Reed stood in the shadow of the steel columns, the colossal structure towering over her.

The facility itself seemed ginormous up close, Reed didn't need to guess GOI must have spent millions on construction if not more.

The pillars supporting the entire length of the laboratory were a blend of concrete and steel wiring, drilled into the ground with several supports in the form of steel stabiliser ropes attached to each of the columns.

The construction was situated on a large concrete platform, with the bulk of the building stretching up like an overextended twisting bubble, stretching all the way from the surface to seemingly deep underground.

Up close, the glass covering the bubble-like facility revealed itself to be an extra-thick glass, plated along the frame of the building in a distinct honeycomb pattern. Reed couldn't see inside, suspecting the glass had been coated with the reflective film.

"How do we enter?" she asked, stepping onto the platform.

"I... I don't know... Let's search for a breach in the glass somewhere..." Laine encouraged, but the telltale tremble of his voice betrayed him.

"You aren't sure there is one..." Reed muttered.

"There must be one."

She continued her wobbling, walking past the columns and into the inner ring of the stabilising structures.

Laine couldn't have been wrong, judging by the amount of debris and loose wiring littering the floor. The facility had sustained some damage in the upper rings of the lab, but Reed didn't see anything indicating there would be a potential entrance.

She passed by the steel ropes, avoiding getting too close to the massive screws that kept them secured to the ground.

Her eyes slid across the rusted clips holding the lab bubble in place, stabilising its transition into the underground with giant sails and clips digging into the ground around it.

She could see it clearly.

There was a gap between the facility and the platform. The closer she got, the wider it seemed.

If there was a hypothetical entrance somewhere around level zero, there was no guarantee she could jump over it...

Her inner voice scolded her for her apparent pessimism. She would need at least a few minutes to walk around the glass structure... There was still some time...

Slowly but surely, Reed made it to the edge of the gap, gazing at the glistening surface of the panels. They seemed sturdy, most of them fully intact. Some were scraped while the others looked untouched by the ruin that had already sunk its teeth into the place.

No cracks.

No leaks.

No indication the panels sustained any damage.

She began to trail the edge, following the circular gap while her eyes scanned the honeycombs.

Her eyes were trained on the facility walls.

She tracked each and every crevice, slowly and thoroughly.

She couldn't afford to miss anything...

Not when she got that far.

The minutes dragged on.

Nothing... There was nothing...

Everything looked almost brand new.

Soon she made a full lap.

Impossible... This is impossible...

Despite the ache of the burns littering her body, she sped up, limping around the construction.

There must be something...

There must be...

How is she going to get in?

Surely... Surely...

Another full lap had passed, but Reed wasn't any closer to finding the entrance.

"Do you see anything?" she asked Laine, panic creeping into her voice.

"Keep looking..." he muttered as if he wasn't quite believing his own words.

Another lap... Precious minutes passing fruitlessly...

There were no holes... No entrances...

"Fuck... What are we going to do?" she asked, but Laine remained quiet.

"Laine!" she yelled.

"I don't know!" he roared back.

"Fuck! There has to be something!"

Reed wouldn't give up.

She couldn't.

She couldn't give up just yet.

She practically ran an entire lap yet again, adrenaline pushing her through the pain.

Look for anything peculiar!

Anything!

It could be anything!

Keep Looking!

"Stop! Reed! Stop!" Laine bellowed in her ear.

"We have to keep looking-"

"I can see something! Stop!"

Reed's thoughts came to a screeching halt, her whole body going stiff and his words.

"Where?! Where is it?!" she breathed out, looking around.

"There, at the edge to the right... Do you see it?"

Her eyes scanned the surrounding area.

What was he talking about?

What on earth...

No... No, she could see something there...

Her heart skipped a beat.

A black, slimy-looking tendril shyly peeked from the darkness, spreading across one of the panels obscured by the shadows. The mass pulsated rhythmically, contracting every few seconds before expanding.

Heartbeat...

"D-down there?"

"Maybe..." he muttered.

With great caution, Reed inched towards the edge of the gap, leaning forward to peer beyond the precipice.

