Chapter 4
Plot fork
Once in the corridor, Selena quickly noticed the differences. The first thing that caught her eye was a better lighting, even though there wasn't a single lamp in sight. Corridor became wider; different color of the walls and size of the doors... It dawned on her what a deep trouble she got herself into. Selena jerked the handle – the door didn't give in.
“Kevin! It's a trap! Don't leave before you wring the answers out of him!!!” she shouted at the top of her lungs. The girl realized that he won't hear her, she just wanted to drown the fear in those sounds. Exhaling hopelessly, Silver went down the corridor. The sound of her heels clicking against the wooden floor was echoing the pale green walls. Suddenly, some other sound was heard from afar. Selena froze and strained her ears, but there was nothing but dead silence. The girl walked further and warily turned the corner. She tried to open the nearest door, then another one, and another one – to no avail.
Silver heard the sounds again, they were much closer, right behind the corner, coming from the place where she was a few seconds ago. A door slammed, and then someone's feet pattered. A door slammed again, and everything went silent.
The girl looked around, frightened. Who could that be? An enemy? Or maybe Evanford, or some other person like her, who had no idea what he's getting into? Come to think of it, how many more unwary people ended up here? Selena looked behind the corner. Some of those doors must be unlocked – whoever was there opened them without a key... It's worth trying. Silver reached out for the handle, but it unexpectedly turned and slipped away from her fingers. The door opened.
Selena was facing her twin.
It's like she was looking into a mirror. But her “reflection” had perfect tan – to obtain it, one had to have some experience with sunbathing or go to the good solarium. She herself never managed to get a tan like that – sensitive skin was getting sunburns too fast. Impression about her looks was severely impared at the sight of her dress – some yellowish color, a bit dirty, and at least three sizes too big. There was another notable difference – girl's hair was not white, but rich blond, in golden shade. Twin smiled at the girl as if she was an old acquaintance, winked and slammed the door shut.
Selena didn't move, blankly staring at the wooden surface, mind utterly blown. Who is this girl? What the hell is going on? She absent-mindedly turned away from the door and made a few steps along the corridor. A quiet click behind her back has heightened all her sensations. Silver slowly turned her head and managed to catch a glimpse of a man whose hands were wrapped around her a second later.
“Gotcha, sunny,” the stranger whispered, stretching the words a bit.
The girl felt weird; not threatened, on contrary – it seemed like she was hugged by a friendly teddy bear. Her head started roaming with completely out-of-place memories about her childhood, when she was dreaming about a big stuffed toy that she could nestle up to and fall asleep... Despite the fact that this man has grabbed Selena, his touches were relaxing, calming her nerves. Realizing this was driving the girl even more mad.
In an emergency her brain started working fast. Selena recalled the lessons of self-defence that were taught to them at school during SE classes – “Surviving in the Environment”. Her brain shut down for the next few seconds, while her body was acting on its own. Her hands flew up. Selena clasped the wrists of an attacker, stepped behind his back, breaking the grip, and snapped her hands up, throwing the man off his feet. She could run now, but where? Besides, it's not a usual place – she'd rather learn more about everyone who's encountered here. The girl jumped away, reaching into her purse for something to defend herself. Her fingers touched some elongated metal object. Silver pulled the fork out and held it menacingly, fixing her expectant gaze on the attacker.
He looked nothing like Teddy Bear. An appearance like that would've scared the children, even more so – their parents, who would've took him for some maniac pervert. Selena recalled physiognomics once again. Unlike that unremarkable man from the dark room, this man's face seemed to be taken from some stereotype catalogue. Receding hairline, a thick unibrow, protruding eyes and bright plump lips, grotesquely standing out on his pale face. But the look of his eyes wasn't threatening, rather vacant.
His look was full of incomprehension that can be seen in the eyes of a dog that was suddenly hit by its owner for no reason. Man's lips were slightly trembling, like he was about to cry. He clumsily got up, gazed into Selena's eyes, like he was trying to find an explanation for such a cruelty, and frowned.
“You're not my sunny,” he said with a voice of an offended child. The man stepped back and disappeared behind the nearest door.
Selena hit the wall with a fork and cursed under her breath. For how long are they going to fool her?! Every new character makes this story even more murky, not giving any answers! She threw the fork back into the bag and saw the book. Well of course! The book surely must say what to do next... Silver could only guess what price she'll have to pay for this knowledge. But starving to death or going mad from aimlessly walking all those corridors is even worse. Selena glanced throgh the book and almost immediately saw the lines:
Proggod got used to the darkness a while ago, but it was still hindering. Accidental soldering iron burns were in the past, but looking for the right parts was still hard. They were running away, after all. Medium ones are sluggish, easy to catch. But the small ones, nimble imps that they are, were hiding inside the bigger parts, between the parquet planks... Catching them was hard enough on its own, and finding the right one for his project was nigh impossible.
