This took longer than I thought it would and I'm still not done. I have to do split Chapter 5: Inner Recesses into two parts because I decided to include The Assignment into the story, too. I know I'm probably biting off more than I can chew with all this, but I'm really hoping this is going to pay off in the end. So please enjoy and leave a review to let me know how I'm doing.


I was at the wrecked and burning ambulance. Why was I back viewing this?

The rear door opened and Kidman crawled out, choking on the smoke. That's right, she had a way of hiding from Ruvik. I guess when I wanted a place to hide, my subconscious decided the best place to hide from Ruvik was with her. I wouldn't be able to do much here as these events already happened, but it would give me time to regroup and figure out my next move. Plus, I would get to see what Kidman had been up to.

Speaking of Kidman, she was reaching back into the ambulance for something and pulling it out. It was me, well, my body. Well that explained why I woke up out of the ambulance. She dragged my body far from the wreckage to where I woke up later.

"Hey," she said, giving my body a shake.

Of course that did nothing.

Kidman stood up. She looked at me, or rather through me. I wasn't corporeal at the moment; just an observer of something that already happened. She paused at a line of trees. I looked where she was looking and didn't see anything there. A loud pop came from the ambulance that got both our attentions. We both glanced back and then back to where Kidman saw whatever she saw, but now she acted like it was gone.

"The crash," she muttered to herself. "We weren't alone."

She looked at my body again.

"I don't want to leave you here, but I don't have a choice," she said. "I have a job to do."

She started walking on the same path that I had.

I noticed something. It wasn't dark out. When I woke up after the crash, it was dark and acting like it was going to storm. Now it was gray and cloudy.

I followed Kidman. She stumbled upon the animal carcass with the crows, but she turned a different way, choosing to go into a cave. She didn't get too far in before seeing it dropped off. She turned around to go back.

The ambulance driver, Connelly, grabbed her and tackled her to the ground. His face and body were covered in lesions and boils like a Haunted. Kidman struggled to get him off her.

"Sorry detectives," he yelled in a distorted voice. "Gives you the creeps, huh?"

"What the fuck!" screamed Kidman. She reached for her gun, but her holster was empty. "Shit!"

They struggled for another moment until Kidman pushed him back and kicked him under the chin. Her high heel stabbed the underside of Connelly's jaw. He let out a yell and started pushing her back. Kidman went over the side, her heel coming free of his head and she hit the bottom hard. Connelly looked at her for a moment before walking away.

Kidman lay at the bottom for several moments. She then picked herself up and assessed herself before taking in her surroundings.

"Shit. I've got to get out of here." She turned and went down the cave.

There were breaks in the ceiling letting light in so she could see where she was going. In one branch of the cave, there was a reclining chair, a partition, and set of drawers. All looked like they came out of Beacon. There was something on the seat. It was a file folder with three red stars, the largest star having a line cutting through the one side that looked like half a T. Or it could have been a doorway the star was passing through. Or a surgical tool - orbitoclast! That was the word!

She picked up the folder and opened it up.

KCPD CRIMINAL RECORD

CHARGE INFORMATION:

CASE # 4576-564-G7

DESCRIPTION: RECORD EXPUNGED – JUVENILE OFFENCE.

CASE # 8467-835-F4

DESCRIPTION: RECORD EXPUNGED – JUVENILE OFFENCE.

CASE # 9264-836-X3

DESCRIPTION: RECORD EXPUNGED – JUVENILE OFFENCE.

CASE # 7203-194-D3

DESCRIPTION: RECORD EXPUNGED – JUVENILE OFFENCE.

CASE # 7203-194-D3

DESCRIPTION: RECORD EXPUNGED – JUVENILE OFFENCE.

CASE # 7394-247-H3

DESCRIPTION: CRIMINAL TRESS PASS, DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY.

CASE # 8354-102-K4

DESCRIPTION: GRAND THEFT, RECEIPT OF STOLEN GOODS.

CASE # 9203-710-F4

DESCRIPTION: VAGRANCY, UNDERAGE CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOL.

CASE # 7104-846-J7

DESCRIPTION: SHOPLIFTING, RESISTING ARREST.

CASE # 7103-825-D3

DESCRIPTION: BURGLARY.

CASE # 8230-835-G5

DESCRIPTION: POSSESSION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE, WITH INTENT TO SELL.

CASE # 8493-492-W2

DESCRIPTION: ROBBERY WITH USE OF FIREARM, ASSAULT, GRAND THEFT, CRIMINAL EVASION, RESISTING ARREST, ASSAULT ON AN OFFICER.

And one would wonder how she's a detective with that record.

Kidman turned back from the dead-end and continued down another tunnel. She grabbed her head and let out a yelp. She began to run. Rocks began to fall from up top. She broke through some boards blocking her way. Finally she was at the other end of the cave. The exit was a narrow gap she had to squeeze her way through. She stopped and stared at an empty space in the forest as if there was something there.

"Leslie," she said softly.

The world went white.

When everything came back into focus, Kidman was sitting on a red sofa. Far across the room was a large desk with a man sitting behind it. His features were in shadow as the back wall was a lattice work of rectangle and L-shaped cutouts and it was backlit with a bright white light. The Administrator with a capital A.

"Leslie . . . Leslie Withers," he said.

"I'm sorry?" Kidman said, confused.

"Kid, I need you focused," the Administrator told her. "I need your attention. This is a serious matter. Everything we do is a serious matter."

"I'm ready," Kidman said.

"I'd like to think so, but conviction must be proven with action." He stood up from his chair and walked to the side of his desk. "As I was saying, your target is Leslie Withers. He's a patient at Beacon Mental Hospital, but he's something more. Simply put, we need him to run our STEM system."

