Welcome to the Playground.
Thank you so much for your participation in deciding how the story unfolds.
It continues below.
PART 1 Recap.
SPECIMEN 3B — “Subglacial Helminth Fossil (NON-LIVING?)”
But the word NON-LIVING has been scratched off. From inside the broken jar, the ancient species has escaped. A technician leaning over the jar just 12 minutes ago, a security monitor confirms it. Impossible to know who it was. He tilts slightly… then jerks violently as the worm invades his mind. The feed cuts before he shows his face. Behind you, somewhere deeper in the article station, a ventilation shaft clicks. You realize someone entered before your lab shift. And whatever was in that jar… is already inside the base.
What do you do?
You chose - Initiate a lockdown.
PART 2
Your finger hovers over the emergency switch. Allowing anyone to leave would mean the organism's escape. You’ve got to save humanity. But in doing so damned the five personnel here, including you. You don’t finish the thought. Your hand slams down, and for a second, nothing happens. Then the station erupts.
LOCKDOWN INITIATED.
A howling siren heralds steel blast doors crashing shut across the base. Every route into the wilderness vanishes, leaving cold stillness behind. However, before you’re given time to think, the station intercom crackles to life. A voice fills the room. “This is Hansen. Who the hell locked down the base? Answer me!” You don’t answer, because he could be compromised.
Then a new announcement plays, overriding your radio silence. “Report to the central briefing room, immediately.” He can’t be serious. People should be kept isolated until they're properly checked. As you look at the array of security screens, you suddenly notice the briefing room’s monitor is flashing nothing but static.