Reaching the iron door, which was at least twice my height, the cashier suddenly stopped and stepped to the side.
She stared at me, as if expecting something.
"What is it?"
"U-umm... the lock changes f-from time to time. So I need the receipt I gave y-you earlier."
"Don't you know the code?" A slight irritation crept into my voice... only slight, of course.
"I f-forgot."
What? Didn't she make the receipt? I was beginning to wonder whether she was even a criminal at all with how scared and incompetent she's acting.
"Fine... I think the code was 1, 2, 7, 5, 6."
The cashier quickly typed the numbers into the keypad, and the door unlocked with a mechanical click. My hand slipped beneath my coat, drawing my gun and aiming it straight at the doorway.
The door slowly opened as light washed over my face.
I crouched down, preparing for the worst. But what I saw inside left me quite shocked.
An empty hallway stretched before us, illuminated by a single flickering light on the ceiling. Everything was pure white. The walls, the floor, even the ceiling itself. Strangely, it was also spotless, free of dust or cobwebs.
I shoved the cashier forward, signalling with my gun for her to move first. I followed closely behind, far more cautious than before.
We walked for some time before reaching a door along the side of the corridor. It had no locks but was shut tight. I managed to open it with some force.
Inside was a room about the size of an average living room. It too was empty, save for a lone flickering light overhead.
Seeing as there was nothing to gain here, we continued marching down the long hallway. There were many other rooms like the previous one. Each empty, yet immaculately clean.
"Hey, what's going on here?" I asked the cashier, confusion plain on my face. This was supposed to be a criminal hideout.
I had expected getting shot at least once by now.
It had been strange from the start, really. No one on the way down, no one in the broken hall, and now no one here either.
"Don't tell me this place is abandoned."
The cashier hesitated, clearly unsure of what to say next. "I... don't know the details, b-but that person said this basement was abandoned by its previous o-owners."
"What?! Abandoned? And who the hell are you talking about?!"
She squeezed her eyes shut, tears spilling down her cheeks. And I guess when she's scared, she talks fast, really fast.
"I always dreamed of opening a bakery, so when he offered to sell me this place, I couldn't refuse. I knew it was a criminal hideout, but I really wanted to open a bakery, so I accepted his offer. He told me the code word and the entrance password, but I was so scared that I tried to forget them."
She paused, drawing in a long, shaky breath.
"He also said that when someone came in and said the code, I was supposed to give them the receipt and guide them down here. But when you entered and said the code word, I panicked and forgot to guide you. I thought you were the man's friend, coming here to meet him. I-I don't know anything else about him so please forgive me!"
She finally stopped talking and slumped to the floor, completely out of breath.
So... basically, this woman bought a bakery from a suspicious stranger, fully aware it was a criminal hideout. And that same stranger was still somewhere down here.
Even if this place was empty, the man she mentioned might have some useful information. It could be worth my time trying to find him.
I stared at the cashier. Not sure what to do with her.
"Alright, you can go. My accomplice is still upstairs. Find him, he'll take care of your wounds."
Even if she was lying just to escape, Kuromaku would handle her outside. I saw no other exits besides the staircase, and he could hear everything I said through the earpiece, so it should be fine.
She hadn't sounded like she was lying about the man or about this place being abandoned. So, I guess it was exploring time for me.
Moving deeper into the white maze, I came across more empty rooms, occasionally broken by stacks of boxes or heavy machinery.
I guess they couldn't move them back outside? If so, how did they get them down here in the first place? Or were they built down here after they made the place?
Well all I know is that they're down here and that's that. The boxes contained nothing useful. A few rotten meat of some unknown animal, white hospital gowns, and several collars fitted with numbered tags.
The further I went, the fouler the smell became. Eventually, it grew so unbearable that even I had to cover my nose. It helped, but only slightly.
What made it worse was the complete lack of any trace of the man the cashier had mentioned. At this point, I was beginning to doubt whether he even existed.
"Hey, Kuromaku. You there?"
After a brief silence, his voice came through the earpiece.
"Yeah, I'm here. Now get back to work, and make it quick. We need to head back today, remember?"
I was about to retort when something caught my eye. It was a door on the side of the hallway, slightly ajar.
Normally, it wouldn't have raised suspicion, but every other door I'd seen so far had been tightly shut. This was the only exception.
I approached cautiously, peering through the narrow opening to see if anyone was inside.
What I found wasn't a person, but cabinets, rows and rows of them. Some were open, revealing stacks of files and papers.
It was a jackpot. Finally I've found something after hours of searching... not hours but it was a very long time.
Of course, the man I was looking for could still be hiding somewhere I couldn't see, so I needed to be careful.
How could I make sure he wasn't there?
Then a brilliant idea struck me. I pulled out my earpiece and tossed it into the room.
"Is he there?!"
I whispered. Well… it wasn't exactly a whisper more like a restrained yell.
"No, nobody's here. You can come in."
Kuromaku's voice echoed from inside the room. It sounded a little suspicious, but I decided to trust him.
I gently opened the door.
But no one was inside.
Only cabinets filled with files, and the earpiece I had thrown in earlier.
"What do you think is written in them?"
Kuromaku asked as I picked the earpiece up.
