Valera shot at the Snork as it jumped towards him, quickly sidestepping to avoid its body. Turning to the left, he unloaded on a back of Blind Dogs, the mutated creatures falling to the ground. He didn’t know why he was fighting, but he did know one thing.
He was losing.
The wall to his right burst apart, showering him with bricks that, strangely, did not hurt when they hit him. He turned towards it and unloaded on the vague shape that showed there, reloading his rifle when his bullets stopped shooting. The Pseudogiant charged at him as he continued firing, slamming into him as he backpedaled, flinging him back into a wall. Valera fired off a final burst, and the mutant went down, dead.
‘This is not your home, Human.’ A voice boomed in his head.
Getting off of the ground, he looked around, spotting a vaguely human shape through the mist in the distance. He could see it, and knew it was a Controller, one of the deadliest mutants in the Zone, but he did not care. He could feel his grip on sanity loosen as he looked at it, unable to turn away.
Suddenly, the area around him turned to mist, and the sky slowly turned to a black sheet, with what looked like stars dotting it. Even the Controller he had seen went away, dissolving into the dream that he now knew he was in. In the distance, through the mist around him, he thought he spotted something… Different. It looked at him, whatever it was, before disappearing.
Valera opened his eyes and sat up, breathing heavily. He was back inside of the cavern, where his new home truly was, on the comfortable bed in it. Swinging his left to the left, he sat on the edge of the bed and put his face in his hands, going through everything that he had seen in his head.
For reasons unknown to him, and to science, the Zone produced nightmares. Terrifying nightmares that often had STALKERs refusing to sleep inside of the Zone because of them. Sometimes STALKERs would simply die in their sleep, consumed by whatever had caused them.
He knew he should not be getting them here, as he was nowhere near the Zone now. Maybe this was a normal nightmare; God knows he had enough experience with the horrors of the Zone to get them. The question on his mind, however, was simple: What had caused the nightmare to vanish?
“Trouble sleeping?” Asked a voice in front of him.
Looking up, Valera could see Stepa, the Merc, laying down on his bed all the way across the room, looking at him. Frowning, Valera nodded.
“Zone nightmare.” He explained, causing Stepa to raise an eyebrow.
“Aren’t we out of the Zone?” The Merc asked.
“Don’t I know it…” The STALKER replied, laying back down and pulling the cotton blanket over him. Checking his PDA, he noted the time. “It’s around noon, you know.”
“Does time matter in a cave?” Stepa asked.
“No, but I want it to matter. Fuck it; I’m getting something to eat. Do you have anything?”
“Four pieces of bread.”
“Hand me one, will you?” Valera said.
Stepa turned around, digging through his pack, before coming up with two small loaves of bread. He tossed one towards Valera, who caught it easily, before they both began to eat. Valera finished and washed it down with some water from his canteen, no longer feeling the pangs of hunger.
One of the Changelings walked into the room. Seeing Valera and Stepa, it quickly walked in and stopped in the middle.
“Queen Chrysalis would like to speak to you.” The Changeling said in an unwavering voice. “The Queen said to arm yourselves.” It then quickly walked out, its resolve apparently loosening.
Valera quickly got out of his bed and walked to the bottom of it, picking up the pieces of the armor. He quickly put on the leggings, locking them in black before picking up the chestpeice and slipping it on, closing certain latches and locking it on. He looked over to Stepa, who was likewise donning his armor. Finally, Valera put the chemical-resistant gloves on before donning his helmet, the armor now complete.
The STALKER grabbed his hardened pack and slung it behind him, attaching it to the armor and slipping his arms through the straps. Valera grabbed his sniper and shotgun and slung them, before slipping his Black Kite into a holster on his hip and gripping his TRs-301.
Looking over at Stepa, he could see that the Merc was likewise armed and armored.
“Are you ready?” Stepa asked.
“Let’s go. I have the route plotted.” Valera said, pulling up his miniradar images of the cave that it had been taking and activating the link to Stepa’s PDA, broadcasting the information to the Merc. They moved out of their room and past the Freedom STALKER’s room. Moving towards the waypoint that marked the ‘Throne Room’, as Valera called it, took ten minutes.
When they walked into the large room, Chrysalis was waiting for them at the other end. The STALKER and the Merc walked up to the edge of the small raised area that marked the place where she stood, and stopped.
“What do you need?” Valera asked.
“I have a disturbance I need you to investigate.” Chrysalis said. “At the entrance to the Hive, I have lost contact with the four Changeling guards. The two I sent to ‘Investigate’ likewise were pulled from the Hive Mind, and I do not want to risk further Changelings. I can still sense them, but they are not responding to any of my questioning.”
“So you want us to take a look at it.” Stepa said.
“Precisely. Do you still know the way?” Chrysalis asked.
“I have it mapped.” Valera responded.
“Then go. You will be paid depending on what it turns out to be.” Chrysalis said, obviously dismissing them. Turning around, the two set out through the tunnel, guided by Valera’s map.
“Hey Stepa?” Valera said.
“Yes Valera?” The Merc replied.
“What will we find?” The STALKER asked.
“I don’t know.”
They continued walking through the tunnel, headed for the entrance they had come in through. The tunnel, yet again, was nearly deserted, aside from the occasional Changeling walking through it or at the side, along with the occasional branching path.
