HEY! So, I've been feeling really sick these past couple of days. Not cool. BUUUUTTTT... It has given me even more time to write ya'll this new and EXTRA LONG chapter! SOOOO COOL! Enjoy!
Immediately, the Doctor and Clara's eyes started to roam around the open space that was the inside of the Administrative Building. The floor that they stood on was marble with a brown color to it. The walls were painted a smooth light brown and rose high, high above them. The ceiling was flat and bare except for the few lights that hung above their heads. There were flower pots in every available corner that held a small plastic tree. People with their business suits and clipboards or files were standing around, talking to one another or on their phones. Or at least they looked like they were. Yes, everyone in the building was, obviously, frozen.
Should've known, the Doctor stated in his mind. He kept on roaming his eyes throughout the room while he slowly inched forward. He tugged Clara along with him, and, soon, he could feel her following his every step. At the same time, they looked forward.
The front desk that lied just ahead was marble, as well, with a old-fashioned-looking computer with a keyboard angled on the side, lots of neatly placed files on the other side, a registration book in the middle, and a pen in its pen holder. Behind the desk sat a young lady, who looked to be about thirty, had her very-red hair in a bun, and wore a navy-blue business dress and a headset with a microphone. She, also, looked like she was filling out some paperwork. Very stereotypical receptionist, indeed.
"Doctor," Clara whispered, acknowledging the receptionist's presence.
"I know," he said, just as quietly, never taking his eyes off of the front desk.
"You think we should ask her for help?"
The Doctor considered his answer for a few precious seconds. He still kept the 'All-of-this-might-be-a-trap' idea in the back of his mind. The rest of his brain, however, was thinking about how big of a building the place was and how long it would take to even make it half halfway to meet the computer geniuses. At this point, any kind of help was worth something.
"Worth a try," he replied quietly, leading himself and Clara the rest of the way to the desk.
They were now standing right in front of the receptionist, practically blocking her light, but neither of them said a word. Suddenly, the receptionist looked up from her work and said rather brightly, "Oh! Hello! Welcome to the 'MyAdministrativeBuilding'! I'm Barbra!"
The Doctor smiled. Finally! A happy face around here. He rubbed his hands together and opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted with, "I'm here to help you in any way I can! Now, before I say anything else, I'll need to get your username. For verification."
"Ah," the Doctor got out at last. "Well, I'm the Doctor. And this," he gestured to Clara, who gave a small wave to Barbra, "is Clara."
"One moment, please!" Barbra said before turning in her chair towards the computer and typing in the given names.
"Well," the Doctor said, rocking back and forth in anticipation, "this is a good change of pace!"
"Really," Clara said, surprised herself as she looked around the room again. Then, she stopped. An unexpected thought came into her head. She quickly turned back around and grabbed the Doctor's arm, easing him away from the desk.
"Hey!" he squeaked, not sure if he was able to control his body as he followed Clara backwards in shock. "Ow! Ow! Watch the arm!"
"Doctor, I think we have a problem," Clara said hurriedly.
"What?" the Doctor inquired. "Everything seems fine! Barbra, lovely girl, says she's going to help us. We'll be able to get up there, meet the brains and, bing bang boom, sort everything out!"
"But, Doctor, first Barbra said she needed our names for verification!"
The Doctor's eyes widened with shocking understanding. "Oh…."
It was in that sentence that he realized what the problem was.
"I'm sorry," Barbra called from behind, making the Doctor and Clara turn theirs heads back around in her direction, "but I can't seem to find your names in the system. No worries, though! Just come back later and try again!" And with that, she automatically went back to her paperwork.
The Doctor and Clara could only stare at her in panic.
