EXPLORATION LOG: The Shattered World

The large metal doors of the cargo lift slid open to reveal the expansive room and its enigmatic doorway. Mitch Flannigan shuffled out of the elevator with the other members of the expedition team as he took in the impressive sight. A large rusted metal structure sat half submerged in murky green water, surrounded on all sides by high walls of grey steel and white plaster inlaid with the odd observation window or spotlight that illuminated the cavernous room.

The anomalous structure that was contained in this part of Gatehouse Station appeared to be part of some old rusted industrial facility that had been meticulously removed and somehow transported here to this room. Because in truth, that's exactly what it was. From the reports that Mitch had read, this anomaly had been discovered a little over a year ago at the edge of a bog in a long abandoned industrial district somewhere in the southern United States. Parts of the structure had been slowly sinking into the mucky water, and the Agency had begun to get strange reports of people going missing around the facility accompanied by urban legends of strange creatures and gateways to foreign lands in the old factory.

"Alright everyone, double check your gear!" The team leader, a well-built platinum haired woman known only as Epsilon to Mitch, barked out at the rest of the members of the expedition. "Make sure everything's water tight! We're not coming back if you drop your laundry in the water."

The more veteran members of the team tightened their straps almost instinctively before mulling over to the edge of the water to talk quietly amongst themselves. Mitch and the others around him had already put their bags on the ground and were double checking everything. Mitch glanced over to the girl crouched beside him and she caught his eye with a smile.

"Is this your first expedition too?" She questioned as she continued to go over her gear.

He nodded. "Yep. I just got recruited a little over a month ago."

"Wow! You're practically a baby!" She laughed at the defensive look no doubt forming on his face. "I'm just messing with you, relax."

"Well what about you? Isn't this your first time too?"

"It is. I've done some field research here...well...on earth for the past year or so."

"Alright everybody, grab your gear and get to the boats!" Epsilon called out, and the team began to make their way to the edge of the concrete platform.

"I'm Beverly, by the way." The other recruit looked back over her shoulder at Mitch as the approached the edge of the murky water.

"I'm Mitch. Nice to meet you, Beverly By The Way."

The woman chuckled, but before she could reply, Epsilon began directing them to their boats. The entrance to the portal was a dark winding passage that twisted into the face of the old rusted structure. The path was submerged in several feet of green murky swamp water that flowed out from the other side, so it could not be drained. It was shallow enough that it could be waded through, but given some of the creatures and strange events that could happen upon them in the water, boats were preferable. The passage through the structure was thin, so the expedition was limited to large canoes with small electric motors mounted on the back. According to the brief training Mitch had received, they would most likely be paddling the boats as often as they ran the motors.

They loaded their gear into the boats and began to make their way onto the crafts. As he climbed down into the canoe, the thing rocked and swayed with the motion and Mitch briefly thought he was going to tip himself and the rest of the boat into the swampy water below. He managed to regain his balance and took his seat amongst the gear in the middle. Epsilon then directed Beverly into his boat and she lithely climbed down into the front with barely a sway from the vessel as she took her seat.

"Looks like we're travel buddies." She grinned back at him as the rest of the team continued to climb into their boats.

Mitch glanced back behind him at a man who appeared to be barely older than himself situated at the back of the boat fingering the throttle of the small propeller clamped to the back of the canoe.

"Don't fall in." The man stated flatly, and Mitch nodded.

"Don't plan to."

"Alright team, let's move!" Epsilon gracefully leaped into the leading canoe and pushed off from the concrete dock as her driver began to putter the boat towards the large metal structure. "I'm on point. Arthur, Lambda, you two take the rear. Rookies in the middle." She knelt up in her seat as she ordered her formation, and Mitch helped push off from the dock when the man behind him began to do the same.

The canoe momentarily swayed dangerously to the left as they set off for the rusted metal structure, and Mitch resisted the urge to grab the sides of the boat in panic. Their momentum quickly steadied, and they soon found themselves in line with the other boats as the first vessel dipped under a yawning gap of the old wreck of building. As Mitch's vessel passed beneath the bent opening of the corroded walls, he was met with a wave of hot and humid air. The passage beyond was devoid of light save for the LEDs and spotlights that winked on the boats ahead of them and their own.

The small electric motor hummed quietly behind him. Mitch glanced back as they began to round a bend, and watched the last light from Gatehouse Station disappear behind them. He flicked on a small handheld flashlight and aimed it up at the old metal walls that sat about a meter away on either side of them. What looked to be rusted catwalks and cracked windows stared back down at him as they patiently passed beneath. Over the subtle noise of their boats, Mitch thought he heard something skitter across a walkway above them, but when he aimed his light at the source he could see nothing.

"Hey man, try and keep your light down here." The driver of Mitch's canoe spoke quietly behind him.

"Alright, why?"

"We don't want to attract any unnecessary attention."

Mitch was not totally sure what that meant, but he turned his flashlight off all the same. As they continued to weave and turn through the winding flooded passages, his mind began to conjure up images of dark creatures lurking in the shadows above them.

"This is so exciting!" Beverley whispered back to him, turning his attention from the imagined horrors.

Mitch nodded, hoping that any fear he felt was masked by the darkness. "Yeah...it really is..."

The canoe bobbed subtly up and down in the wake of the boat in front of him, and as Beverly turned back around , Mitch became much more aware of the fact of how well endowed the girl in front of him was. As the front of the boat bounced subtly against the low slapping wake, Beverly's chest followed suit beneath her tight long sleeved shirt. Throughout the rest of the voyage through the complex, Mitch let himself be distracted by the motion of the boat and the bouncing boobs of his fellow team member so he did not have to think of what may lay in the darkness.

It had been immediately apparent upon entering the structure that there was some sort of anomaly at work. The entire piece of the old building contained in Gatehouse Station was at best fifty meters deep, and even less wide. After several minutes of traversing the waterways inside, they had easily covered ten times that distance. Whether they had already crossed over to the other world, or were still in some sort of liminal space, Mitch could not say.

Whatever the answer to that riddle was, it no longer mattered as daylight began to shine into the passage when they rounded another corner. A minute or so later, Mitch held up a hand to shield his eyes from the glare of a midday sun shining down upon him as they exited the rusted labyrinth. When his eyes finally adjusted, he looked around at the new world he had just entered.