In no time, they entered the area around the entrance. They were two hundred meters from the exit, when Valera noticed something.
“Stepa, are you feeling a headache?” The STALKER asked.
“For a moment, yes, but it passed.” The Merc said, pausing. “Why is there a white mist coming down the hallway?”
Valera turned towards the tunnel and frowned at what he saw. “I don’t see a white mist. It looks sort of like a ‘Fruit Punch’ anomaly. I still have the headache, though.”
“Impossible.” Stepa said. “We can’t be seeing different things, unless…” The Merc paused, looking at Valera, who had stopped walking.
“What, Stepa?” Valera asked.
Valera could see the Merc take his pack off and dig out a sheet with pills. Quickly taking off his helmet, Stepa punched one of them out and swallowed it, turning towards Valera as he put his helmet back on and holding out the sheet.
“Valera! It’s a Psi-image!” The Merc said urgently. “Take one of these.”
Valera unlatched his helmet and took one of the pills as Stepa put it back in his pack, swallowing it down. The taste was bitter, but seconds alter he could feel his headache recede. Once he put his helmet back on, he looked down the hallway and gasped.
“Stepa!” Valera said. “The ‘Fruit Punch’ I saw is gone…”
“It’s something sending out a Psi-emission.” The Merc explained. “When I signed up for the Black Dawn PMC, they gave me a sheet of Psy-Block. It suppresses Psi-emissions, but it’s very expensive. What you saw was a projection in your head.”
“So that wasn’t real?” Valera responded in an even tone. Strangely, Valera sensed himself becoming much calmer, almost detached.
“Yes. We are not alone in coming from the Zone, I think.” Stepa replied in the same tone.
‘So, you are the ones who have come near.’ A voice said in Valera’s head, which he recognized with a small amount of horror as the one from his dream. ‘It seems you are special, in a way. No STALKER has yet resisted my influence. Do you dare to come closer?’
“A Controller.” Valera stated.
“I’ve never heard one speak before.” Stepa said.
“Oh, they’re perfectly intelligent.” Valera replied. “How do you think they overpower STALKERs? Well, I have one question: How long does the Psy-Block last?”
“A little over two hours.” Stepa said.
Valera nodded. “Enough time. Let us continue forward.”
The two went forward, headed for the entrance. Valera had his TRs-301 out, and Stepa had his GP-37 at the ready. Together, they rounded a corner. In front of them was the room they had camped in the first night: Valera could see scattered ashes on the floor. At the back of the room stood the Controller, staring at them.
Valera knew that the Controller could not harm them with Psi-control with the Psy-block, but the appearance of it still alarmed him. He raised his rifle at the same time as Stepa and fired, blasting all twenty-four rounds left in his magazine at the mutant as the Merc did the same.
What surprised him, however, was that when he lowered his rifle, he could see that the Controller was still there. Six of the Changelings were around it, the strange horn-like things on their foreheads glowing a bright green. Surrounding them was what looked quite a bit like a shield out of a video game Valera had once played, and what he assumed was the thing that had kept them alive.
“What the fuck just happened?” Stepa asked, his voice still the same calm, level tone.
“I think we did not kill it.” Valera stated as he watched Stepa lower his GP-37.
‘These creatures are interesting.’ The Controller’s voice in his head said. ‘They have the abilities that you refer to as Psi, and much more besides. They were connected, but not controlled by, another one of their kind similar to myself. As you can see, you cannot harm me, and I cannot harm you.’
Valera reloaded his TRs-301 as Stepa did the same with his rifle.
“So… Stalemate?” Stepa asked.
“Stalemate.” Valera agreed. “We have enough Psy-Block to halt any attacks it makes, and it has a shield.”
They stared at the Controller, waiting. Finally, after a short time, a voice echoed in Valera’s head.
‘Do not attempt to follow us.’ It said.
The Controlled turned towards the exit, along with the Changelings, the thin shimmer of the shield clearly visible. Once they were at the edge of the exit, the rock wall that has disguised the entrance was enveloped in a green glow and slammed shut, enveloping them in darkens before Valera and Stepa activated their flashlights.
“Well… That was interesting.” Valera said as he turned around and started walking, Stepa right behind him.
“Certainly.” The Merc replied. “We just encountered a Controller, and none of us or it ended up dead.”
“I have a feeling it’s going to cause problems later.” Valera stated.
“It probably will.” Stepa agreed.
Once they got back to the throne room and explained to Chrysalis what had happened, Valera noticed that she seemed very pissed off by it. Nevertheless, she mentioned that they would receive payment for what they had found, and with that promise Valera and Stepa walked back to their room.
Valera quickly removed his SEVA suit once he arrived, enjoying the fresh air in contrast to the stale taste of the filtered air inside of his armor. It may have saved him multiple times from ‘Fruit Punch’ anomalies and other dangers, but it did not make it any less annoying.
A Changeling arrived shortly with 200 bits for each of them. From what he had gathered, it was a paltry sum, but still worth the time. Laying back in the bed, he fell off into sleep again, enjoying the opportunity to finally rest, away from the Zone and all of its dangers. Whatever the next day would hold, Valera knew he would overcome it, as he always had.