The 4th Subject

Chapter 19: This Day Keeps Going...

After the literal 2 minutes it took for us to get out of the... whatever we were calling it, we walked over to Blue Base to grab the emulator. As we walked over, Matt explained how the emulator worked with the Apple II. Woods and I both had trouble completely understanding everything, but we got the gist of it.

As we entered the vault, a strong scent of chemicals and plastic practically hit me in the face.

"Oh, heck no."

I back tracked and stood outside the vault as Matt faced crumpled.

"Woods, I thought you were gonna take this out."

Woods, who also made a face at the smell, mumbled, "I kinda got distracted by the stuff in the stairs."

He grabbed the case and Matt grabbed the emulator. We walked back out and Woods placed the case outside the door.

Back in Red Base, Matt inspected the emulator. He told us we still needed an SD card and a cable. He then turned his attention to the coffee mug sitting on the table that was littered with coffee stains.

"Is that yours?"

"No, I don't know what's going on here." Woods replied, motioning to the mess.

"Who just leaves their coffee?" I pondered.

"I'm sure that that is from, like, a month ago." Woods informed us.

"Gross," I muttered, peering into the cup.

Matt was about to hand Woods the emulator when he stopped and looked at Woods' hands.

"They're working hands." He said.

"They're dirty hands." I responded, offering my hands to Matt.

"Not all working hands are dirty." Matt said, gently pacing the emulator into my clean hand.

"Not the ones that type on the keyboard." Woods sarcastically muttered, causing Matt and I to laugh.

Matt began to rip the foam from the safe. Woods picked up the coffee cup and moved it to a nearby shelf. After a moment of struggle, Matt pulled out his pocket pliers, as I liked to call them.

"Do you know how to use that?" Woods said lowly. I snickered and turned away, struggling to hold back laughter. It took Matt a moment to comprehend what Woods said. When he did, he turned to Woods with a chuckle.

"What is this called?" He asked sarcastically, "My hands are too dainty."

Woods and I started laughing harder. As I brushed my hair out of my face with my free hand, Matt got the foam out of the safe. He audibly gasped, causing me to snap back up and look over his shoulder.

It was an SD card and a cable. Matt carefully took the emulator from me, pulled the pieces out one by one and pieced everything together. Woods grabbed the camera and we moved back over to the staircase.

"I feel like this is the most progress we've made since we started this whole thing." I stated, my stomach twisting from nerves and excitement. "I mean, we got the case, it blew up, then we came back in here to follow a cord, which led us to a secret desk under the stairs, and now we're like..." I trailed off. Luckily, Matt filled the space.

"I just realized I'm super hungry," He said, followed by a dry chuckle. I nodded, also starving. I couldn't wait to get some food. Maybe pastrami on rye.

We had a discussion about why D would send us this. I wasn't sure why, but I had a feeling that there was a reason D sent us an emulator and not just some file.

As we got to the top of the stairs, I noticed a lock on the cover. Who would want to lock themselves in this hidden lab or whatever it was?

Matt carefully climbed down, then took the camera as Woods climbed down. I carefully positioned myself on the ladder so Woods could see the Apple II. I didn't really trust that ladder, but I figured I'd make it work.