Seeing the doors close, the mood amongst the group shifted. Several glances amongst one another and then towards the door followed. The atmosphere in the hall grew cold as each of them tried to process what had just occurred.

"Looks like there's no going back now." Fresh Canvas said.

"Then we push on. Our home is counting on us." Gearshift said, looking at him.

Looking down the now illuminated hallway ahead of them, thoughts began rolling through Gearshift's head. Butch had said it himself that from this point on, not even he knew what to expect. It has to be here. It just has to be. The image of Stable 54 in disarray attached itself to his mind like a vice. Everypony struggling to carry on going, with no power and then the eventual meltdown of the reactor. The mental image then switched to Tool Box, alone in the reactor room as it all went wrong. Quickly shaking his head, he looked at the others as Butch was now standing beside him.

"Everythin' alright?" Butch asked, putting a hoof on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm okay. The sooner we find the fusion core and get out of here the better." Gearshift answered.

With that, the group began walking down the hallway, whilst keeping mindful of their surroundings. Upon reaching the end, they followed the hallway around and to the left, the ceiling lights flickering on just as the previous ones had done. The hallways were eerily quiet, the only sounds coming from the humming of the lights and the sound of the group's hoofsteps against the floor. The walls either side of them were dark grey in color, having dulled over the years with no one entering or exiting. At the far end of the hallway on the wall, a sign marking out the various locations of the floor they were currently on sat. Approaching the sign, the group each took in its features.

<Stairwell.

<Stage 1 Labs.

Cafeteria.

Maintenance & Repairs.

"There. The labs, that's where we need to start." Gearshift said, pointing at the sign.

The rest of the group followed his hoof to the labelled area he was pointing at before he turned and lead off down the hall. The others followed after him, almost jogging to keep up as Gearshift had already set off without any hesitation or consideration to move at a moderate pace. Come on, come on, come on. Gearshift was scanning the entire hallway with his eyes, from the floors, to the walls and up at the ceiling for some indication of where the labs would be on this floor. He could just about hear the others muttering behind him as he walked but remained zoned in on his objective. Coming around the next corner, he noticed something at the far end of the following hallway. A set of double doors. Above them was an illuminated sign, which flickered occasionally. Gearshift had to narrow his eyes in order to make out what the sign said:

Level 1 Labs

"There it is!" Gearshift exclaimed, looking back towards the others before breaking into a gallop down the hall.

"Gearshift, slow down!" Candy Cane called to him, huffing in annoyance when he didn't listen.

Gearshift continued running, the double doors getting closer. He could clearly make out what the sign said now the closer he got to it. The first part of the sign which he'd noticed before, 'Level 1 Labs', was only the first part of the sign. Below the first part of the sign was a smaller set of words:

Level 1 Clearance Required.

Seeing this, Gearshift's gallop slowed abruptly to a trot and eventually he stopped still all together. The rest of the group eventually caught up with him, coming to a stop beside him.

"Level 1 clearance?" Fresh Canvas asked. "How do we get that?"

"It seems we're going to need a keycard of some kind." Butch spoke up, pointing a hoof at the doors in front of them. The spot where the deputy was pointing was in the middle of the two doors. Sitting there was a keypad with a slot below it for a keycard to be slotted into. Above the keys was a small screen, a gentle blue light emitting from it. The message 'Insert keycard: Level 1 Clearance required' displayed.

"There has to be one around here somewhere." Gearshift said, looking around them. Upon looking back down the hall, he noticed a few side doors which he'd had missed during his gallop. There were six in total, three on each side. "What about in there?"

"They could work." Lavender Blossom said with a nod.

Turning back to face the way they came, the group looked towards the doors. Each of them looked to be offices that lead in the direction of the lab.

"Wait a minute. Didn't that sign earlier say there was a maintenance section?" Steel Tip asked. "Surely there would be keycards down there, right? That's where our reserves were kept in the stable. Maybe it's the same here."

"It can't hurt to look." Candy Cane said.

"Wait, are you suggesting we split up?" Tulip asked, not really sounding too fond of the idea. Snowball shared her expression of uncertainty.

Gearshift looked at the two of them. "We're on a time crunch. This might be the best way to get into that lab and see what is inside." He said in a soft and calming tone. "The two of you don't need to worry. Steel and I will check out maintenance and meet back here with you guys after we've scoped the place out."

The two mares looked at one another before looking past him at Steel Tip, who gave a reassuring smile.

"You're right." Tulip said.

"Yeah. We'll look around here." Snowball nodded her head.

