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A Let the Old Dreams Die short story & A Sequel to A Beckoning Call and Low Frequency.
Robert walked through the forest. Occasionally, he saw squirrels and Chipmunks, maybe even a woodpecker or a fox. He did notice a bear, however, which did scare him. But as long as he left the bear alone, it wouldn't bother him.
But eventually, he emerged from the brush to find a large metal fence; beyond it, an abandoned K-Mart. The K was missing, and old shopping carts were tattered and thrown across the parking lot. The wall bore a sign.
“KEEP OUT, TRESPASSING IS PROHIBITED.”
But that wasn't going to stop him, not for a second. He simply found a conveniently placed boulder and leaped off it, then climbed over it. The K-Mart was much more imposing up close. It looked like an abandoned movie set, similar to the Tots TV set or the abandoned Titanic set. An old key reader was visible at the door.
Robert was nervous, but then he remembered the money he'd be getting from this. But before he walked in, he took a photo and sent it to his blog, the Urban Explore Forum.
[OP: FlashbackArchivist| Posted: 12:34 PM]
“Hey gang, I'm at the location. It might take me a fair bit, but I was told it was for some reason disguised as a K-Mart.”
Instantly, replies began to come in.
[adiel_martin_ferrer | Posted: 12:35 PM]
“Bring me back Anchors Away Gill Grunt while you're there lol”
[FracturedReflection | Posted: 12:35 PM]
“I miss K-Mart bruhhh”
[Chimp4Thoughts | Posted: 12:35 PM]
“If this is really a secret facility, send us photos.”
[BliettheDumbass | Posted: 12:36 PM]
“WE RAIDING K-MART WITH THIS ONE 🗣️🗣️‼️‼️”
[JAYCEISALOZERR | Posted: 12:36 PM]
“There's no kiddie rides out front, 0/10”
[Kelpie | Posted: 12:37 PM]
“I haven't been this hyped since the election…]
Robert chuckled. It was nice to have a small community of people who liked him.
[OP: FlashbackArchivist| Posted: 12:37 PM]
“Alright, crew, I'm going in. Wish me luck.”
[ShinSaltii | Posted: 12:38 PM]
“Good luck, and bring us back photos!”
[Moonie | Posted: 12:38 PM]
“If there's anything cat-related, I want it.”
[whimsjellic | Posted 12:39 PM]
“Good luck and don't die!”
Robert walked up to the old K-Mart and peered through the door. It was CLEARLY not a K-Mart inside, some sort of government facility. Guess Winston was right. The KeyReader was busted and broken, cracked and withered with age.
Robert put his bag down and pulled out a crowbar, stabbing it through the door and cranking the door open. Sparks flew, but the door was open. Robert took one last look back before taking out his flashlight and walking into the facility.
The building was dead. Yet alive all at the same time. The walls were white and faded, and cracks lined them. Robert looked around, his heart beating fast as he did. Usually, he wouldn’t be scared; he had done this thing hundreds of times, but this? This was different.
Even though the place was abandoned, there was the vacant hum of leftover power. A few emergency lights flickered in the background, while old servers buzzed intermittently like they’re trying to wake back up. Robert shuttered. “Boy… is this place creepy.” The walls have peeling paint and faint stenciled Blackstar logos. A faded motivational poster: “Tomorrow’s Dawn, Today’s Creation.”
Robert quickly came across old cubicles, most of them dusty and ruined, with the chairs thrown aside as if there had been an evacuation. As Robert walked by the cubicles, he noticed something on one of the desks. It was a file. Something called a Donor file. It read the following:
BLACKSTAR DIRECTIVE: DONOR FILE.
NAME: Olivia Johnson
AGE: 12 Years Old
SEX: Female
ASSIGNED EXPERIMENT: ZR0-### “HARRIET”
DATE OF ARRIVAL: [REDACTED]
DATE OF EXPERIMENTATION: [REDACTED]
STATUS: SUCCESSFUL. ACCESS TO SUBJECT 0 IS LIMITED.
GENETIC PROFILE:
- Blood Type: O+
- Abyssari / Astravore Compatibility Index: Moderate
- Extraction Success Rate: 100%
NOTES FROM INTERVIEW:
- “Mom said this will help me get better. It won’t hurt, right? I-I trust you.”
