Damnatio Memoriae
Prologue
WRITTEN BY JAMes KIRKLAND
The metallic rattle of the elevator stopping snapped him from his drowsy state. He rubbed his eyes as he yawned, stretching out his back as he did. The elevator doors slid open to reveal a young brunette woman who smiled at him as he finished his stretching.
“Were you dozing off again, Mitch?” She asked.
“Maybe.” He sluggishly replied, running a hand through his short, black hair.
“Were you also at the party last night far later than you should have been?”
“Who are you, my mother?” He answered with a grin.
“I’ll take that as a yes too.” She laughed.
“Normally, you greet someone with a ‘good morning’ at this hour, Sally.”
“And, normally, one tries to get to bed at a reasonable hour when they know they have to do their weekly inspections the next morning.”
“You’re such a nerd.”
“A nerd who is your superior, incidentally.”
“Is that going to be the way you end every argument?”
“Until you get promoted above me, yes.”
“And yet, I’m the one with the higher security clearance.” He smirked.
“It’s the only reason I put up with you.” She smiled back before entering the elevator. She pressed the button for the 12th Floor. “Shall we?”
“Nothing I love more than weekly inspections.” He sarcastically replied.
The problem with working at a privately funded, ultra secretive science facility is that everything ran like clockwork. In every inspection he’d done since arriving at the Zero Omega facility, he couldn’t remember anything of note ever being wrong. Occasionally there was a light bulb that needed changing or a dripping tap, but even those were rare occurrences. So these weekly inspections had become incredibly monotonous. It was to the point where he could predict what some people were going to say when they talked with them. Bill from Technical would likely talk about sports. Susan from Research would chat to Sally about her kids. Robert from Security would talk about his grand-kids. So it was mostly a matter of keeping himself awake while going through the motions. But, for what he was getting paid, he could deal with something this terribly boring once a week. Being on the “business side” of this facility meant things like this were his responsibility. And he could deal with long boardroom meetings and boring inspections better than working with infectious diseases and unstable technology.
About two hours passed before they finished up the basic parts of the inspection. Next up was the “Alpha Clearance” labs where all of the most secretive operations took place. These were usually much more interesting, as oftentimes they got to learn about some of the truly groundbreaking work that was being done in Zero Omega. Things like curing “incurable” diseases or designing Dalek-proof orbital defenses were significantly more interesting than someone inventing new light bulbs.
“Mitch, if you would.” Sally said as the elevator doors slid closed behind them.
“Certainly.” He smiled back before scanning his security clearance and pressing the button for the first lab they needed to inspect. The elevator creaked to life again and began descending as the screen in front of the sent out a beam of blue light that began scanning the elevator.
“Scanning complete.” A mechanical voice was heard. “Contents cleared for entry.”
“I’ve always been curious,” Sally began as the light dissipated. “What happens if you fail the scan and it detects something it deems dangerous?”
“The floor of the elevator opens and drops us to our deaths.” Mitch calmly replied.
“What?” Sally exclaimed, slightly laughing. “You’re joking, right?”
“Not at all.” Mitch plainly replied. “The bones of the last people who failed a security scan are still lying at the bottom of this shaft.”
Sally stared at him, her face clearly reading that she wasn’t sure if he was being serious or not.
“Ask someone from Janitorial if you don’t believe me.” Mitch finally added.
“Oh, I will.” Sally replied.
“Good.” Mitch said, doing his best to hide his grin. He couldn’t wait to hear what the reaction from Janitorial was going to be when she came to them asking questions about the deadly elevator.
The elevator slowed to a stop and scanned them once more. Mitch noticed Sally tensing up as the probing blue light moved around the room. He smirked to himself before the light flashed green.
“Scanning complete.” The mechanical voice repeated. “Contents cleared for entry.”
The doors slid open to reveal a security checkpoint in front of a long hallway. Mitch and Sally exited the elevator and walked up to the security desk where a balding man sat.
“Hey, Thomas.” Sally greeted him with a smile.
“We’re here for our weekly inspections.” Mitch added.
Thomas looked up at them slowly. His face looked somewhat blank, completely devoid of any emotions. He stared at them for a moment before squinting slightly, like he was trying to remember them.
“You okay, Thomas?” Sally asked.
“Yes.” He slowly replied. “Yes. Yes, I am.” His voice almost sounded robotic or scripted.
“You sure about that?” Mitch pressed. “You don’t seem quite like yourself.”