"I don't understand," said Kidman. "We own Beacon. Why not just take him?"

"Our relationship with his advisor, Marcelo Jimenez, has become rather strained," he said. "The boy is a leverage piece. Jimenez plans to activate a STEM prototype at Beacon without our permission. Obviously, that unsuitable." He began to cross the room towards Kidman, but he was still in shadow. "Have no illusions; it will be dangerous. Come, take a walk. The nurses are waiting."

He walked out of the room.

Kidman remained where she was for a moment.

A meowing got her attention. A black cat with a red ribbon around its neck walked in front of her. It hopped into her lap.

"Hey there. Where did you come from?" she asked cheerfully, petting the cat.

The cat jumped down and wandered off.

Kidman got up and left the office. She stepped out into a hallway. Different plants lined the walls and the larger ones were in large glass enclosures where people were taking notes on them. Kidman went down the winding hallways until she came to a glass wall with a biometric lock on the door. Kidman scanned her hand and the door slid open. She walked across the room to where the Administrator was standing by the escalators. They both stepped on and went up.

"If Jimenez activates the system, you'll be pulled in," said the Administrator. "Hopefully he doesn't, but as a precaution we've prepared and infusion to prevent . . . contamination."

"Like a vaccine? To protect me?"

"More accurately 'to hide you'," he corrected. "We developed STEM, but there is a ghost in the system . . . something we call 'Ruvik'. It means to keep us out. This infusion should protect you to some extent."

They got off the escalator. The ceiling lights went out. They continued down another hallway.

"Why send me alone?" asked Kidman.

"You won't be alone," said the Administrator. "You'll be with your team from KPD. You'll get a call on the radio reporting an incident at Beacon. Everything will be arranged. But their consequence is of little value. In regards to your mission, they're expendable."

They finally reached the nurses. A reclining chair was set up under a large surgical light.

"Come, sit down," said the Administrator, motioning to the chair.

Kidman sat down.

"We must have that boy," he told her. "He will enable us to change everything."

"I'll come back with him," promised Kidman.

"I needn't remind you the consequences for failure," he said. "Loyalty is a sensitive subject for us. Trust is such a valued commodity in today's world. So once again I ask you: Do you stand with Mobius?"

"I do. I made my choice."

The nurse came over and inserted a large IV needle into Kidman's forearm.

"Now you must back up your words with actions," said the Administrator. "Do not waver. Now I'm going to count down, and when I'm finished I'll ask you a series of questions. Ten, nine, eight . . ."

Kidman let her head fall back and she let out a groan, the drug taking effect.

The Administrator got closer to her chair. "Seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Now I'd like to ask you some questions."

From where I was, I could see he had a scar on his left palm. It began oozing black smoke.

"Have you ever felt abandoned by the ones you trusted?"

I landed on my hands and knees hard.

"Ow," I moaned, jarred from the sudden impact. It was safe to say I wasn't simply observing anymore.

I got up and looked around at where I was. It was almost pitch black. I made out some silhouettes of what was in the room. I took a step and bumped into something. I took out my phone and turned on the flashlight. I had walked into a large desk, but it wasn't the desk that was in the archive room. This desk had sketches and art books, handwritten notes that didn't make much sense, pens and pencils, a couple volumes of manga and DVDs of various movies and anime. I shone my light around the room. There were racks of clothes, shelves of shoes, rows of wigs, and cabinets lining the wall, some with glass doors. There were display cabinets that were floor to ceiling with glass panels. Inside were full costumes on mannequins. I walked up to one and saw the 70s style outfit inside: pear colored tunic, khaki bell bottoms, and platform shoes. There was also a long blonde wig. A little plaque was placed at the bottom of the display cabinet.

MARTHA BUCKET.

"Martha Bucket?" I repeated. That was the name I used in a previous dream.

The display to the left had a late medieval dress in blue and black. The wig was black and there was also a headdress.

CECELIA LAFAYETTE.

The final costume was more modern. It was winter clothes with a dark green coat, gray turtleneck, stretch jeans, and black winter boots. The wig was ash-brown. I noticed the fingers of the mannequin had rings on – five silver rings in total, each a different color butterfly.

TEMPEST AVALON.

These were all names and clothes I wore in previous lucid dreams.

I went to the opposite end of the row to the last display case. The mannequin inside wasn't wearing anything, but it did have a plaque.

ÉLAN WEMBLY.

And here was the current character.

The lights turned on and flickered.

There was something on the table that I hadn't noticed before: a cassette player with a pair of earbud headphones. Something about it drew me to it. I picked it up and put it in my bag.

The door to the room slowly opened.

I ducked behind the desk, but nothing came through the door. I slowly walked to the door and poked my head out. The flickering lights continued in the hallway. I left the room and went down the hallway. I turned and found myself in the backstage of a theatre. I went around to the wing and stepped out onto the empty stage. The curtains were rich red velvets and pulled back to reveal the house. It was ostentatious with all its gilded carvings and plasterworks on the moldings, columns, and three balconies. The ceiling was done up in the night sky, showing the constellations. The seats were upholstered in plum and the carpet was brocade patterned in jewel tones.

A deep distorted growling broke me out of my observations. I looked up the aisle at the back of the house and saw something large moving. It stepped into the light.

"Oh," I breathed in terror.

Out stepped a lion, but not. Its pale pelt was torn at places to reveal the animatronics underneath. The mane was made up of tangled cassette film. The eyes were black and made from camera lenses. It looked at me and opened its mouth. Inside was a speaker that let out a distorted roar.

