Chapter Two
Vses's eyes wandered around the entrance of the building. There was a receptionist desk in the middle of the room, taking up a majority of the space. It was a white desk, the peak of a computer was barely seen from where Vses stood. There wasn't a sign on the desk that mentioned who was supposed to be sitting there. The building had hours on the door and based on those hours the building shouldn't be shut down like it currently is. There technically should be people roaming about. The fact that there isn't wasn't necessarily concerning for Vses.
The cameras were.
Vses could see the faint red glow that was being emitted from the camera in the far corner. It wasn't the newest model of security that humans have managed to develop but it wasn't the worst. Vses knew that if they had chosen to upgrade the cameras, that he might not have noticed the cameras at all. Vses had also sent out a scanning orb earlier and the cameras had popped on the radar like lightning. Vses knew the cameras were there, but he had forgotten. A potential side-effect of the coffee? Vses would avoid the beverage until he was certain of its true side-effects.
Vses continued into the building, ignoring the fact that he knew the cameras were watching. Vses knew that if he was being watched, that they had already seen him and that it was too late to hide. He had come here for a reason and the fact that he was being watched made him even more sure that this place was up to no good.
Vses saw many doorways but he knew that if he tried to open any of the doors that the room would most definitely be fastened shut. Vses wasn't sure if the doors would lead to a medical examination room or if it was just a hoax, which Vses suspected it would be. This entire place was a hoax. If Vses asked the locals, he was sure most would deny even knowing of this place. If anyone did, they'd probably only have seen the building, not even going in or knowing anyone who has.
Vses had only been on Earth for three days, and he already knew that no one has ever entered this building seeking medical advice. It infuriated Vses that not a single human had noticed this but he also noted that some humans tested lower in brain IQ.
Vses walked further and further into the building to the point that he had to start following the rough map created by his scanning sphere instead of just wandering the building. Vses had taken precautions on which hallways he took as some looped and others crossed into others. Vses just attempted to avoid going down hallways, if he could avoid it, and running into cameras. The less he was seen the better but he knew being caught on some cameras was inevitable. It was inevitable since the moment he entered the building since he had forgotten completely about the camera that had been smartly placed at the entrance of the building, right when you entered.
Vses finally found the thing he was looking for. The entrance to the lower level. It had been well hidden towards the back of the rather large building. Vses would have passed it if the scanning sphere hadn't done its scan and informed him of its location. Vses couldn't imagine what the humans would do with a device such as the scanning sphere.
A scanning sphere was used by almost everyone on the planet had to access to one. Although it was mainly used by Vses's government, it wasn't uncommon to see someone using it in their homes. The scanning sphere had many uses, from scanning entire locations to finding specific items. Finding items understandably taking longer because the scan time took longer and took in so many more details then an entire building quick scan like Vses had done to this building.
Vses pushed the small cart that was partially hiding the entrance behind it out of the way. The small crouch pathway was revealed and Vses took a deep breath before entering.
The passage was similar to a vent, having metal walls. It was nicer though, having lights to light the way instead of it being pitch black. Vses continued to crawl through the lowly lit space towards where he knew a laboratory would be.
The duct ended revealing a small room that held what Vses knew as an elevator. His planet didn't use elevators after they had managed to discover a way to teleport a short distance, as in from one floor to another. It was the quickest teleportation his planet has figured out as of now. Crawling out of the duct, Vses quickly walked over to the elevator ignoring the camera that was a much higher quality than the ones at the entrance of the building.
Clicking the button that opened the doors, Vses waited as the elevator rose to the level he was on. When it did, the elevator made a ding noise and the doors opened to reveal a very modern white interior, not much different from the decor of the main building but very much so a brighter and cleaner looking white. The smell instantly hit him, the sterile smell compared to the scent of humans. It was a subtle change but noticeable to Vses.
Vses didn't like the smell. It was the smell of poisonous toxins back on his home planet, but Vses knew this wouldn't kill him for just smelling it. No on his home planet, the toxin would be forced down someone's throat while at one-thousand degrees. It was a painful thing that Vses has only seen via old documentation.
