not entirely grasping what that meant. It seemed neither did Marissa, who just sat there with Hannah on her leg. Axel somehow understood though, a look of astonishment on his face.
"To... Alter reality? What does that even mean?" Mason asked, turning to look at B-64. For his part, it seemed that B-64 was actively trying to listen to what they were talking about.
Lied smiled broadly, finally reaching his eyes, "Though it isn't as impressive as some of the other items we have collected, it is one of our best chances at survival. Please, follow me."
Lied stood up and brushed off his lab coat. He pushed a small orange button located near a photo. One of him and a bear.
Mason heard gasps around him, finally feeling something himself. It felt like all the air was knocked out of him in an instant. He tried to speak, but nothing came out. His vision soon distorted and stretched like screen tears, colors blending into one another.
And in another second, it snapped back.
They found themselves outside in a hallway, void of color besides a heavy gray. Mason looked around, finding his friends disoriented as well. With a fizzle, Lied seemed to just appear in front of them, smiling while taking in a deep breath.
"That is the early stages of teleportation." He stated smugly. Mason considered the thought that maybe he wasn't the head of whatever organization they were at.
Axel looked at him thoughtfully. Turning his head, he considered the rabbit, "You used teleportation... To teleport us to a hallway? From what I've read, doesn't that cost you a massive amount of energy to barely do something like that?"
Lied smiled at Axel, inthralld with the idea that the Hyena was actually interested in his work, "Well, before with what we believe the energy required. As I said, Boson Particles are rather big energy sources. Please, follow me. I want you to see something."
They all followed Lied. The hallway was neither cold nor hot, but they all felt a sense of unease. Like the entirety of the thing shouldn't be allowed to exist, but somehow does. It was similar, in that sense, to the hallway leading to Lied's room, but it was different somehow.
They soon reached a wall. Mason looked to his right, then to his left. It seemed to stretch on and on with no end in sight, an ungodly thick fog as far as the eye can see standing just a couple hundred feet down the way..
Then Mason looked straight, seeing an imposing rusted iron door. Lied slipped his hand into his lab coats pocket, and fished out his keycard. The entire thing was milky white with a large black strip on the top, embroiled within the black strip was his full name, "Lied Winch Bright"
Mason thought about how strange Lied was as a first name, wondering what significance it was for, but ultimately, it didn't matter. Lied slid the keycard down and pushed his palm against the door, pushing it open with a hiss of mechanics.
Mason and his friends entered the room, finding not what they expected.
The entire room was a massive expanse, one that was strangely clouded with fog as well. What seemed to be thousands of different scientists and researchers testing on a variety of different machines and weapons.
"Boson Energy alters reality with the use of specific equipment." Lied started, stuffing his keycard back into his pocket, "We've been tampering with it, and we've gotten some things that have helped us."
He gestured towards what seemed to be a large bowl filled with water. A shark signed another scientist before jumping inside. He was holding what seemed to be a small device with multiple tubes running from a large generator of sorts.
The shark wrapped his fingers around a lever jutting out, and pushed with his palm while aiming at several logs that were inside the bowl as well.
And the pile of logs burst into flames.
"And it can do that. Cause reality to alter to the point where fire can exist underwater." Lied told them, grinning broadly, "With low enough Hume Levels and high enough Boson Fields, literally anything is possible.
Axel looked at what had happened, his eyes burning with a passion that Mason had only seen once in his life, when Axel first began learning about physics. Marissa looked impressed, holding Hannah's hand.
B-64 noticed that, and he felt compelled to act. He shuffled up to Mason's side and trilled, clasping his claws around Mason's hand. Mason accepted, leaning against the protogen as he stared into the impossible flame.
"But... What does that have to do with us?" Marrisa asked, turning her head with a frown.
"Because, we've learned that certain people can access this energy without the need for mechanical devices. You four all have this ability." Lied told them.
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I wonder how many people understood the name.
So, please bear with me here, this will all make sense and it isn't gonna go down the road of prophecies or "Stupid" Coicedences... Kinda.
So, PLEASE, please bear with me here.
And also, there was an even more hidden easter egg regarding a certain game franchise. Although, it is very loose.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this little filler chapter. Next one'll be more... Juicy...
Thanks for reading!