I turned and ran. I heard it charging after me. I ran backstage, throwing down a piece of scenery in its path. I saw an exit door and sprinted for it. I crashed into it and the door opened. I slammed it shut behind me. The lion roared, but it didn't try to follow me out.

"What the hell was that?" I panted.

A loud metallic clunking was coming down an adjacent hall. It sounded like someone walking in metal high-heels, but poorly. I looked around for a place to hide. It was a dead-end where I was and I wasn't going back through the door I just came through.

A light swept over the wall next to me.

"Leslie," a deep distorted voice called.

I didn't move.

The light disappeared and the clunking faded away. I trailed after it and found why whatever it had been hadn't come my way. There was a metal mesh door leading out into another hallway. The door was unlocked. I pushed it opened and stepped out. Planters were placed in the middle of the wide hallway. I saw there was a body laying near a set of double doors.

One of the doors opened.

"Hey!"

Kidman.

I squinted at her flashlight. "Shh! Are you trying to get us killed, Kidman?" I hissed, going up to her so we didn't need to talk so loud.

She lowered her light with a surprised look. "How did you get here? How do know my name?"

"Sebastian told me," I replied.

"You've seen Sebastian? What about anyone else? Leslie? The doctor?" She added mentioning Jimenez as an afterthought.

"I was with them, too, but then we got separated," I told her. "Ruvik separated Jimenez and Leslie from us first and then Sebastian and I. I found the guy driving the ambulance – Connelly, was it? – found his body a while back. He got turned into one of those Haunted, those monsters we've encountered."

"Shit," swore Kidman. "Where were you last?"

"Some hell pit basement being chased by Haunted and the The Ring reject," I replied. "And trust me, you don't want to be caught by her." A phantom pain of where Laura gripped me went through my ribs. "Maybe this place will be a little better."

"Something tells me that it won't," said Kidman, looking down at the body on the floor. She took a step to walk around me and got a little too close to the body for comfort.

I reached out and pulled her away.

"What was that for?" she snapped.

I kept my eye on the body on the floor. "I think some of these guys are playing possum. Be careful."

Kidman gave my words some thought and looked at the body. "What's this?" Next to the body was a cassette tape. She reached down and picked it up, careful to avoid the body.

ENTRY #231.

"An audio journal?" I surmised.

"Maybe, but we don't have a tape player to play it in," said Kidman.

"Actually, we do." I got out the cassette player.

"Always carry old school electronics with you?" asked Kidman.

"Found not too long ago." I handed her one of the earbud headphones. I popped the tape in and hit play.

"I'm afraid that the fragile mental states of the subjects are limiting our studies."

"That's Jimenez," I whispered to Kidman.

"Mobius wants us to move past Beacon patients and on to more 'stable' people. They want to get STEM closer to its intended use.

"Would they see the world in the same way? Would a 'sane' mind weather the psychically draining experience?

"I had that dream again. I entered the STEM myself . . ." The tape ended there.

"We need to keep moving," Kidman said, handing back the earbud. "The sooner we find the others, the sooner we can get out of here. Come on."

We moved on around the corner. I could hear a Haunted up ahead. Kidman and I crouched behind some planters.

"I got an idea," Kidman whispered to me. "Get ready to move. Just stay on me."

I nodded.

She waited a second. "Come here!" she called loudly.

The Haunted clearly heard her and hissed.

Kidman moved around the planter. I stayed right on her like she told me to. When the Haunted came around to the side of the planter we had been on, Kidman crouch-walked on the other side of the planters. I followed after her.

There was a sliding metal door that was open a crack. Kidman went up to it and started to pull it open.

"Get in," she told me, holding the opening.

I weaseled my way around her and into the room. She stepped through and the doors slammed behind her.

Kidman looked back at the closed door. "Any tips you want to share with me about those things?"

"Haunted? They'll react to sound, but they're generally pretty stupid," I told her. "At least the ones we came across. You seem to know where you're going. Anything you wanna share with me?"

"Just that I may be able to find a way out of here," said Kidman. "I could use a weapon."

"All I've got is a slingshot," I told her.

We looked around the room. I saw a safe with a keypad combo sitting on a desk.

"Check this out," I said.

The key pad had a couple bloody fingerprints. I pressed the one with the most blood and then went through down to the least amount. The safe clicked and I opened the door.

"Ew," I groaned. I had forgotten the insides of these safes were fleshy. A single piece of paper was pinned inside with an orbitoclast. I extracted the orbitoclast and pulled the paper off with two fingers.

"What is that?" Kidman asked.

I held up the paper. It was clearly torn off of a larger note. The handwriting was smudged and I couldn't make anything out.

"Not sure," I replied. "But it could help us."

"How?"

"I've been finding clues to what's been happening here. Newspapers, missing posters, random notes left by people. I haven't found a lot that makes sense, at least until that tape. If we can find more of them, maybe we can find a way out of here. I've found stuff laying in random places." I tucked the letter scrap away for later.

Kidman went to the door across the room. It was blocked off by a garbage bin. She pushed it aside and opened the door. We stepped out into another hallway. Kidman crouched down behind another garbage bin. There was a bottle at her feet.

"We need to see if there are any more Haunted in the hallway," she said.

I picked up the bottle and threw it across the hallway and into another room. A Haunted came running, parts of its body actually glowing in the dim light. It went to the source of the noise.

Kidman tapped my arm and started running back the way the Haunted came. She stopped at a vent shaft and opened it up for us. We climbed inside and the vent shut behind us. We looped around to another hallway and a Haunted ran by the opening. Kidman waited a moment before opening the vent. We got out and ducked into an office. Kidman picked up the phone and dialed a number. The phone in the next room rang. A Haunted ran in and investigated a noise. Kidman was quick to run out and close the door and activated the electronic lock.

