Taskforce Spongbob

Mission Starts

"WHOOSH" The sound of parachutes flapping in the air echoed through the quiet night as the group touched down, swiftly taking up defensive positions and reaching for their weapons.

"West clear" Michael said immediately after landing, activating his night vision helmet and realizing that there were no enemies in the vicinity.

"East clear" Henry also cleared the East.

"North is clear" Bai successfully cleared the north.

"South clear" Hei also cleared up the south side.

"No enemies around then. Everyone, turn on your maps and follow closely behind me. Keep your eyes peeled on the surroundings. once you spot an enemy, alert the rest of us before you attack" Micheal instructed the others, his earlier seriousness returning as he grabbed his gun and followed the route on the map.

"Roger," The others responded, trailing behind him in a single file, with Michael at the forefront and the rest attentively surveying their surroundings.

They walked from the drop-off location through the arid landscape toward zone one. After some time without encountering any enemies, they finally spotted the walls of the zone. In the aftermath of recent events, the zones had been designed with stronghold-like walls surrounding them, yet multiple entrances led into the city. The exterior resembled a fortress, while the interior was akin to a vast urban area. Fortunately for the group, zone one, which was nearest to the wildlands, was smaller than the other bases; it functioned more as an operational base situated right at the edge of the wildlands.

It was strategically placed at this location to be the initial line of defense against any threats emerging from the wildlands. As a result, it served as the primary operations base, outfitted with advanced equipment and artillery designed to safeguard the Zone. Therefore, its current condition indicated that whatever caused this was something entirely different, something exceedingly perilous.

"We're here, so remain vigilant and be watchful."

Micheal provided instructions once more as they closed in on the enormous gates, which featured a large hole in the center. They climbed through to the other side, where they promptly assumed a defensive stance.

"Clear," Henry said, receiving a nod from Michael, who gave the go-ahead to the brothers. They nodded and walked stealthily toward the control tower of the gates. Upon arrival, they scanned the area for any enemies, and only after confirming that there were none did they signal for the others to approach.

"Yoshi, scan for any life signals within a 1-mile radius," Michael instructed. Yoshi nodded, its eyes illuminating as it rotated in a full 360 degrees before returning to its initial position.

"No signs of life," Yoshi reported his findings to Michael, who frowned and fell into contemplation, his gaze shifting toward the entrance of the control tower.

"I'm not sure if it's just because we've recently arrived, but it feels strange that we haven't encountered anyone yet, not even a zombie or anything of the sort." Micheal frowned and addressed the others, who nodded in agreement, sharing the same sentiment.

"Indeed, it is quite peculiar, the satellite scans showed quite a lot" Hei responded, deep in thought.

"We don't have the luxury of time to wait for answers to come to us. With only five days, we should maximize our efforts while we can. First, let's explore the tower; it could hold the answers we need," Michael proposed to the group, his gaze fixed on the tower looming ahead.

"I agree; they do have security cameras, so perhaps we could access their database to find out what happened," Yoshi said, nodding in agreement with Michael's suggestion.

"I believe that settles it; let's proceed" Bai responded promptly, seizing his gun as he and the others carefully made their way up the tower, where an ominous discovery awaited them at the summit.

*********************************************The tower loomed large, featuring several rooms on each floor. As the group entered the ground floor, they were met with a disturbing sight: the rooms were in disarray, evidence of a violent struggle. Bullet holes marred the walls, and blood splattered across both surfaces. Some doors lay broken, while the lights flickered ominously. It resembled a scene from a horror film, enough to send chills down anyone's spine. However, the group present were seasoned fighters, accustomed to death and bloodshed. They had faced numerous near-death experiences, so they were only mildly perturbed by the grim scene before them.

"I don't like this at all," Racheal remarked, staring at the scene before her with disgust, a frown etched on her face as she recalled familiar memories.

"I believe you have all realized it by now too," Henry said, glancing at the faces of the others, already anticipating that the same thought was crossing their minds.

"Indeed, where are the bodies?" Micheal spoke, 

articulating the sentiment shared by all. From the moment they arrived, not a single body had been sighted, nor even a fragment of flesh.

