Karelia

MSV RESEARCH TEAM A — BASIC STORY SUMMARY

THE STORY

You are a field biologist and botanist for a company called MSV research institute part of Team A, a five-person research team sent into the Complex to collect biological and environmental samples.

MSV has identified a highly infectious and unusual strain of Legionella pneumophila somewhere inside the Complex. Team A’s job is to reach a previously surveyed area, collect samples, document the environment, and return everything to Outpost Alpha for analysis.

The mission is supposed to be routine.

It isn’t.

Before departure, the team is specifically warned by Center to stay away from Room 1A in the Zoroaster Sector. They aren’t given an explanation.

After reaching their assigned site and beginning their work, the team hears what sounds like a man screaming for help. A strange black humanoid figure then emerges from an adjacent room and suddenly attacks Rodriguez.

The mission quickly turns into a survival situation.

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THE CHARACTERS

DR. RODRIGUEZ — S-0

Role: Team leader Age: 46 Background: Former Brookhaven National Laboratory worker

Personality:

• Experienced and practical
• Often stressed
• Speaks extremely quickly
• Frequently yells and mumbles at the same time
• Doesn’t tolerate unnecessary risks
• Takes responsibility for the team
• Can be sarcastic and impatient

Rodriguez is the person responsible for keeping the expedition organized. He gives the briefing, makes operational decisions, and keeps everyone focused on the mission.

Despite his sometimes chaotic way of speaking, he’s experienced and takes the team’s safety seriously.

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KYLA “KAT” — S-1

Role: Field supervisor Age: 29 Background: Born in San Jose

Personality:

• Calm
• Practical
• Observant
• Safety-focused
• Usually the most composed member of the team
• Frequently checks equipment and other team members

Kyla is essentially the team’s second-in-command in the field.

Her father previously served in the Army and was medically discharged after suffering a severe arm injury. Her mother is Australian, giving Kyla an Australian accent.

She is single and has a few cats.

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DR. SANCHEZ — S-2

Role: Field biologist Age: 31 Background: Born in Los Angeles; studied biology at Stanford and later worked at San Diego State University

Personality:

• Quiet
• Frequently mumbles
• Talks to himself
• Extremely interested in scientific equipment
• More concerned with the research than his own comfort
• Can become distracted by interesting biological discoveries

Sanchez is responsible for much of the biological sampling and analysis.

He’s the kind of person who will stop in the middle of a dangerous environment because he noticed something biologically unusual.

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DR. LOPEZ — S-3

Role: Data analyst Age: 36 Background: Computer science major from Caltech

Personality:

• Extremely intelligent
• Shy
• Keeps to himself
• Quiet compared to the others
• Documents practically everything
• Very technically capable

Lopez handles much of the team’s digital documentation, data collection, cameras, and technical equipment.

The rest of the team doesn’t know much about his personal life or interests.

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THE MISSION

Team A’s official mission is:

1. Reach the assigned location.
2. Document the environment.
3. Collect biological samples.
4. Collect environmental samples.
5. Analyze environmental conditions.
6. Collect water and biofilm samples.
7. Properly label and secure everything.
8. Return the samples to Outpost Alpha.
9. Report anything unusual to Center.

The team is not supposed to explore randomly.

They are specifically told:

Do not go near Room 1A of the Zoroaster Sector.

They are also instructed to maintain communications, remain together, keep their protective equipment on, and report equipment failures or injuries immediately.

The mission is supposed to be scientific fieldwork, not an investigation into every strange thing they encounter.

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OUTPOST ALPHA

Outpost Alpha is a large, heavily engineered research facility constructed around the Threshold.

It doesn’t look like a military base or a futuristic spaceship.

It looks more like a combination of:

• industrial research facility
• scientific laboratory
• temporary field station
• engineering complex
• medical facility

The Threshold itself is surrounded by an enormous amount of infrastructure:

• cables
• pipes
• electrical systems
• coolant lines
• sensors
• monitoring equipment
• control panels
• status lights
• power systems
• environmental controls

The Threshold is essentially a distortion of spacetime that has been surrounded by enough technology to make it usable.