"It won't get out," she whispered to me. "Follow me."

We turned down another hallway.

"We'll need a key card to get into another section of the building," said Kidman. "One of the employees kept one in a room back here." She opened another vent. "I think this one leads into the room."

We climbed through it. Kidman opened the vent on the other side and got out. Something fell in front of the vent, blocking my way out.

"You okay?" Kidman asked.

"I'm fine," I said. "Get the key card."

Kidman walked away from the vent.

Something started beating on the door.

"Kid, hide!" I hissed.

The door was kicked in and I saw the legs of a Haunted run into the room. The heavy metal clunking footsteps were back. I saw a pair of legs in nylon stockings and stylish red pumps walk by. There was a loud, wet crunch and something hit the floor.

"Leslie," I heard a distorted voice say in the room. "Leslie . . . Leslie." The last one sounded like Kidman whispering. The legs walked out of the room.

"Kidman?" I whispered.

"I'm here," said Kidman. "I'm fine. Go back the way we came. I'll meet you at the room we locked the Haunted in."

I crawled back through the vent and out into the hallway. Kidman was walking by.

"What was that?" I asked her, pointing back at the room.

"A monster," Kidman replied. "Come on, let's get out of here."

The door we needed was around the corner. Kidman swiped the keycard to open the double doors. The hallway inside was dark. At the other end, the doors opened on their own.

"This way," Kidman told me. She ran through the doors, across the room, and to another set of doors.

This door had a handprint scanner. Kidman put her hand on the scanner.

A computer voice announced, "Agent Status: Terminated. Authorization invalid."

"What? Terminated?" Kidman said, confused. She looked to her right. There was a desk with a computer. "Maybe I can force it open with the computer."

I followed her over and she started tapping the keys to get the door open.

"Analyzing data," the computer said.

The power went out. There was a loud clanging above and ceiling grate crashed down. I saw a bright light through the mass of vents and pipes. I grabbed Kidman's arm and pulled her down under the desk. Something else fell from above. The metal heeled footsteps tapped around the room. With the footsteps also came the sound of squeaky metal that was in need of WD-40. A beam of bright light swept over the wall and floor. It then came behind the desk. Since we were both under the desk, the light didn't hit us.

"Leslie," a voice whispered. It started crying, or laughing.

The light and footsteps moved away.

Kidman and I popped our heads up over the desk to see what was going on.

A tall figure covered in tattered sheets walked over to the wall. Its head was a large spotlight. Shade, my mind supplied.

Shade focused its light on the wall and a set of swinging doors appeared. It ducked down and walked through. Once it was through the doors closed and disappeared, leaving behind the three stars with the orbitoclast image – the Mobius logo.

"That thing . . . used its light," Kidman said quietly.

She walked over to the door and held up her flashlight to the logo. The doors appeared. She kicked them open.

I ran after her. The hallway we stepped into was the one with the plants I saw outside of the Administrator's office.

The doors swung shut behind us and Kidman whipped around to look at me.

"What?" I asked.

Kidman looked around. "Nothing. Come on."

She took a few steps before crying out and grabbing her head with one hand.

"Kidman?"

She didn't respond, just kept walking. After a moment, she put her hand down and started jogging.

"This is from before," she said to herself. "Leslie . . . is he really here?"

She had to be reliving something that I couldn't see or hear. I wondered if that had anything to do with the fact that she had the infusion and my subconscious wasn't allowing me to see what she was experiencing in her mind because of it.

We went into the next room, the one with a bank of windows revealing the cubicles on the lower floor. There was someone walking, someone in a white hospital uniform.

"Leslie is here!" Kidman said. "Okay, I gotta get to him before anything else does."

She started running.

"Kidman, wait!" I ran after her.

The automatic door opened. This room had a red sofa.

Kidman was heading for the steps next to the sofa when she stopped, panting hard. She sat down on the sofa. The black cat with a red ribbon walked out of the shadows and meowed. It hopped up on the sofa with her.

"Sure you don't have anything to share with me?" I asked her.

"What do you mean?" Kidman asked.

"Don't play dumb. You don't just know your way around here. You work here. Or you did. Care to share?"

I already knew she was an agent for Mobius and her mission was to get Leslie, but I wanted her to say it out loud.

Kidman stood up, disturbing the cat. "We need to go." She started up the steps.

"Can I trust you, Kid?" I asked.

She stopped, but didn't look back. "Yeah. Yeah, you can trust me." She kept going.

Yeah, that sounded very reassuring.

I followed her into the next hallway, this one with the cutout lattice work like in the Administrator's office. A vent cover fell from the ceiling. I looked around to see if anything had heard that. Nothing did.

Kidman forced another door opened. We went through and it snapped shut behind us. There was a staircase going down. We went for it and heard a deep distorted growl. I looked over the side and saw the pale lion padding up the stairs. Kidman saw it, too. She pointed back the way we came. There was an office we could lock ourselves in. I tried the door and found it locked.

"This way," Kidman whispered. She ran around the side of the office.

There was a narrow vent that was open. Kidman laid on her stomach and pulled herself in.

I heard the lion growl again and could see the top of its mane. I dove through the opening.

I found another problem. Some of the walls were windows.

"Come on," said Kidman. She ran to the other end of the room.

I jumped up and followed her. We hid up against a wall where nothing from the hallway could see us.

I looked around the room. There was a longue area with sofas, a coffee setup, water cooler, and pictures on the walls. In front of us was another sofa and table. The rest of the office at cubicles that were only private by their neighbors. Anyone from the outside could look in and see what people were working on.

Kidman peered out a window. "I think it's gone."

