Chapter 33: Busting Ghosts (1)

“Huh. I can see you’ve got impeccable taste, Dr. Lamarr.” Henry grinned, nodding toward the meshed-up, messed-up looking envirosuits beside her workstation.

Dr. Lamarr just laughed. Dr. Perdue, on the other hand, seemed a bit more serious. “I assure you,” she said, “the aesthetic was not our primary concern.”

“Looks bulky as hell,” Ron muttered. “Even more than that UHM-whatever chainmail layer.”

“Consider it a happy accident, Lieutenant.” Dr. Lamarr shrugged. “Though I’d hold off on the show and tell until we cover some important context about what you’ll be facing.”

Dr. Perdue directed their attention to a screen mounted on the wall, which depicted scanned images of various apparitions and entities – ghosts and all their cousins. “According to Sonaran classification and the evidence you’ve provided about the quest, it is likely that we’re dealing with Lesser Specters – Tier 7 threats. These entities can both influence minds and drain energy from living beings. It’s their method of… uh… feeding.”

Well, it wasn’t that much of a surprise, considering the whole thing with ghosts. Still, though… Henry frowned, crossing his arms. “Guess ol’ Guildmaster wants to see how we’d perform against a threat we can’t shoot.”

Dr. Perdue nodded. “Indeed, I really doubt you’ll be able to inflict any damage on these ghosts. But… it does get more interesting. Their documented cases show consistent patterns that Dr. Lamarr believes might give us an edge.”

“The effects seem to operate through electromagnetic field manipulation,” Dr. Lamarr picked up. “Similar to how we’ve observed mana interfering with our equipment. It’s our best theory based on what little ‘science’ we could find from local sources, but more importantly, it gives us a potential defense.”

Henry felt a grin spreading against his will. It was strange, almost like a defiant resistance against the fact that ghosts – real ghosts – actually existed. Maybe it was just the absurdity of it, or perhaps it was simply the battle against fear. It wasn’t funny, not remotely, but the grin came anyway, a reflex his body seemed to deploy as if to buffer the enormity of it all.

“You’re telling me all that ghost hunting shit is real? The EMF meters and EM interference?”

“I fucking KNEW IT!” Ron pumped his fist. “Y’all laughed at Ghost Adventures, but who’s laughing now?”

“Still us,” Ryan said. “Just ‘cause they got one thing right don’t make up for allat runnin’ ‘round in the dark, allat screamin’ at nothin’.”

Dr. Perdue cleared her throat, but couldn’t hide her smile well. “The good news is, if we’re right about the EM connection, we can protect against it. These Seekers didn’t have that advantage.”

“Which brings us to these modifications,” Dr. Lamarr added, gesturing at the suits.

“A… Faraday cage setup? Faraday suit?” Henry examined the metallic mesh more closely. Unlike their UHMWPE mesh layer, built to protect them from Nobian arrows and blades and monster claws alike, this new layer was a continuous metal cage wrapped around the entire suit. The holes were comparatively larger, more like metal window screening, but as long as the mesh itself maintained continuity, it would block EM fields just fine. “Huh. That’s lowkey elegant.”

“Yup.” Dr. Lamarr touched the mesh on the nearest suit. “The good news is that internal electronics still work. Your IVAS will maintain basic HUD functions and internal sensors. The bad news is that anything wireless – comms, external sensors, network functions – won’t penetrate the mesh.”

Henry grimaced. No wireless meant no tactical overlay, either. Not ideal, but they'd managed with less.

Dr. Perdue gave the mesh a light tap with her hand. “The most critical concern is maintaining the mesh’s integrity. These entities don't just drain energy – they hunt for weaknesses. They are intelligent. Any gap becomes an exploitation point.”

“How tough is it? Hell, if somethin’ starts throwin’ us ‘round, or throwin’ shit at us…” Ryan trailed off with a slightly shaky voice.

Somehow, he seemed the worst off. He’d seen some real crazy shit – that was a given for anyone from the Unit. Maybe that’s what unnerved him; the ghosts out there didn’t belong to him, but they’d probably remind him that his own never left.

“The mesh is resilient,” Dr. Lamarr said. “As resilient as any metal cage might be. But it can tear.”

And that meant a gap. “So,” Henry said, “priority is avoiding damage where possible. And we’re up against Lesser Specters, huh? Can’t remember reading much about ‘em. What can they do? Toss furniture around?”

“Have you ever seen The Conjuring? Any of them?” Dr. Perdue asked.

“Yeah, all of them,” Henry said.

“The first two,” Ron answered.

The others either only saw one of the movies, or had at least seen clips.

