Chronic Fatigue

Chapter Two

Number 3124b gave a sudden jerk and blinked. He had fallen asleep in front of the monitor. Why was he always so tired? When was his next break? He blinked again. A red light was flashing on the screen. That wasn't good. That was not good. What was happening? Now fully awake, 3124b rubbed his eyes, goggling in disbelief - it was gone! He sprang up, doing a nervous little hopping dance, wringing his hands. Hurrying to the door, he was knocked backwards as 352 entered from the other side.

"It's gone!" cried the first clone clutching his nose, "Gone! Ow!"
"What has?" his superior enquired, oblivious to his obvious pain.
"The phage! The phage software I was running on him! I looked at the screen and it wasn't there! It was supposed to be cleaning up his dreams, making sure he didn't remember all the poking around as usual. Eating the data! When I looked it wasn't there!"

"Calm down Elmo 3124b," said 352 - how can it have gone? It must have done its job and closed down."
"No!" came the panicky reply, "It didn't close down. It hasn't finished dropping marker PINs. It's not even showing up on the system. It seems to have just jumped right off the system. That thing's dangerous, it eats dreams! It swallows memories whole! It eats anything it sees fit to mark with its nasty, pointy dropped pins! Where can it be?"

352 pushed forward irritably and looked at the monitor. The data indicated that a certain Elmo was still asleep in his bed, but the phage software that should be running unnoticed inside his head was nowhere to be seen. Just a pulsing red spot of light indicating an incomplete dream scan.

"Sit! Find it. Find it now!" 352 hurried out leaving his anxious associate gazing at the screen.
"What do I do? What do I do?" muttered 3124b to himself as he began clicking on a series of icons appearing on the screen in front of him. He was still feeling a little sluggish and was naturally worried about the consequences of the missing software.

Suddenly the door burst open and 352 came running in screaming, "Has he rung? Has he rang? Has..."

"What? Who?" replied 3124b scratching his head.
"No.2 of course! Who do you think? He's found out and he's not happy."
They were interrupted then by the ringing sound of a bright red phone on a table in the corner of the room. It was No.2.

                                                                                      *****

Gum peered sceptically at the pin then declared, "Well, it's a pin."
"Yes! Obviously!" squawked Elmo, hopping quickly about on the spot, his head scanning the gloom below in a rapid weaving motion, "We've been compromised. We're not alone." His words were spilling out in rapid succession. "It's in here."

Roan looked at the frenetic Elmo, "Well something strange is obviously going on here. But I would say that the fact that we're trapped outweighs any pin!"
"Are you absolutely sure?" Heather pressed. "Are you sure we can't get out?"
"Well, look for yourself. This is no joke," Roan replied, throwing his hands up.
Gum gave the wall a final obligatory thump.
"Useless!" he declared.

Elmo walked up slowly, the exertion of the night beginning to tell a little. He patted at his arm and gasped occasionally, looking for sympathy for his elbow but found none. Roan paused before addressing him, "We don't know whether this is your pin or not..."
"It's not my pin, it may have been here or it may have been dropped by one of you, but it's not mine!" insisted Elmo.

"You don't know what's what, do you?" snapped Gum in frustration. He was getting annoyed at the craziness of the situation. "It's just some pin. All this stuff about dreams! You know enough to lead us into this, this..." he waved his arms about him trying to encompass the whole situation, his face wearing the kind of expression that proclaimed reality isn't like this.
"You can't hide the facts, Gum. Yes, look where we are," Elmo gestured as if that explained everything.

Gum peered at the pin again before flicking it away into the darkness. "Why so defensive, Gum? Why can't you just work with me?"
Holi interjected, at that point, "Look, I think we might just have to follow the steps."
"That's right, Holi," Roan agreed. "Let's walk down and find out where this passage leads. Perhaps we can get out another way. By the way Elmo, that creature you pushed into my boot isn't going to be covered by insurance - I hope he doesn't wreck the thing."

It was agreed that there was nothing to do but go downward, Gum's thought about digging a way out had not been well received, especially as there was nothing suitable to dig with. As they descended, apart from the scrape of their footsteps, an uncomfortable silence set in, barely improved by the cold light of phone torches. Apprehension and foreboding grew the further from the surface they went; Elmo's claim that someone else might be there hung in the back of everyone's mind. Occasionally Elmo would mutter something as he scuttled along in the darkness, his face expectant.

Eventually, they arrived at a short, paved landing where a large, wooden door was sunk deep into the right passage wall. The tunnel of steps continued downward past the door, an archway of stones spanning the onward path. However, something was odd about the archway, the steps beyond appeared hazy, as if a film of dust hung in the air. Holding phone torches high, the group peered at the heavy door then back at the arch. Heather noticed ancient letters cut into the surface of the cap stone.

"To... gothic?" Heather read uncertainly.

Gum pushed suspiciously against the door before searching for a handle. There was none to be found, but with a further shove from Gum's shoulder the door grated open and all five ventured in, stooping to avoid the low, arched frame. Heather entered last, peering back up the stairs before committing herself.

It was dark beyond the door and Gum ran his hand around the door frame searching for a switch. Roan held his phone high, holding the door, not wanting to be trapped in the room. As their eyes grew accustomed to the shadow, the space revealed itself to be a small chamber, perhaps a guardroom or waiting room.

"Is there a way out?" Heather tried.