Gearshift smiled at the two of them, then turned to look at Steel Tip. "Ready to go?"

"Ready." Steel Tip nodded.

"You guys are going to need help if there are terminals down there." Candy Cane said, looking at the duo.

The two stallions looked at one another before looking back at her and smiling.

"Let's get going then." Gearshift said to her. His attention then turned to the remainder of the group. "Alright, if any of you find anything or something happens go to Butch."

Butch seemed taken aback at the statement but nodded his head, accepting the responsibility. The rest of the group nodded in agreement.

"We'll be back before you know it." Steel Tip said.

Giving a wave of a hoof, Gearshift, Steel Tip and Candy Cane galloped back down the hall the way they came and disappeared back around the corner.

"Alright, let's get to work." Butch said to the rest of the group.

◇◇◇◇◇

Running past the sign they had stopped at earlier, Gearshift lead the way to the end of the hallway and around the corner. With Steel Tip and Candy Cane running with him, Gearshift kept his eyes directly ahead, looking for any possible signs of where they needed to go. As they ran, a sign hanging from the ceiling came into view, which was followed by two branching paths.

^Cafeteria.

<Maintenance & Repairs.

With a quick glance and a change of pace, the trio took a quick left turn and headed down the small hallway which lead to a staircase. The staircase headed down, metal stairs adorning it with red banister railings either side. At the bottom of the stairs was a dimly lit hall they could only make out the beginnings of. Stopping at the top of the stairs, Gearshift looked down towards the bottom and then at the others.

"Okay, let's keep our eyes open down here. No telling what could be here." He said, Steel Tip and Candy Cane nodding in response. The two unicorns levitated their weapons into a raised position whilst Gearshift took his baton from his belt and held it in his hoof via the strap. Ready to move, Gearshift led the trio down the stairs, taking each step at a time, a quiet creak coming from each step. Upon reaching the bottom of the staircase, another ceiling light flickered to life and illuminated the hall. As the lights lit up the hall, a picture presented itself. Nobody had been down here in a while but whoever was had left in a hurry, evident by the strewn about tools and equipment left on the grey and cracked flooring.

"You think they'll be anything down here?" Steel Tip asked.

"There has to be. We need to get into the lab and search inside." Gearshift said.

Beginning down the hall, Gearshift noticed two doors on the left side. The closer of the two doors was darker in color and had scratched off writing on the front. On the right side, almost at the end of the hall, was a side area which anyone working in maintenance would recognise. Various tools and equipment, such as power tools and manual tools. A left turn at the end of the hall was shrouded in darkness but was occasionally illuminated by a flickering light, the light in question quietly humming with each flicker.

"This place could use some TLC." Candy Cane said as they walked down the hall.

Focusing on the first door, Gearshift stepped towards it. "Alright, let's start in here." He looked at the sign.

Mai..na..ce..

Res....oms...

Raising up his free hoof, Gearshift took hold of the doorknob and held up his baton hoof at the ready. Trying the handle, the door gave a satisfying click and opened. More ceiling lights sprung to life, illuminating the room before them. Stalls lined both sides of the room with sinks at the far side for hoof washing. In the centre of the room was another wall, separating the two sides of the restroom. On the wall were two images, the left sided image was a faded blue colored picture of a stallion and on the right was an image of a mare, pink in color with the paint slightly cracked. On the mare side of the room, the light above the sinks flickered on and off in a steady pattern. On the stallion side, one of the stall doors had been ripped off its hinges and was laying on the ground.

"Restrooms." Gearshift said, referring back to the scratched door sign, Steel Tip glancing back at it as they walked in.

The restrooms were eerily quiet, the only sounds coming from their hoofsteps on the tiled floor. Gearshift glanced around, walking into the stallion side and gently pushed opened each stall door, having to lean back from some of them.

"Would it kill anyone to flush?" He asked aloud.

"Not a fan?" Steel Tip smirked.

"Shit stench isn't exactly my favorite fragrance." Gearshift retorted, getting a giggle from Candy Cane in return.

Upon getting to the end, he inspected the sinks, finding nothing of use. With that, he turned around and walked back towards the entrance. Candy Cane, having been checking out the mare side, was equally unsuccessful in finding anything that would help them. The trio regrouped by the restroom entrance then made their way back into the hallway before heading further down towards the second door. Stepping up to said door with weapons raised once more, Gearshift tried the doorknob but nothing happened. There was no movement in the door apart from a short jerk when Gearshift gave the doorknob a tug.

"Locked?" Candy Cane asked.

"Locked." Gearshift answered.

