You're Invited to DOA

((OOC: Continued from HERE ))

Location: The Arctic
Weather: Cloudy and snowing
Terrain: Snow
Time: 11:25 am

The wind hit them as they walked forward through the snow. Gabbi looked back at Ninlil and Faith to make sure they were alright. She nodded before looking forward again. Snow lightly covered her black boots and pants. Gabbi also wore a white coat with a pink scarf.

They had gotten off of the helicopter about five minutes ago. Gabbi pulled out her cell and opened the messege with the cordinants of where Cindy was supposed to be. Why were they in the Arctic? How long ago had they gotten there? Looking over at Faith she wondered how she was doing after what had happened with Jyscal.

Gabbi took a deep breath as she waved the two girls over to a small cave. As she waited for the two to get closer, Gabbi pushed her loosly tied braid over her shoulder.

Ninlil had never been in a place like that. The only snow she had seen in her life was the one who capped the Zagros mountains, but they were so far away now both in time and space. In any case she had never had the opportinity to walk on it nor to feel how cold it was. Even though she was wearing a skimo like suit, tinted goggles and her face completely hidden, she felt cold. She knew she would stand it, however it was very uncomfortable. Also the thick fur hindered a bit her movements.

She was just getting used to the terrain, it was like sand but still different from it. So beautiful and still so cold. The terrain and her outfit made her move somwehat awkwardly or at least she thought so. She had heard that at those latitudes at this time of the year the sun was above the horizon all the time, however that day it was cloudy. Why would DOATEC would have facilities there in the middle of nowhere? She had no idea, but she had to recognize Donovan was doing a great job hiding the presence of his company from the world.

As Gabbi waved, Ninlil got closer. "Is this an entrance of some sort?" she said aloud. For Ninlil it just looked like a grotto. She turned on the flashlight and a pair of artic foxes fled deeper into the cave until they disappeared into the darkness. "I hope there are no polar bears in here...What is the plan, Miss Gabbi?"

Gabbi nodded as she looked down at her cell. "I would have kept going, but the tracker says that this is the way," She said before closing the cell and placing it in her pocket. Equipping a flash light she turned it on before seeing Ninlil do the same. She grabbed a second and passed it over to Faith.

"Thank you," Faith said as she grabbed the flash light and turned it on. Taking a deep breath, Faith pointed the light down the dark tunnel infront of them.

Gabbi looked at Ninlil. "I guess see where this tunnel leads," Walking forward, Gabbi followed the tunnel down a slight ramp of slippery snow to a dead end. Her eyes narrowed. She looked to her left and right but it was just walls of ice. Pulling out her cell again, she looked at the marker. "It says it is passed this wall," Gabbi said as she looked up at the wall infront of her.

The wall had five different symbols on it but Gabbi was unable to read them. She lifted the flash light and pointed it at the walls on her left and right. There were more symbols along the walls but much smaller.

"Could whatever is on the other side of the wall be password protected?" Faith asked Gabbi.

"Possibly, but I am unable to read this, can either of you?"

Ninlil looked around and examined the symbols using her flashlight. she had never seen something like those before. She noticed that maybe this tunnel structure wasn't as recently built as she thought judging by the shape and disposition of the ice in the walls. however she knew nothing about ice and all that she was thinking was a conjecture.

For some reason she agreed with Faith. She also thought that the symbols were supposed to be part of a password to gain access to whatever was on the other side of the wall. Below each symbol there was a button.

"I guess we have no other choice but to use the old trial and error approach" And So Ninlil did. She pushed the five buttons in different order. The first time a clicking sound was heard. Ninlil was surprised . She would have never imagined the first trial was correct. When she looked back a small screen became noticeable in the wall, blocking the way of the women showed an error message flashing in red. Well i expected this. Ninlil pushed the buttons in order and in any possible combination she would figure out. Nothing happened. The same error message appeared. The people who built he tunnel didn't want trespassers to go beyond the wall.

Ninlil thought for a while. She realized that the screen which showed the error message must have some kind of software that allowed it to recognize the correct password. So maybe it was encrypted in it. With her knife she carefully removed the screen and cut some cables. She looked back at Gabbi. "Miss Gabbi...do you have any de-encryption device there. I think we could figure out what is the correct passwords, if there's one, if we analyze this device" Said Ninlil giving Gabbi the screen with the cables attached to it.

Gabbi took a deep breath as she was handed the screen. She shook her head as she looked at Ninlil. "I don't have such a thing," she said before looking down at the screen. Lifting her head, Gabbi looked over at Faith. "You can't read it?"

Faith shook her head. "No," she said before crouching down and looking at the wall infront of her. "They seem to have been made not too long ago." Faith started before continuing. "Meaning, they aren't ancient," Faith ran a hand over the wall. "Huh,"

"What is it?" Gabbi asked as she walked over to Faith.