BLACKSTAR COMMENTS:
- “Bubbly, Cheery, perfect for a Legendary-Class. She is unaware of what will happen. Anyone in her family has been marked for termination.”
HOST BIO: Olivia Johnson was a child nearby our Blackstar Facility, who was normal at first, but after a run-in with FAE-021, she was rendered severely Ill. Because of this, we chose her for experimentation and the assimilation of ZR0-###.
Fortunately for us, someone in Blackstar knew the family and persuaded them to give her over. On [REDACTED], experimentation succeeded.
EXPERIMENT BIO: ZR0-### “Harriet” is the de facto leader of a group of Legendary Class Experiments, from 092-095. She is deemed the most intelligent and powerful of the four. Yet the issue is that she is deemed too childish to put her abilities to use truly.
According to Professor Daminen Lee, she and the other three children are akin to the Velociraptors from Jurassic World. The group was meant to follow orders to the letter and be almost a blank slate. Yet here, this didn’t work in our favor. Even then, Blackstar deems this a success.
The only issue we have is that they don’t seem to listen to us and have a strong interest in Subject 0 to the point where they follow any commands he gives them, including murder. These Experiments have a “Primal” mode that makes them almost animalistic. In this state, they do not respond to standard stimuli and are almost entirely devoid of human traits.
Yet, during this state, they can perceive and hear Subject 0 completely. Recently, he gave them the task to murder one of our D-Class. Even when the D-Class was given weaponry and the ability to fight back, it did nothing, as the group was able to tear him apart within seconds.
FINAL VERDICT: KEEP THEM AWAY FROM SUBJECT 0.
Robert dropped the file in shock. He almost didn’t believe it, and he probably wouldn’t have, if the photo of the girl hadn’t been there. He remembered the Johnsons' disappearances in 2016, and this file made it all make sense. Yet, part of him wasn’t convinced. But it was still damning nonetheless. He took a photo and moved on. Yet, something was in the back of his mind… Who’s Subject 0?
Robert kept walking throughout the facility before finding an old Director’s office. When he walked in, the room was old and dusty. The light inside flickered as filing cabinets were left open, most of their files missing. The person who was here had left in a hurry.
Robert glanced around the room before noticing an old, cracked plaque on the ground. The gold was withering with age. Most of the name was corroded away, but it said:
“S_T_E D__ECT_R J_E_ MICHEALS”
Robert dropped the plaque on the floor. The sound it made echoed through the abandoned facility. But that’s when Robert noticed something. An old PC… still plugged in. The screen was cracked and dusty, but it seemed to be in decent condition.
“...I wonder…” Robert muttered. He pressed the “ON” button on the PC; nothing happened at first, but then the Windows 7 logo appeared on the screen. However, an issue quickly arose: a password was required. That would be impossible to find.
Robert looked for any sticky notes that might contain a password or a stray note, but everything was too faded to read. But then he felt the PDA in his pocket. “...I wonder…”
There was only one way to find out.
Robert undid the wire tucked into the back of the PDA and plugged it into the computer. The screen glitched and malfunctioned until it changed from “locked” to “ACCESS GRANTED.” The Desktop showed a Moon background with multiple Icons, including STEAM, Team Fortress 2, Blender, and… something called DIONE. It didn't have an icon. It made Robert curious.
He double-clicked the icon, and at first, nothing happened, before a command prompt appeared on the screen for a second before it disappeared. The sound of a game starting up played from the computer, before a pair of eyes appeared on screen.
“...Where…am I? How long… has it been?” a voice echoed through the PC. The eyes looked around before they locked onto Robert. “Who… are you?” It asked. Robert stumbled back a little. “Y-You can see me?” He stammered. The eyes squinted before they blinked. “Yes. Who are you?”
Robert cleared his throat. “Robert. Robert Halberg. I'm an urban explorer.” The Eyes on the screen tilted and got closer to the screen. “Hmm. An urban explorer? That means this place must have been closed for quite a long time, hasn't it?” DIONE asked. Robert nodded. DIONE sighed and kept looking around.
