Chapter 3 - Upward

I squint my eyes, reading the small print of what seems like hundreds of documents. They’re full of complicated words I don’t understand, and I quickly find myself bored, continuing to take pictures of any information that seems to stand out from the rest. A lot of it is redacted, though…

“I kinda thought this would be a little more interesting… I can barely even read these…”

I flip through a few more pages until one picture catches my eye. It’s a strange looking bunny that looks like a weird white blob of some sorts.

“...Is that a bunny?”

“Oh!! I never had a part in any of those experiments, so I don’t know too much, but I’ve heard that the scientists a few floors up were messing with bunny DNA and somehow accidentally created… whatever that thing is!”

“They’re basically just giant walking blobs with ears and a tail, and are strangely friendly. They also don’t have a diet whatsoever because they basically eat anything. A lot of the scientists ended up taking them home as pets for this reason because they could feed them whatever they had lying around.”

“You’re bound to find a bunch of them on the upper floors. I’m not sure if they got rid of the live creatures when everyone fled, so… just be prepared for that.”

I nod and go back to searching, skimming through other documents that I can’t imagine sitting down and reading for hours. Eventually, I sigh, and set my camera down as I lean against the wall.

“...Y- you don’t have to read through them if you don’t want to! I’m sure you already have the evidence you need… this floor doesn't exactly have that much in store compared to the ones higher up…”

“It’s alright. I guess I’m just a little nervous, is all.”

“...Truthfully, I am too. You’re really my one chance out of here, but you’re only a child, and… No, I can’t go on another ramble…”

She pauses anxiously before continuing.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better… The floor above has one of our highest levels of security than the others. You’ll probably find a lot more info there, and if I recall correctly, all of the security systems should be disabled! So, easy sailing. Hopefully.”

“I don’t know about the other floors, though. The threats up there are unpredictable, and the floors are much larger, so you’re kind of on your own…”

As I finish looking around, we walk to one of the employee elevators, and Calliope suddenly gets an idea and rummages through her pockets.

“H- here! Before you go, take this!”

“The employees here used to have walkie-talkies that are able to communicate with each other no matter what floor you’re on. So even if I can’t be there with you… I can still stay in contact, and try to help as much as I can!”

I grab the walkie-talkie and securely put it into my pocket.

“I know our time was short, but… I really want you to get out of here as soon as you can. For your safety. I don’t want another person going missing down here, and you’re so young… It won’t be long until your family notices and goes looking for you…”

I think back to this morning, listening to their distant screams as they argue for what seems like the millionth time this week.

“I… I think I’ve got some time. Honestly, I’d rather be anywhere but home right now.”

Calliope frowns a little but doesn’t question further.

We reach the elevator, and I scan the employee ID I found through the card slot. The doors open and I find myself hesitating, afraid to walk inside.

“I think I have a fear of elevators now.”

“D- don’t worry, this one is probably in a lot better condition than the others…”

“I should also note that the way this place is structured has elevators scattered all over the place. You’ve probably noticed that the elevators only go up one floor at a time… so you’ll have to do a lot of running around. Over time you will probably get exhausted and start to realize why this place shut down in the first place. Sorry about that.”

I take a deep breath and walk inside, pressing the button to go to the next floor without looking back.

As the doors close, Calliope smiles and waves until the elevator rumbles to life and begins moving up.

At the same time, I hear the walkie-talkie she gave me beep to life.

“Hello? Is this working? Can you hear me?”

“I hear you! The speakers are a bit staticky, but it works!”

“Oh, perfect! So, if you haven’t noticed already, this place is… pretty deep underground. I can’t remember off the top of my head how deep exactly, but let’s say you’ll be in that elevator for quite a bit. I’m sure you may have already noticed that when you were, um, freefalling a while ago.”

“I did… which is really not great for me because I can already feel myself panicking again.”

“S- sorry… They really did a terrible job of designing this place…”

After a bit longer, I hear the elevator slowly come to a stop, and as the doors open, I take a deep breath and prepare myself for what’s next to come.

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