The group continued onward down the road while Haoyu continued scouting the area like a walking beacon.
Glancing over, Seven saw the tall, blonde-haired operative slinging his weapon on his back. Alexander was wincing, caressing his sore shoulder before pushing it back into place with an audible "pop."
"The Mjolnir has a kick to it, doesn't it?" Seven asked.
Alexander laughed it off, "You're speaking the truth. The thing was designed for me, but I'm not at the point where I can use it carelessly."
"Designed for you? Hold on…"
In his head, it connected seamlessly, fitting together to the rather on-the-nose name given to the prototype shotgun.
"Yup!" May stepped up, walking between the two with a proud smile placed on her lips. "I helped with it, actually."
"I'm impressed," Seven admitted. "That gun is something special. It knocked a Fulminare on its ass when I first tried it."
"Oh, really? I mean, I'm not surprised at all! It was my dad that did most of the work, but I tweaked it here and there," May explained, waving her finger as she recalled.
Further down the road, the sight of the unbound sea was in full view. Along the coastline, a group of white buildings stood like lost monoliths.
"There's our destination," Haoyu declared. "We'll need to secure the perimeter before entering."
Along the length of the power plant's territory, the group split up, though not out of sight from one another. He checked out the west side of the plant alongside May, who kept somewhat close.
"What're we looking for exactly? I'm not sure any aliens are just going to…jump out, y'know?" Seven asked, stepping over towards the truck parked in front of one of the buildings, seeing nothing hiding in the bed or under it.
"You know know," May said. "The last thing we need is an attack from outside when we're stuck inside. Trust me–there's a good reason we're checking out the area."
"I get it, I get it," he accepted.
To put it all at ease, the group reconvened at the front entrance of the abandoned power plant, relaying their findings: nothing. Haoyu held his metallic hand against the front door silently, performing some sort of action that those with flesh could not.
"No signs of heat on the other side. It's safe to enter," Haoyu decided.
"Alright, let's reclaim it!" Alexander announced, readying his tri-barreled shotgun as he leaned it on his burly shoulder.
The mountain of a man lifted his leg, about a second from kicking in the metal door without any restraint.
"Hold on, Alexander," Haoyu intervened. "I hope you're not seriously considering busting in like you're in some action movie."
"Err…Yeah? That was the plan," Alexander looked over.
"A bit of a more thoughtful approach is what I had in mind," Haoyu dictated, grabbing the handle with his metal hand.
A simple turn of the door brought the front entrance to be opened with a quiet groan. From the dust that made its way out, it didn't seem to have been opened in some time.
"Ack!" May coughed, covering her mouth and nose.
"Definitely out of commission, I'd wager…" Shin said, peeking in.
Seven moved in alongside Alexander, leading the way into the quiet interior.
"It's too dark. I can't see a thing," Lily mumbled from behind.
As they stood around as blind as bats, the remote operated robot stood by a socket in the wall.
"Allow me," Haoyu said.
A wire extended from the drone's finger, infiltrating the circuits like a snake through tall grass.
"…And let there be light," the engineer announced.
What was veiled in darkness a moment prior was revealed as the lights switched on, with the hum of electrical ingenuity being reawakened.
It was blinding; the sheer contrast took a moment to adjust to, though one blink was enough to adapt. With the lights in order, the pristine, silver walls were revealed, along with the monumental technology hidden away.
"Woah," Alexander quietly let out in awe.
In the center of the chamber, a massive pillar built of reflective panels flickered, surrounded by humming rings that generated an unearthly amount of power. With a glance, it seemed as though it had been frozen in time, like an artifact of a lost world, yet—
Another look revealed the horrors that had occurred, finding dried blood painting the walls.
"No survivors, I take it?" Seven asked quietly.
"Unfortunately, that wasn't an objective for this mission. The odds of anybody having held out all this time—it's slim to none," Haoyu answered, walking ahead while typing into his arm.
"I see…" Seven mumbled.
May tapped his shoulder, getting his attention as she gave him a reassuring smile, "What we're doing today…It's going to save lives, yeah?"
"Yeah."
They kept a perimeter in the main chamber while the engineer accessed the once out-of-commission computer systems. While Seven had no experience with software, the way lines of text ran over the monitors as Haoyu tapped in, it seemed straight out of an action movie.
"In," Haoyu casually announced. "Accessing the database now, let's see…Oh. Interesting."
"What is it?" Lily curiously asked, standing on her tippy-toes with the intent to look at the same monitor.
"I've accessed the elevator system. This room isn't where we want to be–we need to go lower," Haoyu said, moving away from the monitors.
"Deeper? There's an underground portion?" Lily asked, following right behind.
The others came along as well, as Haoyu seemed to have downloaded the entire map of the power plant. Behind the pillar of electrical prowess, twin doors parted to reveal the large elevator shaft.
By some miracle, they each managed to fit, though it was a bit claustrophobic with the blonde giant squeezing in.
"Alright, down we go!" Alexander announced.
Lily was practically squished, caught between the Goliath's arm and the interior, "Move it, you gorilla!"
"Ha-ha!" Alexander simply laughed it off.
As the doors closed, the elevator was routed by some intervention on the robot's part, connecting to the control panel.
"The floor we're going to isn't listed on the keys shown here," Haoyu explained. "Whatever it is, it's a secret they kept locked away with their lives."
"So, what is it?" Seven asked curiously, cramped right in the center.
"That's the question of the hour, isn't it?" Shin added.
Haoyu withdrew the cable into his arm as the elevator descended, "Any information on what was being developed on the bottom floor wasn't in their database above. It seems they kept two separate databases, disconnected from one another."
"Logically, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to do that, does it?" May questioned, looking up at the roof of the pale elevator. "I doubt the Fulminare would care to copy our technology. They're too arrogant for that."
"It's not about copying, but recognizing the existence of a new weapon entirely. I assume they didn't want to risk giving the Fulminare any opportunity to counter," Haoyu theorized.
"I just wonder why they needed complete isolation…Wouldn't it be better to keep UNED in the know about what they were working on here?" Seven questioned as the descent hummed, seeming to go deeper and deeper forever.
"The researchers that worked here were the best of the best, none better in the world," Haoyu explained. "If something they did seems illogical, it only means we're missing the context."
"Yeah. Guess we just have to see why," Seven agreed.