What Lies Beyond

by Cyrokin

SEQUEL TO POST HOLLOW SYNDROME. A new realm of confusion meets Adam, Mira and Kai as they awaken in a place they do not recognize. They are alone again, their only company the machines surrounding them and their memories of the ordinary world they've just left. Is this the real world? Because if it is, they would rather have remained digital forever. ((More info within.))

4. Revelation

What Lies Beyond- Chapter 4: Revelation

NOTES:

Originally released early-mid 2019 if I had to guess. I don't keep track, lol. From here on you're gonna start noticing the chapters get, uh... progressively longer. It's the sad result of what happens when I "pants" instead of "plan"! XD

"It's all been for real but none of it's real this way... We've been waiting in this digital dream."

,.~*~.,

Day 3

,.~*~.,

If Kai could say it without it coming off as an insult at this point, he'd admit that he found this whole situation to be kind of awesome. Sure it was weird, and a bit disturbing if he thought too deeply about it. But knowing that he was in space- actual, legit outer space- excited him so much he hadn't known what to do with himself after his shower that previous afternoon.

So, from then until evening, Kai had released his energy by pacing around their home floor and poking around the info kiosks for anything he could dig up on this place, what it was doing in space, and what he and his friends were doing here. So far, he hadn't had much luck.

The floor information, of course, hadn't changed. AARC level 57. Three hundred Engage rooms, with occupancy for three guests per room. There were the regular kitchens, bathrooms, and lounge areas found on every other floor, of course. "Patient Info" brought up a dead end.

"This information is currently unavailable. We're sorry for the inconvenience."

"Inconvenience" didn't even begin to describe it. No amount of "sorry" was going to fix that, and it did very little for Kai's limited patience. Who were these patients, anyway? Neither he nor his friends appeared to be sick, and it had been days. Whatever; he'd find a way to hack that information out of the system later.

The AARC Helpline was a total flop. A phone rang, but no-one answered the call. But then, Kai didn't expect them to. This place was empty. Dead. And potentially, so were they! OK... maybe not. That theory was, at this point, even goofier than Adam's bonkers idea that they had all magically switched from a basic program to a new, beautifully-rendered, fully-explorable space complex game that Kai knew he would have remembered buying.

At least he'd figured out how the map system worked. The displays were divided by sectors. There were four sectors in total if that was what the number (2/4) at the corner of the screen indicated. He'd figured out that if he tapped that number, the map display would change to the next sector. A stupid system in Kai's opinion, but at least he now knew how to use the "Floor Map" feature.

They'd discussed their situation over a pile of fruit that evening. It was nothing they hadn't already talked about, but Adam (at the very least) had seemed more willing to accept the reality of their situation. At any rate he hadn't seemed to mind the taste of the synthetic food as much. Maybe he was just distracted- but how was Kai supposed to know? Adam could be so tight-lipped about his thoughts it wasn't even funny.

Adam woke Kai and Mira up the next morning. He was in the middle of a rant about how they'd all gotten up later than he'd have liked. Kai begged to differ. If the first meal he ate in a day could still be considered "breakfast", it was too early for him. But Adam wanted an early start and Mira was a morning person- no rest for the weary. Besides, they'd probably need his technical expertise.

Oh, the things a teenage genius had to do to get appreciated.

Kai took the lead up the stairs. Although they bypassed the eight floors they'd checked yesterday, there was still a long way to go, and the trek upward seemed to drag more with each rising step. The stairwell had an odd smell to it- that funny metallic scent that was everywhere else, only stronger. There was also some sort of dingy, musty smell which suggested this place had some age to it. The thin layer of dust on the handrailing said as much.

Kai brushed his now-dusty hand onto his jeans as he stopped, breathless, at the top stair to level 66. "Great. We haven't even gotten started yet and I'm already exhausted," he panted, a hand on his heaving chest.

Mira patted his scrawny shoulder as she walked past. "You'll make it," she breathed.

A creaking groan from below startled all three teens, much louder than before. Adam tensed and clenched his fists. "That doesn't sound good," he said.

"No duh," said Kai. "We've gotta find out what's making those noises."

"After we find the control room," said Adam. He opened the door and held it open for his friends.

"So, we just check the room list and go the next floor up, right?" Kai asked. He activated the screen.

"Right."

Before Kai had even picked the "Floor Info" selection, something told him that this was not the control room floor. It was still too low. They'd have to climb higher. Much higher. Until the very top. But how could he know that?

He didn't know why, but this place felt more and more familiar with each passing day. He had no memories of this place, but there were these... thoughts he had about it. At first he thought they were just hunches. But he'd had so many of them- most which he hadn't even mentioned to the others. Little things for the most part. Like how he had guessed the shower knob turned the opposite direction of his at home.

