Within their hideout, Olivia was scribbling on her scrolls as usual. Like the past reports to the king, she was detailing some of the information she had gleaned about the buildings and their connection to old Alzholme. This report in particular was about the systems of the Megaden, and what purpose they might have held when the city was being created.

As always, the technology here fascinates me! She wrote towards the end of her work. Though there is one major concern I’ve been coming back to. A lot of the things we’ve encountered so far have seemed abandoned, with my earliest possible guess being during the ascension. This does lend to the theory that the ascension was always the plan for the city, but I feel there is something more to it. Since you seem to know so much about the workings of the city in the upper and center rings, could you share your thoughts on this?

The casual nature she took on towards the end made her hesitate to put her signature on the piece. She glanced over to a pile of crumpled up parchment at the side and sighed. As she lifted her hand to get rid of this one as well, the sound of footsteps from behind made her turn around. Twenty-Two appeared, followed by Jason, both standing on the stairwell looking at her.

“Did you two forget something?” She asked.

“No, we just came back. You were right about there being something special about it, we’re going to need you to work on it right away.” Jason said, gesturing back with his thumb. “Grab your things, we’re going back to the building we went to this morning.”

“The one further west? But that’s in the wrong direction.”

“Well it turns out there was a back entrance hidden in there that connects to a few other spots in the Megaden. Could’ve saved ourselves a lot of time, it looks like.” Twenty-Two said, folding her arms and leaning against the wall.

“A... a secret entrance?!” Olivia said, shooting upright and pushing away her chair. “There’s plenty of those inside old Alzholme sections, but those are usually regulated to just networking paths. The fact they put one in here means it was meant as more than just a terminal! There has to be some kind of purpose for that final room that need direct access to all of the systems nearby...”

Olivia continued frantically muttering to herself about theories and research while she grabbed parchment and equipment. Eventually she was one again donning her mask and smock. It took her a few seconds and a pair of silent stares before she realized how much she stood out. Removing the mask was deemed enough, and they left.

There was little to entertain them as the moved back to the old building. Twenty-Two was careful to keep an eye out for any armed Urchski that might be moving about as they travelled the roads. Instead, almost all of them seemed gone. The few civilians they came across were clearly aware of the lack of guards. Nervous glances, quick movements. They made it clear to the group that they weren’t trusted here. Twenty-Two actually preferred it this way.

Inside of the building again, they descended the stairs until they hit the third floor down, and turned to a wall. Olivia stepped forward and pressed both of her gloved hands against it. She ran them along the wall for almost a minute before she started putting weight into it. Twenty-Two and Jason both watched in confusion while she poked, slapped, and pounded her way across the wall. Eventually, one of her hits drew a soft click out of the metal. A soft hiss could be heard as the frame of the door suddenly appeared and it slid quickly out of the way.

“Couldn’t they have just hidden a lock somewhere? It feels extreme to have to hide even the handle of every door.” Twenty-Two said and rolled her eyes.

“Having a handle would imply that it could be opened! Most of these entrances are built for the creators, not the inhabitants. I imagine when they designed these places, they had no idea we’d even think to check somewhere like here.” Olivia said before stepping forward and eagerly looking around the wall of the tunnel. “In fact, it makes me really impressed that your king even knew about this place. Seems like the only people who knew about it were those Urchski from years ago, and the Enterus, huh?”

“The Underking knows more about this city than anyone else.” Jason said.

“That or he hires people to do it for him.” Twenty-Two said sarcastically. “What does he even want with this place?”

“Knowledge is power, obviously!” Olivia proclaimed, produdly strutting down the tunnel ahead of them.

The tunnel itself was as barren as when they left it. Old Alzholme structures rarely accumulated dust, so even when there was wind, it was difficult to make out. When they got close to the pool again, Twenty-Two’s jaw clenched tight and she drew her weapon. Jason put a hand on her shoulder for comfort, but she only glared at him. Even if contact comforted her, the energy in the air had grown heavy with malice.

