《Echos of the Faceless》 1. The Descent On an oddly peaceful summer day, the sun just barely painting the sky a vibrant orange, Jefferson woke up, and went about his day. He went to the gym, talked with his friends. On his walk home, the road he normally took was closed because of an accident. Jeff, taking a detour, walked down a dark alley, and onto the side road. After a bit of walking, 3 figures came up behind him, dragging Jeff off, and drugging him, making him pass out. After Jeff woke up, he found himself strapped to a chair, in a medical room covered in white tiles, and blood stains. Jeff, struggling, managed to rip his arms out of the straps. Undoing the ones around his legs, he notices his body covered in the scars, and walks around the room. The room, though covered in blood, has no windows. Only a mirror, in a big, bulky, metal frame, almost as if it was a door. The mirror was especially clean, a striking contrast from the bloodied room it was in. Jeff, looking around more, found a terminal built into the wall. Tuning it on, he saw a login screen, needing a first, middle, and last name. The line below it needed a research id number, and then a case file number. Jeff, however, had none of those things. So he walked around the room some more, eventually stumbling upon a tile in the wall that was almost pried up a tiny bit, but enough for him to lift. Upon pulling the tile out of the wall, there was an opening with a slip of paper, and a key. The slip read: "In case of [REDACTED] breaking containment, use this. It will open [REDACTED]. There will be- " the rest of words on the slip of paper was blacked out. Jeff put the slip of paper in his pocket, and held the key. He went up to the door, and inserted the key, but it wouldn''t turn. So, he tried looking out of the glass, but it was cracked, and frosted, as if the other side of the door was absurdly cold. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. So, Jeff went back to the computer, looking for a keyhole on, or near it, but he didn''t find anything. Instead, Jeff opted to inspect the bloodied chair he was on when he first awoke, but found nothing. Jeff moved around the room, trying to move every tile, before going back to the hole in the wall, and found a keyhole in it, but the key still didn''t work... Jeff, a bit disappointed, went back to inspecting the chair he was on, and found a key hole. Surprisingly, the key turned, and it opened to a stack of documents. All of them in a different language, of what looked like runes, but written in a very sharp way, not with ink, but engraved in the paper. He sifted through them, until he came across one that was in English. The only English one there. He found 3 names, and a few numbers. Almost the entire document was blacked out, or redacted, and he couldn''t make sense of anything it said. After reading it, he found... something. It looked like a key, but it felt like it was made of rock, and it was warm to the touch. It was jagged, and had no flat, or smoother edges, almost like it was carved out of a volcano. Jeff, thinking smart, put it in the key hole in the hole in the wall. It turned, and heard a slight ''pop'' sound, like a tile popped open. But, he couldn''t figure out exactly which tile from the sound, so he inspected the room once more, and couldn''t find it, until he looked up... He saw a tile, popped down just a bit. After a bit, blood started dripping down off of it. The blood was black, and viscous, almost like honey, but it smelled of rotted corpses. However, as Jeff tried to look up into the ceiling, it was too dark, and too high up for Jeff to make anything out of what was up there other than darkness. Instead, Jeff continued inspecting the room he was locked in, making sure to push and pull on every tile, seeing if there was anything he found, or make use of. After a bit of searching, Jeff decided to pull on the terminal in the wall, and it slid out, albeit loud, but it extended out of the wall, showing a small filing drawer that slid out to the side. Looking into it, it had only 1 folder labeled "Project: Divinity" Jeff, grabbing the file, opened it, and saw that it had only 1 paper in it, with the same runes engraved. However, upon flipping it, it was in a readable language... 2. The Project
