"How will we do that Holly?" asked the bodyguard. Holly walked over to the shuttle port.
"Butler, I don't think this is the only way down." Holly quickly took a survey of their surroundings. There was a work station next to the port and peeking over the service desk Holly could see a door way with what would have been a red light over the top if it had been on.
"What did you find" inquired Butler, leaning down to see what Holly was looking at.
"That," pointed Holly "is a doorway down to the lower level. In the grander days of the LEP, terminals were larger, much larger."
"I'm not complaining." commented Butler as he straitened up to his full hight. Holly smiled.
"Well I'm afraid that not the whole thing will have such grand ceilings." Holly was purely referring to their hight as there was nothing grand about the industrial warehouse other than it's dimensions and even that would have been a difficult conclusion to come to if you weren't a fairy.
Holly jumped over the service desk and found to her lack of surprise that the door she had shown Butler was unlocked and opened easily. She turned around to find Butler trying to squeeze himself over the service desk and into the small box that contained its none existent workers. She backed up through the door and down a few steps to avoid being knocked down by the human.
After Butler worked himself through the door and sat on the top of the steps Holly thought it was safe to start walking down. The stairwell was dark and cold and she could hear Butler behind her, half walking half sliding down the too small space. Holly had turned her helmet lamp on and could see that the stairs lead down deeper into the Earth than she would have expected.
"Are you sure the LEP didn't build grand ceilings below too?" asked Butler.
"Yes," Holly began "I am sure." They descended awhile before Holly said, "We should have made it to the lower offices by now, actually we should have walked passed three levels of lower offices by now. Something about this isn't right."
"You know more about it than I do," conceded Butler, "but what would Opal do with a space this large? Surely she's fingered out that the dramatic schemes she orchestrates do not work."
"Once a thespian always a thespian." replied Holly in a sing song voice.
"Funny." Remarked Butler grimly.
The rest of the stairs were descended by the pair in silence. Neither of them were looking forward to what they would fined at the end.
"All right, Butler, we must be getting close so here's the plan…" started Holly.
"You're coming up with plans now!" came a voice from down the hall. Holly knew that voice.
"What have you done with my friend!?" screamed Holly. She began running down the hallway, anything to get the neck that made that voice and wrap her hands around it.
"Holly wait-" Butler warned. Butler had no way of descending at Holly's speed and was quickly left behind. His suspicion that this was a set up was confirmed when he heard the the slam of a metal door.
Butler thought he could make out muffled yelling from down the hallway, but he wasn't sure. He sighed. This was bad but it was his job to stay calm and take the best course of action at a time like this. He paused a moment, thinking. This was a trap. He could go back but it would take awhile and the door was probably locked leaving him trapped. The only real option was to descend into this mess and -dare he think it- hope for the best.
~Several Minuets Later~
Butler had finally reached the point of no return. There was a door in front of him and it wasn't locked. He opened it.
Butler's eyes had adjusted to the darkness left by the absence of Holly's helmet but he still struggled to make out the room he entered. He stood there for a moment squinting. There was a whoosh behind him as the previous door closed behind him. He didn't move. The situation was evident. There were two more doors leading out of the small room, one to his right and one two his left. After twisting the handle on the right one Butler swung round and threw open the door to his left ready for what ever was waiting for him on the other side.
Or so he thought.