The empty corridor, the unchanging decorations—Alia once again walked the path to her department.
According to her assignment, she needed to analyze the physical scan data of the returning Silver Squad squad members. It was an unimportant task, perfectly suited for a low-level, marginalized figure like herself.
The laboratory hallway was always the same. Every day on her way to work, moving through it gave Alia the sensation that she was just walking in place.
The unchanging, endlessly repeating hallway fell behind her with each step, but today, there seemed to be something different about it.
A large freezer carton stood abruptly in the middle of the hallway.
'Did someone who ordered a freezer leave it here by mistake? Whatever, I need to get to work. If I'm late, the boss will yell at me for slacking off.'
Paying it no mind, Alia stepped past the carton and continued on at her usual pace.
But as she walked, a fleeting reflection on the blurry metal wall made Alia subconsciously stop in her tracks.
The carton she had clearly passed moments ago was still standing there not far behind her, quiet as a statue.
'No way... Am I so tired that I'm starting to hallucinate?'
The carton stood there silently, as if everything that had just happened was merely a figment of Alia's imagination.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Alia turned back and continued walking, but that momentary doubt had put her on edge.
With each step, the empty corridor echoed with the clack-clack of her leather shoes against the floor. Nothing was out of the ordinary, nothing had changed.
Everything was just as it always was... if only Alia hadn't subconsciously glanced behind her.
A chill shot up her spine from her tailbone. The carton was still in the exact same spot it had been before.
The repeating hallway, the repeating steel support pillars, and the repeating carton by the pillar.
The bizarre scene couldn't help but remind Alia of a movie they'd watched during a team-building event, where the protagonist was trapped in a loop.
The resemblance was uncanny.
'No, it can't be... Could things from movies actually exist?!'
Alia didn't dare to look back again. Her steps grew faster and faster until she broke into a run.
Panic born from fear filled her ears with the violent thumping of her own heart. The leather shoes that usually pinched when she walked fast had never felt so comfortable as they did now, while she was sprinting.
Punching in the lab's passcode with the fastest hands she'd ever had, Alia burst into the prep room.
"Whoa, oysters!"
Only then did Alia dare to turn and look back at the hallway behind her.
The empty corridor seemed to mock her, asking what she was freaking out about. The carton that had seemingly been following her was long gone.
The team leader in the lab looked up, confused, at the gasping Alia. After checking the time, he asked, puzzled:
"I told you to be quick when you went to get the data, but you really went all out this time. You're way faster than usual."
Staring at the familiar scene before her, the lab she usually despised now seemed so welcoming.
Finally able to relax, Alia let out a breath and clutched her head, starting to question her own sanity. The team leader, completely oblivious, said in confusion:
"What's wrong with you? Are you not feeling well? Should I give you the day off to go back to the dorm and rest?"
The mere mention of walking down that hallway again sent a shiver down Alia's spine. For now, at least, she had no intention of going back.
"No, no, I'm fine, I don't need a break! I love work! Work makes me happy!"
With a great leap, Alia dove into her workstation. Only here could her pounding heart begin to calm down.
After observing her for a moment and seeing that Alia was indeed fine, the team leader put his confusion aside and went back to his own tasks.
Meanwhile, completely unaware that his stealth mission had scared the living daylights out of the poor girl, Andrew was making his 'steady' way toward the staff dormitories.
Having completely forgotten the 'Do Not Attempt in Real Life' warnings on every game, Andrew used the 'Cardboard Box Technique' to sneak his way forward.
And you know what? The effect was surprisingly good.
There weren't many people in the facility to begin with, and most of the researchers who passed by were hurried and grim-faced. A few even looked as though they were mourning their own funerals.
No one paid any attention to why a small citrus fruit crate and a large double-door freezer carton in the hallway would suddenly move after they turned their backs.
Relying on this silent-step-plus-cardboard-box technique, Andrew's journey wasn't exactly unobstructed, but it was perilous without being truly dangerous.
There were many times he almost had to switch his stealth method.
Along the way, he passed the security monitoring room, and just as the man had said, there was no one inside.
He quietly sprinkled some powder made from dried sleep-grass onto the face of the security guard slacking off and sleeping in the adjacent room, adding a little extra flavor to his quality slumber.
With the help of the sleep-grass powder, the guy wouldn't wake up anytime soon, even if someone set off firecrackers next to him.
The research facility was exactly as the man had described, which raised Andrew's trust in him just a tiny bit. After a brief discussion with Belle, she decided it would be more useful for her to stay in the monitoring room rather than follow Andrew to Zone C.
Putting on the communication headset, Belle used the surveillance monitors to alert Andrew to potential situations ahead.
With Belle's support and advance callouts, it was like Andrew had a full-map hack, and the rest of the journey was a total breeze.
No longer needing to explore cautiously, Andrew quickly arrived at room 1407 in Zone C.
Gently turning the doorknob, Andrew found it unlocked and slipped inside. A room so clean it could be described as barren met his eyes.
Blocks of gray and white filled the entire room; besides that, there wasn't a single speck of vibrant color.
The white wall lamps emitted a soft glow, but they did nothing to dilute the frigid atmosphere of the room.
An empty desktop, a bed so tidy it looked like it had never been slept in, a refrigerator devoid of anything.
This couldn't be called just 'clean' anymore. To an outsider, you'd have to wonder if anyone even lived here at all.
But after opening the nightstand, a framed photo dispelled Andrew's doubts about whether he was in the wrong room.
It was a photo of three people. The man standing in the middle was much younger than the one he'd seen before, but it was clear they were the same person.
On either side of the man stood an older, middle-aged couple. The wrinkles on their faces and their graying hair showed that their youth was long behind them.
From their facial resemblance to the man, it was clear that these two were his parents.
The three people in the photo were smiling happily, arms around each other as if celebrating some wonderful news, their eyes filled with hope for the future.
-
Hello! Walnut here! Or... Miku Dayo in this case heheh...
Unfortunately, I had 2 stories deleted from my main account, "Walnut-chan," and I decided to post them here on this other account... I'm counting on your support to recover what we've lost!
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