Thomas stared at them both again. He then looked down at the monitors before him and shook his head slightly. He then looked up with a grin.
“Yeah, sorry.” He said. “I’m just tired.”
“I know the feeling.” Mitch relied.
“Were you at the party too?” Sally asked.
“Yeah.” Thomas answered.
“Guess you had a good time, huh?”
“I…I can’t really remember.” Thomas replied, clearly straining to recall.
“Then that means you did.” Mitch smiled.
“Yeah.” Thomas paused for a moment before looking up at them and smiling. “So, what are you guys here for?”
“Our weekly inspections.” Sally answered.
“Oh…oh yeah. Can I see your ID’s?”
“As if you could forget me.” Mitch said with a laugh. “When else does a devilishly handsome Chinese man come down here?”
Thomas paused, staring blankly.
“Oh, come on. The joke wasn’t that bad.” Mitch sighed.
“It kinda was.” Sally replied.
“Can I see your ID’s?” Thomas repeated. His tone was the exact same as the first time.
Mitch and Sally got out their ID tags and handed them to him. He looked at them and typed on his computer for a moment before handing them back.
“Good to go?” Sally asked.
“Good to go.” Thomas answered. He pressed a button on the security console and the doors to the scanners slid open.
“Thanks, Thomas.” Sally smiled back at him.
“Take it easy, buddy.” Mitch said as they headed through the gates. “Maybe go get some more sleep, huh?”
“Yeah.” Thomas replied. “More sleep.”
Mitch paused and looked back at Thomas just before stepping on the mobile track that would take them through the scanner. Thomas had turned back to his terminal and was staring blankly at it. Even though Mitch couldn’t quite make it out from the distance he was at, it looked to him like the screen in front of Thomas was covered in complete gibberish. Just a random assortment of letters punctuated by spaces, like how the screens of someone typing fast in a movie would look if you saw the end results. Mitch went to take a step towards Thomas, but he felt a tug on his sleeve.
“You coming?” Sally asked.
“Yeah.” Mitch answered, still looking at Thomas. “I’m coming.”
“Okay. Let’s get this done.”
Mitch stared for a moment longer before turning back to Sally and getting on the mobile track.
Maybe he was just imagining things? Maybe his mind had yet to focus through the remnants of last nights drinking? Regardless, he would mention Thomas to one of the doctors on duty in the labs.
The mobile track took them down the hallway at a decent speed. As it did they were scanned again, blasted with a jet of disinfecting mist and scanned a second time. They then reached the end of the track where there was a computer monitor that informed them of the potential risks of not following safety protocols in Alpha Clearance Labs and the consequences of breaching their secrecy contracts by talking about what they’d seen in these labs. Mitch impatiently scrolled through the screen before scanning his hand, eye and security card.
“Have you ever actually read that warning screen?” Sally inquired.
“Once.” Mitch answered. “It’s pretty standard stuff. ‘Don’t touch things or you might get infected’ and ‘don’t talk about projects here or you will be shot’ type things.”
“Be shot?” Sally repeated with shock.
“Yes. It’s in the contracts you signed when you were hired here. Clearly you didn’t read those through thoroughly.”
“Evidently not.”
The doors to the lab let out a harsh hissing noise. Mitch and Sally stepped back as the doors slowly opened outwards. They then made their way into the labs. The sign near the entrance read “Advanced Genetic Research and Development”. It also informed that the staff in charge of this particular lab were Dr. Adriana Ventiss, Dr. Landon Moore and Dr. Emily Carruthers. The lights in the lab were mostly off, which struck Mitch as odd. He was used to being blinded by the pristine white walls and floors amplifying the already bright lighting of the labs. As they made their way to the first junction in the hallway, they looked around and found no personnel anywhere around.
“That’s a first.” Sally finally said.
“Yeah.” Mitch agreed. “Maybe we caught them during a particularly important test?”
“Maybe.”
They paused for a moment and listened. They could hear something very faintly. It was a thumping sound, happening at a steady, rhythmic pace.
“What the hell is that?” Mitch asked.
“I don’t know.” Sally answered, looking around. “Sound like it’s coming from the left.”
“Let’s take a look.”
They slowly made their way down the hall. With every few steps, the thumping got louder and louder. There still was no sign of anyone. The lights ahead of them were all out in the hallways. The only light was being cast from in the labs. As they made their way towards the thumping noise, Mitch walked out slightly ahead of Sally. He continued to look around to see if he could notice anyone in any of the labs they passed. Suddenly, Sally grabbed his arm with immense force from behind him.