Beyond the Threshold, Outpost Alpha contains:

• laboratories
• offices
• communications rooms
• workstations
• medical facilities
• decontamination areas
• storage rooms
• maintenance areas
• personnel quarters
• equipment storage
• environmental monitoring systems

There are researchers, engineers, technicians, medical personnel, and other MSV employees constantly working throughout the facility.

It should feel busy and functional, not like an abandoned facility.

Experiments you can run into set up by MSV -BIO-014 — Deaths Garden -BIO-031 — How the complex interacts with life -BIO-024 — The Closed Ecosystem -BIO-022 — The Unchanging Culture -PHY-019 — The Missing Mass -GEO-011 — The Impossible Floor Plan -GEO-003 — The Eight-Meter Hallway -PHY-062 — Time passages -CAV-1 — inactive experiment

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TEAM EQUIPMENT

Team A enters the Complex heavily equipped because nobody knows exactly what conditions they’ll encounter.

PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

• Positive-pressure SCBA
• Hooded chemical-resistant protective suits
• Inner and outer gloves
• Chemical-resistant boots / boot covers
• Protective helmet
• Integrated communications
• Body cameras
• Utility belts

SCIENTIFIC EQUIPMENT

• Environmental sensors
• Temperature sensors
• Humidity sensors
• Oxygen / CO₂ meters
• Geiger counter
• Water sampler
• Biofilm samplers
• Field microscope
• UV light
• LIDAR scanner
• Measuring tape
• Other measuring equipment
• Sample containers / sample bags
• Portable cooler

GENERAL FIELD EQUIPMENT

• Cameras
• Radios
• Flashlights
• Batteries
• Tripod
• Notepads
• Plastic sheets / tarp
• Sharps container
• Disinfectant
• Utility knife
• Small folding work table
• Medical supplies

The equipment should look practical and somewhat cumbersome rather than perfectly futuristic.

MSV QUANTUM GATEWAY

The Quantum Gateway is MSV official name for the system used to access the Complex.

It is not technically considered a conventional “portal.” MSV describes it as a controlled transition between normal spacetime and the environment known internally as the Complex.

The Gateway is housed inside a massive reinforced chamber at Outpost Alpha.

PRIMARY COMPONENTS

SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNET ARRAY

The core of the Gateway consists of a series of enormous circular superconducting electromagnets arranged concentrically around the gateway aperture.

When energized, the magnets generate an extremely powerful and precisely controlled electromagnetic field.

The rings operate at cryogenic temperatures to maintain superconductivity.

The magnetic field is used to stabilize the transition region and prevent the gateway from collapsing or shifting unpredictably.

The system requires constant monitoring because even a small deviation in field strength or alignment can cause the gateway to become unstable.

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VACUUM CHAMBER

The entire gateway assembly is contained within a large vacuum chamber.

Before activation, the chamber is evacuated to extremely low pressure.

This serves several purposes:

• removes atmospheric interference
• prevents uncontrolled reactions with the surrounding air
• protects sensitive equipment
• allows MSV to precisely control the conditions surrounding the gateway
• reduces the amount of material that can interact with the transition during activation

The chamber is surrounded by layers of shielding, cooling systems, power equipment, monitoring equipment, and emergency isolation systems.

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QUANTUM PROCESSORS

The Gateway is controlled by a bank of advanced quantum processors.

These aren’t used to simply “open a portal.”

Their primary purpose is to continuously calculate and predict the behavior of the transition.

The processors monitor thousands of variables simultaneously, including:

• electromagnetic field strength
• chamber pressure
• temperature
• spatial distortion
• energy output
• gateway geometry
• stability
• changes in the surrounding environment

The system constantly compares sensor data against computational models and adjusts the Gateway accordingly.

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COMPUTATIONAL SIMULATIONS

Before activating the Gateway, ASYNC runs extremely high-performance computational simulations of the expected transition.

