The vehicle creaks and grinds as it starts up, trembling precariously but ultimately roaring to life.
After successfully starting the mining cart, you turn back to Liv's side. The only surviving vehicle in the mine begins to move forward, gradually picking up speed.
Let's see... We have Rodent's exploration logs, some laboratory protocols, equipment inventories...
Liv sifts through the documents gathered from the lab's perimeter, her eyes catching on crucial data which she swiftly feeds into her terminal.
It doesn't seem like there's anything of immediate value. Maybe... Hm?
Suddenly, her fingers freeze, then move rapidly as a report materializes on the screen.
Psychologist Generation III, Serial Number III-0007...
Psychologist Generation III... Are these Melinoe's treatment records?
Initial Patient Intake
Name: Andre
Age: 36
Marital Status: Married
Position: Coal Mining Machine Operator, Sector Two
First Consultation Date: xx/xx/xxxx
Presenting Issue: Severe occupational burnout
Family Status: Married with one son. Has not returned to his home city in 3 years.
I can't work anymore. I just can't do this... I want to go home...!
Please state your request.
I already told you! I want to go home! I want to go HOME!
To hell with "occupational burnout"! There's nothing wrong with my mind! I'm not sick!
Emotion extraction protocol activated.
Protocol in progress—
Emotion extraction protocol complete.
...
Andre, still connected to several electrode pads, stares blankly into space.
Please state your request.
My... request...
What did I... want to do just now?
Your psychological consultation is complete. Thank you for your compliance. Please rate your experience. We look forward to your next visit.
Initial Patient Intake
Name: Jennica
Age: 40
Marital Status: Married
Position: Hydraulic Support Technician, Sector Three
First Consultation Date: xx/xx/xxxx
Presenting Issue: Severe occupational burnout, marital tensions
...
Initial Patient Intake
Name: Monnan
Age: 47
Marital Status: Married
Position: Researcher, Laboratory Team Three
First Consultation Date: xx/xx/xxxx
Presenting Issue: Severe occupational burnout
...
The treatment records alone amount to over 1,300 entries.
...
You both release a synchronized, weary sigh at the 2,600-page testament to Melinoe's "work."
Next, surveillance footage unfolds, years of it, recorded from inside the "psychological treatment room."
There she sits, Melinoe, a constant, smiling figure receiving a stream of mine workers and lab staff.
One by one, they enter bristling with rage, and one by one, they depart, their burdens seemingly lifted.
Time lurches forward...
The machines...! They've all gone crazy!
They're evacuating everyone. Come on, we have to move! Now— Agh!
Hey! Stay with me... ****! What are we supposed to do now?!
What does it look like?! We run!
But what about Melinoe? She's the company's asset!
Forget the company! We're not gonna make it, and you're worried about that?!
A violent crash of sound—metal shrieks, screams are cut short. The camera shudders and tilts, casting the world at a nauseating angle.
Perhaps a backup generator deep in the mine hums on, because the lens remains a living eye.
More time, unmeasured, slips away...
The "Model III-0007-Psychiatrist Generation III" sits silently behind the desk. Then, without any human activation, it slowly opens its eyes.
With the slow, grating creak of dry metal, she stands and walks toward the fallen camera—
...We're almost at the lab on the other side, Commandant.
