"And Gwen, you can put your sword down," Sneha said firmly.
Gwen had been there the whole time. Using her invisibility, she had hidden in plain sight, standing just behind Mr. Johatsu.
A tall man, nearly 6 feet, with long hair reaching his shoulders. He was wearing a long coat, a black sword in his hand, using invisibility, and was standing behind Dr. Turner, ready to cut him down.
"Good thing you said it… I was about to tell her the same," Emily added.
***
After having that embarrassing moment with everyone there, Emil was now walking towards the facility building.
'I am gonna get back at you, Em.' Emil was still sour about that incident.
The main facility building, or what they called Khonshura, was like a hundred-story structure, shaped like a pointed castle. Around the entire building, there was a vast garden.
Now he stood in front of the door. The door itself was as tall as a one-story building. He started walking toward it. There were two guards present. One of them was wearing a long coat and had a piercing gaze, his eyes cutting straight through Emil. The second guard was a bit mellower—he looked kinder, and honestly, a little curious about who this boy was, coming to the main tower at this hour.
It was when Emil got really close to the door that Guard Two approached him, staring him up and down, almost looking down on him.
"Hey, what are you doing here, boy? What's your business?" the kind guard asked.
Even though they knew that anyone here was someone powerful—because no normal person could even get into a place like this, this was still one of the main facility buildings. They couldn't take any risks, so their guard was up.
"Oh no, nothing. I…I'm here for the washroom. Dr. Turner sent me," Emil said, hesitating.
In the short time Emil had been here, he had learned one thing for sure: Dr. Turner had a very high reputation among everyone living here. Somehow, even the warden showed him respect.
'I hope this works…' Emil was fidgeting with his hands.
The guard looked at him for a while, watching him carefully, almost with curiosity, and then said, "Oh, is that so? That's fine. Just go straight down the hallway, then take a left. You'll find it there."
Emil was a little shocked. It was good for him, but it felt way too easy. Way too convenient for someone to just use Turner's name and walk inside. But maybe if it had been someone else, they would have been more cautious. Since they had seen him with Dr. Turner, they knew he wasn't lying. Also, one of the bigshots of the building, Sneha, was there too.
Also… the second guard stepped closer and placed a hand on Emil's head, like he was reading his thoughts.
Then the kind guard said, "Don't worry. I was just checking if you had any malice."
'For a guard… You got an insane power. Maybe a fitting power.'Emil thought.
"Thank you, sir… that's very kind of you," Emil said, trying to show his gratitude towards the guard.
"Just get on with it, brat. We don't have the whole day. Finish your business and get back as soon as possible. And if you try any funny business… don't make me say it. It'll be your last," the angry guard said, leaning toward him.
'Just what is your problem, man…' Emil thought.
"Yeah, yeah… sure," Emil muttered. He bowed slightly to him and, with a sour look on his face, walked past them.
When he entered the hall, there was a massive statue right in the center. It held something like a moon in its hand. The statue was covered in a large hooded cloak, almost like a hoodie, carved out of marble. Beneath that cloak, there seemed to be some kind of armor—though he couldn't figure out what kind of armor that was. It had some moon-like designs on the chest. A massive sword hung at its side. That sword was not metal. It was a normal sword.
'What's the point of having a sword like that for a normal statue.
If this had been the real world, Emil might have guessed it was a statue of a god. But he knew this place wasn't normal. Still… maybe it was a god. Or something close to it. The statue of the Essential of this place.
The hallway splits into three directions.
To the right—just a plain hallway, nothing much, but at the end, it split again into two more paths.
To the left—the same thing.
Straight ahead, that was the one the guard had told him to take.
So it was obvious.
Still… even the straight path split further ahead.
Emil started walking down the middle one.
'It is pretty weird that, though I had seen around 100 floors, there really is no way of going to another floor. I hope that Lysander will do his part and not turn on us… To be honest, I don't trust him, I even wanna beat the shit out of him for saying those things.' Emil got red reminiscing about that time.
'Calm down, Emil, Emily said, he could be trusted.'Emil sighed.
'Though, even Emily has things she is holding back…'
When he reached the end, he saw rooms on both sides—left and right. All of them were numbered, but not with normal numbers. Not 1, 2, 3… but Roman numerals. It was oddly fascinating to him.
He kept walking, passing by different rooms. Inside, people were working on all kinds of things.
One room number CCCXIV, caught his attention. Some people were discussing something inside.
"I guess we will find out when she is done with them and will get that key." A woman with blonde hair snarled.
But the moment they noticed him, they immediately stopped. One of them walked up and shut the door right in front of him.
'Oh, come on… It's not like I could understand anything just by listening for two minutes, but still, I am hearing about this key thing way more often than not. Damn, I even have the job related to doors apparently.' Emil thought, slightly annoyed.
After walking a bit more, he finally reached the washroom.
Inside, there were twelve toilet seats. Ten closed stalls for… longer business. And a massive mirror, so big that a six-foot man would have to lie down twice to cover its length.
'Finally…'
It was time to execute his plan.
He walked to stall number IX. Opened it. Stepped inside.
The truth was, there were two plans.
The first one, the one everyone knew, was simple. He would go to the washroom and plant something to help me move to the other floor.
The second one… was only between him and Emily.
He opened the toilet flush. In the farthest corner, barely visible, there was something—small. Not exactly a button… more like a tiny piece of metal.
He took it.
Brought it closer.
'Finally… It's time to blow this place up. Not literally, of course. And free that son of a... no, Lysander.'