beep-beep-beeeeeep~~

Rurlough.

Thousands of them.

They gathered in the rooms that branched off of the main path. They patrolled the halls. They were everywhere.

Giroro had to take care not to run into any of them or make noise as he slowly made his way down the muggy hall. He was still trying to stay on a mostly straight path, but it was getting difficult; there were many more turns now.

He carefully and quietly maneuvered around the Rurlough that passed him. They didn't seem to notice him, so despite the sheer number of them crowded in these tunnels, he continued forward.

He assumed that Kululu would be in one of the more populated areas doing whatever job it was that he was doing nowadays, so the large number of Rurlough was actually a good sign.

After a while, the path narrowed greatly and then suddenly opened into a gigantic room that was filled with Rurlough. Not wanting to risk crossing it, Giroro turned to go back. However, he realized that there was a pair of the creatures walking up right behind him and he was forced to step into the room to get out of their way.

He pressed close to the wall, keeping as far away from the creatures as he could. Beginning to sweat from stress, he peered through the crowd. At the other side of the chamber was a doorway to another hall. There was just enough space along the wall to inch towards it.

He took a deep breath of the humid air and set off around the room.

It was difficult to move without bumping into the aliens. There were many close calls that left Giroro's heart leaping in his throat. But he persisted. He felt like this was the right way to go.

It took him about thirty minutes, but eventually he had crossed the room and was able to slip out, unnoticed.

As Giroro continued his descent, he encountered more rooms like this. But they were less crowded and he was able to move through them without much trouble.

After winding his way through the sweltering tunnels for what felt like days, Giroro emerged into a hall that was different from the others. It was very short, extending in front of him only about twenty feet, and the walls were metallic. At the end of the passage, directly opposite the entrance, was a closed door.

Giroro moved cautiously down the tunnel and examined the door. It was metal, and it looked heavy enough to survive a blast from a bomb. It had a tarnished, complex-looking lock on it, but no handle. Ancient letters embossed into the metal above the door said something in what Giroro guessed was the Rurlough's written language.

The corporal didn't suppose that the door would be unlocked, but surprisingly it swung forward when he pushed on it. As he had anticipated, it was very heavy.

After a few more minutes of traveling through a similar tunnel, he came to another door. This one was also unlocked, which Giroro thought was suspicious. Perhaps the Rurlough didn't think there would ever be intruders, and so felt no need for security.

He passed through it and came to a big open room, but unlike the other ones he had come across, this room was rectangular rather than round, and it was also empty of Rurlough.

There was another doorway that opened up to a hallway adjacent to him, and the walls along the sides appeared to have panes of glass hung on them.

His hand on his gun, Giroro went to inspect one of the sheets of glass, and he realized that it was actually a clear door to another much smaller room. It was empty except for heavy black shackles mounted on the wall.

He walked along the wall looking into the other rooms, which were all identical to the first. All of the rooms were the same size, and they were all evenly spaced from each other along both walls. There were locks on all of the doors.

Giroro was hit with the sudden realization that he was standing in a cell block. He started to wonder if that was what the sign above the door had said.

He turned to go back. There was no point in staying here, because Kululu wouldn't be in the cell block.

As he was about to leave, though, he looked back because he had seen something. At the end of the hall he had noticed earlier, he could see a blinking light. For a moment, he considered just ignoring it, but his curiosity got the better of him. He started down the hall.

At the end, he saw that the light was emitting from a hand scanner on the door to another cell. Giroro noticed with a kind of dull surprise that this cell was actually occupied. The person inside looked badly hurt; obviously the Rurlough had been performing some kind of torturous acts on him.

In fact, the man in the cell was so mangled that it took Giroro a few moments to realize that he was looking at Kululu.

aaaaaaAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHHH OMGGG SO UNBELIEVABLLLE!1!1!
(lmao not rlly I wrote it I knew this would happen)