[Surveillance Room – 12:42 AM]
A few moments after leaving the weaponry, I notice the lights shut off in the corridor ahead— that's where we came from.
"... Is that normal?" Prudence asks.
"I don't think so, no."
"Okay, then I really don't wanna go..."
"Are you afraid of the dark?"
"Not particularly, but what if we get jump-scared by your mother? Or your father? They might be hiding there— worse yet, what if that thing from earlier— oh my fucking God!!"
She yanks my arm and bolts in the opposite direction.
Confused, I glance toward the darkened hallway she'd looked at.
Standing in the center of it is a pale figure. Completely naked— though not quite human. No genitalia. No nipples. Just a belly button, like a strange afterthought. Its eyes seem too tiny and round, too distant. Its skin... translucent, like rice paper stretched tight over bone.
For a brief second, I consider that it might be a real person.
But no. That thing's not human. And it definitely isn't one of my father's test subjects— at least not one I've seen before.
I grab Prudence's wrist, matching her pace, then sprint ahead, "Looks like we're exploring the basement after all."
We don't look back, not checking for the monster.
After minutes of running, our breath loud in the mechanical silence, we pass countless steel doors. At some point, the structure changed. Unnaturally so.
"How fuh—fucking big is this basement?" Prudence gasps, leaning on the wall, legs trembling.
"Easily twice as big as I thought. I assumed the parts I'd been in were about 50% of the whole."
"This basement is a whole building by itself. Why would your father even need this much space— It's not like he has employees, right?"
"He doesn't, although he gets collaborators and associates often," I clarify.
Moving towards a large gate, I put in the code. As always, the screen flashes:
[MASTER ACCESS APPROVED]
Strange that I never noticed that before...
"... Are you sure we should go in there?" she squeaks, peeking through the widening gap in the gate. Beyond it lies a dimly glowing room. Clean. Lined with faintly humming machines. Sleek, almost out of place down here.
"Looks like the boss room..." she mutters, nervous laugh breaking through.
I push the gate open further, "Let's go in. Honestly, this might be the safest place in the entire basement."
Seeing the room was stranded, Prudence flops into a spinning chair facing a wide table covered in monitors, keyboards, and blinking lights.
One monitor shows a live feed from around the house, black and white images flickering with a faint graininess.
After a pause, she blurts out, "How did that thing get here? Didn't you shut the door behind us?"
"I know I did." I sit beside her. "But maybe it came from inside. Maybe it wasn't chasing us at all. Just... standing there. Blocking the path."
Prudence crosses her arms. "When you see a monster, you run. That's just protocol."
"... Fair."
She exhales deeply, then instinctively starts fiddling with the console. Her finger glides with the mouse, clicking repeatedly.
The screens flicker on. She glances at me, "Needs a passcode. Try yours?"
I don't argue. I enter the same password I've used all night. It works.
"... I think my dad wanted me to find this."
"Figured as much. You've basically got free roam down here." She lightly slaps my hand away, grinning faintly, before opening the files icon.
It's neatly categorized.
[EXPERIMENT DATABASE]
[SUBJECT LIST]
[RESULTS - CURRENT YEAR]
"... Maybe we shouldn't look," I mutter.
"We've come this far," she says, already clicking. "Everything's too organized not to dig through. Here, a list of test subjects."
She opens the first file. [Experiment #1]
A profile appears: photo, stats, history. A young man I don't recognize. The summary says he was modified for super strength.
"Deadlifted over 800 kilograms? What's the world record again?"
"About 500."
"Damn..." I notice her white-knuckled grip on the chair. She must've been doing that since she sat down.
She clicks again. 'Super speed'. Predictable.
"... Father wasn't very creative at first. Probably trying to appeal to investors. Something basic, impressive, and sellable."
"Makes sense... Look." She clicks the next report.
The subject's body had torn itself apart mid-trial. Muscles detaching. Bones splintering. Organs rupturing under strain.
"You said nobody died. God, how many people...?"
"... I was wrong." I always had a feeling. Surprisingly, I don't feel the need to puke. This has been a rough night.
She clicks again. The next subject succeeded. Speed stable at 70 km/h.
"My car can go faster."
"You know how fast that is for a person?"
"... I was joking."
"Ah." I glance at her expression— deadpan, judging.
She scrolls. The mouse's soft click is the only sound for a while.
We sift through dozens of files. A few notes become clear:
1) Powers are real— but biological, not magical.
2) Documented traits include: acidic saliva, fire emission, elastic joints.
3) Father's main ambition appears to be immortality. Several subjects were tested toward that end.
Is it due to its potential monetary value? What his investors desired most?
... No, my father isn't money-motivated. He was too invested in the research for it to just be part of his job.
"How is this even possible unless thousands of people were working on it...? Even then, after tonight, none of this surprises me anymore," she mutters, "Those monsters... You think they were failed experiments?"
"Possibly. Check the later files." I had a gnawing suspicion that it wasn't. But... what else could it be, then?
She does. The final experiments are multi-ability subjects. One can exhale neurotoxic gas and regenerate tissue. Another moves in total silence, even when contorting through vents in super speed.
"... None of these match what we saw."
"No," I say. "That thing upstairs wasn't from this list."
"Then where—" Her voice cuts off. The lights overhead flicker. A low vibration hums from somewhere deeper.
We both go still.
"... Maybe it's God," she whispers, forcing levity, "Or Satan. Coming to punish your dad."
The camera monitors glitch, briefly showing distorted static.
Then, for just a second, the image on one screen shows not a hallway... but a stone corridor. Uneven. Like a tunnel carved by hand. Then it's gone.
We say nothing.
But the temperature feels colder now. And we're not sure if it's just in our heads.