Previously, she was either blindfolded and silently escorted directly to the experimental grounds.
Or, more completely, her senses would be masked by injected anesthetics, and she would wake up already on a cold operating table.
They stepped onto the narrow, towering corridor outside the door, filled with stark white light.
Dead silence.
Absolute dead silence.
Only the extremely soft footsteps of the two of them echoed between the mirror-smooth floor and the pale walls, making the space feel exceptionally vast and... lonely.
On both sides of the corridor were countless identical heavy metal doors.
They were arranged like a strict formation, standing silently.
Each door was inlaid with a cold metal plaque, on which were etched numbers so simple they were cruel: S-017, S-083, S-109...
Below the numbers were even more striking warning icons—
From the most basic yellow and black biohazard and radiation hazards, to 'no looking,' 'no listening,' 'no talking,' and some more concrete images like a bleeding skull, twisted tentacles, or... a smiling face?
Some, Serie understood at a glance, but others she completely failed to grasp, after all, she was not an employee here.
On some control panels next to the doors, eerie blue or crimson lights flickered, indicating terrifying access permissions: "A-Class Doctors and above only," "Requires Level 3 Psychiatric Evaluation," "Anti-Reality Distortion Field Active"...
It was practically like a graveyard, and those iron doors were tombstones.
As for what lay beyond the tombstones... what was sleeping there?
"This is the S-Class Anomaly Containment Layer," Lynette's calm voice broke the silence. "Behind every door you see, highly dangerous entities are imprisoned."
"They are either lunatics whose sanity has completely collapsed, or strange creatures whose forms and abilities are beyond human comprehension."
This statement sent a chill down Serie's spine.
To house her, a defenseless young girl, with these heavy-hitting individuals.
This Hayato really was a psychopath.
If Serie didn't genuinely possess some ability and a strong enough inner resolve, any ordinary girl would likely have collapsed just from living on the same floor as these "good neighbors."
Fortunately, Lynette's low voice dispelled some of the gloom in Serie's heart.
"Don't worry, once the assessment stabilizes, I will apply to my superiors to transfer your containment unit to a higher level... the environment will be much better."
"...Thank you," Serie's voice was a little hoarse, and full of genuine sincerity.
Perhaps it was the internal exhaustion from her previous act of feigned helplessness, or the stark contrast with Dr. Igor's pure malice, but both made Serie's perception of Lynette change significantly.
Lynette displayed a kind of non-utilitarian, even somewhat unprovoked, protection and help, imbued with a... nearly maternal warmth and sense of security that made one want to bask in it.
Just like a mother...
This thought resurfaced uncontrollably.
Serie's cheeks flushed crimson.
Stop letting your imagination run wild!
Serie forcibly dragged her attention back to the "Task" interface in her mind, trying to distract herself with the progress bar for "Explore Control Bureau."
However, that progress bar crawled like a snail.
After walking so far, through half of the imposing S-Class Containment Layer, the progress bar didn't even grant a pitiful 1%.
How big is this damned place?!
This question was answered the moment she and Lynette entered the elevator.
The elevator didn't have the expected simple numerical buttons.
Instead, it was a dense, honeycomb-like matrix of buttons that covered the entire panel.
Hundreds, possibly even thousands, of hexagonal buttons were tightly embedded in the metal panel.
They didn't even have any floor numbers marked.
She had thought exploring the Control Bureau would be too easy. Setting aside her current identity as an anomaly, even if Serie weren't an anomaly but a legitimate Control Bureau employee, she'd likely run her legs off trying to explore the entire Control Bureau.
Lynette seemed to be long accustomed to it.
Her expression unchanged, she raised a hand and lightly touched one of the buttons on the panel.
The structure of the Control Bureau did not seem to be a simple vertical stack.
It consolidated areas with similar functions into large zones.
For example, the red containment zone they were currently in occupied fifteen consecutive floors.
This was just one of many zones distinguished by different colors.
The elevator doors slowly closed, and a slight sense of weightlessness came over them.
Serie leaned in the corner, her gaze still drawn to the unnervingly dense array of buttons.
She gradually understood the deeper logic behind this design.
For an anomaly to break containment and escape here, it would be as hard as ascending to heaven.
Forget about them, in their panicked state; even a normal person with a map, if they plunged into this elevator and faced this "button wall" with no logical cues, would surely black out and get completely lost.
Forget finding the way to the outside; they probably wouldn't even know which floor to go to. It was practically a three-dimensional labyrinth.
At the same time, as Serie looked at the mirror-like reflection on the elevator ceiling, an even more certain deduction formed in her mind—this enormous Control Bureau building must be buried deep underground.
If it were a towering structure on the surface, such an astonishing vertical depth, combined with each floor, if it were as tall as the S-Class Containment Layer, its total height would surely be several times that of the world's tallest building.
Such high visibility would be tantamount to announcing its existence to the whole world, which would likely be completely contrary to the Control Bureau's philosophy.
Only by being hidden deep underground could it accommodate this colossal containment complex, whose volume and complexity far exceeded human imagination.
The elevator continued its silent ascent, the faint vibration from below seemingly endless.
For the first time, Serie truly felt that she was inside the belly of an iron behemoth of such intricate structure and terrifying scale.
This realization brought not so much awe as a suffocating despair.
Escape?
A bitter taste filled her heart.
Aside from acquiring "Machine Affinity" and walking out as a "normal person," she saw no other way out.
A chill spread from her heart, making her already somewhat pale complexion, due to blood loss, even more transparent.
After an unknown period, the oppressive hum of the elevator finally stopped. The heavy alloy doors slid open silently to both sides—
Boom!
A huge wave of vibrant sound, like a tangible tide, suddenly crashed in, instantly drowning the dead silence within the elevator car.
Serie, startled by the sudden clamor, instinctively recoiled a half-step, her pupils widening in astonishment.
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