[PROJECT: DIVINITY] [SUBMITTED BY: ADAN JONAH JUETT] [#10758115] [REPORT #4875] Upon studies of Specimen #344, we have concluded that [REDACTED]. Specimen #344 shows high signs of intelligence, and advanced knowledge of abstract powers. Specimen #344, disregarding the low quality of it, has proven interesting in our studies to further [REDACTED]. We will continue our tests. This concludes report #4875. [REPORT #6344] Specimen #344 has died. However, with its death, we have learned that death doesn''t [REDACTED], and it has instead [REDACTED]. After this incident, we incinerated specimen #344''s body, and poured its remains in acid, before encasing that acid in a secure, protected facility designed to keep it from [REDACTED]. We will continue our search for [REDACTED]. This concludes report #6344. [REPORT #6345] In our search we have found an anomaly. This anomaly is a window, or, more accurately, a door to another reality, or world. This door appears in the form of [REDACTED]. It is similar to [REDACTED], but its durability is far higher than anything we''ve seen. We have found it in a dormant state, but it seems to react violently to human contact, to where [REDACTED] occurs. We will continue to document this anomaly, and further our research of [REDACTED]. This will conclude report #6345. [Report [REDACTED]] A drunk assistant touched the anomaly, causing [REDACTED] to come out. [REDACTED] proceeded to maim, and consume the drunken assistant alive. Upon this occurring, we have enacted a lockdown of Code: Yellow. All doors to the room were sealed, and locked shut. After [REDACTED] ate the assistant, it banged, and scratched all over the windows, scratching them deeply. We have put in a request to change them out, in case [REDACTED] appears again. This concludes report [REDACTED]. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Jeff, after reading the reports, looked down below them, and saw a weird symbol stamped on the paper. It was almost like a signature, like an angel with a halo, but with countless horns, and long, sharp teeth. It was stamped in crimson ink, as if it was blood. Jeff put the paper down, looking back into the file cabinet, before sliding it shut, and pushing the terminal back into the wall, clicking it in place. Jeff, looking back at the door, noticed a tile pushed out. Walking over to it, it was hinged open, and it revealed a keypad, with letters G, Y, B, O, and R, along with numbers from 0 to 9. Jeff, looking around the room some more, remembered he has that slip of paper from earlier. He took it out from his pocket, and looked on the back side. To his surprise, it had a code on it: 0 5 6 - - - - - B 7 O 0 some of the code was covered in blood stains. Jeff, not knowing what to do, gathered all the important things, and put them on the chair in the middle of the room; the report document, the 2 keys, and the slip of paper. He looked around some more, and noticed the black, viscous blood covering the white tiled floor. He didn''t even notice it stopped dripping from the ceiling. He looked up, the tile of the ceiling still popped down, covered in the black, viscous blood. Getting an idea, Jeff tried swiveling the medical light that was attached to the ceiling towards the tile, but it couldn''t turn that far. Trying to climb the chair now, Jeff could barely reach the tile, with it being just out of reach. He would have to jump to reach it. Jeff, thinking about it for a moment, was worried about, because the blood made it just slippery enough to where if he failed, he could slip, causing him to fall, and potentially get injured by the fall. "Ah, fuck." Jeff''s mouth moved, trying to say the words. But, as he tried to say them, nothing came out. He tried to say it again, but he still couldn''t. He his hand, rubbing his throat, but it felt fine. He tried to yell, or scream, but, again, nothing. He walked over to the mirror, and saw a large scar on his neck. His vocal cords looked oddly... smooth, compared to a normal person''s. It was almost as if someone replaced his vocal cords with something else. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t make a single sound with his voice; not a scream, not a whisper... 