Reality Is Merciless 2

Chapter 3

The rhythmic pounding of my headache forces me to snap back to consciousness.

Where am I...?

My vision starts to slowly get less and less blurry and I gain the strength to stand up.

Regaining my posture, I take in my surroundings.

But I didn't have to think too hard, it immediately hit me. I knew this place more than any other place in the world...

This was the reception of Markov Experiment Prison.

But there was one other thing...

There was no sign of human life present.

The counters had no receptionists, the halls had no workers.  It was dead silent.

Just little old me, alone in the middle of this hellish facility.

~~~

Alright Mika...calm down and think.

I start to cautiously approach the reception counter, the door to the back was wide open.

I step inside.

The room was full of boxes and messy desks. Boring-coloured sticky notes were plastered all over the place and files were towering over plastic chests of drawers.

It would take me years to rummage through every single detail stored in this room alone, god knows how much is in the rest of the building.

What the hell do I do here then??

As I begin to feel stressed out, my eye catches a bright pink colour in the corner of the room.

Despite all the dull post-it notes decorating the room, there was a single neon pink one sitting on the last desk.

I walk over to the desk and lean over it to read the note. Squinting, I manage to decipher the childish handwriting:

Find the code to the exit.

I turn around, now that they mention it, there was a keypad right on the center of the exit door. There must be a code somewhere in the building that'll help me escape.

Why is this note even here anyway? And why is it written in such messy, childish handwriting?

I had so many questions, but now wasn't the time to ponder.

I have to get moving.

~~~

I leave the reception and enter Hall A. As expected, the whole area was empty and a pin-drop would be enough to make you flinch.

I step out into the open, but a slash followed by a sharp pain in my side stops me in my tracks.

I freeze, my palms going cold from sweat.

I look down at my side to see blood dripping all over the floor, staining my skirt and shoes.

Beads of crimson blood were floating in the air, and as I take a closer look...

It was a piano wire.

And not any old piano wire, it looks like it was sharpened by an expert.

The light shines off the thin wire, as if it was staring me down menacingly.

I take a small step away from the wire and start to put pressure on my wound. Luckily it wasn't too severe, god knows what would've happened if I just ran out here like a fool.

I carefully travel through the hall, slowly stepping and ducking over and under various piano wires until I had reached the entrance to Hall B.

The entire left wall is a window exposing the entirety of the glass testing rooms next door. It wouldn't be a pleasant sight if someone was in the middle of their testing...

To the right is the entrance to Hall C, but I decide to proceed forwards to the security camera room.

Perhaps the secret passage is still available?

I enter the dim room and bend down to search under the desks. To my surprise, the ladder was still there, so I climb down into the oh-so-familiar sewers.

It's completely pitch black and the slight breeze sends a shiver down my spine, it was much more eerie than I remembered it to be.

I turn on my phone flashlight and look around.

Unfortunately, the passage we took in the previous timeline was blocked by a sturdy gate.

I keep my hopes up and continue to look around, until my flashlight catches the sight of something in the corner of the room.

Or rather, someone.

"Hello?" I try to catch the attention of the person curled up in a ball in the corner.

The stranger looks up, and their dazzling brown eyes catch me by surprise,

It was none other than Isabelle Mobian.

~~~

She lets out a high pitched gasps and immediately spring up, embracing me into a hug.

"Oh Mika, I'm so so glad to see you!!!" She smiles widely and wipes the tears forming in the corner of her eye.

"How did you get here?" I ask, tilting my head in curiosity.

"Well..." She taps her chin as she collects her thoughts, and begins to explain, "I blacked out just like you did, and was spawned in Cell One...I started to panic and ran down here only to discover that the escape route was blocked...aaand I've been sitting here crying for the past 20 minutes, heh..."

I hug her again, "I'm so sorry, Izzy..."

That must've been awful, re-appearing in Cell One of all places would be enough to drive me crazy too. That was the place that started it all...

Once our reuniting was finished, we decide to climb back up into the security camera room and check the cameras together.

Isabelle turns them all on easily, as she's now a part-time Markov employee in this timeline.

Countless screens power on one by one, lighting up our faces.

We could see every single room of the prison in different angles, all apart from the sewers down below. All the areas were quiet and idle.

"Wait, what was that?" Isabelle jolts forward and points at one of the screens for Hall C.

I look closely with her, and we catch sight of an anonymous figure rampaging around the hall.

"What's their problem...?" I mutter as I watch in awe.

"I guess we have company in this building after all." Izzy sighs as she shivers in fear. "I actually wanted to go down to the Data Room to collect some info...but I guess we can't pass through Hall C."

"I mean, we could always try?" I look at her, and her eyes light up in determination.

"Okay!!" She grins, "Let's go!"