I let out a sigh of relief.

"Look, there's another of those safes." Kidman pointed to the table in front of us. Sitting on it was another safe.

I inspected it. This one didn't have a keypad, but three combination knobs. I looked around the room again. "There's got to be a clue to the combination."

"Who cares? Let's just go before something else comes after us," said Kidman.

"I care! There could be something that could help us," I argued.

"A bunch of torn, smudged pieces of paper? Like that's going to help us," Kidman snapped. "Look, I know how to get out of here, but I'm not going to stand around for you to play detective."

"I'm not stopping you."

Kidman froze.

"I'm not stopping you," I repeated. "If you want to go, go. I'll find my own way out." I went back to looking for clues to the combination.

"Whatever." Kidman pretty much stomped off back to the vent.

Where were the clues? They had to be hidden here somewhere.

Kidman growled. "Come on! Before either the lion or the light monster comes back."

I gasped. "That thing used its light." Light was the answer!

Kidman stopped. "What?"

I turned to her with a grin. "I need your flashlight."

"Fine." Kidman walked back over and handed me her flashlight.

I turned it on and started shining it around the room. As I passed it over the paintings, numbers appeared.

"Red ten, blue nine, yellow seven," I muttered to myself. I handed Kidman back the flashlight and went to the safe. I touched the first dial and it lit up red. I turned the dial to ten and repeated the same process with the other two dials.

The safe unlocked and I opened it up. It was another fleshy interior with a note scrap pinned inside. This piece was also smudged. I put it with the other one.

"Got it," I said. "Let's go."

We climbed out of the office and went down the stairs. Kidman slowly opened the door and dropped down into a crouch. I followed after her, hearing the rasping of the Haunted. Kidman looked back at me and then pointed across the office to the doors on the other side. We needed to get through them. There was plenty of cover in the form of cubicles.

I spotted one Haunted on the left side of the room and another Haunted pacing in front of the door we needed to get through. I crawled back and picked up a bottle that was laying on the floor. I came back and nodded at Kidman. She pointed to herself and then at the Haunted by the door. She then pointed to me and then at the Haunted on the left. I understood. She takes one and I take the other.

We crawled into the room and split up. I went to the left and waited. I could see an open door with an electronic lock on it. I threw the bottle into the room. The Haunted snarled and charged into it. I followed behind it and hit the lock to shut it.

I came around the cubicles and went for the door. On the other side of the room I heard Kidman.

"Come here!"

The Haunted ran to the sound of her voice.

I waited for a few tense seconds. Kidman appeared around the other side of the cubicle next to the door. She had a keycard in hand. She swiped it and the doors opened. I ran after her, the Haunted turning around at the sound of the door opening. We ran in and closed the doors behind us. The Haunted pounded on them, trying to get to us.

"This way."

Kidman led me into a concrete corridor. The door at the other end was locked. We took the vent shaft next to it instead. We got out next to a staircase. Kidman ran around to go down the stairs without waiting for me. I jogged after her. At the bottom she tried a set of doors but found them locked.

I looked at the planters full of plants arranged next to the wall. It was like they were framing a doorway. On either side was part of the Mobius logo. On the left was the three stars and on the right was the orbitoclast. The stars were lit with a bright spotlight, projecting the shadow on the wall. There wasn't any light to project a shadow for the orbitoclast half.

"Hey, Kidman," I said, not looking away from the shadows. "Need your light again."

Kidman walked over to the sculptures. "The logo's incomplete."

"Try making the other half of it," I said, pointing at the unlit sculpture.

She moeved over and lined up her flashlight to make the shadow to complete the logo.

A set of double doors appeared. We hurried through them before they disappeared.

This new room was cordoned off in sections. We went around the sections to try to find another door.

"The air feels so heavy in here," commented Kidman.

I nodded. I noticed a work desk, some cabinets, and a chair was the sitting back away from the desk. There was the Mobius logo painted on the wall below the cabinets.

"Hey, Kidman. Shine your light on that." I pointed to the logo.

Kidman held up her light and the area she was pointing it at warped. The rest of the desk appeared along with another cassette tape. I took it off the desk.

ENTRY #16.

I put it in the cassette player and handed the one earbud to Kidman. It was Jimenez's voice on the tape again.

"After months of secrets, subterfuge, and indoctrination, they brought me into their fold. This place is . . . elaborate to say the least. Despite the modernistic visage, the research they have been doing here seems to date back to over a century ago. This place has history and from what I can grasp, this facility is only one branch of many. Institutions, powerful families; their reach seems grand, and therefore the possibilities for me seem equally as rich. Clearly my own unique methods at Beacon have piqued their interest.

"Most of what the researchers have been working on, however, seems archaic by today's standards.

"They told me budget is of no concern; results are the only thing that matter. Juggling duties here and at the hospital seems manageable, but Ruben . . . Comparatively insignificant, but even at his young age, his studies are remarkable. Perhaps one day he will even assist me with my work here."

The tape stopped and I took the earbud back.

"This was #16," I said. "The last one was #231. This one's old."

Kidman and I turned around and two ghostly figures formed. Kidman stepped back.

I touched her arm. "They're not real."

One figure was Jimenez and the other was the faceless Administrator. The two men were facing each other.

"This is not a negotiation, Dr. Jimenez," said the Administrator. "We're expecting to reach a solution, hence the founding of this facility."

"I understand that, and I appreciate the time you've given me," replied Jimenez.

"Time has a limit, and we are approaching that point," the Administrator said coldly. "If you've outspent your usefulness, we will need to find someone more suitable." He began to walk away.

Jimenez surged forward. "Let's not be so hasty."

The Administrator paused.

