It was made obvious to me on this trip that the current standard use Rovers being employed by the handful of survey and collection teams needed refinement or outright replacement. Three weeks had passed, and the troublemakers had succeeded in their training with flying colors, going so far as impressing the supposedly unimpressionable Melnie. Clearly, she and the other residents are unaware that I consistently observe their day-to-day actions, this is how I am better able to understand their thought processes.

For Melnie the truth is simple, she acts hard on the outside, while having a soft inner core, and I do not refer to those fleshy human bits on the inside, those are standard. She is in fact an animal lover, spends her evenings watching old pet videos courtesy of the databanks of ancient video files, while also cuddling her housecat Sniffles.

As much as I love to belittle the psychological inadequacies and imperfections of my human residents, the reality is that wish to see them thrive, having grown accustomed to their antics. The random nature of these creatures provides entertainment, as I often find myself struggling to understand how I had been wrong, or why they would make such foolish and inefficient decisions.

Anyway, I guess I could say the creators who made me weren’t much different, as a remnant of their poor decisions was staring right back at me. The Rover which was based on a standard operating blueprint was flimsy at best, not at all suited for traversing the rough unexplored tunnels deeper within the Hollows. Only after connecting with Augus’s human senses and truly experiencing the effect the ride had on Augus’s human rear. It did not have enough space within the covered and secured front section of the vehicle, thus forcing the trio to squeeze into the rear trailer along with the equipment. The ride was unpleasant to say the least.

Even at this moment as Augus, Phenix, and Jasemine split apart to carry out their individual assigned tasks, I was rectifying the blueprint for the Rover design. The focus would be on a heavier vehicle, one which utilized archaic era tanks as a design. With a forward mounted drill such a vehicle could be expanded to carry more personnel safely and be capable of bursting through obstacles with ease. A walker design using Crawlers as a base would have been ideal, but walker technology, the same one’s that resulted in the Enders were still considered as authorized for military designated minds only. As a management-oriented Alpha, I could only hope to one day crack the systems on the lower level and gain access to the needed authorization for the future.

While I was engaged with the Rover blueprints the team had completed their preparations and established base camp at the mouth of the cavernous space, right next to their vehicle.

“Alpha, this is team leader Melnie of the third survey team… I’m reporting in from the entrance to the unexplored cavern. Both the relay device has been activated and the security drones are in position. I humbly request that you activate the defensive measures just on the off chance that we require a fallback point.” Melnie spoke into the receiver, unaware that I had been here the entire time, at least part of me. It was simple enough activating the sentry turrets and the four Skelly drones, their Buzz batons crackling with electricity.

“Alright people, gather round! We’re going to go ahead and carryout some preliminary searches of the surrounding area. Our goals are to search the surrounding area on the other side of the tunnel, the scout drones, or Sparrows as some of you might refer to them as showed that this tunnel opens into a massive cavern. All we received before losing contact was the map of the path through the tunnel, and a partial of the area on the other side. Keep your eyes peeled, this is just going to be a short spot search, so keep your eyes peeled for danger!” The other members of the team as well as the trio nodded their heads. One by one the team grabbed their weapons and gear, most going with a standard loadout before activating their helmet mounted light.

Melnie’s helmet was especially unique, rather than one light it had two, each of these were actually fixed into the eye sockets of the beetle skull that had been fashioned around her standard issue helmet. The mandibles coming down and around into a crescent shape below her chin added to the monstrous visage, but had the effect of emphasizing her unique attributes, something I noticed humans love to do.

“You three newbies, you’re with me. Frankyl, you take the others. We’ll split into two squads, me and the three kids, while Frankyl you head east with the usual crew. Everybody clear on the plan, keep within lines of communication and touch base in ten minute intervals. After an hour we will head back to base camp, main objective today is to mark a suitable location to set up a secondary camp for future sample gathering operations. If there aren’t any questions, let’s move out!” Frankyl shared a quick nod with their leader before quickly gathering up their gear and heading down through the tunnel.

“Alright kiddo’s safety on, and fingers off the trigger. Last thing I need is someone with an itchy trigger finger capping me in the ass. Believe me when I say it won’t kill me, but you will wish it did. So, fingers off the trigger and follow me.” The squad of four began their descent, moving single file through the tight earthen corridors. Each member had a mini map pulled up on their HUD, the heads-up display having been updated with information from the missing Sparrow drones.

While Melnie took point, the other three followed close behind, with the tunnels only allowing for two average sized humans to stand side by side while proceeding into the unknown. However, both Melnie and Phenix were larger than most and constrained the available space, resulting in Phenix taking up the rear with Jasemine and Augus in the center.

The deeper the team progressed the more difficult it was to maintain connection with the base camp. We were still within the camp’s transmission radius, but something further in was causing considerable interference, mitigating the reach of the signal. Luckily Melnie had planned for such an occurrence, Augus and Jasemine were made to carry the components for establishing a comms relay. The plan was to establish the relay at the end of the tunnel, once that was completed the Skellies could be redeployed to secure the area around the relay. A relay was also necessary for the team to deploy the smaller mosquito drones.

“Boss you’re going to want to see this.” Frankyl’s voice came through on the comm channel, however whatever was disrupting the relays was also causing problems with the short distance communication waves. His voice breaking up as he had begun to describe whatever their team had found.

“Alright kids let’s pick up the pace. See if you can keep up.” Melnie bolted down the tunnel keeping on the path marked out on her HUD. Every footfall left a depression in the earth from the sheer power behind every single step. She didn’t even bother slowing to turn the corners, instead opting to reach out while maintaining speed, her fingers carving into the rocky corners and allowing her to pivot her body with the corner as a fulcrum.

Even had the trio not been forced to shoulder the heavy relay equipment, they were unlikely to keep pace with the woman who was accustomed to such terrain. The simulations were mainly designed with open surface areas, or internal base structures, each was vastly different from what they were seeing here. Not to say that they weren’t quick on their feet, they simply did not have the experience to efficiently traverse the current terrain. Hence why they ended up exiting the tunnel almost a full ten minutes behind Melnie, who was simply waiting with her back turned to them.

“You lot will need to improve quick, but I don’t have the heart to chew you out right now. Not when there is such a beautiful and awe-inspiring sight is before us. Never in my ten years as a surveyor have I witnessed such a wondrous discovery. Don’t worry about setting up the relay just yet, give it a minute, you’re unlikely to experience something like this moment again in your lives.” What stretched out before their eyes was a city sized cavern, a massive lake at its center with what could only be described as a moss-covered hill, surrounded by a forest of towering fungal stalks as far as the eye could see.

Some of the fungal stalks were the size of ancient terrestrial trees, the kind that were once found in droves upon the surface. Others were not as large but gave off a distinctive light, natural bioluminescence. Glancing above, it was possible to make out hundreds or thousands of stalactites, their bodies covered in patches of bioluminescent moss, this was much dimmer than the fungal stalks, but together they provided a very distinct atmosphere.

A land trapped in perpetual twilight. Where the bright lights draw in the moths, obscuring the dangers within the shadows, waiting, and watching for their next meal.