The Weapons Laboratory is a covert underground weapons research facility owned by biotechnology company Gen Inc and located in Antarctica. It is comprised of Weapons Security, an area that protects the entrance to the laboratory, and the Weapons Laboratory itself. The facility appears in the 2002 video-game The Thing.
History[]
The main lobby of the Weapons Laboratory.
After entering through the air-intake vents of the Military Airstrip, Blake found himself in a snowy cave underground. He made his way into the Weapons Security area through its outer ventilation shafts, as an elevator to the surface was accessible only via keycard. Entering the facility's main ventilation shaft area, a huge room full of fuel pipes and protected by sentry turrets, Blake saw a medic, Cohen, running away from Whitley's Black Ops. He quickly gave him a weapon and fought off Whitley's soldiers, sentry guns and the Things that permeated the area, descending to the very bottom. Going through security controls protected by sentry guns, Blake made it into the inner Weapons Security area, while Cohen mysteriously disappeared. Blake proceeded to enter the main lobby of the Weapons Laboratory, where he saw engineers Ryan and Stolls arguing about letting Cohen go unescorted to the medical supply area for antibiotics. The situation quickly escalated in a standoff between the two paranoid men. Blake found out quickly that Ryan was an imitation, and helped Stolls in dealing with him after he burst out. Going into the robotics lab, they fought a hidden Walker which had crawled through the air vents, as documented in the room's entry journals.
Blake about to fight the Laboratory Rupture.
The journals also revealed that the men were working on an anti-Thing virus, and that Stolls' work was impeccable. Even so, mysterious noises and accidents made morale decrease. Ryan was said to be in good spirits, proving he was an imitation ever since a mysterious accident he had had. Blake helped Stolls in getting access to the black tech lab, but the latter was assimilated by the Thing after coming into contact with some scuttler pods. Blake defeated the imitation and proceeded to the black tech lab, where he met Austin, another member of the team. Austin requested help and urged Blake to check a terminal which he couldn't figure out. The trusting Blake was locked in a room by Austin which began to get slowly filled by a poisonous green gas. Blake shot the gas tank and proceeded to escape, heading into the armory. He made his way into the room Austin had locked himself in, rescuing an engineer named Peltola from Whitley's Black Ops, and getting access to an area with a Thing Rupture, the Laboratory Rupture, which emerged from the ceiling. Blake defeated the monstrosity and escaped from the facility to head back to the elevator to the surface. Peltola disappeared as the facility began to be destroyed through explosions in the main ventilation area. Blake fought off the remaining Things and Black Ops in the area and headed to the surface, to his final confrontation with Whitley.
Gallery[]
The destruction of the facility.
The observation area deck.
The weapons research lab.
The firing range.
The black tech lab.
The robotics lab.
The Laboratory Rupture, dead.
Ryan and Stolls locked in a standoff.
The underground cave leading into the complex.
Blake and Cohen in the main ventilation shaft area.
Blake fighting off a Walker inside the robotics lab.
The security control huts at the entrance of the facility.