Slowly and steady, I looked around.

“Are you sure this factory is abandoned?”

“Absolutely. Look, it's already falling apart in some areas. Also I have been here already a couple of times and there is nothing to be scared about.”

I nodded. “Right…right…”

It was kinda interesting to walk through a factory that advanced. I wonder why it was abandoned in the first place.

“So… You said that this thing was built by some Fontaine engineers?” I asked while admire the big copper and metal pipes everywhere.

Rya looked away and put a strand of her hair behind her ear..

“Well… actually… This is from the Fatui… It’s said that the second harbinger built it to work on something. Nobody knows on what, tho.”

I hold in for a moment, taking in the atmosphere that got colder just by that information. I didn’t even want to know what he had done here.

“Have you really lost your mind?! If some Fatui found us here, that would be our end! Let’s get out of here, now!”

She came up to me, placing her hand on my shoulder. With a calm and reassuring voice, she said: “Don’t worry. Nobody saw us, and nobody will know that we were here in the first place. Let’s go and find out what happened here.”

I nodded again, a spark of curiosity got the hold of me.

The Fatui… The second Harbinger… The factory…

The sheer mystery of what he was up to was intriguing after all…

“But let’s be careful…”

She agreed before she slipped under a broken pipe that had fallen from the ceiling that had blocked the way to a long metal hallway, which was partly overgrown by plants. Following her, we found an office. The door was stuck in a half opened position and full of moss.

We decided to look for papers that were at least readable, but most were already fully turned into plants or moss. This place had to be abandoned for ages when not even any leftover papers had rotted away to become one with nature again.

I imagined how it was when it was still active. With the harbinger walking through these long metal halls to overview the research and ordering the officers around. I wonder if the atmosphere was as cold as it is now.

“There is the heart of the factory!” Excited to show me, she danced around me before waiting in front of an open entrance.

“Voila” as she gave the entrance free, I was frozen by the massive size of that construct below my feet.

“I think it’s a kind of boiler room, where they took the energy for the other machines from.”

“This is crazy! Just imagine the thought behind every single pipe and connectors to create something like this.”

It took a moment to appreciate the genius behind that work. But then again, this was the work of the second harbinger, and it just shows that the harbingers are not to underestimate.

“The work of the second harbinger… Do you know more about him or her?” I asked, going down the stairs to look at these constructions more carefully.

“They call him Il Dottore. I heard some story about his rather ruthless personality, but that's all I know and probably the only information we’ll ever get about him.”

“Fair enough. Didn’t expect any other from a harbinger with that rank.”

I pushed the topic to the side and focused on the work in front of me. It was hard for me to describe how impressed and intimidated I felt looking at those giant constructions of metal.

Thoroughly I looked at the biggest machine trying to find out what its purpose was and how it would work. The bi chamber with a thick window was connected with several pipes, some with valves, some without. I was just amazed.

“The Control center is up there!” Rya was pointing to an elevated Room. “Let’s see if there are some clues”

With an agreeing nod I followed her to the control room. “Crazy” was the first thing I said entering the room full of control panels and whiteboards. “I don’t think we can figure out what this thing was able to do… Not with more technological knowledge at least”

She wanted to leave already but I held her back. “Wait” I pushed the layer of plants from the main control panel. “There is something engraved. It looks like the main stages of the machine”
I looked at it closer. Rya just looked at me full of curiosity.

“I can’t read everything but there is something about releasing chemicals in the main chamber… and about pressure control and…”

“Maybe we should leave.”

I was confused by her words. She was the one who had already explored it a few times and always seemed so eager to show me this place. But I was just quite fascinated by this.

“What if the chemical is still in there or worse leaking out? What if it is dangerous?”

I nodded. She was right, we couldn’t tell and I would expect from the second harbinger.
“We can go soon.” I assured her before continuing to decipher the old texts on that panel.

“Your friend has a fair point there.” A laugh echoed through this facility. My body froze in fear as I stared at Rya in mere shock, who did the same.

Behind us appeared a figure we didn’t know but we had an idea of who that could be.

“What!?”
“Is that-”

He chuckled. “Yes. I’m the second Fatui Harbinger, Il Dottore. And I’m afraid you are on my property.”

Even if this was just a holograph, the atmosphere was colder, even if he didn’t even seem angry…yet.

“We are so sorry, Lord Harbinger!” Rya looked at the ground. I still was fascinated by his appearance. He looked different than I had imagined, but if not even more terrifying.

“We didn't try to steal anything, I promise.” I said now also avoiding his cold gaze, even if his eyes were hidden behind that beak shaped mask.

“What is it, then?” His voice is calm and collected but colder than ice.

“We just wanted to explore and ease our curiosity!”

He just accepted Rya’s answer.

“As I said, you are correct with the assumption that the chemical used here is quite dangerous. In fact, even deadly. And I do not condone you breaking in my old facility. I will say this once and ONLY once. You will leave and never return. I’m in a quite good mood today, so I leave you with just a warning, but I will be forced to take more severe actions. And I can promise you both that you’d rather not experience it.”

Neither Rya nor I would dare to speak. The threat was very clear.

“Thank you, Lord Harbinger.”
“We will leave right away!” And with that we left as fast as possible, his amused laugh echoing through the empty halls of the facility.

They stopped outside, catching a breath.

"Archons, thank you!" Rya said, falling on her knees.

"I thought we'd be as good as dead." I said sitting on a big stone. But even if I should be scared to do that again… Something was pulling me back inside. Was it the danger? Was it the mystery? Or was it even the mysterious 2nd harbinger, Il Dottore himself?

"I want to find out what this facility has hidden."

"You are insane! Dottore will kill you if you step back inside! That will be your death sentence!"

"It's… calling me!"

"That must be a Joke! Or is it this chemical that has damaged your brain already."

Rya got a grip on my wrist and pulled me away from this ruin.

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It's been a long time since I uploaded a fanfiction here.
I don't know if I like this story let's see. If one day I rewrite this story in another way you'll know. Haha.

Anyways, I hope you liked it.

Also this is not beta read and English is not my first language so bare with me if you find some mistakes. (I'll try to avoid it and having some correction software but just in case I let something slip through)