Chapter 74: Aerith Gainsborough and The Basement of Idiots
After my eyesight was completely back to normal, we continued on our way.
Chrissy kept scanning the walls, hoping for find evidence her baby might be nearby.
It was starting to break my heart; I knew her chances of finding her son were dwindling.
And all because her husband was a candidate.
It made me wonder what would happen to her if she did manage to escape wherever we were.
Soon, the white hallway came to an end, and we were not standing at a door with a simple Camelot handle.
There was a sign on the door that read: WARNING: BASEMENT OF IDIOTS
"Basement of idiots?" I said aloud. "I wonder how bad."
"One way to find out!" Chrissy said as she opened the door.
Sure enough, a large basement lay beyond; or at least it was a room furnished like one. There were blue concrete walls, and a tiled floor. Pipes were all over the ceiling. To the right near the stairs, there was what appeared to be a giant fireplace.
There were seven occupants in the basement, four men and three women. All seemed in our age group, except one of the men, who had glasses, a big white mustache, and appeared to be in his fifties, and one of the women, who had short blond hair and was wearing a business suit. The two younger women were a brunette and a ravenhead. The three younger men were blonde, red-haired, and bald.
"Why, hello!" greeted the brunette sitting on a nearby sofa.
Chrissy decided to cut right to the chase.
"Has anyone come this way?" she asked. "Perhaps a toddler?"
All seven of them laughed in unison.
"Oh, honey!" cackled the ravenhead. "No way! This place isn't for kids! We're about to have a party in here. And it's going to totally suck!"
Chrissy turned to me.
"I don't like the sound of that," she whispered.
I then took a whiff.
I smelled something sweet. It wasn't marijuana, but it was definitely something out of the ordinary.
"So who are you guys, anyway?" the bald guy asked.
"I'm Chrissy," she greeted. "This is Aerith, and this is Sephiroth."
The seven of them began to crack up in unison again.
"Sephiroth's been dead and gone for four years!" the redhead insisted. "Ever since the Nibelheim incident!"
Sephiroth let out a sigh.
I clutched his arm, offering him my support.
"How did you guys get here?" Chrissy asked. "Were you kidnapped?"
"No," replied the blond woman. "We were invited."
Just then, we all noticed the old guy wandering toward the fireplace.
"Hey!" the blond man announced. "He's going for it!"
Chrissy, Sephiroth, and I watched as the middle-aged man wandered closer and closer to the fireplace.
"Do it, man, do it!" encouraged the redhead.
Finally, the middle-aged man reached the fireplace.
He stepped in.
Suddenly, he was pulled up by a powerful updraft.
A moment later, everyone heard a sound.
It was the sound of human flesh being sliced by a blade.
The six "tenants" of the basement laughed again.
I was terrified; I grabbed Sephiroth's arm and squeezed it.
Chrissy, realizing that these people weren't going to be any great help, eyed the stairs.
"Can we use those stairs to get out of here?" she asked.
"You can try," the older blond woman replied.
Chrissy began to climb the stairs.
But when she got halfway up, the stairs suddenly turned into a slide, causing poor Chrissy to slide back down to the bottom.
The remaining six laughed again.
"You know," the older blond woman said, "there an easier way out of here."
With that, she began marching toward the fireplace, carrying her handbag, and clicking her heals against the floor.
The other five began clapping.
"Bye, Karen!" called the brunette.
When she reached the fireplace, the blond woman turned, waved, and jumped backward.
She was immediately carried to her death by the updraft.
"What's wrong with these people?!" I whispered.
I then sniffed again; the sweet smell was still in the air.
"And what the hell is that smell?!"
"Nitrous oxide," Sephiroth replied. "Laughing gas."
"And that's what's making them do this?!" I whispered.
Sephiroth nodded.
Just then, the redhead pinched the raven head's butt.
Almost immediately, the baldie and the blond man grabbed the redhead by the arms.
"You're in trouble!" announced the bald man as the two captors began to lead him toward the fireplace.
"But she's my girlfriend!" the redhead protested.
"You're in trouble!" the bad man repeated.
He repeated it all the way to the fireplace.
"You're in trouble! You're in trouble! You're in trouble!"
The redhead was struggling and kicking and screaming, but it was no use.
His captors gave him a shove, and he disappeared into the updraft.
I heard his screams, then a slice, and then silence.
Then, I could see the bald man struggling; he had been caught in the updraft. He did what he could to escape, but it was no use. He was soon pulled to his death.
The three remaining victims laughed again.
Chrissy was the first to realize that these people couldn't be saved; they were already too intoxicated by the gas.
Suddenly, a banging sound began from the fireplace.
The wall began to crack.
A moment later, a long, glass tube with a suction fan (with blood all over the blades) at the top was now visible.
Then, the tube began to slowly move.
First, it went after the blonde guy, who was too high on the gas to realize the danger he was in.
"Look out!" I called, but it was too late.
The tube sucked him up, and the suction fan sliced him to pieces.
Only two women, the brunette and the raven head, remained.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, Chrissy spotted a desktop computer console at the other side of the basement. She darted to the computer, where, on the monitor, it read: "TO STOP THE TUBE, PRESS ANY KEY."
Chrissy pressed a random key.
Meanwhile, the brunette eyed the tube.
"I want to fly!" she announced before charging under the tube.
The obvious happened; she was picked up and sliced by the suction fan.
Sephiroth and I stared at the tube. Despite its danger, it seemed majestic and divine.
It suddenly looked tempting.
Of course, that was because the gas was getting to us.
So, like I said, Chrissy pushed a random key on the keyboard.
Suddenly, President Shinra appeared on the screen, in a prerecorded video.
"Want to shut the tube off? Just enter my passcode!"
Chrissy began typing frantically.
Then, the raven head sealed her own fate.
"I have to pee, everybody!" she announced.
And that was when the tube got her.
Now, it was only Chrissy, Sephiroth, and I.
The tube began to pursue us.
"I wanna fly like I'm Superchick!" I shouted.
"I would like to fly with you!" Sephiroth agreed.
We took each other's hands and stared at the approaching tube.
Of course, we were beyond high at this point.
The tube drew closer.
It was only a few feet away.
And then, it stopped.
Blood and guts from the previous victims fell to the ground.
Meanwhile, the stairs returned to normal, and the gas began to dissipate.
Chrissy had done it, saving our butts in the process.
"How did you know the passcode?" I said, as the high slowly started to wear off.
"I typed in Rufus' birthday," Chrissy replied. "I didn't know, but I guessed. I figured President Shinra would use either his son's birthday or his own."
"I can't believe the gas didn't affect you," Sephiroth said.
"I have a high tolerance," Chrissy explained. "It's just something you're born with."
"You're lucky," Sephiroth informed her. "We almost completely lost it."
Chrissy then gave us an ominous look.
"Those others that were here," she began, "they were probably married to candidates."
We all stood there in silence. We had all realized how dangerous of a group the Shinra actually was.
"Come on," Sephiroth said as he pointed to the stairs. "Let's go find your son."
Chrissy smiled.
We walked to the stairs and began to climb them.
Halfway up, I stopped, and turned to Sephiroth.
"I'm really sorry I made a fool of myself," I apologized.
I had to. I was really starting to like him, and I didn't want him to think any less of me.
But Sephiroth was laughing.
And I don't mean because of the gas, either. He was laughing on his own!
"Don't worry about it," he assured me. "You were still fun to be around. But next time, let's try the gas in a safer situation."
I giggled happily, knowing I didn't let him down.
With nothing further ado, we ascended the stairs.