1:5:5 Forgotten (Part 7)

Eventually, Ow’oo returned; it’s helmeted head peered out from behind the door’s window. Ow’oo vanished but soon reappeared as the doors started to open. As they parted, the unexpected came into view. They entered slowly; their steps steeped in confusion to the point that their footprints dripped with bewilderment. Ahead of them, a pebbled beach with a gradual incline; atop the hill stood a familiar, tall, black wall. Lore and Char both looked to Ow’oo for answers but it didn’t seem to understand the request. Lore looked down at the stones at their feet, they knelt and picked up a handful.
“You alright?” Char looked down at them.
“Fine.” They gently placed the stones back where they found them. “Déjà vu I guess.”
“I know.” She looked up at the walls. “I know.”
Something about the replica inspired dread, the stony beach fear. The longer they gazed upon the walls, the greater the feelings grew. Uncertainty and distrust in themselves and their own abilities swelled within.
“Apologies. It has that effect on people.” Ow’oo appeared behind them. “For training purposes however where our leadership wished to greet you.” Lore and Char both sighed in relief, knowing the translator was back online. “It wished to induce good will.” Ow’oo vanished once again.
“Good will?” They spoke simultaneously.
“They must think we built this place…” Char looked at the walls disapprovingly. “Still, smart strategy to build an exact replica of your enemy’s base for practising.”
“All depends on accuracy.” Lore placed a hand against the wall. It took all of their resolve to just keep it there. They forced their eyes closed; a picture was painted of the facility behind the towering defender. Lore watched as time rippled, the echoes of which showed them the secrets ahead. The facility was staffed entirely by staged mannequins with the only living personnel being the Toiswuar; they appeared to all be congregated in the open space in the centre of the base. The buildings appeared to take inspiration from the Toiswuar’s own techniques, resembling miniature versions of their domes and tunnels. Slowly, they peeled themselves away. As they broke contact, they felt their legs fall from beneath them. Char leapt to catch them but she needn’t bother; the collision seemed to trigger a reflex reaction, sending them back up and onto their feet.
“Woah! You alright?” Char threw her manacles to the floor and wrapped herself around Lore. “What was that?”
“What was what?” Lore rubbed their bumped behind.
Char moved gingerly towards the wall. “You touched it then these weird waves of white energy started flying out of your hands.” She tapped at her wrist. “It looked a bit… like… this.” Rings slowly spread from her teleporter. To start they appeared to be a complete sphere of energy but, the further they travelled, the more spread out the wave lines became and the more it came to resemble a complex Rutherford-Bohr atom.
“I was trying to get a look into their base. They’ve got nearly two dozen people in there at least…” Lore shrugged. “Got no clue who’s in charge. I do know it’s probably going to be a while.” They lowered themselves back onto the beach. They winced as they made contact. Char sat with them.

They weren’t sure how long they had been waiting but in the time they had been, they had worked out that the simulated sun the faux base sweltered under was, in actuality, a six second recording on a loop. It was a bittersweet moment of serenity tainted by the apparent anxiety generated by the locale. The feeling of unease wasn’t helped by Ow’oo’s sudden appearance.
“The Leadership are prepared to congregate around you.” One of its tendrils extended and retrieved their manacles from between the rocks. “Please return these to your… Please immobilise yourselves once again.” Ow’oo didn’t move a muscle until they did as ordered. “Thank you. Now, follow please.”
At its feet, a circle formed; pebbles and sand vanished into the crack that encircled it as it descended. Ow’oo stepped onto the stones beside Lore and Char as the platform it had been standing on slid to one side and tucked itself away, revealing a ladder. Ow’oo lowered itself onto the ladder, wrapping its tendrils around each side, before beginning its descent. It managed to do so with extreme speed, using the ladder more like a pole. Lore and Char weren’t so bold. Taking it one rung at a time, they eventually reached the bottom. The architecture was as they had been expecting but, without the amplified solar lamps and the open window walls, it felt reassuringly claustrophobic. The definite walls and the lack of exposed glass darkened the tunnel but made it feel infinitely safer in Lore’s eyes.
“Char…” Lore whispered.
“Lore…” She returned.
“If you haven’t already…” Lore’s voice trembled slightly. They swallowed before asking their question. “Could you set your teleporter to get us out of here.”
Char nodded. “I’ll be ready.”
Ow’oo opened the door ahead. Another ladder awaited them. Its tendrils extended to nearly thrice its height and gripped the hand rails then it pulled. Ow’oo went flying up to the surface, faster than it had descended, again leaving Lore and Char at the ladder’s start.
“Times like this, I really miss my Breacher.” Lore shook their head.
“I hadn’t even thought about that.” Char smiled. “Probably shouldn’t though. Don’t want to intimidate them by suddenly disappearing and reappearing.”
“No. I suppose not but still…” Lore pointed to the ladder then to their manacles. “Need I say more?”
Char raised her own set. “I’m with you now come on. Let’s get cracking.”
Going up seemed easier than down and soon, they were inside of the faux base. Char scanned her surroundings.
“Are they supposed to be… Humans?” She gestured with her head at one of the nearby mannequins.
“I think so…” Lore had already seen the base once but gazing upon it with their ‘good’ eye filled in many details their previous look had missed. The mannequin Char had referenced looked, upon a glance, like a human; it bore many of the features associated with the species: it had two legs, two arms, a head separated from its torso by a neck but that was where the similarities ended. The way in which the Toiswuar had chosen to colourise and outfit their prop was the driving cause of confusion. They approached the mannequin, making sure Ow’oo was okay with it, and started a closer examination. Ow’oo and the other Toiswuar stopped what they were doing and looked at them in wonder. Lore started at the head, removing the goggles to see that there were no eyes below, similarly, there was no nose or mouth under the mask. The Toiswuar had outfitted the mannequin with appropriate combat armour; Lore stripped the fabric layer away to find that the armour had been moulded into the torso with the shoulder padding and wrist guards being perceived similarly to an exoskeleton rather than a separate entity. The same was true of the backpack, acting almost as a shell. Lore looked over at the Toiswuar who had been overseeing their inspection. They removed their glasses and blinked. To their surprise, the Toiswuar removed their helmets; they looked at Lore with intense curiosity in their ever shifting and reshaping eyes. Lore returned their glasses and stepped away from the mannequin, gesturing for Ow’oo to lead on. As they started walking again, the Toiswuar around them did too. They all appeared to be travelling to the same destination. Ow’oo led them to the open space at the base’s centre.
“Our Leadership will arrive soon.” Ow’oo double checked the manacles were secure. “Apologies if this disturbs you.” It turned away from them then reached its tendrils to its helmet. There was a hiss as its helmet pressurised to meet the external environment followed by the trickling sound of water draining from it and into its suit. Slowly, Ow’oo removed its helmet; Its ever-moving flesh expanded and fell out as it did. Once removed, Ow’oo set its helmet down on a nearby bench before returning to Lore and Char. “Please, do not be afraid.” Char didn’t react, much to Ow’oo’s surprise but it found Lore’s reaction less surprising and almost confusing. “Are you… Adequate?”