"I've done tests with our visual diagnosis," said Jimenez, "and there is something I must speak to you about. Please come with me. The projector is in the next room."

Jimenez and the Administrator walked for a wall. When the two memories got close, a set of doors appeared. They faded away.

Kidman and I went through the doors and down a flight of stairs. This new area was filled with shelves and lab equipment. We crossed it to go into the next room.

I felt like we were being watched. There were more floor to ceiling windows that looked into another room. I saw the silhouette of someone standing inside the room, someone in a robe - Ruvik.

I gasped and the figure disappeared.

"What's wrong?" Kidman asked, standing in the doorway.

"Nothing," I lied. "I thought I saw something."

He knew we were here. That infusion probably hid Kidman for a little while, but he knew we were here.

The next room we entered had partitions blocking off part of the room. We walked around and found a projection screen, a couple stools, and a projection stand, but no projector.

"Maybe it's like the table," Kidman said. She held up her flashlight and focused it on the stand. The old-fashion projector flickered into existence. It began playing a series of inkblots with dots to line up the eyes with and the Mobius logo, all the while playing a distorted version of "Clair de Lune".

The Administrator's ghost appeared on one stool while Jimenez's stood off to the side and shared his theory.

"It's my hypothesis that we haven't succeeded because so far we've only been using visuals, audio stimuli, passive influence. Even on my patients with limited mental capacity, this method is rejected by the user. If we are to accomplish what we intend, we will need to refocus; we need directed access."

"And what do you propose?" asked the Administrator.

"It's, how shall I say, a 'pet project' of sorts; a mecho-chemical process. With it, we should be able to have a direct influence on the individual, potentially even access their subconscious. I have the data in the next room. Let me show you."

The ghosts vanished and the projection continued to play.

"That video," Kidman said slowly. "I remember they showed me that when I was brought here."

We backtracked out of the room. The ghosts reappeared and walked through another wall, revealing another door. Kidman and I walked through the door and found curtained off areas. Behind these sheer curtains were bulletin boards and desks.

I noticed the bulletin board in the first area had a large empty space with the Mobius logo.

"The logos again," I stated. "Kidman, mind shining some light on things?"

Kidman pointed her flashlight at the bulletin board. A large diagram flickered into view. It showed the above view of a machine with three tubs with people in them surrounding it.

"This is what Jimenez was working on," said Kidman.

We went over to the next section. Kidman revealed another diagram, this one a side view. This time it was easier to see that the tubs were hooked into a machine in the middle. Or to be more accurate, the people were hooked into the machine. The last section we could get into had a diagram of the tub with a person in it and how they were hooked up to the machine.

We walked back out of the section. The ghosts reappeared.

"This research here, this is exactly what we've been looking for," said Jimenez. "I call it . . . 'STEM'.' I'm sure you, and your superiors, will find this most satisfactory."

"You mentioned the design was from a pupil of yours," said the Administrator. "In that case, where do you fit in?"

"He is an . . . unstable individual," Jimenez replied. "Perhaps it is better that I continue to be the one to contact in this situation."

"I'd like you to bring this man in," said the Administrator. "We should all be able to have a productive conversation. What did you say his name was?"

Jimenez hesitated. "Ruben . . . Ruben Victoriano."

The lights went out and the ghosts disappeared.

I narrowed my eyes and turned to the door. Jimenez, the thief. If he hadn't gotten greedy, maybe things would have turned out a lot differently.

Kidman walked for the door.

There was a squeaking and something hit the door from the other side. Kidman and I both stepped back. Shade had caught up to us and was on the other side of the door trying to get in. The door jerked again with a loud bang and then a third time with a bright light coming through the crack.

"Kidman," Shade moaned in a distorted voice. Its footsteps faded away.

A moment later the doors opened inward. No light on the other side assured us that Shade had in fact moved on.

Kidman led the way again, crossing a cluttered hallway. At the other end was a set of automatic doors that were opening partially then slamming shut repeatedly. Kidman turned left to another door, this one with a heavy bolt keeping it locked.

I heard a breath, but it didn't come from me or Kidman. It came from the slamming doors. I got closer and looked in. I could see someone standing in the room.

"What are you doing?" Kidman asked. "We need to go."

"There's someone there," I said.

"What?" Kidman came over with the flashlight. She aimed it into the room.

There was a young woman with long black hair in a red dress standing in the room. The doors closed and opened again and she was closer. Closer she kept coming each time the doors closed until she was right in front of them. She faced us and giggled.

"Laura," I breathed.

A lion's paw shot out and tried to swipe at us. We staggered back out of the way. The lion roared, pushing its way through the doors.

"Come on!" Kidman ran over to the other door and pulled back the bolt.

The heavy door opened and we slipped through. It slammed and bolted itself behind us.

"You okay?" I asked quickly. "Did it get you?"

"No, it missed," said Kidman. She looked back at the door. "That door should keep it from following us." She sighed. "We don't have far to go."

"Where are we going anyway?" I asked.

"Biometrics," she answered. "Some of these doors need special clearance to open. If I get my status reinstated, we can get through those doors."

We walked down a disabled escalator.

"I . . . I don't know what came over me . . ." a male voice said in the distance. "I haven't been feeling well, but . . ."

"Look, let's get out of here." That was Sebastian! "There's something wrong with this place."

We reached the bottom at the escalator. Through a barred window we could see two people walking up the steps in a larger room.

"That's where Leslie was before," said Kidman. "And now those two . . . where are they headed?"

There was a door leading to the steps Sebastian and his partner, Joseph, just went up, but it had a biometric lock on it.

"Hey, down here," Kidman said to me. She was part way down a staircase.