3. Elysium Jeff, frowning in disappointment, got back onto the chair as he put all the important things into his pocket, including the documents, albeit folded up, and took a jump of faith. His fingertips gripped the bloodied surface, but barely. He tightened his grip, as his knuckles turned white from exertion, he slowly pulled himself up, planting each hand further onto the tile as he did. Through more willpower than strength, he was able to pull himself onto the ceiling tile. He reached up, and felt more viscous blood, but this time it had a hint of red. Feeling around he felt a flashlight. He grabbed it, flipping it on. It barely lit anything up, and was flickering, probably from low battery. ''Goddammit.'' Jeff thought, pointing it around, only to see there was nothing up there, only more blood dripping from somewhere above, through all the pipes and metal plates that made up the inside of the ceiling. Jeff dropped back down, most of his clothes and hands now covered in that thick, viscous blood. Jeff now further inspected the mirror, careful not to touch the mirror itself, as it was the only thing that could give him a view of himself. After inspecting it, Jeff tore a piece of his shirt off, and used it as a cloth to clean his hands up a bit. After cleaning his hands, he looked back through the runic papers, making sure to check the back this time. He found 3 numbers, and 2 letters on the back of 2 papers.
  1. 6. 5. G. Y. Those were the 3 numbers, and 2 letters he found. He took out the slip of paper, and began wondering how it went together. He eventually decided to just trial and error. He walked over to the keypad and entered the code.
0, 5, 6, 5, 6, 1, G, Y, B, 7, O, 0. It beeped. Then, flashed red, before a number appeared. 3. That 3, became a 2. Jeff immediately knew what this was. He only had 2 attempts to get this code right. Before he got locked out from it, he assumed... Jeff entered another combination. 0, 5, 6, 1, G, 6, Y, 5, B, 7, O, 0. To Jeff''s surprise, it flashed Green, and he heard something unlatch. He tried to pull the door open, but it was still locked tight. He tried his key, and it wouldn''t budge. He looked back at the keypad, noticing it slide to the side, showing a slip of paper. it had only 4 things written on it: [RESEARCH ID: 5677a2bq9] [CASE FILE: 4875A2] [RESEARCH ID: 5678abq9] [CASE FILE: 634B1] Jeff grabbed it, and walked back over to the terminal, turning it on. The same login screen that required a full name, research id number, and a case file number appeared. Jeff imputed the only name he knew of. Adan Jonah Juett, and put in the first research id, and case file on the paper he got. The terminal clicked, before displaying 3 things. [REPORT #4874] [REPORT #4874A] [REDACTED] Jeff, clicking on the first report, read through it... [REPORT #4874] After capturing [REDACTED], we transported it to the facility. it didn''t resist, and showed no signs of hostility, despite being [REDACTED]. When we put it in it''s containment cell for study, it told us we''d be [REDACTED]. It didn''t bother us. We knew it''d happen sooner or later, even though The rest of the report displayed as random characters, and symbols. ''It must be corrupt.'' Jeff thought to himself, as he closed it and clicked on the second report. [REPORT #4874A] After [REDACTED] took place, we started taking in human specimens. Specimen #345 showed promise, but died in the augmentation process. Specimen #346 showed resilience, before dying from internal bleeding. But, with the intervention of [REDACTED], specimens #347, #348, and #349 survived with no fault. They had no memories, despite being alive, and functioning like a human. We sought to improve this with specimen #350. However, they all died from the same issue in mere days. This concludes report #487A. Jeff closed the report, before trying to click on the redacted one... Upon clicking on the redacted report, or, what Jeff assumed to be a report, the terminal flashed black. He heard a click, as the terminal''s hum stopped. Then, it booted back to the login screen. Jeff logged back in, but using the 2 other credentials he found. Name: Adan Jonah Juett Research id: 5678abq9 Case file number: 634B1 The terminal flashed, showing 4 reports: [REPORT #634B1] [REPORT #634B2] [HeLp] [dAnGeR] Jeff, wanting to know more before clicking on something that might shut off the terminal again, clicked on report #634B1. Stolen novel; please report. {REPORT #634B1] Specimen #344 said something before it [REDACTED]. Specimen #344 said: "You know what will happen. When it comes, you all will [REDACTED]..." We initiated more research into this event, before including that such a thing is not possible. At least, not without [REDACTED]. This concludes report #634B1. Jeff clicked on the 2nd report. [REPORT #634B2] It came. [REDACTED] appeared. Just like Specimen #344 said. most of facility [REDACTED], and [REDACTED] are heavily damaged, with an occurrence of breach. We initiated a Code: Orange. Every door in facility [REDACTED] is sealed