Taking our blowpipes out, we cautiously entered the hole, aware of a strange light deeper inside... We couldn't hear anything until we came to a small junction when the echoing sounds of a nearby portal attracted our attention.
"This way... Keep it slow and quiet... There's bound to be a Creeper or two down here, and hopefully we can catch it offguard!"
We continued following the path towards the light which now appeared as a dim, purplish hue. There was definitely a portal up ahead, but we couldn't tell if there was more than one. Would they be close, or spread out along this tunnel? It wouldn't matter. We would destroy them both... Amie hadn't said whether they were active or not, so maybe only one of them was... It didn't make a whole bit of sense for only one to be active, but we had seen more unusual things... The echoing sounds grew louder as we got closer and closer to the portal. Then we saw it... The portal! An active secondary portal - or a "Class B portal" - embedded into the wall with an Affinitas cage in the centre! Then we saw it... A Creeper standing with it's back to us, breathing in short, rasping breaths. UOPETA put the blowpipe to his lips... And exhaled sharply!
The Creeper howled and then dropped like a stone! I readied my blowpipe in case there was more than one, but nothing else moved... As we crept closer, we realised that the tunnel ended in a chamber rather than continuing off to another portal. Not only that, but the other secondary portal was positioned directly opposite the first one, on the other wall! They were facing each other, with the Affinitas cage directly between them! There had only been one Creeper, but with two active portals in such close proximity to each other, we were going to have to be careful when destroying the first one. Once UOPETA was happy the area was safe, THEROS placed the Solus stone onto the left portal, and we stood back. Not because of the portal, but what might come out of the other one! The rift slowly changed colour, and the frame began to crumble. After a few moments, the last of the obsidian pieces disappeared from view forever, and the chamber darkened slightly as the rift collapsed in its entirety. We would have to wait now until the Solus stone became visible enough to retrieve, and then wait even longer before we could use it again... Once both portals were destroyed, we would have to head back to the base. We couldn't make any form of contact with the base via the radio. Amie says they've been tracking most of our radio communications and have been trying to pinpoint our location. Thankfully they became confused when they tried to track us just recently. That must be since we employed the reverse compass technique! Obviously we haven't told her that... It's not safe to do so just yet...
----
Both portals down! After waiting a very long time, the Solus stone came back to full strength, and we destroyed the second portal with no fuss! We were expecting to see a Creeper appear from the portal as we waited, but nothing happened. UOPETA was guarding the entrance but he saw nothing either! Afterwards, THEROS "dismantled" the Affinitas cage, which in hindsight, we should have done first! Not that it mattered now; they were both destroyed! Amie had been truthful about the location of the portals, and the current status of security, but I wasn't sure if that proved her innocence... If she thinks she can escape, she may be playing scared until she leaves, and then tells HoN Co where we are...
We made it back to base with nothing eventful occurring. We expected to be overrun by guards or Creepers at any moment, but there was no-one... Nothing... When we got in, the barricade was down. Good! They weren't taking any more chances. We were eventually let through and we went straight to COLUS who was in the lab with OROTHO.
"Well? Was there anything there?"
"There were two secondary portals there, sir. just like she said. And an Affinitas cage guarding them. I couldn't say with any degree of accuracy, but they were both located in a tunnel that led underground... I think she's telling the truth."
"She's lying! Can't you see? She's lying!"
This odd outburst from OROTHO was surprising and not surprising at the same time! It was so out of character for him, but he hadn't been himself since she arrived. I still didn't know why...
"What makes you think that?"
"She's using us! She's only telling you what you want because she thinks she can go free with the location of our base! I say we kill her!"
"Whoa, calm down OROTHO! That's enough! She's proven herself so far, and cooperated with us. If that doesn't convince you, explain why she seems to think she's not going back?"
"Because we're holding her hostage! She's putting on a ruse to make you think she's scared that you're going to kill her! She's probably hoping you'll fall for it, feel sorry for her and let her go! Kill her now! If you don't, you'll regret it!"
I was suspicious... OROTHO was acting strange. Really strange! It was like he knew her or something; he had practically stormed off the moment he saw who it was... Did he know her? Was it possible? I put this to him, and even COLUS looked surprised!
"Know her? Of course I don't know her! She worked for HoN Co.! She probably still does! If you hadn't noticed, I'm trying to stop HoN Co. from progressing with their plan!"
"Syeonyx has a point; you're the only one to not actually meet with her face to face... What's up with that?"
"I'm very busy with experiments and research! I can't go wandering around the base, staring at prisoners for hours on end!"
"No, but Syeonyx was right! You did walk off! When we were all at the barricade, when she revealed herself, you walked off... Why?"
"I was in the middle of an experiment... I couldn't let it ruin otherwise I would have to start from scratch!"
COLUS whispered to me:
"I think you're right about this. There's only one way to find out..."
Standing up, COLUS announced something that shocked OROTHO down to his core!
"Syeonyx? Take THEROS and go and fetch Amie from her containment. Bring her here... We need to sort things out now, once and for all! OROTHO, don't move anywhere..."
"WHAT?!?!?!"
Syeonyx signing off
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