"Uh…." the Doctor stuttered, trying to think of some kind of on-the-spot lie he could tell Barbra (because that's what he was best at!) so that he and Clara could move on into the deeper depths of the building. "Actually," he tried again, straightening his jacket and stepping forward a little, "We are from the Union….. Of Advanced… Computer Technology… and Sciences! We're just here to…. Check…. On your amazing game!" Clara nodded her head wildly in agreement and said, "Yes! Oh, yes!" She realized the situation and made no objection to it. This wasn't the first time she and the Doctor had to lie to get their way. She continued the charade as the Doctor went on with the story.
"See, we've been hearing about this 'MyAlternative' for quite some time now. And we must say it's been a rather…. Interesting experience. This is, really, our last stop on our list. Highly recommended. So, we're just going to explore the upstairs a little bit, if you don't mind."
He looked down on Barbra, waiting for a response from her. But she didn't say or do anything. All she did was scribble stuff down on the paper in front of her. In fact, the Doctor wasn't sure that she was really writing any comprehensible words.
No matter, he cleared his throat and said, "So…. Right! Ok! Perfect! No need to show us the way. I'm sure me and my associate will be able to find our way around just fine!"
"Associate?!" Clara said, either confused or disgusted, as the Doctor took her by the shoulders and led her to the nearby elevators he had spotted earlier.
"Thank you!" he yelled behind his back. "And have a nice day!"
He scooted along, pushing Clara in front of him. They stopped once they got to the shiny, silver elevator doors. Clara just stood in place, looking above at the wall for something that probably wasn't there, while the Doctor tried pushing some of the buttons on the panel to the left. None of them began blinking as they normally would, and the Doctor could faintly hear Barbra's voice from the front desk saying, "I'm sorry!" He turned to give her his full attention. "If you need to talk to any of our personnel about an issue or problem, you first need to check in at the front desk for verification!" She then turned, once again, back to her paperwork.
"Ugh!" the Doctor yelled, flinging his hands up as he paced. "Great!"
"Now what?" Clara asked, looking around helplessly.
"Well," the doctor rummaged through his jacket until he finally found his trusty sonic screwdriver, "there's always this."
"Can that even work here?" Clara asked. She had seen the Doctor use the sonic screwdriver before and it did work wonders. But…. That was in reality reality. This was virtual reality.
"Worth another try!" the Doctor said quickly before pushing the button and pointing it right at the elevator panel. A couple of clicking noises could be heard until, at last, the elevator doors opened wide.
"Yes!" the Doctor and Clara cheered as Barbra began once again, "I'm sorry! If you need to talk to-"
She stopped. The two time-travelers turned to see Barbra frozen, her arms just barely hanging above the side of the desk, her cheekbones held high above her opened mouth.
"Oh my God," Clara whispered.
"It was bound to happen," the Doctor explained. "Which is exactly why we need to hurry this up."
"Why?" Clara asked.
"Because before, only the players were being frozen. Barbra's not a player. She's a part of the game."
"How can you tell?"
The Doctor turned back around to go on with his theory. "Everything she says. Every movement she makes. It's all rehearsed. Programmed. She's part of the system. And she's freezing up along with everyone else that's in or a part of the game."
"Which means…" Clara shuddered.
"Which means, if we're going to help Tammi, Terrance, and Dylan, we've got to do it before one of them is next."
Clara nodded quickly and scurried into the elevator. The Doctor followed close behind and pushed the first button he saw. The elevator doors slowly closed and the machinery on the outside started to whir and grind together, taking them up.
The two let out a couple of deep sighs as they leaned onto the railing behind them. They looked all around inside the elevator. Nothing. The Doctor couldn't help but cast a glance at the buttons to his right and realized that they had no numbers. His eyes widened again in shock. He wasn't even sure he pressed the right one! Plus, there was no telling how many levels there were in the building or how far halfway was.
All he could do, though, was rest his head against the wall, close his eyes, hope that Clara wouldn't notice his unfortunate mistake, and pray that he would get a chance to meet Tammi and the others in time.