shut. I went through all subnet systems, and expunged almost all sensitive information. All specimens of project [REDACTED] have gone missing. We initiated Operation: [REDACTED] to try to recover them, but it''s taking time. Until then, we continue our progress with specimen #351. This concludes report #634B2. Jeff, unsure if he should click the other 2, looked around for a moment, making sure it was safe. Of course, it was. ''I''m sealed in here, how is it not safe...'' he thought to himself. Clicking on the 3rd option. [HeLp] It happened. Operation: [REDACTED] failed, and specimen #351 died, just the same. But, this time, it was heart failure. I can hear it coming closer. [REDACTED] breached the facility. All specimens are dead. Jeff closed it, before wondering if he should continue reading the entries... Jeff, deciding to continue, clicked on the 4th entry. [dAnGeR] We''re [REDACTED]. Specimen #344 warned us of this. But, we didn''t think it would happen so soon. Specimen #351''s heart seemed to have restarted, but not for long, before giving out again. [REDACTED] is rampaging in the facility, all exits seem to have some anomaly near them. I heard loud crashes and... forget it. I''m initiating a Code: Red. All systems will be expunged, all sensitive information will be censored, and all doors in facility [REDACTED[ will be sealed tight. But, not before I try to get out of here. [REDACTED] cannot be allowed to happen. The world cannot know of [REDACTED]. If it does, [REDACTED] will come back, again, and again... The entry ends there, the rest being corrupted, displaying as random symbols and characters. Jeff, getting up, hears a click from the terminal. it pops out, almost like it got pushed from behind. But, this time, it keeps sliding out, before falling onto the floor with a loud thud, revealing a long, dark passage. As Jeff reaches into the dark of this passage, he feels nothing but smooth tiles. He moves his hand around, before feeling a key suspended in the air on a string. He grabs it, but the passage collapses, Jeff just barely pulling his hand out as it does. He looks at the terminal, it''s cracked, broken screen, and the hum is silent. He tries to turn it on, but it doesn''t boot. "Fuck" Jeff thinks to himself, looking around once more, before trying the key on the door. Again, it does not turn. Jeff, inspecting the mirror again, touches it. The mirror, almost like a liquid, ripples, a keyhole appearing in its big, bulky, metal frame. Jeff inserts the key, turning it, before the mirror goes black. he touches it again, but nothing. He takes out the other key, before pushing it into the mirror, and turning it, making the mirror go from black, to a blood-red, the smell of corpses getting so strong, Jeff gags... Jeff reaches his hand into the mirror, as something grabs him and pulls him into it. Everything is black, with the floor being ankle-deep blood. Jeff looks back, the mirror being gone. He looks around, seeing a lone tree in the darkness, just barely glowing against the darkness around it, lighting up the blood. Jeff walks towards it, sloshing in the blood, as he hears deranged laughs, and shadows that seem to be a splitting-image of himself. As he reaches the tree, one of them attacks Jeff, wildly trying to choke and punch Jeff, before Jeff manages to fight it off, running towards the mirror behind the tree. As he reaches it, something roars, stomping, making the blood splash towards Jeff, just as Jeff goes into the mirror, falling back into the room he was just in. "What the fuck...!" Jeff yells in his mind, as he gets up off the floor, looking back at the mirror, but it was just... reflective, as a mirror should be. Jeff reaches out, touching it, but nothing happens. He looks around the room, and it''s the same as when he left. Jeff went to the door, trying all his keys, but finally, one of them turns. Jeff, slowly pulling open the door, feels the cold chill of the air on the other side, like trillions of tiny needles against his skin. Just as Jeff opens the door, he sees the other side of it frozen, with a layer of ice on it. The hallway¡¯s walls, ceiling, and floor is covered in tiled metal plates, with numbers on the walls. The number Jeff read is 16E. Jeff stepped out into the ice cold hallway, shivering a bit, before looking around. Jeff, looking to the right, saw a dead end. He turned to the left, seeing a long hallway, with flickering lights. There was a door, almost like there was a room right next to his. Jeff stepped