The stone edifice of the building materialized slowly out of the thick fog as the car bearing Nolan arrived. Nolan sat in the back, staring out the window, seeing nothing of what passed by outside. He'd made up his mind already, he was sure he had, so why did he keep thinking about it? Of course there were questions but he doubted that the answers to them would change his mind about things. Maybe it was just the strangeness of the whole situation. It was hard to just accept it and move forward, every time he tried to focus on any particular facet of the whole it lost meaning.
The driver, who had maintained his signature silence since picking Nolan up, spoke suddenly. “We're here. Mr. Sound will meet you at the door.”
Nolan drew himself out of the slouch he'd lapsed into and did a small stretch. He had expected to feel nervous, butterflies in his stomach and all that, but he wasn't. What he felt was more akin to terrified anticipation, like cresting the first hill of a roller coaster, and he liked it. He hadn't felt such a strong emotion about anything in a long time.
The building didn't measure up to Nolan's expectations either. He hadn't paid much attention to it when they'd left the day before and now found it completely incongruous. The walls were crumbling gray brick around empty black holes that might have once served as windows. The remnants of a rusted, chain-link fence leaned so far over that it was nearly lost in the thick scraggle of weeds bursting through the concrete. The whole area was so run down Nolan couldn't even guess as to what its purpose might be. Which, he supposed, was most likely the point.
The driver stopped briefly to let Nolan out and drove off. As Nolan reached the tall, steel door at the entrance it opened with a squeal and there stood Mr. Sound, his dark suit melding with the shadows of the dark hallway behind him.
“Mr. Savitch,” he called out congenially, “I can't tell you how pleased I am at your decision.”
Nolan stopped in front of Mr. Sound and tried to look at him steadily, with limited success.
“Just so I'm clear,” said Nolan, “this isn't a 'once you're in you're in' kind of deal is it? I can still change my mind later, right?”
“Nolan,” said Mr. Sound, adopting what Nolan suspected was supposed to be a fatherly tone (it wasn't), “this is not a cult and you are not our prisoner. This is an occupation, and like any line of work, you are free to quit if you so choose. As the people on television say 'you may cancel any time'.” Mr. Sound chuckled to himself and it sounded like gravel rolling down the walls of some subterranean cavern.
“And who is it exactly that I'll be working for? Is this a government operation?”
Mr. Sound's smiled faltered slightly at the word “government'. “We are a private organization, privately funded, completely autonomous. Certain members of the government are aware of our activities but they prefer to keep their distance. 'Plausible deniability' and all that.”
Nolan detected the faint smell of bullshit around Mr. Sound's words. He wasn't sure why but he had the feeling there was more to that story than he was getting.
“Is there anything else that concerns you?” Mr. Sound continued.
“No,” said Nolan, “not at that moment anyway.”
“Then if you'll follow me.” Mr. Sound turned in almost militaristic fashion and strode off down the hallway, his heels making echoey clicks as he walked. His long legs carried him so far so quickly that Nolan practically had to jog to catch up.
The interior of the building was exactly what one would have expected to find based on the exterior. The floors were dirty and strewn with refuse. There were few windows lining the crumbling hall they walked and even fewer that contained any intact glass. Light was scarce and what little there was wound its way through the building from half open doorways and cracks in the ceiling. Nolan thought “run down” would have been an extremely kind description.
As they walked down the hall Nolan was struck by another of his “being watched” episodes. This one was unusually brief, and probably would have ended before he was aware it was happening, if it hadn't it coincided with another, seemingly unrelated, occurrence. It might have been a trick of the light or even a figment of Nolan's admittedly frantic mind. Walking behind Mr. Sound, Nolan saw him shiver as the sensation came and went. Except shiver wasn't quite the word for it. Mr. Sound's body did not appear to physically move, he never broke stride or changed his posture, yet his form visibly shimmered. For an instant it was as if Nolan were seeing the man through a cascade of water, like rain running down a window. It was an odd occurrence in a long line of odd occurrences and, not really knowing what it had been anyway, Nolan filed it away for later contemplation.
“So,” said Nolan, “is there some kind of orientation video of handbook I need to look at?” The words sounded ridiculous in his ears and he regretted them before he was even done speaking. Mr. Sound, however, seemed to either not notice or not care.
“We tend towards a more on-the-job approach to training. There really is no substitute for jumping in and getting your hands dirty. Not to worry though, you'll be working with one of my best men. I'll introduce you shortly, but first there's someone else I'd like you to meet.”
Mr. Sound stopped in front of a set of very heavy looking metal doors. Set into the wall next to them was a numeric keypad into which Mr. Sound quickly punched a long series of numbers. The doors shuddered apart and Nolan noticed they were several inches thick and quite solid. Behind the doors was a large, metal elevator compartment that looked big enough to hold a small car. Mr. Sound stepped inside and Nolan, only hesitating for a moment, followed. There were no buttons or controls on the inside of the elevator, the doors simply shut of their own accord and the elevator began its descent.
“The work we do here,” continued Mr. Sound, ”the work you will soon be engaged in, isn't easy. You are going to encounter things that will defy your current definitions of logic and reason. You may believe at present that you understand what that means. You do not.”
The elevator stopped and the doors slid open on a hallway strikingly different from the one they'd left. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all clean, smooth concrete, creating a massive, perfectly square, passage . Florescent lights beamed brightly down from the ceiling. Doors of polished metal lined either wall at regular intervals, with thick looking, frosted windows set with wire mesh in between them. At the end of the hall stood a massive metal wall that looked to be set on rails, with a much smaller door set into the lower right corner. Nolan wanted to say something but, since “wow” was the only thing his stunned brain could come up with, he remained silent.
Mr. Sound stepped briskly out of the elevator and proceeded down the hall with Nolan beside him. “It is extremely important to me that all my agents are as prepared as they possibly can be for the mental challenges they will face in the field. While your partner will be there to help you with the details there are some things no amount of explanation or training can prepare one for. Some things you simply have to experience for yourself.”
Mr. Sound stopped before the door in the huge metal wall.
“With that in mind I would like to introduce you to our most unusual resident.”
Mr. Sound grasped the metal handle on the door and turned it downward. The latch clanked and the door swung into the room beyond.
“Nolan Savitch,” Mr. Sound intoned, with almost palpable relish, “say hello to Nyarlathotep.”
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