While we try to find an exit in this facility, we are also trying to keep our path close to the pit that gives us good visibility and allows us to see if there is anything we should avoid, like fires and battles. I turn to Alice, who has been close to me since I helped her get to the group.
"we will get out of this place. Trust me, we will build a place of our own and live with each other. Safe from the evil which is trying to keep us here" Alice smiles at me, such a lovely and heart warming smile.
"I hope you are right, I also hope we all escape this place together safely" even if we have only been in this place for a few days, I feel my friendship with Alice is some kind of driving force for me to get her out safely.
"what were you doing? Before you were kidnapped?" Alice looks down to her feet for a moment, then looking back up and opening her mouth.
"I was a school kid. Someone who tried their best in each class and got the best marks I could. I had friends, a family, a future and a promising education. But I lost all that to these people who have been doing such horrible things to everyone. I just want to get away from them" although I did not have much hope, in terms of my future while I was at school. Though I also was a school kid, but most people here are too.
"I lost my family too, even some of my friends. We will get through this together. All of us" Alice nods to my promise.
"I am feeling better about our situation already. I am feeling more confident in our escape" with those words, I leave Alice and catch-up with 7P, who is near the very front. Before I can even open my mouth, she is looking back at me.
"hey 7P, thank you for helping me find Alice earlier. I would probably still be looking down there if it was not for you and 12M" 7P looks calm, but also happy.
"I am glad I was able to help. 17B would not have stood a chance against the terrors of this facility and the roaming guards" I feel the same way about this place. I do not want to return here after we escape from the chaos.
"do you think we will stand a chance against these people in the facility?" 7P looks straight ahead and starts to go into deep thought. After a few moments of thinking, she looks back up at me.
"it all depends on who is on the surface and who has chosen to stay here" I guess we should hope there is not going to be a powerful kid who has chosen to stay here to kill anything in the facility. I can not wait to escape this place and find a new home to stay in.
"what did you do before you were kidnapped and brought to this place?" 7P shifts her expression to a frown and exhales a small puff.
"I had two family members with me before I was taken; my mother and brother. We had been hiding out near a small town of two hundred, so the way they found me has always puzzled my mind. When they came to take me, my mother fought back while my brother rushed out to join us. But they were both killed in the fight to save me. Even though the three of us tried to fight back, I was taken. They were no ordinary humans, they had some kind of magical power which help them while they were fighting" I also lost my mother to them, but 7P has also lost her brother to them.
"how long have you been here for?" this facility looks modern, but not new.
"I have been here for what seems like nine months. I am afraid of what has happened to some of the kids here in that time" I am also afraid, since the only prisoners I have encountered that were dangerous, were all living in the tamest part of this facility. If the other parts of this place are even worse than this, then I am afraid of what is ahead for us.
"what are our chances of escaping without losing anybody to this chaos?" the situation is currently looking dark, but I still have hope that we will escape this place with everyone still together.
"with the Wild, Dark, Heavy and Elemental Sectors taken into account, I fear we have a six in one hundred chance of leaving this place without a loss" it is really that low huh? I will try my hardest to get everyone out of this place. I will not leave anyone behind.
"then I guess we will have to be the six percent" 7P smiles to my reply and looks forward again. I guess this is my chance to talk to some other friends.
I walk over to 15G, who is thinking to himself while keeping up with the group.
"15G, what are our true chances of escaping this place without suffering a loss?" 15G looks over to me and puts on a troubled face.
"every time I have thought about that, I have decided upon one loss as our guaranteed casualties. We will definitely lose one person" I did not want to hear that from our smartest member, but I also believe we will lose at least one person to this place. But I will do everything in my power to prevent that.
"then we should do whatever it takes to prevent such a thing" 15G nods and starts to stroke his chin.
"my assumptions are stemming from the point that we are going to be escaping from the main entry and exit point. But if we can find another way out, we might stand a chance of not suffering any such tragedies" yeah, 15G. I understand what you are getting at.
"I will talk to 16M about it" 15G nods and I leave his side to talk to 16M.
"15G and I may have an idea which will minimize the risk of someone dying while we try to escape" 16M looks back at me and smirks.
"alright, what is your idea?" I hope we can find another way out, if there is one.
"we think we can get to the observation room from here, which might give us a chance at escaping without running into any guards or kids" 16M looks troubled now.
"if we could we would, but we are running on a tight schedule which we must obey in order to escape this place in time-"
"look up there! It's the main gate area up-top of the facility. It is flaming and exploding!" 7P points up towards the top of the pit. There we can see the flames and fights that have overtaken that level.
"that is weirdly convenient. Okay then, we will listen to 17C and 15G's plan. We will find the map room and find a less dangerous way out" this is good, now we just have to find the new way out and escape.
I walk up to 13D, not because I want to hear what her story is, but to ask her a question I think we all want to ask each other. I will hear about what she was doing before being captured, later.
"hey 13D, why are we calling each other by our identification? Would it not be fine to just call each other by our real names?" I do that with Alice, I do not see the problem with doing the same thing with other people.