out into the hallway cautiously, the metal groaning under his steps. He approached the door, seeing maimed bodies inside it, with a destroyed chair, and deep claw marks in the walls. The door, however, was locked tight. No keyhole, keypad, or anything to turn to open it... As Jeff turned, continuing down the hallway,he saw pipes, going from wall to wall, and from floor to ceiling, marked with numbers and letters. As Jeff passed more destroyed rooms, dead bodies, he came upon an office door. Jeff slowly opened it, entering it. It was warm, and lit up nicely. He went to the one and only desk in the middle of the room that had a terminal on it. Jeff boots the terminal on, seeing entries for specimens. [SPECIMEN #344] [SPECIMEN #345] [SPECIMEN #348] [REDACTED] [SPECIMEN #350] [SPECIMEN #351] [SPECIMEN #352] [REDACTED] Jeff, looking around, decided to click on #351, since he thought that might be the... "specimen" he was. [SPECIMEN #351] Name: [REDACTED}. Family: Orphan. Speaks: Nothing. Specimen #351 knows no language, so we had to forcibly take them, and teach them, but they seemed rather stubborn, learning only runes. Specimen #351 seems to know things about [REDACTED]. Jeff, knowing that''s obviously not him, clicked onto the next one down. [SPECIMEN #352] Name: Jefferson. Family: [REDACTED] Speaks: [REDACTED] Notes: Specimen #352 has been unconscious ever since we found him. He was affected by [REDACTED]. We have conducted many studies on specimen #352''s body, and specimen #352 has survived these operations, without the assistance of [REDACTED]. Jeff, narrowing his eyes, wondering what he was affected by. Just as Jeff was about to click on specimen #344''s entry, the power shut off, and everything went pitch black, before it came back. The terminal however, booted to a login screen, so Jeff got up from the desk, and peered into the hallway... 4. Gene-Seed Jeff peered into the hallway, the ice crunching under his feet. But all he could see was darkness. He stepped fully into the hallway, feeling a chilled, icy breeze coming down the hallway, it felt like thousands of needles on his skin. He slowly, cautiously went down the hallway, glancing att all the pipes and wires on the sides of the hallway, the metal plates white from the layer of ice on them. As he continued down the hallway, he heard a loud bang... and then another. And another. Until a chunk of metal panels shot off the wall hitting the other side of the hallway with a loud, ringing thud. Jeff backed away, as he saw a large, hulking, alien-looking creature emerge. Jeff, backing away further, say it turn it''s head and... sniff? ''What the fuck...?'' Jeff thought to himself, before the creature turned towards Jeff... and that''s when Jeff saw a number on the creature''s chest. Branded on the creature''s chest was #344, in large, bold letters. As Jeff turned to sneak away, it lunged at him, it''s claws ripping through the metal of the hallway like it was paper. Jeff ducked, the claws cutting a good portion of his hair off. ''oh, fuck!'' went through Jeff''s head, as he started running away, as the creature continued to claw at him, ripping the hallway to shreds. ''Shit, shit, shit!'' Jeff was solely focused on running. Until he hit the end of the hallway, right outside of the room he woke up in. He turned, trying to open the door, but it was.... sealed tight. ''Fuck, I don''t remember closing this damned door!'' he thought, turning to look at the creature. ''Augh...!'' Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Jeff, coughing up blood, just got impaled by the creature. He looked up as the creature threw him against the wall before going to claw his head off, searing through the pipes and wires, before a jet of gas hit the creature... after a few moments, it stopped and the creature was frozen. Jeff, getting up while holding the three gaping holes in his abdomen made by this creature, stumbled down the hallway, blood gushing from his wounds, painting the white, icy metal a deep, rich ruby color. ''I''m not dying here... god fucking dammit...'' Jeff thought to himself as he limped down the hallway, blood continue to drain from his gaping gashes on his chest, his vision fading in and out, colors shifting shades ever so slightly. When he passed the part of the hallway where the creature exploded out of the wall, he turned his head to look, but alas, it was far too dark, and his vision was going to fast to waste his time trying to look or go down that path. So, Jeff continued forward, hoping for something- or someone- to save or heal him. Or, if not that, a swift, painless end that would be better than being left to bleed out from the three gaping gash wounds on his abdomen. Just as Jeff reached the door, he reached the door, his vision went from fading, to going away fully for seconds at a time before coming back for a few moments. ''Fucking shit...!'' he thought to himself, as he had to use his entire body weight to open the thick, heavy, steel door at the end of the hallway. Slowly, it creaked open, the sound loud enough to make Jeff''s ears ring, and what he say was nothing short of disturbing and mind-wrenching... 