“In that case, it’s like the entities in that franchise. Lesser Specters are able to hurl furniture across a room, slam doors hard enough to splinter them. A knife? Imagine it being thrown with the strength of a professional pitcher, but telekinetically.”

Ryan’s face whitened a bit. “So, like when the ghost threw that cabinet across the room and pinned someone to the wall?”

Dr. Perdue nodded. “The mesh can handle a chair flying into it, maybe,” she paused, waiting for Dr. Lamarr’s confirmation before continuing, “but repeated impacts? It’ll compromise the structure, surely. And if they get sharp objects? The fact that your envirosuits are impervious to knives won’t matter if they can get in your heads.”

“Oh, and they can possess people, apparently,” Dr. Lamarr added.

Henry frowned. Shit, even Ron hadn’t gone through unscathed; he was starting to whiten as much as Ryan.

“Yes, they can, to a limited extent. They’re not able to turn people into marionettes; those possessed will have sluggish movements,” Dr. Perdue confirmed. “But still… try not to let your suits get compromised.”

“Anyway!” Dr. Lamarr smiled, clasping her hands together. She barely gave any time to process the information. “Let’s get you suited up. Run through internal checks, familiarize yourselves a bit.”

The mesh made the envirosuit a bit heavier, though it was hard to distinguish the weight of the copper from the weight of potential possession. At least the standard checks gave him something to distract his mind from it. His IVAS display came up, showing basic environmental readings from the suit’s internal sensors. They’d have to rely on handheld radios and EMF meters, but that was hardly a problem. Just back to basics.

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Fuck it. This shit probably wouldn’t deter Sera in the slightest, so why should it deter him?

After a few minutes familiarizing himself with the bulkiness of the cage, he was ready. Between the suit and the holy water hanging around his neck, there was no way the ghosts would be able to get through.

Leaving Armstrong, their first stop was that village Taldren mentioned. The village chief’s directions to the Mirrowen Forest ruins had been clear enough, if a bit shaky in the delivery. Henry couldn’t blame him; the man had gone pale just pointing toward the ruins, warning of bone-deep chills and whispers from nowhere. It reinvigorated some of that suppressed fear, but these were just Tier 7 monsters. They’d faced worse; from big ass spiders to the Sentinel Lindwyrm. They’d be fine… right?

The MRAP’s suspension groaned as they followed along the road leading up to the ruins. The route was simple enough, but Henry had to keep himself busy. Repeatedly glancing between the marked-up topo map and the physical terrain features was one of the few things keeping him sane.

The recent snowfall had been heavy enough to trigger multiple collapses in the area – presumably what revealed these ruins in the first place. Henry looked through the RWS. Sure enough, the pristine white was interrupted by raw earth and broken trees, a fresh scar running down a hillside.

“Looks like we’re close,” he said. “Doc, let’s get eyes up.”

“On it,” Dr. Anderson’s voice crackled through the MRAP’s radio. He spoke again after a couple of minutes. “There’s additional erosion past the landslide – another collapse. I see… well, it’s certainly not natural stone – engineered material, likely Baranthurian. Ah, yes. Steel reinforcement, thick conduit. Baranthurian, alright. Ruins are straight forward.”

They crept forward once Dr. Anderson recalled the quad, following the collapse until the MRAP's front bumper was practically kissing the limestone cliff face. The snowslide had practically excavated the entire site, leaving the entrance fully exposed to the outside world for the first time in perhaps hundreds or thousands of years. And evidently, it didn’t take long for the Sanctum Arcanum to catch wind of it and lose a party of adventurers.

What would have been carefully concealed was now raw and obvious: a massive cave mouth that had been modified into a hardened facility entrance. The concrete facade was weathered but intact, complete with blast doors like the other site they’d investigated.

The instant Henry stepped out of the MRAP, the temperature readings plummeted. Sonaran winters could get chilly, but the readings here were already a few degrees below what should have been normal. Even standing directly under the overcast sun did little. The temperature variation, though, wasn’t the only thing completely off about the area.

“It’s quiet,” Isaac said, voice muffled through his helmet.

“What, too quiet?” Ron snickered.

Henry smirked. Lord knew they could use the light-hearted fuckery, especially now. “Pfft, maybe you should apply to Marvel. Bet they’d love your dialogue work.”

More muffled laughter came through their helmets, but died out as they laid eyes on the Lost Seekers’ carriage. It was parked neatly by the entrance, away from the snow. Their dradaks were still tied to a metal post, but the creatures looked… weak. Lethargic, despite the food and ice-cold water laid beside them. Like something had been slowly draining them. Dr. Perdue hadn’t been kidding. Hopefully, the adventurers inside were still alive.

The entrance opened directly into what was unmistakably a military research facility’s receiving area – similar architecture as the previous site, down to the security checkpoint out front. But where the Grenden Forest Ruins continued into a long tunnel, this one led into an empty parking lot.