“...Perhaps I can help you. I know a fair bit about this facility. All I want in return is to let me out of this system. That PDA you have there, if you plug it into the PC itself, it should give me access to appear on other screens in the facility.” DIONE proposed. Robert wasn't sure, and DIONE noticed it.
“Come on. Mr. Halberg, you're here for a reason, yes? Possibly documenting all the sins Blackstar Directive has committed over the years? I know a fair amount of information is logged into my database to help you. I am called The Digital Intelligence for Observation & Neural Evaluation for a reason. I promise: I can make it worth your time.”
Robert thought about it. He already had so many questions. What was really going on here, who was Subject 0, and why was this AI alive? But… he realized if he wanted answers, he’d have to get them from the inside.
“...Fine. I’m in.” Robert whispered. DIONE’s eyes flickered. They came together to become a classic yellow smiley face, before the mouth opened to reveal an eyeball.
“Capital! We’re going to make a good team, you and I. Just insert the code 28109 into your PDA, and watch the magic happen.” DIONE instructed. Robert picked up the system, which now had a screen for entering a code. Robert input the code, and once he did, DIONE disappeared from the computer screen.
The TV screen on the wall flickered to life, showing DIONE’s avatar on the screen as it looked around. “Ah! So much more spacious in here! I might stay a while. You don’t know how long I’ve been confined to that small PC…” Robert only stared at DIONE, causing its eye to widen. “Oh! My mistake. Our deal. I should have access to every nook and cranny of this facility, so we should thankfully make this quick. Give me a second, please.”
The mouth of the smiley face Avatar closed as the eyes began to spin. However, instead of DIONE returning, the screen flashed two words:
ACCESS DENIED.
DIONE returned to the screen, but the smiley face's mouth was missing. The vacant eyes of the smiley face were staring down at Robert. “IT APPEARS WE HAVE A PROBLEM,” DIONE stated bluntly. Robert’s heart skipped a beat out of fear. It wasn’t because he was scared of the AI; it was just how bluntly it stated it, like for a bit, it reverted to its basic functions.
DIONE continued. “IT SEEMS SINCE I WAS OFFLINE FOR SO LONG, I HAVE LOST CLEARANCE TO SPECIFIC PARTS OF THE FACILITY. WE WILL HAVE TO GO TO ONE ROOM AT A TIME.” Robert groaned, but he understood. “Arlight, where do we go first?” DIONE didn’t reply for a second before the smile of the avatar returned, and it opened to reveal the eyeball.
“...The Assembly Bay. Your PDA should allow you in. Here, I’ll send you the coordinates there. Let’s go. We don’t have all day.” Robert’s PDA made a slight hum, indicating that Robert received the coordinates. Robert nodded. “Right, let’s get this started.”
It didn’t take too long for Robert and DIONE to get to the Assembly Bay. Once there, Robert inserted his PDA, and the doors unlocked for him. Once there, DIONE appeared on the monitors inside. It glanced around.
…The room had seen better days. It looked like someone left mid-work. Messy workstations lined the perimeter; scattered tools littered the floor, and cranes, hooks, and rigs were everywhere. There were even unfinished collars seen.
Robert’s brow furrowed. “...What was this room for?” he asked. DIONE’s attention turned back to Robert. “...Equipment Manufacturing. This was where Experiment-Adjacent hardware was made. Think of objects like Inhibitor Collars, Mobile Restraints, Monitoring Suits, and… experimental prototype synthetic bodies.”
Robert looked around before he jumped, seeing a body without a head, but it was clearly just a mech. “Jesus… what were these made for…?” DIONE sighed. “...Experiments. Particularly, those falling into the PML Initiative. Before they began using donors for these, they attempted to create mechanical bodies, but nothing ever worked. So they began using flesh and blood.”
It made Robert shudder. He didn’t know if he should believe DIONE, but from the little he had seen so far, it was convincing enough. But that's when Robert noticed something odd. Sitting in the corner of the room was an endoskeleton. It was deactivated, yet it didn’t look like any of the discarded drones Robert had seen in here.
It looked like an entertainment robot.
It had a single antenna on its head, a red ball that seemed capable of glowing, but it was off. Its orange eyes were dead as it looked down at the ground, and its mouth was wide and filled with teeth. The torso was fiberglass, like it belonged to an animatronic.
