The Esoteric Design Read online

  “Precisely.” He flipped the screen around, the image twisting for the others to see. The display flashed, showing an inside view of an encampment. “This is a security camera for the facility. We’ve called all city-states, and no one will fess up to it. We have all of our country’s military online, and no one was near the site. But then again, that hasn’t stopped them before.”

  According to the camera, everything seemed to be running smoothly. Everyone was at their desk working diligently. Aria stared at the man nearest the camera, an Average Joe just earning a paycheck. He sipped slowly from his coffee before rubbing his eyes and sighing long and low. People like this weren’t usually top-notch battle efficient. These types of bases were used for Intel processing. This facility was the brains behind operations. They had the largest supercomputer man had ever known–highest encryption. Not a single person was ever known to crack the code. Basically, if someone needed something kept from any eyes, it was held there. The base had its own mini-military; the top grade of weaponry and soldiers guarded the facility. It was wrapped up like a cocoon. The core crystal drive was hidden deep underground a labyrinth of buildings, shelling one over another with a barricade of weapons outside. This place was an armory inside an armory inside yet another armory all covered in chainmail and completely top secret, hidden from even the most advanced satellites.

  “Any flight patterns or disturbances?” Aria narrowed her eyes as she watched a slight vibration that shook the entire structure.

  “None whatsoever. We’re looking into gathering seismology of the area.” The President cleared his throat and pointed at the screen. Everything shook. Poor Average Joe spilled his coffee on himself. His coworkers jumped with surprise, their heads turning from side to side, looking all about. There was a flash of light and everything cut out, fuzz taking over the camera.

  “Seismology? Like an earthquake?” Troy questioned.

  “We’ve got to take a look at everything. If nothing came in from the sky, then perhaps from underground. Also, there was a blast. We can decide if a nuclear weapon was used or try to decipher what created the explosion. Whatever it was, it was strong enough to break through every barrier around the facility and hit the very core.”

  “Is this the only footage we have?” Aria folded her arms, putting her weight on one hip.

  “There’s another, right before everything went out, on the outside. This is what I really wanted to show you.” Mr. Clarke opened a new file.

  “So we caught the ones who did it.” Troy smirked. “Bet it was Russite.”

  “You always think it’s Russite.” Aria rolled her eyes.

  “Well, they are always trying to screw things up, being our largest competitor,” Gavin suggested.

  The President cleared his throat, gathering the attention of the three.

  “This is Sergeant…ly.” The screen flickered, static interrupting a soldier’s voice momentarily. “Attack began right at 0330. It started with a massive black hole on the horizon. We initially thought that it was a platoon silhouette, but then the actual landscape seemed to fizzle in and out.” The sergeant caught his breath. Frantic screaming, shouting, and gunshots were heard off screen. The man held his earpiece tightly against his head. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” He flipped his own vid screen toward the camera, giving the crowd a glimpse of what he saw.

  “This is from a security camera near building 'D.' The disturbance occurred approximately 1,500 meters from the base.” His computer screen showed a quiet desert landscape. After a couple seconds, a massive shadow broke on the horizon. It grew taller, and, as quick as it appeared, it disappeared. Immediately, the landscape started to distort and twist, streaking like static. Aria stepped closer to the President’s desk.

  “Was his feed just getting interrupted?” Troy asked.

  “No.” Aria pointed to the corner of the screen. “That’s the edge of the fence. See how it’s not getting disturbed?” Her finger trailed in a circle toward the center of the scene. “It’s like a vortex, spiraling inward.”

  The security camera’s image began getting fuzzier by the second.

  “It’s like an EMP disturbance.” Troy gawked. “But…to the physical realm.”

  Suddenly, the picture cut out, and the sergeant came back into view. “I don’t know what to make of it. You should have seen it with your own eyes. It was just…crazy.” The man’s voice trembled. His words were quick, barely understood. “Within seconds, our whole camp was ambushed! It was like a tidal wave! The static just came closer and closer at an impossible speed!”

  Aria noticed the timer on the screen. If the attack had occurred right at 0330, only five minutes would have passed. The video feed distorted. Gunshots were getting louder and so were the screams, but not all of the screams were normal.

  “What is that?” Gavin asked, wincing at the high-pitched shriek.