"We've got to get in there, there could be something we need in here." Candy Cane said. "Anyone got any bobby pins?"

"I got this." Steel Tip said. Illuminating his horn, a small metallic box levitated out from his saddlebag. Taking off the lid, a hooffull of bobby pins revealed themselves, 8 pins in total. Levitating out the pin, he got to work on getting the door open. As he did so, Gearshift and Candy Cane looked down either direction of the hall and kept an eye out for anyone that would be coming in their direction.

*SNAP*

"Shit." Steel Tip exhaled.

"What was that sound?" Candy Cane asked.

"Bobby pin snapped." Steel Tip answered, levitating out another pin to have another crack at the lock.

As he worked on the lock, Gearshift looked in Candy Cane's direction. Opening his mouth, he was about to say something to her when the sound of the door look clicking caught their attention. Looking at Steel Tip, Gearshift smirked.

"You get it?" Gearshift asked.

"Obviously." Steel Tip said, standing up straight. Placing the lid back on the pin pot and placing it back into his bag, he placed his hoof on the doorknob and pushed open the door to reveal a storage room. "Well that's anticlimactic."

The room was only small in size and was dimly lit, resulting in the usage of PipBuck lights to see what was inside. The room was narrow, also seeming quite baron. Empty metal boxes and bare shelves lined the floor and walls. The scent of open paint cans lingered in the air, hanging over the trio as they shuffled into the room one by one.

"Not holding out much hope for this." Candy Cane said.

The look in the maintenance room did not last long, Gearshift the last to exit the room before closing the door behind him. Sharing brief glances, the three continued on towards the end of the hall, approaching the side area on the right side of the hall. The side area had significantly more equipment than the previous room. Taking a side each, they scanned around in search of a potential keycard. Rummaging around his section, Gearshift emptied out cases and boxes with multiple bolts and screws tumbling out onto the floor as he searched. Come on, come on, come on! The more he continued to search, the less positive his outcome became. Looking over his shoulder at Steel Tip, Gearshift glanced at the small mess of equipment around him. There wasn't anything of note scatterdd around, which was beginning to frustrate the unicorn stallion. Turning to the other side, he watched as Candy Cane pulled out a small container from within a brown box. Pulling off the lid, she searched through it before letting out a huff.

"I've got nothing over here." She said.

"Me neither." Gearshift said.

"Nada." Steel Tip said.

Moving out of the side area, their attention turned to the flickering light around the corner. Gearshift turned the corner and looked straight ahead, the flickering light providing brief flashes ahead of him. As Steel Tip and Candy Cane joined him, he looked at what lied ahead. Ahead of the trio was a short passageway with a door at the end, which was slightly ajar. Above the door was a sign in feint red writing:

Repairs

"Alright. Let's go." Gearshift said, walking towards the door. Placing a hoof on it, he pushed the door. To his surprise, the door didn't open any further. Attaching his baton back onto his belt, Gearshift placed his other front hoof on the door and began to push harder. The door creaked slightly and slowly slid further open, prompting Steel Tip to put down his weapon and walk over to help Gearshift with the door. Pushing together, the door slid again before giving a hefty shunt and then stopping. The opening that presented itself was one that the three of them were able to squeeze through to get into the room. Once the last of them was in, they took in their surroundings - that of which they could see. Only part of the room was illuminated by another flickering light on the far right side of the repair room. Gearshift turned his PipBuck light back on, the others doing the same. Holding up the light, the darkness became illuminated, showing the remainder of the room. A door on the far left wall lead somewhere else whereas ahead of them was a work station. The station in question was draped with multiple blueprints along with writing equipment. The rest of the room, however, was in a state of disarray. Tools and paperwork were scattered about the floor and looked to have been dented and torn respectively. Gearshift walked over to the work station, looking at the blueprints and observed them. The designs were faded but he could make out some of them. Sprinkler system, some kind of garbage chute, ....whatever this is. Gearshift wasn't sure what the blueprints would still be doing on the table if there wasn't anypony there to start working on them.

"Hey Gear?" Candy Cane's voice caught his attention.

"Yeah?" He asked, turning to look at her.

"Think you could help me move this? I think there's something behind it."

Walking over, he saw what she was referring to. A metal shelving unit was propped up against the wall, as if to cover whatever was behind it from being seen. Taking hold of one side, Gearshift glanced at Candy Cane as she did the same.

"Ready?" Gearshift asked.

"On 3." Candy Cane responded. "1.....2.....3!"