And there were the bigger things too. Like this whole floor thing. Most of all were the feelings he'd been getting ever since they'd arrived. Something at the back of his mind nagged at him- told him that he didn't want to come here in the first place. Well, put that way it seemed pretty obvious. None of them wanted to be here, that much was for sure. But this feeling was different. He knew he didn't want to be here. But he also felt he didn't want to be here. He didn't need to be here in the first place. Coming here was a mistake. But not his mistake. Someone else's.

And that idea didn't make sense to the front of Kai's mind. It was just something the back of his mind seemed to know. And well... none of those thoughts had been wrong yet.

How was he supposed to feel about that?

"Hey Adam, I have another hunch."

,.~*~.,

Six flights of stairs later, Kai already regretted his suggestion. He didn't know why Adam had taken him at his word so readily, but Kai kind of wished the guy hadn't. His heart was pounding and his legs were burning. His lungs were working overtime to keep him breathing properly. He had fallen behind both Adam and Mira and he was falling further and further back with every new flight.

"I just crawled... huff... out of that pod... huff... three days ago. Huff huff... I'm too out of shape for all this... huff huff... straineous exercise!"

"Strenuous," Adam clipped.

"Whatever!"

"You'll be in shape before you know it," said Adam. "Especially if we have to keep using these stairs to get around."

Kai groaned. "Don't remind me!" Darned broken elevator.

"Adam, please tell us we're looking for another elevator after this," sighed a tired-sounding Mira.

"Why didn't we do that in the first place?" Kai added.

"Um, because you immediately ran to the stairs the moment Adam agreed to do this?"

"Oh... yeah." So he did. That was stupid of him.

"We'll look. I promise," said Adam.

When they reached the door of floor 75, Kai was thoroughly worn to the bone. Adam and Mira were already almost halfway up the next staircase by the time Kai rounded the corner. He plunked down on the bottom step and released an exhausted sigh. "Just... go on without me," he panted. "I'll catch up."

Mira barked a dubious laugh. "No you won't." She stepped down and sat a few steps higher than Kai.

Adam paused at the top of the staircase. "Come on, guys. There's still a long way to go."

"Exactly," moaned Kai. Adam was a force contrary to nature. He'd been on his feet ever since they'd gotten here. He had barely eaten anything in the past three days. Where was he getting all this energy?

"You may as well stop too, Adam," said Mira. "We're not going anywhere."

Adam's voice turned terse. "We've got to find that control room."

"And we will," said Mira. "But we've got all day to do it. We have time to rest."

Adam stood silent for a moment. Then he muttered something under his breath and sat down. He released a reluctant sigh. "OK. Just a few minutes. Then we finish."

"Ugh." Kai turned around and glared up at Adam. "This isn't a race or some kind of competition. We don't need to immediately get everything over with. Just relax, dude."

Adam's brow furrowed. "How am I supposed to relax in a situation like this?" he asked.

"I dunno! Just... do it!" Well, that sounded like intelligent advice.

Mira pursed her lips in thought. "Just stop thinking about it so much," she answered at last. "It's... helped for me." That sad look appeared in her eyes again.

Adam looked as if he was about to respond, but seemed to give up on it, opting to sit in frustrated silence instead.

"You'll find a way," said Mira. She hesitated. "You know, Adam... if it'll help, we could-" She was interrupted by those noises from below. Those unnerving metallic groans that made Kai more and more nervous each time he heard them.

He swallowed and let out a nervous chuckle. "Hey, I just wondered... What if those are... I dunno, the engines? I mean, if this is a ship it has to have propulsion and some way to drive it, right? If this is a ship."

To Kai's surprise, Adam seemed on board with that theory. "The control room might have the answer," he said. "Maybe there's a full-complex schematic or something! That could help us in more ways than one..."

"We can hope," sighed Mira.

Kai had no thoughts or impressions to the contrary- nor any to confirm the idea. But that didn't matter- he felt energized again. Just what sort of surprises and helpful tools did this control room have in store for them? He bounced to his feet, a far departure from the exhausted, annoyed mess he was a mere minute prior. Fine by him! "Let's go find out!"

,.~*~.,

But alas! The return of the exhausted, annoyed mess was nigh, and he was back in full force by the time they reached the top- floor 95. A loud, relieved sigh escaped Kai's chest. "Finally!"

"Great. We made it," breathed Mira.

"Nowhere to go but down now," said Kai. Adam propped the door open and waited for his friends to pass. Then he followed them, allowing the metal door to slam behind him. Kai activated the kiosk screen. "Even if it's not on this floor we won't have to go as far."