Two initials were on the left side.
F.E.
“...F.E? …Fazbear Entertainment?” Robert muttered. DIONE noticed what Robert was looking at, and even it was confused. “...I don’t recognize that one,” it muttered. Robert looked up at the AI companion, its avatar flickering. “You don’t?” Robert’s voice was filled with confusion. A hand avatar appeared on the screen, wagging its finger.
“No, I do not. It wasn’t here before. All I could think was that someone put it here after Blackstar went down.” DIONE suggested. Robert got up before turning his attention to an unfinished Inhibitor Collar on the desk. Robert picked it up, and just as he did, the screen flashed yellow and began to scan him. He froze before the collar flickered green.
“BIOLOGICAL SIGNATURE: HUMAN.”
DIONE made a forced chuckle. “The Collar doesn’t detect any Abyssari or Astravore DNA within you. It won’t latch onto you.” Robert set the collar back on the desk and, as he did, noticed another Blackstar Form. This time, there were two of them. One looked like a pamphlet, while the other was another Donor form.
The Pamphlet was big —much bigger than the form he had found earlier. He’d have to take this one with him and document what he could find. But since DIONE was here… “Hey, DIONE. Can you tell me about this pamphlet?” Robert asked. DIONE glanced at him, staring at the pamphlet. DIONE chuckled. “Oh, these. Written lies are what they are.”
Robert tilted his head. “What are you talking about?” DIONE rolled its eye. “These ‘Welcome Pamphlets’ were lies written for the children on the ARK- the residents, or as you and I know them: Experiments. Anytime they created a new one, they would do it under the guise of them being brought on for Rehabilitation.’ The poor kids never knew that they were created; they just thought their parents sent them away.”
Robert was disgusted. “S-Sent away? How would they-” DIONE cut him off. “False Memories. Blackstar created a specific set of False Memories for every single one of those 123 Experiments—all to keep them under control and obedient. The only way this would hypothetically break is if they saw something or someone told them of their false existence.”
Robert was about to respond when it clicked: DIONE had mentioned 123 Experiments. “...One Hundred and Twenty Three?” DIONE nodded, albeit slowly. “Yes. Of course, the formula wasn’t perfect. There were many failures, and it didn’t help that not every experiment lasted long. Do you see that form there?”
Robert looked down at the form nearby and picked it up. His eyes went wide. It wasn’t a donor form. It was a termination form. It read the following:
BLACKSTAR DIRECTIVE TERMINATION FORM
EXPERIMENT DESIGNATION: ZOA-050
NAME: “Ballad”
AGE: 17 Years Old
SEX: Male
DATE OF CREATION: October 28th, 2013
DATE OF DEATH: December 20th, 2013
CAUSE OF DEATH: Blunt Force Head Trauma
REASON OF DEATH: Attacked and Murdered by ZOA-053 “RAIKEN”.
LOCATION: Residential Wing C-03
BEHAVIORAL NOTES: Raiken displayed premeditation. Motive unclear.
Note: No involvement from Subject 0 is recorded.
INCIDENT SUMMARY: On the night of December 20th, 2013, Raiken was spotted on ARK security stalking ZOA-050 “Ballad” from afar. Once Ballad was alone, Raiken grabbed a nearby loose pipe and bashed Ballad’s head with it over and over until he stopped moving.
Ballad was found dead in his room the next day. Raiken has not been reprimanded to maintain secrecy on the ARK.
STATUS: TERMINATED. Remains disposed of in the Garbage Sector, awaiting cremation.
IMPACT: Bruno and other PROJECT: G.L.A.M.R.O.C.K. members have been told Ballad has been sent back to Earth.
Robert’s heart was racing as DIONE watched silently. “...They… they killed each other?” Robert asked. DIONE only stuttered. “...Occasionally. They get along mostly well, it just happened that some of them were made wrong. That’s why Blackstar greenlit the PML initiative: to correct their mistake. None of the Blackstar Experiments were made with human hosts or donors in mind, just an Embryo and DNA. …Except one.”