"Some of the symbols are engraved while others just look like they are engraved, but are actually just drawn on," Faith answered as she lifted an eye brow. Strand up, she turned to look at Gabbi. "Can I see that?"

Gabbi handed the screen to Faith.

Faith walked over to the wall with the buttons and pushed the buttons of the symbols that were engraved on the wall. She heard a click then the screen turned red. Faith's eyes narrowed before she looked back at Gabbi. "I don't know then,"

Clicking a button on her earpiece, Gabbi connected to JK Tech. "This is Shrine, need some help with de-encryption,"

"Yes Shrine?" A voice appeared.

"Alright, there are two walls with symbols on them and another wall with a few buttons and a screen," Gabbi said as she pulled out her cell and took a few pictures of the walls. "Sending you pictures now,"

"Okay,"

"Also Faith said that some of the symbols on the walls are engraved where as others are only drawn on. We tried pushing the buttons of the engraved symbols but it didn't work,"

"I see," the voice said. "Faith was correct. The symbols which are engraved are the ones that are to be used."

"We tried that though,"

"Did Faith only use the one wall?" The voice asked.

"Yes," Gabbi answered.

"Although there are five symbols engraved on each wall, notice that two of them are repeats,"

Gabbi closed her eyes as she smiled slightly. "Okay,"

Faith could hear what was said and walked over to the other wall. She searched for the other two symbols and typed them in. The screen turned green before the wall infront of them lowered.

"Alright, the door's open," Gabbi said, "Thank you." She disconnected from JK Tech and walked forward. "Let's go, I don't know how long until this door locks again,"

Ninlil watched as the wall was lowered allowing them to pass. Ninlil didn't step in immediately. Even tho it was possible the door would lock again she always thought twice before doing anything. She wanted to observe as many details as possible before venturing in.

She saw a long empty corridor. It had lights on both sides. No one was there, but she did notice one camera at the other end of the corridor, at one corner where two walls met. She poked her head at the threshold of the entrance and noticed a second camera in the ceiling. Ninlil realized that as it happened in France, maybe this was like the back door of the facility. However unlike to France's, this one had better vigilance.

"Miss Gabbi, There are two cameras in this corridor. I suggest you to disable them before moving forward or we could be discovered by the enemy as soon as we enter"
In fact Ninlil was worried that maybe the DOATEC personnel already knew that their "backdoor" was opened. But now that they were there, there was no turning back.

Then Ninlil noticed something else on the walls, just above the floor. Ninlil didn't know why but it looked suspicious. Just before Gabbi and/or Faith disabled the cameras Ninlil warned them.

"We must be very careful, those devices low in the walls remind me those used at some stores to warn the employees that a customer has arrived" Ninlil said, while pointing at them. Even tho in her homeland she had never seen something like that, she still had fresh in her memory the first time she saw them in Turkey.

Then suddenly a buzz sound was heard ant all the lights went off. Immediatelly it could be heard as the wall closed very fast. Ninlil just yelled "JUMP, The door's closing!" Ninlil jumped. She was in now. She hoped Gabbi and Faith made it as well.

"Good idea," Gabbi answered as she nodded. She poked her head inside to see the two cameras before looking back at Faith. "One is at the far end, to the right, and the other is attached to the ceiling. I would shoot it but that would make things a bit more difficult,"

Faith nodded as she equipped a throwing knife. She gripped the blade tightly as she looking inside.

"You are right," Gabbi said to Ninlil as she watched Faith start towards the corridor. "This place is a bit more secure than the one we were in a few days ago," she said before hearing a buzzing sound.

Rushing inside behind Ninlil, Gabbi looked behind her as she watched the wall go back to its normal position. She pushed a few strands of hair behind her ears before facing forward again. It was now dark. All lights off. I guess usually the person entering would have entered the far door by now, Gabbi thought as she looked up at the cameras. They could still be seen however what was infront of them was not.

Faith quickly tossed a knife at the camera on the ceiling as she noticed it rotating. She got another knife and threw it at the far camera. "Now, what were you two saying about the floors?" Faith asked as she turned around to face Ninlil and Gabbi.

"Ninlil was just saying the floor ahead could be cencored. If someone comes in contact with it, it could notify someone we are here," Gabbi said.

Faith nodded. "Okay," she paused before continuing. "So what should we do then?"

"I doesn't seem to be just a line but a large tile, so we are unable to hop over it." Gabbi looked at the ground then back up. "We may need to do a running jump,"

"But what if someone lands short?" Faith asked.

"Well, I guess that's not an option."

Ninlil looked at the floor. She still wasn't totally recovered and she knew she wouldn't ever jump that far. "I've got a better idea"

As Ninlil said that she ran along a wall and in the end leapt forward. She panted realizing thet she barely made it but at least she was sure she wasn't detected. She waited for Gabbi and Faith to do their move. Ninlil thought they wouldn't have as much trouble as her with this small obstacle. But just before they would go ahead, Ninlil heard something where the corridor met a corner.