"for one, I do not even know you well enough to even give you an ounce of my trust. And secondly, if everyone in this facility knows someone's name, then they are going to hunt down their relatives if they are an enemy. I see you talk to 17B while mentioning her name, which proves how trusting she can be. That is something which can prove dangerous in certain situations, so do not allow her to give up your secrets" I trust Alice enough to keep my secrets if I ever told her any.
"Alice would not betray us, I know she would not" 13D looks at me in utter disbelief.
"you barely know her, she could be loyal to the project for all you know. Do not let your guard down against anyone" with a serious tone, 13D walks away from me, while I am left confused. Why is she so secluded to herself? Now I do want to hear what her story is. But I fear I will not hear anything from her, so I will ask 12S instead. So I walk over to him, while he is looking over to 13D with concern.
"hey, 12S. What is wrong with 13D? She does not seem to want to share anything about her story with me. And what is with her trust issues?" 12S does not stop looking at 13D.
"she had a few friends these past two months in this place. But most of them were taken away due to her planning an escape with them. The only reason they found out, was the fact that one of her friends had told the security chief about their plans. This was one of a few events in this place which made her this way. Unlike the rest of us, she was not very secretive" 12S looks on with a single tear down his face.
"was she the one who told the security chief? Since she was not very secretive?" 12S looks straight at me, angrily confused.
"that is not what I meant you dense twit" oh, I wonder what he meant?
"well what did you meant by secretive?" 12S sighs and looks back at 13D.
"just forget about it" but I want to understand what happened that gave her trust issues with others. But if 12S is not going to tell me, then I guess I am going to have to give up on it for now.
We have barely covered two levels and we still have many to go. But the map room should be somewhere on the next level.
"attention, this is Jeremiah Walt. I have committed crimes worthy of.....my...." there is someone on the intercom. He sounds like he is crying, but what is he trying to say? What is this stuff about crimes he has committed?
"say what is on the paper!" another voice enters the announcement. It sounds like a younger person.
"please, I was just doing.....my-" WHACK! A painful sound echos through the facility.
"okay, I have committed crimes worthy of my...death.....oh no-please don't!" the guy sounds like he is begging and choking on tears.
"what you have done to me. I will not forgive you, I will bring justice for what has happened to me" the younger voice must be a kid who has experienced the experiments.
"but I didn't do anything to you, I am new here-" BANG! The guy is cut off and a thud can be heard.
"this is the only way to deal justice, by executing those who did it" the intercom sounds off and the transmission ends. I look over to Alice, who is holding her hand to her face. I hope she is okay, I better go to her.
"hey Alice, are you okay?" Alice looks over to me and starts to tear up.
"that boy said that guy did something wrong, but that voice did not sound like someone who had committed a serious crime. He sounded terrified for his own life. Like he knew he had not done anything to deserve being executed. You see, I can tell from a person's voice what kind of a life they live" so does she know what my life was like?
"so does it work on me?" Alice nods.
"yes, you had two friends and both of your parents taken away from you when you were captured by these people" yeah, that is what I had when I was still home.
"but that guy" Alice starts to cry as if her eyes are Niagara Falls.
"he lost his wife after a long, loving relationship. He had been with her for ten years, while he was twenty-one when he took this job, he lost her three months ago. He had two kids with her which only have-or had as I should say, him. Now they are orphans with nowhere to go, all because that kid mistook him for another, terrible person" how can she find information like this by just hearing people's voices?
"we could not do anything to help that guy. I wish we could, but we can not" Alice sniffs and looks up at me.
"I wish there was another way" that power would be both a blessing and a curse.
"we have to get to the map room, so I need you to stay strong" Alice nods. 14B suddenly appears behind me.
"17C, that was you name right? Anyway, I know a shortcut to the map room from here" really? This is definitely something 16M would want to hear.
"come with me. We are going to tell 16M about this good news" the two of us walk up to our leader 16M, who is at the front of the group.
"we have something that I think you are going to want to hear 16M" he turns to me and looks at 14B with curiosity.
"what information do you have to tell me?" 14B takes a small breath and raises his arm.
"there is a emergency fire stairwell which will lead us straight to the map room. It will leave us with three rooms between our group and our goal" 16M smiles and looks around at the group.
"nothing but good news, I see. I hope we can continue to receive nothing but good news. We will follow your shortcut then" 14B walks in-front of 16M and starts to make lots of twists and turns around each corner. After one more turn, I can see the stairwell, which is only a few steps away.
"this is the stairwell. We can easily avoid conflict and escape faster" I hope he is telling the truth, because he has little reason to lie. 14B opens the door to the stairwell which echoes through the facility.
"a fair few people would have heard that" 7P is right.
"we should probably hurry" our group rushes up the stairs, ascending quickly to the next level and closer to the map which will lead us out of here faster.
"now we are very close, I hope we will have enough time to escape once we find a better way out" I am hoping for the same 14B.
