The ventilation duct trembled endlessly around Canta.
The metallic body of the passage vibrated with the deep mechanical hum of the fan ahead of him. The noise had long stopped sounding like a machine. Now it felt like something drilling directly into his skull. Every rotation sent another wave of sound through the cramped steel tunnel, bouncing endlessly off the walls with nowhere to escape.
Hot air pressed against his face.
Dust clung to his skin.
His knees and elbows burned from crawling over rusted metal for so long.
Canta stayed still for a moment, trying to steady his breathing, but the sound only became worse the longer he listened to it. His ears felt numb already. Not silence—something worse. A dull ringing buried beneath the roar of the fan.
Then suddenly—
A sharp pain spread violently through his chest.
Canta froze.
His heartbeat stumbled out of rhythm.
His lungs tightened instantly as if invisible hands had wrapped around them. Coldness crawled up his spine. He tried to inhale but the air stopped halfway through his throat.
"Hah…!"
His fingers dug into the metal beneath him.
No…
Not now…
Another broken breath escaped him. His vision blurred heavily.
Louis.
For a second Canta saw him standing outside the ventilation opening several meters away.
Blurred.
Distorted.
Motionless.
The dim emergency light behind the figure flickered weakly, making the outline look unnatural. Louis simply stood there silently with his head slightly lowered.
Watching him.
Canta's chest tightened harder.
His body instinctively moved backward inside the narrow duct until his shoulders slammed against the metal behind him. The sound of the fan faded into distant static.
This can't—
Louis didn't move.
Didn't blink.
Just stared.
A horrible pressure built inside Canta's head. His breathing became shallow and uneven.
I couldn't save him.
The thought pierced through him harder than the panic itself.
His hands trembled violently.
If I had moved faster…
If I had—
The flickering light stabilized.
The figure disappeared.
Nothing remained outside the vent except darkness.
Canta stared silently for several seconds before realizing what had happened.
A hallucination.
His breathing slowly stabilized again. The stabbing ache in his chest weakened little by little until his body finally obeyed him again.
Not a heart attack.
A panic attack.
Canta lowered his forehead against the cold metal surface beneath him and shut his eyes tightly.
Everything returned to normal.
The fan.
The heat.
The suffocating darkness.
Everything except one thing.
Fear.
Not ordinary fear.
Something deeper.
Something crawling beneath his skin no matter how much he tried to suppress it.
For the first time in a long while, Canta genuinely felt afraid.
His fingers slowly clenched.
Calm down.
You can't lose control here.
Louis is gone.
You can think about him later.
If you stop now… you'll end up exactly like him.
Canta exhaled slowly through trembling teeth and forced his body to move again.
One breath.
Then another.
Five minutes passed in suffocating silence.
Then suddenly—
Darkness swallowed the ventilation shaft.
The fan stopped instantly.
Canta's eyes widened.
The power went out.
For a second the entire building felt dead silent without the mechanical roar.
This is my chance.
He immediately crawled toward the fan blocking the passage ahead of him. Even without electricity he didn't trust it. If the current suddenly returned while he was halfway through, the blades would shred his arm instantly.
Sweat dripped from his chin as he reached into the mechanism carefully.
His fingers shook badly.
Focus.
Come on…
One by one he removed the small ball bearings holding the fan system together. The cramped darkness made every movement harder. His numb fingers slipped repeatedly against the greasy metal.
The air inside the duct felt unbearably hot now.
His breathing became unstable again.
Not now.
Not again.
Finally the fan loosened enough for him to force it aside.
Canta slowly pushed the damaged blades away and stared at the vent cover beyond it.
Locked.
Of course it is.
He pressed against it carefully.
Barely moved.
To open it fully he needed enough space to slide his hand through the gap from one side.
Canta planted one foot against the side wall of the duct and slowly applied pressure.
The metal groaned softly.
More.
He pushed harder.
The screws strained violently.
Then—
The electricity suddenly returned.
Lights flickered alive through the ventilation gaps.
The exposed wires near the fan crackled faintly.
Canta froze.
Then exhaled shakily.
Thank God…
If I hadn't removed it—
He immediately increased the pressure again.
The vent resisted stubbornly.
His muscles burned.
The narrow duct barely gave him enough space to move properly.
Come on…
COME ON—
CRANK!
A large section of the vent suddenly snapped loose violently.
The metallic sound exploded through the ventilation system.
Canta's face went pale.
"…Fuck."
Below, inside the main hall, Ragasa lazily sat in a chair spinning a combat knife between his fingers. Several guards stood nearby in exhausted silence while dim fluorescent lights buzzed overhead.
