Trash: Chapter 175 The Wrong Kind of Exploration (Patreon)

Chapter 175

The Wrong Kind of Exploration

Perhaps it is the inability to see a threat that makes it somehow less intimidating. The whole human condition of you must either see the threat or see its side effects before you take the threat seriously. That is how, despite my warnings about dozens of ghosts being at this cave entrance we still found our way into the muck covered ruins.

Dense slurping sounds echoed around us, as our feet sank deeper into the much with each step made. For a moment I wondered how Lelia managed to get in here without getting her feet entirely coated in muck. Then turning to see her, I saw exactly what she did, as she just climbed a thin ledge that seemed to extend on the walls like a baseboard of sorts. Something that was clearly meant to be aesthetic in nature was being used by my highly mobile scout to avoid the pit of mud that the rest of us had found ourselves ankle deep in. Worst of all, she moved so effortlessly that she was the first one through to the other side, with only a few mud stains from where her knees brushed against the wall, and of course her hands.

Getting to the other side, I was surprised to see that the rest was dry, claustrophobic, but dry.

“It seems that the recent rains opened up the hatch above, flooding this ancient escape tunnel with mud, but the rest of the area appears to be clear ahead,” Lt. Keller explained, his words explaining how this place had remained unnoticed for so long. Then looking back at where we had come from, I could see that he might in fact be correct. For up above were two metal doors that one might find in an emergency escape hatch. One of those flat escape hatches was meant to be ground level. Then over time the escape hatch got covered in layers of dirt and sediment, that got too heavy and finally caused the metal doors to corrode and collapse from the added weight of an unseasonably violent rainstorm. Then given that no one frequented the region, well no one other than Lelia, this open chamber remained unchecked for a while.

Taking a second, I remember the odd looks Lelia gave the area while we were walking yesterday. Taking a moment to use Trash to remove the muck and grime from my clothes, I went over to Lelia and asked, “was this what you were looking at yesterday?”

At my question, Lelia paused, looking like she had been caught doing something naught. Only to realize I wasn’t mad, but just curious. Finally, after a second, she nodded her head.

“Good job,” I reply.

I don’t know what response she expected from me, but apparently my good job was not what she was used to, for she just paused then seemed to relax. Seeing her confused expression, I felt I understood her better. There was still a lot, probably more than I would ever be able to get through on my own, but I could see that what she had been through was tough. Seeing her like that, I reached out a calming hand and patted her arm, “it will be okay. You’re with me now.”

With my hand still on her arm, I proceeded to use my Trash Skill to remove the mud and grime that was on her as well.

Everyone else of the ten person adventure team had to remove their mud the hard way, but scrubbing it off, and trying to wipe mud off on mud covered surfaces. It was not easy, and partly why Lelia and I could have that moment.

“Still see your ghosts?” Lt. Keller asked after a few minutes of muck removal.

Looking around, I can only shake my head. For whatever reason it seems that all the spirits were at the mouth of the entrance, as if they were all trying to leave but couldn’t for whatever reason.

“Good, that’s a good omen,” Lt. Keller said to the rest of the faculty that were still with us to ensure this find was legitimate. Though if he was talking to his men, or to himself I didn’t really know. Then after a second of waiting, Lt. Keller turned to Lelia and gestured for her to continue her tour, “after you.”

Lelia just nodded crisply, before walking ahead and lowering her head slightly as the spilled mud made the room seem like it was shrinking, or made on a slant.

From there we walked forward, going through open sets of what my mind figured were double doors, the types one might find at a hospital, or lab. That’s when I saw the first sign of advertisements down here.

Old posters with words that long since been melted away by time clung to the walls, leaving behind vague warnings of possible threats to be aware of. Then going a bit further, I saw on my left, a symbol that looked oddly familiar. Almost as if a logo had been cut in half, I saw the markings of three letters grouped together.

SyS

Then turning to my right, the opposite door that contained the rest of the word.

TEM

Seeing the two sets of symbols, my mind put them together easily, for this was an image that had been all but burned into my retinas the day before.

SySTEM

I wasn’t the only to notice the symbols, for a heard a few of the faculty members with us also comment on the strange logo seeming to appear out of nowhere.

“System,” one faculty member muttered.

“A system lab? Here?” A second faculty member replied.

Once past the first set of double doors, we saw the symbol everywhere. The symbol was on the wall, molded and decaying, but there every twenty feet or so, a reminder of where you were. We passed by two more sets of metal doors that all had the same welded log etched into them. Then Lelia took us through not one but two sets of broken glass doors that each held fragments of the logo on them. These weren’t much and wouldn’t have been identifiable, had we not come through corridors that clearly displayed the full logo with the odd yellow lettering.

