Leave The Monster Alone

"Are you done with your super important secretive talks you cannot tell us about? I guess you think it's time to join us lowly beings back here now?" Alan had not taken the previous case well and those words caused Mark to flinch.

Rika did not add anything to those words but she did not defend him either, taking a really neutral stance in this. She seemed content to let matters lie but Mark knew she was curious too. She would likely corner him alone later which he had to avoid now.

"I cannot always tell you everything since it's classified information provided by Liam but at least I took you here with me?" Mark did not know why he was trying to defend himself.

It was not like he had committed some unforgivable crime by talking with the other alone but these accusing eyes made it seem as if he had. Kuro, that traitor, did nothing more than greet him when he entered.

He had thought at least she would take his side in this.

The day was turning out to be worse by the second. First, that caused a place that threw him out without even letting him try, then the terrifying ride by Rika and then that problematic head of this place. 

And now this was just the cherry on the top wasn't it? What was next? The whole communication machine breaking apart and them having to find a new one?

"This is the palace they directed us to. They say that the engineer had not left his post for quite some time now and we should not ask him unnecessary questions" Rika really had taken his advice and talked a lot with the locals.

She had not shared her findings with Mark yet but he already had an idea anyway how things worked around here.

The first thing the party noticed about the place was how small it was. The technical room was supposed to be one of the best and safest places inside the base, so it was almost a shock to see it reduced to just the size of a regular bedroom.

The place could not be more than 3mX5m overall.

"They really don't give this place many resources, do they? This technology is years old and I'm even surprised it held off this long" Rika commented, now having moved on to check out the equipment. 

Mark was no expert but even he could tell that it was a miracle this place had held on this long. Since this base was mostly underground, it needed artificial ventilation, unlike their own base. These machines were the backbone of this base.

Just where did all the funding provided here go to? The number of people present here was already pitiful but this was beyond reason. Where were all the pre-fund and other facilities provided to this base?

"Is anyone there? Is it food? You can lay it down and I'll eat it later" the voice sounded young but tired. Mark saw a few full containers lying untouched where their guide went. He seemed to freeze but then put the food down.

"Professor, we have some visitors. They're here to help you" that finally caused a shaggy head of hair to emerge from behind the chair and a tired face came into view.

The hollow cheeks and sunken eyes of the other told a tale of exhaustion and overwork which Mark could relate to. After all, being an on-call vet had not been easy but he did not think he ever reached this low of a point after vet school.

This person had it so much worse and there was no coffee insight as well.

"I see, I see. So I'm hallucinating about getting help once again. Maybe I should sleep once I'm done with this coding sequence" the other went back to ignoring them and even Alan could tell that it was not healthy.

Rika was the first one to walk over, her eyes going over the code.

"I'm not a coding expert but even I can tell the commands are wrong in section 4" she pointed out, her gaze moving over. As a biology major, coding had been but a hobby of her past. Still, it had not been long enough to forget the basics and she could tell such a fundamental mistake. 

"Ah, I see that now. Thank you to the lovely lady in my imagination, I'll correct it right now" the other was clearly far too tired to make heads or tales of what he was seeing which could cause some issues.

"Professor, it's not a dream and I warned you to eat your meal yesterday. How long have you gone without food now?" their guide asked the other, the concern clear in his voice. At this point, even Mark was beginning to feel concerned for the other.

"It's been a few days I think. Please give the food out to those who need it more than me. I'll be alright for some more time" the other said, his head almost dropping and messing up his code.

Mark was the only one fast enough and close enough to actually be able to stop that tragedy and the head in his grasp jolted.

"This is not a dream. Oh god, these people are actually here or have I gone beyond hallucination now?" the other stood up in a daze, his eyes unfocused and Kuro gave him a small lick of concern from her position on his shoulder.

"I think I need sleep" the other muttered as he stared at Kuro in disbelief and finally walked away to a tiny bed in one corner of the room. His body crashed into it with a solid sound, pulling sympathetic winches from everyone else.

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds before Mark turned toward his party.

"So, does anyone know how to operate this system and check for problems?" Even though he already knew the answer, Mark did this to break the silence.

"How would we know? Anyway, I can work out how to start these machines at least and try to communicate with the base. It can't hurt right?" Rika asked and could have disagreed but chose not to.

As bad as the day had been, something good was bound to happen eventually right? It could not all be bad.

But it was because as soon as the central computer started, unfamiliar code started to build up there which no one in their team could read. The escort had left at this point, no longer thinking any of this his problem and Mark was thankful for that.

"We need to stop this code. Should I shut this thing off?" Mark stopped Alan before this tragedy could happen. Rika gave an almost violent shudder at those words.

"NO DON'T. THE VENTILATION SYSTEM WOULD SHUT DOWN AS WELL" she only realised how loud she had been once the whole thing was out. She had not meant to shout and now felt bad.

The person operating this all had been dead tired and they were just making an even bigger mess now.

"We should leave this as it is. For all we know, our involvement would only make things worse. I just don't think today is a good day for me" Mark lamented as even more code flashed all over the screen.

Just what had they accidentally started here? They should not have touched that screen before knowing what it did.

He did want to ask for help from his system but there was nothing useful there at all. Even if there was a useful tip he could not tell since he was not an expert. This was not a topic he had ever dived into in any capacity.

The only other option was to contact Liam and ask for help but even that thought did not sit well with him because this was a failure. He did not want to be held at fault, even if he was technically at fault.

"Kuro stop" Alan called out and Mark watched, his body flinching when Kuro jumped over to the control pad. All three felt their heart stop as Kuro walked around carefully between those buttons. 

They were one step away from a tragedy and that was not a good feeling to have. 

Mark's heart skipped a beat and he lept to pick Kuro up but not before she had already pressed a button and a beeping sound reached their ear. 

But then the code on the screen faded back to the previous wallpaper. Still, the fast beating hearts of the party did not calm down since they had no idea what damage had been done. 

They waited for something else to happen in the meantime but nothing seemed wrong which caused them to gradually lighten up. Their eyes met with each other and a silent agreement passed between them - they would never talk about his moment ever again.

And then they waited for the sleeping beauty to wake up so that they could get things done for real.