Ninlil textended her hand and told the girls to stop. She walked to the corner and saw some robotic device patroling the next corridor. Even tho the lights were still off the sentry robot moved as if nothing happened. This made Ninlil think that maybe this robot had sensors that could work in the darkness. She wasn't sure how it worked, but she must be as acutious as possible. The bot moved down the corridor just to turn a few feet before Ninlil. Just as this happened Ninlil waved to Gabbi and ninlil so they could approach her position. as They did so Ninlil told them.

"There's a mechanical watchdog of some sort in a nearby room. It seems like it is patroling this area and i think he has some sorts of censors that don't need light to work. For now, and that's only an advice, as Miss Gabbi will take the ultimate decision, i think we could just avoid being detected by it while it turns around"

Then Ninlil sneak peeked as the bot exited the room only to realize he was heading in their direction.

"Uh-oh. Change of plans, the bots is coming here!" Ninlil said whispering. She knew they could either hide or destroy it.

Taking a few steps back, Gabbi raced forward and performed a front flip, landing next to Ninlil. As she landed on one knee, she turned to look at Faith. "You alright?" she asked as she got to her feet and faced the girl on the other side of the censored floor.

Faith nodded as she took a few steps back. She took a deep breath before looking at the distance. Quickly she raced towards the floor, and leaped into the air. Landing on her heels she suddenly lost some balance.

Gabbi grabbed Faith's arm before she was able to fall backwards and pulled her up. "Close," Gabbi said as she looked at Faith. "But we're good." Looking over at Ninlil she soon heard a noise. She was about to look to see what it was but Ninlil explained.

As she nodded, she looked at Faith and Ninlil. Ninlil was correct. The easiest and smartest thing to do would be sneak around it as it turns around. "I agree," Gabbi said before looking back at the corridor which they had come from.

Gabbi's eyes widened as she tried to think of what to do. She looked around trying to spot a place to hide. Her eyes narrowed as she noticed there were no places. Would they need to destroy it? We could get detacted thought, she thought.

"Up there," Faith said as she pointed at the beams in the ceiling. "I don't think we can take that thing,"

Gabbi nodded. "Ninlil will you be able to get up?" she asked.

Faith's plan was the most prudent option at that moment

She kenw they had not much time. She thought it was not possible not for her in her condition, hewever almost unconsciously she noded and leapt from one wall to the other to gain height. When she was at the level of the beams she leapt one last time. She stretched her arms and got a hold, but it was precarious. She was hanging from only one of her arms. She was about to fall.

"I...need...help!" she whispered, hoping the bot wasn't to sestitive to the sounds she was making. To make things a bit worse the lights turned on again, momentarily blinding Ninlil. She felt as if someone took her free hand and pulled her (OOC: Sorry Gabbs, i had to do it). When she was on the beam Ninlil said "Thank you" but she didn't know who helped her.

She looked down as the patrol bot moved down the corridor and then back up. It seemed like it still was unware of the presence of the girls. Ninlil watched as he but turned the corner and moved to another corridor.

She got down the beams, and leapt to the ground. Now that the lights were on again they must be even more cautious. She looked at the next corridor. It had many doors on both sides.

"There are plenty of doors in the next corridor, miss Gabbi, which one would we open?"

(OOC: Sorry for my short replies, as you may have realized my imagination isn't as good as it used to be)

Hopping down from the beams, Gabbi followed Ninlil. She looked behind her just to make sure that the bot was not coming from behind. It wasn't. She then noticed Faith get down. Taking a deep breath she looked at the corridor Ninlil was in. There were quite a few doors. She grabbed her cell again and looked at it. Where were they to go?

"It looks like the door at the far end," Gabbi said as she placed her cell back in her pocket. Stopping infront of the door, Gabbi pressed the button to open it but nothing happened. Her eyes narrowed as she pressed it again. Pulling out her cell again, Gabbi made sure she was at the right door... She was.

Putting her cell away she turned towards the girls. "That's the door but it is locked... Maybe broken. We are going to need to find another way,"

"This is going to slow us down," Faith said as she pushed a few strands of hair from her face.

"I know, but if we all split up and check each room for a different route, we may move quicker." Gabbi replied.

"I don't think any of these doors are going to lead to the same room or hallway as that door does,"

"Yes, but maybe we will be able to make a way,"

Ninlil didn't like the idea of splitting up, however considering the current circumstances it was the only way they would find the appropriate path. But before they splittted Ninlil had some questions that needed to be answered.

"Miss Gabbi I think we must solve something before splitting up. How will we communicate to each other? If there are troubles or if someone finds a way to reach our objective the others should know about it."

