>>5682475Honestly, you're not sure exactly where these tunnels will lead in either direction.
Technically you aren't even sure what these tunnels even are.
So with that in mind, you flip a mental coin and choose a direction at random.
That happens to have you going west, upstream.
"Captain, i believe we are heading in the wrong direction." SHODAN informs you.
"I know. But we don't know if this pipe will turn around in twenty feet or not, so it doesn't really matter. We'll just have to look around a bit."
"If you insist, Captain."
To be honest, it doesn't really matter to you. You just need to go somewhere.
So you do. And it doesn't take long for you to realize that these tunnels are an absolute maze.
If it wasn't for SHODAN mapping the tunnels as you go, you'd already be lost. Or at least close to it.
But the farther you walk, the more you notice strange things here and there.
Areas that look almost livable. Tables, chairs, maybe even beds... all cast out of concrete, sure, but that's what they look like.
Sometimes it's just an alcove, other times there's a whole room off to the side.
No lights, no electricity, just the sound of flowing water.
But it's all terribly clean, so you can't say for sure that it's ever been lived in.
"Captain... look at this." SHODAN says, stopping you.
You turn and look at where her headlamp is pointed.
It's hard to see what she's talking about at first, until she steps to the side so that the lamp casts a shadow.
There are markings in the surface of the concrete pipe. What look like letters, but which your implant can't seem to translate.
"Looks like they were made when the concrete was still wet." You note, looking them over more carefully.
"They seem to have been scratched into the surface with a tool, or perhaps a claw." SHODAN adds.
Looking around a bit more, you see a pair of small handprints next to the scratchings.
They have five thin fingers, almost bone-thin by the looks of it. And from the looks of it, they do in fact have claws.
But one handprint seems to be larger than the other, just by a bit.
So two of them, then. At the least.
"Do you recognize this handprint, SHODAN?"
She stops to think for a moment, no doubt scouring her anatomical database for any potential match.
"No exact matches, Captain."
"What about partial matches?" You ask.
"...All rodent-esque species."
"Oh, good. Look out for rat droppings, then."
Moving on, you follow the water uphill until you end up at a larger tunnel.
The water here is slow-moving, almost still. It only seems to be flowing off into various smaller branching tunnels, like the one you came from.
But unlike the tunnel you came from, this one actually has lights.
Not a lot, but it does have them.
"...Does this are show up on the map, at least?" You ask.