The substance stretched around the panels like the roots of a tree, the tendrils varying in thickness and length, but all thumped lazily to the same rhythm. Much lower, about a few meters down, the hull of the facility was torn up. The large metal plates looked like petals around the inky bloom sprouting from the inside of the lab.

One of the metal plates extended towards the edge of the drop just below her, practically acting like a bridge between the walls.

"It doesn't look very sturdy..." Reed remarked, biting down on her lip.

Would it hold if she dropped down?

What if she missed and fell?

She didn't know how the tendrils would react...

"I don't know another entrance... There might not be one..." Laine countered.

Reed scanned the plate wedged between the walls.

"Do you think it will hold me if I..."

"I have no idea..."

Scepticism coloured her face as the blood drained from her cheeks.

Chances were she would be jumping to her death...

"Do you know anything about these?" She asked, pointing at the black goo.

"No... None of Melanie's puppets come here... Not even the Visitor..."

"Shit..." She cursed.

Here goes nothing...

She straightened up, taking a few steps backwards from the edge.

"Are you sure?" Laine asked quietly.

Her heart was hammering.

"Just pray I land this..." she mumbled before she hopped and leapt over the edge.

Falling underwater felt surreal as if Reed was but a feather floating in the draft. She could feel the steady thumping in her chest, how her lungs filled with air while the current continued to carry her up... Until it stopped.

Reed began to fall, sinking down and into the darkness.

With every second, she gained more and more speed. The metal bridge was approaching her rapidly, her legs ready to withstand the force of the current pushing her down.

Just a few more meters.

But a traitorous thought made her muscles go slack, as her abdomen tightened at the sudden realisation.

What if the plate wouldn't withstand the force carrying her?

What if the crash makes it too loose?

With a yelp, Reed landed on the metal plate, her legs sliding from under her as the panel became loose.

She could feel it... She was falling...

She was falling!

Her hands shot up, grabbing the edges of the neighbouring panel, just in time for her to pull herself away from the sinking panel.

Her breath came in short puffs while she watched the steel piece slowly get swallowed by darkness.

Pull yourself up!

You have to pull yourself up!

Her biceps ached as she dragged herself inside the hole, bellyflopping onto the hard ground.

She turned on her back, breathing heavily from the narrowly escaped tragedy.

"We made it..." she rasped out, trying to control the rise and fall of her chest.

"I have never been here before..." Laine said barely above the whisper.

After finally catching her breath, Reed looked around.

She couldn't help but frown at the scene.

The ceiling was decorated with a bunch of bottles, floating to the top and stuck between the pulsating tendrils like little fruits. There were all sorts of trash littering the ground, papers, debris and pieces of wooden shelves. She could have sworn that a mop peaked from under one main branch of the black roots.

"I think we are in the utility closet..." she muttered.

She groaned, trying to stand up.

The dull ache of the burns returned to her sides.

"Where do we need to go?" she asked Laine.

"Forth floor, second corridor, door DX46..." Laine recited in a daze, his voice sounding distant.

Okay... Think Reed...

How do you find the room?

"Um... There should be a map of this place somewhere... Right? Or an elevator-"

"You think the elevator still works? Really?"

"No, but we could find what floor we are on... Surely this place has an emergency staircase..." Reed took a hesitant step towards the half-open door.

She was careful not to step on any of the tendrils coiling under her feet while she approached the exit.

"Do you know what these are?"

"No, but I wouldn't touch those if I were you..."

Her hand gently grasped the edge of the door, pulling it more open so she could side-step the thicker tentacle growing in the dead centre of the doorway.

She walked out onto the hallway, the soles of her boots clanking against the metal crates of the makeshift staircase. Reed's eyes slid across the tentacle, which was growing in size and thickness. It seemed to have been split into multiple parts, reaching down both sides of the hallway and into the darkness.

Reed proceeded down the stairs as quietly as she could until her feet touched the plastic-lined floor. The water damage had made the lining inflate and crack.

"Which way should we go? What do you think?" she asked quietly.

