I looked around the dimly lit room. Pale, anonymous masks peered back at me. They were all featureless except for the few that had thin red, slanting stripes to indicate rank. No one had names in this organisation. Names were dangerous, they gave you an identity and an identity gave you an existence outside our secret little world; we found our refuge in the darkness of uncertainty. It was safer that way. You didn’t have to worry about trust, only about the thin red lines on the cheek of the entity beside you. I pressed my hands together in the salute which protocol dictated to us, the others did so too. Black combats and long hooded coats rustled as the silent meeting began. My time was coming, I could feel the tension rising, reaching a terrifying crescendo until a masked figure the other side of the room looked up at me. Five neat blood red scratches glistened on its artificial face as it extended a gloved finger in my direction.  “It is time, and you have been chosen.” The words rattled out of its mouth piece, echoed around the gathering then died away. Silence returned as I slowly stood up and walked towards the entrance of the vault.  

Before I unbolted the heavy locks on the hatch that led to my destiny I checked my holsters, I knew everything would be there but the cold metal butt of the mp7 and the rubberised grips of the two Glock 18c pistols were surprisingly reassuring.   I reached forwards and turned the wheel that held the door and the horrors behind it back from the world. It swung towards me smoothly and I stepped through and took a few paces forwards. There was a resonating bang and I was shrouded in darkness. For a few minutes I just stood there stunned. The tunnel was void of anything, the silence so empty it screamed into my ears and filled my head with panic. I had to get a grip on myself, I knew what I was putting myself in for when I rigged the selection process but I also knew of the power and wealth that would be mine if I returned alive.

The vault was an abandoned military complex, once codenamed Knossos. It had been a centre for research into the paranormal, specifically the integration of alien and spiritual ‘technologies’ with the human body and mind. Many had called those who worked there crackpots until the discovery and then the accident. The details were unclear as the few who managed to escape the terror went mad with grief and shock. Every single one of them had been found dead within the week, they’d torn themselves limb from limb using nothing but their bare hands. It was a sickening demonstration of just how powerful the Human body could become when there was no mind to limit it. All we knew about the vault was that there was something that roamed those desolate corridors and unless something was done soon it would soon roam the rest of the world too. That was what our nameless organisation existed for. The government denied the incident and was doing anything to eliminate anyone who said otherwise.