  “You hear that?” the sergeant asked. “That’s them,” he whimpered. “I…uh, it appears that they are not from this world.” The man shuddered as a horrific scream came from behind him, and a body flew through the background on screen. The video started twitching and dragging snowy lines down in quick vibrations. A low hum began to sound. The sergeant looked over his shoulder to where the battle seemed to be coming from. He jerked his head back to the recording device and cried out, “Aliens!”

  A blur leaped from the right-hand side onto the man, snow blocking a clear view of whatever it was. Monstrous shrieks and screeches distorted the sound through the speakers. The screen flickered wildly as the hum grew in volume; a flash ignited the monitor followed by a low Vooom, and everything went to static. Silence engulfed the room as the group stared at the flickering video, leaving an eerie stillness.

  “That’s when we lost the feed,” the President spoke up. “The flash occurred at the exact same time as the other video I previously showed you.”

  “Looked and sounded like an EMP grenade. You think someone let one off?” Troy calibrated the watch on his DNAIS, setting different time zones.

  “There is no EMP weaponry of any kind allowed in that camp. It would screw up every electronic device within the whole facility.” Mr. Clarke leaned back in his chair, cupping his hands. “The enemy would have had to obtain our EMP technology to wipe out the systems like that.”

  “Did you happen to see the disturbance here?” Aria quickly asked.

  “Aria, the blast occurred halfway around the world.” The man leaned forward, raising his dark-grey eyebrows to stare at her with his chocolate-brown eyes. His peppered hairline twitched with his forehead.

  “James, the lights flickered in the bar when we were watching the live video feed.” Aria set her hands on the man’s desk. Only Aria could get away with calling the President of Bio-Tech Military Corporation by his first name.

  “She’s right.” Troy and Gavin bobbed their heads in unison.

  “Well, then something had better show up on those Seismographs! Wait, you were at the bar at this time of day?” Mr. Clarke gave them a wondrous look.

  “Helps us get through the day,” Troy quickly added.

  A man in a lab jacket rushed through the door. “Mr. Clarke!” he shouted.

  “We are in a private meeting!” the President erupted.

  “Important!” The scientist ignored the President’s threatening stare and clumsily rushed to the giant oak desk with a data-log in hand as his lab coat flailed behind him in a flurry. He was from the communications division. “We have a satellite out.”

  “What?!” The leader nearly choked.

  “We tried to get a view from space of the encampment that was just attacked and…nothing.” The man was breathing heavily.

  ‘Why is everyone freaking out?’ Aria wondered.

  “What do you mean nothing?” Mr. Clarke asked; his voice held a tone of annoyance.

  “Nothing.” The scientist shrugged. He scratched his scalp ponderously as he looked over the data-log. “It was as if everything just stopped w
orking. The closest thing we can think of is electromagnetic pulse disturbance.” The President glanced at Aria, who merely gave him an eyebrow raise.

  “Okay, okay,” Mr. Clarke’s hands waved in the air. “Enough talk. Troy, Aria,” the two militants mentioned stood at attention, “you are to infiltrate the 66th I.R.B.; gather as much evidence as possible. Grab the core crystal drive, and, if there are any, get the survivors out of there. If you catch one of these ‘aliens’, kill it first and bring it here for examination. Gavin, you’re their pilot; you know what to do.”

  “Yes, sir!” They all saluted with a click of their heels and excused themselves from the President’s office.

  “Oh, I have a very bad feeling about all of this,” James sighed.

  “Would you like me to get you a drink, sir?” the scientist asked.

  “Got anything stronger than coffee?” the leader groaned.

  “Of course we do! How do you think we get through our days?” The scientist smiled. He received an extremely severe look from the President. “Uh, well…just kidding?”

  “Just get it. I don’t want to know the details of how my corporation actually runs.” He placed his face in his hands as the scientist rushed out the door.

  “If the employees require as much alcohol as I do to get through the day, then I believe my company is in serious trouble,” Mr. Clarke muttered as he reached inside his desk for a bottle of aspirin.

  Eyes watched Aria as she slept in her chair; her breaths slowly passed between her parted lips. She mumbled something in her sleep and then giggled. Troy’s eyes lit up, watching the woman with interest. He had only heard her laugh like that in her sleep. It made him wonder what world her dreams took her to. The aircraft shook abruptly, bouncing Aria in her chair and jolting her out of her slumber. The soft brow on her forehead furrowed as she groaned quietly.