"Well... I hope I'm wrong."
First, I opened every cabinet, pulling out the files and laying them across the floor. Some were torn beyond use, so I set those aside.
There were three cabinets, each with three drawers. Yes, I know I said there were lots of cabinets, but after searching for so long and finding nothing, even three felt like a lot.
One drawer was empty. The remaining drawers each held fourteen files.
Twenty eight in total. Minus six torn ones... twenty two intact.
After finishing my little calculation, I asked Kuromaku to start recording as I read through each file.
I had no idea whether he could actually do that. But if he was able to see me, there was a good chance he could record as well.
I picked one up and sat on the floor, taking a deep breath before opening it.
Subject: No. 22
Age: 13
Sex: M
Status: Failed
There was more written below, but it was mostly about the... child's condition before and after death with no mention on what these experiments actually are.
I stared up at the ceiling, already knowing what it meant.
Moving on to the next file, my patience suddenly gone as resentment and anger crept into my mind.
Subject: No. 68
Age: 14
Sex: F
Status: Failed
Subject: No. 25
Age: 15
Sex: ???
Status: ???
Subject: No. 45
Age: 12
Sex: F
Status: Failed
And just like that, I kept reading. File after file.
Kuromaku continued recording, but neither of us spoke. We simply sat there in silence.
And then it came back to me.
This was one of the reasons I'm doing this.
One of the reasons I became a mercenary.
***
After a while, I finished going through all the files. Every single one was labelled "Failed"
Except one.
One profile stood out. It was filled entirely with question marks, with no additional information whatsoever.
There was no way to know what it meant so no point dwelling on it now. Similarly, there was nothing I could do right now for the children who had suffered such a miserable fate here.
That feeling of powerlessness was…
It was time to resume my search.
I walked the hallway in complete silence, not even my footsteps making a sound. After some time, I reached another room.
This one was larger than the others. Objects of various sizes were scattered around, all concealed beneath white cloth coverings.
All except one.
On the far side of the room sat a pristine white 1980 Lamborghini Countach, its surface almost flawless, with barely a scratch in sight.
Questions immediately flooded my mind.
Why was there a Lamborghini here?
How did it even get down here?
And most importantly, could I take it for myself?
The answers were simple.
The bad guys had taste.
There was probably another exit somewhere.
And yes.
I immediately headed for the Lamborghini, ignoring everything else. I reached it without making a sound.
Slowly, with my gun at the ready, I opened the door...
And saw the silhouette of a person. My gun fired instantly.
The stranger reacted with inhuman speed, dodging the bullet so cleanly it only left a shallow cut across his cheek.
He returned fire. I barely managed to dive aside in time.
This had to be the man the cashier was talking about.
He kept shooting from inside the car while I circled around it, trying to get to his blind spot. Reaching the other side... it was too late.
The mysterious man had already flung the door open and bolted. Several shots followed after, but as if a forcefield were around him, none of the bullets hit.
"Hey, Kuromaku, is this guy even human? How is he dodging bullets?"
"Focus. He's getting away," Kuromaku replied sharply.
While chasing after him, a mechanical voice echoed from behind me.
"Where do you think you're going?"
My body spun around, just in time to see the Lamborghini charging straight at me like a wild bull.
I leapt onto the hood, rolled over the roof, and hit the ground in another roll.
"Ah, you pesky little thing. Just stand still while I run you over."
Obviously, I didn't answer. Talking to cars is... well, I'm not that crazy yet.
"Hey, Kuromaku! Since when can cars talk?"
"I don't know."
Of course you don't.
There was no time to voice out my thoughts. The car came at me again, this time in reverse.
I rolled aside as it slammed into the wall behind me. My gun already firing, as if by instinct.
The bullets tore straight through the car, shattering its windows and headlights.
Watching such a beauty get destroyed brought imaginary tears to my eyes. Worse still, it barely mattered.
The car was still very much alive and charging at me again.
Shooting it wasn't going to work. The only way to stop it was to destroy it completely or find whatever was making it live and rip it out.
Then I remembered the man earlier, fiddling with something inside the car.
Which meant I had to get inside too.
The doors were shut even though I remember opening, the car probably locked itself. So the only way in was through the shattered windscreen.
The Lamborghini surged towards me once more, like a raging bull.
Now was my chance and I didn't let it slip.
I leapt feet first into the car, the leather seats absorbing my impact. Inside, the dashboard had been stripped away, exposing a tangle of wires and a strange glowing cube at the centre.
"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING INSIDE ME?!"
On a spur of the moment decision, I yanked the cube out.
"HE-YUHHCGHHXHZ---CHHA--A-A-AA---."
After a few more HEYUDHJZs and
CHHAJHs, the car finally ground to a stop. I relaxed my hand and let out a really long sigh of relief.
"Hey Kuromaku, you still there?"
"Yeah."
I scoffed. This bastard hadn't actually done anything has he?
"You useless bastard."
"Hey! Without me, you'd have had to walk here, walk I say."
True enough. "Alright, I take it back. Thank you, the-"
My words got caught in my throat as the Lamborghini suddenly roared back to life.
"Good luck," Kuromaku said, his voice dripping with sarcastic amusement.