Boring.
Too quiet.
Then the metallic sound echoed above them.
CRANK.
The knife stopped spinning.
Ragasa slowly lifted his head.
For a second the entire hall became silent.
Then a faint smile appeared on his face.
"That boy…"
He stood up calmly.
"All guards," he ordered, his voice echoing through the hall. "Enter the ventilation system immediately. Sweep every section."
The guards instantly moved.
Metal doors slammed open.
Boots pounded across the corridors.
"He's trying to escape."
Canta's heartbeat skyrocketed.
Shit.
No more time.
He slammed his foot against the weakened vent cover.
Once.
Twice.
Three times—
BANG!
The cover burst outward and crashed somewhere below.
Canta immediately crawled forward without hesitation.
The ventilation shaft rattled loudly beneath him now. Every movement produced metallic echoes through the ducts.
Too loud.
Way too loud.
Voices echoed from every direction now.
"They're inside the vents!"
"Move!"
"Search every section!"
Canta forced himself forward faster despite the trembling in his arms.
Then he saw another opening ahead.
A smaller ventilation window connected to a room below.
He crawled toward it quickly and kicked against it.
Nothing.
Again.
The metal barely moved.
His legs burned from exhaustion.
Another kick.
Still nothing.
"Open already…"
Another furious strike—
CRACK!
The vent opening burst loose and fell heavily into the room below.
The sound echoed loudly through the floor.
"There!"
Several guards immediately rushed toward the room through the main corridors instead of the vents.
Others continued crawling through the ducts searching nearby sections.
"Search every corner!"
"He probably escaped into another room!"
Two guards burst into the room with flashlights raised.
Dust floated through the air beneath the harsh white beams.
Old data files were scattered across the floor.
A rusted dustbin sat silently in one corner.
The guards searched everywhere.
Under tables.
Behind shelves.
Inside the dustbin.
Nothing.
"He's not here."
"Check nearby rooms!"
But Canta had never entered the room.
The opening was only a distraction.
He was still inside the ventilation shaft.
Crawling slowly.
Carefully.
Like a wounded animal trying not to make noise.
Every movement controlled.
Every breath restrained.
Below the ducts, Ragasa walked calmly through the corridor while studying the building layout hanging near the security room.
"He isn't in that room," he muttered quietly.
According to the intel… he's smarter than that.
His finger slowly traced the possible routes branching from that section of the vents.
"That opening was a decoy."
A grin slowly appeared on his face.
"From there…"
His finger stopped.
"…he can only reach two useful locations efficiently."
The kitchen.
Or the toilets.
Ragasa looked upward toward the ceiling vents.
"Let's see where you run now, Canta."
---
The hallway was damp.
Not visibly wet. Just cold enough for moisture to cling to the sterile white walls like a thin invisible film. The overhead lights reflected faintly across the polished floor, giving the corridor an artificial brightness that never felt natural.
Ragasa stood motionless in the middle of it.
His expression remained calm, but his ears were completely focused.
Every distant sound inside the facility reached him separately: footsteps, radio static, ventilation vibration, the metallic hum of security doors, the faint shifting of pipes behind the walls.
He listened to all of it at once.
Several guards stood nearby waiting for orders.
"You two. Check the kitchen sector again."
The guards nodded immediately.
"And inspect every restroom carefully."
They left without speaking further.
At the same time, multiple reports continued flowing through Ragasa's earpiece.
"Sector B clear."
"No movement in east vents."
"All dampers remain closed."
"Thermal readings negative."
Another voice came from the security room.
"No visual confirmation yet."
Ragasa remained silent for a few moments.
That was what bothered him.
Not the escape itself.
The absence of mistakes.
Canta should have appeared somewhere by now. A camera. A hallway. A storage room. Something.
But there was nothing.
Only absence.
Another report echoed through the radio.
"Sir, the vent sectors have been searched repeatedly. The dampers that were sealed during the escape remain untouched."
Ragasa's eyes narrowed slightly.
Weird.
If the dampers were still closed, movement through the ventilation system should have been impossible.
Which meant either: Canta had somehow hidden within the vents themselves…
Or he had already left them.
A guard crawling through one of the lower maintenance shafts suddenly stopped moving.
"…Wait."
Static crackled briefly.
"I heard footsteps."
Ragasa immediately focused.
"Direction?"
"Sector D. Near the sealed dampers."
The guard moved carefully through the narrow metal passage. Darkness swallowed most of the corridor ahead of him. Only the weak flashlight attached to his helmet illuminated the inside of the shaft.
