595 stood up unsteadily and grabbed her gun. She could tell there was more to learn here, but they needed to re-establish contact with the rig first. “Alright. Let’s move.”

They set off at a jog, scanning in all directions. They’d only made it halfway round the masonry covering the throne when the relative calm of the simulation was interrupted by an unbearably loud [url=https://freesound.org/people/drzhnn/sounds/199938/]blip[/url].. “I’ve heard that before! Ground team, come in and tell me you heard that.” The Agent urged while on the move.

“What...have...you...DONE?” A synthesised voice called to them from behind - the hatchway! 595 spun round and raised her weapon, breathing heavily. She could see nothing there. Just then, a burst of static arrived via comms from the rig. It was drowned out by a longer [url=https://freesound.org/people/drzhnn/sounds/199939/]sound[/url] they’d identified as some kind of data transmission, then an immense crash from the mountain they were on. She could hear cracks spreading. “Shit!” 

595 looked back towards the door. They only had a thin view through the temple at the spectrometer. She focused, and saw the boxy shape begin to scrape backwards towards the rig, pulled by its cable.

[hr]Freyr had only just recovered from her own vision when the mountain started to collapse. A faint blue light shone through the snow covering the plinth, and the lights inside the rig started flickering wildly. Some consoles around Freyr turned off completely; others flashed with alien symbols.

“What's going on?” Dr Wetherall shouted. He’d moved up to the bridge to attend Freyr when she’d shown signs of distress. No immediate response from Nirann. “Nirann!”

Freyr’s stomach lurched, and suddenly the floor wasn’t even any more. She grabbed hold of the command console for support. “Get back downstairs now! Figure out what's going on.” She ordered. “Marae, where is Nirann?” She asked, moving awkwardly towards the cockpit.