Based on the lack of a breach like the one they’d made to get into the other site, the adventurers here must’ve followed the empty lot. Sure enough, double doors awaited them at the end of the stretch.

Henry placed his hand on the handle and twisted. It was already open. He cracked the door slightly, tilting his head toward Isaac. The interior was lit; it seemed the adventurers had figured out how to turn on the lights.

But they wouldn’t take any chances. Isaac sent a Black Hornet inside, sharing the tablet for everyone to see. The layout was strikingly similar to the lobby in the other site, and just as empty – at least, devoid of physical beings.

After clearing the room, they got to work on investigations. If this was a lobby, then they’d find a map; a layout of the facility.

And there it was. “Got something,” Henry called out. He dusted off a facility map preserved behind a case. He couldn’t read the script, but he could read the layout. “Research wing, separated from the other sections. Our adventurers are probably somewhere there. Doc, what do you think?”

“Hmm…” Dr. Anderson studied the map. “Research wing’s divided into labs, equipment storage, and three containment rooms at the back – presumably high-security. They could be in any of those areas; though of course there still remains the possibility that they’ve gotten trapped elsewhere.”

“Yeah, let’s start with the research wing then; clear anything along the way.”

The route to the research wing was winding, but apparently the Seekers had left a trail to make things easier. They’d put up burning lanterns to indicate where they had passed by. Professional work, even if it hadn’t saved them.

The research wing entrance was exactly where the map indicated. Lanterns marked the path forward, placed at key junctions.

Each lab space held rows of workstations with instruments still on their benches, documentation filed away in holders. The Seekers had examined everything systematically – their tracks through the dust showed the same professional thoroughness Henry's team was employing now. Whatever happened here, it wasn’t even close to the chaos back at the other facility.

Storage areas came next, broad chambers filled with shelved devices, components, and stacks of other miscellaneous supplies. A side room housed a power room, core untouched and wires in good condition – as good as they could’ve been after centuries of dormancy. The Seekers hadn’t touched anything here; just another systematic sweep, and still no sign of the hostile entities Taldren hinted at.

Sure, maybe it was just the Faraday suits working as intended, but... nothing? Nothing at all? Ironically, the fact that everything was going perfectly so far gave him the chills more than trouble ever could.

Where were they? The adventurers? The ghosts? Evidence of a battle? Hell, there were hardly any temperature fluctuations at all, though that could probably be attributed to the facility’s systems working properly.

All that was left was the section ahead, past the security checkpoint to the containment rooms – their final stop. The corridors leading to them were lined with more runes, baffling even to Dr. Anderson, and possibly even for Kelmithus. Only one thing was certain: these containment rooms were not fortified against physical damage. Whatever the Baranthurians were containing here couldn’t have been monsters.

Then, as they approached, the whispers began.

At first, it didn’t even register as sound – more like thoughts that weren’t quite his own, slipping in at the edges of his consciousness. But they quickly became more distinct the closer they got to the rooms; louder, even. All of them were about the suit. How confining it felt. How claustrophobic. How stale the air was. How much better it would feel to just pop the seal for a moment, just one breath of fresh air…

“Y’all hearin’ this shit?” Ryan asked.

Henry forced the thoughts away. Not his thoughts. Their thoughts. “Yeah, whispers. Tryna make us take the suits off.”

“Yeah.” Ryan’s voice was tight. “Fuckin’ bastards. That’s the best they got?”

“I mean…” Isaac chuckled, but it was weak. “Going straight for what’s protecting us. Can’t say it’s exactly stupid.”

The whispers weren’t that much of an issue now; they seemed more like a nuisance if anything. But it was enough of a sign. Unless the Seekers had mysteriously teleported or passed out in a random office, they had to be here.

The corridor ended, opening into a broad chamber filled with alcoves – multiple test areas, if Henry had to guess. The whispers were getting louder now, harder to ignore even with Ryan trying to shit talk the ghosts and pummel them with verbal bravado.

Henry’s EMF meter got warmer as he approached the first door on the right – 8,000 milligauss compared to the handful of thousands elsewhere. That must’ve been it. He opened the door.

He found her first – the Lost Seeker’s mage, sat against the wall. Her head rested on her pack like a pillow, her body wrapped up in a blanket. She’d even taken the time to set her flask within easy reach. Isaac immediately knelt beside her, pressing two fingers against her neck.

“Pulse is weak but steady. A bit cold, but at least she’s not hypothermic.”

Whatever had gotten to her, it hadn’t been violent. She’d settled down for a rest just like… well, they’d see about the others. “Alright,” Henry said. “Let’s find the rest.”