"I don't know... Left?"

She turned left, following the large tentacle along the hallway.

Reed couldn't help but look around, the morbid curiosity too powerful to wish it away.

The hallway looked mostly intact as if the whole place had been frozen in time. If it wasn't prom the pieces of debris, plastic and clothes, one would have assumed it was still in use.

Safety posters decorated the white walls around her, some crooked... Some are lying on the floor. Her eyes slid across the drawings of a mermaid, cheerfully reciting GOI slogans.

"Your well-being is our priority!"

"Get Well soon with the GOI team!"

"Remember to clock in!"

"Let's all have a productive day!"

"One step into progress is one patient saved!"

Reed stepped over yet another large growth, snaking around the ground and up the neighbouring wall.

"What... What is all of this?" Laine asked.

Something crunched under Reed's foot.

She looked down.

A pair of pink, children's glasses revealed itself from under her foot.

"You don't know?" She asked quietly.

"Of course, I don't know... I have never been here..." he whispered, his voice distant and quiet.

Reed let out a tired sigh.

She had had enough of all of this... And yet the responsibility to tell Ryan's story still fell on her shoulders.

"Testing... They were testing something..." she mumbled.

A few meters ahead of them, right behind the curve of the corridor, a double-sided door came into her view. The large tendril broke one of the door wings, leaving it hanging limply on the hinges. There was writing above the doorway, black industrial letters glaring at the intruder.

Cafeteria

"Testing what?" As expected, Laine wasn't satisfied with the answer.

"I don't know... My... A colleague from the Vault was involved here... Was one of the scientists... He didn't exactly tell me what they were doing..."

"You didn't ask?!"

"It's hard to ask when you are on the other side of the barrel..."

Reed pushed against the door, gently moving it out of the way so she could hop over the growth. The broken porcelain crunched under her feet.

"Reed? Do you think-"

"What the fuck..." Reed interrupted him with a startled hiss.

She froze in her tracks, her heart imminently pumping faster at the sight.

Right there, between the broken tables and turned chairs...

People... There were people...

Dark, figures in various poses... All with their backs turned to her as they reached for the elevator at the very far side of the room. Some were running, some were crawling, some were hunched over the elevator button... All frozen in their last moments of despair.

"I... I don't..." Reed muttered, the words not quite making it past her lips.

Were they dead?

Should she be scared?

"Reed..." Laine mumbled.

"I... I think there is a map there... You see?" Reed whispered, pointing towards the elevator with a shaky hand.

Between the two elevator shafts, there was a small plastic plate glistening in the darkness.

She couldn't quite make out what it said.

She held her breath.

One step forward.

Reed watched the statues like a hawk, measuring every tiny movement she made to get closer.

She didn't know what exactly motivated her tempo...

Was it the fear of being attacked?

Walking into a trap?

Or perhaps the sinking feeling in her gut telling her not to disturb the dead.

Reed passed by the figure closest to her, her eyes disobeying the order not to look.

It was a woman... Reed could see the outlines of the petite figure.

She was kneeling, her head low and hands together.

She was praying.

The inky black tendrils pulsated lazily, anchoring the carcass to the floor.

Forever stuck calling out to God who wasn't listening...

Reed couldn't see her face very well, half of it caved in revealing the hollow inside of the statue.

But the folds of what used to be her features revealed nothing but fear and despair.

Perhaps after this was all over, she went to heaven after all...

Reed lowered her gaze, feeling a sudden wave of humility wash over her.

They weren't alive...

This was a graveyard.

And so she passed the figures, walking through the tomb, the dance of death forever suspended for her eyes to drink up the horror.

They were all scrambling to the elevators, hoping they would be spared from whatever was after them.

Reed could see their bodies, those who didn't quite make it to the exit, pushed to the ground by the fleeing crowd. Some statues were flattened, broken...

Trampled by their peers who in the feat of terror forgot all their humanity.

Just like Reed did.

She passed by them

Silent.

Was it grief she was feeling?

She didn't know.

Finally, she stopped, standing amongst the many figures desperately pushing the buttons up.

