The muffled thump of metal on metal. Again. A third time and the door buckles. A final blow and the thick metal door breaks from its hinges, falling into the room with a crash.

Hard white light streams in through the doorway, silhouetting an enormous figure holding a heavy, steel battering ram. He steps back, disappearing into the spotlight glare.

A second man steps into the light. He holds a terminal out in front of him and scans the room, its bright-green light blinking off-and-on, reflecting from his visor, illuminating his grizzled, bearded face. The terminal beeps twice and the man enters, the thick rubber souls of his boots squeaking on polished tiles.

Inside are an over-turned chair behind a large console that is covered in buttons, switches and lifeless LEDs. He flicks a switch marked ‘open’. Nothing happens.

Hidden behind the console are two bodies. The first is a middle-aged man, dressed in a light-grey uniform, an insignia on his shirt collar identifying him as a captain in the US Air Force. The back of the captain’s head is a bloody ruin; smashed in by a falling roof beam—blood, brain and skull pieces decorate the floor around him like macabre modern art.

The second body is that of a young blonde woman; dressed in a blue skirt and white lab coat, she lays face-down in a congealed lake of her own blood. He uses his boot to turn her over. She flops back, revealing a ruined throat. A trail of bloody hand-prints and drag marks lead back to a smashed glass tube, which is smeared in blood.

The tube is one of three along the back wall—each is large enough for a man to fit inside. Thick cables snake along the floor, connecting each of the tubes to the control panel. He leans closer, but cannot see in through the smoked glass.

A steel latch on the side holds the door of the tube closed. He tugs at it with his thick gloves until it releases with a dull pop. The warm air of the room hisses into the partial vacuum within, leaving a light mist of condensation where it hits the tube’s cold internal workings.

The man swings the door open, seeing his prize. He smiles.

It is a little larger than a football, white, its surface smooth except for three ridges on the top and a long tail at the back. Bundles of wires are attached to the tail. He unclips these and lifts it from its cradle.

He turns and leaves, taking unit #335-07 with him.