"Here's hoping." Adam stood behind Kai and peered over his friend's shoulder.

Kai opened the room list. He gasped- there. The very first room mentioned. "There it is!"

"Yes!" cheered Adam. He smacked Kai's shoulder, which startled the redhead way more than it should've. "Good work, Kai."

Kai smiled and rubbed his shoulder. "Aw, it was just a hunch." He tapped out of the Info selection.

"A hunch that turned out to be correct," said Adam. "And not the first time, either. You sure you don't remember anything about this place?"

"Yeah." Kai selected the map.

"Well, you seem to know more than either of us."

"I'm just guessing, OK?" Not entirely true, but it was easier than to admit that Adam might be onto something. Yeah, Mira had a moment the first day where she "guessed" the placement of the kitchen, much like many of Kai's "guesses." But as far as Kai knew, she hadn't had any other instances like that. Yet his were frequent. Kai had been right multiple times now- four times in the sight of his friends. Who knew what else he could be right about?

The control room wasn't far, to Kai's great relief. "It's right here, in Sector 1." And after accessing the Sector 4 map, he exclaimed and tapped one point on screen. "And look! There's another elevator not far off!"

Mira's sigh could not have sounded any happier.

Adam sounded excited himself. "All right, guys. Let's find that control room!" He strode away in that direction.

"Amen," Mira agreed, following.

Kai huffed and sulked after them. Left behind, again. Great way to thank the poor, exhausted genius who had suggested this move in the first place. He was almost tempted to stay behind and rest a while longer before they realized they'd need his help in there. But the prospect of There- the control room, with all its potential bells and whistles, lit Kai's fire once more.

That didn't stop him from dragging behind his friends from tiredness alone. Especially Adam, who had to be running on sheer determination at this point. Seriously, how was he so energetic after climbing all those stairs? What was he, a robot?

...No. Definitely not. Kai actually understood robots. He was pretty sure he'd know one if he saw one.

It wasn't long before Kai noticed how different this floor's layout was compared to the others. There were fewer doors, for one thing. It was surprising that there were any pod rooms on this floor at all, considering how many offices there were. And, like everywhere else in this place, they were all empty. Kai made a mental note to check out those offices if he got the chance. He could see personal items on the desks. Those could be a clue, couldn't they?

A clue to what? I dunno, don't ask me. Why we're here? No... how would looking at people's stuff say anything about us? We're nobodies.

Well, he was, anyway.

Adam and Mira halted before one door. A relieved smile flitted onto Adam's face. "This is it."

Kai jogged over to join them. Sure enough, a plate on the door read "control center."

Adam tried the door. To his obvious surprise, the door was unlocked and opened without a hitch. "Huh. You'd think they'd lock a room like this..."

"Let's just be glad they didn't," said Mira. She pushed the door further and stepped inside.

As Kai entered behind her, his jaw dropped. It was as if they'd just stepped onto a sci-fi set. Various work stations with various functions. Consoles, buttons, switches, holosynaptic interfaces, monitors, holoprojectors! All the technology he'd ever dreamed of, all in this one little room! "Guys... I think I'm in heaven!" He continued to step forward, looking around in awe.

"Pretty sure this isn't what heaven's supposed to look like," said Adam.

"Well, it's heaven to me," said Kai. He began to toy with one of the holoprojectors, an apparatus consisting of one wide cylinder on the roof and another on the floor below it. Four control panels circled the machine. Using one of those control panels, Kai was able to access a screen which showed a library of stuff he could display. "Isn't this holoprojector cool?" He made the sterile blue AARC logo appear as a rotating 3D object.

Mira joined him by the projector. "Definitely cool, Kai," she said.

Kai grinned. "I've wanted to play with one of these since I was nine. I can't wait to see what this baby can do!" He scrolled through the library for any other holograms of interest, successfully activating a rotating globe, some butterflies, a creepy bust, and a gargoyle, among other random things. The entire libary seemed to be a bunch of stuff that had nothing to do with this place, save the logo.

Just as Kai was wistfully admiring a delicious-looking floating waffle cone, Mira spoke up. "Oo! Can you make it show a dog?"

Kai laughed. "Why?"

"Because I like them," said Mira, in that no duh tone that Kai had learned to take seriously.

Well, Kai wasn't about to turn down an opportunity to amuse the girl (who was, for once, giving him her undivided attention-whoopee!), so he diligently scrolled through the library until he found one labeled "labrador." The animal appeared. Short yellow fur, soft brown eyes, and a lolling pink tongue greeted the teens.

Mira was impressed. "Wow. It's so lifelike." She reached out to touch it, but her hand phased right through. "That is so weird. But so cool."

Kai grinned. "I know!"