With each door we open to get closer to the map room, our fear of what could be on the other side is rising. The door to the map room is now in-front of us, and all we need to do is open it.
"14B, this is your chance to prove you can help us when we are in trouble. We do not know what is on the other side, so could you please prove to us this is not a trap" 14B looks at 16M in disbelief.
"I do not know why I would be untrustworthy, but sure" 14B opens the door without any hesitation. The room is completely empty.
"just trust me 16M, I may only be new. But I have no reason to betray your trust" 16M groans and walks into the map room. The facility layout is on the wall for all of us to see. With this, we can find a better way out faster than if we had only one person looking. While 7P and 16M are arguing over the best path, I sit with Alice and 10B.
"you can transform into a vehicle?" Alice has only just been told about 10B's power, so she would definitely be curious.
"yeah, but I can not drive-or-anything. My transformations do not work mechanically, but I wish they did" Alice looks at 10B with a pitiful giggle.
"you can not drive as a vehicle? Ha ha ha, that is quite embarrassing" 10B looks down in shame and whines.
"stop that, I will be able to drive as a vehicle soon enough. You will see!" 10B making such a declaration is not a very good idea.
"we will hold you to that" 10B laughs with us. Now I can bring up the issue I have been wanting to for a while.
"where are we going to go after we escape?" Alice and 10B drop their smiles and think to themselves. Alice points her finger up as if she has found a solution.
"we can return to our family, they would be so worried about us" Alice seems to have forgot.
"but these guys killed our families and erased our friends' minds so we would not be remembered" Alice's face rapidly shifts to a confused and dreaded expression. Wait, did those people not tell her? Am I the first one to tell her? Oh no.
"what do you mean? I remember my family was find before I was taken. Are you telling me these people have done a horrible thing like killing my family?" I am afraid of saying the words which would destroy her spirit.
"they told me they did it to mine, they might have done it to yours like mine. But there is a small possibility they didn't" I can not do something like that to her, she needs hope. She is too nice and pure for something like that to happen. Just to make sure, I lean over to 10B.
"hey, while you have been here, have any of the people here told you that they killed your family to cover their tracks?" 10B gives me a simple and sorrowful nod. I guess they must do it to everyone. I should stay on topic.
"so where should we go?" 10B strokes his chin.
"once we do escape, we should assume the boss here has some influence over the government. So we should flee the country and head for another one and hide in the wilderness" I think this would be a good idea.
"have you been talking to 15G? Because that sounds like one of the smartest things you have ever said" 10B looks at me with a disapproving smirk.
"you have only known me for a short time, and you are already assuming I am stupid" I meant while I have known you, but I can understand the confusion.
"yeah, just like your transformation" 10B goes red and looks like he is about to burst.
"enough with my transformations, okay. I get it, I suck at using my powers" I am sorry 10B, I thought it would be funny. 16M and 7P walk over to us and signal for the rest of the group to gather around the map.
"we have found a pretty safe escape route, with a lightly guarded exit" this is good news, we might be able to escape without a single casualty after all.
"it is only half the distance that would had been required for us to travel to get to the main entry point" this way sounds pretty fast and safe. I like it.
"we will have to head out immediately. I fear we have less time to get to this one than the main point" well, now we have a shorter time limit. This is something I can accept.
So we leave the room and start running towards a small stairwell that I can see on the other side of the hallway. We run up to the door and unseal the entrance. The stairs go up four levels, and I can see that there are no other prisoners around.
"okay, we need to quickly ascend to the final door and reach that level" that, I can do. We start running up the stairs and reaching the fourth level. One after the other, we reach the end point. To make sure Alice is able to get to the fourth door, I am at the very end to make sure she does. As Alice reaches the end, I shut the door.
"everyone made it. The threat of something falling through a stairwell is even more prevalent now. Seeing as though the main stairs were destroyed" I also fear what would happen. 7P points to the glass viewing point that is overlooking the pit.
"that is a hell of a fight!" everyone turns to see two powerful guys fighting while flying. But I thought it was impossible to fly.
"that is 5X, and he is fighting-what, he is fighting 1T?!" who are those powerful monsters?
"who are they?" 16M walks up beside me with his arms crossed.
"that brute is 1T, he was one of the first to be brought here and tested on. He is quite the powerful guy, he might even be one of the strongest here. That guy he is fighting is 5X, he is another strong prisoner. But it appears 5X has not sided with the other prisoners and has instead either sided with the people running this, or the insane prisoners who are killing everyone they see. I believe it is the former" so these two are fighting in here? This whole place will come down. The two of them clash and start to fall towards us.
"everyone get down! They will obliterate you if you get too close!" they will do something like that even at a distance? I have to keep Alice safe. Alice is stunned by the fight and is not moving. I need to save Alice from a sudden death.
"Alice, get out of the way!" I push Alice out of the way, but I am caught in the explosion and the floor below me collapses. I am falling! As my descent into the facility that I have been trying to ascend drops me down a fair few levels, I know this is going to be a hard landing.