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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/ThatGuyWhosAfraid on 2024-11-28 16:18:21+00:00.
I need advice.
I joined the United States Army in 2002. I will spare the tiny details and give the gist of what I was doing before the events I am about to disclose. The crew I was with consisted of several different intellectuals of several different subjects. I was brought in to lead the physics branch of five people (including me). There was also a chemistry and biology branch totaling fifteen different people, plus a guy who was under direct orders from the Secretary of Defense.
None of the scientists knew why they had been called, nor how underprepared they (or I suppose we) all were.
“As you know, we have taken all of your means of communication with the outside world. The task that you fifteen people have needs to be one of the best-kept secrets ever,” Wallace, the man who was giving orders, paced as he spoke, “I will be the only way for any of you to communicate with the outside world. Any questions?”
The Idea reminded me of how the atomic bombs were made, each scientist getting a piece of the puzzle without any idea of what the larger picture could be. One of the Biologists, Lawrence, raised his hand, “Why? What is the big secret?”
“We will get to that subject in a moment. Please just follow my orders right now.”
We were ushered into a plane, then (after several hours) a helicopter, and then after that, a building.
We made it to the location where we would be staying for the next several months, possibly years should we have to stay longer. The base was someplace in the middle of nowhere, probably in the Middle East considering the time it took and the surroundings. The base looked dirty on the outside, appearing abandoned. Inside the base were two other people keeping the place warm and clean.
The two greeted us and showed us around. We had all the basics, bedrooms, bathrooms, workplaces, etc. The place wasn’t quickly built, they had planned for this for a long while before we were brought over. Looking at the walls and the technology in the building, they must have been planning this for years.
In the center of the base, there was a shallow cave.
We couldn’t enter this center area immediately, the inside of the cave was highly radioactive. This meant that only one team at a time would be permitted to go inside the cave to get the data that they needed if they needed it.
My team was chosen to go second. The excitement of discovering something new to help America infected each team member. After the first group of five (the biologists) returned from the cave, we wasted no time getting the protective gear and rushing inside.
There wasn’t much to the cave itself, but opposite the entrance was a statue of some strange face, black as coal. The face was larger than everyone, probably eight feet tall. Whatever the face was made out of was very radioactive, emitting around 200 roentgen. The artistry and detail of the statue amazed me. But it did not make sense yet.
Why were we brought out to… Why were we brought out in the first place? What was going on?
After my group of five was done with our observations, we traded with the last group. And after the last group returned, we all were gathered in a room where Wallace began to speak.
“I apologize, there was some paperwork that needed to be signed.” He sat down with the rest of us, shifting, visibly uncomfortable. “What I say next may… it may come to confuse you, or… you won’t believe it.” He let out a long sigh before continuing, “What you saw in that cave is older than any known life on Earth.”
“Are you suggesting that aliens made that statue in that cave?” Charlie, one of my physicist colleagues blurted.
“That isn’t a statue.” He paused, as what he was suggesting slowly began to sink in.
“That is the alien… himself?” Someone unfamiliar to me asked.
“That’s… definitely possible- but why did we-“ another person I didn’t know very well began to speak but was quickly cut off.
“Let me speak.” Wallace’s voice was dark, demanding the attention of all of us. “We know jack shit about this thing, why we only found it now- found it two years ago- nobody knows anything! That is why you all are here.” He paused. “Now, it is your job to figure out its origins. Figure out how it functions, and what we should do about it.”
The room was silent.
“Now, you are dismissed. I hope you all got all the samples and data you needed for today. You are only allowed to go in there with my supervision, or by getting approval from Kendrick.” Kendrick was one of the guys already here once we arrived.
We all made quick work, everyone gathering as much information as possible.
We spent the next few weeks examining, but other than our initial observations we had no idea what to do next. We poked and prodded the thing but got no reaction or anything, we couldn’t get a pulse or find breathing. Its skin was harder than any earth material, a mix of carbon and several different metals.
During the long weeks of not finding anything new, Lawrence would sit next to me during some of our meals. The Biologist and I had become somewhat of friends despite never meeting before this mission. He always made an attempt to get me to ‘open up’ about my life and how I ended up as the lead in our physics branch of five. Truth is, I am just good at math and I had no money. So I joined the army.
Lawrence never liked that answer, “It’s too boring of an answer for a guy with good looks like you.”
“Sorry, I’m not the main character with a tragic backstory.” I’d always respond.
Lawrence would then tell me about himself. I didn’t care at all, but I’d still ended up entertaining him, trying to be polite. He would talk about his mom back home, and how his dad was in the army before he passed away from some sort of cancer. He made the choice to join the army during his Sophomore year of high school, working hard to get into the best army-related programs while attempting to maintain a social life. In such a social life he would break the hearts of girls and even have his own heart broken; telling me names of girls I had never met. A far more fulfilling high school experience to contrast my high school experience which lacked any real human connection.
Seb or some other scientist would then sit down (Sebastian was a physicist under me) and be forced to tell us both about himself.
Lawrence brought a home-like feeling to a place that otherwise would put us all on edge.
But we all still had work to do.
A few of the guys were about to give up after one month, but on a random Saturday night, the thing opened his eyes.
I was the first in the room this time, I was the first to make contact, I was the first to see his two amber Irises almost- no, they were glowing. The inferno of hell seemed to reach for me from those eyes. This giant was alive.
The four other scientists who followed me paused, shock, horror, and fear washed over them.
Slowly, suddenly, loudly this alien turned the ends of his mouth into a smile. Dust, soot, and ash broke free from its face. A low sound was emitted from the thing as we watched, along with that sound one of the Geiger Counters began to show a massive increase in radiation. We were immediately called to leave the cave we had to retreat outside of the initial building as the radiation became out of control. A couple hundred feet outside the building entrance, we were still getting signs of dangerous radiation.
We had to set up an emergency camp, that night we surveyed the entire area. The radiation from the thing now was cast out across just under a mile radius with the cave as the center. The small ensemble of scientists all gathered under one tent to discuss what the hell happened that morning.
But none of us could come up with an explanation. The conclusion (or rather the solution) was that we needed better equipment, better and more accurate instruments, and- if possible, a way to dig this thing up.
The next day we got most of what we asked for and more. We now had fifteen experimental suits that were supposed to be better equipped to help us reach this thing buried in the sand, alongside fifteen more people who were all engineers. They brought instruments we had never seen before and showed us how to use them.
There was one girl among those new fifteen people, she gave me her latest invention, a stronger, better, drill.
“It’s simple but heavy. You carry that large battery and the drill can drive a hole in anything.”
“Thank you, this should help gather the samples we need.”
“If it’s alright, can I ask what kind of samples are you getting with such a drill? I mean, this isn’t the most advanced technology- you could get the same effect with a larger drill, or even an explosive.” She had an accusing look and tone that would have made any untrained person crack under the pressure. But if she didn’t already know, she didn’t need to know.
“There is a cave, its structure is very unstable but we need to get something out from the center.”
“What is in the center?”
“I can’t disclose that right now. You know how the government is with its secrets.”
I add straps to the large battery, allowing it to be carried like a backpack. The two of us talk a bit more- mostly about conspiracy theories. After some time had passed, it was time for the original fifteen scientists to return to the building and gather more data from the demonic statute.
The closer we got, the more radioactive the area became. The inside of the building went from zero roentgens to 200…
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