It took at most fifteen minutes to find the files, corrupt it, and have a backup of the network's important information. Silas was already waiting beside the emergency stairs by then, and we made sure to modify the time so we could get out without a problem.
"You could've just gone by yourself."
"Why?" Silas looked at me, then turned to open the door of the stairs. "You said it's an H Vessel, that can't make me feel any good."
"You mustn't take my information that seriously, since you already know how much I lack knowledge about these things."
"Still, making sure that everything is in its place is safer."
Ding—
The bell marking the end of the workday rang, filling the place. Sharper and more tense than ever before.
"You go first," Silas made sure that Adeline went before him, then grabbed my arm as if he was about to make me go into that narrow stairs before him. "Just go Nathan, what are you doing?"
I looked at him, then at the very edge of the door frame under his feet.
It was there. An invisible barrier stood in my way, stopping me from entering.
"I don't think that I can go." By knocking lightly on that wall, I made my point clear. "It seems that I have to find another way to get out."
"...you—"
"Just go, you know that I can find a way. Don't you?"
"No, I'm not going there alone."
"I may get out too if you did."
"You don't even get the point, do you?"
He seemed frustrated but didn't continue to argue… Instead, he put a small thing in his ear before pressing it.
"Adeline, did everything go well?"
"Yes, I'm out. Why are you still there? Everyone is already here, even the researchers." Adeline's sound was so clear even for me.
"Something happened, we won't be able to get out now. Just give the report and say we lost each other here."
"Wait—"
Then he took that thing off and put it in his shirt pocket.
"These things work in and out the Vessels?"
"Yes. It is my item." Silas got out and closed the door behind him. "We have to find a way now."
Yes, we had to find a way, but first—
"Why are we the only ones left?"
Even before, Silas didn't have the choice to decide to stay or not. He must have left even without him noticing… but he didn't, unlike everyone else.
My case was strange enough, but his one is more suspicious.
Or I'm not the only one to have that damned system?
"Let's find a way, then we'll think about that."
"Fine— oh"
Why did that music start to play again? I had no idea. The only thing I recognized fully was how Silas in front of me suddenly was wearing a different suit, a nice navy suit with a gray shirt… and a work card.
With His name on it.
"We must take off our watches now." I was already doing it while talking. "I think that it's something that shouldn't exist here."
"Right." Silas did the same, and while we were looking at the corridor, trying to decide where to go, it all lit up… as if it's the beginning of another workday.
"I'm already having a headache."
"Just bear with it until we finish this."
"Yes, yes." As we walked towards the main lab, or the door of it at least, a strange but familiar sound of a machine filled the place. I ignored the familiarity of it completely and continued to talk to Silas. "You must show me a good restaurant this time when we finish."
"Wasn't the last one good enough?"
"Just seeing the faces of our department's members there is enough to make my stomach churn."
"Just cook for yourself then," I listened to him while opening the third lab's room. It was still the way I left it. "I got something quickly this morning from what you cooked yesterday and it was good."
"And I got to ask myself where the rest of the meal went.—"
When I finally opened the main lab's door, I expected a new corridor… but what I saw was the main lab itself.
As if the spatial cycle was no longer working.
"It's crowded—"
It was full of researchers in white coats, every one of them was doing his job, but unlike the researchers I saw first when I got into this Vessel… those were full of life, chatting and talking to each other while working.
I didn't say a word as I stopped there trying to get a full idea of what was happening, neither did Silas.
It took me one more minute to step back while feeling my heartbeats in my throat. My whole body freezed and somehow I didn't know how to breathe for a moment.
Anomalies—
All of them were Anomalies…
Heads without faces, heads with faces that seemed like digital errors, and misshapen faces with eerie, skin-crawling smiles.
No one had a regular face, yet no one had anything wrong with his body.
"Do you see what I'm seeing?"
"Yes."
"Nice—"
I didn't even get the chance to react more because two of the researchers came close. Both got digital errors faces and weird smiles that showed itself rapidly for a seconds before disappearing.
"Tristan and Silas together again? did you finally reach a settlement?"
"No we don't," Sials just answered casually with a small smile. "My wife wants to see his wife so I'm making the appointment."
"Right, right… let your wives deal with your problems you adult men. They may solve it better than you."
