Armageddon 2309 (The W-files)

Chapter 37

Rio was led to what looked like a warehouse, unguarded and nondescript from the outside. As they entered, Rio noticed the interior was packed with boxes of medicine and medical equipment, stacked haphazardly along the walls. This looked nothing like a time-travel lab.

Rio's alertness heightened as he was led further inside by Hyllos and Haydon. The air was musty, and the dim lighting added to the eerie atmosphere.

As if to answer Rio's doubts, Hyllos continued to walk through the boxes of medical supplies and reached a trapdoor, which he lifted with great strength. Rio eyed the trapdoor suspiciously, contemplating whether he should follow them into whatever lay below. He remembered how Huette had been confined in the company and hesitated for a moment.

"The lab is below," said Haydon, seemingly able to see through what was on Rio's mind. Then, Haydon's body disappeared from Rio's view as he followed behind Hyllos and descended through the trapdoor.

Rio descended through dimly lit stairs, his heart pounding with uncertainty. The grasp of the scalpel grew tighter as trepidation grew stronger with each step. The darkness seemed to swallow him whole, and Rio's mind raced with thoughts of what awaited him below.

As Rio reached the bottom of the stairs, he found himself in a large, dimly lit chamber. The air was thick with the smell of machinery and something else he couldn't quite place. In the center of the room, there was a large, metallic contraption that looked like a futuristic version of a time machine.

Haydon and Hyllos stood near the machine, watching Rio intently as he approached. Rio's heart raced as he realized the gravity of the situation. He was about to witness something that could change everything he knew about the world.

"Through this machine," Haydon's eyes landed on the machine with a hint of pride, "we can travel to the spot where all the passengers and aircraft were transported."

"I don't understand," Rio asked, "this is not the machine that could travel back in time?"

Haydon chuckled, "No, we can't travel back in time yet. But if you want to see how the passengers were transported to the present day, then get into this machine and key in the coordinates that you found from the Magnetar Core of mine." Then, his eyes darted from the machine to the bulge in his pocket from the metallic device that Rio had claimed back from Professor Landon.

Haydon's gaze lingered on the metallic device in his pocket for a moment before he looked back at Rio. "You're not planning anything foolish, are you?" he asked, his tone laced with a warning.

Rio shook his head, his expression determined. "I just want to understand what happened, Mr. Haydon. I want to know the truth."

Haydon studied him for a moment before nodding. "Very well. Step into the machine and enter the coordinates."

Haydon and Hyllos entered the machine, leaving the rest of the men outside. Rio followed suit, placing Batho inside before entering himself. The interior of the machine was like a high-tech transport pod, with sleek, metallic surfaces and a futuristic control panel. Rio immediately identified the console where he could key in the coordinates he had obtained from the Magnetar Core.

Rio took out the Magnetar Core from his pocket, twisting it as Professor Landon had taught him. A set of coordinates appeared on the device, confirming that he had correctly accessed the information he needed.

He entered the coordinates and waited as the machine hummed to life around him.

To his surprise, the machine seemed to detach itself from the shell that Rio had seen earlier. Underneath their feet, Rio felt an opening open up, and the pod they were in began to descend. It was like free fall, with the pod sinking deeper and deeper. Rio's stomach churned as he felt the sensation of weightlessness, his heart pounding in his chest.