In the end, everyone decided to simply ignore Emily’s comments. Although I didn’t know the exact reason, I imagined it was some kind of defense mechanism to avoid fear—especially for Laura, who looked like she might run off at any moment. However, when Emily ordered the guards to stop Laura from fleeing, her expression changed instantly, and for a moment, I thought she might cry.


    Victor, on the other hand, didn’t seem scared but rather anxious. And, well, I could understand that; after all, a containment breach could happen at any moment without warning. From Emily’s words, this happened quite often here—around nine times a year.


    I know that might seem like little, considering a year is a long time, but when you think about it, it’s nearly once a month. From the information I gathered while exploring the facility, containment breaches are rare events—though that depends a lot on the facility in question.


    At my old facility, for example, a containment breach was uncommon, happening maybe once a year if we were lucky. This, of course, was because there weren’t many truly dangerous anomalies there. From what I knew, [Shadow], now resting in peace, was the most dangerous being in that facility... although, if I think about it, I, the one who killed him, ended up becoming something even more dangerous.


    "Let’s split up for now; I have something to take care of. Laura and Victor, I want you both to take the anomaly to the containment room. The rest of you, come with me"


    My mind snapped back to the present as soon as Emily’s voice echoed beside me. After speaking, she walked down the hallway, followed by the other soldiers. In the end, only Laura, Victor, and I remained at the point where the hallway branched off to the left. We stood there for a moment, staring at the path where Emily had disappeared, before finally moving forward in the direction she had indicated.


    As I walked down the hallway, I noticed the lack of designated places to contain anomalies, unlike the base I came from. While I wasn’t sure, I guessed this was because the anomaly held in base 17 wasn’t exactly a living being. Of course, I hadn’t seen it yet, so I couldn’t draw any definitive conclusions.


    When we reached the end of the hallway, all we found was a door, similar to the one in my room at the old base. But why was there just this one? Although I hadn’t explored the entire base yet, it seemed odd that along such a long hallway, there was only a single containment room. Did that really make sense?.


    When the door opened, my eyes widened in surprise. Compared to the hallway, and seen from the outside, you wouldn’t expect to find such a large room inside. It seemed to be at least five times the size of mine. That made me think that whatever they were trying to contain, it couldn’t be something small.


    Did this have anything to do with the anomaly at base 17? To be honest, I hadn’t seen it since I arrived. Although the forest and the snow are part of the anomaly at base 17, I hadn’t had the chance to get a close look at it to draw any conclusions.


    "I know I’ve said this before, but I urgently need to find another job. When I started here, I thought I’d be dealing with simple tasks. But before I knew it, I found myself in a place where even the scientists refuse to go because of the dangers involved"


    I heard Victor’s complaint from inside my bubble. I won’t lie, I felt a little sorry for him. From my perspective, it seemed like the guy had been tricked by the high salary… By the way, how much do you think he makes? I know it’s quite a lot, but it’s not like I’ve seen his bank statement with my own eyes.


    "You’ve told me that a thousand times, Victor, and in the end, you never leave. In the end, both the security staff at the facility and the scientists are the same, we just have different roles"


    Honestly, I had no idea what they were talking about, but from what I gathered, this wasn’t the first time they’d had this conversation. Victor’s face turned grim, but in the end, he just sighed and gave a defeated look.


    (You seem to be going through a lot, Victor. Honestly, I’m rooting for your well-being, my friend)


    "... Why the hell is she looking at me like I’m a lost cause?"


    Victor seemed to notice my gaze, and Laura turned to see what was going on. When she saw me, she gave a playful smile before answering Victor’s question.


    "Are you not?"


    I saw Victor’s eyebrows furrow and a vein appear on his forehead, but let’s just skip over the next 10 seconds after that.


    ***


    (POV - Emily Parker)


    "Let’s begin the interview. I hope you can answer my questions"The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Emily’s tone at that moment was infinitely colder than usual, and her expression was as empty as a starless night. She was in a dark room, with two armed guards standing behind her, ready for anything that might happen. In front of her was a long, square table, with a man sitting on the other side.


    "Tell me, what exactly did you see?"


    Emily’s question sounded authoritative and cold, but the man just lifted his gaze and stared at her. His eyes were completely empty, devoid of any emotion or feeling. Emily, in turn, felt the same toward him.


    After all, he was a prisoner, condemned by society for horrible acts. In his case, he had cold-bloodedly killed his wife and daughter. To Emily, people like him weren’t human, but merely tools she could—and would—use to gather more data on dangerous anomalies.


    "You... no, all of you, have no idea what that thing really is, do you? That damn Black Lake!"


