Sept 5: Survey Says...

[Toshiro Narumi]

Tosh, consulting the survey map on his tablet, walked along the bottom of the seaside cliffs. Occasionally he stopped to inspect the cliff wall before moving on.

Expecting a secret button bro?

That would certainly be helpful, yes.

[Narrator]

As far as Tosh can tell there's just a whole lot of rock and no secret buttons. Of course, the part where the beach extends directly beneath the cliffs isn't very big, soon giving away to the open water where the cliff just rises straight out of the ocean.

[Toshiro Narumi]

My turn to Goonie bro?

Looks like it.

Tosh stowed his tablet in his backpack and stripped down to his shifting suit. He stuffed his clothed in the backpack as well hid that behind some large rocks. Walking into the water, he transformed as disappeared beneath the waves.

Bruce swam to where the ocean met the cliffs and began searching.

[Narrator]

The water is pretty murky where the waves crash into the rock and it's a constant struggle not to be thrown into the rocks, but the tide is pretty high and as long as he stays underwater it's mostly the undertow he has to fight against and that at least is pulling him away from the cliffs. Still, it's tedious and any regular swimmer would have been dragged out into the ocean or smashed into the cliffs long before Tosh finds the outcropping of rock that seems to have fallen over some time ago. It seems to have fallen across some kind of opening in the cliffs.

[Toshiro Narumi]

He planted his feet on the ocean floor and attempted moving the fallen rock.

[Narrator]

It's a pretty huge rock, but being underwater helps a little and the stone slowly moves as Tosh"s claws dig into it. It takes a lot of effort but finally he manages to lift it up enough to topple it over to the side where it crashes down further onto the ocean floor, throwing up a cloud of muck. But the opening in the rock is now free, if pretty narrow, at least for a giant shark-monster.

[Toshiro Narumi]

Maybe this isn't such a good idea...

Relax bro, we'll fit.

He headed in.

I think.

[Narrator]

It's certainly not a comfortable fit, but with some squeezing and wriggling Tosh manages to make his way into the passage. After a couple of meters it begins to slope upwards and thankfully widens a little bit. The water is moving much less in here, but there's very little light coming through the opening at this point. After a while of feeling his way along the bottom of the cave slowly turns into more of a wall. Following it up Tosh suddenly bursts through the water surface. There's faint light coming from somewhere and he can vaguely make out the cave he's in. Most of it is stone rising out of the water, though water splashes onto the rocky ledge here and there. The air smells stale and much more dry than one would expect with all the water.

[Toshiro Narumi]

He searched for a place to climb out on.

[Narrator]

He has no problems finding a place to pull himself up onto the dry rock, especially in his shifted state. The cave seems to continue on, all natural formations which makes it tricky on occasion, but not impossible to traverse. Eventually it opens up a bit more, revealing the source of the faint light. A big cavern, maybe 20 meters across is in front of him. Stalactites and stalagmites litter the area along with small crystal shards that glow in a faint purple light. Here and there Tosh can spot areas where crystal appears to be embedded in the rocks, ending in jagged edges. It almost looks as if bigger pieces used to protrude from the walls once but were broken off. As he walks he accidentally touches one of the scattered pieces with his foot and the crystal immediately crumbles to dust. At the other end of the cave he can make out some kind of structure that looks too artificial to be part of the cave itself.

[Toshiro Narumi]

"Oops."

What is this place?

I dunno, but I'm calling it the Sharkcave.

He, more carefully, moved closer to the structure.

[Narrator]

It looks like the cave narrows a bit further on and something has been built into that space. It mostly looks like electronic equipment, though more like the backend of it. There are grates through which dry, warm air is being blown out. Throngs of cables are connecting bits, most of them looking like they're power-lines. A couple come together into one thick cable-strand that disappears into a hole in the ceiling.

[Toshiro Narumi]

He shifted back to human and, assuming he could still see anything, moved into the narrower area for a closer look.

[Narrator]

There's not much else to see, even though the faint light from the crystals is enough to make things out. If the cave goes on it's sealed off by whatever machinery this is. It's roughly 8 feet high and maybe 20 feet wide and gives off a faint electronic humming sound on top of the sound of the ventilation.

[Toshiro Narumi]

He checked out the grates. He guessed they were exhaust vents for the heat the machinery put out, but he didn't want to assume.

[Narrator]

That's exactly what they are and probably the cause for the dry and warm air inside the cave.

[Toshiro Narumi]

He examined the machinery itself for a hatch or panel or even just a serial number.

[Narrator]

There are no hatches or panels. If anything, the machine seems to be designed to specifically avoid anybody gaining access to it as evidenced by some sections and even metal cable tubes welded together. He does find a couple spots where the number 458713 is etched into the metal.

[Toshiro Narumi]

"Useless without context..." he frowned. Sighing, he backtracked to examine one of the strange crystals. He didn't want to think he'd discovered the cave just to end up with nothing.

[Narrator]

It almost looks like there are some kind of tiny structures running through the crystal that kind of look like circuitry, but he's getting the distinct impression that they're just fragments. Looking around the cave it almost seems like there should have been something here and what little remains in fragments on the ground is only a fraction of what used to be here once. Here and there he can even find scorchmarks on the walls and gouges where something sharp struck the stone and left a mark. Whatever this place used to be, someone went out of their way to destroy it.

[Toshiro Narumi]

"What could have happened here?" he wondered aloud. He shifted to Bruce and attempted to collect a shard as he gave the cave another once-over.

[Narrator]

The shard crumbles to dust the moment he touches it, the light going out as it disintegrates. It doesn't seem like they're fragile, they seem like they're spend, old and almost derelict.

[Toshiro Narumi]

Guess I'll have to try and get Nash in here. And, like, a waterproof camera.

He sighed and dove back in to swim out.