Tammi's eyes roamed along the walls, doorframes, and the floor as she lead Terrance and Dylan slowly down the hall. She wanted to take in as much of the outside life as she could.
Not that there was that much to take in. The walls were bare. The floor was immaculate. And every door window she looked into, it showed the same thing. An empty, naked room with silver-painted walls and one four-paned window on the side.
Half of her felt awed by all of the sights in front of her. It wasn't much to look at, but at least it was a change of pace and a break from all of the code numbers she stares at day after day.
The other half felt confused. Beyond confused, if she was being honest with herself. She was expecting…. More people. Doing….something. She didn't know why. But she knew that it couldn't be just her, Terrance, and Dylan doing all of the work. Right….?
The boys were keeping pace behind Tammi, and were sure to keep a sharp eye out for anything suspicious. Just the long walk down the LONG hallway seemed suspicious enough.
"Damn," Dylan broke the silence, "How freaky is all of this?"
"What do you mean?" Terrance asked, even though he knew exactly what Dylan was talking about.
"Just…. All of this," was thing Dylan could reply with.
"It is a bit…." Tammi finally spoke, "strange."
Terrance and Dylan eyed the back of Tammi's head. They could just picture her face that showed every emotion known to man and next to nothing at the same time. They were surprised when she said, "That's why I know we should go on."
The boys just nodded silently at each other and continued moving forward.
Their footsteps that made loud clicking noises on top of the marble floor was the only noise audible in the hallway. Which now was coming to an end. Thank God! Tammi screamed in her head as she stopped. She took a good look at her left, and then her right. To the left was another long, LONG hallway full of the same boring-looking doors and boring-colored walls and floor. To her right was another long, LONG hallway full of the same boring-looking doors and boring-colored walls and floor.
The difference?
The hallway to Tammi's right had a big, shiny-silver door about a few feet down. It definitely stood out among the others.
"Hmmm," Tammi said out loud, making Terrance and Dylan step out just a little bit to catch what Tammi was staring at. When they finally found it, Terrance started by asking, "Huh. What do you think lies behind that door?"
"Don't know," Tammi responded, finding herself somehow tired and leaned against the edge of the hall for support.
"You think it could take us… you know, somewhere else?" Dylan asked.
"Somewhere else?" Tammi repeated, making a face. Dylan made the door sound like it held a spaceship.
"Another hallway or something," Dylan clarified.
"Maybe," Terrance said.
"Maybe," Tammi repeated again, staring intently at the door. She began biting the inside of her lip in deep thought. When she and the boys were spying on some of the other players, she would often see people come into the Administrative Building and use doors similar to the one in front of her now. She never knew where they go once they got in. She knew nothing bad could possibly happen behind the closed door. Everyone who came back out came in one piece.
Maybe Dylan was right.
Maybe it could take them to another hallway.
Without even thinking, she began heading towards the metal door, Terrance and Dylan following obediently. They all looked the door up and down. Dylan noticed a small panel next to it with a couple of buttons. After a few seconds of thought, he randomly punched one.
The kids were startled by a couple of clicking noises, but all settled when the door finally opened. They quickly took a look inside. A deep, roomy space was shown, with metal walls, a railing, and red carpet. Afraid that the door would suddenly close on them if they didn't hurry, Terrance scooted past Tammi and jumped inside. She and Dylan came in with him. The three sets of eyes scanned the inside once more, and found yet another panel. This time, though, it had more buttons on it. Terrance hovered a hand above it, not really sure which one to it and even more worried about what would happen if it was the wrong one.
"Um…." came out of his mouth. "Which one?"
"Beats me!" Dylan said, shrugging uselessly.
"Well," Tammi figured, "we said we'd meet the Doctor halfway. So…."
She began counting the buttons. After she was done, she stepped back, closed her eyes, and started whispering stuff out loud. Finally, she went back to the buttons, counted them up, and said, "Push this one."
"You sure?" Terrance asked.