Vses got into the elevator and went to the only other level that was available. The next floor down. The second his finger touched the button, the elevator doors closed in front of him, and he has felt the shift as he was quickly, but safely, lowered towards the next floor.
The elevator doors dinged like before and the doors opened revealing a hallway with LED lights on overhead. The entire hallway was painted white, with white floors. There was a large glass window that was the closet thing to the elevator. Walking out of the elevator and towards the window, Vses could see that it was simply a see-through window into what appeared to an office like a scene, with ten desks with computers on each. No one was inside the office.
Deciding that nothing useful would be found on the desktops, Vses passed the window and door that lead into the office space and further until he saw the next door, and attempted to open the door, which failed.
Grunting, Vses continued to the next door, which opened. Vses wished it hadn't.
Inside the nearly white room, was a surgical table, with a person still bound to it. The person wasn't moving, a Vses could tell it wasn't entirely human either. Just by examining the person, he could tell it had mixed genetics, based on the colorization of its bare hands and feet, a neon blue color. The person was no longer alive, which was the part that Vses rather regretted about entering the room. The creature had an opening on its chest, an incision wound, that was nearby where a humans lungs would be. The organs weren't there any longer, which is probably the cause of the massive pool of purplish blood that covered the floor. Vses felt sick knowing that this was something that the scientists were doing down here. Vses felt an even worse pit in his stomach as he began to truly wonder what potentially happened to his brother.
Vses and his brother had been very close, and when his brother had been selected to be one of the few to come to Earth and examine its habitats, he had been thrilled. Vses had been thrilled for him. Vses and his brother had been working side-by-side, which wasn't very unusual for twins. The last time Vses had seen his brother was through a live call from the planet while his brother was only days away from arriving on Earth.
Based on the content of the room Vses had walked into, his heart dropped. He had been foolishly holding onto the hope that his twin was still alive and was only prisoner here on the planet.
Vses closely backed out of the room, not wanting to be in the room any longer. Vses sent a silent goodbye to the person, hoping they were in a better place, not that Vses himself believe in an afterlife.
Vses leaned against the door for a couple of seconds after closing it and sighed. Vses didn't wish to see any more dead bodies during this time, and he was afraid he might. Vses found it gruesome that they just left the body on the table, not disposing it or removing it. Vses couldn't imagine the scientists burying the person. It was kind of sickening that the scientists could just leave the person their but Vses was sure they were going to come back.
Vses continued down the hallway, hoping that the body he found would be the only body he'd find his entire time during his stay on this planet, the planet that was slowly getting worse and worse in Vses mind.
Vses came upon another door, and moments before he went to open it, the handle moved on its own, signaling that someone from the other side was attempting to open the door as well. Frightened, Vses, turned and ran further down the hallway, running to get away from the door and whoever might be on the other side, knowing it was probably one of the many scientists.
Vses turned down another hallway that was thankfully empty, but he didn't stop there. Vses continued to try and get further and further away from the people. He had planned to sneak in, figure out what these people were doing, find out what happened to his friends and his twin brother.
If the body in the room was any sign of what had happened, Vses wasn't sure if finding out was something he really wanted to know.
Vses ran through another set of doors, hearing the door seal behind him. Vses halted for a couple of seconds before continuing into the room. In this room, was cells. They were blocked off with glass and had a single cot in the back, the entire color scheme being like the rest of the building, white.
Vses started walking by each cell, noticing the emptiness of each cell. Vses could faintly tell that people once laid in these cells but no longer did.
Vses started running past each cell after seeing one after the other being empty. It was almost scary to Vses with how many cells there were and seeing one after another being empty.
Vses almost ran past a certain cell until he remembered noticing a person sitting on the bed crisscrossed. Vses halted and rushed back to the cell, startled at what he saw.
A human, no, you couldn't call this person human. A hybrid? This person wasn't human, not completely anyway.