130. DELTA-3/B
The area below the roof shows more signs of habitation: tents of thatched and woven grasses, ash piles from small fires, crude bowls, stones set up as work areas, etc.
Exiting the opening to the surface, labeled by the Focus as FACILITY DELTA-3/B, you see an arrangement similar to the one on the north mesa: a 10m clean zone rings the opening, followed by 30m of assorted containers, another 10m of empty ground, surrounded by arrangements of plants in rows and plots.
Glinthawks line the cliff edges of the mesa, with their backs to you.
Scanning with a Focus reveals three people at some distance among the plants, though you can’t see them without getting closer. They seem to be healthy and active, each tending the plants. At least three more people flicker in and out at the limits of Focus scanning range.
Dershal
Approaching the closest, he is a young Utaru man, in his mid-to-late teens, with a patchy, unkempt beard. He’s on the shorter side, with a thick frame. He is startled when you get his attention. His response starts off as sad and disappointed, followed by shock as he sees your weapons and equipment. Introducing himself as Dershal, he asks you to explain how you got here. He’s nervous, constantly scanning the surroundings.
If asked how he got here:
I’ve been here for three months. Some others have been here longer. We all have the same story: we went to sleep one night, and the next morning woke up in the metal room below. The voice calls it a Laboratory — have you seen it?
If asked why he has not left:
When we get too close to the edges, the Glinthawks threaten us until we move away. There are doors below, but we cannot open them, and the Shell-Walkers herd us away from even trying. We have nowhere else to go.
If asked where they live:
We’ve put up some tents inside — there’s no shortage of wood and grasses up here. Some choose to sleep up here, when the weather is not bad. Sometimes we walk down below to the Shell-Walkers, but it’s a long walk, and we get punished for not finishing our work, so we don’t do it often. It’s easier to stay up here, where they want us. The Shell-Walkers don’t bother us, but it’s hard to get any sleep down there with them doing their work all day and night.
If asked why they were brought here:
The voice says it had machines to tend the Garden, but those machines have broken, and it cannot make more. The voice brought us here to replace its broken machines.
If asked how they speak with the voice:
When we are in the room below, the place the voice calls Processing, the voice comes from everywhere. Its answers never change, so most of us have given up trying to talk to it. A few have not, continuing to pester the voice with questions, but they only drive themselves mad.
If asked how many people are here:
There are seven of us now. Two more might be deeper in the mountain, but they might also be dead. Each was escorted by Stalkers through one of the doors below, a week or so apart, and have not been seen since. They were the Scythes from Deeproot, so we don’t know much about them.
If asked whether he’d like to leave, Dershal does not immediately agree. He explains that his life here is not much different from living outside of Tapwash, as he had before — but here, he has abundant food and shelter, fewer pressures from those older than him, and no obligations to those younger. While he does not like being held captive, and would prefer to have the freedom to come and go as he pleases, he does not see his situation as objectively worse. Looking down at his clothing, he admits he misses having the elders around to make new garments for him.
Dershal could be convinced to leave, but it would take some effort. He counters that you should just help him fetch his belongings from Tapwash.
Linhi
The next closest person is an Utaru woman in her late-twenties, with short hair atop a tall and wiry frame. Her reaction is much the same as Dershal’s: surprise, sadness, and shock, followed by curiosity. She gives a story and answers similar to Dershal, but is much more anxious to leave as soon as possible: she misses her husband and three children. It is only then that she introduces herself as Linhi, a fisher and trapper by trade, and has been here for just a few weeks now. She asks if you have seen her family — when she describes them, you’re fairly certain you remember her children from when you visited Tapwash, but not her husband.
Linhi has a different perspective on the voice, squinting as she talks:
I tried to explain to the voice that the Garden needs small animals to improve, to spread seeds, to fertilize the earth, to bring new life when they return to the earth. It dismissed me, without listening. It thinks it understands the cycle, and its knowledge is impressive, but it sees one small part and thinks it sees everything. It is a child, playing with its toys. I have not seen it, but I know it is the voice of a machine — its answers go back and forth along the same paths, like a Strider in the field.
The Others
Tracking down the others in the Gardens takes some time. A young woman in her early teens, Vorea, has been here the longest at more than a half year, though she claims there were at least two others here before her who are now gone. The oldest person here is a Nora outcast named Fost, a balding and surly man in heavy furs, in his mid-thirties. The remaining trio are Utaru siblings: Kinzi, the younger sister, and Weld and Pamand, the older twin brothers. All have stories similar to Dershal and Linhi, though Dershal is the only one considering remaining here.
If you have not finished exploring the facility, the people here could be convinced to go back to work while you continue to investigate, so as not to draw attention. Otherwise, all of them will gather some food in makeshift sacks before following you back down inside.
To go back to the second Lab and through the southeast door, go to entry 131. To make your way out of the facility, go to entry 132.