Rand Eisenhauer Research Station…
Across the Icy Plains of Continent Himalia…
Ear-piercing alarms blared across the dark corridors of the research station. The emergency lights turned on one by one, engulfing every corners with angry red hue that revealed the bloody carnage that unfolded within the station's premises.
Station personnel ran around like headless chickens, their every steps ignored the bullet-riddled bodies that littered the place for the sake of their dear lives.
They know that no one will help them here, not in this place situated in the middle of nowhere with nothing but lands of ice and frosty blizzards. It is a region where screams of terror and dread won't matter.
An elderly man in a white lab coat carefully walked across an empty corridor while occasionally looking back and forth to make sure no one is following him.
The sudden series of gunfire that erupted from the distance startled his senses, enough for his arms to subconsciously tighten their embrace around the stacks of documents that he had been cradling on his chest.
He stopped from his tracks and carefully peeked around the corner where he saw a group of security personnel, their firearms trained and pointed to the people facing the wall who were begging and crying for them not to shoot.
The security chief ignored their pleas and nodded to his men.
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
All it took was several gunshots, and the bodies then fell to the floor like tipped dominoes.
After seeing the scenery unfold before him, the elderly man took a few steps back and tiptoed towards the nearby door which he yanked open and entered to.
Pressing the ID on the scanner, the door locked with a click, and the man moved to the table where he settled the stacks of documents he had been carrying around with him.
Is this the end for us? The man thought to himself. Years of research to find the truth has led us here, only to die?
He grabbed the swivel chair beside him and took a seat. There's nothing he can do and he knows that. The security team will stop at nothing until everyone in this station are terminated and that includes them themselves.
The man coughed in his hands and noticed the smear of sticky substance that enveloped his palms after—he's infected and running out of time.
His hand darted across the table in front of him and aimlessly looked around while tossing away the things his fingers come across. He moved to the drawer under the table where he found a half-charged camcorder which had him sigh in relief.
While setting the camera in front of him, he can't help but chuckle at the thought of someone finding this recording which is probably unlikely as this damned place is about to get get buried to hell.
The camcorder let out a faint beep as it started to record, and the man goes on to adjust his attire before proceeding.
"Hi. I am Doctor Fredrich Klein, the head researcher of Azurea's Rand Eisenhauer Research Station here in the heart of continent Himalia. For decades, I dedicated my life and career to the study of AGDS or the Ancient Genetic Deviation Syndrome that had been plaguing the lands of Threa for a long time now. This mysterious phenomenon of genetic degeneration among us, humans, is the cause of drastic changes in the mental and physical state of every genetically-compromised host."
"A few months ago, the Azurean government formed a secret organization tasked to track and trace the origin of this phenomenon and hopefully uncover the secrets of the phantoms that the AGDS spawns. These creatures, whatever they are, have been considered as Threa's biggest mystery as their purpose and significance in our world is still uncertain."
"From genetically-compromised hosts that succumbed to the AGDS these phantoms are spawned. Twisted and crude mockery of life. Compromised individuals usually undergoes gradual metamorphosis of around a couple of painful weeks that if remained untreated will drag on until the host is transformed into a full-fledged phantom with no remaining human identity as if their consciousness abruptly ceased to exist."
Droplets of black liquid began to drip from Dr. Fredrich's nose but he ignored and wiped it off with the sleeve of his lab coat. "With the findings and information we have gathered, the Organization embarked on an expedition and our research led us here in this place. We weren't sure what we are about to find at first but as we dug deeper, traces of history became more…and more evident."
"We found something, a sarcophagus of sort," the doctor took a deep breath, his eyes forming yellow veins around the sclera. "Its mere presence was enough to plunge the people in the excavation site into madness and psychosis that resulted to the deaths of some of our men."
"The insanity then spread across the station like wildfire as if an unknown force was poisoning the minds of our personnel and it took everything we have just to contain the situation. We managed to take a further look inside the sarcophagus by scanning it and…we couldn't believe what we were seeing with our very own eyes."
Dr. Fredrich stopped for a moment and coughed which worsened into nasal wheezing as he gasped for air. After a few moments of fighting for his breath, he continued, "We immediately reported the findings to the Azurean government and they rewarded us by commencing Contingency Twelve—the most feared protocol that calls on for the purging of all gathered data along with the people involved in the expedition."
"The security team that was supposed to protect us then went on a killing spree and massacred everyone on sight which is currently happening right now. The research we worked hard for…gone."
"Whatever lies inside that stone coffin may hold the answer we are all looking for, I believe it. To anyone who risked their lives and dared to venture the forsaken walls of this place and managed to find this recording, I commend you for your guts and balls. Continue what the expedition team wasn't able to—accomplish and complete the missing piece of data, and let the world know about the truth that lies beneath the veil. This is Dr. Fredrich Klein, signing off."
The doctor stopped the recording and held the camcorder in his hands. His ears perked up upon hearing firm, consecutive knocks from the door behind him.
"OPEN THE DOOR!!!"
Dr. Fredrich ignored it and sighed. Now he only needs to find a place where he can hide the camcorder as well as the documents. It may be unlikely that someone will be able to find them but there's always a chance, a change that he is willing to take.
I'm going to die anyway, what does it matter if I hold on and take that chance?
