Seeing his friend hold such a look in her eyes unsettled him. Chance could tell that it wasn't just his room, but what lay beyond as well. He couldn't see what Dez was viewing; he couldn't feel what she was experiencing. How he wished he could understand better what Dez was going through, yet he had grown numb to this place. Sure, it had its horrors when he was a child and first introduced to this place, but now he had grown accustomed to it. Dez's eyes, though, slowly began to rekindle some of that fear.
Over the years, his mind had accepted this place as his room. The halls were just hallways with faded paint, while the white doors just led to more rooms like his. This illusion had consumed his entire perspective. To him this was normal. As for Dez, this was far from ordinary; she saw the truth of this place and experienced its full impact.
"Like I said before, Dez, we'll get out of here," Chance reassured her, trying to keep his own mind off the true appearance of the sublevel, which was resurfacing from the depths of his mind.
"I guess that you're right," she replied, pulling the screwdriver out of her inner jacket pocket and handing it over to Chance.
Sending another smile her way, he approached the air vent, which was about three feet above the metal desk. Getting on top of the desk, he reached up and began removing the screws. When all four were out, he placed the screws in his pants pocket, set the vent on the desk and stepped aside for Dez. Surprisingly, the ventilation was roomier than she would've expected. Climbing into the space, she moved forward and saw it branch into paths up ahead. Frankly, though, she was glad to have worn her jacket, for it was cold inside the vents.
When she reached the split in the paths, she turned around to see Chance crawling in backwards. At first she was puzzled by this, and she could just barely see around his form. He was putting the vent back in place. Moreover, he somehow managed to get it to stay without putting the screws back in. Besides, he couldn't place the screws back from the inside of the vent anyway. Once he reached where she was at, she moved aside, so he could position himself to face the correct direction.
"Which way should we go?" Dez inquired, glancing between the paths.
"I'm not sure. Either way, we're bound to discover something new. I'd say let's go with our gut feeling."
"Then let's take the path going straight," Dez suggested, and Chance nodded in response.
Taking the lead, Chance moved forward and became slightly annoyed with the constant cold metal against his fingers. He was used to his room maintaining a low temperature, but this was worse. Obviously, it was because they were inside the vents. Regardless, he pushed it aside as best he could and kept his ears open to any sounds.
So far, they had seen rooms similar to his on the other side of the vents. While others had disturbing conditions with regards to the furniture in them. Some mattresses were torn up, while pillows were ripped to shreds. Whatever individuals lived in the rooms, previously, were not content guests. Likewise, some pieces of furniture like the desk or dresser were tipped over and looked to be bashed in at certain points along the wood and metal.
Passing by them, Dez could only assume that there would be scratches on the outside of the doors. What had happened, though, for such chaos to take over the rooms? It made the already alarming atmosphere even worse. The shivers going up her spine weren't only from the air conditioning but also from what her eyes witnessed. All along she had been living atop a place like this. While she was drawing in her room, some monstrosity could've been occurring down here. Any optimism that she had before was now dissipating.
Going further, they came across a vent that led to a room, which didn't contain bedroom furniture. Instead, the room appeared to be utterly destroyed. It looked as though someone had started a fire in the room and allowed it to consume the entirety of the space. Glancing at her friend, Chance nodded back at her before she moved out of the way for him. He rested his hands against the air vent before pushing on it in order to see if it was secured on the other side. To their surprise it wasn't. The metal fell forward before swinging below the ventilation system. So, the bottom was screwed in but not the top. With access to the room, the duo made their way out of the vents and into the room.
Chance climbed out first before Dez followed after him. Thankfully, the vents weren't too high above the floor, permitting them a safe descent to the ground. Dust and ash floated up into the air when their feet made contact with the cement floor, causing them to cough slightly. Once they composed themselves, they set out to exploring the room. Dez checked the door first and found it to be locked from the outside. Moreover, there was no way to unlock the door from the inside of the room. Granted, she didn't think they would have to worry about someone entering the room despite the small window in the door, which allowed a viewer to look in. Furthermore, the window provided some illumination into the room. It seemed like no one had set foot in the area for quite some time, though.
Turning away from the door, which was actually made of metal on the side facing the interior of the room, she examined the area. Four long metal tables were in the center of the room. Each had their own sink and valve on it. Moving closer to one of the tables, she could read the word "gas" inscribed into the metal of the valve. She had no desire to turn the valve and see if it still worked. After witnessing the damage of the room, she didn't want to risk lighting another fire.
Running her right fingers over a melted portion of a table, she wondered just how long the fire in the room had lasted. Likewise, the blackened walls peeled away to reveal metal underneath them. It was odd, though, to see no sprinkler system installed in the room. Someone had cut some corners when building this room, or maybe they ran out of money after installing the walls and door. Regardless of the reason, she continued her search of the room.