Tilting the shelving unit in Gearshift's direction, Gearshift stepped back to soften the decent of the unit from the wall instead of dropping it. Placing it down on the ground, he finally got a look at what Candy Cane had seen.

"A terminal? Why would someone want to hide a terminal?" Gearshift asked, stepping towards it.

"Beats me. I'll check it out." Candy Cane said, moving to the terminal and booting it up.

Turning back around Gearshift noticed Steel Tip trying to get the door out of the room open. The unicorn looked through the glass sections of the door into the room on the other side but had no fortune in finding anything.

"Pitch black in there." Steel Tip said.

"No luck in getting it open?" Gearshift asked, to which Steel Tip shook his head.

"There's no lock on this one either." Steel Tip added.

The two looked at the door once again, looking for anything that would help them to get the door open but there was nothing visible to assist them in doing so, frustrating the two. The frustration was short lived as a short "hmph." from Candy Cane made them both turn around to look at her.

"Something wrong, CC?" Gearshift asked.

"There's files on this terminal... but they're encrypted." Candy Cane answered.

"Does everything in this place have some sort of password?" Steel Tip asked with an eye roll.

"Wouldn't surprise me." Candy Cane said as she worked to find the correct password.

Gearshift and Steel Tip shared a look at one another before looking back at Candy Cane as she worked.

"Screwdriver?" *BZZT* "Damn." Candy Cane groaned, her first attempt unsuccessful. Two to go. The two stallions remained silent as she worked, not wanting to disturb her as she kept trying. Hearing her muttering to herself as she looked at the words on the screen, they shared another glance.

"Let's see here. Construction?" Candy Cane asked, submitting her second attempt. *BZZT* "Oh come on!" She exclaimed in annoyance.

"I assume that wasn't it either." Steel Tip said, getting a glare in return. "Shutting up."

Gearshift smirked, looking at him, before his attention then turned to Candy Cane.

"Hey, don't worry CC, just take a breath and slow down." He told her. His words seemed to do the trick as she took a few deep breaths and turned back to the terminal with a more composed expression on her face.

A few seconds passed, which felt like an eternity, before Candy Cane selected her final allotted password.

"Please work, please work, please work." She quietly pleaded, holding her hooves together.

There was a short pause as the three ponies stared at the screen, waiting for something to happen. Eventually, a message displayed itself on the screen.

ACCESS GRANTED

"Yes!" Candy Cane said happily, throwing her hooves in the air.

"See? I knew you could do it." Gearshift said.

"What was the password?" Steel Tip asked.

"Restoration." Candy Cane answered, smiling happily. "Now, let's check this baby out."

Moving closer to her, the stallions were able to see the screens as Candy Cane moved through them.

•Data Files•

•Audio Files•

•Generator Room Entryway•

"Generator room?" Gearshift asked.

"I'm guessing that's where that doorway leads." Steel Tip said, glancing in the direction of the door.

"What about the files?" Gearshift then asked, looking back at the screen.

"Well, let's have a look." Candy Cane said, moving into that section. In doing so, more options displayed themselves.

•Generator Room Personnel•

•Staff Irritations•

•Aid Required•

•All Systems Nominal•

Looking at the four options, the trio then looked at one another. A silent agreement was made between them and Candy Cane selected the top option.

•Generator Room Personnel•

Chief Repairs Officer Stone Wall

Repairs Crew Member Live Wire

Repairs Crew Member Spark Plug

Repairs Crew Trainee Solder Iron

"Four members of this repair crew and none of them are anywhere to be seen?" Gearshift asked, looking around and back towards the door.

"Nopony was exactly rushing to give us a warm welcome." Steel Tip commented.

Moving back to the menu screen, Candy Cane selected the second file.

•Staff Irritations•

This is the fifth time that one of those labcoats has waltzed down here to make a request for another piece of equipment to be fixed up or have us running pointless jobs just so they can live it up on the upper floors. If you want something done so badly, why can't you just do it yourselves? All I ask is that you at least wait until we're not busy before you come ask us to unlock a door for you. If you don't start sorting your act out soon, you're gonna have all of maintenance and repairs on your asses, understand?
- Chief Repairs Officer Stone Wall

"Complainer much?" Steel Tip asked, making Gearshift smirk.

"Wonderful. Just someone bitching about coworkers." Candy Cane groaned as she moved onto the next file.

•Aid Required•

In need of some assistance down here, after looking through the generator room, we've noticed a large crack in the wall that is open to the outside. That's not all though, Live Wire took some readings over the far side of the generator and she discovered traces of radiation. We're going to need the decontamination team to come and give this a look. The sooner they get down here the better as we've got work to get down and I want to have a save environment for all of us to work in.
-Chief Repairs Officer Stone Wall

"There's radiation down here?!" Gearshift asked in surprise.