The door creacked, and some light was shed into Proggod's abode. The door closed, but the light wasn't gone. Owner of the place saw a girl who was emitting a faint light. Her hands were behind her back.
“I haven't seen you in a while,” the man didn't move, hoping that she'll approach. Then he'll have a chance to see his masterpiece, or maybe even to solder something... But asking her is fruitless – she does whatever she wants anyway.
“I've got something for you,” his guest smiled promisingly.
“In your left hand, or in your right?” Proggod awkwardly joked.
“You're lucky that it's not in my right,” her beautiful lips curled in a smirk. The girl approached after all, but not close enough. “Today we'll go without our hands,” she put her tongue out – on its tip, there was one of the smallest and most needed microchips. Giving Proggod a few seconds to realize how tempting the offer is, the girl spoke: “You'll have to use a cheat code, to open a triple-size passage. Also, I need some help with the tools you'll give me.”
“That's a bit too much, even for what you're offering,” he frowned. “And anyway, why are you coming to me to ask for all those favors, to a stuck player with a dozen of useless cheat codes, and not to your buddy? He can do a hundred times more.”
“But his buttons are way harder to push, either,” the girl smiled and stuck out her tongue again. “Make your choice... Or I'll leave, and you'll be looking for this thing in the smallest and the darkest cracks,” she dug the parquet floor with her foot. After some consideration, the man waved his hand:
“Ok, all right... But you'll stand next to me for ten minutes.”
“Time means nothing here. I'll be with you for five hundred heartbeats,” the girl came close to Proggod and licked his neck, leaving the chip on his skin. “And I'll try to make your heart beat faster.”
“Just stand still and don't interfere,” he replied harshly.
“You know full well, telling me not to do something is useless,” his guest smiled. “Fine, I'll listen this time, though who will benefit from it? You've never even seen women from behind your computer.”
After this, text turned into gibberish. Selena was disturbed by this dialogue – who was the person that man in the darkness was talking to? What did this girl want? Using a cheat code... What does it mean, anyway? The book doesn't give anything out for no reason. Selena sensed that there a
re some clues here, but couldn't understand what it is all about. Where is this arrogant smartie when she actually needs his help?..
Before Silver finished that thought, a door nearby opened, letting Kevin into the corridor. Taking a quick look around, he took note of the invisible light source and the girl who was nervously gripping the book.
“You're alive,” he didn't sound too excited about this fact.
“Well, thanks for noticing,” Selena scoffed. It's no time to get offended at his couldn't-care-less attitude. Besides, now she's certain that it's actually a guy she knows, not some impostor. “Did you learn anything?” she asked eagerly, running up to him.
“From what he told, we'll have to gather more information, or we won't get the answers. He didn't want to give away anything else.”
“Nevermind,” the girl waved her hand, knowing full well that scolding him is useless. Silver wanted to show him the paragraphs she read, but looked into the book and nearly dropped it – there was some completely different text instead of that dialogue. Selena put the book back into her bag and turned to Evanford: “What are we going to do?”
“Haven't you read about it?” Kevin raised his eyebrows.
“I've read about something, but didn't learn more than you did,” the girl answered sarcastically. “I'll tell you later. Now we have to get out, but how? All doors are closed...”
“What a childish maximalism,” Kevin shook his head. “I bet you didn't try opening most of them. There are plenty, and some are bound to be unlocked,” he came to one of the doors and turned the handle. It gave in, to Selena's surprise.
“Fortune favours the fools,” she muttered, approaching.
“I'm not sure how fortunate this will turn out to be... But if you really think so, you go first,” he parried, looking around. The room before them was resembling the university auditorium – around five meters wide and fifteen meters long, completely empty, with no windows, but with a vent on the ceiling... And a door on the opposite side. After some hesitation, Kevin stepped in, ran up to the door and tried to open it – to no avail. Parquet was squeaking and slightly caving in under his feet, like there was an emptiness under it. He slowly walked back, thinking. “Do you remember what it said,” he started, “you can't open a new door...”
“Before you close the previous one,” Selena shuddered. “I don't want to end up being locked in here. It didn't say that the next door will open for sure, right? I don't like this vent – it may release gas, some insects...”
“We can't rule it out,” Kevin shrugged. “But there is only one vent, and no obstacles. There's 99 percent probability that the situation is worse in other rooms.”
Selena realised that he was right. She reluctantly closed the door and listened, but there was no gas hissing, not to mention the buzz of the insects. The moment Silver cautiously stepped forward, a plank fell out of the parquet in the middle of the room. In a second, a quiet splash was heard, and the very next moment another plank fell out in different place. Kevin didn't realize what was happening behind his back, but the girl reacted immediately.