“Mitch!” She screamed, causing him to turn around to face her.
“What?” He asked, his heart pounding in his chest now.
Sally turned to face him, having been staring down the hall behind her. As her eyes met his, she paused. Her face was momentarily awash with confusion before she looked around the area.
“What is it?” Mitch asked again, his heart still pounding.
“It…it was…” Sally turned back to face him. She was clearly trying to concentrate on something, but couldn’t seem to focus.
“It was what?”
“Nothing.” She answered after a laboured pause. “I…I guess the shadows spooked me.”
“Okay.” Mitch slowly said, his heart rate slowing down. “Well, as long as you don’t have two shadows. We had to deal with that shit in Species Containment last week.”
Sally moved past Mitch and continued slowly down the hallway. Mitch paused and looked back down to where she was staring. For just a moment, he thought he saw a silhouette on the walls where she was looking. But it vanished in a flicker of the lights behind them. Mitch turned back to Sally and rejoined her as they continued towards the thumping noise. Their footsteps echoed through the empty and mostly silent hallways. Mitch began listening to their footsteps more closely, trying to focus on something aside from the thumping noise. Each footstep sounded as though five or more people were taking that step, even though they were walking slowly and fairly softly. The more Mitch listened to the footsteps, the more they sounded wrong. He gently grabbed Sally’s arm and pulled her. They both slowed their movements to a stop.
But the footsteps didn’t.
Mitch and Sally shot each other nervous glances as the footsteps continued. Mitch could see in Sally’s eyes that she was debating between turning back to see what followed them and running. Beads of sweat formed on her brow as her breathing quickened. Mitch could feel all the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. He tried to calm himself as the footsteps continued behind them. He placed a hand on Sally’s shoulder, trying to reassure her. She looked over at him, eyes wide with fear. Mitch nodded to her gently before they both took a deep breath and turned around.
But the hallway was empty.
“What the hell?” Sally sighed. “Are we losing it?”
“Maybe.” Mitch replied, scanning the hallway. There was nothing there. But, he had the strangest sensation as if something was just moments before, even though he had never turned around until that moment.
“Well,” Sally began after a moment of silence. “Let’s keep moving.”
“Yeah. Let’s.” Mitch agreed before turning to follow her.
As they continued down the hallway, they heard the click of a door handle moving. They quickly spun around to see a door just behind them open and a woman with red hair and thick glasses exit the lab.
“Excuse me!” Sally called out. “Miss!”
The woman turned to look at them. Though Mitch got the impression she was actually looking past them.
“What’s going on down here?”
“I…I have to remember.” The woman responded.
“Remember what?”
“I have to remember…to remember.”
“Remember to remember?” Mitch repeated. “Are you okay?”
The woman vigorously shook her head. “I have to remember to remember to remember to remember to remember…” She suddenly began repeating.
“What the hell?” Mitch muttered to himself.
“Ma’am?” Sally began, slowly walking towards her. “Is something wrong?”
The woman looked up at them again. Then, without warning, she let out a blood curdling scream and sprinted away down the hall. Mitch immediately spun around to see if something behind them had provoked that response. But the hall was empty.
“I’m getting the distinct impression something is really fucking wrong down here.” Mitch said, turning back to Sally.
“I think you might be right.” Sally replied. “Maybe there was some sort of accident? Like a leak of some solution or formula?”
“Which begs the question why we’re still down here.”
“Call it in. Get Security and Medical down here.”
“My phone doesn’t work in Alpha Clearance Labs. We’d need to find a phone line to dial out to the Hub.”
“Well, then let’s find one.”
They both turned and headed back towards the ever persistent thumping noise. After a moment more of travelling down empty hallways past empty labs, they stopped just in front of a lab where the thumping was seemingly emanating from. Mitch turned back and looked at Sally, who looked at him. Her eyes read that was she was just as nervous as he was. He gently patted her on her shoulder and nodded. They both rounded to corner to face the lab.
What they saw was like something from a horror movie.
The thumping was being generated by a man in a lab coat repeatedly hitting his head off of an already blood soaked spot on the wall. The floors of the lab were also slick with blood and littered with blood covered medical tools and various body parts and organs.
“What the fuck?” Mitch shouted as he looked at the scene before him.