"It's the middle button," she explained, "so it has to lead to the middle floor."
Dylan nodded in utter agreement as Terrance took a deep breath and pushed the button. The door, then, closed, and a bunch of whirring noises started up outside.
The three could feel the ground moving under them, and immediately grabbed onto the railing. It stopped after a second, but they never let go. Except for when a DING! noise was made and the door opened back up. Terrance took the lead now, and walked forward with Tammi and Dylan following close behind. The door, then, closed again behind them.
The kids wasted no time as they ran down the hall to the left, scanning each and every angle as fast as they could. It was as empty as the first floor, with only space and doors that led to more space. Once they got to the end, they ran back up to where the silver door was and saw that there were three extra hallways, one to the right and left, and one straight ahead of them.
"Ok," Tammi said, trying to conjure up some smart orders to give to the other two. "Ok…"
"Why… don't we try splitting up?" Terrance suggested, already checking out the left hallway.
"Yeah. Yeah," Dylan agreed, eyeing down to the right. "I'll take this one. Terrance can go that way. And Tammi, you can go down this one right here." He nodded down the middle hall.
"G-Good," Tammi nodded vigorously. "That might speed things up a little. Ok. So, we go down and check each hallway thoroughly. We'll meet right back here. If anything happens, scream."
"Obviously," Dylan muttered, hoping for a small grin from Tammi. Terrance gave him one, but Tammi was focused on her task.
Dylan gave up silently, a quick nod, and said, "Alright."
He, then, started on down his hallway.
"Let's go," Terrance said, which must have been the "Go" signal for Tammi because she automatically bolted down her hallway… but not before Terrance grabbed her by the arm, pulled her in and whispered very reassuringly, "Hey. Everything's going to be fine."
Tammi looked Terrance in the face and bit her lower lip.
She was scared.
Obviously.
And Terrance knew that from the start.
Tammi knew that Terrance knew.
That was probably why they made such a good team.
They could just… tell when something was off with one another.
That's why they liked each other so much.
And that's why Tammi gave Terrance a small grin and a, "I know."
Terrance returned the smile and slowly let go of her arm. They each took a deep breath and headed on down towards their respective hallways.
Tammi could hear Dylan and Terrance's footsteps and realized what noise they must be making. So, she tried a different approach. As quietly as she could, she took baby steps forward. She, also, crouched down a little and got up only to peep in through a door at a time. Each one was the same as the other. Empty and alone. She began scrutinizing the wall, too, for something, anything that might be out of place. But, sadly, once she got to the end, she found herself with nothing. Giving off a deep sigh and a shrug, she started back down the hall.
For no apparent reason, she began looking at herself through the door windows. Her reflection showed for only a few brief seconds, then it disappeared. It came back for a few seconds, then it disappeared again. She made out her neck, her lips, her cheeks, her nose, her deep eyes, her frizzy hair, her goggles…. All of the things she wish she could change but couldn't.
She was so wrapped up in herself that she didn't even hear the silver door from before make another DING! sound. She couldn't hear the loud footsteps against the marble. She couldn't see someone coming in her direction. Which is why she got a complete shock and surprise when she bumped into that someone and scurried back, gasping loudly and flinging her arms out in front for some protection.
The person in front of her gave a small squeal and stepped back, as well, equally shocked as her.
It was then that Tammi fully took in the person's presence.
He was a tall, rather lanky, man in a purple, tweed jacket with a bowtie and short but wavy brown hair. Behind him was a young woman who was a foot shorter than him, wore a knee-length, red Chinese dress, matching flats, and had her short, brunette hair up in a ponytail, with two chopsticks settled firmly in place.
Tammi's jaw practically lowered herself and her eyes followed, opening wide.
TammiTron012 was staring straight into the face…. Of the Doctor and Clara.
FINALLY, RIGHT?! Read, review, favorite. Do whatever you can. But... whatever you do... DON'T. BLINK. ;-)
