Location: Unknown
Time: Unknown
The hallway was mostly dark yet illuminated only by the occasional flickering lights. The floor, walls and roof of the hallway completely white as the three men in hazmat suits walked in uneasy silence. Their boots creating echoes on the polished floor. They carried no weapons, one had a clipboard clutched tightly in white-colored gloved hands and another carried a file marked in bold red letters: 'CLASSIFIED'. As they walked they heard a pair of masculine voices talking from where they were headed, loud enough for them to be able to hear it from they were.
"We will be fine, don't worry about it." The calm voice said.
The other voice hurriedly replied, as if annoyed. "No, we fucking won't be! Don't you remember what happened to squad 7?! Carter's corpse still hasn't been found!"
"Come on, its been more than a year now. They already sent a search & rescue team after them." the voice fell silent for a moment. " Besides, they knew what they signed up for." The soldier spoke calmly yet as if tired of the conversation already.
The other man's voice replied again, as if in anger yet still trying to control himself. "No They fucking didn't send a team after them. You actually believe that?! Don't you get it?! We're disposable! They don't care abou—"
The first man spoke again, cutting him off, his voice annoyed as if agitated. "I get it, ok? but what can we do? We can't just leave. They'll hun—Shhh!" Suddenly, the voices fell quiet, just as they heard the echoes of boots on polished floor.
As the men in hazmat suits turned the corner, their gazes fell on the door ahead of them. The reinforced steel door loomed like a warning, its surface marked with a yellow bio-hazard symbol and on top of the door in bold stenciled text: AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY. On either side of the door two soldiers stood guard their faces looking at the scientists.
The soldiers looked as if they had been pulled straight out of a live battlefield. They wore full tactical gear, mirrored visors hiding half-their faces from sight. One had his rifle in hand the other had it slung back over his shoulder. On their thighs were combat knives in black sheaths and a pair of grenades hanged from their belts, one had a tablet-like device barely visible behind his back. They were silent and almost motionless, or at least they tried to be.
As the scientists approached, the soldier on the right grabbed his rifle a bit tighter—as if expecting a threat. The sound of his gloved hands tightening on his rifle loud enough to be heard in the quiet hallway. He raised a hand, palm out—a silent command to stop.
The soldier on the right spoke first, his voice firm yet loud, almost too loud for the quiet, almost dead silent hallway they were in. "IDs and clearance cards" And with an almost threatening voice added. "No exceptions." The scientist could almost see the soldiers furrowed brows as if in anger behind the visor, almost.
The lead scientist hesitated, fumbling with the pocket of his hazmat suit. His gloved fingers struggled to grab a hold of the black & white colored ID-card as if it weighed more than it should.
He tried to reply immediately but his voice barely came out, as if he hadn't spoken in a long time, surprising even him considering the amount of check-points he had to get through just to get here. Quickly, he cleared his throat and spoke. "Uh—of course, yes—here." the man stammered hurriedly as he brought the card out in front of him.
The soldier snatched it in one quick motion, and handed it to the other soldier on his left.
The soldier brought the tablet-like device from his back to in front of him and swiped the card through it. Up close the device looked heavier and tougher than a normal tablet. The soldier said firmly "Name?", still looking at the tablet-like device in his hand.
The lead scientist flinched "Elias Grant."
"Purpose of entry?"
"Autopsy procedure." The soldier with the tablet-like device looked to the soldier on his right and moved his head almost as if in a nod, and he nodded back.
The soldier with the tablet spoke. "Those two with you?" he said almost suspiciously.
Elias replied quickly. "Ye—yes. Yes, they're with me."
The soldier on the left spoke up again threateningly, he moved the rifle in his hands slightly, almost as if wanting to point it at them. "Names?! Speak them. Don't waste time."
The two scientists behind Elias almost took a step back, instinctively. Hurriedly, Instead of his colleagues Elias replied for them. "Julian Adams and Michael Adams."
The soldier with the rifle looked at him. His grip on the rifle in his hands slightly tightening, as he spoke almost as if Elias had done something wrong by replying for his colleagues and through almost clenched teeth spoke. "Fine..."
The soldier on the left with the tablet-like device handed the ID-card back and gestured towards the keypad by the door. "Swipe. Don't waste time."
The lead scientist swiped his card quickly against the keypad, and the reinforced steel door unlocked and started opening. As door was opening, the soldier on the right leaned slightly closer, his voice dropping to a quiet murmur. "Hope you know what you're walking into."
The scientists stepped into the decontamination room, the reinforced steel door hissed shut behind them in one quick motion, sealing them inside. The room was small, almost claustrophobicly so, its walls smooth and metallic, lined with vents and nozzles that glinted slightly under the overhead lights.
After a few moments a cold and mechanical voice spoke from hidden speakers "Initiating decontamination procedure in T-minus 5 seconds. Please do not move."
The three men stood in the center of the decontamination room, standing on a grated floor that looked like was designed to drain away any chemicals. The lights dimmed slightly, replaced by an eerie purple glow as UV sterilizers flickered on. A faint hum filled the room, followed by a soft hiss as nozzles in the walls started spraying a decontaminating mist over their suits.
Dr. Michael Carter glanced at his colleagues, his fingers clutched the clipboard in his hands tighter. "Those two sure were tense... so, what exactly are we supposed to be looking for during the autopsy?" His voice sounded small, so much so that the other scientists could barely hear it.
The scientist on his left, Dr. Julian Adams, spoke first. "Tissue samples," he said quickly. "Organ decay, any signs of mutation... anything out of the ordinary."
Grant frowned and mumbled to himself quietly. "Anything out of the ordinary?" this time glancing towards the third scientist he spoke, "Do we have any real information on the subject?"
The third scientist Adams, spoke up again. "Yes, they gave me a file. Most of it is redacted, though. We can look through it before starting the autopsy. Weirdly enough, there was no debriefing. Just handed me the file and said 'Good luck'."
Elias didn't reply immediately. There was a tight knot in his stomach, something about this whole thing that didn't feel right. Maybe it was the lack of a debriefing? Or maybe it was the beans he had eaten six hours ago, now threatening to betray him inside the sealed confines of his hazmat suit...
The nozzles hissed again, the mist growing thicker as the mechanical voice intoned: "Phase two: chemical sterilization in progress."
Elias opened his mouth to respond, but the mechanical voice cut him off.
"Decontamination complete. Prepare for lab entry." By the time the voice was done speaking, The mist had almost evaporated, then the UV lights flickered off, and the lighting returned to normal as before the start of the decontamination process. The exit door unlocked with a sharp beep, sliding open to reveal the lab beyond.