The room was bare, illuminated by a single dim fluorescent bulb. The walls were painted a sickly shade of green, and the windows were covered in dust, blocking out the moonlight. The lab smelled of fear, pain, and death, permeating the air, filling their nostrils with a thick, nauseating aroma.
Without speaking, the three of them split up and began to search, looking for a clue or a hint that would lead them in the right direction. As they scoured the room, Anne noticed a massive stack of papers sitting on a table...
She slowly picked up a page and read:
"Project Erojium."
A chill ran down her spine, and her heart rate quickened as she grabbed another page and flipped through it. She couldn't believe what she was reading.
Before she could continue, they heard footsteps approaching and instinctively bolted towards the exit. Seren threw open the door, and they rushed out into the darkness beyond, their hearts pounding with anticipation. The creature began to walk out of the building, leaving Anne and Ser alone, drenched in their own sweat, their eyes burning from the intensity of what they had just uncovered.
The two of them looked at each other and could only guess at what they would find next. But one thing was certain: they had to uncover the truth behind Project Erojium. They had to uncover the truth and end its horrific legacy before it destroyed them.
"What the hell is in front of us...?" Seren whispered, his voice trembling.
Anne clenched her fists, determination etched on her face, and stood up, refusing to let this opportunity go to waste. That is when the group realized this creature that was in front of them was not hostile. It looked familiar, yet extraterrestrial, at the same moment.
"What are you?" Seren asked the enigmatic creature.
She blinked.
It was impossible to miss the physical features of this creature: its large eyes, webbed paws, and shimmering scales. But despite the overwhelming strangeness of her appearance, there was no denying a kind of strange familiarity that filled Anne with a sense of awe.
She glanced at Seren.
His jaw dropped as he stared at the creature.
She felt a wave of excitement and curiosity rising within her.
She knew what it was like to be surrounded by wonder, but this feeling was unlike anything she had ever experienced before. It was a sense of infinite possibilities, of infinite discovery, and endless adventure.
The creature nodded in agreement, as if hearing her thoughts.
Anne glanced over at Marcus. "Is she sentient?" he whispered.
"Maybe," replied Seren.
She pondered on what to call the mysterious creature before deciding on the nickname she had given her.
The creature paused, looking around.
"What?" Anne whispered.
The creature turned to them and nodded towards a distant mountain. Marcus whispered. "The creature seems intelligent; do you have a name for it?"
She paused, her ears twitching. "We can name her... Nyx." She replied.
Nyx paused and tilted her head.
Anne hesitated and then continued: "It doesn't seem she or it can speak. What should we call her then? Should we simply call her "creature"? I don't think that's a good idea either."
Nyx perked up and glanced at the sky. Her scales glimmered under the moonlight.
Anne wasn't sure whether to be amazed, scared, or both. She looked up to the sky. In a matter of minutes, a beautiful sunset turned into a terrifying vision of death, fire, and destruction.
Nyx looked to Anne and Seren. She tilted her head and reached for her. "I don't know..." Marcus replied, "Probably not, but it seems she wants to be with us?" He knelt and looked to Seren, who looked hesitant but shrugged. Marcus walked towards Nyx, gesturing for the other two to follow. "Well, I guess there isn't anything to lose by taking her in, am I right?"
Seren and Anne nodded. They moved closer to Nyx and knelt in front of her. "Welcome, little Nyx," Anne said, extending a hand towards her. Nyx eagerly took Anne's hand and scurried towards her, hugging her arm. "Now let's see what we have here," Marcus exclaimed. He patted Nyx's head gently, making her purr.
"We're getting sidetracked. right before we got startled by Nyx, I found some papers that seemed to be containing something about 'Project Erojium.' Whatever was happening on Earth before the cataclysm hit, there were people aware of Erojium."
They glanced towards Nyx, who remained silent. "Do you know anything about this?" Marcus asked.
She shook her head, a puzzled expression on her face. "Very well," Anne added. "Let us go back into the lab for further investigation."
As they made their way into the building, they saw something that startled all of them. There was a humanoid figure, chained to the wall. Nyx approached it cautiously, peering closer at the figure. Suddenly, they could hear the sound of voices, as if the figure was trying to communicate with her.
The others followed Nyx and saw the figure's head rise and fall as she tried to understand the sounds. Anne and Seren reached towards the figure, hoping to comfort her. However, before they could touch her, Nyx pushed them back, a warning growl escaping her lips.
Nyx placed her paw on the humanoid's chest, sensing her heartbeat. The figure placed her hand on Nyx's shoulder, calming her. "Is this one of the victims of Project Erojium?" asked Anne. "It is difficult to say without any information. Perhaps this was a project run by someone else entirely. Let us focus on finding answers, not conjecture."
Before they could continue, a sound came from the laboratory. It was a low humming sound, almost like a song. Seren looked around for its source. Suddenly, a series of lights flickered and went on, casting a faint glow in the darkness.
At first, it was just one, and then a few, and then a dozen. Within seconds, the entire laboratory was lit, and they could see what appeared to be a vast array of computers and laboratory equipment.
As they looked around, they saw dozens of humans chained up to the walls, their skin stretched and wrinkled, their mouths open in silent screams. One of them, a young woman, sat in a chair, her head slumped to the side, as if she had been asleep for ages.
The rest of the humans appeared to be dead or dying, and they had clearly been through a horrific ordeal. The humming intensified, and they felt a chill running down their spines. Seren looked up and gasped.
"This is the extent of Project Erojium... I want to read those files, but we need to get out of here." He looked at Anne and Marcus, "We cannot be sure if there are traps or other dangers."
Anne shook her head. "Most of them seem to be dead, and the ones that are alive, are barely clinging on, we have to find out what happened here."
The three looked around the lab for clues, and they began to discover more horrors than they could imagine. After what seemed like hours of searching, they found the location of all file cabinets that contained contents of Project Erojium and began to comb through them.
"This is definitely Project Erojium; the documentation seems to be incomplete or corrupted." Marcus gestured towards the papers. "It seems to be something that was in the works, but the end results are unknown."
Marcus held up one of the papers, showing them a strange diagram of something resembling a wormhole. "Based on this, the experiment involved traveling to a faraway planet using teleportation."
As they dug deeper, they found a series of reports on various test subjects, describing their deterioration and mutation from being subjected to the experiments.
Anne shuddered. "This is horrible." She whispered. She glanced over her shoulder and felt a chill running down her spine.
Seren turned to her, his brow furrowed in confusion. "Are you alright?"
Anne nodded. "Yes." She wasn't sure how to explain it. Something felt off. She had the distinct feeling that someone or something was watching them, and it left her feeling uneasy. She shook her head, pushing aside the thought. "I'm fine, just a little lightheaded, that's all."