CHAPTER 25
The room, of which they entered through a false identity of one Rick Sanchez, was dark and haunting to say the least. The room was small, a perfect square that was about six foot by six foot. The room’s walls were red and featureless, identical to the walls of the master bedroom. The walls were once again covered in bubbles and drips; a dark brown trim lined the border between the wall and floor. The floor underneath their feet was covered in short length carpet that was a very light brown color.
The two, not seeing any doors or hidden panels of any kind, started searching the walls by pressing their bodies against them. As Jimmy ran his palms laterally across the far wall, an icy voice suddenly occupied the room. “Biometrics not applicable.” The voice didn’t seem to come from anywhere, but just seemed to have materialized out of thin air.
“Entrant, do present alternate form of valid identification. Or one could always was their hands, cleanliness is a virtue, after all, to the distinguished and humble.” The robotic voice sounded like that of an English male. Though it wasn’t monotone, and was very expressive and fluctuant (perhaps too much so) it seemed icy and mean, sending chills down both their spines.
“Well, it’ funny.” Said Jimmy with a chuckle, attempting to conceal his creeping nervousness and bubbling anxiety.
“Hmmm?” automatically replied the voice. “I do not understand your comment. Also, by the sounds of it, you are not from Britannia… or any of the queen’s domains, to think of it.” Jimmy looked back at Eddie, mystified. He was equal parts scared of the extremely responsive programs, and equally enamored by it. “Just hurry up and show me something to probe your right of entry,” Jimmy gestured for the ID card, “Or I might have to make you another pathetic case of cannon fodder.” Their eyes widened and Eddie hurriedly handed Jimmy the ID while keeping his distance at the opposite side of the room.
Jimmy inhaled and exhaled deeply; he held up the ID card, he donned a faux and overdramatic British accent. The accent was as comical as it was serious. “Oi, mate. I got ye ID here.” Jimmy accidently slipped a rather loud and poignant burp at the end, but chuckled afterwards. Jimmy was obviously having fun with this, despite the terrifying circumstances.
“I see. Oh, ‘ello, Rick. My bad, I didn’t recognize your sultry voice. Shame on me for that, Welcome.” The voice disappeared and the light bulb went out, leaving the two in frightening darkness before bright white bars lit up on the ceiling. The lights lined the ceiling, making it look like there was an illuminated square in the ceiling.
The floor beneath them jolted with a metallic whine, the lights flickered briefly, and the descent began.
Eddie leaned against the wall next to the door, opposite to Jimmy. “Well, I wouldn’t bet on going back up.”
Jimmy slid his hands into his pockets and stared at Eddie blankly, regret stained his eyes red. He was thinking of what to respond with, he knew that Eddie might be right to not bet on ever going back up. “Can’t say I wouldn’t agree. We’re already going down though, so just don’t think about it.”
Eddie blinked and stood silently for a moment, letting the hum of the descending elevator fill the still air. “Well, maybe it was a mistake.”
“Maybe? Maybe I don’t know, maybe I don’t know our odds for survival, maybe I don’t know what to expect on the other side of the door, maybe I don’t know if my dead girlfriend was actually a dude before she died. There are a lot of things that I might not know, but, maybe that’s okay.” While boasting his devil may care attitude, he left himself vulnerable. He missed Ariel, and he was taking this just as seriously as his friend was.
Eddie’s eyes narrowed, and his voice turned hostile. “Well maybe it isn’t. Jimmy we can potentially lose our lives in the next couple minutes. We don’t know what’s on the other side of the door. Hell, Jimmy, what’s a demon to a bullet?” at that moment, the elevator stopped with a ding, they heard the door unlock.
Jimmy, with rifle in hand, said cunningly, “We’re about to see, Buddy. This’ll be our greatest achievement or our gravest mistake. If it’s the latter, I hope I’ll see you other side, brother.” With that last sentiment, Jimmy used his back to open the door and swung out with his sights trained in front of him. He momentarily scanned his immediate field of vision before waving Eddie out.
Eddie knew what to do, he swung out and scanned his six. They’d performed this procedure enough times in various airsoft wars they’d attended that were usually hosted in abandoned buildings. The two were infamous for their synchronization with each other. They were perhaps the most famous and highest earning players in the airsoft arena sports circuit.
Eddie scanned Jimmy’s six and gave Jimmy a clearance. Jimmy slowly and quietly closed the door without a sound, until they were noticed they were going to treat this like a stealth mission. They were here to gather info and, if they were lucky, uncover a lead pertaining to just what the heck was happening outside.
Eddie and Jimmy emerged onto a hallway. The walls were the familiar shade of red and the floor was white laminate tile. The sweet smell wasn’t as overbearing as it was before, it was partially diluted by the sterile smell a hospital would have. Anesthetics, hypodermic needles, and sanitizers helped combat the pungent scent the walls gave off.
On their left, the hall ended in a solid wooden door that was accompanied by a card scanner. On their right, the hallway continued for another twenty yards before ending in tow doors that looked like the ones you’d see while being rushed into the ER on a stretcher.
Jimmy looked both ways, before starting towards the left with his rifle still in hand. His fingers seemed to be super glued to the trigger. “Well, let’s see what’s behind door number one, Eddie!”
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