Sara remained seated, her eyes fixed on the young man. When he met her gaze, she quickly looked away towards the windows.
"Haa," Julian stretched his arms. He lazily straightened up and began walking towards the exit, then stopped and turned his head towards her instinctively.
"Aren't you coming?"
"Yes," Sara replied, standing quickly, causing the chair to roll backward and bump against the wall.
They both approached the man who was waiting for them.
"I'm Julian Forst." Julian bowed his head slightly. "I will do my best to collaborate effectively with you."
"There's no need to be so formal." His eyes then shifted towards Sara.
She quickly stepped forward and bowed her head. "I... I am—"
"Is it true that the new members are about to join, or they are already here?" Her introduction was interrupted by another young voice.
Sara attempted to glance up, internally calming herself.
"So they are here." He first looked at Julian, then found Sara bowing her head. "Are you bullying her? I thought we were beyond that stage."
"Raise your head. We are all equals here."
Sara slowly raised her head and introduced herself. "I'm Sara. It will be my pleasure to work with you."
"And I'm Alex." He extended his hand to her. "We're going to love having you."
She hesitated, watching his hand for a moment. Is it appropriate to be so casual during a first meeting? Well, they would be working under the same roof from now on.
Her eyes met his.
He seemed normal, younger than her, probably Julian's age. She found it somewhat unsettling for some reason.
Julian sensed that the situation was becoming awkward; he quickly shook Alex's outstretched hand. "I'm Julian. It's nice to join your company."
Alex gave him a soft smile. He then noticed that her hand was already extended, ready to shake his.
"I'm Simon." He shook Sara's hand. "From now on, we'll be working together."
She flinched slightly; her gaze moved to his face, her lips parted, but she remained silent.
"Alright, let me give you the tour."
Her eyes snapped back to Alex. He was just chatting away, and she was over here tripping. Alex kept talking, but his words just seemed to fly right over her head.
"And this is the med bay."
He gave her a quick glance, noticing she was totally zoned out. He waved a hand in front of her face. "Earth to Sara? You still with me?"
"Huh— yeah."
She was so focused on Alex, she couldn't even remember what she was thinking a second ago.
"Med bay, right?"
"Yeah," Alex turned to the metal bed next to them. "This is where bodies get sliced and diced for thorough examination. But you don't actually have to do it; there are others who can do it for us. But hey, if you're into that, no one's gonna stop you."
"Nah, that's not really my thing."
Alex nodded slightly and headed towards the door. "Any other burning questions?"
"When do I get my access card?"
"Access card?" Alex paused to think. "I got mine on day one, so maybe you'll get it by this evening." He pushed the door closed and added, "But usually it takes two or three weeks. The higher-ups have to evaluate your work and stuff, see how you handle things. Only then do you get your own access card."
She nodded slowly, then mumbled, "I've been meaning to ask something, but don't feel obligated if it's getting too personal."
"I'm an open book," he said, turning towards the hallway. "Shoot."
"How long have you been working here?" She hurried to catch up. "And is it true that your dad's on the High Table?"
"Yep, that's my father." Alex nodded. "And we'll be working under him. As for how long I've been here... I think it's almost been three years. Or maybe two... I can't really remember exactly."
"What about Simon? Who's he?" "Simon... Yeah. He's been here way longer than me. He can be a bit hard to talk to at first, but you get used to it. Also, don't let his harsh looks or cold demeanor fool you; he's a really kind guy. And most importantly," Alex turned around, but kept walking, "he's a great leader."
"Great leader?"
"Yeah, his decision-making is top-notch. You know, there's an old saying I heard when I first started: 'Everything can be wrong, but not Simon.' I don't necessarily believe it though. Humans learn from their mistakes, after all." He turned back around.
Alex's words swirled around in her head. To her, Simon seemed like something else entirely.
"And sometimes..."
Sara stared at Alex's back.
"He knows you better than you know yourself."
….
"Excuse me."
The woman behind the counter didn't respond quickly. She finished typing, then lifted her eyes, adjusting her glasses once.
"Yes?"
"I was told to check the intake logs from last week," Sara asked casually.
The woman glanced at the monitor, then back to Sara. "It was already done on Sunday."
"Yeah, that's right." Sara tapped the desk once. "The company fired that employee. Things are also a little rough right now."
"But you'll find the same details," the woman said. "It doesn't change."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Sara leaned forward, "but it's company policy. What can we do, right?"