“Run!” she grabbed her companion's hand and dashed towards the door on the opposite side. Despite the urgency of the situation, he couldn't bear someone dragging him like that. He stopped and jerked his hand out of Selena's. At that moment the floor under them sagged. Evanford instinctively pushed the girl away, but couldn't jump away in time – parquet broke, leaving Kevin waist-deep in dirty brown liquid. Running away from the rapidly crumbling edge, Silver got to the nearest wall and pressed herself to it. In a couple of moments after that planks stopped falling. Almost all of the floor ended up under the water – only small parquet islands near the walls remained, including the one before the door on the opposite side.
Young people stood still for a while. The girl was afraid that the parquet will break, and Kevin was struggling to come in terms with his situation. He was a very tidy, even squeamish person – wouldn't even kill a mosquito with his bare hand. And now he was covered in liquid that had the consistency of stewed fruit and the color of sewage waste. At least its smell was neutral.
Selena realized that the floor won't be falling down. She hit the parquet ledge she was standing on with her heel. Whatever was keeping the wooden planks in the air was holding them pretty good. Estimating the situation, the girl appealed to her companion:
“Please... Carry me to the door,” Silver gave him a pleading look. She sadly realized that she has never depended on someone that much before. That was dreadful, especially given that she was at the mercy of a man who doesn't like her all that much... Fortunately, he didn't refuse directly.
“I couldn't hold you,” Kevin sincerely warned. He had nothing to lose, and didn't have any particular reason to reject her request. But she should know about the consequences.
“You don't have to carry me in your arms. I'd rather sit on your shoulders,” Selena suggested.
“You mean, I won't even get to carry you like a bride – you'll sit on my head like an obnoxious wife right away?” Evanford's voice didn't express any emotions. Silver stared at him, puzzled. She couldn't even imagine that his man can crack jokes, especially in a situation like that. Or was it the stress that has influenced him? She was partially correct. Kevin was usually expressing his sarcasm when the subject or conditions were perhaps not completely tragic, but not hilarious either. And he was doing it with such a straight face that it was hard to tell if he's kidding or being serious.
“All right, come aboard,” Evanford approached Selena. The liquid was a bit thicker than regular water. “But yet again, I'm not guaranteeing that you'll make it out clean.”
“Please, try your best,” Silver said as friendly as possible. There was only one positive side – Kevin was standing on a convenient level. This weakling would've never got up under her weight... Selena cautiously perched on his slim shoulders. Evanford slowly walked towards the door, and the girl's heart was skipping a beat at every step – it felt like she'll lose her shaky balance any second now, and she'll fly headfirst into the sewage.
“Relax. You'll strangle me,” Kevin was trying to keep his composure. Like it wasn't enough that this girl seems to have about two hundred kilogramms in her – she was squeezing his neck with her thighs... Selena loosened her grip a bit, but doing so has made her even more nervous. An eternity later they finally reached the door. The girl climbed onto the parquet ledge and caught her breath in relief. She pulled the handle... But the door didn't yield. But before the full horror of the situation has dawned on them, a key slipped out of the ceiling vent and sank with a quiet splash.
With nothing but a sigh, Kevin walked to the spot where the key fell and shuffled his foot on the floor, trying to locate it, but there was too much rubble. Evanford realized that he'll have to rummage for the key with his bare hands, and the mere thought of it was nauseating. But there was no choice, and there was no use in delaying the inevitable. He bent and dipped his hand into the liquid, deeper and deeper, but fingers just couldn't reach the bottom... Silver was watching him, nervously biting her lip. Seeing how arrogant he was, one could never guess that he's capable of any kind of self-sacrifice. Selena knew that this was no small feat for her companion, and decided to take it easier on him from now on. Which will be quite a feat on her part.
Evanford glanced at the distorted reflexion on his face on the brownish surface. If he'll get out of here after all, he'll forever erase this episode from his life. But first, he has to get out. Maybe not at any cost, but Kevin has already paid way more than he was ready to. A bit more won't make much of a difference... He took in as much air as he could and plunged under, fumbling in the rubble for the key. Being in this slop was way harder than being under regular water – Evanford emerged in a few seconds, disgusting liquid trickling down his face. Kevin wiped his nose and mouth to get some air. Fluid had a faint smell after all – a bit sour, a bit spoiled. Young man was about to submerge once again when the floor suddenly shifted about
thirty santimeters down – now he was chest-deep in the liquid.
“Can you swim at least?” Selena shouted, worried.
Her words reached Kevin's ears moments before he plunged, so the question was left hanging in the air. However, the answer flashed through his mind, and it was “no, not really”.
For a few seconds Evanford was hectically grabbing the rubble – he didn't even remember about his goal anymore, just wanted to get this over with and come to the surface. He stood up, gulping for air. A second later the floor dropped another half a meter, and the liquid covered him completely.