"What happened? We tried raising you on the radio, but all we got was static! You've been gone far longer than necessary..."
We told them of the sequence of events that led from the discovery of the hole; finding the portal, successfully destroying it, being trapped for hours beneath dense cobblestone and rock, mining our way out and finding ourselves next to my house, and eventually the daring raid on the house to retrieve the book and get out without being noticed... This seemed to satisfy COLUS' anxiety quite well, as he instantly relaxed when he saw then book... The Codex Solis!
"So you weren't followed? No-one saw you?"
"You know me! We got in and out without anyone knowing we were even there! Got ourselves this souvenir too!"
THEROS handed COLUS the book. He opened it, and I informed him that it was initially written in symbols that needed the pigpen cipher to decode. Then it was a case of reading the Latin that it coded for.
"THEXIS, take this down to AMPHIS and see what he makes of it. We'll need to be able to read it before OROTHO can study its meaning. In the mean time, you three rest. You've been through an arduous journey over the last day or two. We won't require your skills for some time anyway..."
We all bowed towards COLUS, and then headed off towards our own rooms. Now that I was in a more comfortable environment, the fatigue caught up with me and I began yawning! A few hours sleep should be enough to recharge my batteries. I also had one less thing to worry about; my house hadn't been destroyed or vandalised as I had envisioned, but instead had been fortified by guards... Was that actually better? Who knew... I was too tired to care then and there...
-----
It's just gone midday and I've woken up... I could never sleep during the day, even with the absence of the sun! I can get back into the routine tonight, and reset myself, but for now, I'm staying awake. It seems THEROS and UOPETA got the same idea, because when I went to find anyone, I found everyone in the lab with OROTHO. AMPHIS had already decoded the symbols using the pigpen cipher, and translated it from Latin into English. AMPHIS confirmed a lot of what HoN Co. said when they initially translated it, and it does seem to suggest some form of sorcerous experiment was used to imbue Creepers with the ability to survive daylight. The only problem is it also makes them incredibly volatile, leaving them prone to exploding when provoked or put under stress.
"From what the book says, the experiment was designed to allow the Creepers to move freely during the day without suffering any ill side effects from the sun. The one major side effect is the ability to explode almost at will. However, the book does not document this. It could be that whoever did this to the Creepers was unaware of the possible side effects of performing this experiment..."
OROTHO stepped forward holding a small vial of Creeper blood and kept looking into whilst talking:
"The experiment outlined in the book does show how this transmogrification was achieved, but I am unsure as to why HoN Co. would choose this method! It is highly experimental, and there are far easier ways to approach it than they did such as gene splicing. It leads me to believe that whoever performed these experiments on the Creepers was not part of HoN Co. ... To back this up, why would they note it down in Latin, encrypted using a pigpen cipher and then write it down in a book! Why not store it on a computer database, or encrypted files? A book makes no sense for a technologically advanced company! It poses incredible security risks!"
"Unless someone wanted it to be found..."
We all looked back at THEXIS, and thought about that statement... Did HoN Co. really perform these experiments on the Creepers? Had they tried to keep it quiet but someone found out and was trying to make it public? Who knew anymore! It was not linked to the more pressing matter at hand, but it posed numerous questions about HoN Co. and the origin of the book...
"If it wasn't written by HoN Co., but but someone else instead, why hide it in an easy to find spot?"
I cut in, pointing out that at the time I had found it, it was within a chest in a mossy chamber guarded by a cage. Whoever left it there did not do so with no security! The cage would lure creatures from the Nether to the chamber where they would remain until the person returned. I also pointed out the presence of a cage outside a portal on an island to the South of us I had found. I told them that THEROS had told me to return and destroy it, but HoN Co. had told me to ignore it. I decided to defy HoN Co. and found a cage outside the portal which had lured a number of Creepers from the Nether... I still lean towards the idea that HoN Co. can control the creatures using the cages, so whoever placed the cage in the mossy chamber was obviously a member of HoN Co. trying to protect their assets... Either that... Or they were trying to keep people away from a secret they couldn't dispose of until a later date...
"Wait wait wait... Are we suggesting that not only is there the figure working with HoN Co., but there is the possibility of another group or person who has become involved? That they have altered the DNA of the Creepers but not for HoN Co. ... If so, what is their goal? What do they hope to achieve by helping Creepers survive daylight? The person or persons who performed the experiment either didn't know or didn't care about the explosive side effect, so it is possible that they're a neutral party? Initially we thought HoN Co. had altered the Creepers as a form of disposable guard... But... Arrr!!! This doesn't make any sense!"
I had to admit, even my head was beginning to hurt! Was there someone else out there trying to thwart the evil deeds of HoN Co.? Or were they just swept up in something they couldn't control. We couldn't even confirm anything about an additional group, but I had to admit, it seemed a little odd for HoN Co. to do this to Creepers... What was the purpose? What did it achieve...? I think I was ready for another lie down!
We've all calmed down and decided to stick to what we know: HoN Co. is trying to activate a master portal to "infect" Minecraftia so the new resources can be mined and used as fuel. We believe the figure is working for them, but we don't know in what capacity. The current information about the Creepers is irrelevant... We can continue our campaign against HoN Co. without needing to know anymore about the Creeper situation. All we do need to know is that they are dangerous! With the help of AMPHIS digging through some old records, he believes there could be another portal close by which has been left untouched. It was picked up when THEXIS reported additional guard radio communications around an already suspected area. COLUS has told us to take our time and not rush into anything too soon, but speaking from my own point of view, I feel like a spare part when I've got nothing to do. I was ready when the other two were! THEXIS has sorted out a replacement radio as well, and we'll be a lot more vigilant about traps this time... Despite being given the option to use full force, I know UOPETA enough to know he won't do anything... OROTHO is hoping to synthesize a muscle relaxant that can be used on Creepers and guards. It will act as a muscle paralytic to prevent them from moving or calling for help. And in the case of a Creeper, it will stop them from exploding. The delivery system would be through the use of a blow pipe as an arrow would be too forceful... He's also hoping to combine a complementary sedative into it as well which results in short-term amnesia. Nothing too substantial, but enough to prevent them from remembering anything... It would mean retrieving the dart after use to clear up any loose ends, but it was definitely a start! Despite the need to concentrate on the matters at hand, I sense that everyone else is thinking about the events concerning the Creepers. It is incredibly cryptic! It's like trying to guess the picture of a puzzle with less than half the pieces... All you can do is speculate with the bits you do have... And we don't have a lot. I don't know why, but since all this cropped up, I've been thinking about the true identity of the figure... They seem to be working for HoN Co., but I'm not entirely sure it's as clear cut as that...
Syeonyx signing off
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