Branch 1B: The Reservoir Path

Choosing the main path around Kolob Reservoir, you follow the established trail that hugs the waterline. The decision feels safer, but something about the evening light playing across the water's surface suggests that even the well-traveled routes here hold their own mysteries.

The reservoir stretches out before you, its surface reflecting the dramatic cliffs and forested highlands that surround it. At this elevation, the water takes on a deep, almost unnatural blue that seems to shift as clouds pass overhead. Emma's EMF meter continues its erratic behavior, the readings growing stronger as you approach a section where the cliffside meets the water.

“You know what's strange?” Jake says, pausing to examine an unusual rock formation, “These geological layers don't match the typical stratification of the region. It's almost as if…” He runs his hand along the stone surface, feeling the subtle variations. “It's almost as if something altered the natural formation patterns.”

Emma points her camera at the cliffs, and both of you freeze as the digital display reveals something extraordinary – patterns of light, invisible to the naked eye, dancing across the rock face like a geometric web. The patterns pulse with a soft blue luminescence that reminds you of the auroral phenomena typically seen only in polar regions.

Suddenly, a distinct hum fills the air, and a beam of light – too focused to be natural, too fluid to be artificial – sweeps across the water's surface.

What do you do?

Choice 2C: Follow the shoreline toward the source of the light

Choice 2D: Find a hidden vantage point to observe what happens next

What do you do next?