Dimension Of Perfection (And Its Flaws)

Chapter 11 - Crazy Bart

The tunnels echo every step we take as we march down the corridor. We've been walking for around an hour in a straight line, coming across new doors and people occasionally, as well as separate branching paths. This whole thing seems that it's in a grid pattern or something adjacent. Well, at least that's what I can tell.

Additionally, we've occasionally passed ladders and manhole covers leading up to the supposed 'surface'. All clues suggest this must've once been a vast sewer system underneath somewhere, and I only say 'once been', because of the fact the floors are completely devoid of water.

Which, surprisingly, is not very characteristic for a sewer.

Well, I've also just now remembered what 4663 said earlier about the doors and how we're travelling really fast, or something, through random worlds.

I've been seeing those doors sprinkled throughout; some are barricaded, though some are not, maybe because those without barricades aren't...

Dysfunctional...

I can only fathom what method these people had of identifying which was which.

Me and 4663 haven't talked in a while. The last time we did I was pointing out a funny poster that had some kind of home loan company being advertised. It wasn't very funny. I don't know why I pointed it out.

Other than that, all it's been so far is the solitary footsteps reverberating down the hall, and rare coughs and grunts from both of us.

"Ugh.. Where are we even going?" I groan.

4663 turns toward me quite bored.

"Oh, come on! You already asked me that. We're going to get food!" She groans. "Just-, keep walking."

"But why do we have to walk a marathon to get said food!?" I bark angrily.

"Because food's hard to get!!" She repeats, slapping me in the arm for forgetting that bricks aren't exactly edible.

I grunt and turn back toward the path.

Now the semblance of a turn is visible at the end of my view. It seems to turn right into more corridors.

I haven't seen anyone in about 20 minutes now, so I'm instantly excited to see just a suggestion of life, even if they're loud and noisy, and won't help my hangover.
I point toward the end of our path.

"Hey, what's that?"

"That's where we're going. If you had just waited five more seconds you wouldn't have needed to complain about how far it is." She answers.

She's got a point.

"Oh, finally! Come on!" I yell, before I hastily begin hobbling to the end of the hall.

4663 shouts to wait for her, and I make a dash for the end of the tunnel.

The second I reach the corner, I collapse into the wall and gasp for air. 4663 approaches very calmly, while I'm spending good time gagging on my own mouth. She stops and waits for me to factory reset my lungs.

"Ya done?" She comments, as she smiles slyly with her arms crossed

"Shut up.." I groan.

4663 clops past my meager figure and starts the search for a single morsel of food, so I stumble up to resume my regular walking pattern and trail behind her. Turning the corner into the new, I can see this new hall is much like the previous one, but a lot less important, if that makes sense.

There are fewer shops and people, and the build of it is much more crude, almost like it was clumped together by various different materials that don't match well. I can see several different colours of bricks splattered over the structure, along with varied types of printed cardboard.