*
It was with a tense atmosphere that the group -although they were no longer a real group, and had instead become a collection of four individuals who just so happened to have the same destination- left the room, using the door on the far wall. Barsch was too deep in thought to notice that they had entered another corridor, and by the time he realized, they had arrived at another door. This one, like the one before it, bore a plaque, which said, “INCUBATION CHAMBER”.
With Alza still cold and Kingston still fuming, it was up to Barsch to open the door and step forward. He did so, and immediately stopped. The room he had entered was nothing like the two before it. It was massive, for one thing, about the same size as one of the pod rooms back in Revelation Station 52, and it was filled with glass-walled tanks. The capsules were innumerable in number, stretching from one side of the room to the other, as well as from the floor to the ceiling. Each and every pod was filled with a dark violet liquid, which gleamed in the bright light.
For an moment, Barsch thought that they were cryogenic pods, and that they had somehow wandered into another Station, but that theory was quickly destroyed when he saw what was inside the pods: nothing. The human-sized capsules were empty, save for the violet liquid, meaning that they could not possibly be for cryogenesis. Barsch turned to ask Kingston about the strange pods, but stopped when he saw Alza. She was standing beside one of the fluid-filled tanks, with a look of confusion messing up her pretty face. Intrigued, Barsch moved closer, until he could clearly see what she was looking at.
The laser-cut plaque, located above the pod's seamless door, read, “SYLA01023”. Unable to believe his eyes, Barsch looked at the neighbouring pods, both of which bore similar name-tags, reading “CAEL02965” and “RECK00995” respectively.
“I don't understand. What is this place? What are these pods for?” Barsch turned to Kingston, who was standing beside another pod.
The old hermit turned and faced him, a sorrowful look upon his elderly, wrinkled face. He opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again. “These pods... this place... were created with only one purpose in mind.” Kingston looked at Alza, but she did not return her gaze. Her eyes were still locked on to the plaque, which bore the name that was so similar to her own.
“This place was built... these pods are for... creating monsters.”
At the sound of the word 'monster' Alza flinched. When she finally turned around, Barsch took a step back. Her eyes were watery, as if she was on the verge of crying. And for Barsch, who had spent weeks travelling with an emotionless Alza who could neither smile nor snarl, the sudden change of attitude was almost more than he could take.
“Alza?”
She did not answer, instead, without warning, she took off towards the nearest door. Barsch was so stunned by her sudden action that he did not even think to try and stop her.
“Barsch, go after her!” Kingston's voice was filled with urgency, but there was something else... regret? He had not wanted to reveal Alza's secret, especially not while they were so close to finding the madman, but he had had no other choice. Before they fought the madman, Barsch had to know the truth...
Awakening Page 220