  “Gavin, your driving is going to make me sick,” she moaned loudly.

  Gavin looked over his shoulder at the woman. “Did you get enough beauty sleep?” he called through his mental chip. The sudden burst of noise was earsplitting after being in near silence for the past three hours. Aria turned in her seat and fed the pilot a fierce look. Waving a hand at her, he continued, “Uh, guess not. Go back to sleep!”

  “Gavin,” Aria sighed. She rubbed her eyes and looked over at her partner, Troy. He was seated across from her in the small aircraft, finishing up cleaning his EM-M4 automatic rifle. He looked up at her, green eyes shining with anticipation for the upcoming mission. “Antique edition?” she asked.

  “They have the best design.” He nodded. Troy enjoyed his weapons having a classic look. Sure, the rifle looked like it was thousands of years old, but the weapon had a more sophisticated usage than the newer models of the day. When given weird stares and snide comments, he always replied that the gun kept him sharp. As long as he had something to do with his hands and eyes, he was on his best game. Besides, it made him feel human, unlike all the automated weaponry systems other militants used. Aria agreed with him. She eyeballed her own EM-36C battle rifle. It had a handgrip with Thermal Red Dot and Incendiary Grenade Launcher with double-trigger action and grenade mag. She called it her classic on steroids.

  “Which grenade mag are you using?” She stretched in her seat, her spine cracking as she stuck out her armored chest.

  “Sabo.” Troy smirked.

  “Oh, you love to tear ‘em up.” She smiled. Troy grinned back at her, thinking the catnap put her in a lovely mood.

  “Taking down speed,” the pilot mentally called out.

  The jet slowed drastically. The Gs pressed Aria into her seat as Troy leaned forward.

  “Uhhh, hate this thing!” Aria groaned.

  Flipping a few switches, Gavin alerted the other two. “Going into ‘copter mode, guys.”

  The aircraft jolted, and the two passengers lifted slightly from their seats. The wings pulled upward, detaching from the fuselage. Reforming into four pieces, the wings snapped and folded, connecting with a rotary joint on the top of the craft. The new blades instantly spun, the Hawk stealthily approaching their destination.

  Gavin further slowed the copter down. It hovered just outside the 66th I.R.B. The low drone of the blades was almost silent upon their ears. Brilliant light blasted into the cabin from the new openings along with a gusting wind as the doors slid open. Troy stood, tightening the straps to his chest and joint armor and glanced over at Aria. She was leaning out the side of the cabin, her hand tightly gripping the bar above the doorway. The orange glow of the rising sun radiated across her face, complimenting the bright green of her eyes and the electric-blue streak through her windblown hair. She noticed his gaze and returned a questioning look.

  “You ready to go?” he spat out, clipping the slick rope to his belt. The wind tore through his already messy hair.

  “Waiting for you,” she shouted back to him over the roar of the wind.

  “Same here.” He held out a hand. “Ladies first.”

  “You mean leaders first.” She gave a cock-eyed smirk in return as she grabbed the rope and dropped out of the side of the helicopter, the textured grooves of the material rumbling against the leather of her fingerless gloves.

  “Oh.” Troy clenched his teeth together. “That’s only because you cheated.” He quickly followed after her.

  The two landed simultaneously, unclipping from the cord and raising their weapons. The rope, sensing no more weight, coiled itself up neatly inside the cabin. The couple darted toward the facility, keeping low and on high alert.

  “Now, you guys know the signal if things get hairy. Get the hell out; your lives are top priority on this,” Gavin mentally called out.

  “Tell that to the military,” Troy replied darkly.

  The two pressed against the first armory wall next to a doorway. Aria glanced at the ground. The door had been blown off of its hinges. Whoever did this had some heavy artillery.

  She waited, listening, and aimed her rifle at an angle, getting a view of the right side of the entrance and then the left through the optical camera at the tip of the gun. The image processed in a small holographic light over her left eye. There was a lot of debris, even a little smoke, but no sign of movement, just a lot of dead bodies. Aria raised her hand in the air and waved it, telling Troy to move forward. Together, the two rolled around the corner. Aria stayed low, walking along the right side of the hall while Troy took the left.

