The Robotnik Effect

The Endless Void

Chapter 7:

"...Bitch," I swore under my breath as the lights finally sparked before they blew out, leaving the corridor completely plunged into darkness. I quickly shut the tap off, grabbing a towel to dry myself thoroughly off as quickly as I could, feeling the cold air against my exposed skin as I hastily dried myself with the towel. I couldn't see a single thing as there were no sorts of windows or light fixtures. The only thing I was able to see was a dark void that engulfed every corner in front of me. I hadn't yet memorized the layout of the building nor my own corridor. I huffed as I nervously took a few steps forward, trying my utmost best to not slip on the tiles.

I proceeded to take very few and small steps until one of my feet were met with my clothes, not bothering to put in the time, effort, and most likely pain to scour across my corridor to search for my dresser, then throwing the towel I had wrapped around me onto it. I shuffled my way into my slick black pants before struggling with my shirt, failing to search for the buttons in the dark, as I finally realized I had placed my shirt on backward. I grumbled slowly as I hastily adjusted it to its correct position. Needing to shove my arms back into the sleeves. All of a sudden, I heard the faint clicking of shoes coming towards the entrance of the corridor, so I increased my pace of dressing.

Once barely finished with dressing myself, I went back to fumbling a little more with my hands out slightly, walking in small steps as I eventually found the door leading to my room and managed to orient myself around. I maneuvered my way carefully across the room until I was abruptly met by my bed stand, hissing for a moment before stumbling again to grab my blazer.  Pulling it from off the edge of the bed, I slipped it on again just as I was met with the sight of a holographic red light flashing me straight at my face. My heart jumped to my throat and caused me to yelp involuntarily in surprise before I recognized that the person blinding me with the light was none other than Agent Stone.

"Agent Stone," I gasped out. My eyes widened considerably as my eyes darted between the control panel on his gloved hand and the concerned look on his face.

"Sorry I startled you, I just wanted to make sure that you're alright," he apologized softly, lowering the fixture of the gleaming light from his glove. "The electricity went out throughout the building," he added, looking at the ceiling momentarily where the light had been gleaming just minutes before his expression turned thoughtful for a moment. He looked directly back at me. "It took me a while to find you since well, you weren't in Dr. Robotnik's lab, along with the doctor as I'm still struggling to find him," he said a little anxious. His gaze briefly fell on my outfit for a brief moment before awkwardly glancing up at my gaze. I hope I didn't put the rest of my clothes on backward, again.

"You didn't happen to know the whereabouts of the doctor?" he asked curiously.

I blinked a couple of times as I thought about what he'd actually said. "Uh...no, not if you didn't find him in his laboratory. I mean I only saw him half an hour ago, as he dismissed me early..." I explained sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck. Stone's brows furrowed momentarily before he nodded quietly, clearly convinced by my word. But at the same time, he didn't press further, which I was grateful for.

"Alright, well that's not very helpful. Would you mind if you helped me search for the service panel? It's quite embarrassing for me to ask since I'm the only other person here who knows everything else about this place." Stone sighed deeply as I noticed the corner of his lips tug upwards as he gave me an apologetic smile. "It also wouldn't hurt to have another person around to help look for the doctor-I'm quite sure he's fine, I would just like to make sure," he suggested gently.

I smiled at his concern. "No, I'll do whatever it takes. I'd be glad to help you," I replied, nodding my head firmly. Stone gave me a nod in return.

"I should get you a glove, so you can see where you're going," I heard him mutter under his breath as he then dug into his sleek black jacket before a short moment later he pulled out a glove-like his.