Fluids & Particles Research Center

This article might be hard to understand without the context given by the primer. It'll come soon(-ish)

"So you're telling me this big building was a lab, and it's alone at the top of a hill in the middle of nowhere?
— By the looks of it, we might be in a university campus. It may not be in the middle of nowhere as you said, but the water's too dark to see what lies below.
— Erm, guys? How strong do you think the walls are?
— Full of glass, it's more built for the looks than for taking a beating, why do you— oh."

The F&P Research Center is an imposing seven-stories building, the only human landmark on the island and central to the story of Rising Tides.

Architecture

The building is a mix between function and aesthetics. It is a giant brick, three times as long as it is wide. The external walls and the roof are all the same, a large galvanized steel skeleton and square panes of reinforced glass in between. While it looks modern, the few of the survivors with architectural notions were quick to point out it seems to miss some essential features for a research building: AC and cooling system outputs were notably missing.

Inside, two third of the building is occupied by a central atrium. Many labs, storerooms, meeting rooms and other rooms of undetermined usage are all accessed through hallways open to the atrium, until the fifth floor. Both sides of the atrium are connected by multiple footbridges starting from the fourth floor. The interior is thus very bright during the day, as light comes from the front and the top windows, warming the central room.

The top two floors are different from the others in that they are not open to the atrium, and no stair seem to lead to them. Thus, the survivors have no idea what lies up there, or even if there are truly floors and not empty space. The building's plan confirms their existence, but it has proven many times to be unreliable and point to non-existent rooms or stairs.

The building has three basement floors discovered so far, each time through a hidden staircase. In a closet, behind a cupboard or a bookshelf. More may be discovered, but they have been uninteresting so far. Mostly storage of heavy machinery whose purpose is unknown, and can't be powered for most. Several emergency generators have been found there.

The First Wave

There is more to this building than meets the eye. It looks brittle, but is in truth incredibly sturdy. When the first Tsunami hit the island, the survivors panicked. The wave, ten time taller than the center, was tall enough to hide the sun even several kilometers from them. To many, it seemed like their doom was inevitable. There was no way that a lab built at the top of a hill would be able to withstand the crushing force of this phenomenon.

The group split in two, with one dragging the medused inside and locking the doors while the others decided to look for a safer place in the woods behind the building or trying to dive as deep as possible to avoid the surface wave.

When it hits, the building shook and cracked ominously, but held on. For two minutes that seemed like an eternity, water encompassed all the island, the terrified survivors witnessing the horrors that swam freely in the torrent. Then it was over. The glass was dripping, like it just endured no more than a heavy rain. The people who chose to try their chance outside were never seen again.