The Sleepwalker

Part Three: 13

Agent Key

Key used all of his might to pull the door closed. It would have been automatic if the power was still on, but as it were, it required manual and physical force to close. Since it was one of those doors that had two panels that slid together, there was still an inch gap between them since there were no other handholds other than grasping the edge of the two doors. And Key's fingers existed, which basically meant the doors would not close completely manually.

The Agent leaned against the counter and crossed his arms once he was sure that that entry from the other side would be difficult by shoving a fridge over the entire doorway, with Infinity's help.

The rest of the group sat around him, using random objects that littered the kitchen as makeshift chairs. Infinity and Quantum, whose arm had mostly healed, sat on the countertop, and Jinx and the nurses sat on the floor. Key also noted that they had put Hazard in the corner and of course, hooked her chains up beside the pots and pans on the ceiling pot rail. It forced Hazard to sit with her hands above her head, but Key didn't feel bad for her; She hadn't stopped complaining or mumbling obscenities since they started creeping the halls.

It had been clear from the moment they had walked in that something, human or other, had rummaged through the place and took all the food. Which was fine; they had spent about twenty minutes gathering up muffin bits from the chocolate explosion, which Quan was sure was edible, and the girls had put the pieces in empty containers around the kitchen while Key dealt with the door and Wrench and Fenix went through the medical supplies they had taken from the medbay.

The kitchen, although nondescript, was quite big, as it had to prepare food for everyone in the SSS, but now it just felt empty with its flickering emergency lights and mostly wrecked interior. The metal counters were dented, fridges overturned, and broken dishes everywhere. It was a mess, just like the rest of the SSS and its inhabitants.

"We should come up with a plan," said Jinx, breaking the silence.

"We have a plan," replied Infinity, twirling an elastic band around her metal fingers nonchalantly, given the fact they were stuck in a kitchen, probably surrounded by things that wanted to eat them.

"Wandering around the halls looking for survivors may be a plan, but it isn't a good one." Jinx shook her head, as if she was done ignoring some cold, hard truth in her life. "I hate to say it, but we need to assume we're the only ones left."

Hazard piped up, shaking her chains in order to attract attention. "I have a plan."

Jinx looked at her, doubtful. "Alright, let's hear it."

"It involves smashing a single, small window."

"Absolutely not." Jinx retorted as she turned to the two nurses. "You guys have been awfully quiet. Do you have any ideas?"

Wrench sighed and heavily put his hands in his lap. "With the limited supplies... I can treat a few cuts but anything that could kill you will kill you because we've got next to nothing that can treat mortal wounds."

The few objects arranged in front of him looked like a lot, but honestly, Key knew that Jinx's injuries alone would use up all the bandages and pain relievers they had. She was on like, five different pills currently, and Key still saw her wince occasionally.

Jinx looked around before lingering on Key. "What about you, Key? Any thoughts on what we should do next?"

Key didn't respond for a while; he was too lost in his own head. "You guys remember the Codex? The rules we're supposed to follow? There's one of those gimmicky quotes I keep thinking of."

Quantum cocked her head. "There's multiple. 'We protect you by hiding the truth' is the one I most commonly think of."

Key gave a small chuckle. He was thankful for the memories of his younger days, studying in a Society Academy. Even school was better than this place, which he was surprised about. His young adult years were not that of joy. "Forgot about that one, but no." He said after a bit, long enough to reminisce but not long enough to make it weird. "The one I'm thinking about is 'Our blood is the most valuable protection.'" He let that sink in before continuing. His friends (and one annoying detractor) looked interested in what he had to say. "Maybe... Instead of escape, we need to focus on trapping... or... killing as many divergences as possible. So they can't get to Earth."

Hazard, a bundle of joy as usual, groaned dramatically. "This guy's gonna get us all killed!"

They ignored her. As usual.

"Wishful thinking Key." Quan responded. "There's no way we can actually fend off multiple divergences. Alone. And mostly weaponless."

"That's the thing. It might kill us, but hopefully we can take a few of the most dangerous down as well..." Key trailed off. He knew that it wasn't ideal, but still possible.

Everyone was silent, except Hazard, who kept complaining.

"I think if I had some materials," Quan thought aloud, "I could build something that could kill the big ones, the ones that would cause the most damage if they reached Earth."
Infinity, at the prospect of new weapons, looked up from the toolcaster she'd been toying with. "I'm okay with that."

"But the materials I'd need would be things like uranium and a few vials of 1-Diazidocarbamoyl-5-azidotetrazole, which is paramount to the functionality of the weapon."

"We could find a lot of chemicals in the science labs, and that thing you just said sounds very... chemical-ly." Jinx suggested. "Been a while since I've last gone inside the labs, so I don't know what we'll find."

"Yes, that could work!" said Quan, sounding excited. " I also have a Prototype in our dorm. It's meant to... well... never mind, it never worked. But I can use its parts."

Key breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that he had made the right choice, even if it was going to kill him, or them, they'd die as heroes. Which isn't really the purpose of this dangerous expedition, but it was quite a nice bonus.

A grating noise sounded from the doorway.

They all turned at this odd and sudden change in volume, and Key was sure that he'd imagined it at first. But when the fridge shook and the thing on the other side of the door began to force its way inside, they knew they were screwed.