The writing on the plaque was in the same industrial letters.

Floor 0- Wing C- Cafeteria

The drawing below depicts the layout of the floor.

Cafeteria.

Labs.

Exercise room.

Patient rooms.

Reed pointed at the far-right side of the drawing.

"Emergency Staircase..." she paused before she added.

"It's the other way around..."

Reed turned around, careful not to bump into any of the statues.

Like a cat, she diligently avoided the branching tendrils, connecting all of them like the roots of a tree. However, on the way back, all Reed could do was look at their faces.

Faces frozen in fear.

Some screaming.

Some crying.

All terrified.

All anticipating their doom.

She could almost hear their wails... Their cries for help...

Their voices echoed through her skull, like a symphony of terror.

Her lungs were burning.

Her throat was squeezing shut.

Cough... She needed to cough.

Black goo sprayed the front of the glass.

Reed could feel it trickling down her chin.

She bent in half, hacking while she choked on the liquid.

"Reed? What is wrong?" Laine's panicked squeak made her temples hurt.

"F.. Fuck... My... head..."

"Just a little bit longer... We are so close... Her cells will die down-"

"I... a-am F-fin... e" She coughed.

Just a little bit...

Just a little bit more time...

The residue was almost gone...

Laine let her clear her throat in silence, listening to her grunts and coughs.

Her throat burned with the raw irritation, neck and collarbones were slick with the inky spews.

She breathed heavily, feeling her airways finally clear.

"You okay?"

"Y-yeah... I just... I am okay..." she muttered, trying to straighten up.

The first few steps of her walk were wobbly, her body trying to replenish the lost oxygen by giving up her coordination. The room around her was swaying.

The statues seemed alive now... Pulsating...

Eyes?

Did they have eyes?

Reed could have sworn something was watching her.

"Stop! Mind the tendrils!" Laine warned, causing her to halt.

"I am fine..." She breathed.

"No... No, you are not fine... Don't look at them... Look at the ground. Make sure you don't step on anything..." Laine instructed.

"N-no, I-"

"Listen to me! I am trying to help you!"

Reed closed her mouth, looking at her feet.

Let him guide you...

Let him help you...

One step.

Another...

Slide across the tendril.

Twist your torso.

Another step...

Slowly but surely, with every carefully planned step, Reed's headache would weaken, fading away like the morning dew.

Left.

Right.

One step.

Two steps.

Her hand rested on the edge of the doorway.

"Is everything okay? Why did you stop?"

"I am good... I am good now... Thanks..." she mumbled.

Yes... She was good... Aside from the massive headache, dull burning around her sides and the exhaustion enveloping her body.

She was back... She was back in the real world... Where the statues didn't move and Noctis ruled the ocean depths.

A tired, potent sigh escaped her chest, making her diaphragm expand painfully.

"I-It's okay... We walk..." she muttered, stepping over the fat tendril.

She proceeded to limp the same way they came in, the remnants of the past life of the facility crunching and breaking under her feet.

The mermaid gazed at her from the posters, her wide grin turned so irritating Reed wanted to tear the artwork down herself.

"Do you blame me?" Laine asked out of nowhere.

He sounded guilty, his voice barely above a whisper.

"What? Why?"

She was confused.

Why would he think that?

"I... It could be that my presence in your psyche is making it worse..." He mumbled.

"No... I was having these before you attached yourself to me... It's fine..."

"You can't know that..."

Her gaze trailed the walls, looking for the familiar green plate with exit signs.

"What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know... I... Looking at those people... I feel weird..."

"Maybe something is coming back to you?" she suggested instead, her eyebrows rising at the sight of the familiar glow-in-the-dark sign.

She let the curve of the corridor carry them towards the large steel door.

The green glowing sign made her heart beat faster.

Emergency exit- Floor 0

"You think it might be a memory?" Laine finally answered.

"It could be..."

" I hope you are wrong..."

Reed's hands closed around the large door handles, ready to pull them open.

"Why?"

"Because if you are right... It must have been my fault..."