The Corrupted Soul

Chapter 8

I stared in perplexity at the strange box in my hands. The outside was covered in various switches, gaps, levers, and even gears, though I could get very few of them to move. The box itself was made of a sturdy wood with bits of metal. I had no idea where Clem got it from, but I liked the smell of the fresh cut cedar.

She sat down at her desk with a small grin that almost made me suspicious if I was secretly holding a bomb. I shook that idea after remembering Clem likely wouldn't try to blow up her office and possibly a portion of the surrounding offices as well.

I looked back at the cube, turning it in my hands slightly, "What am I looking at exactly."

"I told you I would find you a new puzzle. The goal is to get the box to open."

I inhaled in anticipation, not even caring what was inside the box, if anything. Just hoping for a new challenge. I promptly sat down on the large couch behind me and began to fiddle with the box in my hands. It was no bigger than a bowling ball, and made a faint rattling when I rotated it. I decided against shaking it due to not knowing its contents, or potentially breaking a crucial component.

Clem chuckled faintly as she got to work. She had gone home for the rest of the day yesterday, and I stuck around to try and find anything myself, to no such luck. I hadn't intended to stay in the lab all night, so I planned to leave once I figured out how this box worked a bit more. It seemed very intricate, with dozens of different possible combinations to unlock yet another combination.

I thought this would be quite interesting, as I had never had a puzzle quite like this before, and hadn't even known such things existed. There were many tiny hidden buttons and switches to the point I almost wondered if this had been made in such a way that it defied physics.

○ ○ ○

"I think you broke her."

I payed Julie, Clementine's good friend, no mind. I was laying on my stomach upside down on the couch, with my arms resting on the floor as I fiddled with the numerous dials and buttons adorning this side of the box.

A human would not have been able to hold this pose for more than a few minutes due to how my spine was bent backwards at an awkward angle, though my spine had been snapped twice before.

Julie regarded Clem, without looking away from my odd position, "How long has she been working on that thing?"

Clem turned to glance at the clock hung on the adjacent wall before stretching her arms above her head, "Well I gave it to her at about ten in the morning."

Julie stared at me in astonishment, "You've been playing with that box for almost nine hours?!"

I looked up and at the window to see it was indeed quite dark outside, I hadn't even realized the sun set, seeing as it must have set at least two hours ago. I had spent almost the whole day here?

Deciding it wasn't anything I could change now, I barely offered a response before looking back down at my new obsession, "Seems like it. And I'm not playing with it."

Both women responded in unison, "Yes you are."

I simply muttered mockingly at them and flicked a newly unlocked lever tucked into a small crevice I nearly didn't see, having to hook it with the edge of my nail to even reach it.

Julie rolled her eyes, "Well, anyways, you find out anything new?"

Clem shrugged, as her pen tapped against her desktop, "Not quite. No one has reported seeing anything in the park this week, though someone did make a post online about the massive hole in the ice. It is being dismissed as someone threw a large rock just to break the ice, which people seem to accept. The Crawler tracks nearby have some people worried, though."

"Well at least nobody got hurt last night, then."

I growled lowly as I listened in, Julie raised her eyebrow at me and spoke as if to a child, "Does getting dunked in the frozen pond really count as getting hurt when you're unable to freeze?"

"I ought to dunk you in the frozen pond and see how you like it."

Clementine chuckled, "You know she will follow through on that threat."

Julie balked at her friend taking my side, seemingly offended she would have the audacity, "Oh hush, orange lady."

I snickered. Clementine had likely had her name made fun of so often she was unaffected, as she hardly reacted to Julie's comment. It made me glad my name was just common enough that there wasn't much way to alter or twist it like Clementine. If Julie starts calling me Rye, I'm going to stab her.

I yawned a bit as I turned the cube, not feeling tired though. For some reason the device was very intriguing and I wanted to know just how elaborate this thing was. If I had still been human I likely would have given up hours ago, but it seemed the Crawler mind was much more easily distracted and occupied.

Julie left after not much longer, and silence once more filled the room, aside from the metallic clinking from the box, and the occasional click of one of Clem's many pens or the rustling of paper. I was surprised she allowed me to remain here, it was likely quite the distraction.

Clem looked over her shoulder at me, staring for just long enough for me to get uncomfortable. I met her gaze and tilted my head slightly. She quickly shook her head, "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare like that. Just, Olive saw the Feral, but she wasn't effected like you were, was she?"

I paused for a second, "Hm, hard to say really. She only got a glimpse of it running back into the woods from several yards away. If I had to guess, her instincts didn't care about it because she couldn't smell it, could barely see it, and she noted that I was struggling to the surface of the water."

"But if proximity is the issue, then wouldn't that mean you shouldn't have felt uneasy until later on?"

"You're the one who studies us. You tell me."

She slowly nodded and returned her gaze to the pile of papers on her messy desk.