The footsteps stopped.
"Who's there?"
No answer came.
The guard slowly advanced toward the final corner of the sector where the ventilation paths ended behind permanently sealed dampers.
He turned the corner sharply—
—and relaxed immediately.
Another guard stood there.
The second guard adjusted his flashlight.
"Search completed. Nobody's here."
A few moments later, the report reached Ragasa.
"The entire sector has been cleared."
Ragasa stared quietly at the floor.
Then one thought surfaced calmly in his mind.
He probably fell into one of the rooms below.
—
Dark.
Smell.
Rotting food mixed with damp plastic and chemical waste.
Canta felt nauseous.
The urge to vomit rose repeatedly into his throat before settling again.
His body ached from remaining folded inside the cramped space for so long.
I didn't think this hiding place would actually work.
He remained buried beneath layers of trash inside a large industrial dustbin.
Not on the surface.
Deep enough to disappear completely if someone glanced inside casually.
When he had kicked the ventilation fan earlier, the sound had created enough distraction for guards to focus on the upper sectors temporarily. After crawling farther ahead, he discovered that several dampers deeper inside the vents had already been sealed permanently long ago.
No escape route.
Only rooms beneath them.
So he waited.
Patiently.
Listening.
The footsteps above eventually moved away from the nearby rooms. That was when he climbed down quietly through the shaft and entered the trash container.
But then more footsteps came.
Closer this time.
So he pushed himself deeper beneath the garbage instinctively.
Now the smell surrounded him completely.
His own body didn't help either.
Sweat. Dust. Blood. Urine.
His breathing became slower.
I should move soon.
If he stayed too long, someone would eventually check the area carefully.
At least the spoon helped.
The sharpened spoon Louis had given him earlier had already been thrown into another room nearby. If guards discovered it there, they might assume he escaped through that direction instead.
A false trail.
Slowly, Canta pushed the lid upward.
The cold air outside touched his face immediately.
Then he froze.
Ragasa sat directly in front of the dustbin.
Holding the spoon.
The room became silent.
Canta stared at him blankly.
For a few moments, neither of them moved.
Ragasa looked strangely calm.
No anger. No sudden aggression.
Only quiet observation.
Then he smiled faintly.
Canta climbed halfway out of the trash container slowly, his face dirty and exhausted.
He wasn't even shocked anymore.
Mostly disappointed.
As if part of him already expected this outcome.
Ragasa casually rotated the spoon between his fingers.
"You really like these little distractions, don't you?"
Canta stared at him weakly.
"How did I get found out so easily?"
Before he could continue, Ragasa stepped forward calmly and injected something into his neck.
A sharp sting.
Then immediate heaviness.
Canta's vision blurred almost instantly.
His body collapsed forward.
Ragasa caught him before he hit the floor.
"Kid," he muttered quietly, "you don't know this facility better than me."
He glanced toward the nearby corner of the room.
"This is the only dustbin in the entire sector that sits inside a CCTV blind spot."
Canta lost consciousness completely.
Ragasa lifted him onto his shoulder.
The smell reached him immediately.
He frowned slightly.
"…Did this guy piss himself?"
He adjusted Canta farther away from his face before leaving the room.
Outside, guards immediately gathered around him.
Ragasa spoke calmly.
"Stop the search. I found him."
Relief spread silently among the guards, though nobody dared speak openly.
As the facility slowly returned to normal operation, another thought crossed Ragasa's mind.
Now that I found him… what should I do with him?
For a few moments, he walked through the white corridors silently while thinking.
Then the answer formed naturally.
K39 Unit.
Maybe Sam helped him.
That would explain the vent incident earlier. Sam rarely involved himself in direct searches or operational matters unless something personally interested him.
Using Canta as bait might lure him out eventually.
Ragasa continued walking.
The guards around him remained completely silent.
Fear had long replaced casual conversation around him.
Before leaving, he stopped briefly near the entrance sector.
"Maintain the facility exactly as it is until further notice."
Nobody questioned the order.
Nobody questioned him at all.
Outside, dense fog covered the surrounding roads.
Ragasa placed the unconscious Canta into the back seat of a dark four-wheeled vehicle before entering the driver's seat himself.
The engine started quietly.
As the vehicle disappeared slowly into the fog-covered road leading toward K39 Unit, one final thought crossed Ragasa's mind.
Sam. Erina.
You left me behind in this place…
…and returned to where I truly belong.
A faint smile appeared across his face.
"I'm coming too."