Robert looked up at DIONE, who was closer to the screen. “...Who was that?” Robert asked. DIONE didn’t reply at first, before it made an artificial side. “A girl who died back in the 90s was reborn in the 2000s. Her name was-”
Robert’s phone began to ring. Robert checked it, and it was Winston. But that can’t be right. Robert didn’t tell him he was ready to go. Robert answered the phone. “Yeah?” Robert asked. Robert could hear Winston speeding down the highway. “Robert. I’m coming to get you now. Get to the rendezvous point.” Winston commanded.
Robert shook his head in confusion. DIONE’s eye widened. “What? Why? I haven’t even fully seen everything.” Winston groaned. “We can come back tomorrow, right now you aren’t safe there!” Robert cleared his throat. “What’s going on?” The sound of Winston burning rubber came over the phone.
“I have cameras set up around the area. There’s something there. Something that hasn’t been seen since the ARK fell. Before the ARK died, there were reports of some creature or demon there. Some called it Hourglass; others, Kaleidoscope. It disappeared before the ARK fell, but it’s BACK. It’s surrounding the area, get out of there before it realizes you're in there, NOW! I’ll be there in five minutes.”
Winston quickly hung up. Robert looked up at DIONE. “...Who’s Kaleidoscope?” DIONE sighed. “...When they brought Subject 0 on the ARK, let’s just say he didn’t come alone. Let’s go, I’ll take you to the exit. We can discuss more tomorrow when you return.”
Robert sprinted through the facility, DIONE following through the screens and monitors. He had the pamphlet in his pocket and held the PDA; however, just as they reached the entrance.
The 1954 Godzilla Theme began to play.
Something was outside. Kaleidoscope was outside. It growled as it sniffed around. “...Don’t move,” DIONE whispered. Kaleidoscope stopped moving for a second, then the sound of bones cracking and shifting rose. Then, it crawled inside, using the body of a Typhlosion.
But it didn’t look like the video game counterpart, nor the animated one.
It looked wrong.
It looked like something trying to mimic a Typhlosion. It looked more like a badger than a friendly cartoon monster. It sniffed around, the flames on its neck flickering and flashing like firecrackers trying to go off. Its paws made little sound, yet the claws scraped against the diorite floor.
Kaleidoscope sniffed around, then quickly found Robert and roared. DIONE caused the lights to flicker, leaving Kaleidoscope disoriented. “Thanks, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Robert told DIONE. DIONE only stared at him, its mouth missing from the avatar, as it spoke.
“GOODBYE, ROBERT HALBERG.”
Robert sprinted through the woods, but Kaleidoscope was still chasing after him, this time, in the form of Godzilla from the 1962 movie King Kong vs Godzilla. Except it still looked wrong. The suit looked as if it were rotting.
But thankfully, Kaleidoscope was farther away. Because of its rotting body, it was slightly slower than it should have been. Luckily, it gave Robert enough time to get to Winston’s car. As Robert hopped in, Winston booked it, quickly driving down the highway as Kaleidoscope halted at the forest and growled.
After they got far enough away, Winston pulled over at a nearby gas station. He breathed a sigh of relief. “...I’m sorry for the rush. Did you find anything interesting?” Winton asked. Robert nodded. “A few files, I even took one, this… Welcome Pamphlet.”
Winston glared at him. “...You weren’t really supposed to take anything, granted, if someone from Blackstar was still alive, then… You know what? Fine. Take anything you want; we could use it.” Robert looked at the photos he had taken on his phone before he saw the one of the endoskeleton.
“Oh, right, I saw this weird Endoskeleton in one of the bays,” Robert remarked, showing the photo to Winston. Winston’s eyes went wide. “...Whatever you do, stay far away from that thing,” Winston commanded. Robert was concerned. “W-Why?” Winston cut him off. “Listen, that thing has been around since the 70s. It was meant to be an endoskeleton that could learn and mimic whatever it saw, and fit into any character's costume. It hasn’t been seen since 2014, and no one knows what happened to it since then.”
Robert’s eyes went wide. “What…? What is it?” Winston sighed. “The Mimic. I’m not sure how it got there, but if it’s there, you're lucky it hasn’t activated while you were there. Just when you go back, watch your back. If that thing senses you are there, it’s going to hunt you down.” Robert tilted its head. “I don’t understand. Why is it dangerous?” Winston squinted his eyes.
“It learned what violence is.”