Hall 17

45 : Movement

Clack.

The lock hit the floor. Again. The sound was annoyingly loud at first, ringing in OJ's ears. But he had adjusted to it by now, and it was more of a background noise. Or maybe the sound just became quieter in general, for whatever reason. Either way, he didn't care.

"It's been a while since the others contacted us, should we..." Balloon trailed off, rubbing his arm nervously.

"Tha-that's the f-f-fi-fifth t-time you've as-asked that B-Balloon." Bomb said, turning around to look at him from the door frame.

"No, he has a point. We already know Paintbrush's group is gone from their lack of response, we may as well check in on the others to see if it's the same." OJ said. Bomb opened his mouth for a second, but closed it exaaperatedly before slamming the hammer into the next lock.

"Here, I'll be the one talking to them. If you have anything you find the need to say, just ask." He held the HT to his head, clicking the button. He cleared his throat before talking.

"Nothing new with us, we've made it fairly far into the lab. The whole metal incident just slowed us down for a second, and we want to make sure that's the same for you. Over." He clicked the device again, but kept it close to his head just in case.

Bomb opened his mouth to say something again, but was caught off by a long beep from the HT. He closed it and turned back around, an annoyed expression on his face. OJ couldn't help but notice the lock made a louder sound as it was hit this time.

"Forgot to update you with everything that went on." Knife's voice said from the device. "We're all back at the start of the lab, we brought some backup with us. Trophy's out of the laboratory now, but he can't be put into the Respawn Center just yet. We're thinking of regrouping so we have more power over Test Tube if she attacks."

A small pause. "Over." He said in a teasing manner, and the device made that same tone before going silent.

OJ clicked back in almost immediately, almost forgetting to let the others hear the device. "Sounds good. Do you still have your GPS? I can send a signal to where we are so we can meet back up." Click.

A quick moment of silence before Knife answered. "Yep, got it right here. Send the signal once you're ready."

OJ nodded to himself, putting the HT down before he even heard the tone. "Alright, Balloon? You have the GPS, right?"

"I heard your guy's conversation, don't worry." He mumbled, pulling the device out. He pressed some buttons haphazardly, unsure of which buttons did what. It took a door or two, but he managed to send the signal after a couple tries.

The silence that lingered afterwards was... awkward, to say the least. There was nothing to say to fill the void, it was just them and their footsteps as they traveled through the halls. For a moment, OJ considered asking if they should stop for a moment to let the others catch up, but breaking a silence like this felt near impossible, so the words got stuck in his throat.

How big was the laboratory in the first place? They'd come to a couple dead ends throughout their walk now. It was more of a stroll at this point with how uneventful it was. He knew it was big, it was practically a labyrinth when he walked through with Test Tube, who knew the place. With all the doors they had passed, they had to be somewhat close, right? He would've thought they were going in circles if all the doors weren't locked.

And there was one more thing that let him know they were getting somewhere. As they passed more doors, and were further bombarded with the sounds of the locks falling, OJ slowly began to recognize the layout. Certain rooms were awfully familiar, sending shivers down his neck. It felt as if they were getting lower as well, as if the lab slowly sunk further into the ground with each room. Maybe it was just deja vu doing its work, or the repetitiveness of the rooms was getting to him. But even if it was, he still had his mind set.