5. The Experiment As Jeff opened the Door, his deep crimson blood spilling out onto the ground, he saw things that bent his mind... A large room, filled with rows and columns of tables, all with people on them. Some had machines above them, dissecting them while they are still alive, their screams and pleads for help falling on deaf ears as the machine harvested their organs, placing them in jars. Some, the machines implanted organs into them, causing mutations, or death. "A-aaaghhh!!" Jeff heard, as one of them was injected, their arm bulging and exploding into bloody mist. "Operation: Failure. Status: Alive." The floating machine voiced out, before readying another injection... "H-help...!!!" Another yelled, as a machine cut into his leg, implanting what looked like some alien tentacle that slithered into him, worming around under his skin before going up to the neck and burrowing under his skull. "A-agh-" His screams were cut silent as squishy, chewing-like sounds where being heard. "Experiment: Success. Specimen: #11- ERROR. ERROR." The machine fell to the ground with a loud thud, before shutting off. The person, however, got up and off the table, before mindlessly wandering around the tables. ''W-what the fuck...'' Jeff thought to himself as he saw a door with a medical symbol on it. He limped towards it, all while being unable to block out the screams, and pleads of many, many people being experimented on. He turned over, and saw a small creature in a jar, that a machine was holding against one of the persons chest. It slowly came a live, it looked like a large spider. As it awoke, it spat acid on the person, dissolving his skin before it started eating his muscle, fat and bones. As it started burrowing into him, a gas come our of the jar, sedating it. "Specimens must not escape." The machine said, before lifting the jar. Just as it lifted a jar, a large spike came slamming down, impaling the person and killing the ''specimen''. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Jeff, finally reaching the door, opened it, as a medical machine ran into Jeff. "Specimen damaged. Administering aid." It said. As it injected Jeff with something, he blacked out, hitting the blood-stained white tiles hard.... When Jeff awoke, everything was dark. As he got up, he saw the medical robot, on the floor as if it''s power shut off. Jeff left the medical room, seeing flashing red lights, and a distant "WARNING. WARNING." alarm. All the machines were off, and on the ground. The people, however, were still screaming and pleading... some left to bleed out, other left to starve, left clamped on the tables. As Jeff, stepped out of the ground, he saw it... the creature, #344, slashing and eating the specimens. Some got crushed under it''s powerful claws, others were eaten, and some where mauled and left to bleed out slowly and painfully.. However, with all the specimens, Jeff slowly walked towards the nearest door. As he went to open it, it was locked. Jeff turned, and saw the creature continuing to maul and eat the specimens. Jeff, trying not to get caught, went back into the medical room, to try to his from whatever fate awaited him if he stays in the room... Jeff, hearing the screams and thuds come ever so closer, frantically looked throughout the medical room for something to fight with, or hide in, but there was nothing... as the creature crashed through the door, Jeff found a vent, just big enough to crawl in. Just as Jeff got the cover off, the creature was right behind him. Quickly, Jeff crawled into the vent, the creature managing to claw his leg, leaving small gashes in his calf. As his leg burned from his wound, and panicking, he crawled through the vent, all before it buckled under his weight, and gave way, dropping Jeff into a hallway... one that looked more like a hallway in a house, and not a facility...