"Something's definitely amiss here, and we need to uncover the truth. Split up and search all the rooms, then regroup here in a minute," Michael directed before heading into the nearest room.

"Hold on!" Bai spoke, prompting the others to pause and turn their attention toward him.

"What is it?" Hei glanced at his brother, who wore a frown.

"Do you honestly believe we should separate? That's exactly how people end up getting killed in horror movies," Bai responded, prompting his brother to facepalm.

"What's the matter with you, Bai? First, we don't have time, and second, yes, it's dangerous, but it's also essential to cover more ground. Now stop being a scaredy cat and get moving," Michael said before stepping into the room behind him.

"I'm not scared, just worried, that's all. Ughh, screw it," Bai said, shrugging as the others departed.

*********************************************

"So, any developments?" Micheal inquired once everyone had gathered.

"Nope, still nothing—no bodies and not a single camera in sight," Henry replied, and the others nodded in agreement, indicating that they were in the same situation.

"Where is Bai?" Yoshi inquired, prompting the others to recognize that Bai had not come back with the others.

"Guys, I found something," Bai exclaimed, his voice urgent as he hurried out of the room, a serious expression on his face.

"What is it?" The others approached him quickly, yet with a sense of caution.

"I found a half-eaten sandwich," Bai replied, displaying the decayed sandwich he held in his hands.

"Really? A half-eaten sandwich?" Henry said in shock, rolling his eyes.

"Actually, it's not that bad. Yoshi, can you scan the sandwich for the last time it was eaten and check for any existing DNA samples? Maybe if there are remnants of saliva" Micheal suggested after a moment of thought. He glanced at Yoshi, who nodded and took the sandwich from Bai, who was grinning. Yoshi's eyes then scanned the sandwich, a bluish light moving across it before returning to Yoshi's eyes.

"The DNA sample has been lost due to the activity of micro bacteria on it, so I can't identify the person who ate this. However, the last time it was consumed was 5 days ago," Yoshi reported after scanning the sandwich. He then dropped it onto the ground, earning a light glare from Bai.

"Hmm, five days ago, you say? Let's head to the upper floors; perhaps we'll uncover some answers there." Micheal said, taking hold of his gun and glancing around one final time before ascending to the upper floors with the others.

*********************************************

"Aha! Finally a system that I can use!" Bai exclaimed in excitement as he arrived on the first floor and spotted the control center, which he rushed to and began operating.

"Uh, I think Yoshi should take care of this; he should be more fluent in things like this," Michael suggested, but he paused after being glared at by Bai, who continued operating the machine.

"Hmm, this is a bit challenging," Bai murmured after working at the control center for a while. He frowned as he persistently endeavored to revive the machine.

"Is there an issue?" Hei inquired of his brother, who let out a sigh as he took a step back and turned away.

"The power source is nearly depleted; it can sustain the facility, but it lacks the capacity to operate this machine," Bai responded with a casual shrug.

"Is there truly no way to restore it?" Henry inquired, his gaze fixed on the machine.

"If we had a DC power source that could provide enough juice to kick it back to life, that could work" Bai replied with a sigh, gently patting the lifeless machine.

"May I give it a try?" Yoshi inquired as he approached the machine.

"Certainly, you can attempt it as well, but it may 

end up being a waste of ti…" Bai nodded, stepping aside to allow Yoshi a chance to kick it back. However, before he could finish his sentence, the control center sprang back to life, causing his words to falter.

"That was shockingly easy" Racheal muttered in astonishment after witnessing Yoshi flawlessly refuel the lifeless control center.

"Hey, how did..wait, what?" Bai stood in silence, his gaze fixed on Yoshi as he skillfully maneuvered through the control center's database.

"Alright, looking for camera footage, what do we have here?" After a while of operating the machine, Yoshi's expression turned to one of discontent.

"What's the matter, Yoshi?" Micheal inquired upon hearing Yoshi's troubled voice.

"The database has been wiped clean of the camera footage; this was done intentionally," Yoshi said with a frown, turning to face the others.

