SERVERE opens up

     We slowly lowered our blowpipes, still slightly uneasy about how easily SERVERE had hidden from us. Was he here before us, or had he been following us since we had left the base through the tower-side tunnel entrance. He moved past all of us towards the door of the portal data room, tapping on the surface of the seemingly normal wall. The walking over to where UOPETA stood, he double-checked the lever, nodding when the lever was unable to move the door.

"They've locked it to prevent anyone gaining access. They did it quite some time ago; I think it was shortly after your last excursion to the tower. The scientists who are sometimes based here are packing up the operation, and leaving it in the hands of the HoN Co. guards..."

"What do you mean? Where are they going? Have they decided to remove their presence from the master portal?"

"Oh no, nothing like that. There's been quite a lot of talk about a "rebel" group who is preventing any progress being made with the connection to the master portal, and the constant disruptions. Oh yes, they know that sedatives are being used on the guards here. They deem the scientists too valuable an asset to allow to get into the wrong hands. Presumably after one in particular went missing... I won't say who, I think you know..."

"So HoN Co. know we're here? They know about our activities...?"

"Unfortunately yes... They don't know about your current whereabouts or most of your activities, but judging from what they've said, they have some good ideas as to where you could be, what you're attempting and what you're doing. I'd be careful from now on. They're removing all of the data stored in that room, shipping out the equipment and leaving the chamber a shell to be guarded by a company of more than twenty guards!"

"Twenty!?!?! How are we going to be able to check on the progress of the primary portals if we can't get inside?"

"I'm afraid it doesn't get any better; using the map you gave back to me, and that stone you procured from the Nether, I was able to remove all of the remaining portals in that region, along with a handful or so that I could remember off the top of my head. But there's not much more I can do at the moment. Unless AMPHIS has decoded all of my books?"

"Yes, he has actually. He's managed to pull out all of the coordinates stated in all of the books with the red covers!"

"Good. I will need them to remove all of the portals within the region stated on my map. That will hopefully deal another significant blow, but we'll need more coordinates. I have been trying to access more of the portal data stored within the main base back at HoN Co., but after nearly getting caught finding these, I've had to be very careful about what I do. I don't think that's a viable option..."

"Well talking about information, we need to know a few things. End Men, the End, End portals... What are they? Where did you find the information?"

"Ah, so you decoded the yellow book? Good, it's nice to see COLUS is still won over by intrigue. The End is a location I have determined exists close to this region. Well, I say it exists. What I mean is a method of getting to it exists..."

"Through an End portal?"

"Yes... I think..."

"What do you mean 'I think'? I thought you were getting your information from HoN Co. somewhere?"

"I am, therein lies the problem. I can only access small amounts of information at a time without drawing attention to myself. The amount of information contained within that yellow books was all I could accumulate before they altered the systems and locked me out. I'm still trying to find a way back into it. But the information about the End was what intrigued me most."

"What are they, these End Men? Where did they come from and where did they go? We need to know about this because we read about this item held within The End which could help us drastically!"

"Technically it's 'Endermen', not End Men. It's hard to put across a new word in a dead language. But this object I mentioned I cannot guarantee it exists. I wasn't able to see all of the information they had stored. All I know is that HoN Co. stumbled upon the ruins of an ancient underground building. After thorough exploration, they found writings and tablets written in a strange language, which after some time they managed to decode and understand. A race of beings that existed in another dimension, The End, somehow managed to end up in our universe through a portal technology that they either created or stumbled across. They found our world abundant in resources, and settled deep underground. Much like the Creepers before, they had some form of reaction to sunlight, and would rarely venture on the surface, even during the night."

"Wait, so these Endermen were real, and they came through another dimension? The End? Not the Nether?"

"No no, that is linked to the Endermen but not immediately. After countless millennia populating the underground, the Endermen became ever greater advanced, and came to the point of being able to generate their own portals to hop between dimensions. They created the portals that we know of which led to the Nether, but unlike here, the portals didn't act the same way in. After creating a few in the Nether dimension, the Endermen found that the destination of these portals couldn't be predicted, whereas portals made here could be accurately plotted in the Nether. They built many hundreds more portals, all throughout the Nether, attempting to expand into other hospitable areas. After significant study into their own technology, the Endermen managed to create three additional variations of the standard portal..."

"Primary portals, secondary portals, and... master portals?"

"That's right. Linking them together, they hoped to succeed where other variations hadn't, and achieve accurate portal destination plottings. However they found something that posed a threat to their very survival, and destroyed the connection to the master portal by removing the link from every portal they had currently created. With the portals being constructed from obsidian, the Endermen had shot themselves in the foot as they could not destroy them, so they sought an object they only knew existed back in their original dimension. But, and this bit is the speculation, the Endermen made passage into the dimension and became trapped. The remaining Endermen were either killed off by some unknown force, or they reactivated the portals and headed into the Nether, no-one knows..."

"How does this tie in with HoN Co. trying to merge the dimensions? And what does the Ascension have to do with this?"

"The Ascension is the name HoN Co. has given to the moment when the "two dimensions are unified in a single, glorious universe!"... They seem to have determined that from preliminary excursions into the Nether years and years ago, and this event that made the Endermen seek an item held within their dimension. They seem to think that they will be able to mine that vast quantities of energy-rich minerals and resources that will spill over into our dimension, but I don't think that will happen. I think whatever caused the disappearance of an entire race in the blink of an eye could happen again... If HoN Co. manage to activate it that is... But judging from the state of these portals, we're a few steps away from putting that master portal out of action for good!"

"So... What do you want us to do?"

"It's obvious that you want more information about the Endermen, so I suggest you head back to the wooden shack at the base of your mine and continue digging out the tunnel I started. Also, I'll need those coordinates from AMPHIS to destroy the remaining ones."

"Why don't you come back with us then? We're heading back to the base now, and it'll be easier that way."

"No, it'll be safer if I take the coordinates from you outside the wooden shack. Leave them close by an I'll pick them up."

"Fine, but only if you're sure. What are we meant to fin by digging this tunnel then? It's obviously of some significance if you started it..."

"And if you want us to continue it..."

"Of course it's significant. I used the information from the HoN Co. databases and found an ideal place to begin digging out a tunnel. If I'm right, you should find the remains of one of the Endermen buildings. Now if you don't mind, I've got to keep up appearances; they'll suspect something otherwise."

The faceplate closed and he turned around, almost literally melting into the air, as his suit activated, rendering him invisible to the human eye. Before he was fully invisible though, I caught sight of a large red patch on his back plate armour. I think OROTHO would benefit from knowing that...

Syeonyx signing off