"Hold on, hold on, there's another entry here." Candy Cane said, moving to the final file.

•All Systems Nominal•

Radiation issue has been sorted. All systems nominal, we shall continue as planned.
- S. Wall

Upon reading this, Candy Cane turned to look at Gearshift and Steel Tip with a confused look on her face. The two of them looked at one another and then back at her.

"What is it?" Gearshift asked.

"Something about that message doesn't seem right." Candy Cane answered. "He went from writing paragraphs to doing two lines."

"Think something caused him to change his tone?" Gearshift asked.

"Possibly." Steel Tip said.

Moving onto the previous screen, Candy Cane navigated to the audio files section and a few files revealed themselves, 3 in total. Selecting the first file, words came up on the screen as the audio played out.

Audio Log 070 - Chief Repairs Officer Stone Wall
"Repairs Log 070 - Looking through our equipment list, it seems we're missing a few things. I wonder where they might've trotted off to. I'm sure the labcoats upstairs won't know anything about it at all. Nooooo, not a chance they'll have seen our gear that we need to DO OUR JOB!"

The sarcasm was practically oozing out of the terminal, each of the group picking up on it. Stone Wall's voice was rough and strong but underneath that loud exterior, was a heart. A heart that wanted a stable and harmonious working environment for his repairs team and the others in the maintenance section.

"I wonder what happened for mister Stone Wall to be so agitated with the scientists." Candy Cane said, looking at the stallions, who both shrugged in response.

"I'm not sure, but whatever it was it doesn't sound like it was good." Gearshift said.

Audio Log 071 - Chief Repairs Officer Stone Wall
"Repairs Log 071 - Seems like the noise we've been making got some of the labcoats to take notice. They even gave some of the equipment back. Some is better than none, right? Sooner or later they're going to take us seriously, even if I have to march upstairs and give em an earfull myself. Snobby bastards won't know what hit em if it comes to that."

Hearing this file, the three looked at one another once again.

"He really isn't fond of the scientists is he?" Steel Tip asked, to which the others shook their heads.

Upon looking back at the screen once again, Candy Cane played the final audio file.

Audio Log 072 - Repairs Crew Member Spark Plug
"Repairs Log 072 - There's been a lot going on down here over the last couple of days. Multiple scientists have been coming down to address concerns we'd had but none of them seemed happy about the concerns we had. They ended up taking the boss up with them to talk to him in private which he was not fond of. Although, when he came back he said that one of their higher ups would be coming down to finally sort everything out. To be honest, it took them long enough." The young mare's voice was calm and relaxed.

Following the culmination of the file, Candy Cane moved back through the menus and landed on the initial screen to open the entryway.

"Well, let's get this thing open and see what's on the other side." She said. Gearshift and Steel Tip both nodded, checking their things and getting ready to move on. With one tap of a button, a metallic mechanism in the door unlocked and a feint green light came on above the door.

Turning to face the entryway, Gearshift stepped towards the door and placed his hoof on it, waiting for the others to come up behind him.

"Ready?" He asked, looking at the two of them.

"Let's go." Steel Tip said, levitating his shotgun.

Candy Cane levitated her pistol, nodding her head. "Ready."

Gearshift pushed open the door and moved through, the others right behind him with their weapons at the ready. The room itself was shrouded in darkness, leaving them with practically no way of seeing anything in front of them.

"Let there be light." Gearshift said, holding up his PipBuck light and looking at the others as they did the same.

The light of their PipBucks illuminated the immediate area ahead of them, showing a portion of the room. As they stepped into the room, Gearshift raised his hoof higher up. This in turn lit up more of what was ahead of them. A large glass panel began to come into Gearshift's line of sight.

"Glass?" He asked, stepping closer.

As Steel Tip and Candy Cane joined him, coming up beside him, the combined light of their PipBucks showed the true extent of the glass. The glass stretched out across the majority of the wall. On the other side of the glass was the shape of a large contraption that was only just distinguishable.

"That must be the generator." Steel Tip said.

"Well it seems to be doing its job.... mostly." Candy Cane said.

"Let's just keep looking for a keycard then we can get out of here." Gearshift said.

"Yeah, this place is creeping me out enough already." Candy Cane said.

Upon turning to look around the room, something made their ears perk up.

*KLIK*.......*KLIK* *KLIK*.......*KLIK*

"What's that?" Candy Cane asked, her voice shaking.