"That's if they didn't decide to leave our problems for us and leave for a trip or something."
"They better do it!" The other anomaly bursted out a laugh before slapping me on the shoulder. "Dear Tristan, you must at least try to solve it alone without making others involved in it."
"I'm too busy to do that." I answered, feeling as if I'm not being fully sure of what I'm doing anymore. Silas on the other hand laughed when he heard my answer before commenting. "See Arnold? He will never acknowledge what he's done wrong."
"Tristan will never change."
"Yes, he'll never even try."
"...?" Excuse me, Sir? Why are you taking this so casually?!
How did you even know their names?— Ah, the work cards. That made sense.
"Oh Right, Tristan. Your deadline is today, how is that going."
"Pretty good. It might not be accepted though."
"If it doesn't go well, we'll have dinner tonight so we can cry together. If it gets accepted then you'll be the one who pays."
"Okay, deal."
"We'll let you finish your work then, see you after the work."
Both anomalies went away after that, leaving me unable to shape my thoughts in a proper way.
"You seemed too fine with that."
Silas's comment made me snort in disbelief.
"Not as you. You seemed more comfortable than every other time I've seen you in."
"You haven't seen me in a comfortable state ever."
"Nor did you."
We both sighed after that conversation before ignoring it completely.
"I think that the answer to what we are in is the project Tristan works in."
"And if it's due today then this makes things easier."
It was. But somehow we can't just take it for granted. We have to find a way to get out… no matter what.
"I will go and take a look around, the spatial cycle doesn't seem to be activated right now." Silas handed me one of those two things he talked to Adeline through. "I'll tell you what I find through this."
"I'll return to the lab. I may know somethingaboutthe projec."
"Then I'll see you after I finish."
We both went our separate ways after. I went to the third lab, and Silas to the main hall.
"Let's check the system first."
I made sure to close the door before going inside. And the first thing I did was to re-read what the mission said.
This time, again, it had some changes.
[Old company mission: SPT(MNT)-H-12053
•State: ongoing.
The company's best researcher has been working secretly on a project. That project led to the company's undoing.
•Condition for success: find the project's file and corrupt it.
•Rewards: 500 S.P.s, ■■■■■, ■■■■■
•Penalty for failure: work as a researcher until someone corrupts the files.]
Wait a second…
Best researcher?
"If it is a secret then why does everyone know about it?"
First I thought that the researchers who talked about it with me were a part of it somehow… but now things have become so different.
It wasn't the gems project, that one was successful. It was something else. Something just Tristan knew about.
"Think Nathan. What will you do if you're wearing his shoes?"
Research that nobody knew anything about…
A research that was the company's undoing…
"It can't be too obvious— think Nathan, think. Nothing you've seen isn't worth the remembrance."
Suddenly, a line came to my mind… the one I didn't use properly until now.
I was already in lab3, but it wasn't the third door but the fourth one it used.
"So it is not this one?"
No.
There's no other lab that has number three on it in the whole map, so it must be this one.
It has Tristan's name on the office here too.
Lab3, third door, 030.
Lab3, third door, 030.
Lab3, third door, 030—
Ah,
The format.
It was a very familiar format.
"An address!"
Addresses are usually written that way, and if I gave this idea a chance then lab3 is the general place, the 'third door' is more like a specific neighborhood, and 030 was more like a street number.
"Now to put it together—"
I have to find something like a 'third door' in this room.
Door in a room without any door except the one I entered…
I looked around then simply I collapsed into the chair behind the desk, feeling every inch of my body ache.
What could the door mean?
"What is this lab for, to start with?" I didn't need much effort to have an overview of the small lab I was in.
An office with a computer on it, chair, a table with another computer on it, strangely putted in the middle.
If the main project for him was the gems— shouldn't he own a number of them at least? there was nothing anywhere.
"So, what is he researching then?"
For three minutes or so I was just looking at the room without thinking about it. Then the view of the Computer in the middle of the room made me sit up in panic— a crazy idea popped into my mind.
The Computer—
It is the Computer!
"Then the door is there?"
What was the chance that that was the case? Twenty percent? Fifty percent? More? Less?
That is what I didn't actually think about until I found myself in front of something I would never face by my own well.
Another Vessel,
One into another,
With a new mission that looking at it made me regret every choice I've ever made.