[CENTER][img]https://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjExNi40NTQ1NDUuUTA5T1ZFRkpUazFGVGxRLC4wAA,,/bark.bark.png[/img][/center]

[hr]
[hr]

There was a shuddering, screeching noise from somewhere above the heads of the slowly awakening subjects. Then, all at once, the lights would go out totally. There was a moment of total, complete darkness and silence. Then another. Then another. Then, from somewhere within the facility, a noise would slowly build back up. It was somewhere between a thrum, chug and a roar, a steady noise that grew and grew until it finally settled down. As it did so, the lights would flick back on, but rather than the bright white, they were now a more muted yellow, tinging everything with a grimy sort of look.

An automated message would judder out. "Attention" it said, some half-destroyed processor somewhere causing it to echo an 'att' sound. "The facility is now on backup power. Do not be alarmed, the site can function on backup power for five days. Staff will be working to fix the problem. Thank you for your cooperation." The voice would repeat the message, echoes and all, one more time, before cutting off. The lifegiving sounds of the ventilation system coming back online would whirr out throughout the halls. 

For a moment, that seemed to be all the disembodied, likely automated voice had to say about things, but then it would return. "Attention."  It said again, the same echo following it. "Breakfast is now being served. Please make your way in a calm and orderly fashion to the canteen." It repeated the message again, much like the previous time, before shutting off for good. 

Breakfast still being served? It seemed perhaps incongruent with the utter lack of anyone else around to do the serving, but perhaps this was all some sort of great misunderstanding, and the staff would, indeed, be around, like they had always been. Or, perhaps, the automated message was a vestige of a time when there [i]had[/i] been a breakfast to be served... But that was a little more of a depressing thought.