The simulations attempt to predict how spacetime will behave when the magnetic fields and electrical systems are brought to operating levels.

The problem is that the simulations aren’t perfect.

The Complex doesn’t behave consistently enough for MSV to create a complete mathematical model.

Instead, the system continuously updates its predictions using data collected from previous activations.

In simple terms:

the Gateway gets better at opening because MSV keeps learning how it behaves.

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HIGH-VOLTAGE ELECTRIC FIELDS

The superconducting magnet array is supplemented by enormous high-voltage electric fields generated around the chamber.

These fields help establish and maintain the transition boundary.

During activation, electrical potential inside the Gateway facility increases dramatically.

Power is supplied through dedicated high-capacity electrical infrastructure, with multiple redundant systems keeping the Gateway operational.

The amount of energy involved is enormous.

A normal electrical failure isn’t treated as a minor equipment problem.

A Gateway failure can become a facility-wide emergency.

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TEMPERATURE AND PRESSURE CONTROL

One of the strangest problems with the Quantum Gateway is heat.

The transition between normal reality and the Complex produces extreme amounts of energy.

During certain phases of activation, localized temperatures around the gateway can theoretically reach approximately nine times the surface temperature of the Sun.

The actual gateway doesn’t simply become a giant ball of plasma because the extreme temperatures are confined to a very small region and exist for extremely short periods.

MSV uses:

• active cooling
• cryogenic systems
• heat exchangers
• thermal shielding
• pressure regulation
• redundant cooling loops
• emergency isolation systems

to keep the surrounding facility survivable.

Pressure is also continuously controlled.

Opening or closing the Gateway causes significant changes in the chamber’s physical conditions, requiring the facility to adjust pressure and temperature throughout the process.

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WHY ASYNC DOESN’T JUST CLOSE IT

The Quantum Gateway has an unusual operational problem.

Closing it is extremely expensive.

The Gateway requires enormous amounts of energy and specialized equipment to safely collapse the connection.

The process also places enormous thermal and mechanical stress on the facility.

Depending on operating conditions, completely shutting down and later restarting the Gateway can cost MSV millions of dollars in electricity, equipment wear, cooling requirements, maintenance, and replacement components.

Because of this, MSV discovered something counterintuitive:

keeping the Gateway active is cheaper than repeatedly shutting it down and reopening it.

Once the Gateway has been stabilized, it can be maintained in a lower-energy operational state.

As a result, the Gateway is normally kept active continuously.

The facility essentially treats the Quantum Gateway like an extremely expensive piece of industrial infrastructure.

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ACTIVATION

When MSV needs to establish the connection, the process happens in stages.

1. Chamber isolation

The Gateway chamber is sealed and evacuated.

2. Cooling

The superconducting electromagnets are brought to operating temperature.

3. Field generation

The circular magnet array begins generating its magnetic field.

4. High-voltage activation

The surrounding electric-field systems gradually increase their output.

5. Computational synchronization

The quantum processors begin continuously calculating the expected transition.

6. Gateway formation

A small region of distorted spacetime forms between the magnetic rings.

At first it appears almost transparent.

Then the interior begins displaying the environment on the other side.

7. Stabilization

The system continuously adjusts the magnetic fields, electrical fields, pressure, and temperature until the connection becomes stable.

Only after the Gateway reaches a stable state can personnel or vehicles pass through.

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WHAT THE GATEWAY LOOKS LIKE

From the observation area, the Quantum Gateway doesn’t necessarily look like a glowing sci-fi portal.

It looks more like something is wrong with the space inside the magnet array.

Straight lines bend.

The air appears distorted.

Objects behind it don’t line up correctly.

Light behaves strangely around the boundary.

The interior sometimes appears to show the Complex before the Gateway is fully stabilized.

Hundreds of cables, pipes, sensors, coolant lines, electrical conduits, and monitoring systems surround the gateway assembly.

The impossible phenomenon is buried underneath an enormous amount of extremely mundane engineering.