Ninlil waited for Gabbi's reply and indications (if there was one) before parting ways.

Then she walked to a nearby door on the right side of the corridor and opened it slowly. She examined the room with another door at the end of it, before entering.

There were some empty cublicles and desks in that room. the cold fluorescent light made it look dull, like some government bureaucratic office. Ninlil looked for cameras but there were none visible. So she decided to enter.

She walked slowly almost sneaking, using the walls between the cubicles to hid herself. Then something inside one of those cubicles attracted Ninlil's attention...

(OOC: sorry for the short reply, but I must think what could be interesting enough for Ninlil to lower her guard a bit)

Gabbi grabbed her cell and looked at the layout. "The rooms are not too large, so it should be just a quick peek in." Gabbi then noticed that one of the rooms was much larger. "However, one is a little larger than the others. If you take that one, I will follow you in shortly after. I am just going to check one of these rooms first."

Turning to her right, Gabbi opened the door to the room and poked her head in. Nothing could be seen as it was pretty dark. She pulled a flash light from her nap sac and turned it on. The room lit up a bit. Nothing of any use though just an office. She turned to Faith to see her shake her head.

Walking into the room Ninlil had entered, Gabbi noticed that it was a large room. She looked around the room before noticing Ninlil. She rushed over behind her and crouched down like she did.

Ninlil was so distracted she didn't notice that Gabbi was following her. In front of her was some sort of document with the name of "Sandstorm project". What caught her attention was the fact thet under the title the name of the region she came from was highlighted.

She opened it and read some parts of it. She was shocked to her core when she realized that in the document the author said that someone tested weapons with their people. She couldn't believe it all this time the government had allied in some ways to DOATEC and made her people suffer only because they needed living targets for their weapons. Once again humanity proved to be it's own worst enemy.

Ninlil sighed heavily. What's done, it's done she thought. She looked back only to realize that Gabbi was already following her. A few minutes had passed since she entered the room and now she realized that she was there to help Gabbi. she didn't want vengeance after all. Vengeance made innocent people suffer and that wasn't fair, as she experienced that suffering in her past.

She grabbed the document and kept it. For some reason she wanted to know what was the motivation behind all the operation and why greed made people do terrible things to other people. She moved again and approached the door at the other end of the room. She opened the door slowly and a large hall appeared in front of her eyes. It was so empty and cold. She had no idea what was the function of such structure. Before moving into the hall she decided to ask Gabbi: "Is this the right path, miss Gabbi?"

"I beieve so," Gabbi said. "The other rooms didn't go anywhere and didn't follow the hall we need to get to so we weren't able to make a way," she said indicationg that making a way meant setting up an explosive. Gabbi started forward down the hall. It was cold and dark. She crossed her arms as she continued down the hall.

A slight smile formed on Gabbi's face as she noticed two doors at the end of the hallway. One on wall on the right and the other on the wall to the left. Gabbi walked towards the left one first. It was slightly frozen but pushing it with a but of her shoulder, she was able to open it. Nothing was in the room of any use. It seemed to be some sort of storage room. There was a desk though. Gabbi walked over to it and tried opening one of the drawers but it was locked... Or frozen. Gabbi pulled out one of her sais and placed the end of it in the corner of the drawer. She twisted it until it was in firmly before using it as a pry bar. The drawer soon opened. All that could be seen was papers. Gabbi quickly looked through them but everything was in the symbols they had seen at the door earlier. Gabbi pulled out her cell and took a few pictures of the pages before putting it away.

As she put the papers back in the drawer, she noticed a key card. She lifted an eye brow as she grabbed it. There was a picture of a woman on it but all the text was in the symbols. Gabbi placed the card in her pocket before walking back out into the hallway. Walking over to the other door, Gabbi tried to open it but it wouldn't. It was more frozen than the other door.

"What now?" Faith asked as she looked at Gabbi.

Gabbi took a deep breath. "We may need to make our path," she said as she pulled her nap sac off her shoulders and opened it. She grabbed an explosive and placed it on the door. She typed in thirty seconds after placing her nap sac back on her shoulders. "Back in that room," Gabbi said as she jogged into the storage room she had gotten the key card from.

Faith rushed in behind Gabbi before hearing the explosive went off.

Exiting the room again, Gabbi looked at the new hole in the wall. "That's better," she said with smirk. She then saw something in the corner of her eye. She quickly turned her head. Her eyes widened. The patrol bot was racing towards them. Had it set off an alarm or was it a destructive unit?

A claw shot out towards Gabbi and grabbed one of her arms while another grabbed one of her legs. Gabbi fell onto her back.

Faith tried to attack the bot was was quickly tossed down the hall.

Gabbi grabbed the knife that was sheathed against her calf and tossed it towards Ninlil. "Cut wires or anything!"