A metal file cabinet had a few melted corners, but there were no papers inside. Thus, she moved on to explore some of the wooden cabinets in the room. Personally, she was surprised to find that they weren't metal. Then again, it wasn't odd to have wooden cabinets, but she thought they would've kept the metal theme throughout. Due to this particular design choice, the cabinets were mostly gone. Only a few remaining pieces gave evidence to their previous existence. Overall, she found nothing useful inside.
As for Chance, he was scanning the lower cabinetry, which was metal and barren of information. Sighing at coming out empty handed, his blue eye quickly viewed the singular sink, which was installed on top of the lower cabinetry and separate from the other sinks. Most likely, it was a spare sink in case one was needed. Next to the sink was another gas valve, though, this one had a device connected to it. Chance didn't know the name for it. Just by looking at the contraption, though, he figured it created a flame at the top, since it was hooked up to one of the gas valves. Besides the device, he noticed a pile of melted glass.
"Did you find anything, Dez?"
"No, but I would like to know what happened in here."
"Agreed, let's look for a few more minutes. There might be something that is salvageable from this. Who knows, maybe the fire missed something."
She doubted it, but it didn't hurt to try and find something. Maneuvering around the room, Dez approached some cabinets closer towards the door. Glancing inside the upper cabinets, she found a condition identical to that of the other wooden cabinets. With no results she moved onto the lower ones, which were metal, and proceeded with the same process. This time, however, she did discover something interesting. A hole, in the middle of the cabinet's metal bottom, unveiled a secret area underneath. Thus, she glanced inside the area.
Sadly, there wasn't much in the space. She only noticed a lone picture, which had the left half missing. Burnt marks could be seen on the photo, indicating that some of the hot metal must have fallen onto the picture and ruined the image somewhat. It was amazing that the photograph hadn't been completely destroyed.
Analyzing the image closer, she saw that it was of a man looking to be in his early thirties. He had dark brown hair and grey eyes. As for his attire, he wore a lavender dress shirt, black tie, black pants, and black dress shoes along with a white lab coat. A cheerful smile was decorating his lips, and he appeared to be holding another's hand. Of course, Dez couldn't determine who the other individual in the picture was.
Moving her attention to the background in the picture, she noticed that the man was standing in front of a large building that could be a mix between a facility of some sort and a house. Windows littered the building and there appeared to be three floors. Large white doors led into the building, while the entire building was painted white as well. Moreover, snow fell from the sky above and onto the ground below.
Something about the building behind the man was awfully familiar. Upon a few more moments of thought, realization struck her like a lightning bolt. The structure in the background was her home. It had to be. Granted, she had never seen the outside of her home, but her house had three upper stories. Then again, the windows weren't tinted, but this difference permitted her to see some details of the interior of the home. She could just barely make out the pendant lights through the windows, and they were identical to the ones in the hallways. Likewise, a figure was noticeable through one of the windows as well. They were wearing the pink uniform of the flies.
It felt utterly surreal to be holding a picture that displayed the outside of her home. Sure, it didn't present the entire landscape surrounding her home, but it revealed enough to make her tremble. She hadn't been expecting to find such information, yet here it was in her right hand.
Flipping the picture over, she noticed faded writing on the back, but she could still decipher it. Likewise, part of the sentence was gone, but she could read the word "trip" and presumably the individual's last name, which was "Colour". Standing up, she went over to Chance and held it out for him to see. He glanced over the picture before inspecting the back. His blue eye widened a bit, and Dez noticed that his hands trembled much like hers did.
"Dez, do you think this building..."
"Yes, it's my home, and that man worked here."
"Then we need to find more information on this man. He may be the key to solving all of our questions, but I've never seen him in the building. Besides, his dress is different from most of the workers here, which means that he must be one of the head workers."
"Or he could have perished in this room."
"That is a possibility, but if that's the case, then we'll just have to find some documents on him if we can. Moreover, we should attempt to figure out what was on the other half of this picture."
"It was another person. I'm guessing his child, since if you look closely the fingers intertwined with his are much smaller," Dez commented, pointing to the small detail in the image.
"Yes, that would make sense, but I haven't noticed any other children here unless..."
"It can't be one of us, Chance."
"How can you be certain, Dez? I understand that it can't be me, since I've been here my whole life, and I never can recall encountering this man. He may be your father, though. You two do share the same eye color."
"If I'm correct in assuming that "Colour" is his last name, then he can't be my father. My last name is different. Besides, I don't have any memory of ever meeting this man. He probably brought his child one day to his work and took a picture with them."
"Dez, what if you're wrong? Your mother has kept secrets from me but more importantly you. You're supposed to be her daughter, yet she has hid this entire sublevel from you. Maybe, you two really don't share the last name. Just suppose that this man is your father for a moment and that Amoena Rose isn't your actual mother. Another scenario could be that she is your mother but has hid your father away from you for some reason. It's not something I would throw out so soon."
