The Facility

Chapter 1

 There is a hole in the center of our universe. A hole so empty and desolate that it grasps all that come near and warps them into new, grotesque, and loathsome creatures that send men and women into the depths of madness with a simple glance. These creatures swim their way through the depths of space in search of us. They do this, not because they are hungry, but because they desire chaos. They desire destruction and death on an unbelievable scale. The only thing standing between them and us is The Facility and a man named John.

----------

John Doever was an ordinary man with an ordinary house, an ordinary lawn, and an ordinarily fat cat that wheezed when it ran too fast. Every morning he would dawn a typical black suit adorned with one of his three favorite ties. That day in March 2023, he decided to wear his blue silk tie that perfectly matched his vibrant blue eyes. He would then stroll to his kitchen, where a pot of dark roast "Top of the Morning" coffee awaited him.

After pouring a large cup, and gently sipping it until not a drop was left, he would go down the stairs of his two-story house. He'd leave a large helping of cat food for Chip, whose namesake was a chocolate-colored patch at the end of her orange tabby tail, and get into his perfectly ordinary four-door sedan.

John drove out of his driveway on Hancock Road and headed towards his local Dunkin' Donuts. When he arrived, he would consistently order a bacon breakfast sandwich from his favorite window lady, Mary. Then he would set the sandwich in his passenger seat, as he never ate in his car, and take the backroads to the plant he worked at.

The textile plant at which Joh worked barely broke even yearly but supplied jobs to hundreds of average Joes like John. Though the plant itself was not John's real job, it was a front for his actual job at The Facility.

The actual facility lay three hundred seventy-five feet below the surface of the Earth, with only a shaky elevator to reach it. It was a long ride, but John did not mind; he found it relaxing. At the bottom of the shaft was a reception area where Judy, with her long red hair draped over her sloped and tired shoulders, waited for the intake of new personnel and sorted papers for the intake of new "patients."

John approached her with a friendly smile, "Hey, Judy. How's Ben doing?"

"Oh, you know him," she sighed, "more interested in his NASCAR and Bud Light than his own wife."

John frowned dramatically, "How could he ignore such a beautiful woman?" his flattery was blatant.

She giggled at that and opened the double doors for him, "Go on, you flirt and don't get any more boys hurt out there. It's always more work for me cause of the new intakes!" the stress evident in her heavy southern drawl.

It was his turn to laugh, "You know I can't promise anything when it comes to these newbies."

John continued through the doors and down the hall. He passed several empty cells but stopped at one with a guest within. Its name was unpronounceable, but they all had nicknames. This one was Crag, on account of his somewhat stone appearance. Crag was a being from the far reaches of space, but he was not an alien but a god.

Crag was a six-foot-seven-inch tall humanoid in the Danger Class Alpha, the lowest, and the Intelligence Class of Beta. He was strong enough to destroy a skyscraper and sentient but not very bright, so when he first arrived on Tallulah Mountain in '87, he caused quite the commotion but didn't kill anyone... Just cost the state of Georgia a lot of money in road repair.

"Hey, Crag," John said soothingly so as not to startle the being.

"Johnnn John," Crag said in his deep and cracked voice, "Happy to see!"

"I'm happy to see you too, Crag." This was a lie, but it was a lie he told everyone, "It sounds like you've gotten better at speaking our language. Have you done your homework today?"

Crag did not speak, but a smile cracked across his rocky face and pointed to a corner in which sat a pile of papers with several scribbled letters of the alphabet on them and a mound of splintered pencils next to it. John smiled at the stone giant and told him he had done an excellent job before heading to his next ward.

The creature in the next cell was a lot less friendly and a lot more ugly. The beast in the next cell was Nera. This ward was a large ball of constantly gyrating flesh-like material that could change into any shape it wanted but preferred to "let loose" by staying in this form.

"Hello, Nera. Feeling a bit friendlier today?" John said as he watched a large eye and a crooked mouth that was more like a quivering hole form on the side of the creature facing him. It was disgusting. Revolting even, but interaction with The Facility's guests was necessary.

"Hello aaageenntt" Nera rasped, "moorre shock therraapy today? Or will it be the waterrrr taaank?"

John couldn't help but snicker, "as long as you behave, then you have the day to relax, maybe consume some human media. I'm partial to the show "The Big Bang Theory."

With this, John carried on down the corridor lit by white fluorescent light that gave the whole building an eerie feel. Like at any moment, EMS professionals would burst through the double doors with a dying patient on a gurney, all while yelling, "we need a doctor, we need a doctor." John liked it, though; he found it oddly comforting, like a home away from home.

His steps echoed on the linoleum as he moved through the hallway to another set of yellow double doors. This pair required a keycard to pass through to the other side. John swiped his high-security clearance card and walked even further, past more guests, to his office at the end of the said corridor.

He opened the teak door with a plaque on which his name was emblazoned. Sat in his padded winged office chair and began on the stack of paperwork that sat on his desk. Most of it was simple mission approval, and John was the man who decided whether or not the investigation of an event was necessary or if events were natural. Most of the time, they were naturally occurring, but sometimes there'd be a sighting or a strange sound. That's when John would send in one of his teams to investigate, extract, or terminate an entity of unknown origin.

It was rare that the teams had to exterminate. They were all highly trained in the art of extraction, so while they often suffered high casualty rates, they almost always completed their mission. Almost always.

On the rare occasion that the extraction team couldn't handle an entity, he would be deployed to negotiate the situation. It seemed like today would be one of those rare occasions. Based on the report, at least.

March 21st, 2023.

Luitenant Hughes to report on events that occurred during mission #1023

Mission designation: upsilon rising

Mission status: failed

Reason for mission failure based on report given: entity too intelligent.

Orders for further execution: MR. John Doever is to lead team alpha into extraction zone Zulu to negotiate with an unknown entity.

This is going to be a long day, John thought.