Episode 039 Previous Episode	Next Episode
“Very Quiet, Extra Quiet Super Quiet,” Buaku and company, Dominion Tank Police In the moonlight, the Solaritec compound stretched into the woods that surrounded it. The towering white buildings were laid out like a mini-city of endless corporate design. But the windows were lightless as the facility stood quiet. Nothing moved except by the influence of the nighttime breeze that flowed between the buildings as if guided by the pull of the silent moon over the distant horizon. The wind rustled the trees and turned the dust that had collected on what had once been the height of modernization. In the nighttime darkness, the corporate lobby, covered in dust and cobwebs, looked as if it was painted out of dark blue and gray. The light from the tall, floor-to-ceiling windows came in from the outside world, the shape of the windows maintained like dusty panes of glass in the stagnant air. Past the semi-circular reception desk and security station, the building became dark; pitch blackness filling the interior. Down the halls of corporate offices and descending through the darker and darker stairwells into the bowels of the facility, the silent darkness was absolute. Almost. The beam of red light cast out over the directional sign on the wall. The sign pointed to the left for rooms Sub-C 104 through 119 and to the right for rooms Sub-C 120-134. Light moved back, its ambient reflection showing Alan standing with Dante, Ryoko, and Eliot behind him. “You know when the corporate office has to have road maps, things have gotten out of hand,” joked Dante. Alan swept his red-filtered flashlight down the hall, the beam disappearing into the blackness. Behind him, the other three knights aimed their own tinted flashlights around, keeping a cautious eye in every direction. “Should we be worried about bobby traps?” Eliot asked as he followed Dante ahead of Ryoko. “Just stay on your toes,” Alan maintained. “Yo, Alan,” Dante said. “Man, what about the defenders of the city? That Everett guy and the rest of them. They’re going to get pissed when they find out we’ve been digging around in their town without their knowledge.” “You can’t make an omelet,” Alan quoted, unworried. “Besides, I told Everett, and talked with two of his men. If they wanted in on everything, they should have been more… cooperative.” He flashed his light at a door, slowing in front of it. It was an unremarkable metal door with no designation on it. He thought for a moment, then touched the handle. “I think this is it,” he said. “What makes you say that?” Eliot asked. “This is the door I saw,” Alan said distantly. “In your vision,” Ryoko whispered with reverence. “Vision,” Dante said, looking back at Ryoko, then at Alan. “Man, what’s she talking about?” Alan smiled, staring at the door. “Do you believe in magic, Dante?” he asked. “No,” he answered matter-of-factly. Alan turned around to him, smiling in the darkness. “You should.” He turned back to the door. “When I was in Europe, I…” he swallowed uncomfortably, “…saw things no human is meant to see. But in the process, I learned the truth about the world. And after everything was done, I was able, with the help of others, to touch the plane that is beyond the physical. And it was then that I saw the future of the knights. I saw knights as members of the most elite and important military organization in human history. I saw the knights, once again, elevated to the status for which we have always belonged; the military elite. No longer kowtowing to the SEALs and the Green Beret and such rabble. I saw the truth of our destiny, to once again be the height of human martial and military achievement.” He stared at the door, signing as if in post-coital delight. “And it begins with this door.” He turned the handle, feeling the lock holding strong. He stepped back, the others giving him room. He timed his breaths and slammed his foot squarely above the handle, the kick groaning the metal door. The steel deadbolt bent and gave, the door partially opening. Alan dropped back and kicked again, the metal groaning, then giving. The door flew inside, slamming into the wall. Inside, a simple chemistry lab waited. Alan flashed his light over the room, the red reflection off the beakers and test tubes causing the whole room to glow. Dante followed Alan in, with Eliot trying the light switch in vain as he followed. Ryoko stayed by the door, her hands resting on the handle of her katana. “So what’re we looking for?” Dante asked as he walked amongst the laboratory tables, studying the empty scientific equipment. “Like some kind of super soldier serum or something?” “No, we’re looking for data, not chemicals,” Alan said, searching in every cabinet along the walls. “We don’t need the end product. It wouldn’t do us any good. We need the research.” Eliot stood up from the drawers beneath some of the counter space. “There’s nothing here, Alan,” he said. “Anything they had, they took with them.” “No, it’s here, I’m telling you,” he insisted. He stepped back, considering the room as a whole. He studied the scientific equipment for a moment, then looked at the back wall. Devoid of any decoration or design, the plain white wall occupied his attention. After a moment, he looked back at the room. “Where are the computers?” he asked. The three looked around the room, noting the absence of them for the first time. “If there were computers, they probably were taken when the company folded.” “No, we’ve seen other computers around,” Eliot said, scratching his ear. “Besides, this isn’t an official part of the building. No one would have known about this place except members of the Brotherhood of the Sun, probably only the members that actually worked in here.” Alan looked at the rear wall, then walked over to it. He shined his flashlight down on the ground, seeing the featureless tile floor. He looked up at the wall. “There’s a switch,” he declared, stepping back. “There’s a switch which will cause this wall to retreat back.” “You’re kidding,” Dante exclaimed. “That kind of stuff isn’t real; it only happens in movies and bad action stories.” Alan ignored him and turned to scrutinize the room. He looked at the research tables, jostling them to find they were rooted into the floor. He looked through a few cabinets before settling his eyes on the metal filing cabinet in the corner. “Everything else is nailed down, physically part of the room. How come they didn’t take that?” he asked rhetorically. Moving past Eliot, Alan pulled open the top drawer, finding the files gone. He reached inside the shelf and felt around. With his arm pushed inside almost to the elbow, he suddenly smiled. “There you are,” he whispered. A loud click echoed through the room. A powerful rumble began to build. The others all looked about in surprise, then fell back against the sides of the room. As they did, the lights overhead slowly came to life. “That’s it!” Alan called over the rumbling before he noticed the wall. Sliding to the left, the rear wall moved back, revealing a rear portion of the room the same size as the front. Inside, now lit by the overhead lights, were several rows of computers, all of them slowly coming to life. They all walked to the entrance of the room, a huge grin on Alan’s face. “This is it,” he whispered in delighted awe.
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