    Despite the man''s angry and agitated voice, Emily showed no reaction. Her gaze remained emotionless as she stared at him, completely ignoring him. Calmly, she picked up a folder with documents beside the desk and began to read them.


    "It says here that about four months ago, another attempt at interaction was made at the Black Lake. Along with you, there were 12 other prisoners, but you were the only one found a few meters from the pool, buried in the thick snow. What exactly happened? There''s nothing in the reports"


    Emily lowered the report and fixed her gaze on the man. However, he didn''t answer her question; instead, he grabbed his own head with his hands and began to shake almost uncontrollably, repeating the same words.


    "We made it angry! We made it angry! We made it angry!"


    Emily raised an eyebrow upon hearing the man''s repeated words; to her, it seemed he had just suddenly gone mad. She then glanced behind him, where a guard was standing ready, and gave a slight nod. The guard quickly approached, pulling a syringe from his pocket. Without delay, he applied it to the man''s neck and began injecting its contents.


    Within seconds, the man visibly calmed down. His breath, once harsh and rapid, began to return to a normal rhythm. Although Emily wasn''t particularly fond of using this method, she had to admit it was effective when prisoners went off track.


    "Are you calm now? Please answer my questions. What exactly did you see at the Black Lake, four months ago?"


    Emily waited patiently for the man''s response, who was still breathing with some difficulty, but much calmer than moments ago. He looked at her before swallowing hard, his body starting to tremble again. While Emily didn''t know exactly what had happened that day, she could only imagine based on the man''s reaction whenever the topic was brought up.


    "We... we were just following the organization''s orders. They told us to use an immersion pump to try to drain the lake. Now that I think about it, I don’t know why we never considered that possibility before. If the goal was to find out what was at the bottom, why not just drain it?"


    Of course, Emily listened closely to every word the man said. After the interview, she would analyze the audio and video recordings by herself, studying them to draw her own conclusions. By the way, Graham, who was also interested in the lake, had suggested several times to drain the water.


    However, Emily always stopped him. She found the lake''s behavior strange, as if it had a life of its own, an essence that made it almost... a living being.


    In summary, what was known so far was that the lake functioned as a portal to somewhere. Its name alone suggested the mystery: it was a completely dark water lake, located in the heart of the forest.


    Although the reason was still unknown, it was confirmed that the lake created distortions in its surroundings, such as snow that never stopped falling, regardless of the season, and trees that, even when cut down, would grow back within moments.


    Of course, that wasn''t the worst part of the lake. The worst part was that "things" would often emerge from the dark water, always at different times and days, with different appearances each time. However, there was something in common between them all: they were grotesque and distorted creatures, unrecognizable as any being a human had ever seen. Furthermore, all of them, without exception, had a single goal: to hunt and kill humans.


    Although she couldn''t prove it, Emily was certain that Graham was behind the order to drain the lake. In a way, he always showed a growing impatience for results — one of his biggest flaws and the main reason why Emily despised him. After all, the more intense his thirst for results, the less human he became in his pursuit of them.


    "So, what happened after the draining started?"


    The man placed his hand on his head again after Emily''s question, but unlike the last time, he didn''t seem as scared into silence. She then waited patiently for the words he had to say.


    "We didn''t know that thing would get so furious, we had no idea what it was capable of. If we''d known, we''d have preferred to kill ourselves rather than face it"


    The man paused briefly and began looking around. His eyes didn''t fix on anything specific; he seemed just to be searching for something. When he realized there was nothing, his expression visibly relaxed, and he resumed his story.


    "Suddenly... it came out and started chasing us. Even when we hid, it seemed to know exactly where we were. When we begged, it just ignored us, and when we tried to end it all, it brought us back to life to kill us however it wanted... ha... haha... ahahahaha! We managed to make it angry, and now it’s coming to take revenge on all of us. There''s no escape here anymore. We''re all going to die here, miserably. Ahahahahahaha!!!"


    As the man became visibly agitated, starting to speak to himself and pinch his eyes with his fingers, Emily quickly ordered the guards to intervene. They rushed over and stopped him from doing whatever it seemed he was about to do. After the man was taken away, Emily was the only one left in the room. Her breath, heavy and ragged, was the only sound in that moment.


    Several disturbing thoughts passed through Emily''s mind, each more unsettling than the last. However, there was something that made her tremble more than fear: curiosity. The feeling was indescribable, a deep yearning to understand what had attacked the men. If it was possible, she wanted to study it.


    However, Emily was curious, not reckless. She knew that acting like this would be like seeking death. Finally, she sighed, resigned, stood up, and walked toward the exit of the interrogation room. Only one thought dominated her mind at that moment.


    "What the hell really happened near the Black Lake four months ago?"