Jacob Burns and the Order of the Algorithm #Wattys2017

Chapter 14: The Writing on the Wall

Chapter 14: The Writing on the Wall

We crept down the dark, dank stairwell in silence, spiraling deep into the earth as I held out the torch in front of me. Long black shadows stretched before us, dark shapes shifting along the walls like a formless phantom that gripped my imagination and conjured the darkest of visions into the back of my mind, sending my already finely tuned senses over the edge. I held my gun close to my chest, ready at a moment's notice, while Ilya had her nose buried in the Pip-Boy, no doubt keeping an eye out for even the slightest hint of danger as we moved deeper into the dark. After all, there was no telling what we might find down here, especially with all the damage done to the building over the years. All it would take was one poorly placed cave-in and it could open us up to any number of monstrosities.

Even so, as I gazed upon the Victorian sconces adorning the walls, I couldn't help but wonder.

"Look at this place, it's ancient... How long do you think it's been hiding down here?" I asked as I swept another curtain of cobwebs to the side.

"It must have been built into the very foundation," Ilya replied, "But that would mean it's been around since 1895 and that's practically four hundred years."

"Four hundred years?" I said with a whistle, "That's a long time to keep something like this a secret... Looks like this "Eye in the Atom" thing has been around a lot longer than our robot friend was letting on, and somehow, I don't get the sense we're on our way to a science consortium or gentlemen's club..."

"Neither do I," Ilya replied with a cold shiver, "I do hope my father knows what he's doing, this place is starting to give me the creeps," she added as we passed by another ominous eye carved into the wall, looking down at us with a glare as if it knew we were trespassing on this sacred ground.

We continued along in silence until, at last, the spiraling corridor came to an end and opened up into a massive underground chamber. Through the dim light, we were just barely able to make out the mechanical equipment strewn about the room. A chemistry set crowded the center, a beautiful array of crystal flasks and vials brimming with strange and mysterious liquids that intrigued me all their own, while a large set of databases lined the walls and towered above us from all sides, their dials dark and processors quiet. At last, we managed to find the main terminal, but quickly found it out of power. Ilya and I split up as we searched around in the dark, but as I crept around the edges of the room, I caught sight of something on the wall.

"Ilya, over here," I called out, and without a word, she raced over as quick as she could. I held up the torch high, and heard her let out an audible gasp.

"It's some kind of writing, but I can't quite make it out... Can't you reach any higher?"

"No, but there's got to be some kind of generator around here somewhere, right?" I replied, and we got back to work. It wasn't long before I finally caught sight of the great machine, tucked away far in the back corner and covered in cobwebs. With the flip of a switch, a spark of electricity shot up a pair of towering Tesla coils, igniting the engine and rumbling to life.

One by one, the lights flickered on around us, and suddenly we found ourselves standing in a magnificent laboratory, a monument to the beauty and craftsmanship of the Victorian age. The floor was made of a polished blue marble, inlaid with golden stars to look like the night sky. The ceiling stretched high above us, like a vast cathedral it seemed to go on forever and ever, but at its center hung a massive working model of the solar system that began to spin above our heads, ancient gears grinding out the celestial patterns of the planets and their moons. Finally, another ominous eye stared at us from high upon the wall, as always, surrounded by the rings of an atom.