Chapter 23 – Gabbiar Auction
*NOTE – It's been a while since the anniversary chapter, everyone. But I haven't forgotten the story, so don't worry! You'll be happy to hear that this chapter is back to its original, short format, with no confusing people from the future. Enjoy! THANK YOU!*
Nobody spoke for a while. We searched the still abandoned laboratory in silence. The air was heavy with the thought of Dave… passing. Soon, it was time to leave the room and explore the rest of the mighty sky fortress. But questions still buzzed around in my head. Why had I come back from the future? When did Dave die? How? The very thought of the answers dizzied me somewhat. But now wasn't the time for questions. Now was the time for answers.
We searched on and on through many similarly abandoned labs, for what seemed like about an hour. Eventually, we reached a door entitled 'Vykkers Suites'. Heading through it brought us into a long, curved room lined with bunk rooms, obviously put there for the purpose of the Vykkers. But not one was in sight. After I'd gone invisible and pressed the fire alarm, there was no sign of anyone, which puzzled me. I mean, we were on a ship. Where's the fire escape there?
We went down into the room and explored each suite, looking for any signs of… Well, anything. Dave eventually called out to me.
"Alan," He said, summoning me to a suite he'd been searching. "I think I've found something." I headed towards the Mudokon and his findings. The sound of his voice calmed me down, breaking the eerie silence that had hung over us the past hour or so.
When I got to him, he was stood by a tattered bed, a small bedside table with some paperwork on it to one side. It reminded me of that week at Rupture Farms, sleeping in a grubby bunk room at the Slig Barracks.
"There might be something in here." Dave said, holding up the wad of papers from the bedside table. I took them, and filed through the documents in search of anything that might shed some light on our situation. There were letters, bills, even leaflets, but nothing really struck my eye. Until, that is, I turned the stack over.
On the back of one crisp, clean envelope were the words: "Dispatch to Suite #272". I opened up the envelope to see what needed to be 'dispatched'. Inside were 30 or more folded up posters. I handed one to Dave, and we both opened them up simultaneously. Inside, I suddenly realised just how significant Suite #272 was.
The poster was finely decorated in gold, purple, and other vibrant colours. It had a photograph on it of a can of Gabbiar, and said in bold print: "Gabbiar Auction Soon!" The penny at last dropped. This was the same Vykkers Suites that Abe had visited right at the end of 'Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee.' This meant that the Gabbiar auction was just down the corridor. I grabbed up the rest of the paperwork from the bedside table and signaled Dave to come with me. We had to get into that auction room.
Moments later, Dave and I had reached the end of the curved room, and found a door with no less than 10 levers in front of it. There was simply no way through. Suddenly, the sound of chatter filled the still air. The Vykkers were returning. The fire drill was over and they were coming back into the suites.
"Dave!" I whispered quickly. "We need to hide." I grabbed his arm and dragged him to one side of the room. There was a dark corner there, which we both squeezed into. Seconds later, the door opened. The room was suddenly flooded with Vykkers, at least 50 of them. There was no way we could take them on. I beckoned to Dave in the darkness, but I wasn't sure if he saw me, so I whispered to him to be safe.
"Okay, Dave." I began. "We need to get to that door. Follow on my signal." He might have nodded then, but I couldn't see him in the shadows. I looked on at the long, curved room and waited for the perfect moment. Then, I tugged Dave's arm out of the dark corner, and we crept towards the gaping doorway. Stepping through, I looked back. We hadn't been seen. Not yet, at least.
I glanced around for any kind of door control on this side. There was a glowing panel on the wall beside the door, which I knew must have been it. I tapped a button on the panel, which began to close the door. Which wasn't good. It screeched deafeningly as it slid closed, and the Vykkers noticed. They began to run towards the closing door, yelling at Dave and I. The door seemed to take forever to close, with the Vykkers getting ever closer and faster. Finally, it slammed shut. I heard the pounding of fists on the door. Then, it stopped. The sound that followed was the sound of levers being pulled. They were re-opening the door.
"Come on, Alan!" Dave shouted, already running in the opposite direction to the door. I followed, and we came across another lever operated door. Luckily, it had also been left open. We ran through, and again I closed it behind us. Then a third door was ahead. After passing through this final door, we dashed towards the room which housed the infamous Gabbiar auction. The Vykkers would soon be hot on out tail. Again. I grabbed Dave once more, and pulled him towards a ladder on the wall by the door. We climbed it, and at the top was another entrance to the auction room. We walked through.
The auction room was huge, and covered with velvet carpet, wall decorations, and even door panels. There were buffet table at either side of the grand room. Glukkons bustled about the room, although no Vykkers had yet arrived. Dave and I stayed in absolute silence and watched as the room began to fill. I soon realised that I had been here before. As Abe. I remembered the ending of 'Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee'. Abe possessed Lulu, won back Munch's Gabbiar. Everything was good. Now, I was about to see someone take home that can of Gabbit eggs and eat it as a delicacy.
Not long later, the auction room was full, and a Vykker with a gold monocle and black hair entered. It was Headley, the auctioneer. He walked to the podium at the end of the room and cleared his throat. The room fell silent. Dave and I watched on as the auction began.