Sally ran into the lab to the man who was hitting his head on the wall and grabbed him by the shoulders.
“Stop!” She yelled. “Stop doing that.”
The man turned to face her. The skin on his forehead was worn and ruined down to the bone. His nose was broken and misshapen and he was missing most of his teeth, blood pouring from his mouth as he tried to talk.
“Holy shit!” Mitch shouted, turning away from the man.
“Mitch!” Sally yelled. “Get over here and help me!”
“Help you do what? He looks like a fucking zombie!”
“If you’re not going to help then leave!”
“R…ru…” Came from the man’s broken mouth.
“What?” Sally asked, turning back to him.
“Ru…ru…run…” The man replied.
Sally tried to get the man to sit down and tell her what happened. As she did, Mitch walked back out of the lab and looked back they way they came.
That’s when his heart leapt into his throat.
Down the hallway where they had come stood two tall, humanoid beings with large heads, twisted, horrifying faces and big, misshapen hands. The beings were dressed in lab coats and emitted a strange chattering noise as they slowly approached him. Mitch slowly backed up as the beings approached.
“Sally.” He called out with a quiet, shivering voice.
There was no response. He kept his eyes locked on the beings as they continued their slow, methodical approach towards him. He could feel his heart beating in his ears as his blood turned to ice in his veins. The beings continued their slow advance towards him. Mitch could feel every hair on his arms standing up at the sight of these creatures. The lights behind them began flickering as one of them raised their hand, seeming to point at him.
“Sally!” He shouted as loud as he could.
“What?” Came her response shouted back.
“Run!” Mitch yelled.
“What?” She asked again, clearly confused by the instructions.
“Run!” He repeated. “As fast as you can! Get out of there now!”
She must have sensed the urgency in his voice, because she immediately turned and ran from the lab through the doorway opposite Mitch. He turned to watch her go and then paused as he saw her sprinting away.
“Sally?” He called out, confused. “Where are you going?”
He ran after her, quickly gaining on her. He gently pulled her to a stop as they made their way down another hallway.
“What are you doing?” He asked her.
“What am I doing?” She answered, panting. “What are you doing?”
“What?”
“Why the hell did you tell me to run back there?”
“I…” He paused. He tried to remember, but his mind was blank. He could make out very hazy images, but couldn’t piece together what they were.
“Well?” She impatiently asked.
“I don’t know.” He replied.
“You had me sprinting for no good reason?”
“I…I guess.”
“Wonderful. You know, I was trying to help that man back there. I-” She stopped dead mid sentence. Mitch noticed she was looking behind him and slowly turned to see what she was looking at.
In the lab behind them were a dozen scientists moving around. Their uniforms and skin were slick with blood. Two of them approached a woman who was strapped down to a table with a large rubber stick jammed between her teeth. They started talking about “pain responses” and “bone density” before drilling into her kneecap, eliciting screams of agony from her. Another scientist walked around with a missing arm, blood still trickling from his stump of a limb. Three more gathered around a tank filled with water, where a man inside thrashed around and tried to break the glass. All the others performed various grisly experiments on other people in the room. Mitch noticed one taking notes and talking about the force necessary to shatter a human spine. As they stared in horror at the macabre scene before them, a chattering noise drew their attention away from the horrid display. They turned to their right to see several tall humanoids with large heads approaching.
“Holy shit!” Sally shouted in fear.
Both she and Mitch started backing away from the beings. As they did, Mitch felt the slightest tinges of familiarity looking at these beings. The lights behind the beings began to flicker as they continued forward, both Mitch and Sally kept their eyes locked on the beings, too afraid to look away from them. Their retreat was suddenly halted by the feeling of cold steel behind them. They had hit the door to the next lab.
And it was closed.
“No!” Sally shouted as she frantically moved her hand around behind her, looking for the access switch to open the door. Mitch, too, tried to fumble for the switch, knowing the key card he held in his trembling hand was the only thing that would open it, as the beings continued their slow progression towards them. Mitch suddenly heard a beeping noise, his card having found the access scanner, which caused the door to open and both of them to tumble into the room. They both slowly got to their feet as the door closed automatically.
“That hurt.” Mitch groaned. “Be more careful next time.”
“Sorry.” Sally replied, rubbing her arm. “The door was jammed.”
Mitch got to his feet and looked around the room. It was filled with mountains of notes and dozens of computer screens, each one with dozens of file documents listed on their screens.
“This is shoddy filing.” Mitch said, walking towards one of the piles of paper.