The woman didn't reply quickly. She just looked, and Sara waited.
"You need to ask for the administrator's permission first. Both medical and pharmaceutical records are handled by him."
"Both?" Sara's brows raised slightly.
"Is there a problem?"
"No—nothing," Sara quickly replied. Then her eyes wandered around a little. "This place is big from the looks of it. Are you sure one guy can handle it all?"
"You have to ask the administrator about that."
"Right," she muttered, then asked, "Where's the office, then?"
The woman studied her for half a second, then pointed down the hallway.
"Second floor. End of the corridor."
"Thanks."
Sara took two steps, then stopped. "Sorry—one more thing."
The woman typed something, then replied half a second later, "Yes?"
"How are the daily records of patients here?"
"Usually five or six."
"This hospital is the closest to the docks, isn't it?"
"Yes. Is there any problem?"
"No, just wondering." Sara made a thinking-like face, "If anything goes wrong at the docks, they must bring them here."
"Nothing ever goes wrong."
"Yeah, but who knows, right?" Sara said lazily. "All the supplies come from there anyway. Just one slip and a whole week's supplies vanish."
The woman didn't reply and went back to her screen.
Sara studied her for a moment, then left the desk.
She slowed down just a little as she reached the administrator's room. The door was shut. The hallways were empty. It felt like the movie started repeating.
She stepped closer and gave two soft knocks. "Can I come in?"
Nothing.
She knocked loudly this time, but still, no sound came out. A short sigh escaped her mouth. She looked down at the knob; she knew it was locked and no one was inside.
Her hand grabbed the knob tightly. She pushed the door and twisted the knob, but still nothing.
Then the footsteps. From behind. She quickly turned back.
An older man in a long white coat was reading something on a tablet while walking towards the stairs.
"Hey, doctor," she called out.
The doctor slowed and glanced back. "Yes?"
"Can you spare me two minutes?" Sara quickly caught up. "I have something to ask."
"About?" he asked suspiciously.
"The administrator here," she pointed toward the locked room. "I was told to check the log details of the past week, but the man handling it isn't here."
He looked past her at the administrator's room, then answered. "He doesn't usually come during the daytime. You should come after eight."
"Only night shift?" Sara asked herself. "Why's that?"
"You have to ask him about that."
Deja vu.
"Yeah," she said, with slight hesitation.
The doctor looked at the screen, then said calmly, "If you have nothing more, then I should be going."
"One more thing," Sara quickly replied. "I need to cross-check last week's disposal records. Nobody told me where they are located, so I thought I'd ask the administrator..." She glanced back once. "As you can see, I can't wait forever."
He checked the watch on his wrist, clicking silently. "Are you new here?"
"And what does that have to do with this?" Sara stepped a little closer.
The doctor watched her for quite a long time. Sara didn't know what he was thinking; his face suggested confusion, but not any nervousness.
"Down on the ground floor. Room 109."
She took the stairs, not because someone told her to, but because no one had.
The lower level felt different. Lights were dimmed, some flickering. The air here was still and colder, as if stripped of the warmth from the upper floors.
She started walking, searching for room 109.
Then, she heard a faint click. Her footsteps slowed.
Two white figures began to emerge from the darkness ahead. A man in a white coat and a nurse pushing a trolley slowly. Three boxes were neatly arranged on it.
As they passed Sara, the nurse glanced at her, tilting her head slightly with a small smile. Sara returned the gesture without thinking. Their footsteps echoed in the corridor until only one remained: hers.
Tap, tap, tap.
Her footsteps grew louder as she walked deeper. No voices, no carts, only the sound of her shallow breathing and the closed doors waiting to be unlocked.
She focused her gaze, examining the numbers above the doors. She found it a little unsettling that there were no nameplates indicating the occupants. Instinctively, her hand grabbed the strap of her small bag.
A light stretched from the end of the corridor. She shuddered, her legs freezing.
The white light grew bigger with each breath, cutting across her figure. She raised her hands to cover her face.
Then, a sound, like metal scraping, leaked from somewhere far away. She quickly looked behind.
Minutes passed. The light grew much bigger, covering the place where she was standing. The sound of footsteps followed behind.
A man in a black uniform adjusted his hat and looked around as if searching for someone, but no one was there besides him. Then the flash caught the door in front of him.
108.