Looking around the immediate area once again, they saw nothing. That was until Gearshift glanced at his PipBuck. Pulling it closer to his head, the clicking grew louder.

"That's not good." He said.

"What?" Steel Tip asked.

"Radiation."

The answer got a gasp out of Candy Cane, who looked over her shoulder at the door they came in through.

Gearshift elevated his hoof once more and held it out in front of him, turning his attention back to the glass. Although, to the left side of the glass, something caught Gearshift's eye. A metallic entryway door, no different than the one they came through, lay bolted shut. This door also required a keycard. The clicking of radiation on Gearshift's PipBuck got slightly faster as he approached the door, even more so when he placed his hoof on it. This caused him to take a few steps backwards as a result, the clicking gradually slowing down once again as he did so.

"Looks like that problem wasn't taken care of, huh?" Steel Tip said.

"Nope." Gearshift said with a shake of his head.

"But why would they say that the radiation had been dealt with?" Candy Cane asked.

"I'm not sure, but we have to find this keycard and get back to the others." Gearshift said.

Turning away from the door, Gearshift stepped towards the other side of the room. However, he didn't get far as his hoof came into contact with something which caused him to stumble and almost fall. Regaining his composure, he raised his PipBuck light to see what he had tripped over. His eyes widened at the sight before him. Ahead of him was the leg of a pony, said leg attached to the rest of the pony. A motionless pony. This pony wasn't alone, three others were lined up beside them with each of them laying in the same position face down. Looking at them all, Gearshift crouched down and placed a hoof on them to check for a pulse, unable to feel one in any of them.

Steel Tip came over and crouched beside one of the other bodies. Rolling over the body, he managed to get a look at their face. The pony was a unicorn mare with a faint yellow mane, only just able to be made out by the light. Her coat color was a shade of blue he couldn't quite make out. Although the main factor he took note of was the bullet hole in the middle of her forehead.

"Well, looks like this is what killed her." He said, looking at the others.

Looking at the body he was beside, Gearshift turned it over to examine them. The body was that of an earth pony stallion, his coat brown in color.

"He's got one too." Gearshift said, gesturing to the matching bullet hole in the same location in his forehead.

Upon examining the other bodies, another unicorn mare and a younger earth pony stallion respectively, the latter of the two only around his early teens at a glance, they would also find matching bullet holes.

"They all have one." Steel Tip said.

"Something doesn't seem right here." Gearshift said.

"You mean besides the fact there are four bodies in here?" Candy Cane asked.

"I mean that each of these bullet holes are in the exact same place on each of them. These four weren't randomly shot, this was an execution." Gearshift clarified.

There was a pause and stretch of silence between the group, glances being exchanged between them. Gearshift thought about the files they'd read and listened to earlier on before turning his attention to the bodies once again. Moving over to the body of the brown coated stallion, he turned the stallion onto his back. Gesturing the others to do the same, the other bodies were then turned over onto their backs as well. Moving the PipBuck lights down, the attire of the ponies was now visible - Engineering Overalls. Adorning the overalls were multiple pockets, some zipped and others free hanging. Getting an idea, he reached into the largest pocket he saw. A large chest pocket in the centre of the brown stallion's overalls. Rummaging his hoof around within the pocket, he came up empty and thus moved on to the next pocket. His ears twitched slightly, hearing Candy Cane and Steel Tip as they followed his lead but he remained focused. Moving from pocket to pocket, Gearshift became gradually more irritated at not finding anything. However, relief struck him when in the second to last pocket something brushed against his hoof. Quickly grasping the object, he pulled it towards him and out of the pocket, getting it caught up the zip a couple of times before it finally came out. In his haste to pull the object out, he pulled slightly to hard and unintentionally tossed it away from himself. The object landed with a small clatter, the sound making all three ponies look in its direction and making Candy Cane raise her pistol as a reflex.

"What was that?" she asked.

"I found something in one of the pockets." Gearshift answered.

"So you threw it?" Steel Tip asked, smirking.

Gearshift rolled his eyes hard enough to almost knock them loose from his head before shuffling over towards the object and sliding it back over so the three of them were able to see it. Looking at the object on the ground, the PipBuck light allowed them to fully see it.

"A keycard!" Candy Cane exclaimed.

The small plastic card looked back at the trio, adorned with an image of the brown earth pony stallion on the left side of the card. To the right of the card were his details.

