JELLYFISH

DOOR 011

[name] wasn't too keen on advancing, knowing what lay ahead. They probably would have to be the first to act again, but this time, they'd have to keep track of a safe place while working on one of those machines. And, since Oz was gone, [name] crossed their fingers that they'd get through this without issue.

The group came up to door 050. The previous rooms were nothing but a repeat of rooms [name] had seen before, but to the others, it was their first time experiencing them.

Now, they entered a room that was curved left at the very beginning, a side room waiting to be opened on the very same left. [name] walked further inside as Evelyn, Kei, and Vanessa explored the first side room. The hall straightened out after the brief turn, and [name] saw another side room up ahead, door 051 nearby. It required a keycard and they could only assume it was hidden in one of these rooms.

[name] stepped close to the second side room door, and it opened. It was dark inside at first, but they saw movement straight ahead, from the large windows that overlooked the ocean. They turned their head down, letting out a shout of surprise as heat grazed their scalp.

Someone behind them stumbled back, falling to the floor as words that didn't belong to [name] forced their way into their mind once again. They could hear calls of confusion from further down the hall as [name] grasped around in front of them.

"HOW ARE YOU ALIVE? HOW ARE YOU ALIVE? HOW ARE YOU ALIVE." This voice was familiar to [name] and the others, but [name] was the only one who could currently hear it. Pain rattled their skull, causing their skin to itch, but they pressed on into the room, pulling drawers open with desperate strength.

They tried pushing mentally against the invasion in their mind, but it fought back twice as hard.

[name] spotted a flicker of blue in the middle of the room, overshadowed by the green that glared inside the office. They scrambled over to it, keeping their head downturned or away from the glass as much as they could. Even so, there were times when this voice lured [name]'s gaze enough that they saw a glimpse of its figure outside. A shark, yes, that's what it was. They saw its tail, jagged and scarred, but way too large for a normal shark.

Oh, what the hell? Nothing in this place was normal.

"YOU ARE NOT NORMAL. YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE ALIVE. LOOK," [name] jolted, feeling a wave, or a pulse, wash over their brain, "LOOK BEHIND YOU. LET GO."

[name] grasped the card with sweaty hands and pulled it close to their chest as they stumbled around the desks and chairs, hurrying toward the way they came. They lifted their head slightly, knowing that the shark was behind them and they could stare forward at the doorway. They saw the others, not staring through the doorway, but off to the side. Their voices were growing clearer as the shark's were growing farther.

They got out of the room without an issue and their attention was drawn toward Ezekiel, Aisha, and Emil who were on their left. Ezekiel was on the floor, lying on his side while clutching at his head. Emil was knelt next to him, hand on his shoulder, trying to get him to move.

"What happened?" [name] finally asked, moving away from the doorway, out of sight of the shark that continued to try and drag their consciousness away. Emil looked up at [name], then back down at Ezekiel.

"Dunno. Think something in there did this to 'im. He's awake, but not...all there, if y'know what I mean," he shook at Ezekiel's shoulder once more, which earned a groan from the male.

[name] stepped around them, heading quickly to door 051, and slotted the card in. When the door opened, the lights flickered quickly, so they turned and hurried to the three in the middle of the hall, "can you get him in there?" They pointed to the room [name] had just left, the green light gone. Emil got up quickly and hooked his arms underneath Ezekiel's shoulders and dragged him inside.