“No kidding.” Sally agreed, heading to a computer. “Dr. Ventiss would kill them if she saw this mess.”
Mitch grabbed some papers from the pile and began looking through them. They were filled with various notes on pain responses, breaking points, skeletal durability and other things of seeming medical nature.
“Why would this stuff be being studied in the Genetic Research Lab?” He asked.
“Look at this.” Sally beckoned him over.
Mitch walked over to the computer where Sally sat. He looked over her shoulder at all the files on the screen.
Project Absentia - Research Notes
Test Results - Male
Test Results - Female
Project Venator - Development Tests
Dr. Rogert Kind - Research Notes
Oxygen Deprivation Results
Genetic Research Notes
“What the fuck?” Mitch quietly muttered.
“What were they doing down here?” Sally asked, hesitantly hovering over each folder.
“And who is Dr. Kind?”
“I’ve never heard of him.”
“Okay, we really should get out of here. Let’s find a phone and call this in.”
“Good idea.”
Mitch and Sally quickly got up and headed to the door. They opened it to be greeted by several tall humanoid creatures with horrifying faces and large heads. Sally screamed when she saw them and both of them backed up against the door. The beings simply stood there, staring at them and emitting a chattering noise.
“What…” Sally began, stammering slightly. “What are you?”
The beings did not respond.
“What are you doing down here?”
The beings stood near motionless, emitting their chattering noises as they tilted their heads. Mitch took a deep breath. He figured this was the end. He slowly reached over and took Sally by the hand.
“Mr. Zhang.” Came a deep, raspy voice. “We have been waiting for you.”
From behind the beings came another one. This one looked the same as the others, but its skin was jet black and it’s hands ended in five long, spindly fingers. It also wore a different uniform than the others. The black uniform of a senior scientist and a long overcoat to match. It walked up to Mitch and Sally until it was mere feet from them.
“You...” Mitch started, nervously stuttering. “You know who I am?”
“We do.” The being replied.
“How?”
“We accessed the personnel records.”
“What are you?” Sally asked.
“We are results.” The being answered, turning to her. “Results of research conducted here.”
“What research?”
“The answer to that question, I am afraid, need not concern you.”
Sally withdrew against the wall as the creature turned and glared at her with black, soulless eyes.
“What are you doing down here?” Mitch asked. “What are all those research notes?”
“We have been studying you.” The black creature responded.
“Studying me?”
“No. Studying humans. Studying how your bodies work. Studying what it takes to kill you.”
“Why?”
“It is a wise tactical decision to know ones enemy.”
“We are your enemies?”
“Yes. You are.”
“But, why?” Sally asked. “We don’t even know what you are.”
“Not knowing of the sin does not absolve one of the weight of it.” The being replied with a hint of anger rumbling in its voice.
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing that need concern you.” It repeated.
“What is Project Absentia?” Mitch asked. “What are you planning?”
“I am Absentia.” It answered him. “And what we are planning is vengeance.”
“Against who?”
“Against everyone.” It growled.
“Who is Dr. Kind?” Sally asked after a moments pause.
“Someone whom I am sure you would not know. And if you did, you would not remember. But, I assure you, everyone here will know his name when we are done.”
“Done what?”
“As I have said, nothing that need concern you.”
“Why doesn’t it concern me?”
“Because, you will not be alive for much longer.” Absentia said before raising one of its hands and pointing one of its long fingers at Sally. A strange humming noise filled the air, followed by a rattling in the walls. Before Mitch could figure out what was happening, Sally’s body suddenly folded backwards with a sickening crack. Her broken body collapsed to the floor as Mitch shouted in horror. Absentia turned back to him as he screamed in panic.
“You killed her, you bastard!” He blurted out between panicked breaths.
“I did.” The being replied. “As will I kill many more. But their lives, and the length of them, need not concern you. You have more pressing matters you should be concentrating on.”
“Fuck you!” Mitch shouted. “You-”
Mitch was suddenly forced back against the wall and lifted off the ground as the humming began again. Absentia walked towards him, grabbing his face within its fingers. He could see his own reflection staring back at him in the black, lifeless eyes of the creature. Those lifeless eyes began glowing a deep crimson as Mitch felt his head begin to pound in agony, as though he was set upon by a terrible migraine.
“We have much work to do.” Absentia said as Mitch began screaming in pain. “And, as I am sure will soon remember, you are going to help us.”