  ‘Sounds quiet.’ Aria signed to Troy with her hands.

  Sign language was usually taught to all the soldiers of Bio-Tech. Even though each member of the military was equipped with a mental chip–a means of mental communication–there were times when another form of silent message was necessary as some armies were equipped with mechanical devices that could pick up the smallest electrical reading. Even something as small as brain waves transmitting through the chips.

  Troy responded with a hand motion of his own. ‘Too quiet.’

  They glanced at each other, nodding. Something was still there; they both felt it. The two tensed up, walking slowly and quietly. Following the same motions, they rounded the next corner and came to another doorway. Like before, the door had been annihilated. Aria took notice of a man on the ground on the opposite side of the entryway. Blood pooled from beneath him. Troy checked both sides of the hall with his camera and waved to move on. A shiver ran down the woman’s spine as she noticed giant markings on the man’s back. She narrowed her eyes. It didn’t look like shrapnel or bullets, perhaps lasers or maybe blades.

  “Shh,” Troy hissed, gripping Aria’s attention. He pointed at his eyes and then down the corridor.

  There was a skittering sound from around the corner at the end. A shadow moved. In an instant, the two were rushing down the hall as stealthily as possible. They couldn’t let whatever it was escape. The couple paused momentarily, reaching the third layer of the labyrinth. Aria checked one side while Troy checked the other. Together, they slid into the hall.

  �
�Left or right?’ Troy signed. He eyed a giant red splatter on the wall next to him. His gaze fell to the pieces of human remains on the floor. He frowned.

  Aria listened a moment. “Damn it.”

  A screech sounded to the left. Jointly, they moved, getting closer to the center of the facility where the core was located. Glass crunched under their boots, and dust kicked up with each step. No use trying to be quiet when everything was underfoot. Aria cringed. It was like attempting to eat potato chips in a silent room full of people; everyone was going to notice. Then, there was a scream, a loud, horrified scream that seemed to shake the walls.

  “Move!” Aria shouted above a whisper.

  She and Troy began in a mad dash down the hall as the screams and shrieks continued to sound. Aria scowled as she leaped over fallen soldiers and chunks of cement, passing by terrifying scratches and blood smears on the wall. All the while, she had one subject on her mind–‘Where are these supposed aliens? Did we not even kill a single one?’

  Aria hurried around the corner and froze. Before her was exactly what she was looking for. It was a monster, an alien one could say. It was long, at least 2.5 meters tall. The arms seemed broken; the joints appeared to have the ability to twist backward. The fingers were lengthy and molded into thick blades, which upon further examination looked more like the nastiest claws Aria had ever seen. And then there was the face. There was some scarred tissue around its mouth, raising its lips up past where the nose should have been. The features were mostly gums and giant, pointed teeth. On the forehead, at the top of the squished skin, were two black slits, probably the eyes.

  The thing was scratching and clawing its victim. Sprays of red splattered the walls and dusty cement. Stringy drool dropped from the creature’s mouth as it struck downward, quick as a viper, and viciously bit the man's neck. Aria felt each and every individual hair on the back of her neck stand on end as she reached for her gun and fired. ‘Shoot first; ask questions later.’

  Troy had made a strange noise before he joined her, firing his weapon in an explosion of sound. The creature was unfazed and turned its head as the bullets pierced its body. At least, that’s what Troy and Aria thought before they noticed the bullets were disintegrating upon impact. The thing lifted its head and screamed something awful, a nightmarish sound like an old monorail putting on its emergency breaks. It didn’t seem natural. Aria and Troy both grimaced at the noise. The thing flailed its arms as it appeared to flicker much like the landscape did in the video they had seen in Mr. Clarke’s office. Aria suddenly had an idea. Whatever it was, it seemed to have a type of vibration defense, much like the military had issued. She cleared the grenade magazine from her 36C and slipped it into a side pocket, pulled out a different one, slammed the cartridge into the slot, aimed, and fired a blast at the creature. The grenade knocked the being a couple meters back, and an electric pulse of light shocked it and whatever it was equipped with into submission. Aria stomped up to the creature and shot multiple times into its chest and then its face, one after the other, trying to block out the image of its bursting flesh and splattering hot blood.