I didn't give much attention to the card issue after reminding myself to search about similar things when I'm done.
Silas and Adeline gave me strange looks after they saw me getting over that so easily, and I ignored that too.
Am I being crazy? Maybe, but who cares?
The urgent thing was Tristan's files so I gave it all my attention.
"Even after three months, it is the same—"
And the fellow notes:
"What this Demarcation process means?"
"I don't know." I answered before putting the tablet back into the pocket. "All I know is that this is a key of some kind."
"So you don't want to go back to the hall. Instead, you are investigating this thing?"
Adeline question looked more like a disbelief than actual sarcasm.
"Yes."
I swallowed that crazy urge to shout out loud when I remembered that if I just stayed in that elevator I could have easily got out.
Act cool, act cool.
I'm not the kind of person who cries over spoiled milk.
"Okay, then let's find our way to the labs." I looked at the map again and found that lab 1 has a door connected to this main lab. The only door in the south.
"But first, let's search more specifically about things that are related to the gems."
We each searched on different sides, and after half an hour of deep searching, we put everything we found on the table.
Two gems that looked too old and overused,
Two other new shiny gems, their colors were between red and violet,
And one watch, (or an old version of it) with a tiny empty place on it… as if it's a battery place but seemed a lot more like a place for something very different—
Like the gems.
"It is so familiar." I gave it a very serious look, then put it under the light. When I did that, my own watch got into my vision and made me freeze.
How could I forget about it?
It looked like any other smartwatch— except the company's version felt disturbingly different, as if something about it wasn't quite right.
As if there's something unusual inside it…Just like those gems.
"That would be a great explanation about all the crazy things it's doing."
"What are you talking about?"
"The company's watch."
"Ah," Sials got the idea pretty fast. "Among all of the similar systems, this one is the best. I won't feel shocked if they say that there's a very high containment gems on it."
That mention of containment made me go to check the files once more. And it was there, the last report didn't change but the others did.
Giving hints about what could be used in the last report.
"This report says that the red and purple gems are usually a result of a medium Vessel, specially the spatial one… there is no further information about it."
"Let's try it then." Adeline took one of the gems then the old weird watch. "Let's see what kind of thing it can do."
"Right, oh. Let me do it." I remembered that my glove could prevent harm so I offered to do it. "If something bad happens let's destroy it, just prepare something to crash it or whatever."
Two minutes later, we were around one of the cycle tables, each holding something.
My part was to try the watch, so I made sure that I'm all aware of what I was doing before putting the gem in the empty place so carefully… as if it is a nuclear weapon or something.
It began to vibrate, faster and faster, then bathed the whole room in red before everything went still—as though it had never happened.
"What—"
Did it just stop?
I waited for whole minute before take it to check what happened… and it was there, on the screen—
The same sentence from before.
"I have no idea what that could mean."
"See if you can touch the screen to have further information." Silas suggested. "This is how a smartwatch usually works."
"I don't think that will do." I touched it, swiped and held it. Nothing happened. "Forty years ago, sensitive screens weren't used."
"Righ—" for some reason, when I accidentally touched the screen with my bare fingers, it flashed in red again, making me pull my hands away.
That red light didn't disappear this time, but shaped itself— little by little, forming a familiar, yet creepy, view.
"Is this a control panel or something?" Adeline came close so she could see it in a proper way. "Demarcation process, again? But the percentage is different this time— 90%?"
"I don't think that our watches have this property."
Yes. Yes.
Your watches didn't but my mind did.
I had literally freezed at that point. My body didn't react, my eyes couldn't slide from that floating panel, and my mind just went blank.
Why?
How could I have something very similar to a thing that was dropped somehow on a Vessel?
It wasn't the shape only, the font was the same, the side decorations were the same, and even the general layout seemed identical.
"What about trying this," Silas got closer to the watch and ran his hand over the panel, as if he was treating it like a phone.
"...?!"
And it did act like a phone…
"There's no further information on it but the developer surely wanted to make it serve different needs."
"This may be the project we are looking for, right? Nathan?"
"Are you okay?" Silas handed me a small bottle of water. Taking me out of my vogue. "You looked pale out of sudden—"
"I'm okay." I didn't take the bottle this time. " I'm tired, that's all."
I didn't even try to know anything about the system I had… how come?
Was it, as this one, could be controlled easily by swiping over it?
Am I prepared mentally to do that?
"If there's nothing to find here, let's try to open the door." I lifted the old watch again, and it felt twice as heavy as before. "What is written over here on the panel may change as we change the place as well".
"Yes." I took the gem out of the watch before putting them in my pocket. "But first, shouldn't we try to tell the rest about the way out?"
"No." Silas didn't hesitate at all. "If one gets out, the rest will do too."
"...?" How could it be? "Isn't this an H Vessel? How could it be that simple? Is that why there are no anomalies either to start with?"
"Who told you it is an H Vessel?" Adeline was more confused than Silas this time. "It's an M Vessel, Class C or D."
What?!
So that thing plays tricks on me?! Or is the naming system different?
Should I no longer trust that thing? Did I even trust it ever?
"This is going to make me lose my mind."
With a deep inhale I walked toward the left door, which goes to the other labs as what the map said. The other two followed without much hesitation.
"Let's finish this before someone else goes out and makes us do as well."
The door opened onto a small corridor lined with several rooms. Each room was labeled by a number…
<000>
<001>
<010>
<011>
<100>
.
.
"Binary numbers?" Silas was reading each one in order. "Then the third lab must be this one."
<011> was the one he pointed at.
"Yes, it might be this simple."
I was over thinking all of this before just because I thought it was an H Vessel. Now after knowing that it was at most Class- C Vessel I didn't give much attention.
"Here we go." I used Tristan's card to open the lab, and before taking any steps further, I turned to Silas and Adeline. "There's something more important than this."
"Finding emergency stairs?"
"yes." I looked to the dark end of the corridor then continued. "It may not require changing the time, since it is an emergency stairs, but we must at least do our best to secure it."
Silas hummed, then took a look at the lab, which had everything turned on on it."I'll go to find it. But before that, let's check the date and time so I could return here if I ended up trapped in the spatial cycle here."
"Right," I entered the room just to stop before going any further. The familiar sweet smell filled the air— one very similar to the forest house's smell…
"Is there anything wrong there?"
"No, It's just the smell."
"The dust?"
"Dust? No. It's different. You can't smell it?"
Nice—
Both Adeline and Silas nodded as 'No'.
"Anyway, we must know the date, wait a second— it's similar to the one we were in just before, the time is 1 PM." I looked at Silas while he was writing notes to be sure. "We need something to stay connected."
"We have this." Adeline showed the small earpiece she wore. "As long as we stay in the same time zone, we will be able to talk to each other."
"Is it something all your teams have?"
"Yes."
"I'm going to right now… if I find the stairs I'll let you know."
"Okay, take care." I was about to let him go by that, but I remembered something. "If a strange music starts to play, just close your ears immediately."
"Understood, anything else?"
"No."
Silas just went alone after that, and I continued to see if anything in the files changed.
It didn't.
And it went so well that I even found the files I needed in the drawer…
"Shall we follow Silas then?"
"If you finished here—"
Yes…
Everything was good,
Until my dear system suddenly decided that this wasn't bad enough.