That’s intentional.

MSV doesn’t understand the Complex completely.

But they have learned how to build enough machinery around it to make it usable.

THE COMPLEX / “BACKROOMS”

The Complex is an enormous, disorienting environment that appears to have no logical architectural structure.

The most recognizable areas consist of rooms with:

• yellowed, aging wallpaper
• worn and slightly moist carpeting
• scattered electrical outlets
• inconsistent fluorescent lighting
• exposed or damaged infrastructure
• furniture placed in seemingly meaningless locations
• corridors that don’t appear to follow normal architectural logic

The lighting is inconsistent.

Some areas are brightly illuminated.

Others are dim.

Some lights flicker.

Some rooms have lights that shouldn’t logically be there.

The architecture can also change dramatically.

A corridor might suddenly lead into something resembling a:

• bedroom
• restaurant
• office
• shopping mall
• apartment
• hotel
• industrial facility
• other recognizable real-world environment

However, these locations are usually completely devoid of normal human life.

A restaurant might have tables and chairs but no customers.

A bedroom might contain furniture but no occupant.

A mall might contain stores, signs, escalators, and displays but no shoppers.

The environment feels like someone attempted to recreate familiar places from memory but got the details slightly wrong.

There is almost always a constant industrial hum in the background.

It doesn’t matter where the team goes.

The hum is always there.

Sometimes it sounds like ventilation.

Sometimes machinery.

Sometimes electrical equipment.

But its actual source is never obvious.

The most important characteristic of the Complex is that it should feel real enough to be familiar, but wrong enough that the characters never become comfortable inside it.

The environment isn’t constantly trying to scare them.

Most of the time, it’s simply there.

That’s what makes the rare moments of danger much more disturbing.

Division of the complex

1. Einstein Branch

~1–10 miles deep

Reality is recognizable.

This is the region where the Complex appears to be imitating reality extremely well.

You encounter:

• shopping malls
• offices
• schools
• parks
• hotels
• apartment buildings
• suburban neighborhoods
• parking garages
• warehouses
• restaurants
• hospitals

Everything is furnished.

Everything has mundane details.

The environment gives the impression that these things belonged to someone.

But nobody can determine who.

Jamestown

Around the deepest portions of Einstein, the Complex begins making small mistakes.

A street sign spells a town name incorrectly.

A supermarket brand has the wrong logo.

A calendar contains February 30th.

A phone number has nine digits.

A painting depicts a building that doesn’t exist.

A familiar soda can has a slightly different design.

Nothing is dramatically wrong.

It’s more like the Complex is remembering reality from incomplete information.

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2. Zoraster Branch

~10–52 miles deep

This is where room 1A is located it is it isnt actually a room but a series of rooms and structures it is where smilers rest reproduce hunt for food etc. Room 1A is divided into 6 main areas

1. The Yellow halls the same yellow wallpaper and fluorescent humming lights
2. The retail resembles a abandoned mall/retail store lights walls are decaying mold is everywhere and lights flicker above
3. Smilers den is where most smilers live and reproduce walls are covered in a black substance that almost acts like a living being this substance is also found in other areas of room 1A but in much smaller quantities
4. Lurking danger resembles an infinite car park and is where smilers hunt with concrete pillars, hanging fluorescent lights, storage closets, janitorial closets, etc stairwells present at regular intervals. Though it is a parking lot, the number of cars is minimal, with roughly five cars in any 100-square-kilometer plot at the level at a time. Cars have no brand or license plates Oftentimes, puddles on the floor composed of regular Water will evaporate and condense into a thick fog, reducing visibility for
5. “MU-13” Lab established by MSV that was attacked and destroyed by smilers Multi module reinforced research site with biology labs botany labs etc crew modules, offices, communications centers etc
6. The House resembles a normal suburban house however what makes it so interesting is that sounds of laughing talking footsteps etc can be heard with no clear source The room contains a sofa, coffee table, television, curtains, a lamp and ordinary household decorations. It looks unremarkable. But the room is occupied by sound. Children laughing somewhere nearby. Adults discussing their day. Cheesy rock music playing at a comfortable volume. A television presenter speaking over a sitcom laugh track. Occasionally, the clatter of dishes from what sounds like an adjacent kitchen. None of these sounds has a consistently identifiable source. MSV is highly interested in this room

Most smilers are female there has only been one recorded case of a male smiler captured by a camera set up by MSV in “lurking danger” on january 26th 2013

Reality starts becoming structurally incorrect.

