OP-6, also known as Opytnoye Podval 6, is a top-secret facility. Formed after World War II, it conducts research on the Unfinished Painting of Dresden.
No one here. The Revenants switch off night vision, and exit from their electro-camouflage. Under a dome with an eye-like Oculus, silence and pale light reign alongside each other.
They wade through the rows of workstations and are in awe. Computer server racks march along the circular wall, with robotic arms hung from overhead rails. Apart from the usual lab instruments, there are even photon accelerators stored in wooden cases.
"Are we in the right place?" asks Tyoma. "Because this doesn't look like a museum lab to me."
"Yes," says Roza. "Something's not right. I don't like it one bit."
"Look, the desktop computers weren't signed out," says Sergei, while browsing one of the workstations. "People were just here. Anya, anything out of ordinary on your visual display?"
"Nyet. Zero body heat signature. And nothing on my motion sensor."
"Bad omen," says Sergei. "Let's hurry up so we can get out of here."
The target is in the center of the lab, bathed in soft lighting. Small in size like a vanity mirror, it is framed in meticulously ornate gold. Anya approaches it, and is instantly absorbed by its ethereal beauty.
This is it, the artwork Eve wanted. The Unfinished Painting of Dresden.
The Virgin Mary and Child are depicted in the foreground and form a triangular shape with the Magi kneeling in adoration. Behind them, there are just semi-circle sketches with no color, leaving the background unfinished.
The painting itself is a mystery. No one knew who painted it, nor when and where it was painted. Found in a catacomb in Saxony during the 15th century, it was subsequently adopted by a church in Dresden called Salvatore-Kirchen.
World War II, 1945. During the Allied bombing of Dresden, women and children sought refuge in the church building. They believed in the myth, that the painting would protect them from harm. And it did. By the time the bombing ended and the city was turned to smoldering ruins, Salvatore-Kirchen stood alone, miraculously unscathed.
The Red Army then occupied Dresden, and a Soviet trophy brigade, acting on orders from a state commission that had no name, removed the painting and shipped it to the Hermitage Museum. After the removal, Salvatore-Kirchen crumbled to the ground.
Of all the artifacts that poured in from the front lines, the Unfinished Painting of Dresden was the most important one. After all, apart from its unknown origin, it prompted more questions that had no answer. Why was it unfinished? What was the unfinished portion meant to be? And most importantly, what power did it wield to protect Salvatore-Kirchen?
After the war, the state commission secured approval from the politburo and renamed itself OP-6. It commenced research on the Dresden painting, and despite the dissolution of the Soviet Union many decades later, its work continued to this day.
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The Blind Remnant
Short StoryIn the dark of the frigid night, the star in the east shines bright. At the behest of a mysterious client, a mercenary team infiltrates the Hermitage Museum to steal a 15th-century painting. What they find instead will not only shine a light on thei...
