Book 3 Chapter 19: Edison Project

Book 3 Chapter 19: Edison Project

Since the Undertaker in the room seemed to be in no immediate danger, I moved out of that section of the bunker, and down to the final portion of the lab, the room at the end of the hall. At the top of the door in gold lettering was a sign saying, Edison Project Lead: Margaret Tennyson. I pushed through the door, and found not a lab, but a solitary office. One desk, a few chairs, a humming computer, and a wall covered in filing cabinets. I approached the computer and slid into the seat, booting it up to see if I could figure out exactly what was happening with the Nirvana lab.

As with the other computers Id looked through in bunkers, this one had three different sections. There was Personal Log, Work Log, and Correspondence. I pulled up the personal log first.

Entry 1:

No

That was it, just no. Correspondence was equally sparse, with mostly one word replies to messages shed received and the occasional transfer of technical data that was well beyond me. I opened the work log last, and opened the first entry.

Entry 1:

Project Edisons purpose is to take designs and project data stolen from other countries through our espionage network, and attempt to modify them for our own ends. Name is my own choice. Edison was known for taking credit for others inventions. Dont suspect the brass understood the reference.

Entry 2:

It is unstable. No successful transfers of living persons/animalsIt would destabilize the global economic system (The implications should be obvious) Doubt the Russians have actually finished this one. Otherwise, wed likely have lost the war by now. May have been planted to waste our time/money

I walked back into the lab, and placed the earplugs into my ears. I tentatively opened the door to the sound room, and found that I wasnt being affected this time. I walked over to the placid deadman in the corner, a content smile on his face, and began a quick search of him. In his pack I found a large bowie knife, a crossbow with handmade bolts, and a desert eagle. I removed them, and placed his goods into my own pack, then folded his pack and put it inside my own.. He made no protest and didnt struggle, remaining limp the entire time.

After Id finished disarming him, I began tying him up. I started with his arms and legs, reinforcing the restraints with duct tape, then tied additional ropes around him at key points to keep him from being able to struggle or build any kind of momentum. He likely wasnt as strong as me, but all the deadmen were strong, and I needed to make sure he couldnt hurt me or himself once I deactivated the noise. Once that was through, I put a piece of cloth in his mouth, and duct tape it closed, nicking myself on his teeth, though it healed almost immediately.

Once I was certain that Id done all I could do, I moved back to the computer consoles. There was no obvious off switch, and I was feeling anxious about how much time Id already taken, so I drew my new sword, and smashed the computers. I didnt bother activating the enhanced edge, it seemed unnecessary for what I was doing, and like it would be a waste of its power supply.

The second Id finished I popped out the earplugs and was met with the sound of muffled screaming. I looked through the glass to see the undertaker writhing and slamming himself against the ground. I entered the room and he looked up at me with a crazed look in his eyes.

Calm down! I yelled.

He responded by slamming himself down on the ground again.

You were trapped by the experiment in this room. I turned it off. Im taking you back to Potts.

He didnt stop his writhing, but luckily his restraints held. I took a deep breath. Looked like Id have to do this in the most pain in the ass way possible. I rolled him over, and grabbed a section of the makeshift rope, hauling him up and over my shoulder so that he sat behind my backpack and his own. It wasuncomfortable, and the weight distribution made it difficult to move, even if the load itself wasnt too heavy overall. I gritted my teeth, and started making my way out of the bunker, climbing the stairs and pushing open the trapdoor. The undertaker struggled the whole time, making it as annoying as possible, but I pushed on and started walking, making a beeline for the castle now that Id hit both of my targets.

I moved as quickly as I could, but was traveling through dense forest, and off balance, so the going was difficult. I used my newly enhanced sense of smell to avoid Ursans and other creatures that had the smell of predators, but realized that I was moving too slowly to outpace what smelled like two Ursans that were tracking me with their own powerful sense of smell. Realizing that I wouldnt be able to outrun them, I found a small clearing, set down my pack and ward, and drew my new sword. I was one for two in terms of saving Deadmen from Ursans that day. No way was I losing this one, Id already walked too damn far to take that loss.