Stone Wall
Chief Repairs Officer
Repairs/Maintenance
Level 2 Clearance

Below the details was a string of numbers that took up the entire bottom of the card. The feeling of relief returned to Gearshift, resulting in a small smile forming on his face. It would then quickly drop as quick as it had arrived.

"Wait. If this is Stone Wall, then does that mean...?" Gearshift trailed off, looking at the other bodies.

Steel Tip and Candy Cane checked the remaining pockets on the respective bodies they'd been checking moments earlier, eventually pulling out matching cards from the two unicorn mares. Gearshift checked over the younger earth pony stallion but failed to find a card in any of his pockets.

"Repairs Crew Member Spark Plug. Level 1 clearance." Steel Tip read out.

"Repairs Crew Member Live Wire. Level 1 clearance." Candy Cane read.

Glancing at the two of them as they read, Gearshift then looked towards the remaining body without a card to accompany it.

"That must be Solder Iron, the trainee." he said softly.

"He's just a kid." Candy Cane said.

Gearshift and Steel Tip looked at one another before looking back at the body of the young buck.

Standing back up, Steel Tip looked at Gearshift once more and placed a hoof on his shoulder.

"Come on, we need to get back to the others." He said, his tone of voice soft but composed simultaneously.

Gearshift looked at him before turning to look at Candy Cane, who nodded her head before standing up. Taking one last look at the bodies, Gearshift bowed his head in a moment of respect for the four lives lost. After doing so, he pulled himself to his hooves and turned to the others.

"Let's go."

◇◇◇◇◇

Galloping back up the stairs and down the hallway, the trio could hear the feint sound of voices the closer and closer they got to the area they'd left the others in. Coming around the corner, Gearshift almost crashed into Fresh Canvas as he came out of one of the rooms. Quickly stopping himself, he stumbled slightly but didn't fall into him.

"Gear!" Fresh said upon turning to look at him. "You're back!" His words made the others look in their direction, Tulip and Lavender Blossom in the hall and the others poking their heads out from the rooms they were in.

"Good to see you all again." Butch said, walking over to them. "I hope y'all have had better luck than we have."

"As a matter of fact we have." Candy Cane said, levitating the keycard she had into view, Steel Tip doing the same.

Gearshift held up his with his teeth before sliding it back into his pocket.

"You found three of those?!" Lavender Blossom asked in surprise.

"We did but..... we found them on bodies." Gearshift informed them, the information getting a few concerned looks from the group.

"You didn't harm anyone in order to get those did you?" Butch asked, slightly narrowing his eyes.

"No." Gearshift answered, shaking his head. "They were dead when we found them. But that's not all."

"It isn't?" Tulip asked.

"Each of them had a matching bullet hole in the centre of their foreheads." Steel Tip said.

"Matching bullet holes?" Butch asked.

"We're not wanting to confirm anything yet but it looked a lot like an execution. They were laying face down when we came into the room." Gearshift answered. Briefly glancing at his PipBuck, he checked the readings. "There were also traces of radiation on the inside of a generator room."

"Radiation?!" The group exclaimed.

"Not a heavy amount but it is there." He clarified.

The group would all look at one another before Butch spoke up.

"All things considered, we do need to keep moving if we want to find your core." He said.

Nodding in agreement, the group turned towards the Level 1 Labs door once again. Walking towards the door, Candy Cane levitated up her card. Being the closest to the door, she inserted her keycard into the slot on the underside of the keypad, a small chime playing as it was inserted. On the screen, the previously displayed message had now changed, now displaying a new one.

--Keycard Inserted--
Initializing...

--Welcome [LIVE WIRE]--
Please input keycard number code.
*****

Looking at the number at the bottom of the card, Candy typed it out onto the keypad. The numbers weren't as many compared to Stone Wall's card, but they did match up with the required amount. Upon typing in the code, she stepped back from the keypad and a second chime played.

ACCESS GRANTED

The doors slid open, revealing the labs to the group. Seconds later, the lights flickered to life. One by one, the group entered the labs and got their first look at the work stations that scientists would've worked at day to day. Across said stations laid multiple forms of equipments such as beakers and test tubes, multiple sets of each at each work station. In the far corner of the room was a lab coat room, a couple of coats visible from where they were standing.

"Alright, let's fan out and check this place out. There's got to be something around here that we can use to find our way to get the core." Gearshift told them.

The group then split off into various sections of the room, looking through drawers, cupboards and desks in order to find anything that might be useful to them.