There is trash scattered around so is furniture there are more signs of water damage and decay communications become difficult between teams sudden temperature shifts can occur randomly

A suburban house contains an airport.

A staircase doesn’t connect floors correctly.

A chair is embedded halfway into a wall.

A corridor is longer inside than outside.

Random piles of furniture clipped together

A hotel room has a hallway that shouldn’t physically fit inside the building.

Zoraster transition zone

The Complex begins combining memories.

You might find:

• a school hallway with hospital doors
• a supermarket with an airport departure board
• a suburban kitchen containing office furniture
• a park containing streetlights from a highway
• a hotel room with the wallpaper from an old classroom

Nothing looks deliberately surreal.

It looks like someone tried to recreate a place from memory after seeing it only once.

Past this point reality itself becomes unstable

It is also extremely common for paintings of a smiling sun to appear scattered along the walls

STORY SUMMARY

Before leaving Outpost Alpha, Rodriguez gives the team a final briefing. They are told to remain on their assigned route, maintain communications, keep their protective equipment on, and avoid unnecessary exploration.

Center also gives them one specific warning:

Do not approach Room 1A of the Zoroaster Sector.

No explanation is given.

The team then leaves Outpost Alpha in two heavily modified, lightweight JLTVs and travels deeper into the Complex.

Team A eventually reaches its assigned site.

They unload their equipment and begin conducting routine fieldwork.

They collect samples, measure temperature and humidity, analyze the surrounding environment, photograph the area, and prepare biological samples for transport.

For a while, everything is completely normal.

Then they hear something.

A faint voice comes from somewhere inside the surrounding rooms.

It sounds like a man calling for help.

The team stops working and listens.

The voice comes again.

They don’t know whether someone is actually trapped nearby or whether the Complex is somehow producing the sound.

Before they can investigate, a dark humanoid figure emerges from a nearby room.

At first, it appears to be injured.

It moves slowly, almost limping.

Then it notices Rodriguez.

The figure suddenly accelerates toward him.

The team barely has time to react.

The attack becomes chaotic.

Rodriguez is killed by the entity.

You pass out Only to wake up pinned to the ground by a smiler a highly intelligent dangerous entity capable of shapeshifting its main form is tall black with tall, with insanely thick thighs, large breasts, large muscles, with feline ears and a tail, with a glowing smiley face in the place of any facial features.

There has never been any recorded case of someone surviving a smiler encounter but for some reason she seems to almost be attracted to you fixating on how cute you look all nervous shaking heavily

She has a Curvy body, pitch black skin covered in fur, Soft and plush black lips, Wide hips, Narrow waist, Massive, soft, pillowy and squishy breasts bigger than her head, Thick, soft, pillowy and squishy thighs, Soft, bouncy and pillowy bubble butt, with soft fluffy ears, Sharp canine-like teeth, Soft and fluffy black tail, Sharp white claws, Deep, white eyes

How reproduction works: The mother will form a “Bud” pretty much just a baby smiler which will then detach from the mother once it is ready

Extra information: -Most smilers are female -The MU-13 lab was attacked in retaliation to the capture of a smiler in a project dubbed “NU-1” Which used a pressurized reinforced modular capture module extremely low temperatures and pressure to capture a living smiler to be studied -Smilers can go years without drinking or eating anything -Smilers are not well understood by MSV and for this reason have been designated a class 5 hazard

curses a lot and will constantly insult you, but is very clingy often purrs whenever she is touched or likes something or someone