I followed after her. At the bottom of the stairs was an elevator.

A cat meowed to our right. Tucked against the wall was a red sofa. The black cat got up and stretched and jumped down.

"What is with this cat?" Kidman asked.

It came up to her and started rubbing against her leg.

"Did you have a cat in the past?" I asked.

She looked at me weird. "Why would you ask that?"

I shrugged. "Just wondering. Maybe it keeps showing up because your mind thinks it's important."

Kidman looked at me warily. "This way. Biometrics is an elevator ride away." She went over and hit the button to call the elevator.

The door open and we got in. Kidman hit the button and the doors closed and the elevator started moving. A moment later, the doors opened and Kidman ran out.

"Find Leslie and bring him back," she said to herself. "That's all that matters."

She ran up to a computer.

I trailed after her.

The computer dispensed an ID card of some sort and Kidman put it in her pocket.

"Please guide subject to construct facial, hand, and neural profile," the computer said.

"I don't think anyone's gonna help me out with this," said Kidman. She ran into another room.

I followed, but stayed in the doorway and watched her get her picture taken.

Kidman slipped the card in and waited for her picture to be taken. After a bright flash, the computer gave back her card.

"Facial profile constructed. Matches deactivated account: Juli Kidman. Reinstating profile."

Kidman went over to a pair of sliding glass doors. I followed after her. Bodies laid on the floor leading down to the next area. Kidman ignored them. The next area was made up of two rooms divided by windows. The front room also had a body in it. Something loud banged in the vents. Again, Kidman ignored the sound and went to the back room where there was a machine on a cart. She put the card in it and placed her right hand on the scanner. A cover came down over her hand.

There was more banging and the vent covers came off. Two mutated humans crab walked out, their bodies twisted, torso opened and ribs sticking up like spikes. They were covered in pulsating lumps that glowed yellow, heads hanging limply and swinging as they crawled. These weren't simple Haunted, these were exploding Cadavers.

I backed out of their way, climbing up on a desk. From the other room I could see Kidman trying to get her hand scanned as one of them pushed at the cart the machine was on.

"Hand profile constructed," announced the computer, the scanner cover lifting. "Please complete neural profile to complete authorization."

The Cadavers circled around the desk I was standing on, blocking the way out. Kidman and I made eye contact through the windows. She pointed back the way we came. I pointed to her and then to the open vent. Kidman nodded and disappeared into the vent.

Now I needed to get out of here. Cadavers were blind, but they reacted to sounds and movement. I moved slowly to the end of the desk, preparing to make a break for it. I jumped off the desk and ran out the door. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Cadavers' lumps turn red. I raced up the stairs, the Cadavers following me. I searched for a place to get away from them. There was a catwalk that spanned the length of the maintenance area below, but it was lifted up and had a biometric scanner to raise and lower it. I couldn't use the scanner, but I could climb. I used the crossbars of the catwalk to climb up and away from the Cadavers. I rolled onto the top and both Cadavers exploded below me.

I got to my feet and felt my watch vibrate. It was pointing across the catwalk.

"Now you alert me."

I hadn't had an alert since I started following Kidman. I jogged to the other end of the catwalk and jumped down. The room I went into next had the neural scanner. Kidman would have to come through here. I looked down at my watch and saw the compass pointing at the table and also to a ladder outside. Then the needle zeroed in on the table.

I went over to the table and picked up the cassette tape on it. This one wasn't an audio journal.

RECRUITMENT.

I put it in the player and listened.

"Kidman, Juli," said a woman's voice. "You've assembled quite the resume, I see."

"They taught you to read at the police academy. I'm impressed," Kidman said sarcastically.

"Your attitude won't be necessary today," said the woman, cop, agent, whatever she was.

"What is this place?" Kidman demanded. "Why am I here?"

"You've been arrested, Ms. Kidman, and you're currently being detained. I'm sure even you could decipher that," the agent said snootily.

"That's not what I asked," said Kidman. "This isn't a regular interrogation room. They don't give you cushy chairs when you're about to be sent to lockup."

Some flicked some papers.

"No current address, on your own since fourteen. A runaway, it seems. Quiet impressive you've made it this long without coming to your senses. If your street smarts are that keen, I'd imagine you'd have turned yourself around by now."

"It's more about survival," said Kidman. "You think I'm pissed that I got caught? At least I get free food in jail. It's all good to me."

"What if I told you that today could be different for you? You're a smart kid. You've got nothing to lose, no one to miss you. A person with those qualities could be open to very specific opportunities."

"What are you saying?" asked Kidman. "You offering me a Get Out of Jail Free card or something?"

"Not quite that, but something close."

"I'm listening."

The recording ended.

I took out the tape and put it in my bag.

My watch vibrated.

CHECK RADIO.

Check radio?

I switched the player from tape to FM radio. All I got was static. I started turning the channel wheel slowly.

"Smells like blood."

I paused turning the wheel. It wasn't clear, but it sounded like Sebastian. I tried to pull the station in better.

"There's no going back . . ." roared the distorted voice of Haunted Connelly.

"You're our backup."

Sebastian again.

"Can't be real . . ."

Jimenez that time.

"Hey, where's Joseph?"

Sebastian.

"Everyone must be dead!"

Haunted Connelly again.

"Settle down, Leslie . . ."

Jimenez.

There was a big crackle of static that made me cringe.

"If the system is activated, you'll hear a high-pitched noise." That was the Administrator. "From then, we can't do anything to help."

"What's going to happen to me?" Kidman's voice came through the radio.

"All I can say is that it will be . . . unsettling. But Leslie will be in there with you. You'll need to find him."

Another big burst of static.

"Don't you ever forget. You're one of us now."