Gearshift walked over to the lab coat room on the far side, stepping through the open door and moving to each coat individually. Looking in each pocket, similar to how he did with the repair crew ponies, he checked for forms of identification or anything usable. Even a piece of scrap paper could help at this point. Gearshift eventually got to the far side of the coat room, stepping past the final pair of coats before pushing open a door on the far side, another light flickering to life and allowing Gearshift to look around. The room he currently found himself in was a storage room, thus, not very helpful. A quick scan of the room left Gearshift empty hoofed, the only items inside of notes being a wrench, a small box of pins and screws and a sweeping broom. Fanfuckingtastic. Upon coming back out of the lab coat room, he looked across the room as the group had gathered on the other side of the room. None of them had any positive looks on their faces, Gearshift sharing their looks as he walked to them.

"This place is practically empty." Lavender Blossom groaned.

"Evidently they'd cleared this place out." Butch said, looking amongst the group and at the drawers they'd been looking through.

"Well, this is only the bottom floor, I'm sure there will be more useful things further up." Snowball said optimistically, to which the others acknowledged with nods and small smiles.

"Optimism like that will see us through." Butch said. "Come on, the sooner we get moving to the upper floors the more likely we are to find things."

Turning in the direction of the open door, the group made their way back out into the hallway. Collectively agreeing on a new course of action, the group headed in the direction they hadn't travelled thus far - towards the stairwell.

◇◇◇◇◇

Having moved through the near silent hallways, the humming of the ceiling lights the only form of noise, the Stable Ponies and Deputy came to the bottom of the level 1 stairwell. Looking up the stairs, the top of which disappeared into a black abyss of darkness, some of the group looked at one another. However, Gearshift was looking straight into the dark.

"Looks like we're going into that. Keep close and keep your eyes open." He told the others, switching the light of his PipBuck back on once again. Glancing at Butch, the two nodded at one another as the latter remained alongside Gearshift. Once all PipBuck lights were on, Gearshift began walking up the metallic stairs, the group's hooves clanking against them as they ascended. Gearshift, Butch and Steel Tip were up front with Candy Cane, Tulip and Snowball behind them and Lavender Blossom bringing up the rear with Fresh Canvas, the two of them looking over their shoulders occasionally as they walked.

The temperature seemed to decrease as they ascended the staircase. Tilting his gaze upwards, Gearshift noticed a sign marked 'Level 2', thanks to the feint glow of the edge of the group's light source. The staircase proved to be longer than expected as the group had spent at least a minute climbing it, although, they did get to the top of it soon enough. Upon reaching the top, they were greeted by the sight of another hallway, but this one was different. The only thing visible was another sign at the far end of the corridor, illuminated by the only working light.

"Let's get a move on, we can check the sign for where to-" Butch began. He didn't get the sentence all the way out however as the bulb in the ceiling light above the sign burst. No, not burst, was deliberately taken out.

Taking a few steps forward, Gearshift tried to get a look at anything he could make out.... which wasn't much. Looking down at his PipBuck momentarily, the targeting spell only showed the others standing behind him. That was until he picked his head up and a figure darted across the hall half way down ahead of him, promptly making his heart jump up out of his chest and lodge itself in his throat.

"What the fuck was that?" He whispered, taking a step back towards the others. His entire coat hairs stood up on ends, his brain spinning wildly as he had to genuinely question himself if he had just seen something or his brain was making him out to be an idiot and playing tricks on him.

"What was what?" Tulip asked, peeking out from behind Butch and looking down the hallway past Gearshift.

She was soon answered when two more figures bolted across the hall.... and this time they were closer. All of the group had seen them that time, some of them staggering back in surprise, Snowball nearly staggered into Lavender Blossom upon seeing them. What followed was silence. Cold, haunting silence. Gearshift's eyes remained focused on the doorway he'd seen the two figures dart into, so focused that when Full House was raised up and levitated into his peripheral vision, he flinched. The others that were armed raised their own weapons and aimed down the hallway, ready for whatever came next. Moving a hoof to his belt, Gearshift felt around for his baton. He kept his eyes forward, narrowing them at the doorway. Raising a hoof to step forward once again, Gearshift inhaled through his nose in anticipation for something to make a sound or move through his limited field of vision. But nothing came as he had prepared for.

Cautiously turning his head, his eyes met Steel Tip's momentarily. A loud bang swiftly followed and a bullet flew between them both, embedding in the wall behind them.

Author's Note

Holy Sweet Goddesses!!

I'm so late with this next part.

I'm so so sorry everyone for making you wait several months, but I've had loads going on in my personal life. From exams, to moving out for the next year of school, to other personal stuff. So yeah, hopefully this makes up for it. Let me know what you think!

Fly High~