The daybreak was covered in clouds, and cold, hard rain pelted them like stones. It was a sunburst of sound breaking out the rain's landing and spreading open. It had the freedom of release, much unlike many of those here, and the tension of purpose struck through the once cheerful attitudes of the awakeners gathered. Only the rift in the air looked unbothered by it all. The rain had distorted around it and spoke in laughing astonishment of the foolishness of the people who believed they could benefit from an anomaly.
At least, that's what Mira An thought. This was the rift that led to the 09-F Dungeon --- her way out, supposedly. Yet, her intuition told her otherwise. Large amounts of Exomatter, concentrated mana particles with ability to cause harm on those without the right protection, was oozing out of the rift. If she wasn't wearing her suit or her MFR mask, she would have collapsed from mana overload by now.
Everyone here, besides herself, were B-ranked awakeners and above, moreover, the Head Inspector, himself, was here to lead the operation. They were given a newly verified equipment that would teleports them outside the dungeon's rift entrance once activated. It was called Return Call, it looked like a pendent, and was, in theory, simple to use. All you had to do was say 'return' and it would do its thing. All of these factors would have made her more confident, if her ears weren't ringing, if her breathing wasn't so erratic, and her hands would stop shaking ever so lightly.
She thought. For just a few moments --- while everyone was getting ready -- she could still leave --- to forget about everything and just leave.
"Ms. An," Haneul Rei began.
"Is the Mana Relay Drone primed and ready to go?"
Mira didn't notice him coming up from behind for she had greater concerns. Although, that didn't mean she neglected her duties. The Mana Relay Drone was a small floating sphere that scouted ahead and recorded environmental data that was sent back to MRS headquarters. She controlled it through a wristband console on her right arm. Oftentimes, it was the only evidence that survived in fatal incidents.
"Yes, it's prepared to begin scouting at your order."
"Good. Activate the scout." he ordered, before he walked away.
It was time to start the operation. She opened up the case and let the drone float up vertically. Out of the metal edges it glowed faintly, and silently passed the liquid barrier of the rift. She pulled up the footage through the wrist console, the drone had seemed to be transported to some sort of hallway. It was dark, and the only lights that shined were the ones were from the flickering bulbs hanging from the ceiling.
That was off. The 09-F Dungeon was originally supposed to be an underground cave-like structure with mana ores and Gnomes, small bright-colored creatures that guarded the ores. Usually, you could spot one immediately once entering.
Now, it seemed like the landscape and ecology of the dungeon had changed completely. In fact, there wasn't a single monster in sight, just endless hallways that looked the same. The floors were dusty and splattered over with grime, and the brownish-color that was splattered on the walls, almost seemed like dried blood. It was like something from a horror movie, of all things. She really didn't want to go inside.
She walked toward Haneul Rei, who was talking to someone from the Aetherion Guild, and interrupted their conversation.
"Sir, there's something you should look at."
"What's the matter?" Haneul asked, slightly annoyed.
"The dungeons changed drastically. The whole environment has shifted into something else, and, oddly enough, there's no monster in sight."
"Why?"
"I'm not sure. It's possible that it changed because of the rising TMU levels, but I've never seen anything like this before."
"So, you're saying the dungeon has changed beyond measure."
"That's right."
There was a moment of silence between them, each pondering on their next words. Mira went first.
"In my professional opinion, Sir, given the current information and data, it's not worth risking seventeen lives for."
"Ms. An, we've received orders directly from the Supervisor, himself, to proceed. This isn't under my jurisdiction anymore, and considering that the escort teams are mostly A-ranked awakeners, we should have nothing to worry about."
"...But, sir!"
"No, Ms. An. I don't want to hear it. --- Follow orders, or there will be consequences." he said , sternly.
He jerked his head up at the rift, and analyzed it for a moment before he left. She could tell he was going to get the escort teams briefed in short order. It annoyed her, actually, that they were even going inside. She could tell, that this dungeon, was more dangerous than what they believed it was. There was going to be causalities.