How Long is Forever [COMPLETED]

Trial and Error

Chishiya sighs and you feel his breath on your skin. "Because I am not responsible for others."

"You could have saved her life!" Some of the others turn towards you and you clench your teeth so you won't start to shout.

"But I don't care about that."

With a burning face, you place your hand on Chishiya's chest, and you feel his heartbeat under your touch. Calm and steady. Uncaring.

"What about me, then?" You ask, and one of his eyebrows is raised questioningly. "Would you have saved me?"

It's a stupid question. Right in front of the game area, he had said himself that he would accompany you to make sure you wouldn't do anything stupid. You just can't understand why he won't be like that to others. It wouldn't have hurt him to stop the mute woman before she got herself killed. Why did he have to watch how his feeling would turn out?

Chishiya places his hand above yours, and it would be easy for you to lose yourself somewhere in those deep brown eyes – if it wasn't for the timer running down.

"Let's adjourn this argument and focus on clearing the game for now." He squeezes your hand tight for a moment and steps aside to point towards a certain spot on the wall. You have mixed feelings about the fact that he didn't answer your question, but you quickly realize what he has been indicating at.

It seems as if the stone wall has been smudged with dirt, however as you lean forward to look more closely, you can see that the smudge is actually writing. Black and rough letters adorn the stone, probably written on it with charcoal, and some of them are barely recognizable.

"Co... connect the... the what?" You can't decipher the last word, but Chishiya does it for you, and he speaks loud enough so everyone in the room can hear it.

"Connect the dots."

"Like a puzzle or what?" It's the other man who speaks up now, and you almost forgot about his presence because he barely said a word so far. "And we're supposed to find each part and put it together?"

Hibiki throws a questioning look towards your direction. "Like that child's game, where you connect several dots with a pen to get a full picture? But what does it have to do with the key?"

As far as you can see, there is nothing in this room that could be connected. The fuse panel and the hatch are the only things so far that could be useful, and as you glance to the timer, three minutes have passed already.

Someone laughs, and you immediately recognize the rattling and scornful sound that causes shivers to run down your spine. Your hand automatically clasps around the bandage on your arm, and the throbbing pain of the cut comes to the fore once more.

Mr. Muscle ruffles Hibiki's hair, and the boy screams out and scrambles away as quickly as he can, but the big guy doesn't bother. "Actually something smart coming from the mouth of that kid! We do have dots that we can connect after all."

With a single step, he's back at the wall and pats something that you haven't noticed before. It looks like a dark blue round badge attached to one of the stones, and as a muscle-covered arm points towards the opposite wall, the long-haired twin shouts out and reveals a similar badge at her side.

"How do you want to connect them though? I haven't seen a rope or something that could be used for that..." Hibiki has joined the twin and is now poking at the badge, probably trying to find out if it's a button or if something is hidden behind it.

"We don't have time to search for something." You say, shaking your head, and you swallow as the big one's eyes are piercing down at you again.

"Oh? So what do you suggest, little mouse?"

Despite him still standing a couple of steps away from you, you want to retreat as far as you can, but the cold stone immediately stops you from doing so. "I... I thought about a human chain. We could try to connect those things by touching our hands. This room has something to do with electricity, so maybe it's some kind of impulse that needs to be passed through?"

The big guy laughs once more and claps his hands. "Wow, this will be so embarrassing if it doesn't work. Come on, guys, let's hold hands like toddlers on hiking day!"

You're startled for a moment that no one seems to complain about your idea, and Chishiya reaches for your hand with an acknowledging look. The chain is quickly set up, with big guy and the long-haired twin ready to touch the badges and you placed in the middle of the room. Chishiya holds your left hand, and you're glad that he separates you from the big guy, while your other hand tightly clutches around Hibiki's trembling fingers.

"What... what if we all get electrocuted?" he asks with shaking voice, and Chishiya only snorts.

One of the twins counts down from three to zero, and you pray that something will happen – something that won't kill you. The big guy was right about one thing: if it doesn't work, it will be an embarrassing situation for sure. On the other side, none of you wants to get electrocuted, but there is no high-voltage warning next to the badges, so it should most likely be safe.

A tingling runs through your hands, and from other silent gasps you assume that it really works. The tingle reaches to your neck and the faintly vibrating collar makes you hold your breath, but nothing else happens to you. A single beeping sound can be heard, and the fuse panel opens with a click.

"Now, now. Who would have guessed the mouse was right?" The big guy releases himself from the chain and opens the panel so all the fuses inside become visible. You count a total of ten, and you wonder if all of them have to be tripped to intercept the electricity supply of the hatch.

Only when you feel the eyes of the others resting on your figure, you realize that you have spoken out your thoughts loud. The man who hasn't said that much so far shakes his head and points towards the carpet under your feet, and a nose piercing twinkles in the dim lights of the room.

"No. That seems too easy for me. But look at the patterns on the floor – don't they look similar to the fuses?"

You step down from the carpet and take a closer look. It has looked just like a normal ugly piece of furniture to you, but now that he mentions it, you can see it as well. A certain pattern seems to repeat a total of ten times, even though there are some differences. Some of the patterns point towards the exit door, while the rest points towards the other side.

"Those patterns could indicate which fuses we have to trip to get access to the key. Just... the sequence is different if you look at it from the other side. So which perspective is right?"

Tilting your head, you try to further examine the carpet. There are no further indications for which side is the right to start, but the sequences completely differ depending on the view. "Trial and error," you mutter as the bad feeling in your stomach returns.

The long-haired twin kneels down and touches the carpet, then lifts her eyes towards the locked door and the timer. Less than four minutes left. "We want to get out of this room, so let's try the sequence from this point of view first, since we're looking straight to the door."

Piercing gives through the sequence while Mr. Muscle trips the respective fuses, and all of you stare to the hatch, waiting for some signal to appear.

"Are you sure it was the right order?" Hibiki asks as nothing seems to happen, and the big guy grunts in return. "Shouldn't there be any sign that we made it right?"

The twin kneeling on the carpet gets up with a sigh and heads to the hatch after throwing one last look at you. "It's trial and error, right?"

The foreboding makes your stomach churn, and you dig your nails into your skin as you watch the girl reach out her hand for the key.

Death comes quickly this time. As soon as the voltage shoots through her body, it paralyses her heart. For a second longer, her body tenses, fingers still bent as if reaching for the key, and then she falls down.

You barely hear the pained cries of her sister, nor the strident discussions of the men behind you. The smell of burnt flesh fills your nose, and all you can do is stare at the hatch – that still holds the key as if nothing has ever happened.