"What! Someone do this on purpose?" Racheal inquired, unsure if she had understood Yoshi correctly.

"Yeah, someone wiped the whole database clean, 

as if trying to hide what happened. The person who did this really knows what he did; he wiped the backup drives too, so there's no way for me to obtain the lost files," Yoshi said, shaking his head in disappointment, surprised by his realization.

"We just arrived, and things have already taken a serious turn. It feels like there's some sort of conspiracy at play," Henry commented, fidgeting slightly as he scanned the room with a wary gaze, as if he were under surveillance.

"Okay, let's hold off on making any assumptions for now. Bai, is there anything else you might be able to do to attempt to recover any of the footage?" Micheal urged everyone to settle down before turning to Bai, who smiled at his remarks.

"Since Yoshi couldn't do it, I don't have much confidence, but I could try a little trick I learned back in the day. Just in case, though, I'm not giving any assurances," Bai replied before walking up to the control center. He turned serious as he operated it, trying his best to recover at least some of the lost footage.

"Good, the rest of us will search for anything that might guide us," Michael said, giving Bai's shoulder a reassuring pat before turning to thoroughly examine the room with the others. They scanned the area, encountering the same grim sight as on the previous floors: a blood-splattered room with furniture scattered haphazardly.

"Hmm" Hei squinted his eyes at something glittering on the ground. He crouched to pick it up and discovered it was a ring. But it wasn't just any ring; it had a diamond that glittered slightly and seemed to pull you in. The surface featured a strange carving of a snake swallowing itself. As he noticed someone approaching, Hei quickly placed the ring in his pocket, hiding it before the person could spot it.

"Hey, I found something," Bai's voice suddenly broke through his thoughts, prompting him to rise to see what Bai had uncovered.

"In the past, during my time hacking government servers, I gained a wealth of knowledge about them," Bai shared with the intrigued group surrounding him.

"Hold on, I heard about that, that was you, oh wow" Henry suddenly interjected with a grin, recalling something he had heard before everything had gone awry; he remembered the news about an Asian hacker who had been arrested for breaching the government's server.

"Absolutely, that was cool!" Racheal also recalled that news as well.

"What can I say? I taught him everything he knows." Hei chuckled as he looked at his brother, who shook his head with a soft laugh.

"You wouldn't be able to accomplish what I do in a million years, I am the b—" Bai was on the verge of boasting when Micheal interrupted him.

"Could you return to what you found? We don't have much time," Michael said, his impatience evident, prompting a sigh from Bai.

"As I mentioned earlier, I gained significant insights into the servers. One key takeaway was that the government consistently maintains a backup for the backup. This means that even if the backup is compromised, there remains a method to retrieve the data from the main server, situated at the core of the zone," Bai elaborated, continuing to operate the machine.

"Does that imply that you must reach the core of the zone in order to retrieve the footage?" Hei inquired of his brother, a frown creasing his brow.

"No, it simply means that any action we take here will be registered on the main server," Yoshi replied, speaking for Bai, who gave a slight nod.

"Is that an issue?" Henry inquired, clearly perplexed.

"If the individual responsible for erasing the footage is at the main server, any action we take could expose us. This is a precarious situation, especially since we have no clear understanding of what we are up against." Micheal let out a sigh, reflecting on Bai's words with great depth as he began to formulate plans in his mind.

"What are our next steps? If we manage to recover the lost documents, we'll only have a few minutes in the system before the self-destruct is triggered to shut me out as a self-defense mechanism," Bai explained to Michael, who frowned as he contemplated his decision.

"Mike, the decision is up to you," Yoshi said as all eyes turned to Michael, who remained calm, demonstrating his familiarity with such situations. He was the ideal leader for the group, having navigated numerous leadership roles over the years.

"There are two explanations now: the first is that 

the person wiped the database clean to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands, and the second is that the individual responsible is connected to the spreading infection. Regardless, we must determine what we're dealing with, so my final decision is to…" Micheal spoke, the others listening closely as he paused, creating a sense of suspense.

"…do it," Michael concluded, making a decision that would shape their future in the zone.