Taking back the picture from Chance, Dez put it back into its place. She heard Chance protesting behind her but didn't listen. They had all the information they could find in this room. Besides, the picture would only cause them trouble later on if they stored it in one of their rooms, and it was found. Furthermore, she didn't want to hold onto the image because of Chance's comment. It was troubling to think that the man in the photograph could potentially be her father. Chance was right that the man and she shared the same eye color.
Likewise, she had never met her father, so she couldn't prove that he wasn't her father. There was the last name, but names could be changed easily so as to lure one on the wrong path. In truth the only way she could find out was if she asked her mother. Such an action wouldn't be happening anytime soon.
As soon as she put the image back in its original place, she stood up and turned to Chance. He was currently running his left fingers through his light brown locks, seeming to question his friend. Pushing Chance's countenance aside, Dez glanced over the interior of the room one last time. She desired to know how the fire started and why there was a lone picture hidden underneath one of the floor cupboards. Both were mysteries to her, but at least she now could look for information on the man in the photo.
On top of her curiosities, though, there was an odd familiarity to the room. Dez had never entered this room before, yet this feeling wouldn't leave her. Maybe it was the quantity of metal in the room, causing her to be reminded of the kitchen. Then again, it could be something more than that.
"I suppose it would be best to keep the picture out of our rooms," Chance mumbled to himself, breaking Dez out of her thoughts.
"Precisely, however, we should move on," Dez commented, since she could just hear the male's statement.
Making their decision, the duo climbed on top of the burnt cabinets carefully. Chance climbed up into the vent first before holding his right hand out to help Dez up. Grabbing his hand with her right, she allowed him to pull her up back into the ventilation system. The coldness of the area returned, which contrasted greatly the dust and ash filled space they had just come from. Moreover, that room maintained a warmer quality to it.
Crawling along in the air system, Dez pushed aside the cold, which bit at her skin, and focused on the task ahead. So far, though, they hadn't come across any more accessible rooms. Unlike the burnt room, the air vents didn't readily come off. There were screws in place, and they couldn't get at the screws from their side. This didn't mean, however, that they weren't able to make some discoveries.
Within the two rooms they had passed, they were able to view quite a setup from where they were. In each of the rooms, there were more metal tables like the ones in the ruined room. These were in perfect condition, though, and had various glass containers sitting atop them. Some of the glassware held various liquids inside, while others remained empty. Accompanying the glass were plastic bottles as well. Like the glass, some were filled while others were not. Amidst the items in the room, the lights above gave off a faint grey glow, adding to the rooms' mysterious qualities.
They most likely contained useful files inside their cupboards, but Dez and Chance couldn't do anything about it. Both would have to be content with just the view they could get. Once they had their fill of the rooms, they pressed onward. It wasn't long, though, until they heard two voices in the distance. One sounded awfully familiar to Dez. As for the other one, it was foreign to her ears. Moving closer to the voices, the two of them stopped at an air vent. Peering through the spaces between the metal, Dez saw the form of Keri Waters. Next to her was a pink fly.
Ms. Waters sat in a leather office chair, which was in the hue of a dark grey. In front of her sitting form was a white wooden desk. Beige folders lay atop the wooden surface, while a plain white coffee cup was filled with grey pens and pencils. Lastly, a silver laptop was positioned in front of Ms. Waters. Her long slender fingers moved across the keyboard with ease, as the conversation between the two went silent. Only the sound of typing resonated throughout the room, which had grey painted walls and grey carpet.
Sitting across from her in another dark grey chair was the pink fly. Dez noticed that they had their hands gripping the ends of the chair's arms, while their right leg was crossed behind their left. She could see their position due to the angle of the chair. Regardless, it was interesting to see the fly in a slightly nervous state, since their limbs were trembling a little bit. Whatever their conversation concerned, the fly obviously wasn't enjoying it much.
Continuing with her typing, Ms. Waters maintained her gaze on the screen. The illumination from the device cast an intimidating glow on her eyes. To Dez, she appeared less human under such light. Changing her focus from the woman to the rest of the room, since Dez no longer wanted to look upon Ms. Waters's eyes, she noticed that there were several pictures decorating the space. These images all contained the same scenery, however. Transparent globs covered the pieces, but one could only tell they were transparent due to the grey outlines around each shape. Personally, she found it odd for one to have more than a single copy of a picture hanging on their walls. Soon, though, the voice of the fly spoke up, causing Dez to look once more at the two figures in the room.
"Well, what should we do? I tried to get multiple samples by today, Ms. Waters, but I just couldn't get them. So, what should we do?"
"We'll just have to proceed with what we have," the woman responded as the fly appeared horror stricken.