But, as usual, Adam had to be a party pooper. "Come on, guys. We don't need to get distracted."

"Ugh." Mira turned and gave Adam a gentle glare, though it was obvious she wasn't truly angry with him. "Come on, Adam. Let us have some fun for a few minutes."

"You guys can mess with that after we find some answers. It sure doesn't look like that has anything useful to say." He nodded to Kai. "Hey Kai. Think you can get us into these computers?"

Kai cracked his knuckles and sauntered over to where Adam stood. "Sure thing, cap'n." He sat down in front of the nearest computer console and powered on the machine. After it came on, Kai immediately tried to figure out how to access data through this unfamiliar operating system. After opening a prompt and attempting a few commands, he managed to access a menu similar to those on the kiosks. It did not disappoint. While a few categories were recycled from the kiosks, a host of new folders also appeared.

"More categories! Sweet." Kai selected the "AARC Info" folder. A second menu activated- only this one was empty. Kai frowned.

"There's nothing there," stated Mira. "But it's got its own folder. Surely there should be something there."

"Obviously there's supposed to be," said Kai. He tapped a few keys to refresh the menu, but nothing changed. The menu remained as empty as before. "Someone must have wiped it for some reason." He backed out and tried "Patient Info." Again- an empty menu presented itself. "Ugh. Well that explains why the kiosks can't find that information," Kai said, half to himself. He proceeded to check each option on the main menu regardless of potential usefulness, just to see if similar wiped menus existed.

The Floor Info and Floor Map, much like on the kiosks, were intact, but unhelpful. The Complex Map required an interface with the holoprojector- he'd have to try that later. The AI System details were intact and functional, as they'd already discovered yesterday- so again, that was unhelpful. Finally, he checked the Engage System details.

"Looks like a monitoring system for those pods," said Kai. The details appeared as a list. The individual pods were sorted into groups of three- one group per room. The rooms were divided by floor. Each group of pods appeared in either green or red lettering- maybe activity or inactivity? No wait... there were also red "X" icons beside each group. Kai hovered over one "X". A notification appeared:

ERROR

Kai clicked on the red "X" and a box of text appeared on the screen.

ERROR

This Engage device has encountered an unknown error. Please send a technician to diagnose and resolve this problem as soon as possible.

"Technician," Mira whispered to herself. "Hey Kai... didn't that note in your manual say something about finding a technician too? 'Contact a technician if harm has come to you through an interface,' or something like that?"

Kai gasped. "Oh!" He smacked his hands down on the console and whipped around to face his friends. "That must be what it meant by 'interface'! It had to be talking about the pods!"

Mira seemed as thrilled by the revelation as Kai. Adam, on the other hand, didn't look pleased with this at all. He clasped his chin in thought, his eyes somewhat glazed. If anything, he was probably mulling over the disturbing implications of what he knew this had to mean.

"See, Adam? This proves we're in real life! Not in a game!"

Adam hesitated. "...Maybe."

Kai scoffed. "Maybe? Come on, dude! It's so obvious!"

"No, Kai. It's not."

"Sure, if you can't see past the end of your nose!"

"I'm not oblivious, OK?" Adam threw out his arms. "I just want to get all the details before jumping to that big a conclusion."

"Really? Seems like you've come to a conclusion to me. A stupid one."

"I'm willing to change my mind." Adam sighed and softened his tone. "I just can't shake the feeling there's something wrong here."

"The computer's been tampered with. Of course there's something wrong here." Kai turned back around to face the screen. "I'm gonna see if I can recover that data. So long as nothing's written over I might be able to salvage it."

"How long will that take?"

Kai shrugged. "Dunno. I don't know how much was lost so there's no way to tell."

"Get started on it," said Adam. "Mira and I can start exploring the lower levels. That is... if you're OK with being left here by yourself."

"I'll be fine," said Kai. He patted the console. "Like I said, I'm in heaven!"

"All right," said Adam. "See you later." He turned and headed out the door, Mira close behind.

She paused on her way out and poked back into the control room. "Kai."

"Yeah?"

"If you need anything, just give us a shout. I'm sure you can find a way into the intercom system."

"I said I'll be fine," Kai reassured her. He sent her a smile and a double thumbs-up.

Mira nodded. "Good luck." She popped out the door to join Adam, off to explore more of this strange complex. Kai accessed the command prompt and got to work. He hoped to not only find the missing data- but to, perhaps, uncover a clue as to how it had been lost in the first place. He needed to restore as much as possible. If they wanted answers, he had to succeed.

So while his friends searched for clues below, Kai searched for clues above, hoping to recover the answers they needed. Hoping that his friends would discover something helpful too. Hoping that together, they could come out with a solid reason for being here.

,.~*~.,