The Door to Tomorrow

Pure Luck

We all scurried around the room looking for the key Narrator had mentioned. About ten minutes into the search, I heard something hit the back wall. "Fuck!" exclaimed Robin as he shook his hand.

"What are you doing!? Calm down over there." Dark brown-haired Marina told him.

A few moments later, Robin pointed something out. "Guys. When I punched the wall it tore open. This part feels almost like paper." The rest of us gathered at the back wall, curious as to what Robin discovered back there.

"Maybe the key is in there," Shiloh suggested.

"I see something in there, actually. Try to reach in and grab it." I instructed.

Robin tried his best, but retracted his arm and shook his head in defeat. He looked over to me, likely wanting my help. I offered to help and slid my long arm in. I felt around and successfully grabbed the items. When I pulled my arm out, I showed everyone the silver key and small note I retrieved.

"Good. Let's get out of here." I said, walking away hastily.

I approached the door and unfolded the note, revealing the code: 1-9-7-5. I entered those numbers accordingly, but something seemed odd. I stood, waiting for the door to unlock when I realized the code was the year I was born.

"Hm. That's weird." I remarked.

Hina asked what I meant, but I was sure it must've been a coincidence. "Ah, nevermind."

Ding. The metal door unlocked and I swung it open immediately, revealing a long, poorly lit hallway. We hurried through the hall in a group and ended up in the next room rather quickly. That room was a bit brighter than the hallway before it, and there was a large, clean pool in the center.

We all ran even faster through the pool room, that is until Robin tripped and fell in due to his carelessness. His friend Marina and I both stopped to save him, but I assured her that I would jump in. I told her to go on ahead, and she trusted me.

I dove in, brought him back to the surface. Robin coughed deeply as he tried to catch his breath. I kneeled down in front of him and prayed that he was okay. Thankfully, my prayer was answered quickly and began breathing normally. Unfortunately, though, I was soaking wet just like he was.

"Oh, thank goodness. I'm so glad you're still alive." I rejoiced and heaved a sigh of relief before giving him a hug. He was a stranger, but he just reminded me so much of Allen. Sure, if he had drowned in there, that would've been one less person to play against, but I just didn't want to lose this one. I still needed to learn more about him, after all.

I helped Robin to get back on his feet. He dashed alongside me through the next, and last, dark hallway. We met up with the other four, who were still waiting for us.

Together we entered a giant, circular room with thick concrete walls. It was definitely the Lobby. That part of the Facility was tall like the inside of the upscale hotel I stayed at. Perhaps even taller. There was a domed ceiling above us that gave off the illusion of an opaque skylight; there were multiple exits located at pretty much every angle. I noticed a large, fancy wall clock above one of the doorways that read 1:20 pm. There were quite a few expensive-looking side tables and couches against the walls, which I didn't expect to see, but appreciated the sight of anyway.

Everyone met around a long machine against one of those walls. An elevator with a red light stood next to the machine. On the machine were several keyholes, likely for us to use the silver key on. I inserted the key, but it wouldn't budge. I passed it to everyone else, too, but it eventually returned to me, meaning none of us got it right. I gave it a final try, and the key actually turned. The elevator unlocked for me. Its light changed to green, and a dinging sound followed.

"Look what we have here," Narrator announced. "Chuck, please take the elevator. Oh, and bring the key with you. We're waiting.~"

I followed Narrator's orders and walked into the elevator. As it rocketed up, I wondered how exactly how I got so lucky, if you could even call it that.