Olivia was seemingly unphased by what they were experiencing. She leaned towards the pool’s edge and stared into the ink black material. After a minute or so she started taking hurried notes. In between sentences, her eyes would dart around and scan over the various machinery. Eventually she pulled her mask off of her face and cleared her throat.

“This is truly a strange find, to put it simply.” She said, idly petting the rim of the pool. “I can’t make heads or tails of what this machinery is for. There’s got to be some purpose they originally intended, but didn’t get fully pushed through. Maybe it’s job was a one time operation and doesn’t need to be used again? Either way, I think I do know some information about it. Tell me, you guys have been experiencing agitation, right?”

“Only every time you ramble.” Twenty-Two said, staring into the entrance to the room.

“What she means is yes. We already know there’s something wrong with this place. Feels like we’re not supposed to be here, and if we don’t get out soon, we’re going to get eaten.”

“Exactly! There’s actually a pretty simple explanation for it.” Olivia said before shuffling to one of the pipes along the wall and placing a flat palm on it. “These mechanisms outside of the pool are the source! Some structures with key features will have things like this inside of them. I don’t know the specific workings of it, but they hum when there’s a malfunction.”

“They... hum?” Jason asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“Yes, or I guess it’s more like they vibrate. The machines seem to have a method of shaking their inner workings at almost invisible speeds, or maybe they have strings inside of them to produce it? Either way, they make this incredibly high pitched noise to signal concern and warning. I believe it’s made for things like the Golems to know to come fix it, but it has an unintended sound effect on humans and other citizen races!”

“Like how a dog whistle works?” He replied. “That does seem to explain it. The more quiet you get in her, the more suspicious and worried you are.”

“Thank the dead that Olivia is here then.” Twenty-Two chimed in.

“You don’t have to be so aggressive, you know. We both felt the same kind of fear when we came in here, didn’t we? Things would have been far worse if Olivia wasn’t nice enough to explain it to us.”

It wasn’t the noise that made me uneasy, it was that poxxing pool and the bodies inside of it. She thought to herself.

Jason shook his head and waited beside Olivia, who continued working while humming a song of her own to keep away the noise. None of them talked much more, but unlike in their hideout, Olivia was too distracted to notice the awkward atmosphere. By the time she had finished most of her notes, she stood upright and gathered up her dense bundle of parchment.

“Alright... I think I’m going to need more paper. Oh, and I need to tell the Underking right away! This has all gotten me very excited.” She said with a small giggle. “I’ll have to head back there and get started. I’ll rush back over as soon as possible though!”

“I can guide you back, and then we’ll make sure no one else spots us. You should be safe on your own in the hideout, but I’m worried about leaving this place empty for too long. Twenty-Two, you clear to watch over it till I come back?”

“What? Was my agitation from before not enough?”

“You can feel free to guide Olivia back yourself you know. I figured you’d like the silence of this place instead of the streets.”

Twenty-Two grumbled in agreement, prompting a smile from Jason. He left with Olivia tailing behind, but it took a while for their footsteps to completely fade. When they did, Twenty-Two stretched her back and approached the pool cautiously.

As before, the inky fluid unnerved her. Soft shimmers of body parts could be seen at the corners of her eyes when she stared at it. This time however, she shook her head to clear out the thoughts of fear and took a deep breath.

It’s just that noise the machine is making. Nothing is wrong, you’re fine. She thought to herself. Just have to make some kind of noise to pass the time and keep it out of my head.

Twenty-Two tried to recall any songs from her childhood, but there was nothing that she could easily remember. After a few failed bars of songs, she sat down on the edge of the pool and glanced around nervously. Confident she was alone, she cleared her throat, and let out the chirp of the bird she rescued from before. The sound comforted her from the drone of the machines, and she softly cooed to herself some more.

Her noises continued for a few minutes, until suddenly a noise drew her attention. With her lips still pursed, she scanned around the room. She focused her power and stood upright, waiting for a strike to come from somewhere unexpected.