100%.

"Indexers. Now." He whispered, aiming his pointer finger at the door. "Fire as soon as the door opens."

Suddenly the banging stopped. Something like a grunt sounded on the other side of the door. Key gave a confused look at the others and began a slow and quiet approach to the noises, soon he could almost make out... voices?

"I think that was just a divergence." Said a low, cautious voice.

"Nah, that was some.. human voice." This one was in a higher tone, with a slight accent.

"Would you like to rush in?"

"Ahhh..."

"Willing to bet your life on it?"

"Well..."

"That is what I thought. Maybe we should attempt communication with thing, see if it will respond..."

Key cleared his throat loudly. "Agent Key here. Codeword White Ruby."

Silence. The Society ran on a code of oddly named gemstones, but they were still widely underused. It took the men on the other side of the door at least a minute to interpret it.

"That's better than damned Black Emerald." The low and careful voice. Back away from the door and... fridge. We're going to blast it open."

The fridge was blasted to the side in a red starburst of light before Key could even get far enough away. Three surprised-looking men walked right in, one carried a very very large laser cannon.

What Key assumed was a squat but wide Australian man with a large, almost comical mustache stepped forward and tipped his equally large white chef's toque at the group, one at a time, starting with Key. Key thought he looked like those stereotypical pasta and pizza chefs, only Ferro was not Italian. He even had an apron instead of armor. Though it was covered in red... sauce.

"We're sorry for the scare we must have given you." He said in a light accent as he held out his hand. "The name's Ferro. I was the head chef here. In fact, I used to make delicious gumbo right in this very spot."

The next Agent came from behind Ferro's bulk and introduced himself as Cliffhanger, a 30-something Egyptian man with bloodshot eyes who said he worked as a security guard before the Second Incident, which is what they called the event. He did not offer his hand. Then there was the last guy, who came right over and gave Key a huge one-armed bear hug.

"This is Flux. He does not talk much, or... at all." Cliff gestured to the laser gun-toting beast of a man as if Flux was just some normal guy. He was easily seven feet tall. "He was a janitor before the Second Incident."

Infinity had this goofy grin on her face that Key took to be either constipation or attraction. "For what Cell Block?"

"Agent, he was the janitor for the whole station."

"The entire station?!"

"Yes." Cliff responded offhandedly.

Infinity looked up at Flux, who readjusted his laser cannon after letting Key go. Key swore she whispered how massive it was. What was massive, he didn't want to know.

Key introduced his motley crew, glazing over the fact Jinx was injured, Quantum's arm was hurt, or that the two nurses were not certified doctors or medics.

"Are there any other survivors?" Key asked.

Cliff shook his head. "Not that we know of. We were in the washrooms when the Second Incident happened. Flux blocked the door and we've been stuck inside the female's lavatory for the past few hours."

Key raised an eyebrow, but decided not to push.

"We came here for food, but it looks like something beat us to it." Ferro sighed, and his stomach loudly rumbled.

"We've got some food," Jinx said, taking out a container of muffin bits.

After the three men demolished the pastry monster pieces, with Flux eating the least, and Ferro eating the most, Key stood and helped Jinx to her feet.

"So... You must have a plan of some sorts?" Cliff asked, his eyes wavering from Jinx's torso to the medical supplies the two nurses were packing up. Key knew what he was doing. He was, much like Key, a leader, looking at who might fall behind and what they can spare to help. That's what Key initially thought, anyway.

Quan explained their 'get big weapon and kill big monsters' plan.

"And you are confident that this Prototype will work?" asked Cliff.

"Not really. But my calculations are never wrong."

Infinity snickered.

"Oh shut up. That was just one time."

Infinity gave a quick side-glance at her friend. "Twice, if you count the exploding darts..."

Suddenly a loud banging noise sounded across the kitchen. Ferro had reached up to grab a hanging frying pan and in the process had knocked them all onto the floor. He grinned sheepishly.

"Oopsie-daisy."

Out in the hall, something howled, and Flux spun and slammed what was left of the refrigerator to what was left of the door and blocked the entrance with speed that could rival the Roadrunner's. He grunted, gave at little grin at Infinity, and gestured to another door at the opposite wall of the kitchen.

"We need to get out of here," Key and Cliff said at almost the same time. They shared the sort of look that conveyed amusement and unbelievability before getting down to business. Together, they left out the back kitchen door, with Flux being last, and began to creep down the halls, Indexers prepared to fire.

Key subconsciously used his fleshy hand to grasp his bone knife in his pocket. It anchored him to his goal. This was more than a job to him, this was a promise. A promise to protect, even if it were to kill him.

Jinx hobbled ahead of Key, which set off his need-to-help instinct. So he sped up and supported her arm.

"How are you holding up?" He asked her. They were close. Closer than the Society would've allowed.

She gave a weak smile. "Hurts like hell."

"Can't imagine it feeling like heaven, that's for sure."

They were whispering, but Key saw the slight inclination of heads and eye movements of those around him.

Cliff lightly cleared his throat. "We should be quiet, in case something is listening."

Key remained silent, but gave Jinx's arm a small squeeze as they crept along the empty hall. In response, she squeezed his mechanical arm. He didn't feel it, but he knew what she had done.

If he were to die in this stupid forsaken station, at least the company was favorable