“A System lab? Do you know what this means?” A third faculty member who had been mostly quiet up until this point, exclaimed to Lt. Keller.

Lt. Keller for his part just looked like he was trying to keep focused on the mission at hand and seemed entirely unenthused by the claim. The faculty member read the Lieutenant’s expression immediately and proceeded to explain why he should care, “this is a previously unexplored lab of the ancients, one that appears to have been built just before the collapse.”

As the faculty member spoke, I guessed he was either a history professor, or someone who loved this type of lore-based findings. I could almost understand, as this would likely be a very fun and interesting find, if it wasn’t for the fact that every sense in my body was telling me to be aware of dangers.

While the faculty members, who were not ROW officers, all seemed to be working their way into a frenzy from what could very well be the find of the century, I did not like the vibes that were coming from this place at all. Before I even realized it, I had one hand clutching the hilt of my sword. Then realizing what I was doing, I had a choice to either remove my hand and pretend like everything was fine, or I could do what might be considered an aggressive action. It only took a second for me to realize that aggression is only considered aggressive it is deemed to be excessive force after the fact. Given that it means you survived whatever encounter often implies that at least in some small quantity that you were correct. That is when I began to slowly charge my sword with my bloodline’s Soul Devourer energy.

“Gasps.”

While I had intended the infusion of energy to go unnoticed for as long as possible, I forgot the way my bloodline’s energy would cause my infused blade to glow a deep purplish hue. One that was instantly picked up on by the few faculty members who were still walking behind me. The members who were more excited about the historic findings that they had stumbled upon, versus the looming threat that all but screamed danger was around us.

Going through the double layers of broken glass doors, we made our way to an open room that had both stalactites from the ceiling and stalagmites jutting up from the floor. While many of these mineral deposits were ordinary stone, there were easily a few dozen spikes that had been harvested from the numerous stalagmites on the ground.

“Here is where I gathered the crystals,” Lelia declared, pointing to the spots on the ground that looked like poachers had run wild and harvested the valuable organs of this place.

“You sure?” The third speaker, the historian teacher, asked running forward to observe the carved away stone sample.

“Oh, I’m sure,” Lelia replied, before gesturing up to even larger crystals hanging from the ceiling that seemed to mirror the ones on the floor. While it was clear that Lt. Keller wanted to protest, he couldn’t. Instead, I saw a flash of light cross his eyes and Lelia’s as the system seemed to recognize that their oaths had been followed.

Taking a deep breath, Lt. Keller bit down any retort he was going to say, and instead went with a congratulations instead, “it seems that the great system has verified your oaths to both me and the witnesses around us. By all rights, any claims of you being a thief are hereby removed. As promised your schooling will be free, and a deposit of 500 credits will be placed into your team’s account.”

Lt. Keller said the last part towards me.

As the three of us were conducting our transaction, I felt a bit of relief. This room was seemingly safe, spooky, but safe. Also, I got confirmation that Lelia was both exonerated, and had earned our team 500 credits to spend on supplies or resources we might need. A greedier part of me also realized that this meant the stash of crystals that Junior and Marcus were guarding were now property of the team.

Everything was coming up roses, which was why I wanted to leave. Every sense in my body was telling me to take the money and run. Especially with the group of faculty and staff members going around the room, looking at the ancient structure and trying to figure out how crystallized stalactites and stalagmites formed in this facility, something that would be very important if we wanted to replicate this process.

“Oh, look. It seems to be more concentrated on the ceiling and then dripped down to the floor. Meaning that whatever caused these structures to form had to have come from the floor above,” the third speaker said, quickly deducing both the location for this formation and setting off the other scientists around him.

“Let’s look for another door,” the first scientist said, which the other scientists quickly began following spreading out in a fan like formation, trying to find different ways out. Seeing their reaction, I could see the color fade from Lelia’s face as she made her way to me. Realizing this was our cue, I tried to make it out while we could. Especially as our reason for being here was over. Anything that the professors found was theirs by the contract we had signed.

“All right, if our business here is done, we will—” I began to say, gesturing for Lelia to follow me out of here. Not that she needed to be told twice as Lelia was already walking past me towards the exit, speedwalking in a way that tried to seem like she wasn’t fleeing the scene of a crime. The before we could go, we heard the seven words that would ruin everything.

“Hey guys, I found the staircase up!”

And like that, the feeling of dread that had been building in my gut spilled over, letting me know things were about to go sideways.