The channel started to go out again. I quickly pulled it back in.

"You'll experience things that won't seem real, but you have to stay focused," the Administrator was saying. "It will take you a while to get your bearings, but you'll be better off than the others."

"And about the others -," Kidman started to say.

"I told you before: completely expendable. They have no bearing on the mission. If they get in the way . . . you know what to do."

"Hey!"

I jumped and let out a yell. Kidman was standing in front of me.

"How did you get over here?" she asked.

"I went around," I answered. "I had to climb up the walkway, but I made it."

She reached for something in her pocket. "Here's your scrap paper." She shoved it into my hand.

"Huh?"

"I knew you wanted the stupid things and I wasn't going to let you crawl all the way back there with those things just to get it," Kidman said sharply. "You'd get yourself killed."

Kidman went over to the neural scanner and activated it. The machine scanned her head.

"Neural profile completed. Profile matches terminated agent Juli Kidman. Termination reason: insubordination. Profile reinstated, but data sent to central Mobius for analysis."

"Insubordination?" Kidman questioned. "That doesn't make sense. Whatever . . . I should be able to open those doors now."

She walked out the door and to the catwalk. She placed her hand on the scanner and it lowered.

"So far, so good," I commented.

We ran across and went back to the elevator. Kidman opened the door and a Haunted ran out. I got behind it and gave it a kick in the back. Kidman and I ran inside the elevator and the doors closed.

"That was close," I said.

Something landed on top of the elevator. We both crouched down and waited. The door opened up and we made a break for it. We ran up the stairs and Kidman put her hand on the scanner. The door opened for us. There was another set up steps leading up.

I looked to my left and saw another safe. "Kidman." I ran over to it. This safe had sixteen buttons to press.

Kidman followed me. "Another one? We need to find the others before they get too far ahead of us."

I looked around for any clues. Over on the balcony, I saw something painted in red. I ran over to it. There were sixteen squares painted on the concrete wall of the balcony.

"Light, light," I muttered, trying to get my phone out.

A strong flashlight lit up the wall, causing some of the squares to disappear.

I looked over at Kidman. "Thanks."

"Just get the pattern," she said.

I memorized the pattern. "Odds, evens, first two, last two." I raced back over to the safe and pressed the buttons. The lit up when I pressed them. The safe clicked and I opened the door to get the scrap out. I had it all done before Kidman walked back. "And now we go."

We went back around the way we came.

"There's another elevator downstairs," Kidman told me. "Sebastian and Joseph may have taken it."

As we got closer, the elevator went up the clear shaft. Sebastian and Joseph had their backs to us.

"Okay, they're not that far ahead," I said.

We turned to the right and ran down the steps.

"Oh, god . . ." we heard above us. Glass shattered. "No . . . No!" The screaming was cut off with a crunch and a splatter.

Kidman and I looked at each other. I pointed vigorously at the steps to keep going down. We went down the final flight and found more bodies and blood. On the large container next to the door was another cassette tape.

ENTRY #229.

I got out the tape player and handed an earbud to Kidman.

"Do we have time for this?" she whispered.

I didn't answer, but shoved the tape in the player.

"Patients emerging from the STEM are becoming more erratic," Jimenez said. "Their pathologies seem to be amplified by the experience now. Even worse, patients now seem to experience each other's psychological trauma. It's as if the users' deepest fears linger within the encephalon of the system, even after the session is over.

"The most concerning thing are their most recent statements. Every single patient claims to see a hooded figure slowly approaching them. Could it be him? His consciousness existing as a ghost in the system?

"My curiosity has never been piqued like this. I want to know. I want to see what they see. But it's too risky . . . for now."

The door next to us opened.

"This way." Kidman handed the earbud back to me.

We went around a hallway with several bodies laying in it. There were some barred windows showing what was in the next room we were coming up on. It looked to be filled with servers with the elevator on the far side.

We went around the corner to the doors. They were open a couple inches already. Kidman pried them open enough for her to get through. She squeezed in and then the doors snapped shut completely, separating us. I tried to get my fingers in to get it open, but it was no use. I ran around to one of the windows and tapped on it to get her attention.

"I'll find another way," I said loudly, exaggerating my mouth movement and hoping she could figure out what I was saying. I stepped away from the window.

"Wait!" she shouted, her voice muffled.

I ran back the way we came and up the stairs. There had to be another way out of here.

Static crackled.

"Élan!" I heard Sebastian call from above me. But something was wrong with the voice. It sounded like he was yelling through a crappy PA system. "Élan, where are you?"

I didn't respond. This wasn't Sebastian. There was nowhere to hide on the stairs. I crept back along the landing, watching the top of the stairs.

The edge of a cassette tape mane appeared followed by the rest of the lion's face. It stared down with its lens eyes, letting out a growl.

I had nothing to defend myself with. "Oh, crud."

The lion pounced, leaping down the stairs. I dodged to the left and started running up the stairs. The lion crashed on the landing and scrambled to right itself. I didn't look back as I ran. I reached the top of the stairs and ran across the large room.

"Get away, get away, get away now!" I panted.

I jerked upwards as if gravity was reversed. My back hit the ceiling hard, knocking the wind out of me.

"Élan?"

I opened my eyes and saw Sebastian and Joseph standing over me, guns not quite pointed at me, but raised in case I attacked.

I let out a groan. "You gotta stop pointing your gun at me."


And here is where I thought it would be a good place to break the chapter. If I kept going it, would be another 8k+ words the chapter wouldn't be out until next month. I already started the next chapter, but I may have to take a step back and figure out how I want to tackle it. I didn't really think it through with adding The Assignment and eventually The Consequence to the story. I'll be back soon.